She Dodged a Hurricane, Skipped School, and Adopted a Porg, a September 2019 TR at Copper Creek Villas at WL (Completed 12/18)

Love Garden Grill! Another one of our must dos every year, we do PPO then we rush over to Soarin after so we don’t have to use a tier 1 FP on it. The character interaction here is the best and Mickeys so cute in his farmer clothes. That Porg is so cute too, may have to adopt one ourselves! Chip and Dales interactions are also cute and funny, have you ever done the campfire at FW with them? It’s fun and free! Not much you can do for free in WDW, and you’re just a boat ride away at WL! Can’t wait to see your next post!
 
Thank you for the Garden Grill review! I haven't been there in more than 10 years, but I'm super excited to return after seeing all the positive buzz from multiple reports. We're planning to try the breakfast as well - my cinnamon roll-loving husband should LOVE that roll! (And, seriously, so will the rest of us!)

Another big plus for this restaurant seems to be the great character interactions. I've read multiple reviews that describe how great the characters are and that they often stop by more than once (I'm not sure if GG is smaller than some other character meal spots, but I'll take it anyway!). Plus, I've found any interaction with Chip and Dale tends to be pretty awesome.
Yeah, it has always been a hit for us. Allie really likes "the spining restaurnant". We really enjoy the character interaction, and the food quality. Melissa isn't a huge buffet fan, so it is nice to get to see Mickey and have good food brought to our table. Chip and Dale are Jon's favorites and we always enjoy getting to see them. We even had the two of them together for a brief buit last year before the handlers rushed one on to the next table.

I are GG breakfast for the first time in May and will definitely be back . When we had dinner there several years ago , I was disappointed so had hesitated in booking it. So glad I gave it a chance .
Yeah, it has been an every trip thing for us since we started doing it. We have enjoyed all of our different meals there, but this was our first breakfast. It is a great way to dine with Mickey.

I like your picture of the stream running into the lake. It looks very tranquil.
Yeah, I love that spot at WL, esspecially at sunrise. It just shows how good the nature theming is.

We've never seen it that empty in the morning. We have been in Epcot after the park is closed and they are power washing the grounds. It is rather pretty without people.
Yeah, it is just neat to be somewhere that is often super crowded and have nobody else there.

Did they close Club Cool during your trip?
Yes, they closed it the day after we visited it, and then the fences were up for our next visit to Epcot.

Those look good. Are they served warm?
It looked like it was a fun breakfast. :)
Yes, they were warm and right out of the oven. They were very good, and the meal was a fun start to the day. We won't end up doing it in February, since there's just not time (and room for the food) for everything, but we will be back.

Love Garden Grill! Another one of our must dos every year, we do PPO then we rush over to Soarin after so we don’t have to use a tier 1 FP on it. The character interaction here is the best and Mickeys so cute in his farmer clothes. That Porg is so cute too, may have to adopt one ourselves! Chip and Dales interactions are also cute and funny, have you ever done the campfire at FW with them? It’s fun and free! Not much you can do for free in WDW, and you’re just a boat ride away at WL! Can’t wait to see your next post!
The Land is a great pavillion, and being there first thing was fun. We probably could have saved the Fastpass, but it was nice to know that we'd be able to walk on Soarin.
We really enjoyed the Chip and Dale campfire at FW. We didn't do it this trip, but it is a great free activity, and I'm a fan of any excuse to visit Fort Wilderness. We have our FW day coming up later in the trip.
 
When we left off, we were wrapping up a morning at The Land. We left the pavilion about 11:30, then had to go find our stroller. Remember they had parked it for us on our way in, and now it had plenty of company. It actually took us a few minutes to find it, but eventually we did.


We had a really hard time finding it actually, the closest we've been at completely loosing it.

Once we had it we made our way back to Spaceship Earth. Allie loves this ride, and we hadn't been on it yet this trip.


I rode with Marsh and we had fun. He really enjoyed it.

Allie played the driving game after the ride, which has become another must-do for her.


Marshall played some games too.

Then we made our way outside and went to the art store.


This is another fun place to visit every trip. We didn't buy anything, but Jon bought a MK coin.


After the art store we went over to Mouse Gear, and discovered the newly arrived section of all things teal.

Ah yes Arendale Aqua... This also happens to be Allie's favorite color.


Yeah, that's it. She managed to talk us into buying her a spirit jersey, and we got a key lanyard for Melissa and some rice crispy treats. We thought we'd have it all sent back to the hotel, but they wouldn't do resort delivery for the food items, so we just took everything with us.

It surprised me because the treats were sealed.

Yeah, they said they might melt, but that seemed odd too. Oh well. We headed across to Figment, getting there at 12:54.


