Everyone please remain calm!
Let me backtrack for a moment.
After a LONG, HOT summer, we loaded up the RV and headed to Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort for Labor day.
It had been over a month since our last getaway and we were ready for some relaxing time with friends and family.
Two weeks before we were to leave I also bought a new truck. In true Stef fashion, it had to be customized before we left.
So between getting caught up on work, packing and 'truck adorning', I have neglected my blog.
Please forgive me.
We left on Wednesday the 28th of August and were staying until Monday, September 2.
First stop, as always....gas station!
On a side note: my truck pulled the RV and golf cart fabulously and I'm thrilled to death with it!
Within an hour I saw the glorious signs welcoming us to Walt Disney World.
I had requested the 1700 loop and was assigned to site 1733 which is deeper into the loop than I had hoped. As we made our way around we quickly realized that this site was in full sun and right next to the bath house.....Not happening! Trevor pulled into another site and I used the house phone to call the front desk to ask for a different site. Unfortunately I was told that they would be doing some work in that loop and had some of the sites I preferred, blocked off. The castmember asked me if I was partial to that area and I told him I wasn't, as long as I got a pet loop and if possible, some shade.
He assigned us to the 900 loop which is a premium loop, site 911.
*Stef thought: Free upgrade and site 9-1-1 is more than appropriate for my group of friends and family. Count me in!*
I agreed to that site and we got all set up.
Nathen and Karissa followed us down, which was a super nice treat as usually they can only make it down for the weekend, due to work schedules.
Our dear friends from South Carolina, Tony and Genia, were already at the Fort and rode over to welcome us in. We may have had a few cocktails after setting up and within a couple of hours, I found this in the RV
Trevor was on the couch, also sawing logs, so I relaxed under the awning while they caught up on some beauty rest.
Once everyone was rejuvenated, we grilled some hot sausage and then walked across the street to the trading post.
Decisions, decisions...
There's no better ice cream than ice cream at Disney!
Nate went for the classic Mickey bar and I had the chocolate chip cookie sandwich, while we strolled down to the dock.
You can always tell how full the Fort is by the amount of people using the pool.
As you can see, it was fairly empty, but we knew that wouldn't last through the weekend.
Trevor took the opportunity to scout the area.
And also rode the fence at the campfire area...What is wrong with him?!?!
*shaking my head*
It was a nice relaxing family night, strolling around the Fort.
It had been a long day and we knew we'd be hitting the hay early in preparation for the 5 fun-filled days ahead.
Thursday morning, the kids and I met up with Tony and Genia and hopped on the boat to Magic Kingdom.
Spoiler alert: Trevor didn't set foot in one park this trip! He stayed back at camp with Mason and enjoyed the serenity of the campground, A.K.A. 'beer'
While the 5 of us were getting through bag check and the ticket turnstiles, we got a couple photos.
It's hard for me to believe how grown-up and big Nathen is, until I see pics of us together!
None of us had any agenda, but we figured if we wanted to ride any of the big attractions, we'd be better off doing them now before the holiday weekend crowds rolled in.
First stop: Big Thunder Mountain!!
Tony, Genia and I
Karissa and I after 'the wildest ride in the wilderness'
We figured we might as well hit Splash Mountain while we were back there, to which Nate balked "I don't want to get soaked!!"
I replied: "Nate we've never gotten soaked!! A little spray, maybe. A little ass wetness from the seats, maybe, but not soaked!"
As luck would have it, Nate was given a front row seat.
You can imagine what happens when you're in the front seat of a flume, after a drop like this....
I ducked my head slightly and my ponytail got a little damp (There are advantages to being 4'10") When Nate turned to look at me, I saw this...
He was a good sport, as always, and we dried quickly in the Florida sun.
At this point, we separated from Tony & Genia as they had a few things they wanted to do and the kids and I strolled through FantasyLand to see how the refurbishment was coming along.
Rapunzels tower/bathrooms are completed.
Since there was no wait for It's a Small World, and Karissa had never ridden it, we tortured took her on it.
A 'selfie' with 3 people isn't as easy as it looks, please ignore my turkey neck :)
Small World is old, outdated and a bit annoying, but you can't help but sing along with the cute little dolls.
At this time it's around noon and hot as Hades, so we stopped for a couple obligatory castle shots then headed to the exit.
Our plan was to jump on the monorail and ride it to the Polynesian for my favorite frozen drink, then monorail to the contemporary and hop a boat back to the Fort.
I had to make one last stop on Main street in MK to bring home a treat for Trevor.
"Please stand clear of the doors"
Or for my Spanish speaking fans
"Por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas"
We arrived at the Poly only to find out that Tambu lounge doesn't open until 1:00. I guess the Disney execs don't listen to Jimmy Buffet who says "It's 5 0'Clock somewhere"
The good news is that the Tambu bartender told us that the pool bar was open so we headed downstairs for a Pina Colava.
