Walkerfiend family's 2nd (annual?) trip and travel/transportation mishap report.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

"If you've met one Autistic kid... Then, you've met one Autistic kid."

I haven't heard this one before. What a great (and true) saying!

 

So, just know when we make odd looking choices and ride the same head scratching ride - maybe over and over, because we're going to be doing that! :) There's a little reason. Besides our "typical" weirdness! :)

Hey, every family is different. That's one of the great things about trip reports- no one does WDW the same- and it's fun to see what other folks enjoy. Over the years, we spent a lot of time doing weird stuff too. So, keep it coming!

TCD

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Love it and very well said. We walk to the beat of a different drummer as well. I have kind of forgotten what the typical drum beat sounds like lol ; 0). Enjoying your TR so far.

[WalkerFiend 22]

Ok - I just had to hijack my own thread for one second and post this here while I'm working on the next chapter - LOL.  This is a picture of my living room this evening.  The kids are off school tomorrow and so they wanted to sleep in the tent  This Camping thing just might have been a good idea.  I think they like it.  :)  Stay tuned - I'm working, just had to share.

 

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

My kids used to love to do this. Now we go and sleep in the camper.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Up arrow for the tent in the living room.

 

We did that a lot.

 

I miss those days.

 

Enjoy.

 

TCD

[WalkerFiend 22]

Wednesday: 6/10 

 

9:12AM - We’re off!  Rain, Rain Stay Away! Once again we’re off at the crack of 9AM.  Hey it’s vacation.  

 

 

You can still see some raindrops from the off and on all evening rains from the day before.  Last year we were haunted by wet weather pretty much our entire stay - so much so that we never once got to see any of the parades; they ended up getting canceled every time we tried.  We are starting to worry about this year as well - but we’ve build in more flex time and generally a less demanding schedule this year.  We’ve got Park Hopper passes because the price difference wasn’t so much, but we’re not really planning on doing any hopping.  Heck - I think the kids would be thrilled if we just let them stay in the Fort’s pool all day everyday...

 

-No Boat to the Magic Kingdom.

Out of the gate we’re visited by the transport gremlin.  Got to the Marina and - we thought we were in for better luck.  Well...  Here comes the boat…  And it docked in short order and let the few arriving guests depart. 

 

That’s when the first mate (uh I may have just made the first mate thing up - not sure what he’s called) comes over and tell us all that the boat is going out of service…  He says another boat will be along “shortly”…  And off they go…  Straight across Bay lake and out of sight.  I guess that must be where they service to boats, I noticed one of the big ferry boats coming from that direction yesterday at one point.  

 

One of the returning guests mentioned that one of the seats had “broken” in transit.  Not sure how it was broken…  

 

Also - worth mentioning:  Have you seen some of these people handling the ropes? WOW!  One of the men I watched - I can’t describe it.  He just kinda grabbed the rope, flicked his wrists, there was a blur, and the boat is tied to the dock.  It was darn impressive to watch  One of the other guests looks at the guy, smiles, and says “You’ve done that once or twice haven’t you?”  Hah!  Understatement of the day.

 

Also worth mentioning: We did not see ( or hear) the “Singing Captain” at all on this whole trip.  I hope he’s still around and was maybe just away on a vacation of his own...

 

Ok -back to it:  Well - the wait is on.  This time we’re really not concerned.  Other than squirmy impatient kids there  is no time crunch for any of our FP selections today (we hope).  We passed the time talking with some other guests visiting from Australia, very pleasant and friendly.  I’m not really sure how much time passed, but eventually another boat came and off to the MK we went.

 

Once in the gate we took train to Fantasyland station and still had a some time to spare before our first ride of day: Barnstormer.  Somehow neither of us managed to get a picture.  I think were both afraid of dropping the phone.  So, you are just going to have to trust me on this one.   :)  It was a fun ride.

 

It’s hot already.  Seems the clouds have already started building and a quick check of the weather radar is not looking promising.  Wattayagonnado?

 

We went an looked the Gift shops for awhile for a AC break and then we’re off to Dumbo!!!

 

 

Well.  Dumbo was Dumbo.  The kids loved it and that’s all that matters. The water and fountains around the ride gave me the illusion that I was not in fact about to melt. 

