Trip Reports
02-21-2007, 09:27 PM
Dawn Osif - March/April 2006
Time of Year: Winter
Travel Method: Plane
Resort: FWC
Accommodations: Cabin
Ages Represented in Group: Elementary, Teen, Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Dawn Osif -- March/April 2006 -- Walt Disney World (FWC)
Dawn Osif – March/April 2006 – Fort Wilderness Cabins
The Cast:
Dawn (40)– 13th trip to WDW, many trips to DL
Tom (41) – 7th trip to WDW, many, many trips to DL
Tommy (15) – 7th trip to WDW, many trips to DL
Greg (13) – 7th trip to WDW
Patrick (9) – 5th trip to WDW
Why:
Even though my husband’s idea of the perfect vacation would be at a golf resort, he decided to take the family to WDW for my 40th birthday. What a guy! The idea he had in mind was a long weekend (Thurs – Sun) over my birthday. The only problem with this plan was that our spring break was the following week. We had planned to spend our break at Disney’s Hilton Head Island. By the way, we highly recommend this destination. My suggestion was to cancel Hilton Head and spend the entire spring break week at WDW. We surprised the kids in 2000 with a cruise. We told them 3 days before we left. It was a huge success and a lot of fun to see the looks of amazement on their faces. So, we decided we would continue to let them think we were going to Hilton Head. We’ll tell them on my birthday that we’re going to WDW.
Planning:
Tom originally thought he would plan this trip himself and surprise everyone, including me. He quickly realized he was in over his head. So, in November he told me about his idea. He was also smart enough to realize that, for me, the planning is almost as fun as the trip. My first priority was to nail down our flights. Tom travels frequently for business so we are fortunate that we rarely pay for our airline tickets. In order for the five of us to fly free we had to go Thursday to Thursday. This will give Tom a 3 day weekend to recover. He’ll need it!
My next priority was our accommodations. On our last trip the whole family stayed in one room at POR. It was a tight fit, but it was a concession I had to make. Tom put his foot down on the spending for this trip. We were going on a Disney cruise and I wanted to spend a few days at WDW before and a few days at Universal after. So, instead of a deluxe room at WL, it was one room at POR.
For this trip, I checked the price of a deluxe room at WL and almost fell over. I’m used to going during value season not peak season. After a lot of research I decided to try the cabins at Fort Wilderness. I also rented a golf cart for the week. I thought it would be nice to have the extra room and the boys can each have their own bed. The reviews of FW are great, but I’m still a little nervous about my choice. I really hope the kids like it. The only negatives I can see are the pool and the fact that there is no counter service restaurant.
I’ve been on a lot of Disney web sites and keep coming across Kingdom Konsultants. They get great feedback and I thought that I would book this trip through them. I don’t usually use a travel agent, but it doesn’t cost anything and maybe they would have some ideas that I hadn’t thought of. I spoke with Pam and she ran some different room scenarios for me. I was still committed to trying FW cabins so we went with that. I also chose six day park hopper passes with the water park and more option. Pam then asked me if I would be interested in the Disney dining plan. At this point I didn’t know much about it, so she gave me the details. For around $37/day you get one table service meal, one counter service meal and one snack. It seems that this would be a good deal if you eat a lot. I have 3 boys, two of them are teenagers. They eat A LOT! Okay, sign us up. Now we know the exact cost of our trip, including our meals. We’ll only need to bring mad money.
Since we will be at the World over spring break I realized I would need to go ahead and make all of our dining reservations. It’s hard to decide where you will be everyday so far in advance. But, since we are using the dining plan, I didn’t want to leave anything to chance. I came across a cool website that tells you about crowd levels everyday of the year. It also suggests which parks will be more or less crowded. I decided to stay away from the parks with extra morning hours. They are typically more crowded during the rest of the day and my kids aren’t exactly jumping out of bed in the morning. The only park we will attend with extra magic hours is MK and they are evening hours. We can stay out until 2:00 am and sleep in the next day. I chose the following table service restaurants: Boma, Le Cellier, O’hana, Hoop De Doo Review, Sci Fi Drive In, Mama Melrose’s (with Fantasmic dinner package) and Liberty Tree Tavern. I made the reservations and got close to all the times I wanted.
I’m expecting an email from Kingdom Konsultants in a few days with the information on my final payment. The only thing I really have to do now is decide how to tell the kids. We just found out that Tom won a family trip to Universal in July. His company does the trips as sales awards and they are fabulous. They pay for absolutely everything and we will be staying at Portofino Bay. If you stay at a Universal hotel you get to go in the fast pass line for every ride. It’s a great perk and a good incentive to stay on property. We’ve stayed at two of the hotels and they are really nice (in a non Disney way). I can’t believe we are lucky enough to be going to Orlando twice in one year. We usually go every two years, so it is really a treat. We are 43 days away!
