It's about time! Booked the Fort TWO YEARS AGO- finally we're camping 3/19 PTR *updated 1/2/19

[rideswithchrist]

We stayed in the 500 loop that trip and then the 2nd time we took the camper down, we were in the 1700 loop. That one was quieter - further away from the bustle of the Settlement and the campfire. But both were lovely and had their different pros and cons to them. I'm looking forward to when DH and I are ready to retire and go vagabond. We'd like to get something smaller, a class C, maybe a cab-over and spend at least the colder months traveling around. The Fort will definitely be a preferred stop of ours. Even without going to the parks, the Fort is just amazing.

I hope to get some roadschooling in next year, so getting a camper does make more sense to us. I'll look into the 1700 loop, we ALWAYS prefer to be in a quieter area than closer to things.
We were also thinking about when it is just hubby and I.

We are like minded. I am not keen on Disney Springs either. I am not much of a shopper and my hubby is grateful for that. My kids are like me too. So, more time in the parks for us. When I am not in the parks I enjoy checking out the resorts. And it probably factors in that we do not go every year. The last trip to Disney was in 2014.

I understand your desire to be in MK first but your Plan B looks like the best route to me. That being said, I wonder if just riding the monorail and watching the fireworks from one of the resorts or boat dock would be enough for you the first day after you set up your camp? It sounds like a good plan but I am not sure if I could do the same if I was in your shoes. I think because it is a long time between our trips, and our mutual love of MK we both might say we could do another park first but then when reality hits really want and need to go to MK first. So, maybe you could just modify Plan B a bit and have MK the first park on Monday and still have your non park day in the middle somewhere. As others have said, Monday might not be all that bad crowd wise. And like all DISers say, "At least you are at Disney!"




That is really touching that your husband's words meant to much to his family. What a nice way to begin your trip.

I think we are going to just suck it up for the Monday MK day.
Thank you for the idea to do some Monorail riding and maybe even visit some resorts on that Sunday when we check in.

 

[rideswithchrist]

So, I just realized it is only $50 more TOTAL to get 7 day tickets instead of 6 day through UT- so no brainer there, we can still have an extra half day for the Sunday we arrive and then do a half day on Wednesday so we get a break. That gives us 2 AK, 2 MK and 2 Epcot days with 1 HS day.
Now to see if we should do back to back park days in each park, or not.

We also decided NOT to take our popup because it really needs a canvas and we are wanting to get a TT instead. The only issue is that there are no full hookup sites that week and I don't want to pay the premium price rate.
So we may be taking my dad's newer popup. Or if we decided we want a hybrid camper, that fits in a tent pad site.

Choices choices.

We are also going to be getting the tickets in February, so that does not leave much time for FPs and we will have to take what we can get.

 

[rideswithchrist]

We measured the kids yesterday and my middle was SO excited to have passed the 48" mark! That means she can ride everything she missed last time, including RnR!
My son is just shy, but as my hubby pointed out; he has 4 months left to grow AND he will be wearing shoes, so that may actually get him right to the 48" line.



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They also stumbled on a character dining video and really want to go, so I booked our first and only ever ADR at 1900 Park Faire for our last park day.


Whew 8:35 is going to come CRAZY early.

Now to plan the quickest way there from FW...
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[rideswithchrist]

I am BEYOND excited. EEK. 4.5 months left to prep everything!
NEEDED:

• Shirts for each of us- color coordinated for each park. I plan on washing it all on Wednesday so we will only pack 5 sets each.
• Trading pin lanyard or pouch for each kid + pins for G
• Grocery list and place to place our order for deliver to the Fort. We will have a tiny fridge so we may end up with two deliveries OR a bunch of non-perishables.
• Ponchos
• Lunch bag for in park
• Sunglasses for everyone
• Camera battery for kids
• Travel gear: lego puzzles, markerboard, books, audio books, spotify, laminated activity folder, movies, snacks

We did a beach trip as a midway point from Summer to Disney to make the countdown quicker.
That trip was last weekend, and while we had to cut it shorter, It meant we got to start our Disney Countdown!!!

