My 1980 dream of Camping at the Fort, Fall 2012: Pop, BWV and THE FORT! .. update: 10 years later .. Trip report is complete!

[WalkingintheFog]

Trippie in process of writing up!
Definitely did not have as much computer time as I envisioned during trip, and only arrived home Tues AM, in time to go to work & come down with a cold that knocked me off my feet and into bed for a few days!
Today is Saturday, and Im pleased to announce I have suitcases unpacked, laundry done. No. Not much is put away. But the Suitcases are down in basement. And Notes are being compiled!

It was a great trip!!!! I love Disney! The parks, the resorts, the atmosphere! The food, oh the Wine and Dine food!
Had 2 great runs (1 brutal 10 miler Tower of Terror and 1 could-have-done-better-but-still-a-personal-best Half Marathon in Toronto) & got the bling to show for both!

Hope to finish this, my first Trip Report, before I get too immersed in planning the next trip (Nov 2013: Wine & Dine, the Wine & Dine Half, MVMCP, Osborne Family...Lights, Festival of Masters AND! A milestone birthday for someone!)


Here's a picture for comfort! It's breakfast at The Fort! Tea & French Toast w/ syrup & becel (Canadian margarine) :

 

[bama_ed]

Waiting patiently

Bama ED

 

[2goofycampers]

Me too!

 

[dellasgirl]

a

 

[megveg]

Im so so so excited to hear more ! Congrats on your finishes!

 

[Tented1]

Congrats on your PB!

Can't wait to read and see more!

Hope you feel better.

 

[Disneypeach]

looking forward to reading more about your trip.
Peach

 

[WalkingintheFog]

Waiting patiently

Bama ED

Any moment now!

Me too!

Just around the corner!

can't wait to read about it

LOVE the mug you have in the pic

ann and family

It's a HUGE! cup, and currently in use!

Im so so so excited to hear more ! Congrats on your finishes!

Thank you!

Congrats on your PB!

Can't wait to read and see more!

Hope you feel better.

Thank you! And yes, much better!

looking forward to reading more about your trip.
Peach

Here it comes!


Sep 25 Tues- Sep 27 Thurs: The Pop Century experience!

At what point do you feel that your vacation has started?
- When you lock your front door?
- When the plane taxis down to ramp to take off?
- When it lands?
- When you walk out to the Magic Express and you get that first blast of Florida heat in your face?
- Or when you get to your resort room, or when you look out at the view from your room?




My room request was "50's lakeview 4th Floor". I got and was perfectly happy with "50's Jukebox Bldg, 2nd Floor facing pool".


The 1st evening's plan consisted of having a light snack, a dip in the pool, and Disney bus to DTD for supper somewhere.

My first order of business (after the obligatory check for bedbug evidence -- none) was to put on my swimsuit/coverup on & head to the Classic Hall: I also wanted to quickly check out the merchandise offerings (I wanted a Disney Mug, and that needed to be bought in time for tea the next morning.)

I picked up a side order of the thick potato chips & a can of beer.
Gotta love these american tin bottles of beer with their screwtops! I just drank half the bottle & put the other half in room fridge for later (how one can vacation without a room fridge, I do not know!)

Ahhhhh! It's warm, there's sun on my face, a cold beer by my side, an uncrowded pool in front of me, and it's VACATION!!!!

This is the point at which I feel my vacation has finally started!


NEXT UP: Downtown Disney, Supper and Dessert!

 

[WalkingintheFog]

Sep 25 Tues- Sep 27 Thurs: The Pop Century experience! Continued!

I rarely waited long for buses while at WDW this trip around! The bus to DTD was pulling in as I got to the bus stop (I did actually run for it thinking it might not stop long )

It was dusk as I arrived at DTD, and quickly got dark.

I love strolling DTD in the evening: Its somewhat magical at times, with minilights twinkling here & there in the trees. And its warm! (Such a strange and awesome experience to not need long sleeves at night in late September!!!).
DTD doesnt really lend itself to commando style touring, so people are generally more relaxed & you see less meltdowns here!