My Birthday:
We told the kids today. I packed up a box and wrapped it as a birthday gift. On the top were Disney items for me: some shirts, a snow globe, a cd and other miscellaneous items. The next layer was things for the kids: An Ereosmith t shirt, an ESPN t shirt and a Tower of Terror t shirt. The kids were wondering why they were getting presents on mom’s birthday. The last layer: everything I received from Kingdom Konsultants. They finally got the clues, “We’re going to Disney World”!
Thursday:
Going to WDW
Our direct flight was at 6:00pm. We got through security with no problem. We had Sabarro for dinner and then boarded our flight. We arrived in Orlando and found the Magical Express people with no problem. We checked in at the desk and got in line for our bus. They were waiting for us and we got right on. After about a 10 minute wait, we were off. I had heard horror stories about Magical Express and was a little worried. But we had an absolutely perfect experience. We checked in at the Ft. Wilderness office and waited about 10 minutes for someone to take us to our cabin. The cabins are adorable, and as you will soon find out, we were happy for the extra room. There was a full bed and a set of bunk beds in the bedroom. This was the kid’s room. Tom and I slept on the Murphy bed in the living room. We got to bed around 11:00.
Friday: The Plan
Animal Kingdom, Boma, Downtown Disney
Mileage: 7.7 (Pedometer)
As you will soon find out, this was the best day of our trip. We had breakfast in the cabin (misc items I packed). I then hopped on the bus to go fill out the paper work for our golf cart. All transportation within the campground is by bus or golf cart because the campground is huge! Pick up for the carts isn’t until 1:00. The problem is we were going to be gone all day and wouldn’t be able to pick it up. I called and they told me I could fill out the paperwork and they would deliver our cart to the cabin. As it turns out, they had one I could take right then. FYI carts can be reserved up to one year in advance. I ran into the store and picked up some pop and a few snacks and drove back to the cabin. I must admit, driving the cart is fun. You drive on the road just like a car. I picked everyone up at the cabin and we were finally off to the bus stop. The bus stop at the front of the campground is for everything but MK and MGM. At the rear of the campground is the stop for MGM and the boat dock for MK.
When we arrived at AK around 10:30, we went directly to EE for a fast pass. What a zoo it was! I had never seen crowds like that at AK. I got FP’s for 1:30 – 2:30. We then headed over to Dinosaur. The line was only about 15 minutes. We rode twice and purchased a picture from the second ride. The kids wanted some Petrifries so we stopped for a snack. Patrick played in the Boneyard for a while. We picked up a FP’s for It’s Tough to Be a Bug and headed to lunch at Pizzafari. We all had pizza and for desert we had chocolate cake and frozen lemonade. This was the first official meal with the dining plan. The food was good and we were all stuffed. We headed to KS and waited in line about 35 minutes. It was a great ride and we saw lot’s of animals. I especially liked the vultures sitting in the trees. We then did some shopping in the African stores. Tommy bought an African bongo drum that was so big we had to have it shipped home. We browsed for a while and then headed back to ITTBAB. I love this show! The 3D and other effects are great. We then headed over to EE. I’ve heard the stand by queue is fabulous, but the wait was 90 minutes. This would be our only ride. With our FP’s the wait was less than 10 minutes. The ride was great and I would have loved to go on it again, but I won’t wait 90 minutes for anything. After doing a few things at Chester and Hester’s we headed for the exit. After a short bus ride, we were at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. This was our first time here and we thought it was beautiful. I don’t think I would ever stay here as it is so far away from everything. Our dinner at Boma was good, but I’m not sure I would eat here again. I don’t think our palates are sophisticated enough. We then boarded a bus to Downtown Disney for a stop at Disney Quest. We spent about 2 1/2 hours at DQ and finally headed home.
Saturday: The plan
Epcot, Le Cellier
Mileage: 5.2
We had breakfast at the Trails End buffet. It was very good and the price was reasonable. We hopped on the boat to the MK and then took the monorail to Epcot. Greg was very quite and looked like he wasn’t feeling well. He thought maybe he was a little seasick from the boat ride. I went directly to Soarin for FP’s ( 4:30 – 5:30). Boy, it was quite a walk! We went on SE and then headed over to Inoventions. This is when I realized the FP’s were gone. I went back to SE to look around. I asked a CM if anyone had turned them in. No luck. He sent me to guest relations to check lost and found. They didn’t have them, but were nice enough to write us a new FP. That really made my day. TT was next on the list. We have never been on TT as it has always been closed during our visits. The stand by line was over an hour, so we opted for the single rider’s line. TT was fun, but not worth an hours wait. We decided to go to WS and have lunch. The kids weren’t feeling adventurous, so we headed to America for burgers and fries. By now Greg was feeling really bad. We were hoping that lunch would help. After lunch we did the American Adventure. What a nice show. It was time for Soarin so we hopped on the boat across the lagoon to Canada. Soarin was great! We all really loved it. Next was the Earth and then Honey I Shrunk the Audience. We stopped for a Popsicle and Greg had to run to the rest room to throw up. Oh boy, here we go! He felt better and said he wanted to go to dinner. Our reservations at Le Cellier were for 7:00 and we waited about 20 minutes. The food was fabulous and we will definitely eat here again. Greg didn’t eat a bite and got sick again. Tom took him back to the cabin and I stayed with the others to watch Illuminations. I appreciate this show more every time I see it. We headed for the bus and went back to the cabin. This is the second trip in a row that our Epcot day was a bust. We didn’t get to walk around WS the last trip, either, because it poured buckets all day.