Marshall was particularly excited about riding Figment, and frankly its so cute I was excited too.

He was my favorite when I first visited WDW when I was 6, and I recently found my stuffed Figment from then. After the ride the kids played in the exit area for a bit before we headed upstairs to the DVC lounge at about 1:15.


The kids watched TV for a while and we enjoyed our Diet Cokes from the Freestyle machines.


It was a nice place to decompress, catch up on the world happenings on our phones and cool off.


Allie was disappointed that we didn’t get snacks for a while but at 2:00 they brought them around.

We all grabbed a bag of chips. After snacks though we were pretty much done with the lounge

We left about 2:10 and decided to check out some Food and Wine booths. We started with the burger from Flavors from Fire, which was good but we missed the piggy wings from last year.


Then we got the mac and cheese from active eats, which was excellent.


It was some of the best mac and cheese of the trip, really really good.

I am not usually a fancy mac and cheese person, but this stuff was good. It was kind of spicy, and unlike any I've ever had. I would definitely get it again.

I just found that you can order the bacon that was in the mac and cheese online.... that could be dangerous.

Mmm, that would be a good start. We made it to Canada for some steak and soup.


It was pretty hot outside, so we decided to make a u-turn and head for the Mexico pavilion. On the way we got empanadas, which are a Food and Wine staple and didn't disappoint.

We thought they were missing from the menu this year and were disappointed but I don't know how we missed them.


They weren't in some of the initial lists we saw online, but we were able to walk right to them.

Then we went into Mexico to cool off. The clouds were starting to build, but it was really hot. The boat ride inside was a nice break.


The whole pavilion felt very busy, I think it's because it was so hot outside.

As we left Mexico we got our first rain sprinkles of the trip. It wasn't much rain, but there were drops. This was more typical September weather, where it heats up and then the rain cools things off.


We decided to go ahead and head out of the park, and we headed out towards the monorail. We hopped on and left at 3:41.


We very rarely take the monorail when leaving Epcot, so it was a nice change.

We were on our way to dinner reservations at the Poly.

When we got to the TTC we considered walking from there, but found that we didn't have to go through security to switch monorails so we wound up getting on the resort monorail.

It probably worked out better than walking because we were tired and it was still HOT.

We got to the Poly lobby right at 4:00, which meant that we were an hour early, but it was a nice cool place tohang out for a while.

On the way in we saw Stitch cupcakes outside Kona cafe, but chose to resist because we knew we wanted to be hungry.


They were adorable though and I'd kinda like to get over there in February to try them.

Yeah, I'm kinda surprised we didn't take one home for later, but they probably wouldn't travel well. Jon and Brandy headed to the bar, and we found chairs in the lobby to kill some time.


We enjoyed people watching and letting Marshall nap in the stroller. It really is nice that he takes later naps so we can enjoy dinner "without" him.

Yes, he had fallen asleep, and was OUT. While we sat there Allie was talking about Shelly, the college program CM from our 2013 trip who she made friends with. We decided to send her an e-mail and let her know that we were still thinking of her.


She was one of those once in a lifetime Cast Members that we really had a connection with. She ended up emailing me back and turns out she's now in Northern California. She for sure remembered us and Allie and said she still had the pressed Stitch penny Allie gave her. Maybe someday we can get her and Allie together again.

At about 4:45 I went and checked in, and was told that I was early and we would be called closer ot our reservation time. I was totally fine with that, as I knew I would be called at some point later than when I checked in.

Soon enough they called us to for our table and we were surprised by a great one right by the window facing the Magic Kingdom. The view was beautiful.


I truly think we had the best table in the restaurant. The view was really neat, and our server did a great job.


We had food right away, and as expected it was good and plentiful.


It really was delicious, our waiter noticed our camera and we chatted Canon cameras for a bit, he was super nice.

Ohana isn't a must-do every trip for us, but it always has been a great meal for us and this time was no exception. Our biggest complaint always is that we leave super full.

I was pretty proud of myself that I didn't completely stuff myself this time.

I, on the other hand had an extra skewer of chicken and more of the bread pudding and ice cream than I should have. After dinner we decided to walk it off by checking out the Poly grounds and finding the DVC section.


We enjoyed walking around and checking out the bungalows and the beach. I still don't see spending the points to stay here when we love WL so much, but it is a nice resort to visit.


I like the Poly and it's grown on me for sure but I think one of the Epcot area resorts or AKL makes more sense to me as an alternate place to stay.


While we were cruising the beach Marshall woke up, and as we got to the boat dock he decided he needed to go potty. I ran with him back towards Captian Cook's, since we couldn't get in to the pool area to use those restrooms. Fortunately we made it.

