[Dopey]

awww thank you! I was in line to see Donald in Mexico but it took for ever to get to him.
Your little guy sure is cute

[cinderbella]

Goodness! I haven't been back to POP in almost four years and this TR is really making me miss it!!
14 days I would love to do a long trip like that again.

[cowanfamily]

Okay, so we did have the luxury of driving when we wanted to. As we had booked many resort restaurants, this made life easier, as we could drive directly home, rather than taking the bus to a park, then transferring. We only went to a park after dinner once, I believe, for Fantasmic (which was full by 8:05).

So, we drove to Wilderness Lodge, which we loved. The lobby, the sit down resataurants looked great from the outside...the pool looked neat and we did get to see the geyser explode. However, the counter service, while nice, was VERY limited - we are used to POP, where you have choice of 4 different stations, each offerring at least 5 choices. Here we had little choice, but it was good. My DH and DD had the chicken salad, which was huge, and one of the only food pics I have that isnt dessert! My DS had the pizza which was awesome, and I had the focaccia sandwich which I loved. We ate outside under an umbrella overlooking the poolish area. Some ducks visited us, but we warned the kids not to feed them...

[cowanfamily]

Here are our WL pics:

[mairinmaureen]

Love your TR so far!

[cowanfamily]

So then we took the cool boat to Ft. Wilderness, and were a little concerned when we had to walk past the Hoop Dee Doo place and get a bus to the campfire, but, as usual, Disney transportation rocks!

Virtually no wait, dropped us off in a lovely spot in the forest, with just a short path to a cute little outdoor arena with comfy wooden benches, two fire pits and a cute stage that was made to resemble a medicine man's wagon.

We were there with plenty of time (7:15) and the campfire was to start at 7:30. A "chuck wagon" opened with nachos, cold drinks and marshmallow roasting setups - an entire bag of full size marshmallows, with 4 sticks for $4.00. They lit the fires around 7:25, and a nice man with a banjo came out and started getting ready by around then, too.

[cowanfamily]

The kids really enjoyed roasting the marshmallows and we shared with a family with 3 small kids in front of us. They took up the front row and we took up an end of the second row, right in the middle. How nice. A few more families drifted in, no more than 10-12 families, tops! It felt like a private show.

Then 2 men got up on the wagon stage and played a few songs and introduced Chip and Dale, who came up and danced a song or two. Then, Chip and Dale each took a side of the amphitheater (which is grand for what it is...you'll see) and met each family, playing, laughing, signing books and taking photos. Here are the best:

After this, they invited us all to come up and do the hokey pokey and the chicken dance with Chip and Dale and it was so much fun. I felt like I was 5!

Photo of mama dancing the hokey pokey - too funny!

[cowanfamily]

Here is a precious sibling moment....there werent too many!

Overall, this is one of the most interactive, memorable, personal Disney experiences I have ever had...can you tell I loved it?

After the show, they were supposed to show a Disney movie, it was that old 70's cowboy classic, the Apple Dumpling Gang...not a favorite of mine, but my DH loved it from his childhood...anyway, the bulb had just been replaced, but was not bright enough, and they put it off after some wrong starts...this could not even damper my mood....we just went back to POP and did some more night swimming....talked about coming back another night, but didnt.

We didnt need no stinkin' movie, Chip and Dale were more than enough to get us in the proper Disney frame of mind...

[iluvwdw]

The campfire sounds like SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!! I keep saying I am going to make time for it, but never do. I just HAVE to! The kids would LOVE it!

(can you bring your own graham crackers and chocolate, buy the marshmallows and the sticks and make smores? )

[cowanfamily]

Originally Posted by iluvwdw

The campfire sounds like SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!! I keep saying I am going to make time for it, but never do. I just HAVE to! The kids would LOVE it!

(can you bring your own graham crackers and chocolate, buy the marshmallows and the sticks and make smores? )

You could likely bring your own hotdogs even! I think that once we offerred to share our marshmallows, the other family went and got just the sticks and they charged them like $.75 for them...so bring your own mallows, they dont care! There were two pits and lots of room, as you can see!

This is one not to miss, I know I will always go back.

[cowanfamily]

Here are a couple of more pics:

[tinkerbelle24]

Your pictures look awesome. I cant wait to see more

[cowanfamily]

Day 3 - Magic Kingdom

We took it easy, getting up around 9, eating, drinking coffee, showering - we were staying until fireworks, so we didnt rush out. We made it to MK with just a 3-5 minute wait for the bus. We headed right to City Hall for DS9's Birthday Button - he turns 10 on the 22nd, we usually go closer to his birthday, but with sister starting a new school, we figured the earlier in school to miss, the better.

Then we went right around the corner of the building to the Barber Shop - I was not surprised to find a line, but surprised that it was staffed by women and I had thought it was in the middle of Main Street, not there where it was!

Both the kids wanted an actual haircut - go figure! so we were there for awhile. We got to see several babies get their first haircuts, met some nice Europeans, and a nice guy from Fl. His cute baby was too small for a haircut, it was actually him who was waiting for a cut!

What a deal! The kids that just got pixie dust and hair paint got the best deal, just $4 for that - they did a great job. The cutest was this little girl with dark hair in pigtails, wearing a minnie mouse dress - she got red polka dots on her head and pixie dust in her pigtails - she was the cutest thing ever!

Here are some pics of mine - we did have a date at Cinderella's Castle that night, so we wanted to look Extra Nice for her!

The actual haircuts were only $14, I think, which I did not think was too bad for kids cuts at Disney! They were both so excited to be there, I dont even think they complained

This was one of those moments I realized my DS9 is still such a little kid...I seem to always think of them both as so grown...but if I can feel like a kid at Disney.....

[cowanfamily]

And a couple more:

[iluvwdw]

I think Disney Haircuts at the Barber Shop are a GREAT deal!!! We pay MORE than that for a kids haircut here! And here they don't get colorful gel, pixie dust, stickers, things to play with while getting their haircut...DEFINITELY a bargain! We go EVERY trip.