Sunday: The Plan
Magic Kingdom, O’Hana
Mileage: 5.5
Greg had gotten sick a few more times during the night, but seemed to be feeling better in the morning. He wanted to go out, so we decided to go to MGM instead of MK. Since it is smaller, we thought we wouldn’t have to walk as far. We had lunch at Talluca Turkey Leg and sent Tommy for RR FP’s. Our first ride was the GMR, but afterwards Greg decided he wanted to go back to the cabin. Tom took him back with the plan to meet at O’Hana for dinner. We then went to TT and had a great ride. Afterwards we used our RR FP’s and then went back to TT. While in line one of the elevators went down, so the line got really long. We ended up having to get out of line so we wouldn’t be late for dinner. We hopped on a bus and were at the Poly in just a few minutes.
We go to O’Hana on every trip and I must say we were disappointed with the menu changes. I don’t know why they went and ruined a good thing. Please tell me how you replace fried rice with augratin potatoes in a Polynesian restaurant? I will admit the bread pudding over ice cream was yummy, but I missed the fresh pineapple with caramel sauce. This was also the first time the restaurant wasn’t completely full.
After dinner we boarded the monorail to the MK. We stopped at City Hall to get wristbands for EMH. We knew before we left that PoC was closed for rehab. This is traditionally our first ride at the MK, so it was a little strange. Our next favorite is HM, so after a night time picture in front of the castle, we headed Liberty Square. The line was very short, so we went twice. From there we took a ride on BTM with about a 15 minute wait. We then went next door to SM with another 15 minute wait. We got splashed several times and ended up very wet. The kids wanted to go again, so Tom got a Popsicle and we waited for them. We were able to watch some of the fireworks from Wishes while we waited. I was looking forward to seeing Wishes from the front of the Castle on the last night of our trip. When the kids were done we headed past PoC, just to make sure it was closed. It was. We then went on JC. I don’t think I’ve ever been on it at night. It was fun, but the jokes could use some updating. While strolling through Adventure Land I was happy to see the Dole stand was open. I had the ever famous Dole Whip cone. Yummy! Patrick has been dying to go on SGE and he wasn’t disappointed. I don’t see what all the fuss is about. It’s not scary like AE was, but it’s not horrible either. From there we did Buzz. It was a walk on. The line for SM was about 45 minutes, so we didn’t ride. By this time it was only 11:30. Unfortunately, Tom is not a night owl. He wanted to leave, we wanted to stay. He always wins. He did cave and let us shop for a while. I bought some things for myself as I always end up coming home with nothing. I vowed this time would be different. They were giving away MK blankets with a $60 purchase so I thought I had hit the jackpot. We headed for the dock and boarded the boat back to the cabin. Tommy began throwing up around 5:00 am.
Monday: The Plan
Blizzard Beach, Hoop Dee Doo Review
Mileage: didn’t count today
Tommy was really sick. It was obvious he wasn’t going anywhere today. I can’t believe our luck. We are a family that NEVER gets sick. How can this be happening at WDW? Who’s next? Tom volunteered to stay with him and the rest of us went to BB. It was packed! After getting towels and a locker, we had lunch at the Lottawatta Lodge. The line was huge. We then went to try and find a place to sit. We went on a few slides, rode the lazy river and played in the wave pool. I was very disappointed and would not do a water park again. After waiting in lines at the parks, it would have been much more relaxing to sit by the pool. Besides, we have a season pass to a very nice water park at home.
Tom ended up playing golf in the afternoon. Tommy just wanted to sleep, and since he’s 15, Tom left him in the cabin. He is a huge golfer and was very impressed with Disney golf. They picked him up and brought him home with no charge. He couldn’t get over how nice everyone was at the course. Usually, at nice courses, they act like they are doing you a favor by letting you play there. He felt the CM’s were tripping over themselves to helpful. He said he will absolutely play more golf on our next trip.
We had reservations for the second seating at the Hoop Dee Doo Review. Tommy still didn’t want to move, so we left him with crackers and sprite. We headed to Pioneer Hall and checked in. At this show they seat you according to when you made your reservations. The host said we would really like our seats and led us to a table right in front of the stage! Tom was not a happy camper, as he thought we might have to do something silly. Luckily, they didn’t pick on us, but the nice elderly lady next to us. We loved the food and were pleasantly surprised by the show. We had a great time and I would highly recommend it to anyone. We bought some pictures they took out front and headed home.
