Monday Oct 28, 2024

We had plans to pick up a car trailer at U-Haul and take our Honda CR-V this year instead of our Ford Focus.  Our plans changed at the last moment . . .. U-Haul couldn't find the car hauler trailer we had booked so we had to bring the Focus again rather than the CR-V. It was good news from one perspective - we could leave earlier. So we pulled out at noon on Monday instead of noon Tuesday. We covered 277 long and slow miles through endless stretches of construction.

No traffic and good weather!

The bridge on the Canadian side.

The bridge on the US side.

We stopped in Wilkes-Barre PA at 5:30 and found a good spot to park, between a Wal-Mart and a Cracker Barrel. I stayed with the dogs while Carol picked up a few groceries at Wal-Mart. We had planned to go the Cracker Barrel for dinner, but as it turned out our dinner was a very casual affair, catered by the Subway Shop next door. Sleep came early after a long day behind the wheel!

Tuesday Oct 29, 2024

We were up at 5:30 and got on the road 7:45.  Traffic was the heaviest we've ever seen on this leg of the trip.  There was the usual amount of construction and many more trucks than usual.  We wondered if the trucks might be due to road closures after Hurricane Milton. 

Carol spent much of the day capturing Asian Lady Beetles and tossing them out the window.  She researched them online and gave me a complete education on the entomology of the beetles.  They bite but they are not venomous or poisonous.  Their only defence against predators is their bleeding knees.  They can excrete a smelly and foul tasting fluid from their knees to discourage their enemies.  This time of year they are looking for places to lay their eggs and then hibernate for the winter.  It seemed like thousands thought our motor home was a good place to settle!  No idea when or how they got in.  I urged Carol to sniff a beetle and lick it . . . but she refused.  She seems to have absolutely no scientific curiosity!

We like the Shenandoah Valley.

Jasper is a nervous traveller but he settles down when he can sit on top of Jake!

We covered 455 miles and at 4:30 we arrived at the KOA Campground in Wytheville Virginia.  It's one of our regular stops.

Years ago we discovered the Peking Restaurant in Wytheville.  They make their own egg rolls which are wonderful and the rest of the menu is good too . . . we never eat anywhere else in Wytheville.  For $38.00 including tip we got more than the two of us could eat.  We took the leftovers home and I nuked them for lunch the next day.

After a bit of television we once again went to bed early.

Wednesday Oct 30, 2024

We slept in until 6:15 and enjoyed a leisurely start, coffee and breakfast, while going through our online newspapers.  We pulled out of the campground and got back on the road at 8:45,  It was a foggy morning as we made the 30 mile-long climb up one side of the Blue Ridge Mountains and then took the 7 mile-long plunge down the other side.  This is definitely not Carol's favourite place!

The sky cleared later in the day but there was still more traffic and trucks than we have normally seen.  Then we spotted a couple of overhead signs saying "No access to Tennessee on I-26 or I-40"  So the traffic we had been seeing was a direct result of Hurricane Milton which caused extensive damage to both of those Interstate Highways in the Ashville North Carolina area.  The roads will probably both be closed for a year or two during repairs.

New Green Acres is convenient to the highway and although it's old and the

facilities are a bit 'tired' we like the long pull-thru sites under the tall pines!

We covered 324 miles today and arrived at New Green Acres Campground in Walterboro South Carolina at 3:00 p.m.

We had a quick set-up and then the dogs joined Carol and I for a well-earned nap.

We had dinner at a nearby Cracker Barrel then another quiet evening of TV.

Thursday Oct 31, 2024

For some reason the dogs decided that I needed to wake up and let them out t 6:15.  Usually I wake up first, but not today!  After they finished their morning chores I enjoyed a couple of cups of coffee and read the news until Mama Bear joined me.  We had a shorter driving day planned, only 234 miles to North Beach Camp Resort in St. Augustine FL, so we had a relaxing start.

We pulled out just before 9:00 a.m.

We were southbound on I-95 by 9:00

Traffic was lighter!

We stopped at Blue Beacon Truck Wash in Brunswick GA

We had sandwiches for lunch while we waited in a long line of trucks!

They wash the RV and our tow car and give both a Rain-X rinse for less than $100

We stopped at the Florida Welcome Centre.

The dogs posed with Carol and then insisted that we take a picture of them by themselves!

The staff in the Welcome Centre were displaying their pumpkin art!

We took the I-295 East Bypass at Jacksonville.

The bridge over the St. John's River is truly impressive!

Then we took Route 202 to the coast and followed A1A to our campground.

Traffic on A1A was heavy at Ponte Vedra Beach . . .

. . . but it thinned right out a few miles south!

Nice beach homes . . .

. . . and beautiful beachfront parks!

By 3:15 we were all set up in our campsite!

Most of the campsites are canopied by oak trees and are very private!

We had dinner at one of our favourite spots . . . on nearby Anastasia Island.

They don't serve alcohol, they don't take reservations and they don't accept credit cards.

But they do serve great food in an unassuming environment

They've been cooking-up 300 to 500 pounds of shrimp a day since 1965.

They've got to be good to stay in business that long!

Fried shrimp with their tasty homemade sauce, hushpuppies, French fries and coleslaw.

We were back home with the dogs at 8:00 p.m.

Friday Nov 1, 2024

Today was a bonus day.. We left a day early that put us one day ahead in our entire schedule. We couldn't check in at Disney's Fort Wilderness until Saturday so we ended up with a free day to spend at  North Beach Camp Resort in  St. Augustine.  The dogs were thrilled too, they were getting a bit tired of being lashed to the couch as their house bounced down the highway!

We first came here almost 20 years ago and we took the Hop-On Hop-Off Trolley Tour, climbed all the lighthouses, drank the magic elixir at the Fountain of Youth, went to Ripley's Believe It or Not, visited Old Town and did all the other touristy stuff.  So we decided yesterday that we would simply take the HO-HO bus again to refresh ourselves with the history of this old city.

