Disney 2009, Day 5 Pt 2: Crystal Palace dinner & MK again

DH opted to drive to our evening visit to the Magic Kingdom, he said Disney transportation was too slow. If only we knew. We entered the Magic Kingdom parking lot, exited the vehicle, and began waiting for a tram. DH, always the impatient one, wanted to walk in the 100+ degree parking lot instead of waiting for the tram that transports passengers to the park entrance. I managed to convince him otherwise and it’s a darn good thing too since we discovered shortly after boarding the tram that it would have been a 1 1/2 mile walk just to catch a ferry boat at the Transportation and Ticket Center. THEN you take the ferry or monorail to the Magic Kingdom park entrance. This is the only way to get to Magic Kingdom besides the busses. You can’t just drive up and park like you can at the other three parks.

Once inside the Magic Kingdom this time, I had a different attack strategy. I just HAD to share Pirates of the Caribbean with DQ and The Teen. Afterwards, I gave DQ & The Teen the Splash fastpasses I had obtained earlier, told them to go ride it and enjoy, and then meet us ASAP at the Crystal Palace for dinner ressies with Tigger, Pooh, Eeyore, and Piglet.

I always KNEW Tigger was an LSU Fan!

After dinner, DQ & The Teen went off to do their own thing while Me, DH, and the girls went off to Adventureland to ride Alladin's Magic Carpets as per Little Bird's very special request. I rode in the front of the carpet with Kangaroo and Little Bird rode in the back with DH. Kangaroo and I could control the up and down movement of the carpet while DH and Little Bird could tilt it forward or backward. Surrounding the Magic Carpet ride are big, bronze, camel statues with turning heads that shoot water at unsuspecting tourists. I knew about them and had managed to avoid them. What I didn’t know is that one of them has his head pointed at the Magic Carpet ride. If you’re on the carpet and at the right level, you will get “spit” on as you fly by this camel! It was quite a refreshing surprise!

Next, I wanted to show DH the Haunted Mansion because it was one of my favorite rides from 20 years ago and I felt the need to share. He was concerned that it would be too scary for the girls. I told him it was very mild and they wouldn’t be bothered by it at all. At the entrance to the line, there is a hearse pulled by an invisible horse. I pointed it out to Little Bird and told her, “Do you see the invisible horse?” At first she said yes but then she said, “It’s not an invisible horse! I can see the stick that holds the harness up!” What an observant child!

The Haunted Mansion

Once on the ride, she sat quite close to me but other than that didn’t seem bothered by the special effects of the Haunted Mansion. Kangaroo even requested “Let’s do that again!”. DH didn’t want to wait in the 20 minute line again. I should've gotten Fastpasses for a second run through but, alas, it'll have to wait for our next visit to the World.

We headed on over to Toontown in hopes of meeting up with the fairies or other characters. I ran inside the Toontown Hall of Fame tent to see what the wait times were for meeting the Fairies. When I saw the number 75, I decided that it wasn’t worth the wait for this time. We were told that Mickey and Minnie were meeting visitors at Mickey’s house with less than a 30 minute wait so we walked over there.

We toured through Mickey’s house and exited into his back yard and vegetable garden where his Hollywooden Vine tomato variety was growing. It’s from the Maximus Ketchupicus species. We looked around and admired the Mickey pumpkins and cacti before getting into the line for a private audience with the Mice.

In Mickey's Living Room

Hollywooden Vine tomato Variety from the species Maximus Ketchupicus.

Mickey and Donald cacti. Waiting patiently to meet the Grand Mice.

We entered the room where Mickey & Minnie were greeting guests for autographs and pictures. It was our turn to meet them and Minnie greeted both girls with hugs and kisses. She was so excited to see their red and white polka dot tops. She began jumping up and down pointing at each girl, grabbed the bottom of her own dress and pointed back and forth from her dress to the girls tops. Then she grabbed Mickey’s hand to get his attention and showed him the girl’s tops as well. It was so funny and the girls loved every second of it.

Minnie gets excited and compares her dress to the girls outfits.
Minnie tries to get Mickey's attention to show him the outfits! He's distracted here by looking at Little Bird's orange gel bracelet with mommy & daddy's cell phone numbers engraved on it.

