January 26, 2025 - January 30, 2025 -- Fort Wilderness, Disney World
Written By: Wendy
We set out on our shortest travel day of only 20 minutes, yet I quickly realized that it would not be an easy travel day. Caroline immediately started yelling for a snack. I hadn't prepared any because it was such a short drive and we had just eaten a snack right before getting in the truck, but car snacks were the travel day routine, and she wanted no deviation whatsoever. Due to her continuous screaming, we missed a turn, and our 20 minute drive turned into a 30 minute drive. Still not bad, but adding 10 minutes was agonizing with a toddler screaming and a 5 year yelling at the 3 year to be quiet. So it was with tears in all our eyes that we entered the happiest place on Earth. Surely Disney would bring a smile to our faces. We would be staying at Fort Wilderness, the campground within Disney World Resorts, and Disney had a promotion going for all of 2025 that you could go to Blizzard Beach Waterpark on your check in day if you were staying at a resort. Awesome! We planned to spend the day at the waterpark before checking into our campsite. An added bonus of the campground is that there can be 10 people on your reservation so we added a family to our reservation who was able to come with us too, for free! As we pulled into the Blizzard Beach parking lot, I was certain the screams would quickly turn into cheers, but there was a large CLOSED sign at the entrance to the waterpark. What?! Unfortunately there was another cold snap going through supposedly warm Florida and since the high was only 68 degrees, the water park was closed for the day. More screaming ensued. So much for the happiest place on Earth.
We were able to salvage the day by going mini golfing, checking into our campsite 2 hours early (Disney does not care when you check in, unlike TTO), and going to the nicely heated pool and splash pad at the campground. We did find out while checking in that we were still able to go to Blizzard Beach tomorrow. Hooray! Finally some cheers and smiles! We ended our first night at Fort Wilderness by going to the Hoop-De-Doo Revue, a musical dinner show that has been running for over 50 years. The performers are dressed in traditional 1800s western attire and sing old classic American songs like "Home on the Range" and "This Land is Our Land" while serving a tradition dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, beans, and strawberry shortcake. They encourage audience participation and do silly things on stage that is sure to get laughs from everyone. This was our kids first big show, and they were completely enamored with the performers on stage. Parker could not peel his eyes away and kept missing his mouth while he tried to eat while watching. Caroline kept yelling "I love you" to one performer that stopped to say hi to her while she ran by our table. Although she did become rather upset when she realized that she could not go dance on stage with the performers, and the "I love you's" abruptly ceased. Nonetheless, they both giggled the evening away and walked home with stars in their eyes, and memories of screaming in the car that morning faded away as we were sucked into the bubble of Disney magic.
We woke up the next morning to sunny skies and a high of 70, just warm enough to open the waterpark. Yay! We met up with our friends again and had a blast at the winter themed waterpark. We started out by riding a "ski lift" to the top of the "mountain" (aka waterslide) and took the large 4 person raft down. There were smiles and laughter all around as our raft spun in circles and we were splashed with just barely warm enough water on the just barely warm enough day. We spent the rest of the day splashing in the Frozen themed splash pad area, swimming in the wave pool, and testing out all the waterslides. Throughout our travels, I found a life hack that it's almost always much more enjoyable to do things with friends because of the social aspect for adults and kids and the built in babysitters. Since our friends were there, Scott and I were able to sneak away for 30 minutes and race each other on various magic carpet style waterslides that flew so fast down the chute that I got some air. It was exhilarating, and I felt like a kid again flying down those slides, but there was no way I would take my kids on those slides, at least yet. We came back to Caroline doing laps on the kiddie Olaf waterslide and laughing hysterically every time she splashed into the water at the bottom. After a few hours and as the sun began to dip behind the trees and the shadows grew longer, we all started to shiver and knew it was time to head out. We didn't want to wear ourselves out too much because tomorrow was a big day, Magic Kingdom day.