The dogs let us sleep in until 7:00 a.m. and we loitered at the campground until about 10:00 a.m.  That's when the Perky Pelican Christmas Shop opens.  Our friend Curtis told Carol that it was not to be missed!  He was apparently correct because she came out with a bag of goodies!

The Perky Pelican Christmas Shoppe

Hey Santa, where can I get a coconut?

Carol, can I please have it?  It's a major award!

It was a short drive from the Perky Pelican to the Trolley Depot.

We were loaded and ready to roll at 11:30

The Fountain of Youth is a scam.

We drank the water there about 20 years ago and we're still aging!

Look, it's The Perky Pelican!

Castillo de San Marcos, a Spanish fortress built in 1672.  It's made with coquina,

a sedimentary rock comprised mainly of seashells and coral.

The Huguenot Cemetery.  Between 1821 & 1884 Protestants had

to be  buried outside the city limits in this cemetery.

The original city gate.  This stone gate was built in 1808 to replace the wooden gate

that was burned during an attack on the Spanish city by North Carolina.

We drove along some very narrow streets!

Many homes have beautiful courtyards.

Many streets in Old Town are for pedestrians only.

Thompson Hall at Flagler College.  This was originally

the winter cottage of oil magnate Henry Flagler.

Flagler College

The Lightner Museum

Flagler College

Aviles Street in the Old Town District.

Built in 1723

This horse sculpture, made out of car bumpers, was originally

displayed at Mile High Stadium in Denver CO

There are some beautiful little residential streets in the oldest city in America!

A Spanish Militia was housed here in 1565,  The wall is made of tabby,

a mixture of lime, sand, water, oyster shells, and ash.

We made a quick stop at Publix for some groceries and were back home with the dogs by 2:00 p.m.  We had sandwiches for lunch and then enjoyed a quiet afternoon with the dogs.  (Imagine four of us snoring on a queen sized bed.)

Our trolley driver, Victor, spoke about a restaurant beside the St. Augustine Distillery and it sounded so good that we decided to give it a try.

We left the campground at 6:15 and were at the Ice Plant Restaurant in 15 minutes.  The restaurant ad the distillery share space in the old ice manufacturing factory.

It's definitely an old factory!

Victor was right, it was terrific. Everything in the place is scratch-made, including the soft drinks.  The food was outstanding and the service was impeccable.  It was so nice that Carol said, "I'm expecting Gordon Ramsey to come running out of the kitchen cursing and sending someone home!"

We took a slow drive through the historic area of the city on our way back home.

Tomorrow we head to Walt Disney World to begin our three week stay!

Saturday Nov 2, 2024

We had a very short distance to travel today, only 129 miles to Fort Wilderness, so we slept in a bit and took things easy.  We pulled out of the campground at about 9:30 and stopped to fuel up at the FlyingJ Truck Stop about 10 miles south of St. Augustine.  Traffic was light and we whisked through Orlando non-stop.  That's a rarity, I-4 is usually stop and go all the way across the city.  Of course, it was Saturday, so I suppose that helped!

Carol had completed our online registration about a year ago so we passed through the entry gate quickly, but they hadn't texted our site number yet so we headed to the overflow parking lot to wait for the text.  We had just finished unhooking the tow-car when our Florida friends Curtis and Alek and their friend Ashley, who was visiting for a few days, arrived.  We delivered a big order of Canadian groceries (Curtis is Canadian and there area few things he really misses.)

Curtis also had some stuff to deliver . . . he picks up Disney merchandise for Carol throughout the year.  When we got together in the parking lot it was just like Christmas.  Everyone was smiling!

Just as we were wrapping up 'Christmas in November' the text arrived, we had been assigned site #1727.  We drove over to the 1700 loop and Carol directed me as I backed the coach into 1727.  It immediately became clear that the site wouldn't work for us.  There was no spot we could put the RV and be able to open both of the driver side slides.  The trees were in the worst possible position for us.

We drove around the loop, listed the numbers of four empty sites and went to the registration office.  After a few minutes they cleared site 1723 for us.  It's perfect!

We parked on the new site and connected the utilities, then took a few minutes for a bite of lunch before starting to unload the cargo bays.  As we were eating our sandwiches Carol's phone rang.  It was our Dayton friends Anita and Lucy.  They were here for the Run Disney races, were staying nearby at Coronado Springs, and wanted to come over and say hello.

The back seat of our tow-car was jammed full with our two e-bikes and we felt bad that we couldn't go pick them up.  Instead they caught a Disney bus from their hotel to the Magic Kingdom and then took the boat from the theme park to the campground.

They arrived about 3:00 p.m. and we had a terrific visit!

The dogs amused our guests with their antics!

Their favourite treats are 'Greenies' and Jasper's 'Greenie dance' had the ladies in stitches!

Anita treated us to a very nice dinner at Whispering Canyon Café.

Dinner was served 'family style' in skillets and as you can see, Anita couldn't wait to dig in!

After a very nice meal we worked off a few calories doing The Hokey Pokey.

Anita really turned herself around.  The Hoker-Poker-In-Chief was so impressed

with Anita's performance that she came over to congratulate her!

Lucy took hundreds of pictures during their visit.

At one point I said to Anita, "If cameras still used film, Lucy would be broke!"

After dinner we all hopped in the car (the e-bikes were gone!) and took a ride around the campground to see the decorated campsites.  Many of the Halloween decorations have come down, but a surprising number remain.  Both Thanksgiving and Christmas are taking the place of Halloween.  I borrowed some of Lucy's pictures so you can see what Fort Wilderness looks like after dark!

A Unicorn skeleton.

Those wooden Mickey Head characters on the left were hand made by this camper.

