"I Hope You Have the Time of Your Life" Trip Report About This Page:

[mcc0313]

I love the look of Ft. Wilderness....glad you enjoyed your cabin so much. The girls look like they are ready for adventure....

Can't wait to read more...

[travismom]

My family and I the FW Cabins. This was the resort we stayed at on our first trip as a family. Your description was right on the mark on the cabins. Have you heard the peacocks yet? They aren't shy about approaching people, either.

Can't wait for more...

[DyanKJ130]

Great start!! Sounds like you got a nice spot at FW! Can't wait to hear more

[bsblady01]

more please

[tinker_me_happy]

Cute pics! Can't wait for the next installment.

[Colexis Mom]

Great pictures!!

[lindawdw]

Glad to hear that you were enjoying Ft. Wilderness. The buffet dinner sounded especially yummy!!! Glad you liked your cabin so much. I hope someone wasn't sick for too long!!!

[nconover]

The drive down didn't sound that bad, it actually sounded fun. Maybe NEXT TIME. lol.

[Northwoods4]

Dates: 04/20/08 through 04/26/08
Accommodations: Fort Wilderness Cabin
Cast of Characters: Renee (trip reporter), Chad (DH), Sam (DD1), Katie (DD2), Linda (DM, and Barry (DSD)
Experience: 2 regular visitors, 2 occasional visitors, and 2 newbies.

Trip Report Day 3 – Sea World

Our first official day of vacationing! Hurray!! We decided to make the controversial move and go to Sea World first. We thought it would be a good way to introduce the girls to a theme park, and all the walking that is involved.

I woke up around 6:00 am and everyone else was still sleeping. I decided to tip-toe out onto the deck and enjoy the early morning for awhile and work on my trip notes. Now mind you, it’s a little cool this morning, maybe 61 degrees and the sun is just starting to come up. I throw caution to the wind, and step out the door of our bedroom so I don’t have to go through the kitchen and wake up DM and DSD. (They slept on the Murphy bed). I decided to go out in my pj’s since they were capris and a t-shirt, and didn’t really look like pj’s.

What do you think I did next? That’s right, I pushed that door all the way closed. For those of you who have stayed at FTW, you know that the door to the bedroom does not have a key card slot. Anyways, I didn’t bring out my key card. So, there I am, in the chilly pre-dawn, locked out of my cabin and standing in my pj’s. Oh Bother! as Pooh would say. I didn’t want to wake anyone so I went ahead and sat at the picnic table and enjoyed the birds singing, and worked on my trip notes. I watched the little “garbage truck trams” start their rounds. It was interesting. They have a golf cart pulling these 2 white covered trailers. Under the white plastic are empty trash cans. They would pull up to a trash can, pull out a new one from the tram and slide the “used” one onto the tram, and off they would go. Very smart!

Anyway, after about half an hour, I was absolutely freezing and couldn’t hold out any longer. I went to the bedroom door and tried to “gently” tap on it. Now mind you, DH and the girls are pretty hard sleepers, so I didn’t have much hope they would answer. After my 4th little knock, I hear the OTHER door opening and my mom’s shaky voice saying “WHO’S THERE??” Right after that, DH opens the bedroom door. He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind, and at the same time, DM sees that it’s me. After several awkward seconds of everyone staring at me, I explain myself. It gave everyone a laugh, that’s for sure, and I never left that cabin without a card again!!

Everyone else was up and we got ready for our day at Sea World. We opted not to pack a lunch, but we did pack snacks and some water. We ate breakfast at the cabin (cereal, bananas and juice we brought from home). I decided to go ahead and wear my Crocs and so did the girls. I had heard such rave reviews about wearing them to the parks. Still, I was a little skeptical how they would hold up all day. We shall see! We all piled into DM’s van and headed out at about 8:40am.

We made it to the parking gate by about 9:05 am. We paid our parking fee, and were directed to parking lot B1-5. This is pretty close and there weren’t too many cars there yet. We headed through the turnstiles with only a small crown ahead of us. We’re officially in a park!! (Although not Disney)

We picked up a few maps and started to plan our route. I haven’t been here in about 13 years, so I didn’t remember the location of anything. We decided to follow the masses and “go left.” The first exhibit we came to was the sea turtles. We love turtles, so we spent a few minutes here listening to the information provided.

Next, we went to the Sting-rays, which the girls decided they would like to feed. We picked up a tray of little fish and the girls set to feeding them. This is very interesting to watch. The mouths on the rays don’t look anything like you would expect. You have to get your hand down to the bottom and hold the fish upright so they can grab it as they pass over. Both girls weren’t squeamish at all and pretty soon had used up all the fish. You have to be careful of the birds ( I believe they are a type of egret). They will come right up and snatch a fish you drop or even out of your tray. They were very bold! The feel of the sting-ray’s skin is very interesting. It is soft and smooth; almost velvety.

Next up was dolphin cove, where about 150 people were already lined up to pay to feed the dolphins. Where did they come from?? We opted not to, and just went onto the observation deck. We loved watching the dolphins swim and jump. I love their faces. They always have a smile! You could tell that they knew feeding time was coming, as they were getting very excited and hovering around the wall. We went down to the under-water viewing area and snapped a few good photos. How I wish I could swim the way they do. They are so graceful!