Tuesday: The Plan
MGM, Sci Fi, Mama Melrose’s
Mileage: 6.0
Tommy was feeling better today and wanted to go out. We had breakfast in the cabin and headed to MGM. We took our time this morning, so by the time we got there, it was time for our ADR at the Sci Fi. I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet that every restaurant we ate at was not taking walk ins. I felt bad for the people that don’t realize you need to make ADR’s way in advance of your trip. Sci Fi is such a fun place to eat and we enjoyed our lunch. I sent everyone to It Sounds Dangerous and I went to RR for FP’s. On my way back, I stopped and bought 4 Christmas ornaments. I found the family and we went to MV 3D. Afterwards we headed to LMA. This was our first time and we really enjoyed it. From there we went on the back lot tour. I’m not sure this is worth the time it takes. From there we went to TT. Tom didn’t want to ride, which surprised me. I always buy the picture of the family on the ride. We then went to RR. This ride is a blast and the theming is the best. By now, it is time for our ADR at Mama Melrose’s. The food was good and we had a nice relaxing dinner. This was the first time we had done the Fantasmic dinner package. Our waitress told us we had to be at the gate no late than 8:00. We went on ST and then headed to Fantasmic. If you go on a night with only one show, you definitely should do the dinner package. Otherwise, the second show is usually only half full. This is, by far, my favorite night time show at WDW. We did a little shopping afterwards and Tom bought me a very nice Citizen Mickey Mouse watch for my birthday. He really went out of his way to make my 40th birthday one to remember. I’m very lucky! We headed out and boarded the bus back to our cabin. I began throwing up at 2:00 am.
Wednesday: The Plan
MK, Liberty Tree Tavern
Mileage: 1.5
As you can see by the mileage, we didn’t get too far. After getting sick many times during the night, I didn’t want to do anything but sleep. Now I know how the poor kids felt. Yuck! Tom didn’t want to take the kids to MK by himself, so they went up to the pool. Around 1:00 pm, I rolled my sorry self out of bed and went up to the pool. This was our last day and I wasn’t about to sleep it away. Tom had bought pizza at Trails End and brought it back to the pool for lunch. I had crackers. We went back to the cabin around 3:00. We showered and headed for the MK. We got there around 6:00. I was feeling awful and Tommy didn’t look too hot, either. We went to Cosmic Rays for dinner as we missed our Liberty Tree ADR. Tommy and I didn’t eat a bite. We walked through Fantasy Land, but all the rides had long waits. We went to MP which didn’t have a wait. I love this show and was feeling very emotional about what a bust our last day was. Tommy wanted to go on HM, so we went there next. After the ride, he said he had to go back to the cabin. Tom took him and told me he ended up throwing up off the back of the boat. Can you imagine? I stayed with the others and suffered through a ride on BTM. From there, we went to SM. I didn’t ride and boy was I glad. The boys were soaked. We left after that as I couldn’t make it to Wishes. This was a huge disappointment, but I felt sooo bad. We hopped on the boat (I didn’t throw up off the back) and went back to the cabin.
Thursday:
Going Home
Tom is not feeling great today. He is leaving us and going to Augusta, Ga. for the Masters. This is actually a business trip as he will be entertaining clients. Tommy and I are feeling well enough to get home. We had breakfast at Trails End, using our last table service credits that we didn’t get to use the night before. We said goodbye to Dad and wished him well at the Masters. He ended up being sick on Friday and missed playing golf. I had a problem with the Davey Crockett rifle Patrick bought. It wouldn’t fit in our suitcase. I went back to the store and asked them to ship it, but I didn’t have my receipt so they couldn’t do it. They sent me to the front desk. Keep in mind, the front desk is about a mile away. They weren’t sure what to do with it, but promised they would get it to us. I then headed back to turn in the golf cart.
At 11:30, we were picked up at the cabin and taken to the front office to check out and wait for ME. The bus was prompt, but we were the first stop of 6, so it was a long trip to the airport. It was an uneventful flight back to a chilly Ohio.
After a lot of thought, I decided I would probably not stay at Ft. Wilderness again. Don’t get me wrong, the resort was really nice. The cabins were adorable and were kept up very well. What I didn’t like was the fact that everything in the campground was far away. Even in the cart, it wasn’t like you could just pop down to the lobby. Also, if you are on the dining plan, there is no counter service restaurant. Because we got sick, we ended up with 10 counter service meals we couldn’t use. Lastly, the pools are very plain. If you do choose to stay here, be sure to rent a golf cart.
Highs:
Riding EE and Soarin for the first time
Eating at Le Cellier and Hoop Dee Doo Review
Having a great first day at AK and DQ
Fantasmic
Disney Dining Plan, I would definitely do this again
Time spent with my family at my favorite place in the world
Lows:
Getting sick on vacation. We never get sick. I still can’t believe it happened.
The menu changes at O’Hana
Missing Wishes
Missing Liberty Tree Tavern
Blizzard Beach
Not spending our entire last day at MK
I’m not sure when we’ll get back to WDW, but we have decided when we do come back, we’re going to try either the Grand Floridian or the Polynesian. At least we get to go to Universal this summer!
