Our trip to the Wilderness Lodge August 11th - 18th, 2004 - Day 8, (Completed 9-8-04) About This Page:

[luvnwdwgal]

Sounds like you had a nice relaxing morning out at the pool. Too bad Pam and Mark didn't get to see their bands perform! Sounds like you all had a very nice dinner at the CG too! Looking forward to more!!

[sarah_belle]

Wow! You all did a lot on Sunday! I'm sorry your kids didn't get to see their bands, but it seems like your trip is really picking up.

[Diz]

Fell behind again...just caught up with your TR.

You have done two things I never have: La Nouba and California Grille. CG sounds so magical. I really would like to try it. DD has been to La Nouba many times. As a CM she is able to get cast discounts. I hope to see it when we are in WDW in October.

Good thing you don't let ruin your days! It seems like each of you went with the flow and didn't give in to what easily could have been bad feelings. Your trip is magical because all of you made it that way!

Can't wait to hear more.

[wdw4me]

Just getting caught up with your report. I'm glad you were safe throughout Charley, but that must have been scary.
Your meal at CG sounds wonderful, I'll have to put it on my list of things I want to try.
Looking forward to your next installment!

[Colexis Mom]

Sounds like another great day (except for Off Kilter and the British Invasion not playing )! Dinner sounded fantastic as well

Can't wait to hear all about your shopping trip

[IdahoDisneyMom]

I'm really enjoying reading your report! It's nice to read about a family with teenagers that get along so well!! I hope that scary night and the cancellation of the bands were your only bummer points on the trip. It sounds like you really made the best of the situations and that the CMs really worked together to help make everyone's trip magical considering the circumstances. Can't wait to read more!!
Stephanie

[DrDolphin]

Your report is great!! Keep it coming.

[PhillyPooh]

Me, Wanda (41), 7th trip to WDW
DD, Pam (18), 6th trip to WDW
DS, Matt (16), 6th trip to WDW

Trip dates: August 11th - 18th 2004

Resort: Wilderness Lodge Room 6051 (courtyard view)

Day 6 - Monday, August 16, 2004

Today we are going to start our day shopping at Downtown Disney. We slept in until 8am which felt wonderful. We got something to eat from Roaring Forks and headed to the bus stop around 9:15am. This bus finally arrived around 9:40am. We first stopped at the Grand Floridian, where no one got on, then Typhoon Lagoon, then finally Downtown Disney. It took about a half-hour to reach the Marketplace. Since today was the first day since last Thursday that Typhoon Lagoon was open, the parking lot was packed. I really like Typhoon Lagoon and wanted to go there but with Hurricane Charley closing it for three days we never did. Oh well, next time.

It is another beautiful morning and the Marketplace is empty. We walked through most of the stores and did a little shopping. We went over to the candy store/bakery and got some really good cookies. I started chatting with the woman behind the counter and come to find out she lived most of her life in Springfield, Delaware County which is right next door to Media, Delaware County where we live. Small world. Around 11:30am we were getting hungry and decided to go eat lunch at Planet Hollywood so I could use the $25 voucher we had. Pam and I split a cheeseburger, Matt had a club sandwich and we shared some kind of tostado appetizer. It was actually pretty good. Of course before we left we had to make one more trip to the Virgin Megastore. We headed for the bus stop around 12:45pm.

Our only plans for this afternoon were to relax so we put our bathing suits on and headed for the pool. We lounged by the pool until 4pm and then headed back to the room for showers and naps. Around 6:30pm we headed to the dock to take the boat over to Ft. Wilderness for the Hoop de Doo. The sky was very dark and it was thundering but the storm passed over and luckily we didn't get rained on. All the times we've gone to WDW we have never seen the Hoop de Doo. I figured with all the good reviews I've read I wanted to give it a try. We checked in around 6:45pm and had our picture taken. We found some seats and just people watched until they let us inside. Our seats were upstairs on the balcony. There really isn't a bad seat in the house. I didn't order our tickets until two months before we left. My kids absolutely loved the show. Our waitress was Lisa and she was so nice. I know the tip is included but I tipped her $10 anyway. I'm really glad we saw the show and would definitely go back again. It was well worth the money.

After the show Matt headed back to the hotel and Pam and I decided to head over to Pleasure Island. Now trying to find a bus to get out of Ft. Wilderness was an adventure in itself. We finally found out where to go and headed to Pleasure Island. Pam started complaining on the bus ride over that she wasn't feeling to good. We got off the bus and headed to the Adventurers Club. Pam just wasn't into it and I felt bad because she didn't feel good so we left. We got back to the room, watched tv and then went to bed. Tomorrow is our day for the Magic Kingdom and our belated dinner with my favorite bear.

