Lantana

Thanks for reading and commenting!!  The comments help keep me going.  
Yeah, that or a colossal disappointment.  
Thanks!  But shouldn't you wait to find out if I'm just going to post another picture of a cinnamon roll?  
I don't think I could look at that every day.  I'd always be hungry.  
Yes, I completely fell off the rails.  Don't worry...I'm finally getting back onboard.  Nearly a year later.  

Oh my...that is an immense amount of food.  Hurt, just reading it 

I love bananas foster. I'm thinking of saving the picture of the banana foster sundae and making it my phone's wallpaper.

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Sounds like a lovely trip!  Now I am REALLY hoping to go to Geyser Point in February. 
I have wondered about a trip report without pictures. My computer skills are pre-historic and on top of that I often forget that I should photograph our fun.  Perhaps I will try my hand at this for our summer Fort trip. 
In the meantime, thanks for relieving the cold weather blues.  My DH and DS are turning around to come home as I type.  They left last night to run in one of the Disney races this weekend and had to give up in Roanoke, NC because the I95 was too dangerous.  Now they are beginning the slow trip home.  You have successfully lifted some of my sadness for my DS - this would have been his first race and he is disappointed.   Thank you for sharing!!!

What a treat, I haven't been on FF in ages but logged on tonight and found your thread. 
Excellent start at WL. We head to WDW a week from today and we're spending a couple of nights in one of the cabins. After reading about your visit Geyser Point and the Territory Lounge are two must-do's (as if they wouldn't be anyway...those drinks looked delicious).
 

They released a Fort discount today. Here are details:
Campsites included at 10% discount for Sunday through Thursday stays, April 29 through May 24, 2018. 

Thanks - and number one spot too~
Thanks for joining.  You are welcome - I struggle with finding the time to do reports once we get back..but will keep this one going.
Thanks and you are welcome.
glad you are here.
yay!
Yep - back with the kids - Yes, one happy mom to have her kids back in Disney with her.

Our first Christmas at the Fort / Disney –
We were supposed to be there 12/10-12/15, however due to a wedding that our daughter was in our final exams for our son, I knew that week would be not doable – so when we came back home in November I logged in and was able to grab 12/17-20, but only by booking one day at a time.  Grrr – then the next day I grabbed the 22nd and the next day the 21st, so we were set. I then called and had them all combined.
We arrived on 12/17 which was a Sunday.  We haven’t ever checked-in on a Sunday, but since the wedding was on Saturday, a Sunday check-in it would be.  We left Saturday around 5 and drove to the St. Mary’s/N. Jacksonville KOA with a lovely 1a.m. arrival time.    We were up and on the road by 7 the next morning.
Welcome Home!

We arrived at the Fort at 10:30 – which on any other check-in day we’ve arrived hasn’t been an issue.  We were about 4th in line.  Made it to a window and got all checked in and a site was available (nothing in the 1400 was available) so we headed to 1321 – which according the app and the cast member, we should fit.  We arrived at the site, and not enough room.  So, we called the number and requested 1320 as it was empty.  Well, someone had already requested that site, so they said they would find us a comparable site, and would send us a text.  Great – so we went back up front to overflow, and then were told we could park in the grass at the load/unloading place.  So, we joined the other 10-15 people who were parked there.   By this time is was 12:00 and by 12:30 we had a text telling us to head to 1222 – I was skeptical as the fort app showed the directional arrow in the photo so I knew it was the last site next to the entrance.  However, we made it to the site, and loved it!  It was a fantastic site.  1200 is a great loop. I walked around and took a few pics of the sites.

 
We got set-up and all were hungry so we headed to Epcot.  Traditionally MK is our first stop, but since it was a party night, we knew we would have to leave soon, so we opted to go to Epcot and Festival of the Holidays.  I didn’t get any food pics – but we tried several things – all that we tried today were really good.
 

We left Epcot around dark – and headed back to the fort.  1200 loop was a very decorated loop.  We walked around that loop and looked at all the decorations, and then headed to Trails End for our mugs, and drinks, and then looping we went.
I will say that I felt that not as many people were decorated for Christmas as was for Halloween, but those that did decorate went all out.  Very  beautiful.
We were all worn out from the long drive the day before and we called it an early night and just hung out at the campsite.
Monday, Day 2,  is MK, Hollywood Studios, and MK again.

