Tag: Disney

Fort Wilderness at Christmas-time

I wasn’t even aware there was this much variety in Santa Mickeys.

On a beautiful Florida winter day, my dad, my daughters, and I went for a day visit to Fort Wilderness.  We weren’t staying at the campground, and we weren’t going to any of the parks, but we do like to take advantage of as many free and cheap things to do on Disney property as possible.  On this day, we had reserved a golf cart to tool around Fort Wilderness, with the specific intention of driving through the campsite loops once darkness fell in order to see the Christmas lights that the campers put out at their site.  I had heard about how the people who stay in RVs and pop ups, and even tent campers put up Christmas lights and displays around their campsites at Christmas and I thought it would be fun to rent the golf cart and check it out.

I had made a reservation for the golf cart months in advance, and if the weather would have been bad, too rainy or too cold, we could have cancelled before 24 hours – but the weather was lovely; partly sunny and 78 degrees.  We picked up our cart around 1pm and drove it the length of Fort Wilderness all the way to the end where the restaurants and boat launches are that people take over the to Magic Kingdom.  Because I am a cheapskate, we had a packed lunch which we ate on a covered porch while we listened to pleasantly rustic instrumental versions of Christmas songs.  The kids ran to the playground while my dad and I lingered on the rocking chairs and enjoyed the music and the weather.

Tri-Circle D Ranch

We walked around and found the Tri-Circle D Ranch where the horses that work on Disney property are housed.  These are the horses that pull the trolleys down Main Street, pull the wagons that tour Fort Wilderness and Port Orleans Riverside, and pull the wedding carriages.  We learned by talking to one of the cast members that the horses go through an intricate training period – where they work in lower populated areas, such as the wagon rides at Fort Wilderness (for the rookies), and graduate up to Main Street.  We walked along the beach, watched the pony rides, checked out the gift shop, and then took the boat shuttle over to the Contemporary Resort where we were able to take the resort loop monorail around to the Polynesian and Grand Floridian hotels to check out their Christmas decorations. 


We returned to Fort Wilderness around dusk, loaded into the golf cart, and sped off at 15 miles an hour, eager to see the decorations.  I was not prepared for the level of enthusiasm shown by the campers.  People had lights dripping off the hoods of their campers, strung up all around the camper roof lines, along paths to their camp sites, Christmas vignettes arranged in the front windshields of their RVs, Mickey lamps with Santa hats, nativity scenes, and more blow-ups than I have ever seen in my life, both Disney and non-Disney themed.  Mr. Potato Head, Olaf, Sully, reindeer stalls with each of Santa’s reindeer in them – each moving.   Star Wars characters, polar bears, and more Santa Mickey’s than you can imagine.  I can’t even begin to list the variety of inflatable décor that we rolled past.  It was truly incredible.  I’m not familiar with the RV world, but from what I gather, there’s quite a feeling of community and that vibe was clear and present here– and what made this collection of Christmas displays all the more Christmas-y. 

The pathway went around the perimeter of the campsite to allow visitors to walk around and see all the lighted displays, and a table of Christmas figurines. The castle was actually a front someone placed around their RV!

This was such a festive and impressive display, that the girls and I repeated the experience on another non-park visit to Florida.  This time it was cooler weather, and as the evening temperatures dropped and the breeze on our little golf cart got a bit chillier, we stopped at the Settlement Trading Post, the gift shop and camping supply store in the middle of the campgrounds, and grabbed a hot chocolate to drink as we tooled around.

While looking at this image, mentally add some slightly twangy instrumental Christmas music and a view of Bay Lake.

 I highly recommend this experience whether or not you are visiting the parks at Christmas-time.  In fact, it might be a great thing to do especially if you’re visiting the parks at Christmas-time.  Walt Disney World at Christmas can make a magical time of year even more magical, but it’s also very crowded and it can be easy to get caught up in the crowds and rush.  Hanging out at Fort Wilderness might just be the peaceful, casual, festive activity that can relax the family, slow the pace, and help everyone enjoy each other and their time together.  I know it is one our family’s favorite Christmas memories!

The Real Disney Dream – Dropping off your Kids

My mom, my two daughters and I went on our first Disney cruise this last June – the first time on a cruise ever for me and my girls – and I have many favorite things about my experience on the Disney Dream.  I will have several entries about my cruise here at some point, but for now, let me tell you about one of those favorite things: Kid’s clubs!

I love my children.  Which includes my youngest daughter.   But let me tell you that one of the highlights about my recent Disney cruise was the fact that I got some time without her.  That sounds awful, and is the kind of sentence that, if she reads it now, would make her sad. So I won’t show this to her.  But her future self is totally going to get it.

