“Please Don’t Pop My Disney Bubble!” TR 8/11-8/20 *New 1/1, It’s a wrap!!

Hello Everyone!

Time to travel back to hot August for Day 8 Part 1 “Fun at Fort Wilderness”

Today had us enjoying a leisurely morning, after a late night Halloween Party.

We had an ADR at Trails End for brunch this morning. We left the room around 10am, just as our sweet Mousekeeper came to take care of the room. We had the same lady each day and once I had requested mornings she would come and do the room each morning, yay!

We took the monorail to MK and waited on a boat to FW. It wasn’t long and we were aboard the boat. I tried to take an artsy picture of Cinderella’s Castle. Guess what? It was hot out, I bet you all are surprised about that! The boats to FW take you to the area of the resort where the restaurant is, this is nice, no internal busing for us!
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We checked in for our meal and met the nicest hostess, Josephine, she was so sweet and giving out compliments! She told me I had beautiful skin, so of course I loved her! She visited with us for a little while before our buzzer went off! Nicest CM so far this trip and not because of the compliment, honestly!
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We were seated close to the buffet and our luck continued with another nice CM.
Our server was Ken, he was really good. He had a blue legacy name tag and I can see why. He was engaging and attentive in just the right way. He wasn’t intrusive at all but made you feel quite special. A great asset and hard to do. Drinks were ordered and time to check out the buffet.
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I started with some breakfast food such as Mickey waffles, banana foster bread pudding, donut, scrambled eggs, a random piece of cheese, sausage, and fruit. Everything was very delicious.
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This buffet had so many offerings, I think you could go up and get at least 10 plates of different items.
I took some unglamorous pictures of the buffet. It did look like the buffet could have been cleaned up a little from my pictures. Food spilled along the serving line.
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I tried some savory food next, the pulled pork benedict (in buffet picture) was very good and a unique combination. My final plate after a few more sweet offerings was chicken, mashed potatoes, beef brisket and sweet potatoes (I think??), and macaroni and cheese. My fried chicken was very good, I was just getting to full for a bigger piece.
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One of Andi’s plates. We both ate a lot for us and thoroughly enjoyed this buffet. It also is still priced fairly reasonably for Disney. They also have AP discount and if you have the Disney Visa, there is a discount with that, not both one or the other. I mention the Visa because there are only a few that offer the Visa discount. I personally think there should be more!
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We finished up and gave high praise to our server Ken, along with a nice tip and headed out to explore the horse areas and the FW resort.

Join me in the next post for an unexpected barn tour!!

I forgot food totals from the day before, I’m slipping! Like @buzzrelly my Dis emoticons have mostly disappeared so I can’t add any in on here that would make sense. I am on Firefox, maybe I have to update??

Friday 8/17 Food totals
Katsura Grill=$22.37
Kabuki Cafe=$9.52 (Katgori)
CHH=$14.90
Aloha Isle=$6.00
Total=$52.79 “cheap day”
 
Looks like a great brunch after such a late night! One of these days, we’ll get out there for brunch! You got there at the right time for breakfast and lunch!
 
Cont.......More fun at Fort Wilderness
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After our delicious brunch, we headed over to the horse barn. Both of us enjoy visiting this area and learning about the horses at Disney. We noticed at the barn entrance, a sign, stating Barn Tour today at 12:30. It was getting close to that time and we thought this would be fun. We spent some time looking at the beautiful big horses and reading about Walt’s love for horses. Horses have always been a very important part of Disney World and Disneyland.
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A CM came out to start the tour and it was just us and one other couple. This, at the time, was a free 30 minute tour. It was new and I think if popular it will probably end up with a cost! For now it was free. The CM has worked with the horses for several years and had extensive experience with horses.
She gave us an overview of the barn, some Walt history, and we were able to take pictures up close with the Kaleidoscope Carriage. I think it is called that. It plays music and is normally behind a glass door. The CM opened the doors and let us have a look. It is beautiful. She said it is brought out for special events and will most likely be featured at the 50th celebration. It is a gorgeous carriage.
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We found out this is a working ranch that houses 80-90 horses, they are all used for various events at WDW. Some are for the trail rides, carriage pulling, Trolley use, and of course parades and shows.
Tri-circle D ranch has been in operation since 1971. The horses are all treated very well. They are groomed and given clean, cool surroundings all the time.
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The barn we were in houses the large Percheron and Draft Horses. Our CM explained how each horse is assessed and placed in different work areas, depending on their temperament and how they handle large crowds. Certainly makes sense!

