Lil Lisa's Big Adventure

[Lil Lisa 53]

I don't want to lose this, so I am going to repost it here.  For those of you who weren't there the first time, this was from our "most awesomest" trip ever in September, 2010...  For those of you who followed along the first time, we will go a bit more quickly this time.  I promise I will only stop for a potty break here and there.  :argh:

[Lil Lisa 53]

We have just completed the most awesome vacation that either my husband or I have ever taken in our entire lives.  My only fear is that this trip report will not do it justice.  Not only were we able to spend ten marvelous days in the most magical place on earth, we were also able to meet some wonderful people from the Disboards as well.  It seems like on most vacations, we spend our time in a sea of strangers.  This vacation was more like a homecoming because we spent it with our FrIENDS.

I thank you all for keeping me entertained as we made our long trek from home.  If you didn?t get a chance to share our travel experiences (including our short but wonderful visit with Born2Fish), unfortunately you won?t find that here...

For those of you that we have not had the pleasure of meeting personally, let us introduce ourselves.  We are Lisa and Bruce and we travelled to the Fort all of the way from the great state of Minnesota (that?s pronounced Minn-e-soh-ta for you non-Norwegian types :argh:).  Here we are in all of our glory.

Oh?  wait?  You can?t see us very well with our faces blotted out behind those beer goggles like that now can you!  Let me try again...

Hmmmmm?  That?s not much better, is it?  Here we go!

You don?t know how many photos I had to search through to find that one picture with both of us in it where we weren?t wearing some kind of glasses!  Heck, who needs those Photobucket doodads when you are visiting sunny Florida! 

Well, enough with the introductions.  Let?s get down to business!  For those of you who don?t have time to follow along, here is the Cliff Notes version of our trip of a lifetime:

? Let the magic begin!

? Darn!  Now you?ve gone and done it!

? Jambo Jambo!  Hakuna matata!  Yak Attack!

? Lights!  Camera!  Downpour!

? Time to relax with our FrIENDS.

?Eins, zwei g'suffa and then back to the magic!

?Life?s a beach, so let?s loop for a while.

? Animal Kingdom? No wait!  Let?s go to Epcot!

?Ok? Now let?s go to Animal Kingdom

So now ladies and gentlecampers we welcome you to "Lil' Lisa's Big Adventure".  We ask you to remain seated, keeping your arms and legs inside the car throughout the entire ride and remember that while flash photography is allowed, it never looks good when you take a picture of a computer screen.

[Lil Lisa 53]

We arrived at the Fort on Monday afternoon.  It was awesome to be back.  Even though more than twenty years had passed since I last set foot on Fort Wilderness soil, almost everything was just as I remembered it.  Our check in went smoothly and before we knew it we were backed into site 328.  Once we figured out the logistics of where everything would go, we spent the afternoon unpacking and getting our site set up.  After we were set up, we met Kenny for our cart.  I have to agree with everyone else that he is the best!  Here is a picture of our site and our super fast Kenny cart.

At this point we were beat!  The only things on our mind were dinner and a good night?s rest!  We went down to the Trail?s End in search of a Giddyap n go, but once Bruce saw the buffet, there was no turning back.  The chicken would have to wait for another night.

After a good night?s rest we were ready to start our vacation in earnest.  I covered the early morning activities in  my pre-trip report ?I?m going to Fort? so I will skip ahead to where I left off.  We decided that our first park experience would be the Magic Kingdom.  When we got there the place was like a ghost town!  We thought that they were open just for us!

Everything was decked out for Halloween.  I had never been to the Magic Kingdom at this time of year, so it was great to see the fall decorations.  There was a crane working on the castle.  When we inquired, they said that they were working on decorations.  It was gone later in the day.  As we entered main street we saw Daisy and Pluto.  Poor Daisy.  She looked so lonely! 

It was a great feeling to be walking down Main street again!  We soaked in the scenery on Main street for a bit.

They don?t miss a trick (or treat)!  Even the statuary is changed out to fit the time of year.

Then we headed off for Tomorrowland.  Our first stop was Buzz Lightyear.  Bruce kicked my butt.  I'm not even going to tell you what my score was.  It was that embarrassing.

On the way out, we saw Buzz and Chip and Dale.  I impressed Bruce with my vast knowledge of all things Chip and Dale when I was able to tell him which one was which and why.  All I need to know in life, I learned on the Dis Boards!

This would have been a great day to be at the Magic Kingdom with kids.  The few that were there pretty much had the characters to themselves.  I was very pleased with the low crowd levels during our entire stay.  Almost everything was walk on and if it wasn?t, the fastpass return times were generally only about an hour or so from the time you got them.

Our next stop was the Carousel of Progress.  Not much progress there.  :argh: But hey, it?s a great big beautiful tomorrow, right?  As the day went on, I kind of got the feeling that all of the old standards were in need of a bit of a facelift.  Still, the walk down memory lane was pretty special.  It?s always fun to remember the ?olden days?. 

Our next stop was the People Mover.  It wasn?t moving very many people, but it moved us!

I always loved the People Mover and I still do.  From the People Mover we scoped out where we were going to have lunch.  We opted for Cosmic Rays.  I opted for the wrap and Bruce had the BBQ pork sandwich.

Sorry about the half eaten food pictures of kitties.  I didn?t think to take pictures until after we had started.  Every time I took pictures of our food, Bruce would give me a strange look.  I just kept telling him ?It?s for Dave?.  :argh:

We wandered around Mickey?s Toontown fair for a bit, but we quickly realized that there wasn?t much there for the ?over 40? crowd.  I do have one question though?  Why is it that Mickey and Minnie both have houses, but Donald has a boat?  Were they afraid that home values would go down if there was a ?quack house? in the neighborhood? 

