Trip Report Winter Warmth COMPLETE 2/3

Winter Warmth!

Who: Paula and Gary (with parents and aunt and uncle mixed in)

When: January 31-February 13, 2022 (as I am typing this, it is the last day of 2022, so I’m thinking to myself that it could be worse.) When we returned, try as I might, I could not find my planning notebook anywhere. I recently came across it and all my receipts, so with the help of that and my pictures, I am attempting to try a trip report. I did complete a pre-trip report way back when, but have NO idea how to link it here

Where: Fort Wilderness for the first time!

Why: It’s been 5 years since our last trip. Unfortunately, my (now) DH does not love Disney as much as I do, so although he really does enjoy it when we’re here, and the Fort really made an impression, he doesn’t feel the pull I do ☹. However, he does like to get away from the cold and snow and agreed to this trip because after the Disney portion, we are heading to the Daytona 500.

Without further ado: TRAVEL DAY!

We left Northeast PA the morning of January 29 and headed south pulling our 5th wheel camper. It was a balmy 18 degrees, and I froze as we hooked up! Spirits were high as we pulled out and were on our way around 9 am. I packed lunch as we haven’t pulled the camper on a trip this far and knew there were some places that wouldn’t be easy to pull in and out of. We stopped at the VA rest stop around 1:30.

We saw snow until we hit South Carolina!

We stopped in South Carolina at a Cracker Barrel for the night. We pulled around the back of the restaurant around 9:30ish. It was about 26 degrees! We knew there had been a cold snap, but jeez!! We stood in the kitchen eating some sandwiches for supper and I said I thought we were going to have to go to bed with all our clothes on, coats included, and take off a layer or two as we warmed up. We only put out the bedroom slide and Gary fired up the furnace. It warmed up quickly and we were asleep soon.

We woke up around 6:30 the next morning, washed up and headed into Cracker Barrel for breakfast. We were pleasantly surprised to find that they serve mimosas at breakfast! (We are from PA and our CB’s do not sell alcohol).



What can I say? We’re easy to impress!

I think we were back on the road by 8:45 or 9 at the latest and finally hit Florida around 12:30!

A stop or two for diesel (ugh) and bathroom and we were in our spot for the night at Tropical Palms by 5:00.

A nice campground not far from Disney property. We got set up, I cleaned the floors in the camper and Gary hosed down the outside. It was a mess from the snow and salt on the roads on the way down. This place was nice for one night. We wanted to get to Florida the night before our reservation so we could get to the Fort first thing in the morning. After we got as settled as we needed to be for one night, we headed out on a ride to see what we could find for dinner. We settled on a Denny’s that was close and wasn’t too busy. After that we headed back and made sure things were ready for the morning.



A few thoughts: This is the first time we’ve (and by that, I mean Gary as he does all the driving) pulled a camper this far from home. We bought this camper the previous October and used it at our Creekside site for 4 weeks until the season was over. So, it was still new to us. The night before we left, we got the camper all loaded up, clothes, toiletries, refrigerator, freezer, and cupboards. We were talking over dinner and Gary mentioned he was a little nervous about the trip. NO!! Don’t tell me that! Because now, I’m nervous too Well, it was all for nothing. Shortly after we were on the road, he was feeling pretty good, and getting used to pulling 37 extra feet behind him. We had only bought the truck about 6 weeks before and it was a good move on our part. Some nice bells and whistles that made towing a bit easier!

 

[mpaulam]

Day 5 Continued...
We made our way to Liberty Square and visited the Hall of Presidents.

Then it was a short stroll to check in for our dinner at The Diamond Horseshoe. We had never eaten here before, but noticed on our trip last year that LTT was also seating at the Horseshoe, with the same menu available. LTT is a favorite for all of us, so I decided to try for that meal at the Diamond Horseshoe for something a little different. For some reason the hostess seemed unsure of where she should be seating us. She took us to a table, then said to wait. Then she moved us toward another table…and told us to wait. In the meantime, a group of 3 (we are a group of 6) swooped in, with no hostess and took the table we were standing by. We were just kind of looking at each other wondering what was up. The hostess then came back and told us to sit at the first table she showed us. Oh well, our server, Thea showed up soon to take our drink order. Drinks in hand, she was back shortly to take our food order. We all had All-You-Care-to-Enjoy Frontier Feast (Roasted Turkey, Pennsylvania Pot Roast, and Oven-roasted Pork with Mashed Potatoes, Seasonal Vegetables, Herbed Stuffing, and House-made Macaroni & Cheese with Oooey Gooey Toffee Cake for dessert)