We waited on the dock for them, and we didn't even miss the boat.

We cruised over to MK knowing that we could catch a WL boat from the same dock. We got there at 7:29, but we’re surprised to find that we had to go through security to turn around and get back in line for the WL boat. I guess that’s not a common process.

Luckily this time we didn't have luggage but it is something to note when connecting that way.

I suspect sharing that dock is temporary anyway. A red flag boat arrived at 7:40, and we loaded up and got to WL at 7:54. On the way CM Amy was talking about the differences between the similar large boats. Apparently Mermaid 1 used to be the fastest because it isn’t steel, but the other steel bots have been re-powered. Fascinating stuff for me, and probably very boring to most normal people.

True true, but then I started to notice the differences between the big boats that I hadn't noticed before.

We got up to the room just about 8:00, and I got a picture of the flag at sunset.


I then ran down to the Mercantile to get eggs and bacon to cook for breakfast the next day. Then at about 9:30 we all decided to head down to the pool.

Marshall was now up and ready to go and Allie was excited about it.


We went to the Boulder Ridge Cove pool, which was nice and quiet that night, except for our crazy kids.



We all enjoyed the swim, and stayed at the pool until 10:45, then went back up to the room and got the kids ready for bed.

I had some work to get done so I sat up and got that done after we swam. Luckily it didn't take me too long.


I went down and got mug refills at 11:10, then after the kids fell asleep we enjoyed our sprinkles cupcakes for dessert, then went to bed just after midnight.

We did purposefully wait until they were asleep so we wouldn't have to share.

It was another fun Disney day, with a slightly slower pace as it got later in the trip.

Stay tuned, the next day we do something that we hadn't done since our honeymoon!
 
Then we made our way outside and went to the art store.
...
This is another fun place to visit every trip.
We always like to look through the art stores. We have even bought a couple of things there.
Marshall was particularly excited about riding Figment, and frankly its so cute I was excited too.

He was my favorite when I first visited WDW when I was 6, and I recently found my stuffed Figment from then.
The ride has changed a lot since you were 6 years old. Was your Figment in good shape? We recently found the Goofy hat that our youngest wore during an entire trip about 30 years ago, and it wasn't holding up very well. ;)
Then we got the mac and cheese from active eats, which was excellent.
The mac and cheese is one of my "must do's". I think it is really good.
We made it to Canada for some steak and soup.
The steak and soup is another must do for us. :)
As we left Mexico we got our first rain sprinkles of the trip. It wasn't much rain, but there were drops. This was more typical September weather, where it heats up and then the rain cools things off.
We were at WDW at the end of August and beginning of October and only got caught in the rain one time, right outside of Club Cool. There were many times when I wished some cooling rain would show up, it was so hot.
When we got to the TTC we considered walking from there, but found that we didn't have to go through security to switch monorails so we wound up getting on the resort monorail.
It is about time they fixed it so you wouldn't have to go through security twice. Now they just need to do it for the boats.
She was one of those once in a lifetime Cast Members that we really had a connection with. She ended up emailing me back and turns out she's now in Northern California. She for sure remembered us and Allie and said she still had the pressed Stitch penny Allie gave her. Maybe someday we can get her and Allie together again.
That is sweet that the CM remembers Allie. Did the CM tell you what she is doing now? I suppose she is finished with Disney.
Soon enough they called us to for our table and we were surprised by a great one right by the window facing the Magic Kingdom. The view was beautiful.
That is a very nice table.
Ohana isn't a must-do every trip for us, but it always has been a great meal for us and this time was no exception.
We have eaten here four times now, and only when we have grandchildren with us. It is always a fun place to eat.
We enjoyed walking around and checking out the bungalows and the beach. I still don't see spending the points to stay here when we love WL so much, but it is a nice resort to visit.
Did you happen to see the new Poly quiet pool. We haven't had a chance to wander around the resort since they built DVC but I would like to see what they did with it. We are not fans of the Poly and would never stay there again, but it is nice to walk around it.
I went down and got mug refills at 11:10, then after the kids fell asleep we enjoyed our sprinkles cupcakes for dessert, then went to bed just after midnight.

We did purposefully wait until they were asleep so we wouldn't have to share.

It was another fun Disney day, with a slightly slower pace as it got later in the trip.
We have eaten dessert after the kids were asleep many times. It is one of the perks of being a grownup. :)
It looks like you had a great time swimming. I like the underwater pictures.
 


Another awesome day! I love Epcot, it’s my favorite park! It was fun to see your pics of the Poly, made me even more excited for our stay there in 29 days! We stayed at Tokelau in one of the DVC long houses last trip and are hoping for the same this year. We had a standard view but could still see the castle and Fireworks from our rooms. We’re also doing Ohana on our arrival night. We always waddle out of that place too. It’s so much fun to night swim in Disney! Looks like you guys had a blast!
 