Mickey pointed at the orange gel bracelet on Little Bird’s hand as if to ask about it. Little Bird seemed to understand and explained to him that it has mommy and daddy’s cell phone numbers engraved on it and if she were to get lost she was supposed to go to a worker with a name tag and show them the bracelet. Mickey made motions as if to say, “That’s a great idea!” and slapped his knee. It was truly a magical moment with the Mice.

Posing for a picture with the Mice.

After leaving our visit with Mickey & Minnie, we went on to tour Minnie’s house followed by a ride on Goofy’s Barnstormer roller coaster. This roller coaster is a mini Big Thunder Mountain coaster. Where Big Thunder Mountain is a 3 minute ride, Barnstormer is only 1 minute. The girls loved Barnstormer so much that they immediately requested another ride. It takes longer to walk through the waiting maze for this ride than the ride itself! But we obliged the girls and rode it again. I told DH at that point that they could definitely handle the Big Thunder Mountain ride without a problem.

By this time, it was nearly 10 p.m. I remembered then that it was nearly fireworks time….meaning the crowds exiting the park were going to be horrendous! DH can’t stand crowds (I later jokingly diagnosed him with demophobia) so we tried to exit as quickly as possible. We made it around Cinderella’s castle and on to Main Street where we entered the gifts shops as before for an uncrowded straight shot to the entrance through air conditioning. We left DQ and The Teen to fend for themselves while we rode the ferry back to the parking area. DH the girls and I arrived back at the camper at approximately midnight. DQ and The Teen arrived about 30 minutes later.

We went to bed tired but happy. I mentioned to DH that I thought we had made the right decision by letting the kids sleep in this morning.

Disney 2009, Day 5 pt 1: Magic Kingdom

DH & I left the kids to sleep in while we took the Fort Wilderness boat to Magic Kingdom. We got there just in time for the opening ceremony that happens just before they open the park. The show runs about 7 minutes long and starts about 15 minutes before “opening” ending with Mickey and the family throwing out Pixie dust and opening the park. Then everyone makes a mad dash for the ropes which are dropped right at 9 a.m. in front of Adventureland and Frontierland.

DH @ the Lawnmower Tree

Fort Wilderness Lodge from the boat across Bay Lake.

Next time we go to Disney, we plan to stay here!

DH decided that since the kids weren’t with us, he would follow my plan for this morning. Due to my 6 months worth of researching for this trip, I knew about passing through the gift shops while the rest of the “herd” was crowded out on Main Street. As a result, we walked right through without having to slow down or bump shoulders with anyone AND we were in air conditioning! If you’re at the opening and facing down Main street, start walking through the emporium on your left, you’ll exit the shops just before Casey’s on Main Street. Take a left there, and cut through Adventureland. You can cut through to Frontierland if you take a right at the Magic Carpets. Then you have a straight shot to the mountains! It was great to follow this plan without having to become anxious about fighting crowds.

We got our Fastpasses for Big Thunder Mountain and then got in the standby line for Splash Mountain. We waited only 5 minutes for Splash. It was absolutely Magical to ride splash Mountain with my hubby and without the kids! After riding Splash, we went to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride with NO waiting and then Jungle Cruise, which had a 20 minute wait but it wasn't too bad. By this time, we were getting hungry since we had skipped breakfast so we opted to try the Counter service restaurant at Pecos Bill’s.

The Lunch Menu to view while waiting at the Jungle Cruise.

DH wanted to go straight to Big Thunder Mountain but I talked him into letting our food settle first on a ride around Magic Kingdom on the Magic Kingdom Railroad. I remembered this Railroad from my childhood visit and always wondered what it was like to right all the way around the Magic Kingdom. Well, this trip, I got my chance. I wasn’t too disappointed but I think I could’ve skipped it. It’s really not as exciting as I thought it would be. I prob'ly won't ride it next time unless I want to get to the front of the park without walking or fighting crowds.

We got off the Railroad back at Frontierland, exited at Splash Mountain, grabbed two Fastpasses for Splash, and then rode the Big Thunder Mountain. What fun!!! Especially again, to ride without worrying about the kids. After the roller coaster, we decided to walk back up to the park entrance, cutting through the gift shops again for the air conditioning. We got back on the boat to Fort Wilderness where we laid down for a mid day nap while DQ took the girls for a bus ride around the campground and pony rides at Pioneer Hall.

Cinderella's castle when approached from Bay Lake on a boat. Beautiful!