Beware of hitchhiking ghosts!

The Sanderson sisters.

Welcome to Halloweentown!

Hmmm.  A turkey riding a flamingo.  What's the message here?

Yes, it's Hogwarts . . . but what is Grogu doing there?

After our campground tour we drove Anita and Lucy back to the Coronado Springs Resort and said goodbye at about 9:30.

Sleep came quickly after a busy day!

Sunday Nov 3, 2024

Sunday we enjoyed another slow start and then headed out to our storage locker on Route 192 near Camping World.  It was a newly opened facility last year and we took advantage of an 'Opening Special'.  For about $40 we rented a 5" X 5" locker in a climate controlled building to store our Christmas decorations, my ECV scooter, our Mickey lamp, and some other stuff we didn't want to take home with us.  We knew upfront that the discount would be temporary, and sure enough, after four month the price went to $75.  Then in September we received another notice that another increase was coming and the price beginning in December would be about $100.   That wouldn't be bad if we had enough to fill the locker, but we don't even come close.

Carol and I drove over and loaded the car to the gills and took it back to our campsite.  We had a quick lunch in the RV then I went back to the storage locker for the final load while Carol organized all the stuff we had stacked up on the driveway.

While I was away getting the second carload Carol took a picture of one of her favourite sights!

Here;s the empty  locker!

Carol sips her sweet tea!

We puttered around the campsite during the afternoon and enjoyed a nice nap with the dogs.

At about 5:00 we headed off to Disney Springs for dinner at Summer House, a new eatery in the West Side area.  It's directly across from Splitsville.

On our way to Disney Springs Carol said, 'The last few times we've tried new restaurants we've been disappointed.'

She was right . . . but Summer House was great.  We started by sharing some very tasty potato salad devilled eggs, then Carol had a personal pizza and I had fish & chips.  Everything was terrific.  We both grazed on each other's meal.

Carol's 'personal' pizza was about the size of a garbage can lid, thin crust with delicious toppings.  My fish and chips featured grouper in a light crispy batter and the julienne chips were lightly dusted with malt vinegar.  Carol doesn't like malt vinegar . . . but she scarfed down her share of fries!

After dinner Carol just had to go shopping and I didn't.  I found a spot near Splitsville where I could read while listening to the band playing in the patio bar at the bowling alley.  They were pretty good!

Carol commandeered my ECV and headed off to the World of Disney Store for a bit of retail therapy and took a few pictures along the way.  She was all shopped out by 8:30 and we were home with the dogs by 9:00.

Monday Nov 4, 2024

Today we woke up and got to work.  It was time to drag out some inflatables and get started on our decorations.  Carol unrolled them and dragged them all into the perfect spot while I set up the timer and dragged extension cords across the site to power them all up.  Soon we had all the big items situated, Tow Mater, Lightning McQueen, Mickey and Pluto in an airplane, Mickey and Goofy in a fire truck and Mickey on a rocking horse.  It looked great!

Then Carol said, 'We've been here two days and haven't been to a park yet.  Take me to EPCOT.'

There are about 20 more inflatables to add, but it's a start!

It's time for the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival

A new act at EPCOT - Forces of Nature

These girls are good!

We started our 'Dining Around The World' trek at Festival Favorites

Kielbasa and Potato Pierogies with a Key Lime Tart

The Celebracion Encanto show was high-energy.  Lots of singing and dancing!

Pumpkin Mascarpone Ravioli

The 'Traditional Poutine' was tasty, but the curds were cold.  They were fresh and squeaky, but cold.  The cheese in poutine is supposed to be warm, soft and gooey!

We had a Mickey Bar but I forgot to take a picture until . . .

We succumbed to the 88º heat early in the afternoon and left EPCOT.  We were home with the puppies by 2:15 and spent a few hours cooling down!

We spend a bit more time on outdoor decorations, then headed out for dinner and some shopping.   Dinner was at Raising Cane's.  Their chicken fingers are outstanding.

After a quick stop at Winn-Dixie for some groceries, we headed home and loaded the dogs on the golf cart for some 'looping.'

We rode around several camping loops checking out the decorations.  There are new ones every day!

Tuesday Nov 5, 2024

Carol's final words last night were, 'Tomorrow morning I want to go to Animal Kingdom.  Or maybe I'll get up early and try to get us a spot in the Virtual Queue at Tiana's Bayou Adventure. I'll decide which one in the morning'

So, after she had her coffee this morning and it was safe to speak, I asked what she planned.  She surprised my with, 'I'm not leaving this campsite until all the decorations are up!'   Sheesh!  Will I ever understand this woman?

After coffee and bagels we got started.  I pulled the collapsible extension ladder out of a storage bay and ran it up beside a tree.  We hung two Mickey head rope lights in trees and draped several strings of mini-lights between three trees.  Then Carol started placing the remaining twenty or so inflatables while I ran out some extension cords to power them up.  By noon we were drenched with sweat, but they were all inflated, staked and tied down.  It looks good!

We had a bite of lunch and decided that we needed a break, so we hopped in the car and headed to Costco to pick up some rope light to line the sides of our campsite.

Carol did not buy a rotisserie chicken.  In the 25 years we've been together this is only the third time she's left Costco without a chicken!

When we got home it was time for a nap!

Later we went to Crocket's Tavern for dinner.  Carol did a bit of shopping at the Settlement Trading Post while I waited in the tavern, then we ordered our chow.  Fried chicken for Carol and chicken bites with blueberry BBQ sauce for me.  Very tasty!

We were back home just after 8:00 p.m. and enjoyed a quiet night at home.  Carol worked to convert the RV dash into a winter wonderland while I watched TV.

Wednesday Nov 6, 2024

When we woke in the morning it was pouring rain and the forecast suggested that the rain would continue until about 2:00 p.m.

