[tnmom]

We have returned to reality after spending a fun-filled 5 nights in the 1500 loop of the Fort Wilderness Campground. I have now experienced tent camping at its finest, as we never camp with electricity or water at the site. I will say that I missed having a campfire, but we did make it to the group campfire for s'mores one night. Dodging little kids with sharp sticks bearing a sticky substance was about all I could handle! :) Here's the crew:

tnmom
DH
DS - 14
DD - 12
DD - 7

We were just in WDW in May and spent 7 nights at the Poly. with 7 jam-packed park days (never got around to a TR), so this trip was about doing different things. Here's a quick run-down of the week:

Monday
We had time to kill before we could check in, so we decided to hit Downtown Disney, shop, and grab lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express. After receiving our "site ready" text, we set up camp and explored Ft. Wilderness. The children swam. We cooked dinner at the site.

Tuesday
This was our split-up day. The boys went to Universal/Islands of Adventure. I was thrilled to be taking the girls to MNSSHP. We played it low-key that morning and hung out at the site and ventured out to play a little shuffle board. I surprised the girls with the news of a 3:15 ADR at Crystal Palace. I had been told by the reservation agent that there would be no problem getting in prior to the 4:00 party-start-time for the early ADR. The turn-stile cast member did not really agree with this reasoning, but he was nice enough to let me in at my 2:30 arrival time. WHEW!!! The party was great, and we LOVED the parade. We rode everything on our must-do list with little to no wait. I have included a photo taken just inside the turnstiles as we were leaving at 10:30. Draw your own conclusion. :)

Wednesday
This was our day to head toward Cocoa Beach. It was a quick trip, as the rain decided to pay us a visit. We drove through Kennedy Space Center in hopes of getting a tour, but we were a little too late. Not a problem, and it was good to have a down day.

Thursday
Sea World was on the agenda for the day. We had never taken the children, and they really enjoyed it. Riding the Manta was a little strange in a fun way, but we all agreed that we were missing our Aerosmith experience! We made a stop in Celebration for dinner and enjoyed our New York style pizza at a table by the water. Good thing the alligator wasn't too hungry! We weren't ready to give it up for the day, we made our way over to Fantasia Gardens for some mini golf. We had never played here, and we loved it!

Friday
We had been looking forward to Blizzard Beach all week, and Friday's weather seemed best suited for the park. We climbed more stairs than I care to think about, but we had a blast! After almost closing the park down, we showered and made it just in time for our ADR at Trail's End. We had never been there, but we really enjoyed it!

That's it in a large nutshell. We always love going to Disney, but it was nice to explore a little more of the Orlando area. I'm excited to be going back with the older children's band/chorus group in April!

[tnmom]

I had the photo attached to the previous post, but it must have been lost in the switch to wall power. :) Let's try again!

[johnkimv]

Great TR! Happy you had a good time. Fort Wilderness is my favorite place!!

[WishUponAStar]

Cool, I love Fort Wilderness TRs & MNSSHP! Awesome!

[timkelmom]

Sound like a very nice visit. I love the pic! I love any TR with FW in it. It really is nice to explore other areas once in a while. Would love to see more pics.

[MerlinMatt]

We ended up not forking over the extra cash for MNSSHP. On the one hand, we never would have had the energy to do it. The weekend trip was fairly short and we did a LOT.

However, after dinner on Friday night, we walked by MK and let me tell you, it just seemed like a ton of fun. They were playing the HM sound-track on Main St. The fog and the lights really gave it a haunted but not-so-scary feel. I could definitely imagine how it would be a great time!

Are you going to post a few more pics from Tuesday night? Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun!

[MerlinMatt]

Am I the only one who noticed that Oogie Boogie made an appearance in the picture???

[tnmom]

Isn't that creepy, MerlinMatt? I'll add a few more photos when I'm on my laptop, but I was eager to get that one up. Was Boss causing trouble that night?

[DonnyD]

Awesome pictures - I have never been to MNSSHP but hope to do it next year