We always like to look through the art stores. We have even bought a couple of things there.
We enjoy browsing there since it is a noce and cool spot, and generally not crowded. We don't wind up buying much, but we do have some Larry Dotson resort prints that we love, and finally got hung up in our living room.

The ride has changed a lot since you were 6 years old. Was your Figment in good shape? We recently found the Goofy hat that our youngest wore during an entire trip about 30 years ago, and it wasn't holding up very well. ;)
Yes, my Figment is in nice shape. It is fun to see how he has changed vs the current ones.

The mac and cheese is one of my "must do's". I think it is really good.
The steak and soup is another must do for us. :)
Yes! Those are some of the biggest reasons to go during food and wine.

We were at WDW at the end of August and beginning of October and only got caught in the rain one time, right outside of Club Cool. There were many times when I wished some cooling rain would show up, it was so hot.
Yes, it got hot without rain to cool things down. It's funny how you can hope for a downpour.

It is about time they fixed it so you wouldn't have to go through security twice. Now they just need to do it for the boats.
Yeah, we were pleasantly surprised that we could switch monorails and stay inside security, but were also surprised that we had to go through security to switch boats. Oh well, a lot more people want to ride the monorails and switch than want to switch boats.

That is sweet that the CM remembers Allie. Did the CM tell you what she is doing now? I suppose she is finished with Disney.
Yes, she only did one semester with the college program, then went home to Texas. Now she is working in California, so perhaps we will see her around sometime.

That is a very nice table.
We have eaten here four times now, and only when we have grandchildren with us. It is always a fun place to eat.
Did you happen to see the new Poly quiet pool. We haven't had a chance to wander around the resort since they built DVC but I would like to see what they did with it. We are not fans of the Poly and would never stay there again, but it is nice to walk around it.
It was an awesome view, and the food was nice as always. We also enjoy visiting the Poly but don't ever plan to stay there. We did walk around the quiet pool and it seemed fine, but didn't notice anything remarkable.

We have eaten dessert after the kids were asleep many times. It is one of the perks of being a grownup. :)
It looks like you had a great time swimming. I like the underwater pictures.
It was a fun night, topped off by an adult only dessert. The waterproof camera is fun, since we can get swimming pictures without worrying about getting it wet.

Another awesome day! I love Epcot, it’s my favorite park!
Epcot is our favorite park too. It will be interesting to see how it changes in the next couple of years. It will be different, but should be good.

It was fun to see your pics of the Poly, made me even more excited for our stay there in 29 days! We stayed at Tokelau in one of the DVC long houses last trip and are hoping for the same this year. We had a standard view but could still see the castle and Fireworks from our rooms.
That is neat, your trip is coming up soon. Being able to see the castle from your room is super special. Being able to really use the monorail for park transportation is a neat perk too.

We’re also doing Ohana on our arrival night. We always waddle out of that place too. It’s so much fun to night swim in Disney! Looks like you guys had a blast!
We actually do see how much we tent to eat at Ohana as the biggest negative to the restaurant. Having too much good stuff is a great problem for a restaurant to have. It would be a neat way to dive right into the Disney dining for a trip. Swimming at night is neat too, since it is warm enough to enjoy it. It is a fun way to work off some of the extra calories, or a nice chance to just hang out in the hot tub at the end of a long park day. Ahhh, that sounds good now...
 
All caught up on your report. I've read all the ones before now and now i'm getting ready to start your PTR. I cannot wait to hear more about this trip! I will have to say the Fireworks Cruise looked AMAZING! That has been on my bucket list for a while. Maybe when we go in February.
 


What a sea of strollers! :eek: Have you ever had any issues with your stroller at Disney? I read another TR where a friend's stroller was stolen... that makes me question bringing along our City Mini. If I leave some of our stuff in and on the stroller (stuff like the rain cover and ponchos and a popcorn bucket - all things we wouldn't be broken-hearted if it walked away), would it be less likely to be taken? I've never had to have a stroller at Disney World before and now I'm nervous!

Your dinner at 'Ohana looks delicious (which 'Ohana always is) and your view from your table is wonderful. The late-night swimming looks like great fun as well!
 
All caught up on your report. I've read all the ones before now and now i'm getting ready to start your PTR. I cannot wait to hear more about this trip! I will have to say the Fireworks Cruise looked AMAZING! That has been on my bucket list for a while. Maybe when we go in February.
We are glad to have you following along. The fireworks cruise was the best "extra" thing we've ever done at Disney, and we all loved it. We will do it again in February too!