We decided to drive east to Titusville to check out the Indian River RV Resort we'll be moving to in a few weeks.  We stopped to gas up at the Speedway station beside the Boardwalk Resort and these four storks were posing on the lawn.  We held up traffic for a few seconds to get a picture!

The campground in Titusville is small and it's a bit old and tired but it's right in the heart of town and from the back of our site we look across the road at the inland waterway and the Kennedy Spacecentre.  We'll be in an ideal location if there are any launches!

We're looking forward to exploring The Space Coast!

'

The rain stopped about the same time we got home at 2:00 p.m. and we spent a quiet afternoon with the dogs.  We left just after 5:00 p.m. for dinner at the Grand Floridian Café.  We both had our usual, French onion soup and Miso glazed salmon.  Both were excellent!

The lady in this picture is buying gingerbread through the window of a gingerbread house!

A really big gingerbread house!

They've been setting a giant gingerbread house up in the hotel lobby for 25 years!

We arrived back home about 8:15, loaded Jake and Jasper on the golf cart and took them out for a ride.  Jasper even got to go for a walk at Pioneer Hall!  They both enjoy taking a spin around the campground on the cart, even if it doesn't always end up at the dog park!

Thursday Nov 7, 2024

It was another confusing day for me.  Last night Carol said, 'I'd like to spend the morning at Magic Kingdom'  But this morning she insisted that we had to finish the last of the campsite decorations and tidy up campsite and the RV.  And she wonders why I get confused!

When we woke up it was 77º out with steamy humidity.  Inside the RV it was a comfortable 69º so the exterior pf the coach was covered in condensation.  The dew was so heavy that we had trouble seeing out the windshield!

By 9:30 we were outside working.  There was still a lot to do.   We tossed out a few old inflatable decorations that were well past their prime and rearranged the rest.  I stowed away all the hardware that we use to tow the car and then we reorganized all the cargo bays in the 'basement' to maximize storage space.  We didn't finish until noon.

It was 88º and steamy by noon so we both took a short rest in the shade before heading into the RV for lunch!

We spent a quiet afternoon at home with the dogs and at about 5:00 p.m. headed out to EPCOT to have dinner in Japan.

The Food and Wine Festival is in full swing at EPCOT so it was a busy evening there!  I was surprised the I could get a picture at the entrance with no one in it!

The Friendship boat took us from Canada to Morocco.

That's Iago from the Aladdin movie on my elbow!

Apparently he hangs out in Morocco all the time.

Teppan Edo, in the Japan Pavilion, is one of our favourite Disney restaurants.  We always have a good time and a nice meal there!

There is a very hot grill in the centre of the table and the dinner is cooked before your eyes!

Our chef Kata.

A volcano made with onions!

Mickey Mouse!

It's Kata's second week at Teppan Edo and he still has a lot to learn, our shrimp was

perfect, but the chicken and steak were overcooked.  We enjoyed it nonetheless!

We headed straight out after dinner and beat the crowd!

Spaceship Earth was twinkling as we left!

Friday Nov 8, 2024

Carol was up bright and early and managed to book us a spot in the 'Virtual Queue' for the newest attraction, Tiana's Bayou Adventure, we were group 11.  That was good news, but it meant we had to get to the Magic Kingdom and scan our Magic Bands at the entrance to Tiana's no later than 9:21 a.m.

We went into overdrive and off we went!  We were aboard the boat by 8:35.  That's pretty early for these old codgers!

The park wasn't very crowded and we took our time strolling back to Frontierland,  There were plenty of photo-ops along the way.

Paul from Buffalo New York

We were passing Country Bear Jamboree when a stranger we passed by said, 'Hey, I read your blog.'

It was Paul from Buffalo New York.  He remembers our old blogs on AllEars.net and through them he somehow discovered our little web site.

He is planning to be a snowbird in retirement so he had a few questions about our experiences which we were happy to share.  It was nice to have a short visit with Paul before we rushed off for our date with Tiana.

We're usually not happy with attractions that have been 're-imagined' but Tiana's is refreshingly different.  It's beautifully done with bright colours, catchy music and a great story.  We'll miss the Song of the South critters, but we love Tiana!

Mama Odie.

Princess Tiana was waiting to say goodbye as we left!

Even the gift shop has had a beautiful makeover!

Our next stop was at Country Bear Jamboree, now called Country Bear Musical Jamboree.

The animatronics characters all have new wardrobes and new music.  The music is all from Disney movies or attractions and it's a lively show.  Once again it's a re-make that we like.

Disney is two for two today!

We stopped for a pineapple float and pineapple upside down cake

before riding Pirates of the Caribbean

Then we enjoyed the always popular Jingle Cruise.  Skipper David did a terrific job!

We had lunch at Casey's Corner.  A hot dog for each of us and chili-cheese fries to share.  Then Carol shopped her way down Main Street USA while I snapped a few pictures.

It was a terrific morning at Magic Kingdom. We got a lot done because it wasn't terribly crowded.  But it was hot . . . so we boarded a boat back to the campground at 1:00 p.m. and spent the afternoon with Jake and Jasper.

At about 4:00 we took the boys to 'Waggin' Tails', the off-leash park at Fort Wilderness.

The enjoy riding the golf cart and had a good run before their dinner!

Carol and I decided on Olive Garden for dinner.  We've had a lot of fried food lately and pasta was sounding pretty good!  So after the dogs were fed and walked we hopped in the car and headed out.  It was a nice dinner and reminded us how much we miss Olive Garden . . . they closed all their Canadian restaurants years ago.

After dinner we went to Wal-Mart to return some defective solar spot-lights and picked up a few fresh ones to light up a few of our Christmas inflatables.

We were back home with the boys by 8:00 and enjoyed a quiet night of television.