DQ & the girls returned to the camper about 2:30 p.m., DH & I woke up from our naps, and I dressed the girls in their red and white polka dot tops and white shorts in hopes of meeting Minnie & Mickey. Then we headed back to Magic Kingdom…this time WITH the kiddos.

Disney 2009, Day 4 Pt 1: Animal Kingdom

This morning we got up early again and were out of the camper by 7:30 a.m. We were thinking we’d go eat breakfast at the Trail’s End restaurant. DH isn’t too keen on the Disney transportation and opted to drive to Trail’s End. He got very frustrated when he couldn’t find a parking area! As it turns out the only way to get there is via campground bus. Oh well, that worked out anyway because to have breakfast at the Trail’s End buffet counts at a Table Service credit instead of a Counter/Quick service.

So, we begin to leave the campground and hubs says, “I know I saw a Shoney’s in town” to which I rolled my eyes. I then reminded him that we do have Counter Service credits and even had some left over that we hadn’t used the day before. Why waste time at Shoney’s when we could get on into the park and have something there? He growled, “okay” and we were on our way to Animal Kingdom.

We plugged Animal Kingdom into the GPS and opted for shortest distance. Apparently the GPS isn’t up to date….or Maybe Disney changed the roads recently or something…but Maggie kept directing us into “Authorized Vehicles” and “Cast Members only” areas. FINALLY, we re-routed and found ourselves at the Animal Kingdom parking area.

Having done much research on the planning of this trip, I saw the lines backing up at the park turnstiles but I was pleased to know that we needed to go into the Rain Forest Café and Gift shop areas. We were directed straight through to the double doors at the back of the gift shops. Those doors opened at 8:30 and we were standing in line for turnstiles at 8:40 a.m. The turnstiles opened at 8:45 a.m. While the rest of the crowd was in line to have their bags checked and tickets scanned, we entered without much waiting and The Teen sprinted off to Expedition Everest for fastpasses for him and DQ while I, DH, and the girls waited for Rope Drop. Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, & Mickey greeted us before dropping the rope and letting the herd in. Then we located Pizzafari for a Counter/Quick service breakfast.

The Welcome Party!

After our breakfast, I attempted to refresh my memory of “the plan” of attack. However, since we had deviated from “the plan” with the breakfast stop at Pizzafari, the husband wanted to just walk to see what we see. Personally, I wanted to stick to "the plan" as much as possible but when one travels with the husband.....well....straying from “the plan”, things will quickly get out of whack and I feel we will not get to see all we want to.

As we began walking toward Camp Minnie Mickey we saw a short line. Looking to see what was going on, we saw Lilo & Stitch signing autographs! We were so excited! These were our first characters to see besides the Princesses!!! We got in line and waited a very short time before meeting them. Poor little Lilo was looking for a boyfriend and kept asking her handler the find out the ages of each little boy in line. Unfortunately, there were NO six year olds!!!

Stitch noticed The Teen’s shirt that said, “Will Trade Big Sister for Fastpass”. Stitch just thought that was so funny and started checking pockets all around for fastpasses to trade for DQ. It was really funny because he couldn’t find any!!! DQ told Stitch, “That’s okay. I’ll give you a kiss anyway!” Stitch just LOVED that!

We then went on to Camp Minnie Mickey to see about getting in line for the Festival of the Lion King show. The place was deserted! Nobody in sight! I couldn’t hear anything going on, so I assumed that the Festival of the Lion King had already started. In fact, it had. We sat down at a picnic table in the shade to peruse the park map and get oriented since we hadn't taken the time to do that in the first place. Suddenly, we heard an announcement over a loudspeaker that it was Dance Party Time! We were invited (via loudspeaker) to come on down and dance with Chip and Dale, Koda, and the other bear from Brother Bear, Meeko from Pocahontas and others.

DQ Dances with Friends

Kangaroo also dances with friends.

After dancing with the characters and doing the hokey pokey, we got in line for the Festival of the Lion King. We didn’t have to wait long. This show is AWESOME! And way too short! This show is an explosion of color, music and amazing talent including singers, fire dancers, acrobats, and stilt walkers! If you’re in the Animal Kingdom at any time, make sure you see this show!

While in this show, I overheard a woman sitting behind me mention meeting some characters outside with NO waiting! However, the Lion King show had already started and I didn’t want to make a spectacle by escorting the entire family out of the auditorium. Immediately, after the show had ended we got in a line to see Safari Minnie. Donald, Goofy, and Mickey were meeting people too but it was so hot that we just decided not to wait around to see them thinking we would see them at the Magic Kingdom.

