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So...  I guess this is where I tell you how we got here and what we've done so far.

We left late Sunday afternoon.  We had freezing rain Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  We knew they were calling for it to end late Sunday afternoon so we were waiting for a break in the weather to get away.  If we'd put too much faith into the reports on the radio we wouldn't have got away when we did.  They were saying the 401 (the main highway) was in poor condition.  When we left home we didn't get far before doubting our sanity.  The roads were bad in our (rural) area and it was slow going.  The secondary highway was a little better, and by the time we hit the 401 it wasn't too bad.  Not perfect, there was some slush and snow, but not terrible.  With the ice storm a lot of people in Toronto were without power - it was weird to see dark high rises.  It's bad enough to be without power in the country - I can't imagine what it would be like in the city.  We stopped to fuel up and the lady at the gas station thought we were nuts.  Nuts to leave that and go to Florida?  That's not nuts at all.  I saw a total of one other RV the whole first 24 hours, and they appeared to be heading south too.

Little Man (youngest son) fell asleep before the border and when he woke up we convinced him that he had missed the whole border crossing.  He rolled down his window, stuck his hand out, and said, "Huh, it really is warmer here."  We were still in Canada at that point.  It was a few degrees warmer than home, but nothing worth stopping for.

Drove until after midnight, grabbed a few hours of sleep, and continued on again.  Drove all day Monday, grabbed a short few hours of sleep, drove until lunch time Tuesday when we picked up Middle Man (oldest son) at a friend's house because they had travelled down together.  Had a home cooked meal with them, which was nice after being on the road for a couple of days.  It was especially nice vegging on the couch after sitting in the middle bench seat of a pickup truck for all those hours.  Stopped at Publix and rolled into the Fort around suppertime on Christmas eve.  We had booked a preferred site but got bumped up to a premium, which was a nice surprise.  

The whole trip down was alright, no weather after we left Ontario.  No crazy traffic or drivers, although Atlanta was a bit hectic.  We're travelling with three dogs, and they were all super on the way down.  I'm sure they wondered what was going on - they've had long drives like that before but they've been in the car.  This time they travelled in the fifth wheel.  Our old dog had a spot where he was right beside the window and sometimes someone would pull up beside us grinning and pointing so we knew he was being noticed.  :)

Set up camp Christmas Eve.  Had a quiet Christmas morning.  Middle Man cooked breakfast outside and we ate at the picnic table.  Christmas breakfast outside - first ever for me.  I didn't go any further than the comfort station Christmas day.  BBQ for supper.  

Today we ran into town to pick up a few odds and ends.  Was so nice to pull back into the campsite afterwards.  Old Man and I went for a walk over to the pool by the Meadows Trading Post (is that right?) - I hadn't been over there before.  This evening we had our first GAG.  It was fantastic.  Old Man has been coming to WDW since he was a kid and has spent so much time here but had never had a GAG.  He was impressed - thank you all for that!  :)  We had enough for 4 of us with leftovers.  

After that we  hopped on a boat and went to the Contemporary.  We had a look around - Little Man wanted to see the arcade.  We were going to hop on the monorail (I'm so sorry Lou) but it was so crowded that we gave up on that.  We took a stroll past the outdoor movie and along the beach back to the boat and Old Man and I caught one to Magic Kingdom (I think, it's been a long night, there may have been a second step in there).  The kids headed back to the campground to feed the dogs.  I hadn't seen Cinderella's castle at night, so it was cool to see it even from a distance.  From MK we caught another boat back to the Fort.  On the boat I saw someone that looked familiar.  I explained to Old Man but I was too shy to say anything.  We got off the boat and stopped at the Settlement trading post.  Old Man went out ahead of me and when I came out he was sitting on a bench talking to Ken and the kids, who were waiting for Judy to come out of the store.  We had a fantastic little chat, then Judy came out and we chatted some more.  It was so nice to meet someone from here!  :)  

After all that Little Man and I rounded up the laundry and got it washed/dried/folded.  Good to have that done.  I wish the washers and dryers had countdown timers on them so we had an idea when to go back though.  Oh well.  I won't complain - it's super to be able to have laundry facilities so close.

We're here until the 11th I guess, so we're in no rush to go into the parks yet.  Hopefully after a few more days they won't be as busy.

I know I should have pictures.  I get involved and forget to take pictures.  I'm more living in the moment than capturing it.  :)

Couple of random thoughts:

Someone a couple of campsites down from us has a couple of old, loud muscle cars.  It may irritate some when he starts them up but I love it.  I need me a car that sounds like that.  :)

I know it may seem selfish, but Christmas away is nice sometimes.  No trying to fit three turkey dinners into two days, double booking yourself, driving through all kinds of weather, etc, etc.  We had a totally relaxing day.  Downside is I didn't bake anything this year or make any treats or anything.  Our waistlines will thank us.

Now I understand why older people flock to Florida.  If I was retired and knew what Florida weather is vs what I'm used to I would definitely be tempted to become a snowbird.  I'm so not looking forward to going back to the cold.