Saturday Nov 9, 2024

We had a quiet and relaxing day!  We don't usually go to the theme parks on weekends because they are simply too busy and crowded.  This morning we enjoyed coffee, breakfast and our online newspapers before heading outside about 10:00 a.m. We spent all morning relaxing at the campsite.  Jake and Jasper were happy to have us hang around . . . it meant that they could lay their bellies in the pine needles and get all covered in pine tar.  Good times for a dog!

A happy boy!

At about 12:15 we left for Disney Springs.

We've been here a full week and surprisingly haven't eaten at Earl of Sandwich yet.

Carol had Earl's Original Roast Beef, I had the Festive Special.

This young lady is talking with Douglas Fir, a roving, talking Christmas tree.

Donald is the original Angry Bird!

After our lunch at Earl's Carol browsed the nearby Pin Central Store for a few minutes before we pointed the car back toward Fort Wilderness where we spent the rest of the day with the puppies!

Dragon, Alek, Cathy and Curtis

Curtis, Alek, and Alek's parents Dave and Cathy arrived about 4:30 and we gave them a golf cart tour of the campground, including a stop at Tri-Circle-D Ranch where all the Disney horses live.

We even took a spin through one of the cabin loops to see the new generation of cabins that have been built for Disney Vacation Club.  Then we enjoyed a nice visit on the patio at our campsite until their 6:15 show time approached.  At 5:45 the four of them hopped on our golf cart and headed north for their date with The Pioneer Hall Players.

Months ago Carol made dinner reservations, a table for four, at the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue dinner show which is  staged nightly at Pioneer Hall, here in the campground.  Our friends Curtis and Alek were going join us.

Last week Alek mentioned that his parents Dave and Cathy, were visiting from Indiana and that his father was really hoping to see the show but it was sold out.  We told Alek, 'Don't worry, you can use our reservation and take your parents.'

It's not a big deal because we have another reservation next month.  We're having Christmas dinner at Hop-Dee-Doo!

We checked with Disney reservations every day to see if we could change our reservation from four to six, but alas nothing was available.  There were no cancellations.

Alek and Curtis

Cathy and Dave

Looks like they had good seats!

We fired up the grill for the first time since leaving home and enjoyed an elegant meal featuring grilled Vienna sausages garnished with Cressy mustard and a zesty cucumber relish and served on toasted brioche rolls.  We followed that with a delightful sorbet for dessert . . .Yup, that's right . . . we had hot dogs and ice cream!  Then we watched some TV.

After the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue was over Curtis and the gang took another tour of the campground to see all the decorations after dark, then came back to our campsite.  By then the no-seeums were swarming outside so we all sat indoors and visited for another hour or so before saying goodnight to our friends!

It was a nice relaxing day.  We've been quite busy since we left home and it was nice to just kick back and chill a bit!

Sunday Nov 10, 2024

We enjoyed another slow and restful day!  No theme park again today.

We had some visitors at about 10:00 a.m.  Our friend Scott from the Syracuse New York area is retiring next February and he and his wife Merrie are moving to the Orlando area to be near their daughters and their grandchildren.  The new home they re having built just north of Walt Disney World will have a lamp post in the front yard and Scott asked me to build him a Mickey head lamp to put on that front yard post.  This morning their daughter Allie, her husband Josh and their two children dropped by on their way to Animal Kingdom to pick up the lamp.

After showing Josh how to open up the lamp head to change bulbs I offered to take the family up to the Tri-Circle-D Ranch to see some Disney horses.  They jumped at the chance so we hopped on the golf cart and headed toward Pioneer Hall.  I waited on the golf cart while they toured the stables.  When they came back their daughter was beaming.  For her most recent birthday her parents treated her to a horse-drawn carriage ride at Disney's Port Orleans Resort, and today she was able to spend some more time with the horse that pulled her special carriage!

They left for Animal Kingdom about 11:15 and we loaded the dogs on the golf cart for a trip to the dog park.  On the way we stopped in the 1200 loop to see the Star Wars Storm Troopers on display.  Every year they have different costumes.  A few years ago they were all dressed in Disney themed pyjamas, another year they were all sporting NFL and college football jerseys.  This year they're wearing Star Wars themed Christmas sweaters and a few are wearing toques or elf caps but most have Christmas themed Mickey ears!

They couldn't bring all of their storm trooper and Yoda figures this year because their campsite is smaller than the one they usually get . . . but the display is still very impressive.  We'll try to get some night photos as well.  It looks great after dark!

I wonder what it costs to dress all those figures on display?

Happy times at 'Waggin' Tails'

The boys love to run!

Do you see the big turtle on the log in the upper right corner?

Jake signalled that he'd had enough by lying down in the grass.

Tongues were hanging out as we headed back to the golf cart!

Carol spent part of the afternoon in her happy place.

We left for dinner at Olivia's at 5:15.  Carol needed some retail therapy and I wandered around the resort snapping pictures!

The waterslide ends at the Mickey in the bottom of that castle.

It looks like Mickey is regurgitating children!

Our Mickey lamp is dressed as a snowman!

After I took a few pictures of our site we moved on to see the Storm Troopers.

They look great after dark!

You don't often see Jiminy Cricket!

We were home from 'looping' at about 8:15 and watched some TV before bed!

Monday Nov 11, 2024

Monday was forecast to break heat records so we moved a little more quickly than we usual do and pulled out on our way to Disney's Animal Kingdom a few minutes after 9:00.  We were in the parking lot by 9:20 and started our day's adventure.  The park is covered with trees and there are few breezes, so it is always hot.  Or it always seems hot to us!

We checked the wait times and Kilimanjaro Safaris was already 50 minutes so we scurried back to Harambe Village to join the line.  Carol didn't even stop to shop!

By the time we got in line the estimated wit time had increased to 70 minutes.

Fortunately there were critters like this Crowned Crane to

distract us as we wound through the jungle.