[luvnwdwgal]

Thanks for the update Wanda! Glad you all had such a fun time at Hoop De Doo! Hope Pam is feeling better in the next installment!!

[DrDolphin]

Sounds like you had a fantastic time at Hoo Dee Doo!!! I can't wait to read more.

[sarah_belle]

I'm glad you had a good time at Hoop Dee Doo! We LOVED the show and had an amazing time.

Can't wait to read more!

[wdw4me]

Thanks for the review of the Hoop de Doo - I'd like to try that sometime. Hope Pam felt better when she woke up.
Looking forward to your next chapter!

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update Wanda

Hurry back with more

[PhillyPooh]

Me, Wanda (41), 7th trip to WDW
DD, Pam (18), 6th trip to WDW
DS, Matt (16), 6th trip to WDW

Trip dates: August 11th - 18th 2004

Resort: Wilderness Lodge Room 6051 (courtyard view)

Day 7 - Tuesday, August 17, 2004

Today I was up around 7:30am and the kids got up around 8:30am. We headed to the pool around 9am. We got some breakfast from Roaring Forks and ate that sitting by the pool. It is another gorgeous morning out. We stayed at the pool until around 11am. We got showers and then Pam and I headed for the dock to take the boat over to the Magic Kingdom. Matt was going to meet us at Pirates of The Caribbean at 2:30pm. Our first stop was Space Mountain. It took us 45 minutes to get on this ride. Once again the Magic Kingdom is very crowded with long waits everywhere. We were cutting it close meeting Matt so we called him on his cell phone and told him about the long wait to get on Space Mountain and to stay put and we would be there soon.

As we were heading over to Pirates we passed Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride. I wanted to ride it but Pam gave me the "you've got to be kidding me look". As we walked past, the camel spit all over my head and shirt. Of course Pam couldn't stop laughing at that. We continued to walk over to meet Matt when I saw the Aloha Isle place. I've never tried a Dole Whip so this was the perfect time for that. I sent Pam ahead to find Matt and I ordered a pineapple float and a swirled cone for us to all share. The pineapple float was so yummie. Since it was so crowded I figured we better get a fast pass for something. We got a fast pass for Thunder Railroad and headed for Splash Mountain. The gods were smiling down on us for this one. The posted wait time was 60 minutes. As we were standing under the sign trying to decide weather to go for it or not, the sign changed to 20 minutes. This was a good sign. It actually only took us 10 minutes to get on this ride. After riding Splash we walked over to Pirates and walked right on there. We had about a half hour to kill before our fast pass for Thunder Railroad so we headed over to the Haunted Mansion. When we got there the posted wait time was 45 minutes so we decided to skip it. Pam and I had already done this one. It is just so hot and crowded. By the time we walked back over to Thunder Railroad it was time for our fast pass. This is also one of my favorites.

We next took the train over to Main Street and Matt headed back to the hotel. We had priority seating for the Crystal Palace at 5:30pm. Matt said he was just to hot and really not that hungry so he was going to go back to the hotel to cool off and have a salad for dinner. Pam and I cooled off doing some shopping on Main Street and then headed over to check in early for dinner with my favorite bear. The girl carrying the clipboard with all the reservations on it couldn't find my name. I figured it was because the day I changed our priority seating was the day of the hurricane. I went over to the girl at the computer and she found us. We waited about 15 minutes and they took us to our seats. We had never done this character dinner before and we both loved it. As much as we like Chef Mickeys, we thought the variety and quality of food here was much better. I can remember going to eat at the Crystal Palace when I was little with my parents and it was cafeteria style. We got some really good pictures here.

I felt like we didn't get to spend as much time at the Magic Kingdom on this trip as I would have liked. The crowds were really bad and we lost some time due to Hurricane Charley. There were only two e-nights while we were there. One was the day we arrived and we were to tired to go so we figured we would go to the one Friday night August 13th but that got cancelled because of the hurricane. Oh well, there's always the next time.

After dinner Pam and I headed back to the hotel. Since we are leaving tomorrow I figured I better start packing. This is always the depressing part of the trip. I try not to think about it until the last minute. I made myself an "adult beverage" and Pam and Matt headed over to MGM to see Fantasmic and ride Tower of Terror. I watched the Olympics while I packed. Pam and Matt returned around 9:15pm. They rode Tower of Terror but couldn't get a seat for Fantasmic. They bought some candy and then headed back to the hotel. I called housekeeping earlier today for a late check out and they said we could have the room until 1pm. This will work out good since Quicksilver is picking us up at 2:30pm. Lights out at 11:45pm. Tomorrow - back to reality.

[DrDolphin]

Another great installment!!!