Our littlest LOVES Mickey and yells every time he sees anything with Mickey on it. I really hope he keeps that interest for when we get there. Our other son was only 2 when we went last, so he has no memory of anything. This is going to be a boy's trip for sure.

 

[rideswithchrist]

Camping at Disney is so fun!!!!

We did two 12-day trips in our popup and absolutely LOVED Fort Wilderness. Absolutely my favorite place to stay - just such a different and laid back vibe there. Kids are older now and we went from being a family of 5 to a family of 3 with the "child" at home almost 19 now, so we don't camp anymore. But I think when DH and I are ready to retire and take up the mobile lifestyle, we'll be making regular stops at the Fort.

I am pretty sure that once we no longer have kids tagging along, we will be back at Pop Century, although the new rooms are not very themed on the inside.

 

[rideswithchrist]

SOOOO. I LOVE my kids so much.

I asked if they would rather spend money on a character dining, or a golf cart rental to cruise around the fort for a day or two. They agreed unanimously with a golf cart.

 

[rideswithchrist]

PONCHOS ARE HERE-
The 2 year old did not want to put his on for a photo op of course. I ordered these off Amazon and had to send back the one for him because it reeked of vinyl and was really thick and stiff. The rest said they were nylon, which they are (I guess).


Last trip, we got dollar tree throwaway ponchos and hated every minute of wearing them because they were clingy and felt gross, like wearing a colorful plastic bag.
They served their purpose of course but we wanted to get the kids some rainy day play gear that they could also wear at Disney anyway so I think these ponchos will be perfect.

Hubs and I are going to pick up some from IKEA that match my umbrella

 

[rideswithchrist]

OUR FIRST TRIP/HONEYMOON...
We lost all our honeymoon photos except one CD of Animal Kingdom so we don't have much to show

 

[rideswithchrist]

How fast they grow...

 

[rideswithchrist]

YIKES! Less than 90 days left until we head out for Louisiana and then Florida! We finalized that we will be using my folk's popup instead of putting more money into ours for the trip. I like our layout much better, but theirs is in better shape and tows better. I will be getting some Disney themed items for it so it has a resort feel when it is all set up. The kids each have a sleeping bag to use, so I think I will make pillow covers for their travel pillows. Maybe matching boys and girls instead of 4 different patterns. Then I can make the bed on our side a bit more Disney. I'm thinking the top two for theirs and the bottom for pillow cases for us. Then I can just get some red and black tablecloths and that should work fine. That was one of my husband's reservations about not staying in a resort room- the lack of theming.

 

[rideswithchrist]

This little Man turned 2 today!
He really does love Mickey so I plan on getting him a Mickey Duplo set for Christmas so he can take it with him to Disney. I don't plan on packing a ton of toys, since I never do when camping anyway- but 1-2 things to play with in the dirt will be fun.
I know that our day will be determined by what FP selections we can get, but I also need to make sure I look at the show times before hand. Last time, I forgot about them so we missed so many.

I am also SO BUMMED that the train will not be running, I think it would be his favorite thing ever.

 

[rideswithchrist]

MBs are customized!
I love that there were extra colors added this time, even if hubs stayed with grey.

So far, this is the tentative options now that the actual hours are up.
I am really leaning toward option B because that seems to give us the evening hours we wanted, but I know things may change with the FP options.
The RD on Monday for AK is going to be a tough one and we may decide to just skip it and change that day to Hollywood Studios since my son wants to ride ToT.
If we did RD that day, I don't know how long we would stay at night and I really waned to see Pandora after dark. Thankfully it is still winter hours for the last few days of daylight savings, so it should still be dark at 6ish. We can always go back to camp and sleep for a bit in the afternoon too.




I also made lists of all the rides we missed so we could make sure to put them in our plans.

MAGIC KINGDOM


ANIMAL KINGDOM


EPCOT/WORLD SHOWCASE


HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS





I thought that we could make a shorter day of Hollywood Studios, but it really looks like there is much more to do there than I expected.

 

[disney-inspired]

MBs are customized!
I love that there were extra colors added this time, even if hubs stayed with grey.