We boarded our safari truck after 54 minutes in line.

There's an itsy-bitsy baby elephant in the middle!  Her name is Corra.

She was born Dec 13, 2023 and weighed 218 pounds.

A bashfull cheetah!

The two blurry lumps on the rock are male and female lions Dakari and Kamari.  They will soon be retiring to a senior's residence for lions in sunny Florida and will be replaced by a new pride of young lions, all siblings.

We bumped into friends Linda and Bruce from Georgia and enjoyed lunch with them.

We picked it up from the quick-service counter at Yak & Yeti.  Always tasty!

As we wandered toward the exit I snapped a few pictures.

While I took photos Carol was enjoying a bit of Retail Therapy.

We were home with the puppies by 1:30.  It was over 90ºF, a bit too hot for them to run and romp in the dog park, so we spent a quiet afternoon with them at the campsite.

We had a 'Meet & Greet' with Scott from Paw Academy.  They provide dog walking services in the area around Walt Disney World and they will be stopping by take Jake and Jasper for a walk tomorrow evening while we are at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.  We'll be away at the party for more than eight hours and they will need to get out and 'do their business'.

After the dogs were fed it was time for our dinner.  We headed out to nearby Windemere and tried Flippers Pizza for the first time.  It was very good!  We'll be going back there!

Once we were back at the campground we loaded the dogs on the golf cart and drove around a few loops.  We ended up at the Settlement Trading Post where Carol bought us some ice cream treats!

Mickey Bars for everyone, please!

The boys had their very first Mickey Bar and they said it was 'GRRRReat!'

Tuesday Nov 12, 2024

It was a very busy day!  We left our campsite at about 9:30 and caught a boat to The Magic Kingdom where we spent a few hours before returning home to the dogs.  We knew that we'd have a late night at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and we didn't want the boys to feel neglected.

We packed quite  bit into a short time.  We took several Photopass pictures and rode It's A Small World, The Haunted Mansion and Peter Pan's Flight.

We entered the park at 10:00 a.m.

Photographer Brian, from Elkhart Indiana, worked some magic

and made a water-color background for our photo.

Thanks Brian!

At The Haunted Mansion one of the cast members had a huge spider on his back!

Eek!

We caught a cruiser back home and arrived at the campground at 1:00 p.m

Our friends Bob & Latosha from Mentor Ohio dropped by at 3:00 p.m. and we had a nice visit.  We are all struggling to accept the loss of our mutual friend Gabe.  We spent a lot of our visit reminiscing about our many good times with Gabe!

We fed the dogs a bit early and left about 4:30 to attend the Christmas party at Magic Kingdom.

We were back in the park at 5:00

The moon was resting atop the Astro Orbiter when Carol stopped at Cool Ship to buy her special popcorn bucket.  It's only available at the party!

We took an exciting spin on Tron!

We finished our ride on Tron at about 7:00 p.m.. just as the Christmas Party officially began.  As we walked toward the backstage breeze-way, where the Gingerbread Men were posing for pictures with guests, we stopped for another special Photopass opportunity. 

Carol is holding her new popcorn bucket!

Two daring ladies were dancing on stilts in the breeze-way.

As we waited in The Hub for the 7:30 p.m. forecourt show we got an e-mail

from the dogs.  Paws Academy had dropped by to take them for a walk.

We roamed the park noshing on cookies, apple cider, egg nog and hot chocolate and took another ride through Tiana's Bayou.  It's even prettier at night!

We were back in The Hub at 9:40 and found a good spot to watch the 10:00 p.m. fireworks show.  Disney does fireworks better than anyone.  Awesome!

We had about 45 minutes until the 11:00 paraded started so we made one more lap around the park gathering Christmas cookies to take home to the RV

We were settled in Town Square, in front of the Fire Hall just after 11:00.  It's a good spot to watch from; it's the end of the parade route and the floats pass in front of you as they round the bend to exit the park.

A troupe of cast members entertained us as we waited for the parade to arrive.

This is where Florida snow comes from!  WARNING!  It tastes like soap!

As soon as the parade ended we dashed to the exit and boarded a cruiser which took us across the Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake to Fort Wilderness.  We were home with some very excited puppies at 12:30.  It was a long and tiring day.  Bed time came quickly!

Wednesday Nov 13, 2024

After a very busy day yesterday we enjoyed a more relaxing day today.  We slept a bit late . . . actually, one of us slept very late!  We hung around the campground all day and went to Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner.

Carol spent a lot of time in her happy place where she enjoyed the view you see to the right.

Today was Jake's 'gotcha day'.  He came home with us 10 years ago today.

We took them to the dog park where they played with

a pair of hounds and a Frenchie named Zoe.

We arrived at Animal Kingdom Lodge at 6:15 and checked in for our 6:30

reservation at Boma.  The lobby there is absolutely stunning!

It's full of African art . . .

. . . and African artisans!

Boma has an outstanding buffet.

African cuisine is zesty and spicy but we really enjoy it!  Especially the

Caramel Butterscotch Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce.  WOW!

Even the art decorating the walls in the store is African influenced.

This light fixture, topping a display of shirts, is amazing!

We were both stuffed when we left at 8:00 p.m.

Thursday Nov 14, 2024

This morning we enjoyed a few hours at Disney's Hollywood Studios.  Just after we arrived, at about 10:30, Carol was returning some merchandise in The Darkroom camera shop while I waited outside on Hollywood Boulevard.  I heard someone calling my name and turned to see our Canadian friends Terence and Sarah approaching with their children Emeline and Quinton.  They have been on a Disney Cruise with Terence's parents and are spending a few days at the parks before heading home to Markham.

Terence, Sarah and the entire clan!

We headed to the Chinese Theatre and took a spin on Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway.  The wait time was listed at 50 minutes.