Not much of a shopper, but I do need to check out Mickeys Pantry and The Christmas Store, as I need to pick up a mug before breakfast time tomorrow! (Im a true Newfoundlander: I love my tea, it doesnt matter how hot it is outside, mornings begin with a cup of Tea!

I decide on this one, and know that I can pick it up at the Resort store:


2 other mugs that I see at Mickeys Pantry and several other places are: (and in hindsight, wish I had chosen one of these instead... Id have bought 2 matching ones)



and



With that dealt with, time to think about supper!

Earls and Wolfgang Puck Express are sooooo tempting! Love them both, but part of the trip plan is to try new things! (I'll visit each of those later in trip!)

Paradiso 37 has my attention, but I dont really want to sit indoors on my first night (or any night that its not raining!). I passed it by, but as I did so, a couple vacates a table on the "upper" outdoor terrace right next to the railing. I went back to the podium to see if they could sit me there. Im in!
Lets see whats here that takes my fancy.... ....
Beer. Of course beer. Icy Cold please. Waiter recommends their house P37 beer........I ordered it, but ergh! Not to my taste! Had it replaced with a Bud Light.
Burger.... I never order burgers! But I had the best burger of my life at Le Cellier last year, so I decided to try the Bacon & Pineapple Burger
They asked how I wanted it cooked, and did a great job! Rare is the only way to eat beef.
(Sorry! forgot about taking pictures of the food!)
No lineup of people waiting to be seated, so I took my time enjoying the meal, and people watching.
I decide to pass on dessert there & save room for it back at Pop Century.

After strolling for another half, it's the bus back to Pop Century,
and a visit to their store for my mug, then to the food court to get Milk, Bread, Water and Dessert.......

Yep. When in Rome, do as the Romans do: .......order Tie Dye Cheesecake & back to the room, I put kettle on for a cup of tea.
Funny how I never notice how tired I am til now! But I realize, I hardly slept on the plane & never went to bed the night before!

So, after a cuppa & half the Tie Die cheese cake it's time for shower then bed!!!


Goodnight Dissers!

 

[dellasgirl]

For us our vacation begins when we pull out of the driveway to start our drive down

that Cheesecake looks GOOD

Ann and family

 

[Tented1]

Hmmm . . . That cheesecake looks pretty strange, only at Disney.

I love the way you took the mug pics.

I can't wait to hear more!

 

[bama_ed]

At what point do you feel that your vacation has started?
- When you lock your front door?
- When the plane taxis down to ramp to take off?
- When it lands?
- When you walk out to the Magic Express and you get that first blast of Florida heat in your face?
- Or when you get to your resort room, or when you look out at the view from your room?

A clever question.

For me it's when you feel that first blast of warm air.

And the cheese cake looks awesome.

Bama ED

 

[WalkingintheFog]

Cheesecake: I felt cheated that it did not have a graham cracker crumb crust! lol, the things one expects!


Sep 25 Tues- Sep 27 Thurs: The Pop Century experience! Continued!
Sep 26 Wed
Ahhh! Waking up my first morning at Disney! I dont even know what time I woke up! The bed was great! kicking me in the night! NOT!

Got my breakfast - I brought my auto-shut-off kettle for tea, and also have cereal w/ milk & a banana.
Lord! That mug is BIG!

Picking up rent-a-car today: Did I mention in the week before trip I decided on a rental?

Basically because of my camping adventure for week 2: I wanted both a place I could lock valuables and a place I could retreat to if thunder/lightning became too much for me (or if the rain defeated my tent, lol!).
Got a rate of $100/wk from Dollar, pickup at their location at the Wyndham on Hotel Blvd next to DTD.
At that rate, I booked it for 2 weeks! Called my insurance agent to see what to bring/what my policy covered: her advice was dont pay for any coverage from the rental place, and dont let them upgrade you to anything better than what you own! (I drive a Hyundai Elantra Touring Wagon ).

