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M-Y family trip report, day 3: "Finally, Fort Wilderness"
At 6 I give up attempting to sleep and get dressed for the day. At 7, DD climbs out of her bunk across the hall and we wake Dad to sit with sleeping DS. DD and I head for breakfast, which consists of bagels, muffins, assorted cold cereals, OJ, milk and fruit. DD is now not feeling well and barely eats. By the time we return to our compartment, we have arrived in Sanford, FL.
We are kept on the train about 30 minutes before being allowed to disembark. After a short wait for our van number to be called, we are on our way to Fort Wilderness.
When we arrive at the Outpost to check in, there is a line. We are hoping that even though it is hours before check in time they will be able to find a place to put us, so that we can get the sick kids back to bed. We hear the people in front of us in line being told there aren't any rooms ready yet and we start discussing what to do with the next few hours. Luckily, such discussion is needless. When it is our turn to check in, cast member Rebecca gives us a room number and keys and sends us off to find our cabin! Yeah!
We are in cabin 2610, not too far from the bus stop, not too far from the pool. It's just what I wanted. We drag in all of our luggage, unpack the cooler and head for bed.
I awaken at 2:30 p.m. to find that DS has been up for awhile, watching TV in the livingroom. He is no longer hot, not even warm! Ah, the magic of Disney is working already!
We hang out at the room for awhile. We had noticed on the way in that MK is open 'til 11. So, breaking with our tradition of always visiting Epcot first, we head for MK around 6:30.
It is more crowded than we had expected for this time of year and I remember it is the end of "Jersey Week" I am hoping in a day or two the crowds will thin.
We start at DS's favorite ride and get fast passes for Buzz Lightyear. We have an hour to wait, so DD and Dad go to check out the line at Space Mountain, while I take DS on his second favorite ride, the TTA.
When we get off we run over to COP and meet up with Dad and DD who decided to get a snack instead of getting in line for SM. After riding COP, we ride TTA again and head over to Buzz.
We split up again, Dad and DD heading for Astro Orbiter, DS and I heading for Fantasyland. DS has been subdued all evening. So far the only thing that has perked him up is Buzz. I get him to agree to stopping for ice cream and he eats about ¾ of his cone. It took us so long in the line at Mrs. Potts and then to eat that Dad and DD have caught up with us. We sit with them while they have their ice cream and then it's on to Dumbo. I sit this one out while Dad waits in line with the kids.
What happens next is the highlight of the night. I am standing in the middle of Fantasyland when they start the fireworks. In all my visits to Disney I've only seen the fireworks one other time and that was through the window at Ohanas. This is the most spectacular display I have ever seen anywhere. And my kids got to watch part of it while ON Dumbo. It impressed DD and even perked up DS.
After the show, we quickly leave Fantasyland and ride Haunted Mansion. The wait is only about 5 minutes. This is one of my favorite rides. When we get off we walk as quickly as we can all the way over to Pirates of the Caribbean. On the way we briefly consider riding Alladin's Magic Carpets because the CM there is hawking his ride "Step right up folks, no line, no waiting" But DD really wants to ride Pirates as the last ride of the night. There is no line at Pirates and we get to sit at the front of the boat. We all enjoy this ride, and when it is over the park is closing.
On our way down Main Street we catch glimpses of the parade. This is something on my "to do" list: actually watch a parade. We never do. I really want to. Maybe some other night we will.
After monorail and tram, we make it to the van and start discussing dinner. I want to get take out and eat in the cabin. DS is already falling asleep and DD and I have been coughing all day. We pitstop at Goodings for some cough drops, then attempt to use the drive thru at Burger King. The sign says they are open until 1, but it looks like they didn't read their own sign. Somewhat disappointed we go to McDonald's instead.
Back to the room, DS sleeps through dinner and DD just picks at hers. I think it's time for bed.
M-Y family trip, day 4, "Bring on the Food?"
I can not tell you how excited I was when I realized we would be here for the end of EPCOT's International Food and Wine Festival. When I made our reservations, I thought it was only for the month of October. So, guess which park we're going to today?
We arrive at EPCOT and do Spaceship Earth as a family. We then split up briefly. Dad and DD head off to get fast passes for Mission Space and Test Track. DS and I get popcorn and sit outside Universe of Energy waiting for them to find us. When they arrive we find out that the wait for Test Track is so long that they were given extra fast passes for Honey, I Shrunk the Audience.
We ride UoE together, then DS and I head for HISTA, while Dad and DD go for Mission Space.
We do Journey Into Imagination after getting shrunk and then try to hook up with Dad via our 2 way radios. It is at this time that we discover that another family is using the same channel we are. Every time I try to contact my husband, some woman asks her husband if he is trying to contact her. Her husband tells her that someone else is on the same channel, and then has the nerve to tell me to change to another channel! Never gonna happen buddy. I might have been willing to accommodate you if you had been the least bit polite. And I'm wondering why your wife can't tell the difference between you and some strange woman who has a rather high voice?
I am finally able to contact the rest of the family and we meet in front of Le Cellier. We do not have a PS and this turns out to be a problem. We were not expecting it to be as crowded as it is and they are booked solid.
I get some cheese soup, maple fudge and a minute amount of Inniskillen at Canada's tasting station. The kids get the ever popular McDonald's chicken nuggets and fries at the refreshment outpost and Dad gets a couple of Motrin and a sling at the First Aid station. He had injured his shoulder the previous night by trying out the top bunk and it has been feeling worse as the day progresses. None of this food constitutes dinner, so we decide that as soon as they use their Test Track fast passes, we will go to Macaroni Grill. My plans for eating my way around the world have been put on hold.
We leave Dad and DD at TT and I take DS to the exit area of Mission Space to play. He enjoys climbing through the tunnels and pushing various buttons playing for team Orion.
On the tram to the parking lot DS gets upset that I am making him sit in the middle, while the little boy behind us is allowed to sit on the outside. I would like to thank that kid's parents for not listening to the repeated requests for all children under 10 to be seated to the inside. Yeah, thanks a lot! My son spent the rest of the evening treating me like I'm a mean mommy for not letting him do the same thing.
Dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill is excellent as usual. Our waiter, Mike, made a special effort to bring DS out of his funk by giving him a hunk of pizza dough to play with. It was a nice try, but DS wasn't very well behaved and near the end of the meal Dad decides to take him to the van. DD and I finish quickly and pay the bill.
Part 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7, 8
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