We had plenty of time to waste . . .

. . . so we played peek-a-boo in line!

The engineer is Goofy - what could go wrong?

Shouldn't a giant squid be playing bagpipes?

That guy taking a picture of Daisy's butt looks a lot like me!

Mickey and Minnie saved the day!  They rescued us from the Runaway Railway and then carried on with their Perfect Picnic!

As we walked toward MuppetVision 3D we bumped into SeasonZ Jukebox

They were very entertaining!

After MuppetVision 3D we headed to the exit.  Look, Rudolf has taken over the Deer Crossing sign!

We were home at 1:00 and had a light lunch in the RV.

We arrived at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort just in time for our 6:00 p.m. dinner at 'Ohana.

The resort is beautifully decorated for Christmas.

The bread pudding is always our favourite part of the meal.

Every time we go to 'Ohana something has changed, and none of the changes seem to be an improvement.  Nothing is served on skewers these days, the noodles are always cold, the chicken wings are not nearly as good as before, you now have to ask for the peanut sauce and it comes out of a jar these days.

It's sad to see the changes.  We've decided to give 'Ohana a rest for a few years.

We were home with the dogs by 7:30 and took them out for some looping.  They like it!

Friday Nov 15, 2024

We enjoyed a quiet morning at home and left ay about 10:30 to do some grocery shopping.  After a bite of lunch in the RV we took the boys for a golf cart ride and gave them a workout at the dog park.  They really look forward to their trips on the golf cart, whether it's a trip to the off-leash park or just to go looping.  They run right out and and jump on the golf cart when it's time to go.  I'm sure they would tell you that today was a perfect day for dogs!

We fed the boys a bit early and left at 4:30 for EPCOT.  We had 6:30 dinner reservations at Nine Dragons.

The setting sun was shining beautifully on Spaceship Earth as we entered the park at 5:00 p.m.

The park was jammed with people.  It was Friday night during the Food & Wine Festival and Magic Kingdom was closed for a Christmas party.  I guess we should have expected it to be crowded!

We stopped at Spaceship Earth to take a ride but it was temporarily out of service so we carried on toward China and paused for a couple of Photopass shots along the way.

The 70' tall Christmas tree was gleaming!

We checked in for dinner at 6:00.

Delicious, as always!  We brought home enough leftovers for a meal tomorrow!

The Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico had a huge line so we skipped it.

Spaceship Earth was running again so we took a trip through time,

Here a Greek scholar is teaching the new science of mathematics.

Rome built the first world-wide web.

Michelangelo paints the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel.

Spaceship Earth was magnificent as we left!

We were back home with the dogs by 8:30 and enjoyed a quiet night!

Saturday Nov 16, 2024

There was a pin trading event today at the Holiday Inn on Hotel Plaza Boulevard near Disney Springs.  I dropped Carol off at the hotel at 9:30 and went back to spend the morning at home with the dogs.  After I finished a few household chores we all sat outside and enjoyed the serenity of the campground.

Carol had a good morning trading at the hotel.  I picked her up at noon and we went to Disney Springs for lunch at Earl of Sandwich.  Along our way we admired a few of the specially decorated Christmas trees that make up the Christmas Tree Stroll.

The Disney Parks Tree

The Disney+ Tree

The Star Wars Tree

As always, the sandwiches were great!

Carol had a Tuna Melt.

I had a BLT . . . and we both ate half of each others sandwich.

After lunch Carol picked up a few pins.

Then she needed a chocolate fix at Ghirardelli's!

On our way back to the car we stopped at the Photopass shop between the Co-Op Shop and the Arribas Brothers Store.  They have a green wall where they can add special backdrops to your pictures as well as a real Christmas backdrop where you sit on a bench.  The pictures below were our favourites!

Carol is flying home in just over a week for a medical appointment and she wants to take advantage of the flight by taking home a few things in a suitcase.  Unfortunately we don't have a suitcase with us.

After lunch we spent a few hours checking out Goodwill stores in the Kissimmee area looking for a single-use suitcase.  Carol found one in the store near The Loop and is already planning what she can fit in it to lighten our load when we go home in early April.

Carol is a huge Orange Bird fan and she was delighted to see this new addition to the Disney fleet of buses as it was loading passengers in the campground!

We were home with the dogs just after 4:00 p.m.  We enjoyed yesterday's leftovers for dinner.  The chow from Nine Dragons is almost as good the next day!

Sunday Nov 17, 2024

We enjoyed a quiet morning.  The dogs enjoyed their golf cart ride to Waggin' Tails, the off-leash park, where they ran until they had no run left.  Then it was time for Carol and I to leave for Disney Springs.  Our Florida friends Deb and Linda were meeting us for lunch at The Boathouse.

The Characters In Flight balloon was flying when we arrived at The Boathouse.

The Amphicars launch beside the restaurant.

We watched a few launches as we waited for our friends.

Say . . . who is that beautiful lady leaning on the rail!

We always have a great time visiting with Linda and Deb, and today was no exception.  There's no better combination than good friends and good food.

We hope to see them a few more times before we head for home in April!

Look -it's Orange Bird!

There's something you don't see every day . . . peanut reindeer!

We spotted a few more of the special trees - this one is themed on Toy Story.

Do you see all the elements from the Toy Story movie?

The Mickey and Minnie Tree

Disney Springs was very crowded, as it always seems to be on the weekend.  We were back home with the dogs by 4:00 p.m. and spent the night at home.  It's Grey Cup day in Canada, the 111th  national football championship.  We settled in to watch the Toronto Argonauts play the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver.

The Jonas Brothers put on a great half-time show and Toronto won the game convincingly!

Monday Nov 18, 2024

We knew that we had a late night ahead of us so we spent a quiet morning at the campground.  The dogs enjoyed sitting outside with us most of the day and they were happy to get their dinner a bit early!