Everyone enjoyed the meal. The food was hot and tasty, unfortunately, Thea wasn’t the best server. The Diamond Horseshoe setting was fine, but a tad noisy even though it wasn’t all that crowded. I think only about half the tables were occupied. We would be ok with going back here again. A bit pricey, but we enjoy the food.

The next thing that I’m sure we did was Pirates,

but that was about an hour after we left dinner, so I’m not sure if we did another attraction in between or not. After Pirates, we went to see the show at the Tiki Room.

Again, I have nothing until we waited on Main Street, USA with a few thousand of our closest friends for Enchantment.

After that, we headed with the masses toward the exit and took the boat back to the Fort, picked up the golf cart and headed back to the camper.

 

[mpaulam]

Winter Warmth Day 6:Saturday February 5, 2022

We are visiting Hollywood Studios today. We arrived a few minutes before the end of Early Entry (or what ever they were calling it that week). We headed down Hollywood Boulevard and got in line for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway.

It was the first time on this attraction for all of us. We were pretty happy with the 30 minute wait. Everyone thought it was a great ride!

Next, we headed over to Toy Story Land and took a ride on Toy Story Mania.

We were hoping to get on Slinky, but the line was well over an hour. I should mention at this time, I think we had Genie+ for today. (I have no proof…I wish the app had a feature that allowed people to go back and see what they used Genie+ for. It would help a lot!) This was our first day, and it definitely took me some time to get the hang of it. I really wanted to get Slinky Dog, but it evaded me all day. No big deal, as the only other one that would have ridden with Gary and I would have been my dad. Dad and I would have also loved a ride on TOT. I couldn’t get us Genie+ and the ride was well over an hour all day!

After there, we headed over for some Muppet Vison.

If memory serves me correctly, our next Genie+ was for Rock N Roller Coaster, but not until 1:15 or so. We decided to head over to see Indiana Jones. On our way to the theater, a cavalcade came through.

(Too many pics for this post...to be continued)

 

[mpaulam]

Continued from previous post...
We continued over to see Indy.

Stopped on the way to RNRC for a small snack of some popcorn (bought the refillable bucket) and soda.

Mom and Uncle sat didn’t join us for the concert. The 4 of us enjoyed our ride! From there, we headed over to Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage.

I may have sang along .

At this point we decided to take the boat to Beach Club for our late lunch/early dinner ADR. We got off the boat and headed to Hurricane Hanna’s for some beverages that we drank on the walk to Beaches and Cream! We LOVE Beaches and Cream and I was happy to get this ADR. Our time was 3:50 and I think we were seated a few minutes before 4.

Gary and I shared a reuben with fries and onion rings. Then, we shared the Mudslide! Yum!

I know we left there around 5 and I’m not sure where we went then. What I do know is that Gary and I arrived back at the camper around 7 and found that our travel agent had visited and left a few decorations.

She happened to be at WDW at the same time. We weren’t able to get our schedules worked out to meet up, but she came to the Fort and also visited my parent’s and aunt and uncle’s rooms and did the same for them.

Relax a bit and off to bed to rest up for a full day of Magic Kingdom fun tomorrow!

 

[mpaulam]

Winter Warmth Day 7:Sunday February 6, 2022

I was up around 6:45 to get Genie+ for the group. We met inside the MK shortly after opening. (We didn’t rope drop any park this trip. In exchange for a 2-week trip, I happily agreed to starting at a “normal” time each day ). While we waited for The Elders, Gary and I found a PPP

and said hello to some friends.

They soon arrived and we headed to our first ride of the day, Buzz Lightyear SpaceRanger Spin.

We then visited one of my favorites, Carousel of Progress. Thought I was being clever with this shot.

Another attraction in which I always sing along

Next up, another one that we always do, sometimes grudgingly…but I DON’T sing along!