Our next stop was Mickey's Philharmagic.  One word for that ? Superdupercool!  Ok, maybe that is really three words squished together, but it is true!  What made it even better is that the show was just starting when we arrived and we almost had the theater to ourselves.

Since Small World was closed for refurbishment, we left the rest of Fantasyland for the youngsters and headed toward Liberty Square to visit the Haunted Mansion.  Along with Small World, the Haunted Mansion has always been one of my favorites.  I especially like all of the tombstones and crypt markers on the outside.  I like this one best.

As we walked down the street, we were arrested and thrown into the stockades.  It was some trumped up charge of accordion playing without a performance permit or something like that.  Our lawyer was able to get us off with time served though.

Our last stop of the day was the Pirates of the Caribbean.  This has always been Bruce?s favorite attraction.  Once again it was walk on so we got in without a wait.  We enjoyed looking for Jack Sparrow in all of the scenes.  When we were leaving I checked my watch.  We had a date with Magicbus that we didn?t want to miss.  You can imagine my horror when I discovered that we were already late.  We had let ourselves get carried away by the magic.  We made a b-line for the boat in the hope that he might be visiting with someone else and that he hadn?t been to our campsite yet.  When we arrived I saw his note on the door and knew we were too late.  Fortunately we were able to meet him later in our trip, but that is a story for another installment.  :argh:

As I mentioned in my pre-trip report ?I?m going to Fort!? however, we did see one Fiend that day.  I had seen Jim earlier that morning and he had invited us back to visit with him and his wife Carol that evening.  We headed over to their home away from home and spent some time chatting with them.  Can you believe that we forgot to take a picture???  What the heck were we thinking!!!  As with all of the Fiends that we met on this trip, we thought they were wonderful people and we enjoyed the time that we spent with them.

Up next... Darn!  Now you?ve gone and done it!

[anolefan 8]

Nothing wrong seeing this TR again.

You left out the part where Bruce couldn't find any fish.  :argh:. I couldn't resist.

I'm  going to try and visit the Fort when you guys are there and fish with Bruce so he can land a nice Fl Bass.

[Lil Lisa 53]

Nothing wrong seeing this TR again.

You left out the part where Bruce couldn't find any fish.  :argh:. I couldn't resist.

I'm  going to try and visit the Fort when you guys are there and fish with Bruce so he can land a nice Fl Bass.

Thanks!  Luckily I did the whole thing in a word doc, so I just had to do some finds and replaces on the images and then paste it in!  :argh:

I think the part where Bruce got skunked comes later (don't tell him I said that).  :argh:

It would definitely be great to meet you when we are there this year!  Put the last week of August and the First week of September on your calendar! 

[Lil Lisa 53]

This was our first trip to Epcot during our ten day adventure.  In all we made four trips to the land of Spaceship Earth.  Upon arrival we did the obligatory PhotoPass photos in front of ?da big ball?.  The PhotoPass photographers are great.  We had a lot of fun with them.  The one that took this picture asked us if we knew each other well enough to put our arms around each other and I had told him that we just met in the parking lot. :argh:  They are always willing to take a picture with your camera too.  That is nice when travelling as a couple.  This way we have some pictures of the both of us to prove that we went together. I wasn?t going to post this one because I think that I look kinda goofy, but then I got to thinking that if it is alright for Goofy to look goofy, then it was alright for me!  Anyhow, here is our picture in front of the big ball.

We decided that we should start the day with Spaceship Earth.  I would describe Spaceship Earth as kinda like the Carousel of Progress but in three dimensions because you get to go up and down too!  Unlike the Carousel of Progress animatronics people though, it did look like these ones had been allowed to take a bath in the last 20 years. :argh:

After Spaceship Earth we headed for Test Track.

It looked like we weren?t the only dummies here.

One word to describe Test Track?  WoooHooo!  It was great!  The first part is kind of a snoozer - a lot of bumps and the ride is quite jerky.  It was this part of the ride that, believe it or not, would get Bruce into BIG trouble later.  It is the end that makes this whole ride though!  I love how they set it up as an impact test and then you go whizzing through the doors and then go zooming around the track.  I?m curious.  Does anyone know exactly how fast the cars go?

After Test Track we headed for the World Showcase for a bite to eat.  For those of you who have never had the honor of dining with Bruce, his tastes can be summed up very easily.  He is a very picky eater.  We started in Mexico and he led me from world to world, carefully examining the menu at each restaurant before finally finding the Shogun Combination in Japan.  Sorry there are no pictures.  We travelled over half way around the world to find it, so didn?t last long.

After lunch we started our way back to see all of the things that we missed on our lunch quest.  We stopped at the American Adventure where we saw the Fife and Drum Corps.

We did a little window shopping in Italy (The real Italians were never this modest...).

We checked out the train in Germany.  I also had a lemonade with cherry liqueur in it.  I don?t ever remember having a frozen drink when I was in Germany (heck, they don?t even put ice in their drinks most of the time), but it was hot and it tasted good!  I can?t remember exactly what it was called, but I got it at the little stand outside where they sell the beer.  It was something like a ?< Insert the name of some town in Germany > Lemonade?

I also made my first souvenir purchase in Germany.  It was a tough decision to make.  I couldn?t decide whether I wanted the crystal replica of Cinderella?s castle or the Sorcerer Mickey.

In the end, my practical side kicked in and I ended up with the Minnie Mouse shot glass? er? I mean toothpick holder (the nice lady in the shop was kind enough to point out this error in verbiage to me ? it is Disney, after all).