Dawn Osif
Time of Year: Winter
Travel Method: Plane
Resort: FWC
Accommodations: Cabin
Ages Represented in Group: Elementary, Teen, Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Dawn Osif -- March/April 2006 -- Walt Disney World (FWC)
Dawn Osif – March/April 2006 – Fort Wilderness Cabins
The Cast:
Dawn (40)– 13th trip to WDW, many trips to DL
Tom (41) – 7th trip to WDW, many, many trips to DL
Tommy (15) – 7th trip to WDW, many trips to DL
Greg (13) – 7th trip to WDW
Patrick (9) – 5th trip to WDW
Why:
Even though my husband’s idea of the perfect vacation would be at a golf resort, he decided to take the family to WDW for my 40th birthday. What a guy! The idea he had in mind was a long weekend (Thurs – Sun) over my birthday. The only problem with this plan was that our spring break was the following week. We had planned to spend our break at Disney’s Hilton Head Island. By the way, we highly recommend this destination. My suggestion was to cancel Hilton Head and spend the entire spring break week at WDW. We surprised the kids in 2000 with a cruise. We told them 3 days before we left. It was a huge success and a lot of fun to see the looks of amazement on their faces. So, we decided we would continue to let them think we were going to Hilton Head. We’ll tell them on my birthday that we’re going to WDW.
Planning:
Tom originally thought he would plan this trip himself and surprise everyone, including me. He quickly realized he was in over his head. So, in November he told me about his idea. He was also smart enough to realize that, for me, the planning is almost as fun as the trip. My first priority was to nail down our flights. Tom travels frequently for business so we are fortunate that we rarely pay for our airline tickets. In order for the five of us to fly free we had to go Thursday to Thursday. This will give Tom a 3 day weekend to recover. He’ll need it!
My next priority was our accommodations. On our last trip the whole family stayed in one room at POR. It was a tight fit, but it was a concession I had to make. Tom put his foot down on the spending for this trip. We were going on a Disney cruise and I wanted to spend a few days at WDW before and a few days at Universal after. So, instead of a deluxe room at WL, it was one room at POR.
For this trip, I checked the price of a deluxe room at WL and almost fell over. I’m used to going during value season not peak season. After a lot of research I decided to try the cabins at Fort Wilderness. I also rented a golf cart for the week. I thought it would be nice to have the extra room and the boys can each have their own bed. The reviews of FW are great, but I’m still a little nervous about my choice. I really hope the kids like it. The only negatives I can see are the pool and the fact that there is no counter service restaurant.
I’ve been on a lot of Disney web sites and keep coming across Kingdom Konsultants. They get great feedback and I thought that I would book this trip through them. I don’t usually use a travel agent, but it doesn’t cost anything and maybe they would have some ideas that I hadn’t thought of. I spoke with Pam and she ran some different room scenarios for me. I was still committed to trying FW cabins so we went with that. I also chose six day park hopper passes with the water park and more option. Pam then asked me if I would be interested in the Disney dining plan. At this point I didn’t know much about it, so she gave me the details. For around $37/day you get one table service meal, one counter service meal and one snack. It seems that this would be a good deal if you eat a lot. I have 3 boys, two of them are teenagers. They eat A LOT! Okay, sign us up. Now we know the exact cost of our trip, including our meals. We’ll only need to bring mad money.
Since we will be at the World over spring break I realized I would need to go ahead and make all of our dining reservations. It’s hard to decide where you will be everyday so far in advance. But, since we are using the dining plan, I didn’t want to leave anything to chance. I came across a cool website that tells you about crowd levels everyday of the year. It also suggests which parks will be more or less crowded. I decided to stay away from the parks with extra morning hours. They are typically more crowded during the rest of the day and my kids aren’t exactly jumping out of bed in the morning. The only park we will attend with extra magic hours is MK and they are evening hours. We can stay out until 2:00 am and sleep in the next day. I chose the following table service restaurants: Boma, Le Cellier, O’hana, Hoop De Doo Review, Sci Fi Drive In, Mama Melrose’s (with Fantasmic dinner package) and Liberty Tree Tavern. I made the reservations and got close to all the times I wanted.
I’m expecting an email from Kingdom Konsultants in a few days with the information on my final payment. The only thing I really have to do now is decide how to tell the kids. We just found out that Tom won a family trip to Universal in July. His company does the trips as sales awards and they are fabulous. They pay for absolutely everything and we will be staying at Portofino Bay. If you stay at a Universal hotel you get to go in the fast pass line for every ride. It’s a great perk and a good incentive to stay on property. We’ve stayed at two of the hotels and they are really nice (in a non Disney way). I can’t believe we are lucky enough to be going to Orlando twice in one year. We usually go every two years, so it is really a treat. We are 43 days away!