After meeting Minnie, we headed over to DinoLand. By the time we reached it, DH was frustrated and hot. DQ and The Teen were complaining about not having time to run over to Expedition Everest to use their fastpasses.

DH and I walked with the girls through DinoLand keeping an eye on the wait times for the rides. Nothing looked appealing to us though at the time it never occurred to me that the girls might want to ride something. We ended up just wandering around for a little bit before finding a snack cart and some shade. On our way around, we passed by the Flame Tree BBQ, a counter/quick service restaurant with outdoor seating. The menu included smoke BBQ ribs, smoked BBQ chicken salad, BBQ pulled pork sandwiches (among others), fried and onion rings, chocolate cake, soft drinks, beer and wine, coffee and tea. The outdoor atmosphere is great but also provides begging privileges to the ducks that wander around. Don’t feed them though; Animal Kingdom doesn’t want to see anyone hurt by “fowl” play.

Once we had finished our snack, we wandered over to the Maharajah Jungle Trek. This is a themed, self-guided, walking trail featuring native Asian wildlife such as giant bats, komodo dragons, and tigers. It’s a great place to find some shade and get away from the crowds. It exits near the Kali River Rapids, which at this time of our visit had a wait time of 2 hours for a 5 minute boat ride!

After lunch at the previously mentioned Flame Tree restaurant, we decided to call it a day. The heat had just drained all energy out of us resulting in cranky tourists. We made a beeline for the park exit with a detour to the bathrooms. While the girls and I were in the ladies room, The Teen stuck his head in the door and called out that Brer Bear, Rafiki, Pluto, Brer Rabbit, and Governor Ratcliffe were doing meet & greets right there by the park exit. I didn’t really care to see Gov. Ratcliffe but was very excited to see the others.

DQ had said that the only reason she wanted to come to Disney was to meet Rafiki. Imagine her excitement when The Teen made the aforementioned announcement!! She and The Teen went straight to the line for Rafiki. Then we all got autographs and pictures for Brer Bear and Brer Rabbit. Brer Bear was so excited to see his picture in our homemade autograph books that he collected all the books and proceeded to walk off with them! His handler stopped him and asked where he was going and he showed her the books. She told him that she knew he was excited, that no one ever has pictures of him in their autograph books, but he couldn’t just take off with them. It wouldn't be right. So, he bowed his head and returned to us for pictures. I did ask where Brer Fox was and Brer Bear responded with a shrug and wave of his hand as if he didn’t know and didn’t care.

Then we got Pluto’s autograph and picture, retrieved poor DH from babysitting the stroller in the blazing sun, and left the park. DH was beginngin to feel ill due to the heat. He really needed to get back to the camper to cool off for a bit.

Now it's off for a nap and Hoop Dee Doo reservations!

Disney 2009, Day 4 pt 2: Hoop Dee Doo

After our Animal Kingdom morning, we got back to the camper about 2:30 p.m. for some naps and swim time. The girls and I got into the pool at 5:30 p.m. and at 6 p.m. the lifeguards blew whistles chasing everyone out of the pool due to an incoming thunderstorm! We returned to the camper to get dressed for our Hoop Dee Doo dinner reservations at 9:30 P.M. After having learned previously that there is no parking for drivers at the Hoop Dee Doo, we had to go to the bus stop to catch a campground bus. Since it was raining, we had to dig out our rain ponchos. DH was very upset to learn that we had only 5 ponchos. I attempted to make one out of a garbage bag for Kangaroo but DH wouldn’t hear of it, deciding to make a run for it through the rain when needed.

We caught the bus, ran for the check in counter, and sat on a bench outside the Pioneer Hall while the rain continued to fall. We got checked in and was told that a greeter would come around to collect our confirmation tickets in about 30 minutes.

DH asked me, “30 minutes? I thought our reservations were for 9 o’clock.”

I told him, ”So did I, but I was mistaken. They are for 9:30.”

He says: “You mean to tell me that I just ran through the rain, got soaking wet for this dinner, only to get here a full hour early!?”

I just don't get him sometimes. I get fussed at for being late to places and now he's gonna fuss because I'm early. Men.....Hmmph!

To make matters worse, during our verbal exchange, the rain stopped. We COULD have waited just a few minutes at the camper and not had to run through the weather to get to our destination. Oh well….live and learn. In times like this, one must learn to tap into their sense of adventure. After all, WE’RE ON VACATION!!!