We bypassed China.  After all, we had just eaten, and most everything that you can buy these days is made in China anyhow, so we kept moving. :argh:

Our next stop was Norway.  Since there are so many Norwegians in Minnesota, we felt right at home here.  We didn?t see Sven and Ole, but we did see a Viking.  Maelstrom was walk on, so walk on we did.  We hopped on board our Viking ship and set off on our adventure.  We made it past the scary looking eye and the trolls, but the ride stopped just short of the waterfall.  ?Ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing technical difficulties?? said a voice over the loudspeaker with an eerily familiar accent, ?The ride will resume shortly.?  After a few false starts, the message changed to ?Someone will be along soon to help you to the exit.?.  We didn?t get as much of a backstage tour as KFK did, but it was neat to see some of what makes the magic work.  We didn?t take any pictures.  Bruce had the camera and he was too chicken.  So we walked out the way that we floated in.  They gave us a FastPass on the way out that was good until the 30th just in case we wanted to try again later. 

We stopped at the gift shop and browsed a bit.  I was tired and needed someplace to lean for a while.  This guy was happy to give me a hand.

Then we went for some school bread.

Sorry Dave, no food pictures of kitties here either.

Other than a margarita in Mexico on the way out, that pretty much wrapped up our afternoon at Epcot.  We went back to the campsite to let the dogs out and prepared for a trip to Downtown Disney. 

After a couple of hours with the fur babies, we sped down to the outpost bus stop in our Kenny cart to catch our bus.  We were extremely lucky during our whole trip and we rarely had to wait more than a minute or two to catch our bus.  This time was no exception.  We hopped on and soon the bus was on its way.  It was a rather bumpy ride and every time that the driver took his foot off of the gas, the bus would shake and jerk around a bit.  Bruce is even quicker with the one liners than I am (where do you think I get most of my material) and he blurted out ?Hey!  It?s like we are back on Test Track again!?  Everyone on the bus got a good giggle out of that and it allowed us to strike up a conversation with some other folks on the bus.  When we arrived at our destination, before anyone could get out, the bus driver stood up and said, ?Alright, who made the comment about Test Track??  ?Now you?ve gone and done it!?, I said to Bruce while pointing to him at the same time so that the bus driver could see.  He explained to us how some of the busses will start engine breaking as soon as the driver takes their foot off of the gas. Of course the driver was only joking, but he let Bruce sweat it out for a few seconds before he said so.  Bruce begged him for forgiveness and made him promise that he would let us back on the bus again if he was our driver back to the campground.

Well, needless to say, we did a lot of shopping at Downtown Disney.  Other than this gal, there wasn?t much to take pictures of.

I would never be able to stay that still for that long.  I have far too much energy and I am way too fidgety. 

As we made our way from one end of Downtown Disney to the other, Bruce once again started checking out every menu in sight.  I had heard good things here about the Earl of Sandwich, so when Bruce asked where I wanted to eat,  that was my reply.  It wasn?t quite his thing, but we figured that with a bit of creative ordering, he could come up with a sandwich he would like.  I ordered the original 1762 and Bruce ordered a roast beef sandwich with mayo and lettuce.  The challenge proved to be a bit too much for them and I ended up with some sort of hybrid (no cheese and mayo instead of the horseradish sauce) and Bruce got a plain old dry roast beef sandwich.  Nothing else.  Just meat on a dry crunchy bun.  The place was really busy, so rather than wait for them to try again, we made do with what we had by doctoring things up with the condiments at our table.  It was our only disappointing dining experience during the whole trip. 

After eating we made our way back to the bus stop and boarded the bus to the Fort.  I love how they customize the muzak on the bus depending on your destination.  When you are on the way to the Fort they always play the hillbilly banjo stuff.  No wonder the non-camper resort guests have such a warped image of us campers.  Every time that you go there, you hear the soundtrack from Deliverance!

Up next? Jambo Jambo!  Hakuna matata!  Yak Attack!

[Lil Lisa 53]

I started the day off by doing a little bit of looping with Fudge.  There were a lot of loops that were either empty or nearly empty.  This was what things looked like in the 1900 loop.

I made my way over to the 1600 loop.  I had heard a rumor that a rock star was staying in this trailer.  There was nobody home at the time, but I know that the rumor was true because I had seen him the other night.  I even talked to him for a while.  Yep!  This is the trailer of our very own Ft Wilderness Guy!

Here?s what things were like in the 300 loop. 

There were a lot of folks who stayed for a day or two and then left.  Then there were others who were there for extended periods of time like us.

These guys were on the Dis at least long enough to get the instructions for the Mickey lamp.

This guy was there when we got there and they left the day before we did.  The car was definitely his pride and joy.  He washed it at least twice and he had his own personal leaf blower to keep the debris off of the car and the rest of his site.  I was tempted to ask him to do our site when he was done, but he looked like the ?serious? type, so I held my tongue.

As you may have gathered from the title, this was our first Animal Kingdom day.  Both Bruce and I had rather low expectations for this day because neither of us really like zoos, but we were pleasantly surprised at what this park had to offer. 

When we went down to catch the bus we saw this golf cart.  Wasn?t there someone who was asking about an eight seat golf cart a while back?  I think this would work.

When we arrived at the park, we were taking pictures of each other in front of the sign when a nice young lady offered to take one of us together.  The picture turned out great and she even gave the camera back to us without having to chase her down.

We made our way into the park and wandered through the Oasis, pausing to look at the animals along the way. 

When we emerged from the Oasis, we got our first glimpse of the Tree of Life.  I had seen pictures of it before, but they really don?t do it justice.  The Disney imagineers  never cease to amaze me with the amount of detail that they put into the parks.  Everything right down to the tree roots and the cracks in the roads were carefully engineered.  We spent much of the day pondering whether what we were seeing was real or manufactured.  Most of the time we couldn?t tell.