My Birthday:
We told the kids today. I packed up a box and wrapped it as a birthday gift. On the top were Disney items for me: some shirts, a snow globe, a cd and other miscellaneous items. The next layer was things for the kids: An Ereosmith t shirt, an ESPN t shirt and a Tower of Terror t shirt. The kids were wondering why they were getting presents on mom’s birthday. The last layer: everything I received from Kingdom Konsultants. They finally got the clues, “We’re going to Disney World”!
Thursday:
Going to WDW
Our direct flight was at 6:00pm. We got through security with no problem. We had Sabarro for dinner and then boarded our flight. We arrived in Orlando and found the Magical Express people with no problem. We checked in at the desk and got in line for our bus. They were waiting for us and we got right on. After about a 10 minute wait, we were off. I had heard horror stories about Magical Express and was a little worried. But we had an absolutely perfect experience. We checked in at the Ft. Wilderness office and waited about 10 minutes for someone to take us to our cabin. The cabins are adorable, and as you will soon find out, we were happy for the extra room. There was a full bed and a set of bunk beds in the bedroom. This was the kid’s room. Tom and I slept on the Murphy bed in the living room. We got to bed around 11:00.
Friday: The Plan
Animal Kingdom, Boma, Downtown Disney
Mileage: 7.7 (Pedometer)
As you will soon find out, this was the best day of our trip. We had breakfast in the cabin (misc items I packed). I then hopped on the bus to go fill out the paper work for our golf cart. All transportation within the campground is by bus or golf cart because the campground is huge! Pick up for the carts isn’t until 1:00. The problem is we were going to be gone all day and wouldn’t be able to pick it up. I called and they told me I could fill out the paperwork and they would deliver our cart to the cabin. As it turns out, they had one I could take right then. FYI carts can be reserved up to one year in advance. I ran into the store and picked up some pop and a few snacks and drove back to the cabin. I must admit, driving the cart is fun. You drive on the road just like a car. I picked everyone up at the cabin and we were finally off to the bus stop. The bus stop at the front of the campground is for everything but MK and MGM. At the rear of the campground is the stop for MGM and the boat dock for MK.
When we arrived at AK around 10:30, we went directly to EE for a fast pass. What a zoo it was! I had never seen crowds like that at AK. I got FP’s for 1:30 – 2:30. We then headed over to Dinosaur. The line was only about 15 minutes. We rode twice and purchased a picture from the second ride. The kids wanted some Petrifries so we stopped for a snack. Patrick played in the Boneyard for a while. We picked up a FP’s for It’s Tough to Be a Bug and headed to lunch at Pizzafari. We all had pizza and for desert we had chocolate cake and frozen lemonade. This was the first official meal with the dining plan. The food was good and we were all stuffed. We headed to KS and waited in line about 35 minutes. It was a great ride and we saw lot’s of animals. I especially liked the vultures sitting in the trees. We then did some shopping in the African stores. Tommy bought an African bongo drum that was so big we had to have it shipped home. We browsed for a while and then headed back to ITTBAB. I love this show! The 3D and other effects are great. We then headed over to EE. I’ve heard the stand by queue is fabulous, but the wait was 90 minutes. This would be our only ride. With our FP’s the wait was less than 10 minutes. The ride was great and I would have loved to go on it again, but I won’t wait 90 minutes for anything. After doing a few things at Chester and Hester’s we headed for the exit. After a short bus ride, we were at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. This was our first time here and we thought it was beautiful. I don’t think I would ever stay here as it is so far away from everything. Our dinner at Boma was good, but I’m not sure I would eat here again. I don’t think our palates are sophisticated enough. We then boarded a bus to Downtown Disney for a stop at Disney Quest. We spent about 2 1/2 hours at DQ and finally headed home.
Saturday: The plan
Epcot, Le Cellier
Mileage: 5.2
We had breakfast at the Trails End buffet. It was very good and the price was reasonable. We hopped on the boat to the MK and then took the monorail to Epcot. Greg was very quite and looked like he wasn’t feeling well. He thought maybe he was a little seasick from the boat ride. I went directly to Soarin for FP’s ( 4:30 – 5:30). Boy, it was quite a walk! We went on SE and then headed over to Inoventions. This is when I realized the FP’s were gone. I went back to SE to look around. I asked a CM if anyone had turned them in. No luck. He sent me to guest relations to check lost and found. They didn’t have them, but were nice enough to write us a new FP. That really made my day. TT was next on the list. We have never been on TT as it has always been closed during our visits. The stand by line was over an hour, so we opted for the single rider’s line. TT was fun, but not worth an hours wait. We decided to go to WS and have lunch. The kids weren’t feeling adventurous, so we headed to America for burgers and fries. By now Greg was feeling really bad. We were hoping that lunch would help. After lunch we did the American Adventure. What a nice show. It was time for Soarin so we hopped on the boat across the lagoon to Canada. Soarin was great! We all really loved it. Next was the Earth and then Honey I Shrunk the Audience. We stopped for a Popsicle and Greg had to run to the rest room to throw up. Oh boy, here we go! He felt better and said he wanted to go to dinner. Our reservations at Le Cellier were for 7:00 and we waited about 20 minutes. The food was fabulous and we will definitely eat here again. Greg didn’t eat a bite and got sick again. Tom took him back to the cabin and I stayed with the others to watch Illuminations. I appreciate this show more every time I see it. We headed for the bus and went back to the cabin. This is the second trip in a row that our Epcot day was a bust. We didn’t get to walk around WS the last trip, either, because it poured buckets all day.