Let me start with letting you all know there are NO pictures on this mini trip report plus my computer skills do not help in being able to post if there were any.
We did seem to think that this was the busiest holiday season we have been to at WDW so far and we have been there 4 times over the last 8 years so about every other year.
1st  we did Oktoberfest for our Christmas dinner and my oldest son (26) asked why we have never been there before, this is now is favorite restaurant but his mind will change a few times before this trip was over.
2nd We finally got to see Pandora land and yes the theming is wonderfully done, we rode the River ride first and would say we were glad we had a FP as even tho it is very nice it is not worth the wait, day 2 at AK we went to rope drop scheduled at 7am to find out they started letting people in at 6, so when we finally go to the line at Flight of Passage it was all the way to the bathroom area by the Lion King show so overall wait was 1 1/2 hours but I will say the line kept moving so was not that bad. We did get to ride it twice that day with a FP in the afternoon. GREAT RIDE it's just I am not a line person and feel no ride is worth a 5 hour wait.
3rd O'Hana for dinner, guess what? My son changed his mind again on favorite restaurants. We really enjoyed it and plan to return on future visits. Also a  added bonus I got to meet up with Ray here for drinks and we had a great time, Ray thanks for taking time out and coming to meet us, looking forward to seeing you again hopefully somewhere in OK
4th Geyser Point for lunch, we really enjoyed it there plus made for a great break form the crowds, I got the bison burger and as Dave has said before the waffle fries are the best, had a nice spot down overlooking the lake towards  the Fort and highly recommend this spot to all the Fiends I do not think you will be disappointed.
5th kind of a split dinner here, me the wife and youngest met Jason ( Mouse Counselors) for dinner at Via Napoli while is lovely wife met the oldest and went to Cape May for the seafood buffet which by now is the oldest son's new favorite restaurant  ( notice a pattern with him), he was very proud to leave 3 buckets of empty crab legs behind. He resides in New Mexico and really misses the east coast seafood.
For now this is all but there are other things we did that were new to us and will add more later. I will have to say that remembering all we did and trying to report on it is a very hard job, thanks to all the previous folks like TCD, Norm the Troll,  Ray, Dave in Tn. and so many more I can not remember to list I could never do as great a job as they all have done. I just hope our thoughts on things we have done and places we have ate might help someone else in the future. Thanks for reading and sorry for no pictures.

No, I am not joking, hahaha
 

The parking at the Meadows is limited to 15 min for shopping.  As to dropping mom off it's still a pretty good walk to the boat. You can't get any closer than the 4way intersection by 100/200-400 and 700.

This^
If you're healthy, you'll be fine walking or biking.  Outside of that, I would recommend a golf cart as it will just make things easier.  The campground is large and spread out.
Have a great trip!

I like my golf cart....
 
when it works, lol
 
However, I also like walking and taking the buses, lol

We have never rented a golf cart. We stay in a loop about half way from each end of the campground and either walk or take the internal buses to get around. If you are in the Meadows area it is about a mile walk to either the Settlement or Outpost. The only time we've used our vehicle inside the park was to get the propane tank filled at the Meadows. It has a small number of parking sites. You could also drive to the Outpost and park in the overflow lot if you didn't want to wait for a bus.

Welcome! The reason people like to have golf carts is because there is no car parking at many of the places around the Fort. You can park at your site, but you cannot park at the pool, settlement area where the restaurants and boat to MK are, etc. 
There is an internal bus to take you to those places. Lots of people also use bikes. 

We'll be making our first visit to Fort Wilderness, probably in January of 2019.  We'l be full timing by then in our 43 foot class A, with our Honda CRV as our toad. I read how most people like to have a golf cart when camping at Fort WIlderness. Will we be able to access what we need by car? Thanks!

Prayers and good wishes headed your way... 

I will take part of the blame for that.  I have been very sick during 2017 and I am not a very public person.  The WWW group has known because we all talk privately on our phones.  However, I have been doing all I can just to keep my head up at work.  In addition, I was attacked at school after my surgery (to fix what was wrong) and had to immediately change jobs.  If you noticed, I disappeared.  I didn't mean to but something had to give and that is why I have some other people who help me in the background who I could not thank enough.  My goal in 2018 is to hopefully get everything back up to steam.  I cannot and will not beg people to come back, however, I can recruit new people to stop by for information.  I am not here to spread pixie dust, but the real deal.  I am working on being at Disney more often and reporting from there for the site.  The app will be updated this year come hell or high water and work on all platforms.  (or supergeek will not go to Blizcon, hahaha)  I apologize for not being the admin you expected me to be.  Unfortunately, when I get sick, I get really sick.  I will do better.  We will also be camping more and hopefully we can get some GG's planned for the year as well.  I know it is not much of a comfort for 2017, but it can be a building block for 2018.  Every site goes through ups and downs.  We have had our down and now it is time to go up again.

Dave wins. 
Welcome!
Welcome!