 

Another glance at the radar is little more hopeful.  We’ve got a lot of time now before our next FP and we voted to venture back down to the People Mover.  

 

We are a selfie-stick free family -but...

 

 

 

Today the People Mover Grimlin rides with us and the ride stops about 10 seconds after sitting down.  Now, I’ve started to detect a pattern here.  LOL!  Despite the delay, it was actually kinda neat (for the geek in me) to be able to watch the Cast Members get everything back operating.  Soon we were off and the rest of the ride went on without a hitch.  

 

Next it’s off to get a snack and play in the misting station for a little while before our next FP.  

 

Eventually we hoof it back to the Mine Train… Now - I think this is a newer ride.  I loved it, Ben loved it…  But that ride can be a bit rough!  I think I actually strained my back a little (something zigged and the ride zagged - getting old sucks!) and Maddie came away saying that it: “Made my stomach hurt.”  It’s not that we did’t really have fun.  It just seems a teeny tiny bit rough compared to some of the other Disney coaster type rides.  Oh well  I think we’d all go again.  

 

We’ve reached “oven” on the WalkerFiend weather scale and it’s time for lunch.  We wondered through the park and over to Pinocchio Village Haus.  

 

 

We generally pick our resturaunts where we’ve found things on the kids menu that Ben might eat.  To say he is a picky eater is an understatement.  One very nice thing happened here.  A tiny bit of Magic (for us)… It was still fairly crowded and so they had the Cast Members herding the cats so that everybody got a seat as quickly as possible.  We got really lucky and got a table sitting right next to the windows looking out onto “Small World”.

 

 

The kids had a great time watching and waving at folks as they floated past on the beginning of their ride.  I was just happy to be inside with AC and dry as the rains have arrived.  I hope not for all day, but, it’s FL…  The Radar did not look good but it actually did quit raining and the sun came back out.  I moved the weather status from “Oven” to “Oven/Sauna” LOL!

 

Since we’d sat and watched the riders heading off on Small World the kids decided it would be a great idea to ride it again since we were right there anyway - and so we did.

 

One thing I’d never noticed about Small World before is the clock.  Between last year and this we’ve ridden this ride PLENTY :)  because there is a bit of a wait today we actually saw it in action. 

 

 

After some exploring...

 

 

We went to yet another attraction that we’d missed completely last year: The Hall of Presidents. The kids we’re probably a little less impressed with this, but I thought it was OK.  AC, and rest for the feet… Humm...  Was that thunder?   Oh yah!  We exited the HOP into a torrential downpour. Ponchos are good thing to have handy in FL! 

 

It was pretty weird wading through what looked like a mostly empty MK.  We made our way back to the entrance and the boat back to the Fort.  Thankfully the boats were still running (or they’d restarted by the time we got to the dock.)  Last year we’d been stuck a couple of times when the boats were halted due to storms.

 

It seems like it rained, and rained, and rained, but we were ready for a rest at this point anyway.  After the storms past we visited the pool for awhile and as dinner time approached we decided to check off another form of disney transport - the Monorail…

 

We took boat back to MK, then caught the Monorail to Contemporary for dinner at Contempo Cafe.  Looked around in there for a while and then rode the monorail loop around the rest of the way before making our way back to the fort.

 

(Have you noticed that we don’t do a lot of cooking?  We are not a cooking people when it can be avoided!)  Hah - actually we tend to do more of our own cooking when we are camping - just not this week.  These little side trips were a lot of fun.  Any excuse to be on the Train, Boat, Monorail is a good thing in Ben’s book.

 

The rest of the evening was pretty laid back and relaxed, we did some looping, noticed that the 900 loop was completely empty…  They didn’t have a barriers up or anything, it was just completely and totaly empty.

 

And finally we ended the evening back at the beach for the EWP and Wishes.  Another great day, rain and all.  We are happy campers.

 

Pedometer : 10,828 (I thought my feet hurt..  ha.)

 

Next up:  It’s off to Epcot!  Stay tuned.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

What a great day in spite of the rain!

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Nice pictures. In all my years visiting the Magic Kingdom I don't think I have ever seen the clock in action. Definitely something to be aware of in the future.