So far, this is the tentative options now that the actual hours are up.
I am really leaning toward option B because that seems to give us the evening hours we wanted, but I know things may change with the FP options.
The RD on Monday for AK is going to be a tough one and we may decide to just skip it and change that day to Hollywood Studios since my son wants to ride ToT.
If we did RD that day, I don't know how long we would stay at night and I really waned to see Pandora after dark. Thankfully it is still winter hours for the last few days of daylight savings, so it should still be dark at 6ish. We can always go back to camp and sleep for a bit in the afternoon too.


View attachment 369005

I also made lists of all the rides we missed so we could make sure to put them in our plans.

MAGIC KINGDOM
View attachment 369006

ANIMAL KINGDOM
View attachment 369008

EPCOT/WORLD SHOWCASE
View attachment 369009

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
View attachment 369010




I thought that we could make a shorter day of Hollywood Studios, but it really looks like there is much more to do there than I expected.

I love spreadsheets and I never thought about doing the 'attractions missed' idea.
I won't use it for this trip since it's sort of a 1st timers trip again with my cousin & his family coming and my youngest niece's first trip as well.

 

[rideswithchrist]

If they have an idea of things they want to see, you could always do a "must DO" list

 

[rideswithchrist]

Actually- we didn't miss TSM, it is just in a slightly different park

 

[disney-inspired]

If they have an idea of things they want to see, you could always do a "must DO" list

Unfortunately these people are not planner by any means. They are "just tell me the time and location and I'll be there". This is helpful because if something falls through or plans change, there are no expectations to keep

 

[rideswithchrist]

Unfortunately these people are not planner by any means. They are "just tell me the time and location and I'll be there". This is helpful because if something falls through or plans change, there are no expectations to keep

Oh man! That is brutal but also nice because the planner in you gets to tell them where to be!

Aside from FPs, our plans have to be very loose because we are pretty laid back and normally don't make plans ahead of time. That is why I try to have a base plan- so we don't waste time.
Hubs won't plan anything along with me, but then when we get in the parks, he kicks into "Let's do XYZ" and then I'm like "uhhh, we have a FP to get to". Hopefully we will have a better plan of action created during the trip down, or at the very least- the day before each park LOL.

 

[rideswithchrist]

60 DAYS!!!

We are under 60 days!









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[rideswithchrist]

My mom took us all on the Polar Express Train at the beginning of December and we had a BLAST. It made me sad that the MK Express is going to be down while we are there, so I need to make sure we take the train in AK to Rafiki's Planet Watch so my boys get a Disney Train ride.


My In-Laws gave the kids some Disney goodies in anticipation of our upcoming trip. They each got a new shirt and stuffy, Mickey jammies and some Disney Legos. The shirt for the 6 year old may be too small in 2 months, but we will make due.

My oldest also got a red Minnie Ears hat and awesome backpack, so when I spotted these hats at Walmart on clearance for $2, I snagged us some too. Now we just need a hat for the 2 year old and we are set. I think that we will wait and get his IN Disney like we did the older kiddos.
I am not a huge hat fan so honestly, I'll wear mine if it starts raining on me, but I'll be in sunglasses mostly.


Then Christmas Day, my eldest broke her arm on her new roller blades. Thankfully, it was not a terrible break and she only wears the bast for 3 weeks and then a brace for 2. Whew, she cut it close!


This month I will be working on gathering some Disney shirts for hubby and I and making sure we all have shoes that may potentially get wet. I am leaning towards the Xero Shoes Huarches since I love my Lenas so much.

We also made a new and improved countdown chain to replace the ugly one in the hallway that was already coming apart.



60 days looks like a long time when it is strung up like this, but I know it will zoom by in a flash.

There are still some repairs left to be done on our popup, so we will be picking up my Dad's popup in a few weeks so we can pack it up the way we want it and get a feel for storage.
Once we pick up the camper and get closer to the 30 day mark, I'll likely pick this PTR up over in the camping forum as a TR


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[disney-inspired]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the train & Rafiki's Planet Watch are under refurbishment until Spring 2019. I see you're going in March so hopefully you'll be lucky but who knows what they consider 'spring', like they said SWGE was fall 2019...it's looking like END of November.

fingers crossed it's open!