We'll call this shot: '3 person selfie with pina colavas'
As we sipped our frozen goodness, Genia and Tony made their way over to meet us for a drink and for the ride back to the Fort.
We monorailed it to the Contemporary and waited for a boat.
I shared a seat with on Genia
While enjoying a peaceful Bay Lake ride.
The rest of the day we looped on the golf cart
We ate dinner, had a few drinks and the kids went Hollywood studios to watch Fantasmic.
Another successful day of relaxing!
Friday morning we lounged around camp for a bit knowing we had to move Donnie's RV to the front lot for him as he would be coming in that afternoon.
Have I mentioned Donnie?
Of course, no Fort visit is complete without my buddy Donnie.
After getting dressed for the day, the first thing we saw was a deer behind our site, across the canal.
I took a picture through the screen room so I didn't spook her. You can barely see her directly behind the bike handlebars.
We watched as she strolled down the canal.
Again, it's hard to see her, she's right in the center of the photo 'under' the golf cart in the background.
I whipped up a batch of our special punch for the evenings festivities. We didn't bring our little fridge this trip and decided to 'redneck style' it in the plastic bucket.
The kids finally moseyed out of bed and I got some Nate lovin'
Around 10:00, Trevor took my truck over to move Donnie's RV.
I had to take picture proof that Donnie owes me one, as the previous nights conversation went like this:
Trevors phone rings, it's Donnie
T: Hello
D: Hey, where's Nate?
T: At DHS to see Fantasmic
D: Oh, that's why he's not answering. I wanted to see if he could move my RV up front.
T: Well, since Nate drove Karissa's Ranger pickup, I would say no.
D: Well, I know you're on vacation, but could you move it? I'll pay you.
T: Yes, not a problem
ME: (in the background) WHOA WHOA, wait a second!!! You're gonna look funny towing Donnie's RV up front with your bicycle as you don't have your truck either!!!
T: Oh shit Donnie, I don't have my truck either, you're gonna have to deal with Stef
*insert evil laughter here*
I had Trevor pass on my reasonable demands for payback, to which Donnie agreed. I did not get paid back in full (not anyone's fault, just ran out of time) but I now have proof that I kept up my end of the deal.
With our job done, we did some looping. I went by Genia's site to take a photo of a gift I made for their RV as I forgot to take one and I like to have pictures of my crafty crap.
If you saw my Cedar Key camping blog, you may remember the solar lamp I bought up there.
I thought that it would be fairly simple to make and I had found a perfect saying for Genia's campsite. Add that little craft to my month of busy-ness.
Here's Genia and Tony's lamp
In case it's too small to read it says:
Welcome to our campsite
Where friends & marshmallows get toasted at the same time
By now it was lunchtime and we decided to head over to the Wilderness Lodge for lunch.
Waiting on a boat
Taken from the boat on a beautiful sunny day
We arrived at the Lodge where I had a roast beef sandwich, Trevor had a ham and cheese panini. (Sorry for no food porn, I really dropped the ball on picture taking this trip)
I did take a couple of Lodge photos while we waited for our water taxi back to the Fort.
And a patriotic water shot from the boat
And the sweethearts
Since it was Friday night and Donnie was coming in, Tony volunteered to cook dinner. Who am I to argue?
So I drank punch while G & T cooked a shrimp boil, which was FABULOUS!!
Not only are they two of the greatest friends anywhere, Tony is a great cook. That's a win-win in my book!!
It wasn't long until I heard the sounds of Donnie from inside the RV.
As always, I was thrilled to see him! He's a pain in my ass, spur of the moment and irresponsible, but I love him to death. If I didn't want to choke the living shit out of him most of the time, I would spend most of my time with him like this.
He's like a big teddy bear!
You'll be happy (or should be) that there are no other pictures from this evening. There was a lot of drinking, laughing, dancing and hog tie-ing.
(Nate and Donnie had a wrestling match and while Donnie was on top and thought he had won, Nate had tied his ankles together with a dog leash. Donnie had no choice but to give up. Funny stuff)
We also managed to make it down to the beach for fireworks before calling it a night.
Saturday, we slept in for a bit and then the 5 of us headed to the outpost for an Epcot bus.
Our bus finally came and it was standing room only!
No big deal, we arrived at Epcot in about 10 minutes.
Again, we had no big plans other than to get a frozen margarita from Mexico. It's kind of become a tradition for Genia and I.
On our way in, the Jamitors were performing so we stopped to watch them for a while.
We strolled over to Test Track where the single rider line was only a 5 minute wait, so we all went for it. After about 15 minutes of not moving an inch, an announcement came over the ride saying they were experiencing technical difficulties.
For those of you that know me, you know that patience is NOT one of my strong suits. I do try to be more patient than normal at Disney because waiting is part of the game.
I declared that with one more of those announcements, I was gone.....and that's exactly what happened.
The joys of being an annual passholder, we'll catch it next time!
The good news was that we had killed enough time for the World Showcase to be open, so we made our way around the world for a few snacks before margarita time.