Dollar sent their shuttle van to bring me over to the Wyndham.
-- I wondered how much bigger their rooms would be in comparison to the various Disney resuts, so asked Front Desk for a viewing of a couple rooms (I thought not much diff from Disney Value Resort rooms, maybe a bit smaller? Don't think I'd choose Wyndhamd over Disney Value Resorts...unless they had a $40/ nt rate! I'd think aout it then!).
-- I did an inspection of the car before signing the acceptance form (the Dollar staff were really nice, but seemed surprised that I wasnt willing to sign for car without an inspection 1st!) Glad I did: Not all the dings on the car appeared to have been reported (they put little numbered stickers on each ding thats reported (she said not concerned about flaws smaller than a quarter)). I took pictures of all, and then of the odometer, and back in to be sure they noted what I noted!
-- Another lady at a counter tried to convince me to go see a timeshare at Bonnet Creek: $100 just for going! No strings attached! Why would anyone not do it?..... I told her no time now, if I was interested Id give a call.... She gave me a number to call. Later I looked at something about it, and it looks like youve got to put a credit card deposit down or something, and the credit comes later.....Im definitely not interested to spending any of my vacation time in a hard sell! Especially with absolutely no intent to buy.


Deep Breath now! Time for my first experience in a rent-a-car, and my first time driving in Disney/USA/a city wayyyyy bigger than St. Johns!
.......Piece of Cake!
......And I'm Animal Kingdom bound!!

 

[glennbo123]

I'm following along! Thanks for sharing your experiences.

 

[storyteller]

Following along too
My vacation starts when I start planning it.... drive everyone crazy. love it.

 

[WalkingintheFog]

Sorry for being so tardy, folks!
Life gets in the way.....I was sick, I was better. Lost an aunt. And I was sick again. Thought I got better. Sick again (currently sounding like a cross between Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck).

*********


On with the show!
Made it safely to AK in rent-a-car in about 10mins!! What was I concerned about?
Only found WDW signs slightly confusing! (More about that later!)

Todays crowd levels as per TouringPlans was a 1.1 for AK! I was glad to have read that as I wanted to get several attractions in, but did not want to waste time in line ups!

At Disney its so easy to put your blinders on, to rush from ride/attraction/show to the next, but of all the parks to slow down and savour, AK is the one.

I think Disney has done an amazing job of recreating a little bit of each area/country/continent portrayed there, just like Epcot has.
And theres been a lot of effort into designing the parks to entice us to slow down & observe.....(yes, shops too, to entice us to spend, but also to look thru!).

So, while I managed several attractions, I did explore here and there!
AK has so many little eating areas tucked away! If you just look around, you can always find a shady spot to sit out of the way! At least, in late September!
... Did you know behind Tusker House, is a great eating area, shady depending on time of day? And details! Look over & down to the riverside:



...If youre sitting out Dinosaur, for example: dont wait in the sun in front.... by the entrance to Dinosaur, walk to the left, past where they exit the ride. Theres several covered benches there, and a water fountain just beyond (Not to be confused with the smoking area just beyond).

My shoulders were sore, so I didn't bring my over-the-shoulder bag with me, just a slim runningbelt..... but next thing I'm juggling water bottle, fan, sunglasses, park maps, camera etc.... why the beep did I not bring a bigger bag.....
" yes. I then bought a Disney bellybag/fannypack. $26. One of the best $26 I spent the trip. It will never see the light of a Newfoundland Day, but yes, it sure was worth it!

Next up: close encounters on Safari!

I wanted to eat meals outside as much as possible, and my plan for AK was Pizzafari for Lunch and to sit at the Tables outside the restaurant in the shade!
" Yum Yum! No picture, no idea why not! But it was Pizzafari's Pepperoni Pizza + Salad $9.50, and Draft Bud Beer $6.00 for an early lunch. I did a walk thru of the inside, but knew where I wanted to eant my meal! At tables ringing the restaurant outside, in the shade.
With the muted music around, it was very enjoyable...I could easily have just sat back and chilled there for an hour or so!

BUT there were things to be done!
AK was hot! I was so glad there were such low crowds! Very little waiting for everything! Dinasaur was a walkon. I timed FOTLK & Finding Nemo so I could just walk in instead of lining up outside.