We took a slow stroll over to Frontierland. On the way, we ran into a cavalcade.

Continued in next post.

 

[mpaulam]

Day 7 Continued...
I talked the group into a trip to see the Country Bear Jamboree. It was a nice rest, and we enjoyed the show.

Next on the list was Haunted Mansion. (I know we rode this earlier in the week and waited a LONG time. This time we had Genie+ and the line moved quickly.)

We made our way over towards Fantasyland to Mickey’s Philharmagic. Pretty sure I picked this up on Genie+ and it was available right away. It seems we walked right in and had to wait about 5 minutes for the magic doors to open. I love the posters in this queue.

Now it was time to head out of the park for a bit. On the way, we saw yet another cavalcade. Tink this time.

Boarded the resort monorail and headed to ‘Ohana for supper.

Our ADR was for 5:45, but I can’t find any receipts for today, so not sure if we got in on time or not. I do know that we ordered drinks and the food started coming out a short time later. I got the Lapu Lapu…that thing was yummy, but strong! We were all happy with our dinner. The food was great as well as the service.

Back to the Magic Kingdom. I know we did HM again and some shopping. We finished the night with Pirates and Jungle Cruise. Then we parted ways and headed out of the park. The Elders were leaving the next morning to head back to PA.

 

[mpaulam]

Winter Warmth Day 8: Monday February 7, 2022

No parks today! The Elders are on their way back to PA, so it’s just Gary and I for the next week! I love my family, but I was looking forward to the fact that it would just be the two of us for the remainder of the Disney portion of our trip.

I actually cooked us breakfast this morning. We ate outside in the warm sunshine! We took a golf cart ride around the Fort and did some shopping at the Trading Post. Around 1:00, we took the bus to Disney Springs. We shopped around and made a few purchases.

I had made us an ADR for Homecomin’ for 4:00. We were really looking forward to giving this place a try. The only receipt I can find for today is from the Trading Post. (It might be better that I can’t look over the receipts to see what we spent today ) I know we both got the refillable bottles with moonshine drinks in them. They were fantastic. I also know that I had the chicken and donut offering, and loved it. For some reason, I have in my mind that Gary had a chicken-fried steak, but I cannot be sure. I have never known him to order this before, so I could be wrong. Whatever he had, I know he gave it a big thumbs up.
The only other picture I have from today is of this wall. I love this wall and now I am wondering why we didn't take pictures with us at the wall...

 

[fractal]

Our last trip was the first trip we didn't ride ToT. Even when we hit the park right after the open, the wait was over an hour and there was no Genie+ availability. I don't know if one of the drops is not working or if Genie+ is
messing things up but I was frustrated.

That is a cool wall!

 

[mpaulam]

Our last trip was the first trip we didn't ride ToT. Even when we hit the park right after the open, the wait was over an hour and there was no Genie+ availability. I don't know if one of the drops is not working or if Genie+ is
messing things up but I was frustrated.

That is a cool wall!

I didn't realize while we were there (and didn't hear/read anything) that perhaps they were only operating 1 side. I figured it had something to do with Genie+
I think if I had an exposed brick wall in my house, I might be tempted to paint a miniature version of that sign

 

[mpaulam]

Sorry for all the posts, but I'm trying to get done before we leave for Myrtle Beach
Winter Warmth Day 9: Tuesday February8, 2022
Another trip to Hollywood today!

We got there shortly after rope drop and headed to Minnie and Mickey’s Runaway Railway. We both really enjoyed this attraction earlier in the week and although the standby line was around and hour, we decided to wait. (We did not pay for Genie+ today) We both agreed that we really like this one!

Next we headed over to One Man’s Dream and took our time looking around.

Of course, I love this display and enjoy looking at all the memorabilia, etc. I was surprised that Gary took his time and seemed to enjoy himself just as much. We even stayed for the movie. (Treasure Island is one of my favorite movies )

Then we made our way into Toy Story Land. We battled it out on TSM. As usual, I had high score

We walked around and through Galaxy’s Edge. Very impressive. Due to the fact that Gary isn’t a Star Wars fan, but mostly because I am claustrophobic and not sure how I would do on some of the rides here, we passed on them.

