Day One. Traveling and Fort Wilderness

September 6, 2018

We did a mini-trip to Disney this year.  We actually only had 1 park day, but don't worry.  This trip was packed full of things we had never done before and I have so much to share! 

Since our trip last September was disrupted due to Hurricane Irma, we kept this September trip on the extreme down-low.  We told the kids we were packing to tag along with Rob on a layover.  Yes, they asked if it was Paris, but I said it was someplace in Florida.  I have no idea how I managed to sneak all the Disney stuff into the suitcase without them noticing!

We woke up on Thursday morning early and told them where we were going.  They were so happy, there was much squealing and telling us we were the best ever.  It was a great moment.  Then we loaded into the van, dropped Griffey off at Pet Suites (seriously, we should own that place by now), Rob dropped the kids and I off at the front of the airport and he went to park the van.  

30 minutes ago these two had no idea where we were going.

This trip was the Thursday after Labor Day, which is a great time to non-rev down to Orlando.  We got four seats in two pairs, so each kid had a parent with them.  In fact, Ryan and Rob were right in front of Anne and me.  It was an easy flight.  In preparation for the trip, I purchased cheap activity books from the Dollar Tree.  Both kids spent the entire flight doing a Disney math book.  

I can just see her high school graduation slideshow now, picture after picture that are airplane selfies.

I found out when we landed his headphones weren't plugged in to anything. Silly man.

This trip was another stay at Shades of Green, so we had a car service pick us up at the airport and drive us into the magic.  When we arrived, our room wasn't ready yet and it was lunch time, so we went to Evergreens Sports Bar for food and the first adult beverage of the trip.

This is a "Made in the Shade" and I wish I was there drinking it right now!

While we were eating lunch, Rob got a text that the room was ready.  Now that's service!  He swung by the front desk for the keys and the kids and I met him at the room.  By 1:30 we had our luggage unpacked and we were at the pool.  Yes!

One of the ways this trip was different is that I planned very little.  We had tickets to to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party for one evening, we had one character breakfast scheduled, and that was it for 4 days of Disney! I was pretty proud of myself.  Ok, maybe that isn't totally true.  I knew there would be times when Rob would say "what are we doing for dinner" or "what else can we do today" so I had a few rough ideas for blocks of times, things I could throw out there, just to keep us from getting bored. 

On this first day, while hanging at the pool, Rob asked what the plan was for dinner.  I pulled up the My Disney Experience app on my phone and searched for dinner reservations.  There was one available at Trail's End buffet over in Ft. Wilderness campground, so that was the plan!  I booked the reservation for dinner, we changed and were off to the campground!

From Shades of Green, we walked to the Polynesian and hopped on the monorail.  We got off at the Magic Kingdom and took a boat over to the campground.  It was a beautiful night, not too hot, no rain.  Plus, we were in the Disney magic without paying for anything!

When the boat landed at Ft. Wilderness, we easily found Trail's End.  Part of our motivation for trekking over here was to check out the campground.  We have always wanted to bring the camper down to Disney and this was our chance to see how it looked.  For me, it was love at first sight.  Ft. Wilderness is the cleanest campground I have ever seen, with so much cool theming and little Disney touches everywhere.  That's all I will say for now, I'm sure we will be back... hint, hint.

Trail's End was great.  It is a bbq buffet, lots of great home cooking and some really good desserts.  While we were eating, some Disney Magic happened.  The table next to us was an older couple and their adult daughter.  The chef came out and brought her this elaborate dish with a glass dome over it and the dome was filled with smoke.  When she lifted the dome, the smoke smelled so good!  So of course we had to strike up a conversation with them.

Turns out the girl is vegan and the chef was preparing her a special 4 course meal.  She said the chef at Trail's End is well known in the Orlando area for being a great vegan chef (there's a tip for all. my vegan readers).  As she ate, we chatted with her parents.  They were camping at the campground and they have been visiting Ft. Wilderness since they were stationed in Florida with the Air Force many years ago.  So an Air Force conversation started, to be honest, I was only halfway listening because I've heard enough of these conversations over the last 12 years.

Then, the man (who had been a pilot) said he was stationed at McCord Air Force Base in Seattle in the mid-70s.  Really?  Like 1974 when Rob was born in Seattle because that's where his dad was stationed.  Yep.  Turns out, this man was a squadron mate of Rob's dad's from 40 years ago!  It IS a small world after all!

At this point I realized the conversation could go on for hours, so I took the well fed and thoroughly sugared kids outside to the playground.  It was magic hour at WDW.  There is something about this time of day, right before the sunsets, when families are preparing for dinner and the evening.  The light changes, the air is electric.  This is my favorite time of day.

Awesome playground right outside Trail's End.

Looking back at Trail's End from the playground.

When Rob was done chatting with his new friend, we went for a walk to see some of the camp sites and sights.  

I wonder if Disney pays the wildlife to make the campground experience complete?

Satisfied that we would love to camp here, we took the boat back to the Magic Kingdom, the monorail back to the Polynesian, and the walkway back to Shades of Green.  Day One was in the books!

Happy Family!

These kids seriously love their Dad. I think he's pretty great too.