After admiring the Tree of Life for a while we headed off towards Harambe, Africa.  As we passed by the Tamu Tamu refreshment stand, Bruce?s eyes glazed over and I could tell that we were off on our daily food quest.  We made our way thru Africa, into Asia and back to Discovery Island examining every menu, until finally settling on the Flame Tree BBQ for lunch.  Bruce had the ribs and I decided on the turkey sandwich.  The food was great, but the locals kept interrupting us, looking for handouts.

They were relentless and cute, but feeding them was against the rules and I always follow the rules.  Every few minutes or so a Disney employee would come around and shoo them away, but within a few moments they were back again.  Some battles just aren?t worth fighting.

After lunch we headed back to Africa for the Kilimanjaro Safari.  As we boarded the ride we were greeted by the bus driver.  ?Jambo!?, he said and the damage was done...  The Lionel Richie song All Night Long was in my head.  You know the part of the song where he sings, ?Oh? Jambo, Jambo!...  All Night Long?? or that is what it sounds like anyhow.  Yep?  That?s the one.  Over and over I sang just those lines of the song because that is pretty much the only part of the song that I know.  It stuck with me until I heard someone say ?Hakuna matata!? and then that was the song for the rest of the day.  It could have been worse though, right?  I mean at least it wasn?t Small World. :argh:

Once the ride got underway, we saw rhinos, hippos, giraffes and a variety of other wild animals.

After our Safari we went walking on the Pangiani Forest Exploration Trail where we ran into Bruce?s cousin.  What a small world it is!!

After our hike we headed off toward Asia.  Each time we passed by these drums, Bruce had to stop and play. 

Then we ran into a few more of Bruce?s relatives.  Nobody told us there was going to be a family reunion! 

At this point we were downright parched, so we set off in search of some liquid refreshment.  We found a little refreshment stand on the side of the Yak and Yeti counter service place where they sold beer and frozen drinks.  Bruce got a beer and I got something called a ?Yak Attack?.  It was so good and went down so easy that if they didn?t cost almost $9 a pop, I would have had three or four.  Then again it was probably a good thing that they were so expensive.  I get the feeling that they were the kind of drink that would sneak up on you and earn their name on the way back out.

We wandered through Asia, doing a bit of window shopping as we went.  We avoided the rides.  We didn?t feel like getting wet on the Kali River Rapids and neither of us really like roller coasters so Expedition Everest was out of the question. 

Once we wandered through Asia, we decided it was time to get back to the campground to spend some time with the fur babies.  We made our way back to the bus and then back to the Fort. 

According to the handout they gave us when we checked in, tonight was supposed to be extra magic hours at the Magic Kingdom, so we hung out at the campsite for a while and then went down to the dock to catch the boat.  We saw several people in costume and started wondering if it was really a Mickey?s Not so Scary Halloween party night.  There was one woman there who would have made an awesome Cruella De Ville if she had been dressed up.  Let?s just say that she had the hair for it?

When we got to the Magic Kingdom we saw that the brochure was wrong and it was indeed a Mickey?s Not so Scary Halloween party night, so we headed back.  Rather than taking the boat we came in on, we decided to take the long way home.  We took the launch to the Contemporary and did some shopping and then took the boat back to the Fort.  The pups were happy to see us, back so soon, so rather than leaving to do something else, we decided to just call it a night.

Up next?  Lights!  Camera!  Downpour!

[Lil Lisa 53]

I started the morning out with another ride in the Kenny cart.  I left Fudge behind this time so that I could explore some of the ?No Pets Beyond This Point? areas.  I drove down to the settlement and parked the cart because I wasn?t exactly sure where they were and weren?t allowed.  I didn?t want to get busted by the Disney Po Po. :argh:

I wandered past Pioneer Hall.

Then I explored the BBQ Pavilion.

River Country is still there and is just as deserted as ever. 

I?m not as McGyverish as TCD with his pole mounted camera or as brave as his cousin, but I did take this one through the fence.

There are still utility markers scattered about.  I couldn?t tell if they were old or new.  These were by the golf cart parking area.

When I got back to our site there were some folks checking things out across the canal.  One of them looked like a construction worker and the other two were in business casual attire. 

They headed back towards the beach and crossed the bridge to the Fort side of the canal and were checking things out there too.  I walked up there and from what I could gather, this is what they were looking at. 

While I was out and about, I picked up a couple of new doodads for our campsite collection.  We named them Fred and Floyd.

Unfortunately Fred met with an untimely end in the rainstorm a couple days before we left.  The wind blew him over and he lost an ear and broke his neck when he hit the concrete.  We were going to try to save him, but the resin was cracked around the break and it had already started chipping away.  We gave him a proper burial in the garbage can across the street from our site.

Our park of the day was Disney Hollywood Studios.  The crowds here were the heaviest that we saw for the whole trip and even that wasn?t bad.  We watched a bit of the High School Musical show.

Hung out with Angela Lansbury.  Bruce is a huge Murder She Wrote fan.

This was the first time that we got to a park before lunchtime and we were starving!!  We didn?t have to go far before we decided on a funnel cake with strawberry topping.  Neither of us have ever had a funnel cake before, even though they have them in Minnesota too.  It was very nummy!! 

This one?s for you Dave!

Our next stop was Drew Carey?s Sounds Dangerous.  One word for that attraction? Boooorrrring!  I thought it was going to be one of those shows where they show you how they do the sound effects.  I was wrong.  It was just a movie with nothing on the screen most of the time.

From there we wandered around for a bit.  We saw the young jedis and Lightning and Mater.

Then we pretended to sing in the rain.  They say that hindsight is 20/20 and looking back now, I realize that we shouldn?t have done that?