We decided to go visit Olaf since our grandson is a fan

(And he does love looking at this picture.)As I look at this picture, I see Gary has his rain coat on and remember that it rained most of the day. Not heavy, but just enough that you had to keep your rain coat on. I also wore a poncho most of the day. On a whim, I suggested the Frozen Sing Along. Gary was game and we were able to walk right in and grab a seat. It was great! We were both pleasantly surprised.

We thought we would check out Baseline Tap House for some refreshment, thanks to reading the trip reports of @riverside

Just some drinks, as we have an ADR for Sci-Fi soon. When we were finished with those, we headed around the corner and checked in for dinner. We got the front seat of the car and were by ourselves for the better part of our dinner. Shortly before we finished and ordered dessert, some hitchhikers joined us. Yes, it’s not cheap and food is nothing special, but we enjoy eating here and will continue to. Kim was our server, and she was excellent.

I think we took a slow stroll down Hollywood Boulevard and did some shopping on our way out.

I know we rode both Alien Swirling Saucers and and Slinky Dog Dash, but I can’t figure out when…

 

[mpaulam]

Winter Warmth Day 10: Wednesday February 9. 2022
I was up and purchased Genie+ for us today. First up was HS and a ride on Slinky Dog Dash. We specifically came here today to ride this.

We really enjoy this ride! I love all the theming! So clever...but I guess I can say that about almost any queue

A short time later, we came across a cavalcade.

Whispering Canyon Café was calling our name, so we boarded a bus for the Wilderness Lodge. Our ADR was 11:45. We must have been seated a bit early as this picture was taken at 11:47 and Gary already has his refill

We had the breakfast platters. YUM! Not too much in the way of shenanigans going on, but our server, James, was very friendly and liked to joke around. We enjoyed the service and the food and will definitely be back! On the way out, we stopped by the Mercantile and Gary picked up a bottle of the H20 shampoo he likes. We hopped on the boat to get back to the Fort to drop off a few packages.

Continued...

 

[mpaulam]

...Continued from previous post.
Dropped off our packages and headed for the Magic Kingdom. Here are a few pictures of the WL and Contemporary on our way over.

I have to say how much I love taking the boats for transportation!
On a side note...I have heard the story of how the Wilderness Lodge "looks like a bear face" many times, but never got it...today I did! Can you see it?

Our first stop was Peter Pan followed by Winnie The Pooh.

Pretty sure we headed over to Tomorrowland next and took a ride with Buzz. The it was on to the People Mover.

When we were riding, we could see how the crowds had picked up ☹

Then it was time to cross the park and enjoy a ride on the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness! We love BTMRR! (especially with Genie+ on a crowded day). We had a great ride as usual and then we strolled around for a bit. We did ride HM again at some point while waiting for our Genie+ time for Pirates.

We wants the redhead!

We were headed back to the Fort on the boat around 7:00. This was our view as we left.

 

[mpaulam]

Winter Warmth Day 11: Thursday, February 10, 2022

Another Genie+ day. We were happy to get as many days as we did without feeling like we wanted to give in and purchase it. But the crowds had definitely increased, and we decided that we were ok with paying to get more rides.

I believe we arrived at the tail end of opening and headed to ride Peter Pan. Then we headed towards Liberty Square and took a ride on the Riverboat.

While we were on the boat, we started chatting with a nice couple next to us. He noticed my jacket and the local (home) University logo. Long story short, they are from our area and he used to do radio broadcasts of our high school football games. After our cruise, we headed over towards the hub.

We continued on through as we had an ADR for The Plaza. We were seated around 11:10 and ordered a Monte Cristo and a club sandwich. We both enjoyed our lunch and were out of there by 11:50! Then it was on to another favorite, Seven Dwarves Mine Train. I know it’s short, but we really like this one!

We headed out of the park then. I’ve got about a three-hour gap in pictures/receipts here, so I’m not sure exactly what we did. Since our pictures tell me we were on a boat, and the next pictures show Epcot, I assume we took the boat back to the Fort and then went to Epcot later.

I tried and tried to get this picture with the monorail in it, to no avail...

We were in Epcot by 4:00. Not sure if we did anything in Future World (yes, that’s what I’ll probably always call it) but we were cruising Mexico saying hello to the 3 Cabelleros by 4:30.