We were able to head into the area that is roped off and not for guests. We met Rocky, he was the horse we saw last night, carrying the headless horseman. He is a younger horse and very curious, the CM described him as a preteen, lol! He was trying to grab something outside his stall and really wanted us to pet him. Next up, we saw the “vet” area, this is where all the horse’s medical records
and vet supplies are kept. Per Disney standards, this area was meticulous and the records were very organized. The staff could look up health info on any of the horses very quickly. Our CM explained the health maintenance of these horses and it is impressive.

We also got to see some of the bridals used for the horses. We saw the one for Cinderella’s carriage and the trolley car. We couldn’t take pictures back here. Andi and I really enjoyed this tour. Very informative and with just 4 of us very informal. Andi asked many questions and increased her Disney knowledge even more!:dance3:

At the end of the tour, we were able to meet Lance, up and close! He is also a horse for the headless horseman! We were able to get a picture of him. Of course he had to do his business, lol! :blush:
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This was really fun and I recommend doing this! I wouldn’t go out of my way to just do this, since FW is a jaunt, especially using Disney transportation. If you are over there for a meal or HDDR, I would definitely check it out.

We were ready for a rest after our large meal and tour so back to GF for some chilling out.
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Stay tuned for Part 2, MK in the evening and a possible dis meet??......
 


The barn tour is something I would love! We have never been to Ft. Wilderness, other than just stopping along the way on a bus or ferry boat to/from somewhere else. Maybe one day we'll take the time to check it out. Your food looked good, too!!
 
We've never eaten at Trail's End, but I'm thinking we should!! Everything sounds (and looks) delicious!!

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How cool!!!

We saw the one for Cinderella’s carriage and the trolley car.
Oh, again, how cool is that?!

I have always wanted to stop over to see the horses, but have just never made it! We did attend Mickey's Backyard BBQ after our vow renewal in 2016, but were running behind and didn't have time to wander as I thought we might have. This is definitely on my list of things to get to someday!
 


That buffet and stable tour look really fun!


At the end of the tour, we were able to meet Lance, up and close! He is also a horse for the headless horseman! We were able to get a picture of him. Of course he had to do his business, lol! :blush:
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He's beautiful!

Like @buzzrelly my Dis emoticons have mostly disappeared so I can’t add any in on here that would make sense. I am on Firefox, maybe I have to update??

What the heck? Well, at least I'm not the only one :P Let me know if you figure this out!
 
As someone who grew up with horses, I would enjoy this tour. I'm sure your speculation is correct, though. Nothing stays free at Disney for long.
 
The barn tour is something I would love! We have never been to Ft. Wilderness, other than just stopping along the way on a bus or ferry boat to/from somewhere else. Maybe one day we'll take the time to check it out. Your food looked good, too!!
I really recommend the tour and checking out the barn area at FW. TE has a very good brunch buffet
 
We've never eaten at Trail's End, but I'm thinking we should!! Everything sounds (and looks) delicious!!
I really recommend TE, the food is very good and the price is quite reasonable for a Disney restaurant

Oh, again, how cool is that?!

I have always wanted to stop over to see the horses, but have just never made it! We did attend Mickey's Backyard BBQ after our vow renewal in 2016, but were running behind and didn't have time to wander as I thought we might have. This is definitely on my list of things to get to someday!
This was so fun, it was exciting to see the horses used for the headless horseman and how organized Disney is with the horses and their health

That buffet and stable tour look really fun!
This was a nice change, glad we did it!

He's beautiful!
The horses were so awesome, groomed to perfection

What the heck? Well, at least I'm not the only one :P Let me know if you figure this out!
I have even less this morning, not sure why!
 
This was the first party of the season and we saw many captains and official looking CMs at this party. We waited about 40 minutes to see Lotso and it was worth it. He was so soft and smelled yummy! We enjoyed this meet and felt the wait was worth it.
Such a cute M&G!

We decided to head to CHH for some dinner. It was quiet in here and we shared the Trio Platter. This was shrimp, chicken, hush puppies, fish with fries. Andi headed upstairs to find us a spot and gather all the condiments we needed. This was a good decision to eat here. The upstairs was “dead”, food was yummy, air conditioning, and a great view of the HM.
Love CHH! That is a great meal to split!

We decided to move on and check to see if the gravediggers were out for a picture opportunity. I had read on here that you could meet them. Thanks Dis, another thing we would have remained clueless about! We did find the gravediggers, they were also along the river between HM and Frontier Land. What a great meet. These characters were so fun. They were really into their role!
It was so hot and these gravediggers were sweating up a storm! Despite their deathly pallor, they were so hot! Temperature wise not smokin! :rotfl:
I would love to see the gravediggers!