Our next stop was the backlot tour.  We waited in line for a few minutes and then went in for the live part of the show.  The people they chose to do the acting were great sports and did a wonderful job.  From there we wandered through the prop shop to our waiting tram for the rest of the tour.  Just as we got to the trams the sky opened up.  Not only did it rain cats and dogs, it rained hamsters and horses too!  They gave us the option to wait it out or go and we decided what the heck, the trams are covered, right?  By the time that the tram was loaded, the rain had slowed to a sprinkle and we were on our way.  The tour was interesting and I especially liked the action scene with the tanker and the behind the scenes look at how it all works.

When we were through with our tour, we walked down the Streets of America, saw Muppet Vision 3D and then went over to Journey Into Narnia.  We wanted to do Toy Story Mania, but the wait was 45 minutes and there were no FastPasses.  I didn?t want to wait that long just to have my rear end handed to me by Bruce again,  so we decided to do it some other time. 

We checked out a few places for lunch before deciding on chicken nuggets at Rosie?s All American Caf?.  Once we sat down, we realized exactly how wiped out we both were after four straight days at the parks.  We made our way out of the park doing a little shopping along the way.

Back at the campground everything was a bit soggy, including our towels that were out on the clothesline so we decided that this would be laundry day.

Once everything was washed and dried and we were rested, we headed off for extra magic hours at Epcot.  As soon as we got there it started to rain again.  This was a more persistent rain, so we decided to spring for a couple of ponchos.  We went to Mexico and rode the Three Caballeros.  This was as close as I would get this trip to something ?Small World? like. 

Bruce had to try on the hats?

It was getting to be about that time, so we decided to scope out a prime spot to watch Illuminations.  Unfortunately none of the pictures we took turned out, but I guarantee you that if they had, you would be oohing and aahing just like we were.  When it was done, Bruce had a hankering for another Shogun Combination.  He got that and a beer and then we decided to call it a night.

Up next? Time to relax with our FrIENDS.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Yay!! One of the most fun TRs ever.  :argh:

[Lil Lisa 53]

Yay!! One of the most fun TRs ever.  :argh:

Wow!  Thanks!  Now I'm blushing! 

[Lil Lisa 53]

After four days straight of go? go? go? we decided that Saturday would be our ?day of rest?.  Besides, the dogs were threatening to leave if we didn?t spend some quality time with them.  We started off the day with a visit from Lorna and her husband Rich.  We chatted with them for a while and then parted ways with an invitation to dinner at their site that evening. 

Next on the agenda was a bit of looping.  This had gotten to be a regular daily activity for Fudge and I.  Every day we would explore a few loops while Bruce showered and fished.  I didn?t bring the camera along on this ride because Bruce wanted it just in case he caught something. Unfortunately though, I have to report that while Bruce got lots of bites, the fish at the Fort are crafty little critters and they knew how to steal the bait off of the hook without letting themselves get reeled in for a photo-op.  He did take some nice photos that morning though and since some of them are of the canal and there were questions about that, I will share them with you.

This is taken from 328 looking toward the lower numbered loops.

Here is a nice view of the Magic Kingdom.

Here is the dog walk from the other side of the canal.

After looping and fishing we had to take a quick trip off of the farm.  All of the walking had taken a toll on Bruce?s ankle and we had to run to Wal-Mart to get him something to wrap it up.  We got directions from a wonderful cast member at the outpost and headed off on our adventure.  The directions were excellent and even led us past the Disney Outlet, where we stopped on our way home.  I definitely recommend a trip to the Disney Outlet if you have a vehicle to get you there.  We bought two sweatshirts and three tee-shirts for what it cost to buy one sweatshirt on Disney property. 

We got back just in time to head over to Lorna and Rich?s site.  We loaded the pups in the cart and headed off to their site.  We arrived and fired up the blender to make some kungaloosh while Rich slaved away in the kitchen.  Shortly after we got there, a few surprise guests arrived.  Magicbus and his wife and liv luvs disney!  How cool is that!  Unfortunately Liv couldn?t stay for too long because they were going to the campfire and movie, but I was able to meet up with her and her family a bit later in the trip. 

We had a wonderful dinner and it was so great to get to know everyone.  Fudge and Molly enjoyed spending time with Buddy and Buddy too.  If you ever get the chance to get together with other Fiends, whether at a grand gathering or on an individual basis, don?t hesitate, just do it.  It was this part of my vacation that truly stands out as the best part of the trip.

We took a few photos, but unfortunately there wasn?t anyone to take one of everyone together.  Magicbus has promised to use his amazing PhotoShop abilities to merge them together into one picture.

Here are the Fiends:

And here are the Fiends? spouses:

Nobody told me that I was pretty much blocking out poor Rich.  Perhaps you can move him over a tad too, Magicbus? :argh:

After we took the picture, Magicbus had to leave.  Around that time, some folks drove up and invited us to go looping, so we were off to the 100 loop.  There was quite a gathering there and they were kind enough to let us share in their fun. 

We hung out with them for a while and then we dragged our tired buns back to our campsite.  When we got there, we discovered we weren?t alone?

If you look closely, our friend the armadillo is there near the base of the tree.

Up next?  Eins, zwei g'suffa and then back to the magic!

[Lil Lisa 53]

Today was Biergarten Day!!!  This was one of only two ADRs that we made for the entire trip.  I spent time in Germany as an exchange student, so I have always had a soft spot for anything German.  Who wouldn?t love a country that is known for polkas and beer! 

We were seated on one of the upper levels, but we still had a good view of the oompaah band.

We ordered our drinks and headed off for our food.  On my first trip to the buffet I got a little of all of my favorites:  Schnitzel, Spaetzel, Roastbraten, Rotkraut and Kartoffelsalat.

And then I went back for a little more of the same?

For dessert I had cheesecake, chocolate mousse cake and some berry stuff to put on top.