We then meandered through some countries and stopped for a few beers in Germany. I really wanted to try Regal Eagle Smokehouse. It wasn’t too crowded, so we mobile ordered and found a table. It didn’t take long before our meals were ready. We thought it was pretty good.

After dinner it was time for another ride with our favorite Rat.

We both really enjoyed this ride too! Then we headed over the bridge and headed towards the front of the park, stopping here and there for a drink or to do some shopping. Then it was to the bus stop to catch the bus back to the Fort.

 

[mpaulam]

Winter Warmth Day 12: Friday, February 11, 2022

I know we originally planned on starting the day at Epcot and had an ADR for Garden Grille at 12:55. At some point (not sure when or why) we changed the ADR to 3:30-3:45ish and headed to Magic Kingdom. We were on the boat around 8:40.

Nice view of the Grand Floridian from the water.

We were on Mine Train a few minutes before 10. Yes, it’s short, but we really like it. This is the only spot I ever take a picture on this ride and it’s never good…but I still do it.

I cannot believe that we came over just to ride SDMT, but I’m not sure what else we did. Splash Mountain was supposed to open today after a rehab, I’m kind of thinking we came over to see if we could get a ride in. The prior days when we were here, there was still scaffolding up and it didn’t look like it was ready to open. My memory is really failing me here, but I’m going to say that it did not open today as scheduled. I do have a vague memory of looking on Genie+ to get a time and it wasn’t showing as open.

Receipts show that we shopped at the Emporium and Main St Cinema and we were heading out of the park by noon.

I finally got a picture with the monorail, train station and castle!

Since I’ve got pictures from the ferry again, we must have headed back to the Fort for a bit.

We were at Epcot saying hi to Pluto around 3:00.

We headed to the Land and took a ride on Living with the Land before checking in for our ADR at Garden Grille. While I think this meal is a bit pricey, it was very good and we did enjoy the interactions we had with the characters.

We left there a little over an hour later and strolled over to take a spin through Spaceship Earth.

Then we headed over to World Showcase. Again, my memory is sketchy here and I only have a few pictures to “remind” me of what we may have done. I know we were in France a little before 6 but I don’t think we rode Remy. Then we were on the Skyliner around 7:00 Why? I don’t know. I’m thinking we decided to ride to HS and then get a bus to the Fort. A nice alternative to walking to the front of Epcot and then all the way to the bus stop.

This is the view of Spaceship Earth from the Skyliner.

Tomorrow is our last park day. I hadn’t planned anything for this day, as it was our last day at the campground, and we needed to return the golfcart. However, we did have another day of park tickets to use, and we had already got some things packed up, so it wasn’t like we would need the whole day to get ready to leave on Sunday morning. We decided that we would return the cart and then finish packing up and then decide where we would go for the evening.

 

[mpaulam]

Winter Warmth Day 13: Saturday, February 12, 2022

Our last day ☹

As I mentioned earlier, we had to return the golf cart this morning. I think we had to meet them around 11:00. If I remember correctly, it took us just about 2 hours. In that time, we drove to the meeting spot, hooked their trailer up to our truck, returned to the Fort and loaded up the golf cart (it was actually a different cart than we had used. The night prior, we heard from the rental people that other renters at the Fort were having an issue with their cart, so he brought his to our site that morning, we swapped them and took the one that wasn’t running well back), drove it to the meeting spot, unloaded the trailer, then we drove back to the Fort sans golf cart . It wouldn’t have taken that long had we not decided we were smarter than the GPS and had a bit of an issue finding our way . All in all, we agreed the savings was worth it and we would definitely rent from them again!

We got ready and headed over to Magic Kingdom. I had purchased Genie+ today and we had a date with Splash! (And I just found a picture with us riding yesterday…so they did reopen yesterday! And we did ride it yesterday, so just pretend I didn’t try to prove in yesterday’s installment that it didn’t open when they said it was going to .

So, I took this at 1:55

And this one at 2:09.

Not sure what we did in between Splash and Tiki at 4:00

Had some Mickey Bars for a snack after listening to the birdies sing.

We sat and people watched a bit while we waited to head to Pirates.