What a sea of strollers! :eek: Have you ever had any issues with your stroller at Disney? I read another TR where a friend's stroller was stolen... that makes me question bringing along our City Mini. If I leave some of our stuff in and on the stroller (stuff like the rain cover and ponchos and a popcorn bucket - all things we wouldn't be broken-hearted if it walked away), would it be less likely to be taken? I've never had to have a stroller at Disney World before and now I'm nervous!

Your dinner at 'Ohana looks delicious (which 'Ohana always is) and your view from your table is wonderful. The late-night swimming looks like great fun as well!
We have never had any issue with the stroller at Disney. We bought that City Mini before our first trip with Allie, and it has been to WDW many times. We only left it at home for a few trips where we used a City Mini Double instead. At this point it is pretty worn, but it has more than paid for itself in avoided rental fees. We like that we can check it for free with the airline, and that usually works out well. (Spoiler alert: we had a bit of an issue with the stroller checked on the way home from this trip, but everything made it home.)
We do exactly what you said, and keep ponchos and general items we aren't super worried about on the stroller, and have never had any issue. There are so many strollers at WDW, and people are generally good. Of course we don't leave anything expensive sitting out with it, but we really don't worry about the stroller. This was the only time we "lost" it, and that's just because we didn't know where they had put it.
We did have a great night, and swimming paired well with stuffing ourselves at Ohana.

entertaining read!
Thanks, we're glad you are enjoying it. Hopefully the pictures make up for our whatever the written parts lack. ;)
 
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On Thursday, I woke up about 5:20, then left the room about 6. We didn't have anything to rush to this morning, but I enjoy my early morning picture time. I started in the lobby, and got a little more creative getting different shots.



I made my way down to the transportation boat dock and sat there and watched some of the first boats of the day.


I heard one of the boat captains say, "Let me have the honor of being the first to ask you to remain seated all day." I watched the 7:00 geyser then headed up to the room.

Jon was up and getting the kitchen ready, so I woke Melissa up and she started getting ready.


We used our little waffle makers to make eggs for bacon egg and cheese bagel sandwiches. These are easy and a yummy breakfast for in the room.


It was nice and fun to all eat in the room together. We headed out from the room about 8:30, and made our way down to the boat dock.


A blue flag boat came at 8:43, and it arrived at Fort Wilderness at 8:49. We walked past Pioneer Hall and the new construction area to the bus stop where we waited for an internal FW bus. This was the other end of the Reflections construction area, where only construction vehicles are allowed.


We were headed to go Horseback riding! It was something Allie was super excited about. Marshall was going to do pony rides as well but we weren't sure if they were still doing them with all of the construction going on.

A yellow route internal bus arrived at 9:05, and got us to the other end of Fort wilderness at 9:15. When we got off the bus we could see the new pony ride area, right near the barn where the trail rides leave from.


We walked over to see the ponies and then asked where to check in for the pony ride.

It turns out it is the same place we go to pay for Marshall's pony ride. He was so excited to get to ride a real pony. They have a nice system set up with a scale to secretly confirm that guests are within the weight limits.


It is really well done. We signed in for our ride then walked back over and Marshall got on his pony while we waited to get on ours.

That meant that I got to lead Marshall for his two laps, and Brandy took the pictures.




I was the first one of the group to get on and got to bond with my horse Jack. He was a good boy.


Allie's horse was Cowboy and Jon was on Max.


Marshall's pony's name was Benji and he still remembers that and will tell you all about Benji.


Once Marshall finished his laps he got to pet Benji and say bye to him before going over to watch Melissa, Jon, and Allie.



Our plan was to go rent a little boat while they went for the trail ride, but we decided to do that later an just hang out and wait for them. I made a vending machine run to get some waters, a coke, and some chips and Marshall played with his plastic animals from Pandora.


Our trail ride was fun. Nothing super exciting happened which is good when you're on horses. One lady's horse just decided to walk into the middle of the woods and had to be drug back out. But these horses are so so chill. They know their job and they're good at it. When we got back I was surprised to see the boys still waiting for us but it was nice to not have to meet back up.


It was actually nice to just sit and hang out for a bit, and Marshall was a good boy. Then we headed back to the buses and got a bus back to the Settlement end of Fort Wilderness.


We got on a boat at 11:23, and arrived back at WL at 11:31. Since we were ready for lunch and it was getting warm, we headed towards Roaring Fork. Apparently we had beaten the lunch rush.


It was pretty quiet there and we enjoyed the AC after being out in the heat.

We ordered burgers for lunch, and Allie has now decided she likes her burgers with bacon but without cheese. Unfortunately it took three times for them to get this right, despite it being clear on the order and the receipt. I felt a little bad requesting them to fix it, but it was what she wanted, and she finally got.