Nate and I had some egg rolls from China
Then the girls got in line for a jalapeno stuffed pretzel, while the men found a shady spot to wait.
With our bellies full of cabbage and a bread-like substance, it was margarita time!!
But first Genia and I couldn't pass up Donald Duck in Mexico...
He (or she) even gave us a duck-butt photo.
Finally, the Holy Grail of the World Showcase..the margarita crew!
Karissa didn't get one, she just tried all of ours.
While trying to suck our drinks down beore the exit and trying to avoid brain freeze, Genia ventured off to the bathrooms. We thought (or hoped) we'd lose her, but she found her way back.
(Ahem...Tony also had GPS on her phone, just in case)
We separated near the exit as there was no wait time for Spaceship Earth and since it was a first for Karissa, we jumped on it and told G & T that we'd see them back at camp.
Trevor was late picking us up as he went to wait at the marina for us. For those of you that know the Fort, that's at the opposite end of the campground....DUH, we didn't take a boat, we took a bus.
(Blame it on the beer)
So we started walking, knowing he'd find us along the sidewalk, which he did.
Did I mention that Trevor was back at camp drinking beer?
Yep, he's auditioning for Magic Mike Part II, right there at camp.
Since we were planning on burgers and mac & cheese for dinner that night, G & T were doing a pork loin and we had a bunch of leftover shrimp boil, I invited them to bring their loin over, we would warm up the left overs and just feast on all of it.
Picture of Genia cooking....or re-heating, either way, it doesn't happen very often.
*Love you, Genia*
Donnie showed up and Mason and Chloe had a blast playing outside!
And then got some down time
After dinner was served, the kids and I decided to go to MK with plans to watch the parade and fireworks.
We couldn't have planned the boat ride over any better. Look at the skies over Bay Lake!
And that my friends is why nothing beats Fort Wilderness!
You can go from beautiful sunsets on the water, to mad chaos, all in a matter of minutes.
As the boat was docking we could see the hordes of people around the entrance. We expected this as it was a Saturday night of a holiday weekend. It was 7:45 when we walked down Main Street and the streets were lined solid with people, waiting on the 9:00 parade. I'm not a fan of stinky, sweaty, pushy Disney fanatics, so we headed back to Tomorrow Land where we could hear some booming music.
They had a DJ on the stage doing a 'Dog Days of Summer' concert. Bolt, Pluto, Dug and Stitch were out in the crowd getting their groove on with all the kids.
*No, the last time I checked, Stitch was NOT a dog, but they obviously were short on dog characters*
Pluto
Stitch
Bolt
I never did manage a shot of Dug because of the crowd, so here is a pilfered Dug shot.
Genia tried to get Bolt to dance with her, but I think he was frightened....can you blame him?
The coolest part of this show was that they were showing guests dogs on the big screen if you tweeted a pic with the hashtag #LimitedTimeMagic.
Mason made his MK debut
So did Genia's Savannah
And Karissa's pup
After the concert, we met up with Donnie and rode Pirates Of the Caribbean. Nate made an attempt at a pirate pose while waiting.
*Like father, like son*
After Pirates, we rode Big Thunder Mountain again, which was super fast at night and we all screamed like girls.
We stopped for one castle shot at night trying to get out of there before the fireworks started, to avoid all the crowds that would be exiting.
We timed our exit perfectly as the first firework blasted off as the boat left the dock. We were able to watch the whole fireworks show while cruising on the water.
Sunday was here before we knew it and it was the only day that we had actual plans. Trevor & Nathen were traveling to Sanford (about an hour away) to buy new military tires for Nate's lifted chevy. They invited Tony to go with them, so Genia, Karissa and I stayed at camp to cook, drink and gossip. I had marinated some pork chops, put potatoes in the crock pot and made a 7 layer salad. Genia was grilling a steak and zucchini, so again, we gathered everything at our site to eat together.
The boys were gone about 3 hours and returned with, not four 37 inch Goodyears, but five of them...in Karissa's Ranger!
(the guy gave him a near bald one for free as a spare)
To say that the Ranger had a bit of a squat would be an understatement.
Time for dinner....
More drinks
And a Mother/Son dance
Those are the moments that make a vacation priceless!
Unfortunately Monday came too quickly and the packing process had to begin.
Genia and Tony came by to say goodbye and we started to tear down.
The ride home was uneventful, other than giggling at Nate in Karissa's truck.
Since Nate doesn't have a Sunpass, he had to stop at toll booths. Of course, he would catch us within a mile or so since we were towing a lot of weight. After every toll I would say
"Here comes the golden nugget in chase mode!"
I took this shot as we got off the exit ramp, the little nugget chugging along behind us.
We were back home within an hour
By 1:00, we were unpacked and ready to face a week of catch-up work.
Another great vacation with the family, and friends so dear to me that they should be family.
He who returns from a journey is not the same as he who left
~Chinese Proverb
