Who: Just me!
Where: Tent camping at Ft. Wilderness
Hey campers,
I can't bring myself to do a real trip report, but I thought some might enjoy a
string of random, rambling observations. Of course, others may not.
* What a blast, what a bunch of nice and welcoming people. What a great,
unique tradition the meet really is! I think I'm hooked.
* The scavenger hunt is totally AMAZING. I can't believe the amount of work
that Jeff et al put into this! Our team came in a distant third, I believe.
We stopped for an hour and a half for lunch, didn't go to any of the extra
point challenges, generally dawdled around, and lost a bunch of time waiting
for the Fort Wilderness launch from the Contemporary, and wandering around the
Studios finding almost NO answers to any of the questions. But even if none of
the above had happened, I still don't think we could have caught up to the two
teams that tied for first place. Maybe they were using razor scooters and I
know they were all younger than me. There must be some explanation! My team
members were FUN FUN FUN to hang out with for a day, and I can only hope they
could say the same about me after putting up with me for 12 hours straight.
And Kim, where did you go? Never got to say good bye & thanks for a great day!
* Camping with Carol Kelley was wonderful, and my total housing bill for the
whole trip came to like $52 or something close to that. I was lucky that the
weather was perfect for tent camping. Any steady rain or really cold weather,
and I would have been kind of miserable. The bus transportation internally at
Fort Wilderness was perfectly adequate, no matter how pessimistic and worried I
was about it. Just when I'd think, oh great, we're going to be standing here
forever, Disney would always come through. BUT I would never, ever stay
anywhere at the World again without a rental car. I can not stand Disney
busses anymore, I really can't. Whether they come quickly or not, I don't want
to be on them. Anyways, thanks Randy for the best entertainment on our loop,
and Carol for taking your chances with a total stranger. We had such a good
time!
* The hands-down highlight of my trip was taking a water mouse out on Bay Lake
& the Seven Seas Lagoon, from the Contemporary's boat dock. My boat kicked
butt, and I zoomed all over the place. Carol was with me, and got a Grandma
boat, but I think she had fun anyways. I'm so happy she suggested this
activity. It will be a new must-do on future visits. Carol pointed out that
normally the stuff you do at Disney World is pretty passive, but this was an
active thing to do -- you can steer your boat just about anywhere, and I
honestly felt like I was getting away with something naughty. It made me feel
so free, like an insider, kind of like I own the place. Awesome feeling.
* I am never, ever going to Disney World without my son again, as long as he
wants to go. I missed him so much every night, that I didn't enjoy myself as
much as I could have. I kept borrowing Gretchen's kids, and seeing things I
wished I could share with Miles. For future meets, I'll either come with
someone to help babysit, or I'll just do things he can do with me. Most of the
meets are pretty kid-friendly, anyways, except for the Big Meet & Greet, which
is just lots of adults talking at an abandoned bus stop. Not high on any
child's list of fun things to do.
* The light parade that travels around Bay Lake and the Seven Seas Lagoon every
evening is way, way, way too loud if you're up close. I think I'll catch this
from distance in the future, or wear ear plugs. I was expecting peace and
magic, and instead it was crowds and an assault on my ears.
* The campfire program at Fort Wilderness is great, and the RADP meet that
Pamela and Sean put on for it was one of my favorite things I did. Thanks,
guys! Great conversations, great s'mores, and I got to find out just how I can
sucessfully complete the Paragon Challenge in the future ;-)
* I've always wanted to stay at Wilderness Lodge, but for the scavenger hunt I
found myself walking up and down EVERY HALLWAY on EVERY FLOOR for almost half
an hour. The lobby is wonderful, but the guest hallways started reminding me
totally of the Overlook Hotel in the Shining! I was getting creeped out! I
don't want to stay there anymore. Call me silly, but those rooms down those
twisty, isolated hallways are just begging for Jack Nicholson to prowl down
them with a bloody axe.
* The Animal Kingdom Lodge is amazing, stunning, gorgeous, fabulous,
incredible. The food at the Animal Kingdom Lodge is delicious, authentic,
varied, wonderful, fabulous, incredible. Especially the bakery -- this has got
to be the best bakery on property. Perfection. Anyone who gets to stay here
for a low rate is a lucky duck.
* The short park hours suck. Closing the Studios early when the Osborne Lights
are showing is particularly dumb.
* Just where did they get that Tarzan for the Tarzan Rocks show, and are there
some more of them somewhere, that maybe there's an extra one I could have?
Wink, wink. Seriously, that guy make me go into respiratory arrest.
* The majority of cast members at Disney don't know 10% of what most RADP
members know about the parks and resorts. Asking questions about anything
anywhere other than exactly where a cm is standing will generally get you a
long polite conversation that goes nowhere.
* Le Cellier has great food, and the lunch prices for it are a good deal. The
dinner prices, for the setting, are a bit overpriced I think -- see below.
* I can't believe I'm saying this, but sitting next to people in t-shirts and
shorts who haven't had a shower since early that morning, and have been outside
walking the parks all day, really does make a $28 steak seem less worth the
price. God, I can't believe I just said that.
* Tony's Town Square had really good food! I'm so amazed. I will go there for
lunch forever and ever and ever more when I'm in the Magic Kingdom. It was
just as good as any American-Italian restaurant I've been to in the greater New
Orleans area.
* I am going to post a seperate report on the Backstage Magic Tour, so if
you're interested keep an eye out for it. I'll probably submit it to Deb to
put on her site, too, so you may be able to find it there later this year.
That's the day-long tour. Expensive, long, and totally worth the time and
money.
* Also had a chance to eat at Mama Melrose's. Another excellent meal! No,
it's not spaghetti and meatballs. It's fresh fusion northen Italian style
food. Nothing fancy, just healthy and flavorful. Some truly wonderful
flatbreads, and lots of vegetarian choices, too.
* The sushi at California Grill is very well-prepared, but I found it fussy and
a little too inventive for my taste. I like old favorites when I eat sushi, I
guess.
* Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party wasn't crowded at all on it's first
night, which was Thursday, Nov. 29. Even so, I'm not going to do this again.
It's not worth the extra money to me, except for the parade. Maybe in a few
years, when it's a big treat/big deal to my son to get to stay up really late
I'll do it with him. Honestly, I don't like being up that late at night out in
public anymore. Rather be in bed.
* Rode up front in the monorail, at night, from Epcot to the TTC. Oh My God!
How totally beautiful was that! What a view, what a feeling. Just us and the
moonlight, on the last run of the day. Pretty special.
Those are the things that stick out the most in my mind. Have a great day!