[Beckers 1,136]

I'm. In!

The hot air balloon landing on your street is pretty cool!

[lightbikes 73]

Pedometer : 10,828 (I thought my feet hurt..  ha.)

 

 

Good work on that pedometer!!!!   

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Great report! I'm really enjoying it. Love the living room tent :) Wow...that was a lot of steps!

I agree with your wife's comment about hotels; it's that same reasoning that brought us to buy our camper.

Looking forward to reading more!

[WalkerFiend 22]

Thanks everybody.

The wife has pointed out about a thousand grammar and puctuation and spelling issues so far (she's a teacher and grades hard!). I'll fix them! :)

I had a work emergency intervene tonight, and all weekend I've had very limited internet access. I'm working on the next installment.

All I'll say right now is that we are no place close to the record Pedometer step count yet!

And with that little tease. I'll get back to work. :)

[WalkerFiend 22]

OK!  Sorry of the long delay - here we go...

 

Thursday: 6/11

8:27AM

To Epcot!

Well...  First, to Trails End for take out Gravy and Biscuits!  These Disney and Fort calories do not count on vacation.  Repeat this with me, does not count...

 

I'm not a big breakfast eater but today the craving has set in and I got up early to get some yummy Fort breakfast food.  

 

We're taking this vacation seriously, and we have no really early FP this morning and so  we managed to get to the Marina at 5 till 10.  Again, we take the boat to MK and then we hop onto the Monorail to the Transportation center, and change to the Epcot line. Everything goes without a hitch and we arrive at about 10 till 11.  

 

 

Today there are no early signs of rain.  The forecast is for hot and partly cloudy.  We've heard this story before however...  It is still FL.

 

With time to spare we wondered over to the Seas and had time to look around before out first FP for Turtle Talk with Crush.  Ok, I'm a full grown man.  The little kid in me loves Turtle Talk!  Will either of my children sit up front with the rest of the kids - no.  Heck!  I'd sit up there if people wouldn't look at me funny!  Haha.  The kids still loved it from the safety of their perches on the bench.  Oh well.  

 

 

Our next FP is a little while away and we have some time to look around the Aquarium Part of The Seas.  We saw sea turtles, Sharks, Rays, and dolphins.  We got a really special treat here. 

 

Some sort of guided thing where a few guests (I'm assuming) actually got into the water with the Dolphins and it looked like they were able to interact with the creatures as they swam in from  the deeper sections to get their fish treats.  Then the fun really started!  The handlers had these Dolphins diving, leaping, circling over and over.  Being able to see this from below the waterline was awesome!  They move like rockets underwater, leap into the air (and vanish from our underwater perspective) and then crash back into the water, diving all the way to the bottom...  Awesome, awesome, awesome!

 

 

These pictures really do not do the sight justice at all.  What a unique perspective!

 

 

Next we rode The Seas with Nemo and Friends and the kids loved it.  We'd rode this last year as well and it's still a hit with the youngans.  

 

Last year we'd visited during a monsoon outside and somehow I lost one of our ponchos on this ride.  The wife still reminds me how much it cost us to buy a replacement on property!  This year I have spares in the backpack if needed, but it's looking nice and hot outside and I think we may actually get a rain free day...

 

Yah the trade in for sun is heat.  It seems hotter here that it ever did at the MK.  Not sure why.  Or maybe this is just all a perception of mine.  Our final FP is Soarin but we have plenty of time and decide to grab some lunch.  Off to the Electric Umbrella we go.

 

After lunch we rode Soarin.  Man, what can I say that's not been said 1,000 times.  I wish that it was longer, I wish the that it was in HD...  Still.  It's a fabulous experience.  We'll be back.  In just a couple of days actually.  We scheduled two Epcot days this time around.

 

Now.  We've past hot and I'm starting to think fondly of the rain storms yesterday hah.  We are headed for the boats.  The plan is to take a boat across to US side of the lagoon and work our way back around to the entrance.  Maybe having a drink along the way.  

 

On the way we decided to stop at the "Cool Spot" and have a tasting of Coke products from around the world. Mom liked Zimbabwe that tasted like raspberry cream soda, daddy and Maddie liked one from Peru that tasted like bubble gum. 