Stuffed to the gills, we set out to visit the other side of the World Showcase.  Along the way we saw Beast.

Then we saw a topiary that looked like Beauty and the Beast.

I told Bruce that we needed one of these in our yard?  Doesn?t everyone have one of these???

Look!  It?s the king!  No, really?  He had only had a couple of beers?

We stopped at Canada and felt like we were close to home.  They sell the same stuff in the gift stores up nort? here in Minn-e-soh-ta ? Lots of moose and plaid.

After we made our way around the rest of the world, we went to check out Soarin.  There was a bit of a wait, so we got FastPasses and headed off to Captain EO.  I remember seeing this on my last trip to Epcot and thinking it was soooooo cool!  I mean come on!  It was Michael Jackson.  This time it was good for a giggle.  Of course flash photography wasn?t allowed, but it looked something like this.

When we were done with Captain EO it was time for Soarin.  We wandered back to the Land and boarded our flight.  That was one trip that was over too soon!  I have always loved Imax flicks and the seats made it seem just that much more real!

After Soarin we decided to call it a day.  Bruce really wanted to ride the monorail though, so we took the long way home.  We got to ride the Tron-o-rail to the Ticket and Transportation Center.

Then we took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom and the boat to the Fort.  Of course we were parked at the Outpost, so we had to take another bus to get our cart?

We did a bit of looping on our way back.  Here are some more Halloween decorations.

Tonight was Extra Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom (yes, we were sure this time ? I double checked the hours online!)  It took us a bit to get going, so we had to watch Wishes from the beach.

Main Street was packed with everyone waiting for Mickey?s Electric Light Parade.  We found ourselves a piece of curb and waited with everyone else for the parade to begin.

I?m not sure about the guy on the left.  I suspect that he was a zombie gold miner and he just found the mother lode?

Tink was looking great as usual.

Here?s Mickey and Minnie!

I think that Cinderella was pretending to be Sleeping Beauty?  Maybe she spent too much time at the ball last night??

We tried to get a picture of Snow White, but she totally ignored our side of the street.  Dave, I?m with you now!  She is an elusive B? B? oh never mind?

When the parade was over we headed for Tomorrowland. 

It was time for a rematch!  We rode Buzz Lightyear twice and I had my rear handed to me again.  I give up!  I?m just no good at shooting things!  Thank goodness I can buy my meat at the grocery store.  Otherwise I would starve?

We wandered around and saw Minnie. 

As Bruce was taking her picture I hung back a bit.  Things had quieted down in the park now and I started hearing this clomp? clomp? sound coming towards me.  I looked up and saw none other than the big Cheese himself!  It was Mickey coming down the street and nobody else was around. 

?Bruce!? I shouted.  I got no response, so I tried again, ?Bruce!  Turn around!?  Still no response.  Maybe I really do nag too much.  I ran over to him and yelled in his ear as I physically turned him around, ?Bruce!  It is Mickey!? By this time he was walking right past us.  We didn?t get the shot.  He waved at us as he walked by, and he joined Minnie.  We did get a picture of that before anyone else got in the picture though.

It was past my bed time, so we decided to call it a day and headed out of the park. 

On Main Street there were some cool water drawings on the street.  It is interesting how many people were totally oblivious and walked right over them?

We boarded the bus and headed back to the campground.

Up next?  Life?s a beach, so let?s loop for a while.

[Lil Lisa 53]

Today was road trip day.  When Bruce lived in Florida, he made his home in Sarasota.  He still had friends who lived there, so we went for a visit.  We made our way to their house and then we went to lunch with them at Phillipi Creek Village Restaurant and Oyster Bar.  I?m not a huge seafood fan, but Bruce is.  He had a pot of steamed oysters and some platter of a variety of cooked crustaceans.  I had the Cajun grouper.  The food was good and once we were full we headed off to Crescent beach on Siesta Key. 

On the way home it looked like we were heading into a pretty good storm?

We made it back to the campground without getting too wet and we decided that it was time to go looping.  The Halloween decorations were starting to get a bit more numerous so we went to check them out.  This is Hilda?s site at the exit of the 700 loop.  She likes to do things up big. 

We had a few visits with her over the course of our stay.  She is a very nice woman and a very lucky one too.  I would love to be able to stay at the Fort for an extended period of time like she is doing.

Here are some more decorations on the 700 loop.

These guys were on the 400 loop.  They did things up pretty big too!  They had their display set to music.  Based on TCD?s pictures from the weekend after we left, it looks like they were still setting things up.  There are more lights in his pictures than there are in these.

Here are some decorations on the 100 loop.

And then it was back to the Kremer camp.  No decorations here.  Just a plain ol? campsite, but it was our home away from home and we really enjoyed our little corner of the Fort.

Up next?  Animal Kingdom? No wait!  Let?s go to Epcot!

[Lil Lisa 53]

We had such a great time with our friends in Sarasota that they decided to join us at Walt Disney World for a couple of days.  Since they are now part of our Disney trip, let me introduce you to our friends Dale and Helen.

Dale and Helen were coming up from Sarasota and were going to stay at All Star Sports for two days.  The plan was that they would check in and meet us at Animal Kingdom.  As quite often happens, things don?t always move along as quickly as you would like and by the time they arrived at Animal Kingdom it was after 1:00.  Animal Kingdom closed at 5:00 so I suggested that we do their second park choice first.  Everyone agreed, so we turned around and hopped a bus to Epcot.

After the obligatory photos by the big ball, we headed inside to Spaceship Earth.  Here are our ?Greetings from our Future?.  I?m not sure what happened with half of my hair and I kinda look like a smiling gopher, but hey, we?re all FrIENDS, right?  Now you really have seen me at my worst? 