Allie used to not be so picky but ugh that kid and burgers. She will not eat it if it has cheese on it. She can't be my kid.

Mine either! Maybe she gets it from her Grandma... We also got some soft serve which we shared for dessert, and it was perfect for the warm day.


After lunch, it was time to go rent a boat. Marshall really wanted to rent a little one, Jon and Brandy wanted a pontoon boat, and Allie didn't want to go. After more debate than usual for our group, we decided that Marshall and I would go rent a little boat, then we all would go out on a big boat later. We got signed up and headed to the dock.


It did seem to take us extra figuring to decide on what the afternoon would look like. Marshall was sure excited about a little boat though.

Melissa stayed and took pictures of us, and Marshall really enjoyed it. It was special for me because my Dad and I rented a similar little boat from Fort Wilderness when I was 6, and I loved it then too.


Allie and I played a couple rounds of giant connect 4 while the boys were on the boat.


And Jon and Brandy made a visit to Geyser Point.


It was a good start to our "off" day, and we had more fun to come. Check back for more in the next update.
 
First, what a great table you had in 'Ohana! I'm sure that made the meal extra special. Your day off is sounding fun so far. We took our boys horseback riding at FW many years ago. I sometimes like doing non-Disney things at Disney. Anxious to hear how the pontoon boat ride went.
 
That's a very nice off day. It's fun to be able to do some of the great extra things available at Disney when you travel there enough to not feel bad about "missing" a day in the parks. You picked some great activities - I'd love to rent one of those little boats someday!
 
FW is so much fun! My kids love the horses and ponies and I love the carriage and wagon rides there too, especially around the holidays when many of the sites are decorated. It’s nice to have an “off” day on a Disney trip, to get a bit of a break from the running around and sensory overload, but I always find myself thinking of all the stuff I’m missing at the parks the whole day, lol. But it’s nice to not have to rush around and get up early (were rope drop to close people). On a separate note, we’re thinking about trying to stay at WL next year, but we don’t own points there so not sure how it’ll work out but hopefully we’ll at least get some time there, if not a full 2 weeks. We may have to “settle” for Boulder ridge. We own at Poly and SS and my parents (who we always go with) own at Poly, boardwalk and OKW (they bought into OKW the first year DVC began) so we usually end up staying one of those places but we’re hoping to switch it up next year. Can’t wait to hear about the rest of your day!
 
Great updates. I can't believe the pool was open to 11:00. That's awesome. I feel like my last September trip it was 10:00 and February trips it's 8:00 (which really stinks!).
 
I made my way down to the transportation boat dock and sat there and watched some of the first boats of the day.

We could watch the boats from our room at the end of the hall and the resort boat came from the Contemporary every morning, right on schedule, and left exactly on schedule. I guess you can do that when you are the first boat of the day. ;)
It was nice and fun to all eat in the room together.
We always enjoyed eating breakfast in the villas. It was a lot less hassle than picking something up at the quick service. And when we stayed at Old Key West, breakfast in the villa was the only way we were going to get something to eat without taking a bus.
We signed in for our ride then walked back over and Marshall got on his pony while we waited to get on ours.
The kids look like they are really enjoying the horses. :)
One lady's horse just decided to walk into the middle of the woods and had to be drug back out.
I went on a few trail rides in the past and it seemed like I always got the horse that decided to do something annoying, like stop walking or leave the trail. Once I had a horse that decided to roll in the dirt with me on its back. That really hurt my leg and ended any desire to ride horses again. I think the horses all knew that I had no idea how to control a horse.
We ordered burgers for lunch, and Allie has now decided she likes her burgers with bacon but without cheese. Unfortunately it took three times for them to get this right, despite it being clear on the order and the receipt.
That happened to my husband when ordered a burger at Roaring Fork. It was very annoying.
It did seem to take us extra figuring to decide on what the afternoon would look like. Marshall was sure excited about a little boat though.
The little boats are really cute. I bet Marshall loved it. Our son used to love the boats, too. :)
 
Geyser Point is the best!!! I love spending time there. How fun to go horseback riding in Disney!!! That's something I definitely want to do!
Yeah, it is great to enjoy the quiet rural side of Disney at WL and FW. We first did the trail ride on our honeymoon, and enjoyed how different it was from the commotion of the parks.

First, what a great table you had in 'Ohana! I'm sure that made the meal extra special. Your day off is sounding fun so far. We took our boys horseback riding at FW many years ago. I sometimes like doing non-Disney things at Disney. Anxious to hear how the pontoon boat ride went.
That table was amazing, and a first for us. Usually we can't even see the windows, let alone the castle. We really enjoy getting to hang out and do the quieter things around Fort Wilderness. The pontoon boat rental has become a tradition, although I thought we might skip it this time having done the fireworks cruise. It is all fun though, and very relaxing.