 

Afterwords sloshing with various Sodas we did some shopping and got some souvenirs. 

 

 

 

Now off to the world...  Our plan was to catch a boat to the far side and walk back.  Well.  Our Transportation  gremlin, who had been strangely absent all day decided to show up again now.  Or, we were there on a slow day.  Whatever was going on, only one of the two boats were running and the line for it seems to be  excessive.  So we started off on foot instead and decide to cover the half that we'd missed altogether last year, then catch the boat back.

 

 

That was the plan...  Off we go.  Canada, UK, France.  At France we stopped while Maddie and mom got ice cream.  Ben and I found a small patch of shade beside a fountain and played in the water while we waited.

 

 

 

 

 

The WalkerFiend weather scale tops of at "nuke-at-close range", and then "surface-of-sun".  The needle is creeping toward "Nuke"...  But!  No signs of rain, and so who's complaining!  Ha!  You can see Ben's sweating.

 

 

Morocco, and Japan...  At Japan we got the kids fans with their names written in Japanese and Maddie got a lucky cat in gold.

 

 

Now.  We are done.  Done done.  As in well done, close to broiled.  We looked forward to a easy boat ride back and a relaxing ride back to the fort...  No such luck.  The slow boat was now no boats is seemed, and the line was huge.  So onward we marched.  We ended up walking the rest of the way around the World Showcase.

 

 

We were ready for the Fort and the pool!!!  It's Thursday (I wonder if that really explains why they didn't have both boats running at Epcot) and the crowds seem to be a bit thin.  We hopped the Monorails back, caught the boat, and soon were back at the Fort.  

 

We'd been looking for opportunities to catch the parades and had thought earlier about heading back over to the MK in the evening.   But by the time we reached the dock the kids were entering a surly stage, and we decided for the sake of domestic tranquility that we'd scrap that plan, grab some food, and dunk the kids in the pool until they were done.

 

I’m not sure if it was a slow day, or if the larger boats where having some issue.  A smaller resort boat was waiting at the doc as we get into line for the Fort.  A Cast Member waves us over to the resort boat and we take a little detour to the lodge on the way back.  Despite walking all the way around Epcot because of th long wait of the one operating boat, we’ve had very few issues today.

 

So far.  This next part you may not want to read on a full stomach.  

 

You have been warned.  :)

 

After a quick check on the camper and a short rest…  We got takeout pizza from Trails End for dinner.  Abby stayed back at the camper and the rest of us headed toward the Meadows.  No rains today so it was crowded.  I just wanted to sit.  That is all.  I was toast.  The kids  just want to swim, and in they went.

 

For five minutes.

 

The kids are barely wet... All of the sudden the whistles blow and everyone is out of the pool.  After a few minutes word starts to spread around that somebody, hopefully a baby somebody, has had a bit of, um, an accident in the pool.  Now.  My children are almost beside themselves because they are within feet of their personal favorite place and can't go in.

 

I am just happy to be still.  I hurt, my feet, ankles, legs, hurt.  Heheh.  

 

The geek in me - I'm sorry this is gross, but I had a geek interest in the process of watching the cast, uh, retrieve the troublesome leavings, check the water, check the water, check the water, and, check the water some more.  

 

40 minutes later and the pool is reopened.  I'm not interested in swimming at this point, the kids could care less what was in the pool, they wanted to swim...  And in they went.

 

For five more minutes...

 

Again, the whistles blow, and out everybody comes...

 

So let's review.  In over an hour the kids have managed to get wet, and that is about it.  A total of less than 15 minutes in the actual pool!  

 

I don't know if there is another torpedo in the water, if they missed a depth charge from the first attack, or if there is some other issue now, and, really don't care at this point ha!  We're done.  I know the kids are tired at this point because they really don't even argue about leaving.

 

As darkness fell, we made it up to them with some more looping in the cart.  We ended up at the beach for EWP and Wishes.  Everybody was tired and happy.   

 

This has been a very good day. Poop and all!  :)

 

I peeked at the pedometer and knew why I needed a drink and Tylenol before bed!

  

Pedometer : 16,166 (Ouch!)