Sunday: The Plan
Magic Kingdom, O’Hana
Mileage: 5.5
Greg had gotten sick a few more times during the night, but seemed to be feeling better in the morning. He wanted to go out, so we decided to go to MGM instead of MK. Since it is smaller, we thought we wouldn’t have to walk as far. We had lunch at Talluca Turkey Leg and sent Tommy for RR FP’s. Our first ride was the GMR, but afterwards Greg decided he wanted to go back to the cabin. Tom took him back with the plan to meet at O’Hana for dinner. We then went to TT and had a great ride. Afterwards we used our RR FP’s and then went back to TT. While in line one of the elevators went down, so the line got really long. We ended up having to get out of line so we wouldn’t be late for dinner. We hopped on a bus and were at the Poly in just a few minutes.
We go to O’Hana on every trip and I must say we were disappointed with the menu changes. I don’t know why they went and ruined a good thing. Please tell me how you replace fried rice with augratin potatoes in a Polynesian restaurant? I will admit the bread pudding over ice cream was yummy, but I missed the fresh pineapple with caramel sauce. This was also the first time the restaurant wasn’t completely full.
After dinner we boarded the monorail to the MK. We stopped at City Hall to get wristbands for EMH. We knew before we left that PoC was closed for rehab. This is traditionally our first ride at the MK, so it was a little strange. Our next favorite is HM, so after a night time picture in front of the castle, we headed Liberty Square. The line was very short, so we went twice. From there we took a ride on BTM with about a 15 minute wait. We then went next door to SM with another 15 minute wait. We got splashed several times and ended up very wet. The kids wanted to go again, so Tom got a Popsicle and we waited for them. We were able to watch some of the fireworks from Wishes while we waited. I was looking forward to seeing Wishes from the front of the Castle on the last night of our trip. When the kids were done we headed past PoC, just to make sure it was closed. It was. We then went on JC. I don’t think I’ve ever been on it at night. It was fun, but the jokes could use some updating. While strolling through Adventure Land I was happy to see the Dole stand was open. I had the ever famous Dole Whip cone. Yummy! Patrick has been dying to go on SGE and he wasn’t disappointed. I don’t see what all the fuss is about. It’s not scary like AE was, but it’s not horrible either. From there we did Buzz. It was a walk on. The line for SM was about 45 minutes, so we didn’t ride. By this time it was only 11:30. Unfortunately, Tom is not a night owl. He wanted to leave, we wanted to stay. He always wins. He did cave and let us shop for a while. I bought some things for myself as I always end up coming home with nothing. I vowed this time would be different. They were giving away MK blankets with a $60 purchase so I thought I had hit the jackpot. We headed for the dock and boarded the boat back to the cabin. Tommy began throwing up around 5:00 am.
Monday: The Plan
Blizzard Beach, Hoop Dee Doo Review
Mileage: didn’t count today
Tommy was really sick. It was obvious he wasn’t going anywhere today. I can’t believe our luck. We are a family that NEVER gets sick. How can this be happening at WDW? Who’s next? Tom volunteered to stay with him and the rest of us went to BB. It was packed! After getting towels and a locker, we had lunch at the Lottawatta Lodge. The line was huge. We then went to try and find a place to sit. We went on a few slides, rode the lazy river and played in the wave pool. I was very disappointed and would not do a water park again. After waiting in lines at the parks, it would have been much more relaxing to sit by the pool. Besides, we have a season pass to a very nice water park at home.
Tom ended up playing golf in the afternoon. Tommy just wanted to sleep, and since he’s 15, Tom left him in the cabin. He is a huge golfer and was very impressed with Disney golf. They picked him up and brought him home with no charge. He couldn’t get over how nice everyone was at the course. Usually, at nice courses, they act like they are doing you a favor by letting you play there. He felt the CM’s were tripping over themselves to helpful. He said he will absolutely play more golf on our next trip.
We had reservations for the second seating at the Hoop Dee Doo Review. Tommy still didn’t want to move, so we left him with crackers and sprite. We headed to Pioneer Hall and checked in. At this show they seat you according to when you made your reservations. The host said we would really like our seats and led us to a table right in front of the stage! Tom was not a happy camper, as he thought we might have to do something silly. Luckily, they didn’t pick on us, but the nice elderly lady next to us. We loved the food and were pleasantly surprised by the show. We had a great time and I would highly recommend it to anyone. We bought some pictures they took out front and headed home.