It was around 9pm and Stitch’s line did not look to bad so we went for it. Thank goodness the majority of the wait was inside with air conditioning yay!:PinkbouncWe waited about 25 minutes to meet Elvis Stitch, rock on! He was so nice and a fun meet. A plus this year was after some meets and attractions you got candy!:thumbsup2
Elvis Stitch looks like fun!

At this point, I was so hot and tired. We sat down by Aloha Isle and had some water. I drank a whole bottle of water in just a couple minutes and could have easily downed another one. The fireworks had started and I was just to tired to find a better spot. We watched the fireworks with an obstructed view and really didn’t care. pixiedust: The party fireworks are amazing anywhere because of the perimeter ones. It was quiet here and Aladdin and Abu came out from the meet area and were watching the fireworks and jumping around, it was fun to watch even if we were exhausted like Spanish Donald.:rotfl:
The heat is so draining!

We did some candy spots, grabbed more water and plopped down in Frontier Land to watch the 2nd parade. We had a good spot because it was still fairly early. The Cadaver Dan’s were out singing, very fun to watch. We had some candy to snack on while we waited. The area started to fill in, this was the most people I have seen at the 2nd parade. The Headless Horseman came down the route and started the parade. This is so fun to watch! We enjoyed the parade very much. I noticed Tink was on a new float. Many of the characters came right up to us as they were dancing by. This is hands down my absolute favorite parade!
I would love to see the Cadaver Dans! You did well with all your party experiences away from the main hub!

We made our way out of the park and we were back to the GF at about 12:30am so not bad! The real feel temp was still 90 at this hour! It was hot. I can honestly say in Minnesota it is rarely 90 degrees in the middle of the day in summer so this was new to us:cool2: We did make a haul with candy.
You had a great haul. :)

Hello Everyone! I have today off from work and I am finishing my Holiday decorating! I can’t believe I use to put 5 Christmas trees up and a full village! Way to much work now, lol! I got my large tree up in the living room and my Disney tree up in the family room and I am calling it good!
I collect snowmen and they are up now too. When you live in a winter wonderland for 4-5 months I don’t feel bad leaving my snowmen up until the end of January!
Your decorations look beautiful! I collect snowmen too and always enjoy keeping them around for a while. So far, I have my lights up outside, my planter done on the porch and my snowman out. I will finish the rest after I come back from PEI next week.

We checked in for our meal and met the nicest hostess, Josephine, she was so sweet and giving out compliments! She told me I had beautiful skin, so of course I loved her! She visited with us for a little while before our buzzer went off! Nicest CM so far this trip and not because of the compliment, honestly!
So nice!!

One of Andi’s plates. We both ate a lot for us and thoroughly enjoyed this buffet. It also is still priced fairly reasonably for Disney. They also have AP discount and if you have the Disney Visa, there is a discount with that, not both one or the other. I mention the Visa because there are only a few that offer the Visa discount. I personally think there should be more!
It looks so yummy!

A CM came out to start the tour and it was just us and one other couple. This, at the time, was a free 30 minute tour. It was new and I think if popular it will probably end up with a cost! For now it was free. The CM has worked with the horses for several years and had extensive experience with horses.
She gave us an overview of the barn, some Walt history, and we were able to take pictures up close with the Kaleidoscope Carriage. I think it is called that. It plays music and is normally behind a glass door. The CM opened the doors and let us have a look. It is beautiful. She said it is brought out for special events and will most likely be featured at the 50th celebration. It is a gorgeous carriage.
What a great tour!
 
As someone who grew up with horses, I would enjoy this tour. I'm sure your speculation is correct, though. Nothing stays free at Disney for long.
Yes, you would enjoy this very much, I hope it stays free for awhile, maybe because it is out of the way it will?? I doubt it, haha
 
Looks like a great brunch after such a late night! One of these days, we’ll get out there for brunch! You got there at the right time for breakfast and lunch!
The brunch was really good, a very nice balance of breakfast and lunch options. There also was shrimp, smoked salmon and many salads so great choices!
 
Such a cute M&G!

Love CHH! That is a great meal to split!

I would love to see the gravediggers!

Elvis Stitch looks like fun!

The heat is so draining!

I would love to see the Cadaver Dans! You did well with all your party experiences away from the main hub!

You had a great haul. :)

Your decorations look beautiful! I collect snowmen too and always enjoy keeping them around for a while. So far, I have my lights up outside, my planter done on the porch and my snowman out. I will finish the rest after I come back from PEI next week.

So nice!!

It looks so yummy!

What a great tour!
Thanks Susan! This was a fun party despite the crowds and heat. We really did everything we wanted to.
Snowman make me happy, lol!
Our relaxing morning after the party was just perfect at FW
I hope your aunt is doing okay!
 

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