That's a very nice off day. It's fun to be able to do some of the great extra things available at Disney when you travel there enough to not feel bad about "missing" a day in the parks. You picked some great activities - I'd love to rent one of those little boats someday!
We really have the perspective that it is all "Disney" time, whether we are in the parks or the resorts. It is nice to have a long enough trip to be able to do the extra things like this though, and by this point in the trip we all appreciate the slower pace. The little boats are fairly cheap, and they rent them by the half hour so it isn't a big commitment. You can do it at WL, FW, CR, Poly or GF and boat on the same body of water.

FW is so much fun! My kids love the horses and ponies and I love the carriage and wagon rides there too, especially around the holidays when many of the sites are decorated. It’s nice to have an “off” day on a Disney trip, to get a bit of a break from the running around and sensory overload, but I always find myself thinking of all the stuff I’m missing at the parks the whole day, lol. But it’s nice to not have to rush around and get up early (were rope drop to close people). On a separate note, we’re thinking about trying to stay at WL next year, but we don’t own points there so not sure how it’ll work out but hopefully we’ll at least get some time there, if not a full 2 weeks. We may have to “settle” for Boulder ridge. We own at Poly and SS and my parents (who we always go with) own at Poly, boardwalk and OKW (they bought into OKW the first year DVC began) so we usually end up staying one of those places but we’re hoping to switch it up next year. Can’t wait to hear about the rest of your day!
Yeah, it can be hard to get yourself to slow down, but when you look at the whole trip it is all fun Disney stuff so it is nice. We tend to remember the different out of park things more than another park day, so it is worth it.
That is great that you might get to stay at WL. If you are in a bigger room than a studio you might be able to get in at Copper Creek, depending on how busy a time of year you go. If not, Boulder Ridge is nice too, and under the same roof. We wouldn't hesitate to stay there, although it isn't super likely because we would use our priority to book at Copper Creek.

Great updates. I can't believe the pool was open to 11:00. That's awesome. I feel like my last September trip it was 10:00 and February trips it's 8:00 (which really stinks!).
Yes, it was nice to swim at night and not be rushed. By 11:00, we were ready to go up and go to bed.

We could watch the boats from our room at the end of the hall and the resort boat came from the Contemporary every morning, right on schedule, and left exactly on schedule. I guess you can do that when you are the first boat of the day. ;)
Yeah, it is just beautiful around the resort in the morning, and it is fun to watch the boats start their day. It must have been neat to be able to see them from your room.

We always enjoyed eating breakfast in the villas. It was a lot less hassle than picking something up at the quick service. And when we stayed at Old Key West, breakfast in the villa was the only way we were going to get something to eat without taking a bus.
Yeah, the more we stay in the villas the more we enjoy breakfast in the room. With enough space to have everyone together it is way easier than trying to coordinate a time to meet downstairs.

The kids look like they are really enjoying the horses. :)
I went on a few trail rides in the past and it seemed like I always got the horse that decided to do something annoying, like stop walking or leave the trail. Once I had a horse that decided to roll in the dirt with me on its back. That really hurt my leg and ended any desire to ride horses again. I think the horses all knew that I had no idea how to control a horse.
Melissa grew up loving horses and had a few. I was more like you, and wasn't sure about riding something with a mind of its own. The DIsney horses are so good though that I don't mind riding them, but I was fine waiting with Marshall this time.

That happened to my husband when ordered a burger at Roaring Fork. It was very annoying.
It was our only frustrating CM interaction of the trip, which is pretty good, but I still don't see why it should take more than once to deliver the burger that is listed on the receipt. Oh well, it worked out eventually.

The little boats are really cute. I bet Marshall loved it. Our son used to love the boats, too. :)
Yes, he thought it was fun, and wanted to do them again. I see more little boat rides in our future.
 
After Marshall and I got back in the little boat, we rounded everyone up and got signed up for a pontoon boat.



He was glad to do more boating, and it was a nice relaxing ride.


We even got the same boat we had been on for the fireworks cruise. Jon figured out how to connect his phone to the stereo so we even had music to listen to.


It was nice, and this time I got to drive.


We headed across the water bridge and to in front of the Magic Kingdom.


Then we went over and checked out the Grand Floridian.


Marshall eventually laid down and took a boat nap. There’s nothing more relaxing than a boat nap.

It is so relaxing to sit on a boat and cruise around in the middle of a Disney Word vacation. The views weren’t as nice as with the Fireworks cruise, but we were free to go wherever we wanted.