At 9:30 p.m., the doors opened and we were directed to our table where there was a big bowl of Tossed Green Salad and a slab of cornbread waiting for us with an aluminum pitcher of ice cold water to pour into our Ball drink “glasses”. Our waiter, Mark, came around to get our drink orders. He brought even bigger Ball jars filled with our drinks.

You put your right foot in....

You put your right foot out....

You do the Hokey Pokey and sing along with the rest of the cast.

While we enjoyed the “pre-dinner” fixin’s, the entertainment arrived via fake stagecoach and provided us with some song and dance before the waiters returned to our tables with metal pails filled to the rim with fried chicken and BBQ ribs. DH remarked that if he’d know we were having ribs for dinner, he wouldn’t have ordered them at the Flame Tree for lunch!

A few minutes later, the waiter returned to our table with big bowls of garlic mashed potatoes (with the potato peelings) and baked beans. We ate dinner while enjoying more fun, rollicking, Western themed vaudeville entertainment. Included in the entertainment was an introduction to the dessert in which the waiters appeared on stage while balancing platters of strawberry shortcake in their hands before descending into the dining room to distribute the sweet concoctions to the dining patrons.

That's the Hoop Dee Doo!

Disney 2009, Day 3: Princess Breakfast & Epcot

We woke early and left the camper at 7 a.m. driving to Epcot. About a mile away, I remembered that I needed our parking pass that I had forgotten to bring with us and had left at the camper. We turned around to go back and get it and were finally on our way. We arrived at Epcot @ 8 a.m., took some family pictures in front of the big golf ball, and walked very fast towards Norway in the World Showcase.

We arrived and checked in there at 8:10 and were greeted with “Guten Morgen!” We were ushered in by Agnes and introduced to Belle before being seated at our table. Our waiter was a cute little guy named Knut (pronounced Kah-Noot). We were served two platters of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and hash browns. We also had a huge fruit and pastry bar to choose from as well. It was all you can eat while we waited for the other princesses to come around to visit each one of the tables.

First up was Cinderella, who was very pretty and sweet. Sleeping Beauty (Aurora) was very chatty and kept going on and on about the fairies and how they couldn’t make up their minds about what color her dress should be. She says one fairy likes pink and another likes blue. She saw our tie-dye shirts and couldn’t stop talking about the fairies changing her dress color every time she turned around and that several times she’s left the house in a tie-dye design! She was just amazing!

Snow White visited us next and she was chatty as well but we couldn’t hear her as she was so soft spoken. She also spoke with a very high pitched voice very much like the cartoon character. Next up we were greeted by Ariel in her human form. She was very sweet and kept calling the girls, “Starfishes”. “What a beautiful Starfish you are!” etc. etc. She was so cute!

Since this was our first time using our tickets for the prepaid dining plan, I wasn’t sure how I should settle up with the ticket. So, when Knut brought our ticket, we just signed it and got up to leave. We sent The Teen off as our Fast Pass volunteer for Soarin’ and we settled in to walk over. We didn’t get too far when here comes poor Knut chasing us down. It seems that he needed to swipe the multi-day plastic card/park ticket thing. Oops!!!

Then we walked in circles for a little bit before finding The Land for the Soarin’ ride. Fastpasses in hand, we went on to The Seas with Nemo story ride and then sat in for a visit with Crush at Turtle Talk. Crush actually can see into the "people tank" and talk to the people in the audience. It's one of those things that make you think, "How do they do that!?"

When we left there, we were undecided about what to do next. Hubby decided that he wanted to try the Ellen’s Energy Adventure ride so we went over there. I last saw this exhibit 21 years ago when it was sponsored by Exxon as Universe of Energy. Back then, you would stand in a large preshow room, just like today, but then the film screen was made of 100 turning sections that resembled cubes.

Today's story is more comical than in the past with the script following Ellen DeGeneres as she dreams about the various sources of energy when she dozes off while watching a Jeopardy contest about it. A former high school friend is competing on Jeopardy prompting the dream sequence.

This attraction also features Bill Nye the Science Guy and Jamie Lee Curtis. Yes, it’s mostly a film. However, the highlight is when your seated theatre starts moving, slowly, past some moving dinos. At its worst, it’s a good place to escape the sun or afternoon rains and relax. The entire show is 45 minutes long.