Once we returned from the future, we headed for the Land.  Things were a bit busier in the park than it had been previously, and there was a wait for Soarin? so we grabbed some FastPasses for early evening and looked for a bite for lunch.  After our food, we decided to see Living with the Land.  When we got to the part where we were looking at all of the plants in the greenhouse we could hear thunder and the drumming sound of the sky opening up on the roof.  Darn!  It was going to rain on our parade!  We exited our boat at the end of the ride and made our way to the door to peer outside.  Not that we needed to of course.  The rain soaked people on their way in told us everything we needed to know about the current weather conditions.  It was raining cats and dogs!  We decided to hang out inside for a bit longer and so we checked out the Circle of Life.  When that was done we still had over an hour to kill before our Soarin? FastPasses were good.  It was still raining but we decided to be brave.  Being native Floridians, and thus well accustomed to the quirky nature of Florida weather, Dale and Helen had come prepared with raingear. 

Even though Bruce and I had bought ponchos on a previous trip to Epcot, we neglected to bring them with us and we were forced to purchase new ones.

I think that we all made great fashion statements in our raingear.  Bruce looked like he was in disguise.  I was jealous of Dale though, because his poncho could also double as a pumpkin costume on Halloween! 

Protected by our newly purchased ponchos, we ventured out into the storm.  Dale wanted to see Captain EO so that was where we went next.  Just in case you forgot, it goes something like this:

Next we saw the Journey into Imagination with Figment.  I remember when Epcot opened up they were pushing Figment as Epcot?s Mickey Mouse.  He never did quite catch on, did he?  Poor Figment...  He should have gotten a better agent. 

It was still raining at this point, so we decided to stick to indoor activities.  A quick check of the park map pointed us in the direction of The Seas with Nemo and Friends.  On our ride, Bruce indulged in a little bit of forbidden flash photography.

Bruce wanted to get a picture in Bruce, but there were just too many little ones to compete with so this was the best we could do.

When we were done with Nemo, it was time for our FastPasses at Soarin?.  Once again we boarded our flight and this time we were in the top row.  Life really is much better at the top!  Even though they have the shields to try to block your view of the feet above you, they just aren?t quite big enough to block out the ones with long legs.  This time was a much better show! 

When we left Soarin?, the rain had eased off to a sprinkle, so we made our way to Test Track.  Our time at Epcot was short because we had reservations at 9:30 for Hoop de Doo!  Dale and Helen had decided not to join us, and our plan was just to walk over to Test Track with them and then say our goodbyes.  The park had really emptied out because of the rain though and Test Track was walk on.  We just had to go for one more ride!  After the ride we said goodbye and made plans to meet for breakfast at Trails End in the morning. 

We hopped on the bus, and made our way back to the Fort.  When we got to the show we found out that we were seated FRONT and CENTER.  Bruce was kinda crabby and he wasn?t thrilled about our seating assignment.  Can?t you just see the excitement on his face?

He was worried that he was going to get too much attention.  Being the sweet loving wife that I am, I told him to ?relax and enjoy the show? (or something like that ).  The theater wasn?t totally full, so I think that they moved some of the folks down to the main floor.  There were only a few people upstairs. 

We really were right in the thick of it.  It was great!  When they were on stage, we felt like they were doing the show just for us.  I know that this wasn?t the Six Bits that everyone raves about, but we thought he was sooooo funny!  Every time that we picked up the camera, he posed for us!

Here are a few more pictures from the show:

By the end of the show, Bruce was a happy camper again.  Maybe it was the beer???  Or maybe it was all of the special attention that he didn?t want!

We both give the Hoop De Doo two thumbs up!  The food was great and the show was wonderful.  I know it maybe isn?t for everyone, but we loved it.  After the show, our tummies were full and we drove back to our campsite in our Kenny cart singing ?Hoop De Doo??  For us, this show will be a new Fort Wilderness tradition.  No trip will be complete without it.

Up next? Ok? Now let?s go to Animal Kingdom

[Lil Lisa 53]

This was our last full day at the Fort.  Talk about bittersweet!  We tried not to think about it as we enjoyed the day.  We got up early and met Dale and Helen in the overflow parking lot with our Kenny cart.  Then we headed off to Trails End for breakfast.  We didn?t have ADRs, so we checked in and sat down to relax in the rockers on the porch.

We barely had time to take the pictures when they called to say our table was ready.  We all had a hearty breakfast and then we took Dale and Helen on a short tour of the campground. 

We saw these guys in the 400 loop.  I had seen them at the same campsite on my morning loop the day before.  They must have missed a spot?

Then we headed off to Animal Kingdom.  There was supposed to be heavy rain again today, but we had our fingers and toes crossed that the weatherman was wrong.  Every time someone brought up the subject of rain, I quickly shushed them and told them not to jinx it!  The day ended up being beautiful.  It was perfect weather for a perfect last day of a perfect vacation.

When we arrived at Animal Kingdom I looked down and saw this near the bus stop.  Even survey markers are ?Disney-fied?.

Here we are in front of the Tree of Life.

And here is the Tree in all its glory.

First we headed off to Africa for the Kilimanjaro Safari.  We figured that if it was going to rain, we should get that out of the way.  We saw this guy along the way.  I?m not sure what the instrument is, but it sounded pretty cool.

I think it is so cool how they made everything look like you really are in Africa.  Does anyone know how much earth they had to move to make a wetland look like savannah? 

One more question for the experts.  Both times we took the safari, they pointed out the huge baobab trees and mentioned how they were really old and that they were dormant during dry seasons.  Are those fake, or did they haul them in from Africa???

When we returned from our safari, we once again wandered around on the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and then we boarded the Wildlife Express to Rafiki?s Planet Watch.  We wandered around there for a while and then we headed back.  At the station we met this cast member.  He was super duper friendly.  Then again, I don?t think we ran into anyone on our whole trip who wasn?t.