We woke up bright and early the next morning, determined to make the most out of our one Magic Kingdom day. One of the special things about staying at the campground is that there is a ferry boat that takes you directly to Magic Kingdom. It was a brisk morning, but it was sure to warm up quickly as the sun peeked out through the trees. The mist rose up off the lake, and our excitement built as we caught our first glimpses of Cinderella's castle spires. Since we were staying in the resort, we were able to get into the park 30 minutes early. We had a strict game plan to make the most of those 30 minutes, but being Disney resort newbies, we failed miserably at the plan and missed the rope drop because we were waiting at the wrong rope. So we shifted plans and instead of starting off the day with an already 60 minute line (seriously?! It's like 8:35!), we walked onto 'It's a Small World,' which was the exact same way we started Disney when we went last fall. We followed that up with 'Peter Pan Flight' with only a 25 minute wait even though the sign said 65 minute wait. We were feeling good! We continued knocking off high priority rides of 'Little Mermaid,' 'Dumbo,' and 'The Barnstormer.' We took a bit of a break from rides and did one of my personal favorites, 'Enchanted Tales with Belle.' I love this attraction because it's an interactive show that the kids put on for Belle. Parker and Caroline took their roles of the salt and pepper shakers very seriously and followed the line of various dishes out into the library right on cue. Belle came out, and Caroline was star struck with her princess beauty. It's only a 6 minute performance with no deviation whatsoever, but it's so precious, and the kids adored "acting" with a real live princess. After that, it was time for some food. The line outside of Gaston's Tavern had been long all morning, so we jumped in line to see what the fuss was about. We were not disappointed and were rewarded after a short wait with a warm and gooey cinnamon roll and a creme brulee stuffed croissant. We washed it down with Le Fou's Brew of apple juice and toasted marshmallow creme topping (it was better than it sounds), and then we ready to take on the park again. We slowed down considerably in the afternoon, and our timing was not quite as perfect as in the morning. We took cues from the kids and when they needed a stimulation break, we rode the train around the exterior of the park and then headed to Tom Sawyer's Island to let them run free for a little while. After they got their wiggles out, we lined up to see the parade. We ahhed and oohed at all the characters gliding by on the floats. Caroline sat on my shoulders and reached her little fingers coated in popcorn butter out to Donald Duck as he floated by and asked earnestly for a hug. She clapped in excitement as Elsa glided by and the stretched her arms out in hopes of touching her favorite princess. Parker jumped with excitement at the sight of Peter Pan and Captain Hook floating by on their ship, and he gasped with surprise at the sight of Maleficent coming by on her huge black float. All us were enamored by the amazingness of seeing all our favorite characters walk by right in front of us. And just as quickly as it started, the parade was over and were we left to figure out what to do next.
Scott and I decided we each wanted a turn on the newest ride, Tiana's Bayou. Scott stood in line while I took the kids to the pirate scavenger hunt in Adventureland. We received a map and had to find hidden clues that would suddenly come to life when we waved a card in the correct location. Both kids jumped in surprise as cannons suddenly starting firing as soon as I touched my card to the lion emblem on a pile of seemingly innocent boxes. Scott returned from Tiana'a Bayou with glowing praise, and I was able to use the child swap buddy pass to skip the line and jump right in. By the time I went on the ride, it was towards the end of the day, and the sun was low in the sky. I did not want to get soaking wet and be cold the whole evening. Of course, when the cast member sent me to my seat in the boat, I was in the front. Luckily, right behind me were two people in full rain parkas, and I was able to convince them to take the front seats. I was glad I did as the splash at the end was no joke, but I was only mildly wet thanks to being one row back.