After experiencing the stroll back in time, we lit out into the shade for some other attractions. DQ and The Teen wanted to experience Mission: Space but I didn’t think the girls could or would like this ride. So, DH & I opted out and sat in the shade with a Popsicle waiting on DQ & The Teen to do the ride and get out. In the meantime, we also explored Innoventions East where the girls played in the Test Labs.

At this time it was nearly 1 p.m. and the girls were experiencing melt downs. Leaving DQ & The Teen at Epcot, DH & I decided it would be wise to head back the camper for a mid day break.

Oh, and NO, she did not eat an apple.

After our nap, we returned to Epcot at approx. 3 p.m. As we were walking from the parking lot, it began to rain on us, though not too heavily…just enough to cool things off for a bit. I phoned DQ (cell phones at Disney are a great thing to have, though we experienced spotty reception) and had her and The Teen meet us a Spaceship Earth where we just walked right on this ride.

During my visit 2 decades ago, I remember wanting to experience S.E. but not being able to for whatever reason. I was so excited to ride it this time with my hubby and kids by my side!!! What a neat ride! After this one, we went straight over to Soarin’ to use our Fastpasses. We were waved on through after Kangaroo was measured to see if she was tall enough to ride. Then we hiked for what seemed like a half mile to the next “station” where the cast member would take our fastpasses before directing us to the ride. We were just walking up to the second “station” when Little Bird announced that she needed to go to the restroom.....AGAIN. DH and I looked at each other, asked for the RR location, and proceed to march ALL THE WAY back the way we had come to take Little Bird to pee. THEN we hiked ALL THE WAY back to the second station for our 2nd attempt to board Soarin’. Whew!

Soarin' ride is a multi-sensory simulator attraction where you sit in “flight” seats while you are lifted 40 feet in the air while your feet dangle below. An IMAX projection dome wraps 180 degrees around you so you’re surrounded by scenery!!! You actually feel the wind in your hair and smell the orange groves, sea breeze, and evergreens! You will even pick up your feet to keep them from hitting the tops of the trees! I did! However, it is my professional tourist opinion that although Soarin’ is a great ride, I don’t think it quite lives up to the “hype” that has built around it.

After Soarin’, we got a Popsicle snack and headed for the World Showcase to collect passport stamps in our home made Showcase passports. We started at the Kid Cot station in Canada for a passport stamp and a handwritten greeting. The girls got a poster board mask and began to decorate it with Sharpie markers that were provided. Each country also attaches a paper “charm” to the mask. You can visit all of the countries in a day! Or do as we did and split it up into 2 days.

Due to time constraints for our first full day at the World, we stopped collecting passport stamps at Japan and headed back up to the front of the Showcase where it meets Future World to stake out a fireworks viewing spot. DQ & The Teen each had fastpasses for Test Track and went off to make good use of those while DH, the girls, and I enjoyed the fireworks.
Then we joined the rest of the world in the mass exit. This is the first time that I think to myself, “I’m sure glad we drove over here!”

Making it through the crowds, we made it to the camper and were in bed fast asleep by 11 p.m.

Disney 2009, Day 2: Destination Walt Disney World!!!

I started this day with waking up at 3:30 a.m.!! I guess that was due to us going to bed so early! Thinking it was too early to get up, we laid there a while longer listening to the wildlife around us come awake. Finally, at 5 a.m., DH decided it was time to hit the road.

Getting back into the town of Marianna, we plugged Ft. Wilderness address into the Magellan and away we went. Soon it was brought to my attention that though I thought the Florida Caverns State Park was the halfway point of our original destination of WDW.....apparently, I had thought wrong. It seems that I was about an hour and a half off from that assumption.

Further down the road, we discovered that when we plugged the Fort Wilderness address in, we also chose “fastest time”. The Magellan had decided to take us far out of our way by routing us through Jacksonville, FL to go down I-95!!! At the Lake City exit, we discovered the error of her ways, corrected our route, and were once again heading the right direction.

We arrived at Fort Wilderness at approx. 2 p.m. I had previously had grand plans to find the Trail’s End Restaurant and Buffet to eat dinner with the family. I later discovered that Trail’s End is a table service restaurant….not a counter or quick service. Since I was already over booked for TS’s for the week, I mentioned doing something else. So, after setting up the camper, my hubs mentioned going into Orlando to find a place to eat. This suggestion didn't really make any sense because we had hot dogs and lunch meat stuff to eat at the camper. However, I guess no one was really in the mood for that.