I’m new too. Staying in a cabin for first time ever next month. Hoping trip goes well and I can get my husband to camp for a week or so after that. Thank you for all who post and share info[emoji4]


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Probably so.  Ok, it's not the beach at the Fort.  But it is coming up fairly soon in this report.  
I don't think the Mouse needs any help coming up with money making schemes.
Thanks Dave.
We really have enjoyed our visits there this year.
DVC at the Lodge would be pretty nice.  If you were into Disney, that is.  
Oh yes....that is always good.
I know.  I have a feeling I'll be helping out your family outfit a lot more this year too. 
Oh, there will be plenty of examples of why I hate Disney.  Isn't that already obvious?  

Dave, we just did lunch the other day at Geyser Point and it was GREAT!!!!!!! Bison burger and a spot looking out at Bay Lake during the holiday rush was the perfect spot to dodge the crowds.

Trip Number One:  A Birthday Cruise on the Disney Wonder
So a little over a year ago, INC and I started to think about how to celebrate my birthday.  As it falls in the "dead" of winter, a trip to a warm locale sounded good.  We are blessed at this point to have adult children that can step in to watch the younglings on occasion, giving us a bit of a respite.  We love our girls, but a break now and then, especially from caring for Anna, is very welcome.  That kid is a handful...LOL. 
I had considered perhaps heading to the JW Marriott that we enjoy in Orlando, but there is no guarantee that the weather in February will be warm in central FL.  Warmer than Tennessee, for sure, but possibly not warm enough for relaxing in the sun poolside.  So my gears began turning in my head, or at least what is left of my gears, and I started to research cruise options.  We could not get away for more than 4 nights total, so it would have to be a short cruise.  And since I like to travel the day before embarking on a cruise in the event there are travel issues, that meant we could only book a 3 night cruise.  That seemed entirely too short.  Would it be worthwhile?  More to come on that.  
I quickly decided that DCL was a must.  We'd cruised on the Dream once previously (our first ever cruise), and then did a Royal Caribbean cruise with INC's family a couple of years after that.  RCCL was enjoyable, and when booking for a large family the price difference is a major factor.  However, for just the two of us, and such a short cruise, price became less of a factor.  So 2 DCL cruises jumped out as possibilities for our schedule....3 nighters on the Dream or on the Wonder.  Since we'd done the Dream before, and the Wonder has just recently been refurbished at that point, we decided that the Wonder sounded like a Winner, and booked the 3 nighter out of Canaveral.   
I used points to book flights on Southwest to MCO, arriving the day before we boarded the Wonder.  So what to do with our non-cruise night?  Well, the logical thing seemed to be booking a hotel at Cocoa Beach.  But logic was quickly thrown out the window when I realized we could stay at WDW!  And considering we could use DME to get to the hotel, and DCL cruise transports to get to the ship, it was somewhat logical.  Really, it was.  And we got a halfway decent rate at the Lodge, to boot, which happens to be my favorite WDW hotel.  
Enough backstory....let's get to some pics!  
Before heading to the airport in Nashville, we had some time to go out for breakfast at our favorite local diner that's just down the road from our house.  This was a birthday celebration after all!  So this called for a selfie.  (I apologize in advance....there may be several selfie's in this TR.  Deal with it.)  


I'm holding up the mug because the restaurant is called The Country Boy, and was founded in 1968.  The same as this country boy.  LOL.  
Oh, and I got one of those mugs from my oldest DD for my birthday.  
After breakfast we headed to BNA for our flight.  Jackpot!  The peanuts were Honey Roasted on this flight!  I find that you only win that lottery on around 25% of SW's flights, so this was getting off to a good start!

Southwest sends me way more drink coupons than I can ever use, so I put a couple of those to good use too. 

After a flight that was barely over 90 minutes long, we arrived at MCO and soon enough, were boarded onto our DEEEE-LUXE motorcoach for transit to the Wilderness Lodge!!

DME Selfie....

This was our first ever experience with DME, and overall it was great.  It certainly takes longer than Uber or renting a car, but not having to worry about any details, and being "free", was great.  Also, not having to get our own bags and drag them around was pretty cool.  
We arrived at the Lodge by mid-afternoon, and stopped for a Lobby selfie.  Yes, I know, too many selfies.  But I'm married to the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on, and I want to constantly document it in case I ever wake up.  

We checked in and went to our room, which was at the end of the "left hand" wing of the hotel, facing out toward the boat dock.  Since the Lodge was under some major construction at that time, including Roaring Fork being shut down, Geyser Point just having been completed, all the DVC work plus major work around the pool, we got this surprise when we entered our room.


Pretty cool!!
We settled into the room, then decided to head out to check out all the changes around the resort.  And there was one major change we were excited to see, that had literally just opened a couple of days prior.  Geyser Point!  
We'll head there in the next update....
 

Ah, the Kitchen Sink. Awesome pic Dave. 

Welcome to all the new people!