When I came out of the ride, the sky was starting to streak with colors meaning that evening was quickly approaching. We decided to do a sit down dinner so that we could relax a bit, and ate at Jungle Navigation Co. It was tasty food, and Scott and I appreciated the dry humor of the wait staff, on par with the Jungle Cruise humor. We stepped out in the dark and had to pick our last ride of the day. Parker is our more cautious child, and he had not wanted to try any remotely scary rides all day, but he loves pirates. We made a deal that he would try one ride that pushed him outside of comfort zone, and he picked Pirates of the Caribbean. It was the perfect way to end the day. By the time we got out of the ride, it was close to firework time, so we grabbed some beignets and Mickey Mouse shaped ice cream bars because we clearly had not had enough sugar yet that day, and headed to steak out a spot for the fireworks. Everyone else obviously had the same idea, so our viewing spot was not ideal, but it was still magical with music timed perfectly to the fireworks over Cinderella's castle. It sure to bring tears to the corners of anyone's eye, even an old curmudgeon. As soon as the fireworks ended, I took a deep breath and smiled to myself, knowing that this was the end of our big Magic Kingdom Day. With some regret over missed rides that were just could not possibly all cram in, I turned and headed towards the boat back to our campground with a sleepy eye Caroline on my shoulder while Scott pushed an unusually silent Parker who was sucking his thumb and trying with all his might keep his eyes open.
The next morning, we slept in and took it easy enjoying the amenities of the campground. In the afternoon, we went resort hoping. This is a little known Disney hack to be able to experience the magic of Disney without having to pay a dime. We rode the boat from the campground to Magic Kingdom and then took the monorail to The Floridian, The Polynesian, and The Contemporary resorts. If Disney knows how to do one thing, it is create a theme and go all in. Each resort was like stepping into an immersive experience down to the sounds, smells and the material that the floor was made out of. We walked around each resort, gawking at every detail, stopping to rest in the beachside hammocks at the Polynesian or listening to the calming old band stand music gently playing at The Floridian until we made it to the boat dock at The Contemporary. From there, we took a boat to the Wilderness Resort. Stepping off the dock was like stepping back home into Washington. There were large pine trees lining the walkway (and cypress trees with Spanish moss, which isn't very Pacific Northwestern, but you know, Disney can only go so far) up to the log cabin style resort. There were details of Pacific Northwest tribes and a cascading waterfall into the pool. It was very calming and felt just like home. We were there to have dinner with Snow White at Storybook Dining at Artist's Point. Upon walking into the dining room, I was immediately impressed with the greenery hanging from the ceiling and fairy lights twinkling above to set the mood. We happily munched our appetizers as Snow White, Grumpy, and Dopey visited our table. Caroline immediately fell madly in love with Dopey and put him to the test of Disney characters not letting go of a hug first. She just stood there squeezing him for well over a minute until I gently pried her chunky little fists apart and helped her wave good bye to him as he moved to the next table. Throughout our meal, she kept a close eye on him as he circled the dining room and twice she escaped and snuck a tight hug in while he was at another table. He visited our table one last time before we left, and Caroline looked up at him with the most innocent expression and said, "Will you come home with me?" I don't know how often Dopey gets picked up, but he initiated the next hug. As we were finishing up our delectable dessert of an apple shaped truffle and chocolate hearts, we received a summon from The Queen that we could now visit her. She had made her rounds of the room a few minutes prior and Parker buried his head into Scott's lap as she passed, too frightened to even look at her. He skipped the summons and decided to finish his dessert while Caroline gladly leapt at the opportunity and happily skipped over to wait her turn to see The Queen. When it was her turn, The Queen knelt down to say hello, and Caroline immediately sat right in her lap. No fear here! She chatted with The Queen about her love for Dopey and did not take her eyes off of her the entire time. In all our pictures, she is starting up at The Queen with her mouth agape in wonder at the mesmerizing person next to her. After we had our fill of delicious food and character meeting, we took the boat back to our campground. We had an early dinner and still had time to make it to the nightly Chip 'n' Dale campfire sing-along. The kids happily sang classic campfire songs and hugged more characters until the yawns started, and we knew it was time to call it a night.
The next morning as the kids crawled into our bed, I awoke with a heavy sigh and sadness in the my heart. We would be leaving Fort Wilderness today and heading to another subpar Thousand Trails campground. We had been planning this trip for over a year, and I had a feeling of melancholy wash over me as I thought about leaving. We had a slow breakfast and decided to make the most out of our fleeting time at Disney, so we went for a family bike ride around the campground until check out. Once again Disney surpassed my expectations, which were high to begin with, so I knew that we'd be back. We needed some recovery time anyway after all the excitement we'd been having for the past month, so we hitched up and headed south to a sleepy little Thousand Trails campground.