When we first boarded the ship, we did what most newbies did, and toured it.  One of the first things we checked out was the kid’s clubs. Here’s the thing; the Disney cruise line has excellent kid’s clubs.  One of them, Edge, is just for ages 11-14 and my social little girl took to it immediately.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, we did plenty of family stuff; meals together, Castaway Cay, shows, hanging out on the deck, the Aquaduck, and the pool, but it was also very nice to be able to hang out in the kid-free zone of the ship and just relax as only adults without little kids present can.  Quietly.

In preparation for our cruise experience, I had YouTubed the Disney Dream and knew that there was a kids club for ages 3-12 called the Oceaneer’s Lab that looked ultra-themed and really cool and it was where I figured my 11-year-old would like to hang out when she wanted to do kid’s stuff.  It has directed activities such as building race cars, making cookies, a science station, and a detective mystery to solve.  There are also movies, navigation simulators, video games, an animation studio, a craft studio, and all kinds of kids to play with.  There’s security, too, kids cannot check themselves in or out on their own and there are several cast members manning the ingress and egress gates of the club.  Everyone has to register to be able to go to the club, and all the information pops up on a screen for the cast member to see – your stateroom number, allergies, and any other pertinent information.  Right next door is the Oceaneer’s Club.  Also designed for ages 3-12, this area has several specifically themed play rooms; Andy’s room, Pixie Hollow, and a Millennium Falcon room.  There’s a magical interactive play floor, and more directed activities here as well; A Jedi training experience, story time, and Playtime with Mickey – where Mickey and pals will play games and puzzles with the kids.

The hours of these clubs?  9 am to m-i-d-n-i-g-h-t.  This means you have free babysitting – where the kids will have a ball – at almost any time of day, during the entire length of your cruise.  The great thing is the Disney cruise can be as family-friendly as you want it to be; if you want someplace for your child to play for an hour, for the length of a quiet dinner, at night while you go to the silent disco, or while you tour Nassau, you can be (almost) assured that your child will have fun.  I say “almost” because I did witness a pretty sad sight one day as I was passing by the Oceaneer’s Club; a small boy, no more than five, who had been crying up in the area by the gates where the cast members monitor who is being signed in and out.  I happened by during what must have been a shift change and one cast member was explaining to the other that the child had been there since 9am (it was 3 when I passed by), and had been upset for the whole time, and his parents had not come for him.  My heart broke for the little guy.  While I certainly did enjoy my child-free moments on the cruise, this was just a very long time to leave a sad little boy and not come back for him.

There is, by the way, It’s a Small World Nursery, for kids ages 6 months to 3 years.  This service is one that you need to reserve ahead of time and does charge for its services, but a very nominal fee.

There are clubs for the older kids, as well – Edge (ages 11-14), and Vibe (ages 14 – 17), on different areas of the ship from where the younger kid’s clubs are. And while the Oceaneer Club and the Oceaneer Lab were so cool, Edge is where my daughter was drawn to.  It’s a bit lighter on the theming, one might say “more mature” if one was eleven, but just like the younger kid’s clubs, Edge has both organized and independent activities to choose from.  My daughter participated in a dance competition, trivia, and learned how to draw a Disney character.  There was always a movie playing, plus video games, foosball, dodgeball, and other activities such as a pirate challenge and improv.  My daughter’s favorite thing?  Meeting and hanging out with other kids.  For this club, unlike the clubs for the younger kids, parents do not sign kids in and out. The kids can come and go as they please.  This meant that if a kid got hungry, they simply walked down one flight of stairs and went to the buffet, or the ice-cream machine or the drink station, or – who are we kidding, the ice-cream machine.  This lack of signing in and out is also what made me wary of this service at first.

You see, I am a bone fide worst-case-scenario worrier.  I don’t have a stomach ache; its most definitely a tumor.  My kids aren’t just out of my sight for a minute; they’re definitely kidnapped.  So for me to let my 11-year-old go back and forth to Edge on her own is a testament to how secure I felt once I got familiar with how things worked on the ship.  A fantastic feature, and the one that put me most at ease, was the set of Wave phones that are located in the stateroom.  I have a cell phone, but my daughter doesn’t.  And you don’t get great cell service on board anyway.  But the Wave phones are a courtesy service that is designed to help parties communicate on the ship despite spotty cell service.  At first, I just saw it as expensive tech on our desk in the stateroom and told my kid to leave it alone.  But she insisted with a confidence in technology that only those under age 25 have, and we gave the phones a try.  It was great!  I could contact her from anywhere on board.  She could phone me when she got to the club and phone me when she was hungry and going down for food (ice-cream).  I could phone her when it was time to meet up again for dinner or a show.  Or just to see her and tell her I love her (in case she reads this before adulthood).

The option of a kid’s club made our cruise so relaxing.  My youngest daughter’s love of Edge allowed my mom and I some time to just hang out together on the forward deck or to go to the spa – and it also allowed for my older daughter to have some time with just her and her grandma.  So, while the Disney Dream is a wonderful family experience, the kids club help you to customize what that experience looks like and gives everyone a little of what they want!