Tuesday: The Plan
MGM, Sci Fi, Mama Melrose’s
Mileage: 6.0
Tommy was feeling better today and wanted to go out. We had breakfast in the cabin and headed to MGM. We took our time this morning, so by the time we got there, it was time for our ADR at the Sci Fi. I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet that every restaurant we ate at was not taking walk ins. I felt bad for the people that don’t realize you need to make ADR’s way in advance of your trip. Sci Fi is such a fun place to eat and we enjoyed our lunch. I sent everyone to It Sounds Dangerous and I went to RR for FP’s. On my way back, I stopped and bought 4 Christmas ornaments. I found the family and we went to MV 3D. Afterwards we headed to LMA. This was our first time and we really enjoyed it. From there we went on the back lot tour. I’m not sure this is worth the time it takes. From there we went to TT. Tom didn’t want to ride, which surprised me. I always buy the picture of the family on the ride. We then went to RR. This ride is a blast and the theming is the best. By now, it is time for our ADR at Mama Melrose’s. The food was good and we had a nice relaxing dinner. This was the first time we had done the Fantasmic dinner package. Our waitress told us we had to be at the gate no late than 8:00. We went on ST and then headed to Fantasmic. If you go on a night with only one show, you definitely should do the dinner package. Otherwise, the second show is usually only half full. This is, by far, my favorite night time show at WDW. We did a little shopping afterwards and Tom bought me a very nice Citizen Mickey Mouse watch for my birthday. He really went out of his way to make my 40th birthday one to remember. I’m very lucky! We headed out and boarded the bus back to our cabin. I began throwing up at 2:00 am.
Wednesday: The Plan
MK, Liberty Tree Tavern
Mileage: 1.5
As you can see by the mileage, we didn’t get too far. After getting sick many times during the night, I didn’t want to do anything but sleep. Now I know how the poor kids felt. Yuck! Tom didn’t want to take the kids to MK by himself, so they went up to the pool. Around 1:00 pm, I rolled my sorry self out of bed and went up to the pool. This was our last day and I wasn’t about to sleep it away. Tom had bought pizza at Trails End and brought it back to the pool for lunch. I had crackers. We went back to the cabin around 3:00. We showered and headed for the MK. We got there around 6:00. I was feeling awful and Tommy didn’t look too hot, either. We went to Cosmic Rays for dinner as we missed our Liberty Tree ADR. Tommy and I didn’t eat a bite. We walked through Fantasy Land, but all the rides had long waits. We went to MP which didn’t have a wait. I love this show and was feeling very emotional about what a bust our last day was. Tommy wanted to go on HM, so we went there next. After the ride, he said he had to go back to the cabin. Tom took him and told me he ended up throwing up off the back of the boat. Can you imagine? I stayed with the others and suffered through a ride on BTM. From there, we went to SM. I didn’t ride and boy was I glad. The boys were soaked. We left after that as I couldn’t make it to Wishes. This was a huge disappointment, but I felt sooo bad. We hopped on the boat (I didn’t throw up off the back) and went back to the cabin.
Thursday:
Going Home
Tom is not feeling great today. He is leaving us and going to Augusta, Ga. for the Masters. This is actually a business trip as he will be entertaining clients. Tommy and I are feeling well enough to get home. We had breakfast at Trails End, using our last table service credits that we didn’t get to use the night before. We said goodbye to Dad and wished him well at the Masters. He ended up being sick on Friday and missed playing golf. I had a problem with the Davey Crockett rifle Patrick bought. It wouldn’t fit in our suitcase. I went back to the store and asked them to ship it, but I didn’t have my receipt so they couldn’t do it. They sent me to the front desk. Keep in mind, the front desk is about a mile away. They weren’t sure what to do with it, but promised they would get it to us. I then headed back to turn in the golf cart.
At 11:30, we were picked up at the cabin and taken to the front office to check out and wait for ME. The bus was prompt, but we were the first stop of 6, so it was a long trip to the airport. It was an uneventful flight back to a chilly Ohio.
After a lot of thought, I decided I would probably not stay at Ft. Wilderness again. Don’t get me wrong, the resort was really nice. The cabins were adorable and were kept up very well. What I didn’t like was the fact that everything in the campground was far away. Even in the cart, it wasn’t like you could just pop down to the lobby. Also, if you are on the dining plan, there is no counter service restaurant. Because we got sick, we ended up with 10 counter service meals we couldn’t use. Lastly, the pools are very plain. If you do choose to stay here, be sure to rent a golf cart.
Highs:
Riding EE and Soarin for the first time
Eating at Le Cellier and Hoop Dee Doo Review
Having a great first day at AK and DQ
Fantasmic
Disney Dining Plan, I would definitely do this again
Time spent with my family at my favorite place in the world
Lows:
Getting sick on vacation. We never get sick. I still can’t believe it happened.
The menu changes at O’Hana
Missing Wishes
Missing Liberty Tree Tavern
Blizzard Beach
Not spending our entire last day at MK
I’m not sure when we’ll get back to WDW, but we have decided when we do come back, we’re going to try either the Grand Floridian or the Polynesian. At least we get to go to Universal this summer!
Dawn Osif