I am a little fuzzy on the succession of the next few things we did. I know what we did, I just can’t remember the exact order, because I was upset with myself for what happened next. The next stop was the Atlantis ride. Think Splash Mountain; only much higher and steeper. We watched a few boats come down and everyone except my mom and I decided they wanted to ride it, including DD2 (6 years old). Here’s where my mom of the year nomination goes flying out the window. Hindsight being 20/20, I shouldn’t have let her ride.

My mom and I staked a spot at the end of the ride to take pics, and everyone else got in line. The wait said 20 minutes. Almost right on queue at 20 minutes, their boat came down the hill. DD1 and DSD were in the front and DH and DD2 were in the second seat. Well, at least I assumed that’s where she was. I really couldn’t see her. She was practically hiding behind her dad. The look on DD1’s face was sheer terror and I could tell she was close to tears. My mom and I looked at each other and made a mad dash for the place to meet them (the gift shop).

About 5 minutes later they emerged, but in between, we got to look at their ride photo. DH even looks scared and I can tell DD2 was scared out of her wits. I felt so bad for sending my baby on this ride! DD1 said it was fun but she DID NOT want to do it again. DD2 said she didn’t like it, but didn’t really make a fuss (at that point.) This ride will haunt us for the rest of the trip. My mom bought 2 of the ride photos and we checked out the gift shop for awhile. It has an area where you are walking on top of an aquarium. It actually made you feel a little dizzy if you looked down while you were walking on it. At least it did for me.

After this, we moved on to see the manatees and the alligators. There were a lot of gators, but they were all pretty small. The manatees were absolutely huge, and I got several pictures of them floating lazily in the water.

Next we went into the Penguin encounter which was a nice little break from the sun which had gotten very warm, very quickly. DD2 really liked the “people mover” as we call them (basically a flat escalator) that took you in front of the viewing window.

We then visited the Budweiser Clydesdales in their barn. They are so big, yet so graceful and beautiful. The girls posed with the horse they had out for a photo op. The horse’s name was Kelly. We thought it was cool that the horse was a girl . I went ahead and spent $18.09 for 2 of the 5x7 prints. After our pictures, DM and DSD wanted to swing by to get the free glass of Budweiser.

Since we were on that side of the park, we decided to head to the 1:00 pm Believe show. It was about 12:15, but there were plenty of people heading into the show. The girls had already decided they wanted to sit in the Splash Zone, so DH and I and the girls headed down and had seats in the 2nd row. (Yikes!) Of course I forgot to bring the ponchos. DM and DSD opted to sit about 7 rows back (Smart move!).

Everything was fine for the first 10 minutes or so, but then the group of orcas started circling the pool right by the glass. We knew what was coming, but the girls didn’t. I decided to snap a few photos since the orcas were so close to us. Well......let’s just say I have very bad timing. As one of the orcas passed directly in front of us, I aimed my camera for a great photo. I got the photo, but a nano-second later, I took a tail full of 51 degree water directly to the face and lap. I was absolutely drenched and dripping! The girls got splashed too, but no where near as much as I did. DH miraculously was dry as a bone.

The girls decided that they didn’t want to sit THAT close and we moved up with DM and DSD. DH decided to tough it out and stay in the line of fire. He was soon joined by 3 unsuspecting teens.

As we waited for the show to begin, I tried to revive my camera. It was a no go, and actually wouldn’t work again until Friday (it was only Monday).

The show began exactly at 1:00pm. The girls both really enjoyed it, and dd2 was absolutely mesmerized. She was literally on the edge of her seat the whole time. It is amazing what the orcas and their trainers can do together. I was in awe over how deep down the trainers dive into the water before being shot out on the tip of the whale’s nose. I was glad I had my sunglasses on, because they hid my very misty eyes. My girls and I are HUGE animal lovers, so I was so grateful to get to see the orcas. I will be honest in saying that part of me loves the show, but part of me feels bad that we are using the animals for entertainment. I always feel bad in that way when I visit a zoo, aquarium, etc. At least with this show, I can tell that the orcas are well cared for, and are truly loved by their trainers.

Shamu came out towards the end of the show. I thought the first group of orcas were huge: he is an absolute Goliath! I did feel bad to see that Shamu’s dorsal fin is completely flopped over. (A sign of being in captivity). The girls even asked why it was like that. Still, he is such a beautiful animal.

The show ended, and we joined the exiting masses. DD2 insisted on buying a necklace that the vendors were selling (a wooden fluke on a leather string). So, she made her first purchase of the trip. It was only $5.00 and she wore it proudly the rest of the day and the next few days.

By now it is 1:45 and we are all starving. All the snacks I had packed for the day were used up. We headed over to the Seafire Inn for lunch and to get in some cool air for awhile. The weather was very sunny and warm, right around 85 degrees. A big change from the long cold WI winter we had come from!

Seafire Inn is a large counter service restaurant. It has an open fire roasting meats right behind the counter. We headed into the line and made our selections (It’s cafeteria style) and found a nice quiet table. The main room was full, but there was another large room with a stage in it that was almost empty.