Then it was over to Big Thunder Mountain.

After that, I think we mobile ordered from Pinocchio’s. We each got a flatbread and were pleasantly surprised at how good they were! A short break and we headed over for another ride on SDMT.

I love this shot I got of Beast’s (?) castle!

Got a different view of the fireworks from behind the Castle and headed over to Peter Pan for our last ride of the trip.

After that, we took our time and headed out of the park. We took the ferry back to the Fort. While we were waiting to leave the dock, we took note of the crowds!

It didn’t seem that crowded when we were in the park.

When we got back to the Fort, we visited Crockett’s Tavern and had a few drinks and got a strawberry shortcake to take back to the camper. It was SO good!

Sunday morning we got up, finish packing up the camper, unhooked and headed out! We were headed over to Daytona. The Daytona 500 was the next Sunday and we would be there for 12 days.

I will be back later with some final thoughts and some more pictures that I just found and should have included along the way.

 

[mpaulam]

Here is an onslaught of pictures that I don't "think" I added anywhere in the report. Probably more for my enjoyment than yours, but here they are. (Will take a few posts.)

We clearly don't know where the camera is...

We are in the 2nd and 3rd rows. Looks like my dad is looking at the camera...

I don't tell Gary the secret spots to hit to get lots of points

We really like this ride!!

Last row for one of our last rides! This ride has always been a huge favorite of mine and I will really miss it.

I think some of these magic shots are cute.

I'd love to see that blue sky now

LOVE this picture. My mom would kill me if she knew I posted it!

 

[mpaulam]

If asked, Gary would certainly say this is his favorite ride!

The PPP took a bunch here...they were pretty much all awful

Last row here...it's been a while since we've been on this one.

The look on all of our faces!! I am not crying...I laugh hysterically (and scream) the whole ride! That is my 81-year-old father behind Gary

A funny one.

We stood in line one day almost an hour for this and I think we paid for it another day. We love it!

 

[mpaulam]

FINAL THOUGHTS/ A FEW THINGS I FORGOT...
One of my snack goals was to try the Waffle with Nutella and Fruit from Sleepy Hollow. It was fantastic. I have recreated it at home and it wasn't too shabby

Pecos Bill used to be my favorite QS in MK, but sadly, no more. While the food we had was ok, I prefer the menu of 15-20 years ago
They had some great salads and a wrap that was soooo good.

Line Cutting...My pet peeve (one of them). While this has never happened to us, If an occasion would ever arise that one of us would get in line and one wouldn't, one of us would stand to the side and let others pass until the 'lagger' caught up. I couldn't believe how many people (not 1 person, but 4 or 5) would come up asking to get through to meet up with their party. And this happened numerous times. I know sometimes things happen (bathroom, etc) but come on. This really was our only complaint for the trip. Please have all of your party together before you enter the line. In the grand scheme of things, it's no big deal, but it still irks me

Any and all cast members that we came in contact with seemed genuinely happy to be there. There were a few wait staff that weren't going to win employee of the month, but overall, I'd say most were trying to give the guests a happy experience.

As far as cleanliness, we saw a few garbage cans getting full here and there, but nothing out of line. I can't say I saw any messes in any of the bathrooms, either.

That's a wrap! I'm excited to say that we've just decided to plan another trip for next Jan/Feb. This time we're looking at 3 weeks at Fort Wilderness with 2 weeks in the parks. Then heading over to the Daytona 500. Just like this trip, but adding another week at the Fort so we have more time to enjoy it. I think I'll probably make reservations some time this week!

Thanks for reading.

 

[Tuvalu]

Your dad totally nailed the Pirates picture!

Line cutting by multiple members of a party has always been a pet peeve of mine too.

Your long trip next Jan/Feb sounds amazing!

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Thank you for such a fun trip report! One ? - how big are the camper spots? Are you right up against your neighbors or do you have a little room?

You’ll have a great winter escape next year! Thanks again.

 

[mpaulam]

how big are the camper spots? Are you right up against your neighbors or do you have a little room?

I can only speak for the spots in the loop we were in, but they were a decent size. Our loop was nicely spaced out. There were some trees and brush grown up in between the spots so we didn't feel like we were on top of any other campers.