Next we headed off to Asia.  On the way guess what we saw?

Does this help?

Yep!  It was DeVine!!!  She moved quite a bit more than I thought that she would.  I expected her to be a lot more ?stealthy?.

We hung out for a while with Bruce?s relatives again?  If you look really close, this one has a baby.  Does that make Bruce a ?monkey?s uncle??

Dale and Helen wanted to try out the Kali River Rapids, so we parted ways for a bit and Bruce and I stopped for another Yak Attack.  Once again I stopped at one, fearing the consequences if I indulged any further.  When they were good and wet, we got a bite to eat and then found a place to watch the parade. 

Here are Chip and Dale! 

And here is Minnie!

Nobody told Donald that it isn?t polite to point!

I?m not sure what was wrong with this woman.  Maybe she was scared because Bruce?s shirt didn?t have sleeves???  Or maybe she was shocked that he wasn?t with his relatives in the monkey pen???

And finally it was the Big Cheese himself.

It was getting close to closing time, so we decided that our last stop of the day would be ?It?s Tough to be a Bug?. 

Here we are with our Bug Eyes:

And a close up of the tree when we exited the theater:

We had hoped to see so much more but the time just flew by.  I guess that it is just one more reason for planning another trip.  Did some last minute shopping and then we boarded the bus for the Fort.  When we got back to our campsite we had a couple of Kungalooshes with Dale and Helen and then we carted them back to their car in the overflow lot and we said our goodbyes. 

We decided to spend our last night looping.  We drove around and said goodbye to Hilda.  We also stopped by and checked out the Fort Wilderness railroad car.  What a terrific piece of Fort Wilderness history.

We stayed up as late and tried to stretch our last day for as long as we could, going through almost every loop in the campground.  We were both so sad to see it end.  Tomorrow it was time to pack up and start the long trek back to Minnesota.

Up next? Departure day. 

?Remember ladies and gentlemen, please remain seated with your hands and feet in the cart until the ride has come to a complete stop.

[Lil Lisa 53]

This installment will be short and sweet.  We woke up in the morning and we started the task of packing up.  All of the stuff went back into its place and Bruce loaded the camper back on the truck.  When we were about finished we got a final visit from Liv.  True to her word, she arrived with the necessary components for the promised Giddy up and Go photo for Dave (she is the one with the Cowboy beans, by the way;)).

Isn?t she just a sweetie!  We visited with her for a while and then packed the last few things in the truck. 

We lingered for a while, trying to figure out some way to delay the inevitable.  Despite thinking on our feet, we couldn?t come up with anything.  We still had to meet Kenny to return the cart, so Fudge and I went for one last ride as Bruce and Molly followed in the truck.  Just in case anyone wonders just how fast a ?Super Fast Kenny Cart? is, I opened it up when driving down to the overflow lot and Bruce paced me.  Let?s just say that I could have gotten a ticket? 

And with that, our adventure was over as quickly as it had begun.  I want to thank you all for joining us on this trip down memory lane.  I assure you that it will not be another 20+ years until our next trip to the Fort.  As I alluded to in a previous post, we are already planning our next big adventure.  Until then, I will have this trip report to keep me warm.

[Lil Lisa 53]

Well, there you have it folks!  The world's fastest trip report!  I bet you didn't even notice the potty break, did you! 

[vacamper 6]

Dang you're fast!  GREAT REPORT!

[kampfirekim 260]

Just as great the second time around!  :dance:

Question:  Did you have this saved in Word document or something?  Wish I'd done that.  Any thoughts on how I can move my TR over...and while I'm at it, the Best Thread of 2010 as well?

[dogcarbon 0]

copy and paste...

and when  you are unbanned - if that happens... go back and delete your report.

It is your writing, you are the author, you can delete, IMO.

[Lil Lisa 53]

Just as great the second time around!  :siren:

Question:  Did you have this saved in Word document or something?  Wish I'd done that.  Any thoughts on how I can move my TR over...and while I'm at it, the Best Thread of 2010 as well?

Thanks!  Yep, I did have it in a word document.  The easiest way to get yours over here would probably be to copy the posts into a word document and then replace the images with the proper BBCode.  The BBCode would look like this:

[img=http://www.website.com/imagename.jpg]

You can get the image path and name by right clicking on the image in your browser and looking at the properties.

It will take a bit of work, but it shouldn't be too bad.  Then you can create a thread and paste it here for all of us to share and enjoy!  :siren:

[H in SC 85]

Lisa, Awesome, Awesome TR. Great entertainment.

Now I can't wait for the 2011 TR. 

[Lou... 3,118]

It's like fine wine, gets better with age.

I mean the TR, not you Lisa. Well you are getting better too, but not because your older. Never mind.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Ok... going back to the guy with the leaf blower & the car.  he was our neighbor over Christmas.  Him, his wife, and their 6 dogs.  He would blow the leaves off so the yorkies wouldn't get leaves in their hair(we think).  She told us they had come in Sept to escape the oil spill mess.

[Lil Lisa 53]

It's like fine wine, gets better with age.

I mean the TR, not you Lisa. Well you are getting better too, but not because your older. Never mind.

Nice recovery!  :o

Ok... going back to the guy with the leaf blower & the car.  he was our neighbor over Christmas.  Him, his wife, and their 6 dogs.  He would blow the leaves off so the yorkies wouldn't get leaves in their hair(we think).  She told us they had come in Sept to escape the oil spill mess.

I was sooooo tempted to ask him if he wanted to do ours too (or at least let us borrow it so we could do it ourselves).  If it didn't take up so much room, I'd be tempted to bring one.  With a TC we just don't have the room.