For the 4 of us, we spent a total of $42.57 and here is what we had: DH – BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich with fries, Me-Steak burger with fries, and the girls each had the chicken tenders kids meal. It comes in a souvenier plastic container (it looks like a lunch box) and you also get a souvenier cup. I got an order of Strawberries with chocolate dipping sauce for us to share for a dessert, a bottled water for me and a soda for DH. DM and DSD both also got the BBQ pulled pork and they all raved about it. My burger was also very good. The strawberries with the chocolate were a yummy treat as well.

We took our time eating and were there for about 45 minutes. A couple guys came out on stage right before we left to play piano and sing songs that the audience requested. We decided to head out after a rousing rendition of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”.

After lunch, we headed to the Clyde and Seymore show. It was cute but VERY cheesy. The best part of the whole show was the mime that was performing as people were getting seated. We could not believe how many people fell for his act as they came walking into the stadium. He had the whole crowd roaring and got a huge round of applause when he left.

We decided to head over to the Polar Expedition and we took the walking route. Since we had just eaten, I didn’t think it was a good time to go on a simulation ride. We enjoyed walking through and looking at the Beluga Whales, and the Walrus.

Next we visited Shamu’s Happy Harbour to see what it had to offer. It was pretty much deserted. The ride that looked like a big crab was down for maintenance, so the girls, DH and my mom decided to try out the Shamu coaster. It only went around 1 time so we figured it would be tame enough. They all said it was surprisingly fast around the curves. Everyone enjoyed it, and it gave DSD a chance to run back over to the Anheuser building for another free beer.

We began to stroll towards the entrance and the gift shops (the girls each had $20 gift cards burning holes in their pocket.), We did make a small detour and stopped at an ice cream / frozen lemonade stand. DH, DM, Sam and I all had the frozen lemonade. Katie had a Shamu shaped ice cream bar. I can honestly say that this frozen lemonade was the best I’ve ever had, and it was the most refreshing treat I had for my whole trip. MMmmm MMMM!

On our way to the gift shop, we stopped at the Dolphin Nursery. Ok, everybody say it together….Awwwwwwwwww!!! The baby dolphins with their mothers was one of the most adorable things I have ever seen! It was amazing how they swam exactly in sync with their mom…surfacing for air at exactly the same time. It was a great “last thing” to see. The girls went to the gift shop to pick out their wares. Katie picked a mom and baby Shamu swimming together and 2 die cut post cards. Sam chose a stuffed white seal, a key chain, and 2 postcards.

With that, we said good-bye to Sea World and headed for the car. Why does it seem so far away now?

We got back to our little home away from home and the girls announced that they wanted to swim. So, they got into their suits and we walked down to the pool by our cabin. We let them swim for about an hour, and then headed back to the cabin to get something to eat. We all just kind of picked at the left-overs from our trip down. No one was really too hungry for some reason.

Around 9:00, we loaded up the golf cart and drove down to the beach to watch the Electric Water Pageant. We really enjoyed this. At 10:00, Wishes started at the Magic Kingdom, and we were able to see quite a bit of it. Only some of the lower fireworks were hidden by the trees. It was kind of odd because the sound of the fireworks seemed to come such a long time after you saw them.

After the fireworks, we all headed back to the cabin to go to bed. This would be the first night we spotted “Toady”, our cabin mascot. He was a toad (of course) and he was sitting just under the edge of the cabin, by the driveway light. He would be here every night for the rest of our trip.

We all went to bed and Sam fell asleep sitting up in her bunk, trying to watch TV. Everything was fine until about 12:30am, when I awoke to the distinct sounds of someone “getting sick”. It was Katie and she was on the top bunk and couldn’t get down in time, poor baby. I rushed her into the bathroom and had her stay in there so I could get things “cleaned up”. I won’t go into anymore details than that. I was awake for a few hours worrying what to do if she was going to be sick and had to stay at the cabin the next day. She didn’t get sick anymore that night, but we weren’t out of the woods yet.

Up Next .Day 4 - Magic Kingdom: Fast passes, Journey to Atlantis rears its ugly head, and Oh No!!! Somebody’s sick! (Notice a trend here?)

[nconover]

Oh no more getting sick? I hope that didn't last long.

[Colexis Mom]

Sorry you got locked out of the cabin Glad you had a great day at Sea World!! Poor Katie It's no fun to be sick

[B.M.]

Sorry Katie got sick, hope it doesn't last long.............Can't wait to hear more and see who gets sick next.

[PrincessSharon]

Great so far. Sorry you got locked out of the cabin. Sea World sounds like fun. I must get there some time. And poor Katie. I hope she gets better soon.

[CountryTink]

Great TR so far. Sorry Katie got sick, but it sounds like you had a great day at Sea World. Can't wait to hear more.

[mcc0313]

Sounds like a wonderful day at Sea World (except Atlantis) but you still get a mom of the year award...sometimes we have to just sit back, bite our tongue and let them try

Glad you enjoyed the Water Pagent and the Fireworks...

Hope your daughter is feeling better in the morning...but noe that you mention someone else sick???

Hopefully this passes soon...