We ended up at the UNO Chicago Grill which turned out to be a very expensive pizza joint. He had the Fisherman’s Platter with fried shrimp, French fries, fried onions, & house salad with blue cheese dressing. DQ and I both ordered (I won’t say we enjoyed it) the steak & shrimp dinner with steamed broccoli and rice pilaf. The girls and The Teen each had a personal pizza. This dinner costs $95 before tips and taxes!!!!

Then we went to Winn Dixie to grab a few more food items before heading back to the campground. The kids and I decided to kill some time by exploring the Disney Transportation system. We hopped on a campground bus, rode to Pioneer Hall and Marine Ferry, rode the boat over to Magic Kingdom, got on the monorail to go to Epcot but had to switch monorails at the TTA. It took 2 hours to get from Fort Wilderness to Epcot…..ONE WAY!!! I’m thinking that tomorrow we’ll attempt to ride the bus from Fort Wilderness to Epcot….or drive since as resort guests we have free parking.

On the return trip to the campground, we passed by Pioneer Hall where there was a horse drawn carriage for hire. The Percheron Draft horse named Dutch was standing by. Little Bird wanted to pet the horse but there’s a sign posted disallowing any touching or petting. She began crying when she was told that she was not allowed to pet Dutch. The carriage driver, Ashley, was outstanding in her magical ability to get down to eye level with Little Bird and explain to her the reasons for those rules. She explained that just like we humans don’t like getting poked in the eyes or having little hands waved in our faces, Dutch doesn’t care for it either. However, Ashley asked Dutch if it would be okay to give him a special scratch on the neck when it was bed time for him and that special scratch would be from Little Bird. Dutch “magically” turned his head and looked right at Little Bird and nodded “yes” that he would enjoy a special scratch for Ashley to give him for Little Bird.

We said our goodbyes and the girls blew kisses to Dutch, who again “magically” turned his head and nodded night night to the girls and even “blew” a kiss back!!! Isn’t funny how a horsey snort can be translated into a kiss?

We finally returned to the camper at 10 p.m. to eat a quick hot dog and listen to the fireworks show that we couldn’t see due to the trees. The girls were tired and getting quite cranky, so DQ & I took them with us to the bathhouse to shower. I also gathered up some laundry to wash & dry. Laundry is $2 per load!!!! Well, $4 if you wash AND dry your laundry. Plus the little box of detergent for $1 that I purchased BEFORE I found my detergent in the camper!

Disney 2009, Day 1: Traveling & FL Caverns SP

We woke up and got everything and everyone loaded into the camper and suburban for 6:30 a.m. We were all buckled in when DH turned the key to start the truck and rec’d a “click” instead. Seems someone had left some lights on the night before. Hmmm. So, we rounded up some jumper cables and jumped it off. THEN at 7 a.m. we were on our way.

We arrived in Marianna, FL @ 2 p.m. where we set up camp at Florida Caverns State Park. Upon setting up the camper, DH suggested that we find a place to eat and then stop by a Winn Dixie for some groceries. We found a little hole in the wall restaurant, The Waffle Iron, and went in to eat. As soon as we placed our order, the rain began. It rained a couple of drops when the bottom fell out. Suddenly it was raining AND HAILING sideways!!! There was hail the size of large marbles was falling all around!

We sat and continued to eat our meal, enjoying the sound of the pounding rain and hail. It stopped as soon as it had started and the sun was shining again as we exited the restaurant and headed back to the camper.

Once back in the campground, DH wanted to sightsee a little so we explored the nature center and took a few pictures at the entrance to the Cave. This area is very neat with caves, swamps, and sinkholes existing side by side. It truly is a geographical wonder.

At the cave entrance with my GPS.

Of course, I couldn’t visit such an area without looking for a few geocaches. After finding only one and nearly smothering to death on the swarm of mosquitoes I was trying to avoid inhaling, I gave up and decided not to bother with geocaches for the rest of this trip. I have never in my life seen mosquitoes so bad!!!

We finished the evening up with a sandwich dinner followed by collapsing into bed @ approx. 7:30 pm CST. Needless to say, we all slept very well!!!

The Blue Hole swimming area. This area is currently closed due to turbidity. As you can see from the picture, the water is very cloudy.
One of the many sinkholes in the area.

Now on to Day 2 of our Trip.