 

Tomorrow it's back to the MK...

[Beckers 1,136]

Domestic tranquility lol!!!

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

My children have cleared more pools but thankfully not to poo. As littlest they would not keep their mouths shut and inevitable would choke on water and puke. Oh the joy of being "that" parent.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

My children have cleared more pools but thankfully not to poo. As littlest they would not keep their mouths shut and inevitable would choke on water and puke. Oh the joy of being "that" parent.

 

Oh gosh... had to laugh at that :)   I've never been "that" parent for poo or puke... but I've been "that" parent for many other things.  Yes... those moments are um, "awesome"  :)

 

Another great update and oh my gosh... that was A LOT of steps.  I should get myself a pedometer.  Not just for Disney, but maybe a good thought overall.  

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Wow, that was very cool about the dolphins in the Living Seas.

 

Sorry about the transportation (and pool) gremlins.

 

You're doing great with this trip report, by the way.

 

Oh, and I've been meaning to ask- can you translate those steps into distances for us?

 

TCD

[WalkerFiend 22]

Oh gosh... had to laugh at that :) I've never been "that" parent for poo or puke... but I've been "that" parent for many other things. Yes... those moments are um, "awesome" :)

Another great update and oh my gosh... that was A LOT of steps. I should get myself a pedometer. Not just for Disney, but maybe a good thought overall.

Thank you very much! Yah. I think we've all been "That Parent". It's only a matter of time before your number comes up if you have kids! :)

We were using the Pedometer built into our iPhones. Not sure how accurate that really is, but, incidental spot checking seems to say that it's in the ballpark accuracy wise, at least for my purposes.

[WalkerFiend 22]

Wow, that was very cool about the dolphins in the Living Seas.

Sorry about the transportation (and pool) gremlins.

You're doing great with this trip report, by the way.

Oh, and I've been meaning to ask- can you translate those steps into distances for us?

TCD

Thank you! I've read and enjoyed many of your trip reports, normally after the fact, so I do not get to comment very often.

I do not have words or pictures that really capture those Dolphins. It was really a special treat. I could have watched that all day.

As for the "issues". Really I don't intend them to make anybody think we enjoyed our trip any less. I've worried that I'd give a negative impression. Not my intention. It's maybe not always the most fun while it's happening, but in the balance, it was all about as close to perfect as it gets. So when I'm describing them I'm trying to convey at least some tounge-in-cheekedness (look I may have invented a new word!). :)

[WalkerFiend 22]

Oh, and I've been meaning to ask- can you translate those steps into distances for us?

TCD

Ahh. Well I've done a little research because I didn't actually know myself. The Steps to distance conversion is not exact. Variables include how accurate your devices are at recording steps. Then you have to take terrain and the length of your stride into account.

What I have read online suggests that (on average) one mile will generally equal 2,000 up to 2,500 steps. This is a rule of thumb. You might find people ready to put up a spirited debate about it elsewhere on the net where they can get pretty serious about this stuff.

Not that Campers or Fiends could ever get passionate about something! :)

[WalkerFiend 22]

Ok - let's continue:

 

Friday: 6/12 - back to MK 

 

 

Took the boat to the MK and then up to the train station at Main Street for our start of the day Train ride :) and got our very first unexpected treat of the day as well.

 

Who is waiting in the station lobby? Mary Poppins!  First thing.  This is a good sign for sure!

 

 

We got our books signed, took the train to Fantasy land,  and then walked to the Tomorrowland Speedway for a second try at driving.

 

 

This time we made a point to avoid getting into the line that would put us in that far right hand lane. I have no idea if that made any real difference.  I do know for sure that both of the kids had a much easier time driving the cars today.

 

 

Then, Kids wanted to do Peoplemover and Carousel of Progress again, so we did both.

 

This time it was People mover having issues actually moving people!  The ride stopped at least 3 times while we were on it, and the up escalator was on the fritz. The gremlin did not follow us to the CoP this time, it worked fine.

 

Then we wondered across the park some.