Some kids shouldn't be driving golf carts.  Especially if they don't understand what a backup beeper means.

Really impressed with the comfort stations.  I wasn't sure what to expect.

That is all.  :)

 

 

What is it with you people and your weird candy?

 

I know that you have something called Smarties that is not what we know as Smarties.

 

Isn't what we have good enough for you?

 

TCD

Ohhh nooo.  I just googled Smarties US and it's completely wrong.  What you call Smarties?  They're actually Rockets.  What is wrong with you people?       ;D

I just read all this today - so nice that it all worked out!  Thank you to you and your husband from up here too.

I think this would be the equivalent up here.  Not my favourite, but I do like them.  =)

Looking forward to pictures.  =)  Whenever I see someone going with younger kids I kinda wish ours were younger again.  =)  Have a great trip!

Aww, sad that we missed this.  Amazing!  :)

I made the call.  I hate calling that 407-WDISNEY number.  But I had to.  To my surprise, my call was answered promptly by a friendly and competent CM, and before I knew what hit me, I had been able to score a AAA rate on a preferred site, at a rate cheaper than my full hook-up reservation.

That was the number I was using but then I found another one 1-407-939-1289.  I found it somewhere, listed under resort reservations.  The first time I called I went through all the automated menus, then I set the phone down and went to the door because the dog was barking at something.  I've never called the other number without being on hold for what seems like ages so I thought I was safe.  I was gone for 10 seconds and I came back to the phone and there was someone on the call already.  Crazy.  And it's been like that every time I've called since - no waiting on hold.  Maybe I've just lucked out.

Haha, good to know!  :)

Thanks for the heads up Gwen.  Scary stuff.

If a big bunch of sites right next to each other empty out, that usually means they are holding them for a large group. Hopefully they won't be loud, obnoxious, drunks :)

We're on the way! =)  I kid, I kid.  There are three groups of us going, but as far as I know there are no plans to be on neighbouring campsites.  We're all family, and mostly work together, so I think they're looking for a bit of breathing room.  And we won't be in the 500 loop.  Not sure about the rest of them.

Also, for some reason I thought the Jungle (Jingle) cruise would have real animals. Oops.

 

Usually, you can google something like this, and some nerd's blog will pop up and explain things.

What did we ever do before google?

Thank you for clearing up the meaning of GAG.  :)

So many great pictures.  No snow.  Can't wait.

I've never used a travel agent, but yes, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea next time!  =)  Would certainly be less frustrating.

Sounds like I should switch my fast passes to Epcot then and just stay the whole day.  While I'd likely prefer to stay at the trailer for NYE, it's just one of those things I'd like to experience once.  If anyone with 11-12 year olds want to get together and make new friends, let me know.  I have 2 boys 11 and 12.

I'll be at the Fort with my kids. I have a 9 and 10 year old son. And a 6-year-old daughter who will pitch a fit if she can't play with the boys. We'll probably be somewhere in the 300 loop.

We have a preferred site and need a pet loop, so I guess we'll be in 300 too (unless they run out of room in that loop?).  Travelling with our 13 year old son (and our 24 year old son).  We'll have other family there too but the other kids are older and all but one other have all been at WDW countless times.  This is his first trip so he may not be able to keep up with them.  We're there from Dec 24 to...  Well, we're not sure.  Have reservations until the 10th.  Were thinking of heading home on the 7th but now other family members are staying until the 10th so maybe we'll extend our stay too.  The big expense is the fuel and the park tickets - to stay for three more nights only makes sense, right?  

Thanks for the pictures!  SPBR?  I guess that will have to do - not too shabby for my third post.  :)

I was in the same boat as you Jaime, and we ended up with something like 5 reservations for our preferred site for the 24th of December until the 1st of January, and then another from January 1st until the 8th or the 11th (still up in the air on the departure date).  I had to piece together the nights, taking what we could get.  At one point I was worried we would have to leave the fifth wheel in the parking lot and sleep in a tent for a couple of nights because I could only get a tent/popup site!  Like you  I finally snagged our last preferred night a couple of days ago.   :jumpforjoy   I called today to cancel the full hookup reservation we had for that night and the lady I spoke to was able to have guest services combine almost all of our reservations.  We now have one reservation from the 24th to the 1st and another for the remainder of the trip.  I was so surprised/relieved/pleased!  I have spoken to a lot of people on the phone over the last 6 weeks or so trying to piece everything together.  The first gentleman I spoke to basically told me I was wasting my time trying to piece together the nights because it just wouldn't happen (challenge accepted).  The third lady said that once I had all the nights at the same level guest services could combine them all into one.  Everyone I've spoken to since seemed to think they couldn't be combined.  Today I spoke to a lovely lady who suggested it herself when she saw we had consecutive reservations for over two weeks.  Hoorah!  So...  It can't hurt to call and see what they can do for you.  Now we're only faced with the possibility of having to move once instead of numerous times.  Plus we only need two sets of Magic Bands.