Participants and those along for the ride:

Me -- Erin "Kerry" - I just got out of a cast and brace on my right leg because I broke my ankle this winter. This ought to be fun, trampsing around Disney with a just healed ankle!	John - beloved husband, and the birthday day boy for the trip.
Casey "Little Dog" Blackwell -- a toy fox terrier and Canine American Princess.	Morgan "Big Dog" Blackwell -- American mutt, and our hugging dog.

Transportation and accommodations:

Trip report overview:

I did this trip report differently than the others. The webmaster at pocketdisney.com offered the ability to make audio trip blogs through his site. I loved the idea and I had a good time listening to these again when I put them on the site. I apologize in advance for my South Jersey accent. ;)

Pre-trip notes:

I wanted to test out the system, so I did a blog entry in July on our plans for the trip.

Check-in at Fort Wilderness:

I always missed details when I did the audio. So here's some of the things from our first night that I wanted to include.

We passed the new Nickelodeon hotel as we drove in. John joked: "Think that's bright enough?"

No problems checking-in! Not that we expected any. We did get in much earlier than we expected -- we were on property by 11:30am. So we had to wait a short while. We had our portable DVD player, so after a rest break and getting the dogs water, we settled in to watch "Nemo". We had a brief rain storm -- that typical Florida rain where it pours on your for 15 minutes, then disappears like it was never there. I also got a little bit of luck: someone tossed their McDonald's Happies Celebration toy in its original bag, thinking it only had paper in it. It was sitting right on a counter in the lobby. So a new Pluto toy for me! I thought it appropos that we got Mickey's dog since we're in Disney with our own.

After a half-hour or so (just as Dory entered the movie - figures), our site was ready. We got the loop we requested with the pet walk that we prefer. We like going to the beach and watching the castle.

Loop 300, Site 311

We set up, walked the dogs (saw a cat relaxing in his RV - first time we saw a camping cat! but not the last), and then went to get John his big birthday present: a golf cart, rented for the entire week. We've talked about renting one for the day for a long time, but never did. So I came up with this as a great surprise gift. I just kept throwing dollars and change into a bank to cover the cost. No hardships there. AND what a great surprise waiting for me! Fort Wilderness gave us a discount on the price since we rented for the whole week: $70 or more off! So now I have pocket money I never expected.

Golf cart: 434

First thing we did is tour the campground. So many beautiful areas that we never saw before! No wonder this is our favorite resort: beautiful, serene, unique. And pet friendly. We saw some sites that were decorated, including Mickey Mouse lamp posts. I want one of them! We found out later that they were custom made by one couple who made some for their friends. Clearly, we need to find these people and make friends with them. We also passed a site with Donald Duck light posts. I have no idea where they got those!

Then it was off to the marina and a beautiful night for a boat ride to Magic Kingdom. A nice breeze came from the lake and with twilight coming, we turned to T-shirts and shorts. So much different from home!

Magic Kingdom, Saturday night, October 1st:

I have some notes in the audio log on the next day's page; sorry they're separate pages, but I did them with my Epcot notes.

First off: LOOK AT THE CASTLE! I deliberately kept my eyes averted on the boat ride over from Fort Wilderness so that my first sight of it would be the full vision of it from Main Street. It's BEAUTIFUL! I must have taken a hundred photos of it just in the first minutes. We also had a Disney photographer do a bunch of us for PhotoPass (which, by the way, is a great way to do park pictures).

I was worried about the big mirror in the front; when I saw it in pictures, I didn't like it. I thought it looked like a cheap plastic toy made by Fisher Price. In reality, it's better looking. I still didn't like it as much as the gold brade and figures, but it was much better. John pointed out how it all sparkles, and that Disney even added that effect! After the 50th celebration, they should keep all the decorations except the mirror. I think it fits in with Fantasyland fair idea and adds a great touch to the castle.

We were hungry! So John pulled me away from the castle, and we tried the new Tomorrowland Noodle Station. Nice choices for vegetarians, huge portions, a great view of the castle, and something different!

We brought our new "The Imagineering Field Guide to Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World" and immediately put it to use as we moved around. Very interesting how it made even things you saw before new again because you know the backstory or different details. What amazed us, veteran park goers that we are, is how many things we didn't know! Such as the real fort and soldiers that "Pirates" is based on, the real town they defended for centuries. It gave me a whole new perspective when we road the ride. I noticed that as I read aloud to John in the Jungle Cruise, other people crowded in to listen and then would whisper some new thing they learned to someone else.

We had a great skipper, Jen, on the Jungle Cruise. I gave her one of our thank you cards. CMs always look surprised to get them. It makes me self-conscious sometimes. I wonder if I'm bothering them with something they think is lame. Others have thanked me for making their day though.

Walking through Frontierland, I saw a father with his little girl on his shoulders. They had their park map opened with her holding the top of it and him holding the bottom so they could read together. It was so fun and so sweet to see.

Small World looks fantastic with the makeover! We didn't get to see the clock strike, but just what we saw was a big improvement. Inside, we really enjoyed the new lighting and colors. We could hear adults now singing with the children at the end. Like the guide said, it makes a full experience for everyone, not just children.

We jumped on Peter Pan after that and I teased John that it was just like Soarin!

Philharmagic: one of my all time favorites since it opened. I forgot some details like Donald on the rug in Agrobah. It's always great to hear people applaud after "Be Our Guest", even if it is because they think it's the end of the movie. And let me tell you: Disney could make a fortune selling apple pies in the gift shop after everyone gets that scent during the movie! John got me a Donald plush: he's so cute! He's round like Humpty Dumpty!

It rained while we were in Philharmagic, but it was done by the time we got out of the gift shop. We next did "Snow White" and our whole car was adults! We told the CM we were adults in age, but not in mentality. We stopped at Pooh's playground (I still think this is a waste of space) to see the Nautilus figure. A very nice CM took me right to it when I asked where could I find it. After that, it was Tomorrowland. When we got there, it was still twilight; the PeopleMover went by with someone flying a pirates flag from it! Once it was dark, we went on it. If you have never been on the PeopleMover (TTA) at night, this was our first time too, let me recommend you do it! You'll get a whole new perspective of the lighting scheme. The whole land looked like a great sci-fi fantasy.

We watched Wishes then, catching it in the middle. It always, always affects me. By this time, we were getting tired, so we headed back. Disney was prepared for the fireworks being over. Boats came up fast and we hardly stood in line!

Let me tell you what a treat it was to get back to our resort and not have to walk or wait for the bus. Instead, we got into our golf cart and had a nice drive back, getting a chance to enjoy Fort Wilderness in the evening. Magic....

Favorite pictures:

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