 

 

 

On our way to our next FP...  We stopped in at Country Bear Jamboree.  :) 

 

 

Once we were done there it was time for our FP at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but it was broken. Oopsy!  Well the gremlin is following us it seems.  Eh.  Ok.  Let's have some lunch.  We went and grabbed some chow at Pecos Bill's

 

After lunch Thunder Mountain is still not working, but, we've already been notified that we can use the FP pretty much anyplace in the park at any time for the remainder of the day.  So, one way or the other, it's gonna work out!

 

For our third FP we rode Splash Mountain

 

 

(Ben was scared at first, but liked it. Maddie didn't like the big hill!) The looks on the ladies faces are priceless!  (Back two rows.)  I think the ladies in the first row probably know about where the camera is...

 

 

LOL!

 

Wanted to mention here:  

 

I think this was more of a loading/waiting thing that any kind of a breakdown:  We got stuck near the end of Splash Mountain.  I don't think it's the gremlin this time.  I think they had some delay/congestion where they load and unload riders and the resulting backup stopped us at a part of the ride you'd normally float right past.  

 

It's hilarious that the Imagineers had the animatronics programmed on cue to start talking to you about it, explaining who was likely at fault, stay seated, and so on... Too funny!

 

Finally we've decided to stay for afternoon parade: Festival of Fantasy. We don't have to worry so much now about that one FP, we've managed not to bake even though the temps have been escalating all week...  I think there are more shady spots at MK so it just doesn't feel so dang hot here compared to Epcot, or maybe I'm getting used to it???  

 

Anyway, we found a shady spot in Frontierland and settled in to wait.  Maddie and I got Mickey ice cream bars. 

 

 

Again, the geek in me enjoyed the wait by people watching and then watching as the Cast Members came buy setting up the ropes in preparation.

 

Today the clouds are rolling in again and it looks like a nasty storm nearby.  The storms last year prevented us from seeing any parades at all and I'm hoping we don't have another washout today.  

 

I guess somebody in the Disney weather office must have been worried as well, because for some reason the parade actually started early!  I'm guessing that they decided to go a little sooner so that they could get it done before the rains came.

 

At any rate, our luck held out and we watched parade from the first row in Frontierland!

 

 

The other advantage for us this day is that the end of the parade passed us first in Frontierland, and, the geek in me got to see the Cast members at the end coming past and very efficiently removing the posts and ropes.  

 

It looks like they've done this a time or two!  

 

The bad news is the the weather really looks like it is going to get NASTY  The wind is really blowing and dark clouds are close by.  So.  We made the call to head back to the Fort to hang out for a little while.  We're planning to come back later in the afternoon or evening.

 

The other neat thing I'd never thought of when we decided to watch the Parade from Frontierland is that we were basically following it toward Main Street now.  On our way back to the entrance we cut through Adventureland and got back to main street as the parade made its way around the hub, so, we ended up at the Main Street train street station just in time to see part of the same parade a second time.

 

 

 :)  two for one special.  

 

The sky is now turning a fairly angry black color and I'm thinking we might be in for another Monsoon.  But.  So far so good, we hit the dock, got on the boat, and headed back to the Fort.

 

Back home we took the cart over to the Meadows and picked up our purchases from Epcot.  We decided to wait at the camper for awhile to see what the storm did.  Then we'd plan out the evening.  It worked out.  The kids got to play with some new toys for awhile, we rested, and then the most magical part of the whole trip came.  :)  

 

Well, for the geek in me anyway...

 

As the clouds parted, and the sun shown brightly again, there was a knock on the door of our camper...

 

Now that I've got you on the edge of your seat.  I'll leave you hanging for a second because I've not yet told you that Ben is a HUGE fan of pretty much anything on rails if you have not yet guessed this by the number of train rides we’ve taken.

 

So much so that we made it a family thing this summer here at home.  When we would hear a train whistle on the tracks a mile or so away from our home, everybody would hop in the van and we'd try to catch the train so that Ben could see it go by.  If we were really lucky Ben would get to wave at the engineer as the locomotive would go by…  

 

Also, since he's so interested, we've been working on a HO scale layout in our basement.  Only because it's something that he actually enjoys doing with dear ole Dad...  I personally have no interests in trains *at all*.

 

 

 

I'm just being supportive of my boy!  

 

That is my story and I'm sticking to it...

