Trip Report Hakunamatata’s June/July 2019 Practice Retirement, We Are Hauling Our Travel Trailer To Ft Wilderness Trip Report

Pre-Trip Report:

This year we are taking an extended trip to Disney and staying at Ft Wilderness. A few factors that drove us to taking an extended trip this year:

• One kid starting high-school and one kid starting college means that discretionary income will be minimal over the next (insert number here) years.
• I had extra time off accrued from last year that I have to burn this year or lose.
• We just started the whole camping adventure and really like it. Ft Wilderness is one of the, if not the, top rated campgrounds in North America.
• Star Wars opens later this year and the madness will likely be spread out over a couple years with the delayed openings of stuff.

So we head to the fort and check in June 7. Since we are having an extended stay, my trip report will be broken up into major items and not sequential posts by dates.

Dining has been secured and FP+ have been selected for length of stay (for anyone interested in long term stays, entire length of stay in Disneys eyes is 14 days regardless of how long you are actually staying.)

I will be posting some of our dining selections below as we are doing quite a few new to us locations.

Happy reading!

 

[Gabe1]

Today is the day we check in to Ft Wilderness. We left Houston Thursday as soon as the boy finished his last final exam. We stayed over Thursday night at the KOA in Lafayette Louisiana right off I10. For oir first ever stay at a KOA it was a really nice place with lots of activities for the little ones, a nice central lake, clean restrooms and showers. Not over run by mosquitoes which was surprising.

We were up and on the road by 730. Ran through a couple of torrential downpours. Outside of Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Baton Rouge, the roads in that state have improved dramatically.

We were originally planning to stay in Chatahoochie Fl for our second night on the road but were making such good time I hopped online and got us a room at the Townplace Flamingo Crossings where we rolled in at about 9:30.

I highly recommend the Townplace/Springhill complex at FC. I travel a-lot and this by far is the nicest of these brands I have stayed at. You get a real resort feel and they share a really nice pool.

View attachment 379956View attachment 379957

They also have a pool bar with a really nice food menu

So check in at the Fort planned around 10am which is all dependent on some thunderstorms forecasted to move through in a couple hours.

I stayed here almost a month last spring. It is very nice. It will be better when there is something else around the Western Way besides these sister hotels beyond weeds at the four corners. We had issues with the bar restaurant this winter, second stay in a year. We bolted the Polar Vortex in Chicagoland that was beyond nasty a few days early for FL so it was a stop gap to our reservations. We arrived late. Grabbed a bite and needed drinks. My DS, DD and I ordered drinks. My DDs came as a kiddy cocktail unbeknownst to me, she is not a scene maker. The waiter didn't card her, she does look very young but is 27. She said something only when I got the bill and I wanted to call out the waiter for serving her something she didn't order...she said no. She and her brother went up to our room for him to unpack as he arrived after we did. Me, Mom Tiger approached the Bar manager and waiter. Back forth. I asked the manager why they didn't follow the standard practice of carding? And the manager looked at the waiter like Duh? Waiter meltdown. And why didn't she offer an ID? Cause she thought she was being served what she ordered dufus. The Bar/Restaurant was now closed and waiter dude said bring her back and I'll server her now. Stupid solution to carding when ordering. Ultimately I suggested to manager that they might think about the customary carding over serving guests what they did not order. I did follow up with the front desk, people who recognized me after being there a month in the last year. So I'm a fan of the hotel but really can't wait for other venues to open beyond that only option at Western Way.

 

[Mr Ferret 75]

Following Along.
I second the praise for the wild boar burger

 

[Hakunamatata]

Today was a long day. Up early and off to EPCOT. Manis that entry process screwed up with all the front construction going on. Woefully understaffed for security check. We did our SE FP, then JIYIWF, LWTL FP then Frozen FP. Made it around the world showcase. Schofferhoffer in Germany and funnel cake in ‘merica.

Thunderstorm so we headed back to the fort for a rest then hit MK for a QS dinner and JC, Pirates, HM, County Bears, and IASW. Back to the camper by 10:45.

A couple photos from today.

First is this lizard on a stick. It just sat there. That intrigued me.

They put this sign up after pooodle ladies dogs carped the restroom?

 

[Gabe1]

Wooba. Big Lizard to be balancing.

For a multitude of reasons I’ve stayed 2 months at WDW over the last year, reasons beyond fandom. How is it that I’ve never once encountered The Mysterious Poodle Lady? I repeatedly see many of the same service Pups but never the Legendary Poodle Lady. Interesting.