SAFARI! Did that 2x, and on my second go on Safari, I got closer to a Mama Rhino & her baby than I ever want to again! She & her little one walked right next to our bus......She was eye-ing us, and I tell you, a Rhino mama is one powerful and mean looking beast!
I wasn't brave enough to snap a picture of her until she started to move away!





In that little hut store (Mandala Gifts?) where they sell neat tshirts, purses, shoes, and jewelry,
there was this t-shirt with quite a profound quote attributed to Buddha:



But, God help me.... I couldnt help thinking I think Ill have a beer......



Instead, I tackled Kali River Rapids 2 or 3 times. Love love it!

Closing time came soon enough, and time for my 2nd drive within the US of A..... Drive out of the park, on Oceola Parkway, thinking, nothing to it, just follow the signs.....
Hmm.....oh, so when the sign says "next right"... they mean "This RIGHT TURN" not "THE RIGHT TURN AFTER THIS".... lol.

Wish I had the GPS just to show where I had gone! Let alone to keep me on the right track!
AND OMG, these are MULTIPLE MULTIPLE LANES OF TRAFFIC.....deep breath, girl, just a regular road with a few dozen extra lanes (okay, it was maybe 4 lanes wide....)
Took a exit, managed to get on familar territory (Saw Pirates Mini Golf! The one by Goodings!).

Hmm.... Well, if I'm going past DTD.....Really should pick up supper!



Yum! Earl of Sandwich! The Full Montegue & a bag of Chips $7.76
Honestly, it is one of the best deals at Disney! Always delicious and satisfying.
Hopped in the car, and was back to Pop Century before the Sandwich had a chance to cool down! No problems navigating my way back there!

Ah! Finished the last half of the beer from yesterday, a quick swim and bedtime!

Gotta say no complaints about the beds at Pop Century. Not too noisy in my part of the resort.


********************
Next up: Got to get a run in! And moving to Boardwalk!! woo hoo!

 

[WalkingintheFog]

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[WalkingintheFog]

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[WalkingintheFog]

Sep 27 Last Morning at Pop Century! I'm moving on up!
Can't check in at Boardwalk until 4pm, check out time here is 11am......so, the plan was to sleep in, have a wee run, have breakfast, and explore Pop Century a bit......
So much for sleeping in, it was a great night's sleep, but I'm still on NL time.... it's 5:30am here (7:00 am home) and no way can I fall back to sleep.

So, up and puttering, did some computer work.,
and then as daybreak came, I brought 1 suitcase down to the car trunk

And then went for a wee run around the Hourglass lake..... it was my first run in a week, I took my camera and rubbernecked a bit, and just took it slow.

POP Century is lovely. I can see staying here again.

Such a picturesque bridge! Almost makes you forget you're in Disney. ......Until you notice the giant Bowling Pin!

Look Ma! I'm inside a Rubic's Cube!​

Man, the hours I spent with my Rubic's Cube when I should have been studying! I had even taken it apart to grease it!​

Rubic's Revenge never held the same fascination for some reason!​

Love this next one. To me, this says "Pop Century, man"

Ah, and my first crush! (Baloo or Mowli, you decide).​

well, it was a slow run, but it was a run!
About 10days earlier, I had pulled something, hamstring, glute, what? in my right leg, that hadn't gone away. (Had to skip Sunday's long slow run (it was a half marathon) 2 days before my trip.
The doctor feels just a matter of stretching and warming it up, and time will heal, but man, it's painful in the mornings (started taking Ibuprofen at night).

It definitely loosens, the longer I walked, & the run was not bad. So, yeah, I'll be okay! stretching is key! And so glad the run will be at night!

With that relief in mind, I had breakfast, loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly!
err.. I loaded the car and moved to Boardwalk!

Next up: Boardwalk, soft opening of Wine & Dine, and here comes the rain!

 

[glennbo123]

Ooo, I like that spot behind Tusker House that you showed us. Looks like a hidden gem that I'll have to look for next time! Thanks!

I had to laugh at your "I think I'll have a beer" comment after that Buddha quote. Nice one!