 

Ahem, well, where was I?  

 

Oh yes: Trollys, monorails, trains, tracks...  He's fascinated by it all.  I've been talking to him all week about the Fort Wilderness Railroad.  We've been checking out the several places at the Fort where you can still find some signs of the past.  It's a very interesting part of Fort history. I really wish I could have visited here in those days when a train would  come past.  Ben would have been in 7th heaven.  Oh well.  

 

Some Fiends have gathered spikes from the old FWRR, and I learned that it might be possible to get one.  I posted to the "Getting Spiked" thread.  I didn't really expect anything, just gave it a try.  I got a message back from another member that said something to the effect of "the wheels are in motion" but no real details.  I also received a very nice private message from at least one other member offering to help me get one...  

 

Now I'll bring you back to the knock on our door...

 

My wife made this entry in the notes she kept as we started talking about making a journal:

 

"-man from Fort Fiends came to our camper and brought us a spike from the Fort Wilderness railroad that used to be here!"

 

That man is no other than TCD!  

 

(Hey guy! I want you to know how special that short visit was.  That spike will be kept with us always.  Ben loved it, I love it, it is very much appreciated.  So, so very happy to have had the pleasure of meeting you in person.)

 

Of all the weirdness with the gremlins and rain on our trip so far, this time it worked out perfectly and our paths crossed.  This I'll add was the one day of the whole vacation that we spent most of the day away at the parks.  Pixie dust for everybody!  

 

TCDs visit was short and we parted ways, the storms have missed the MK and the Fort completely.  We've got one parade under our belt, now its time for the second.

 

First we have a FP to use.  Man.  It is NICE to have a open ended FP!

 

We went back to MK to use the FP that was postponed from the morning for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. 

 

Afterwords we went over and got our dinner at Columbia Harbour House.  After dinner (which was late for us) we walked to Main Street and found a place to sit for the Main Street Electrical Parade!

 

 

We found a seat right on the curb and parked ourselves for some people watching. Last year we'd got the kids the light up Mickey sticks and then the parade was cancelled.  This year they finally get put to their intended use.  :)

 

 

We met a nice couple from KY, and their kids kept ours entertained during the wait.  The weather was warm but not uncomfortable even in the masses of people.  

 

We were lucky to be seated on the curb right up on the tape they put down to keep certain areas open to those crossing the street before the parade starts.  The advantage was that we had what amounted to our very own dedicated Cast member (my wife later referred to her as the "Parade Police".) She very politely and aggressively guarded the area around our sitting place to keep folks moving and away from blocking our view in the process.  One centimeter past that tape and she'd materialize out of thin air to swish the trespassers out of the way.  

 

Again the geek in me is impressed with way the cast worked to get everything ready for the parade to start.  I was amused to see this 5'2" woman work the area.  I know on certain holidays the crowds must be very much worse, and I've read the stories.  No such issues tonight.  

 

Finally the Parade is underway:

 

 

 

(These pictures ended up being posted in no particular order.)

 

Afterword we headed to the exit and the boat back to the Fort.  (We decided to leave before Celebrate the Magic and the fireworks because the sudden loud noises can make Ben upset). 

 

We got back to the Fort as the EWP was still pulling away across the lake, and just as the fireworks began.  Perfect timing!

 

Tired and happy we all are.  Another almost completely perfect day for us.  From here we climb aboard our friend the Cart and head back to the camper for a good nights rest.

 

Only one (ok really it was two or maybe three) visits by the Gremlin today, only one slight brush with the rain!

 

Pedometer : 14,904 (6-7ish miles.)

Tomorrow it's back to Epcot.

 

Stay tuned.

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

What an awesome day. The geek in me was geeking out at your greekness. Lol

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great update!

 

I'm glad to hear that Ben enjoyed getting spiked.

 

It was great to meet you and the family, and it sounds like maybe next time I need to bring you a spike too.

 

TCD

[Seals 111]

Was anyone else even there for Mary Poppins? Looks like you have the station to yourselves. I love the enthusiasm of your trip report and seeing your beautiful family having such a great time. But my feet hurt each time I read your total steps for the day! 

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

What a great day you all had!  Enjoyed all the pictures.