We returned the boat after right at an hour, and then made our way up to the room. The kids wanted to swim, so we got ready for that.


As soon as we got to the pool there were big fat raindrops. We hopped in anyway but they had to close the pool soon after.

They closed the pool at 3:18, about 10 minutes after we arrived. It was a nice short walk back up to the room, and the kids weren’t too disappointed since they got to swim a bit, and had done it a lot this trip.


We just hung out in the room and got dressed. Housekeeping came by at 3:45 to check the room and pick up trash, and they gave us towels and shampoo. We saw they reopened the pool at 4:25, but we were about to head to dinner.

We hopped on a boat to head back over to Ft Wilderness to go to Trails End.


We got on the boy at 4:40, but it was headed to CR. We saw some more pretty good rain on our way from there to FW, where we arrived at 4:56.


We went and checked in at Trail’s End, then hung out on the porch for just a couple of minutes.


We pretty much just walked in to our table. Dinner was fantastic as usual. I know I ate wayyy too much.


I loved the ribs as always, and had plenty of good stuff to go with them.


I topped it off with cobbler and soft serve, which has become a tradition.


There were so many good desserts. Sometimes buffets don’t do dessert well but Trails End does a great job with this.

Yes they do. They have a whole section of just dessert. We finished dinner at 6:15 and then let the kids go play at the playground. It is funny how even at Disney they love a simple playground.





They were upset that they couldn’t play longer but I wanted to get to the Jimmie Allen concert at Epcot. Since getting to Epcot was going to be a trek we decided to call up a Minnie Van.

While they played Melissa booked a Minnie Van to Beach Club, avoiding a long two mode of transportation trip. After we booked it Brandy decided not to go, and Jon stayed with him as well, so it was just the four of us.

The pickup location was weird but we headed to where the phone showed.

It showed on one of the campground loops, which let us see some of the campsites on the walk there.


It was actually really neat. As campers ourselves I really enjoyed seeing the sites.


It is a great campground. Unfortunately when we got the notification that the Minnie Van had arrived it was nowhere to be seen.

I looked back in the app and it was back over at the bus pickup.

It wasn’t too far so we made a run for it.


You only have a couple minutes to get to where the van is before they leave so yeah we walked really fast. But we got to ride in one of the new suburbans which was nice.

The driver was super nice and apologized for the confusion. She could see where we were but isn’t allowed to go there. The Suburban was very nice and almost brand new. We got to Beach Club very quickly, arriving at 7:02.


I really love Minnie Vans for situations like this.

It saved a ton of time. We spent some of it cruising around the Marketplace gift shop, and got Marshall some toy buses.


He was really excited about those busses.

They are pretty realistic. We then made our way through the hotel towards Epcot. Those are some long hallways, but we made it to the door on the corner closest to Epcot.



On the way in we stopped for a Bao Bun for Allie and then got to the Jimmie Allen concert right on time.


There was plenty of seating and we sat kind of in the middle. I don’t wanna sound like an old lady but it was too loud where we sat and it was uncomfortable. Allie really had a problem with it.



I took her to the restroom after two songs and then we just hung out outside the venue.


After he left I moved to the side and the sound was much better. The concert was great and there was even an on stage proposal.

I got pictures of the proposal, and she said yes. It was cool to see and was very well set up. The Disney Cast Members knew about it and were excited.


It was really sweet. We really just came into Epcot for the concert so after it was over we headed back out International Gateway back towards Beach Club.

We decided not to stay for Illuminations since it was pretty crowded. We walked through France before heading out. Then we decided to catch a MK bus from Beach Club.

We got to the bus stop at 9:14 and saw some of the fireworks.


The bus came at 9:20, and got to MK at 9:35, right after the fireworks there ended. We had to fight our way up the stream of people to get to the WL bus stop, which took until 9:45 but the bus was there and waiting.


It left after we got on, and got to WL at 9:51. When we got to the resort there were all kinds of Sheriffs and Fire vehicles out front. In true Disney fashion they kept most of whatever was happening out of view, and we never heard what the issue was, but it had to be significant to get that kind of response.


We definitely speculated what could have happened and some of our theories were pretty wild.

I went walking around the resort and couldn’t see anything.

We had a nice long pretty relaxing day. Another great day at Disney.


In my travels I picked up mug refills which we enjoyed it in the room before going to bed about 10:45.

Coming up... what are we gonna do while Brandy and Jon are doing the Keys to the Kingdom tour? Stay tuned for a last minute ADR addition.
 
Last edited:
I fixed the picture and font color issues with the earlier post. Darn quotation marks messed things up. It should be better now.
 

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