We left for Hollywood Studios about 3:45, the park was closing early for a special ticketed event, Jollywood Nights.

The crowd was lighter than usual when we arrived!

We headed to the Animation Courtyard to pick up our wristbands for the event.  A Latin Band was playing and a few children were dancing.

Even Goofy's son Max was dancing!

Our next stop was Toy Story Land where we took a spin on Toy Story Midway Mania.

We get very competitive in shooting games like this.  It's always a pitched battle from start to finish.  We both had sore arms when the ride was over and I managed to squeek out a victory!

After a few pictures at Echo Lake we enjoyed a nice dinner at the '50's Prime Time Café.

The sun had set when we finished dinner and Echo Lake looked much different!

We headed directly to The Hyperion Theater to watch the 7:15 performance of The Nightmare Before Christmas Singalong.

The show kicked off with a 14' tall Jack Skellington puppet.  He was very impressive!

There were two live actors onstage and they opened some rather spooky Christmas gifts which led to vignettes, songs and scenes from the movie.  In most cases the song lyrics were projected on the stage backdrop and the crowd of die-hard Nightmare fans sang along joyfully!

Our next stop was at the Theatre of the Stars where Kermit and Miss Piggy joined a cast of talented singers and dancers who presented an amazing, high-energy show.

A few Disney celebrities joined in as well!

Princess Tiana!

The Big Cheese and his Main Squeeze!

Belle.

The courtyard at The Hollywood Tower of Terror was the scene of the 'Twilight Siorée'

A three-piece combo played behind a talented singer and

professional dancers interacted with the happy crowd.

Back at Echo Lake we sought out a Photopass Photographer and asked him to make sure he captured lots of the tree in his picture.  He assured us that he would.

He lied!

The only part of the tree visible is that teensy little bit behind us.

The tree is magnificent, as you can see in the picture we took.  It's directly below!

This sign shows Ollie, the Jollywood Nights mascot.

We found a perfect spot in front of the Chinese Theatre and settled in to watch 'Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam.

It's an animated show projected on the facade of the theatre and features characters from several Disney animated productions.  The basic plot has elves Wayne and Lanny from Prep and Landing rescuing Santa Claus who has been kidnapped by Lock, Shock and Barrel, the three evil children from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Music and pyrotechnics add a bit of drama to the show!

Just a few minutes later the 'Glisten' ice skating show began in front of the Chinese Theatre.

This talented troupe can skate and they can sing.

It must be hard to find performers with both skills!

A different Latin Band was performing in the Animation Courtyard!

Jose Carioca - one of the Three Caballeros

We joined Ollie's jazz band for a rousing number!

Sadness and Mike Wazowski were dancing at the Disco Party in Pixar Place.

We had seen all the shows we were interested in so we roamed the park to enjoy the special decor, the party ambiance and find a few more characters for photo-ops!

Gotta love the '57 Chevy at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre.

King Louie

Baloo

Mary Poppins

There were a lot of photo-ops with seldom seen characters.  We saw Jiminy Cricket, Chip and Dale and a few others but they rotated out while we were in line.

It was good to see Clarice, Mary Poppins, Baloo and King Louie!

Clarice - Is she Chip's best girl?  Is she Dale's favourite lady?

It was after midnight when we walked through Star Wars Galaxy's Edge on our way to Toy Story Land.  We took a late night ride on Slinky Dog Dash.

We met some old friends on our way out!

It was a very quiet park when we left at 12:30.

Tuesday Nov 19, 2024

We had a very relaxing day!  We started with no plans at all for theme parks or dining, and we executed those plans perfectly!  That made Jake and Jasper very happy.  We were home with them all day long!  Carol did a couple of loads of laundry in the morning and while it was spinning the dogs enjoyed a golf cart ride and a long run at the dog park.  It's their idea of a perfect day!

They got to play with a new friend, Sally.

Once we got home from the dog park Carol settled into her happy place, gazing up between the tall pines.

In the afternoon some Canadian friends visited, sisters Francine and Becky along with their friends Ron and Lorraine.  While they were here some Disney cast members came by with a giant cupcake and we celebrated the Fort Wilderness campgrounds 53rd birthday!  Good fun!

There was rain in the forecast so later in the afternoon we took down most of the inflatable decorations and put them away while they were still dry!

Mickey and Minnie joined in the festivities!

The girls left special buttons for each of us, and a chocolate bar.  Sweet!

We had dinner at Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen on Route 192 and then stopped at Disney Springs on the way home.  Some new pins had been released and Carol just had to have them.  While she scooted back and forth to the pin store on my ECV she snapped a few pictures of the street performers.

We were home with the dogs at about 8:30 and watched a bit of TV.

Wednesday Nov 20, 2024

We surprised ourselves by moving quickly in the morning and we left for EPCOT at 9:15.  There was no particular agenda for the day, but we knew it would be our last day at EPCOT during this stay at Fort Wilderness so the day was more about wandering and enjoying the sights and sounds than it was about the rides and attractions!

We wandered through the centre of the park and crossed the World Celebration Bridge, stopping for Photopass opportunities along the way.

Look, they got the whole tree in this shot!

We turned left and headed to Mexico where we joined the Three Caballeros on the Grand Fiesta Tour.

Norway

There be trolls here!

The courtyard in Germany.

In Germany we sampled all three dishes.

Schinkennudeln, Bratwurst on a Pretzel Roll and Apple Strudel.

All three were tasty.  Yum!

The tree at the American Pavilion has a huge garland made with poinsettias!

It's a very impressive tree!

France and Great Britain are beautifully decorated!

The gardens in Canada are always stunning!

We took our first walk through the new Communicore Hall.

It's all retail space with a small snack bar.  Meh!

It was just beginning to rain as we left the park about 1:00 p.m.  I had scooted out with my ECV to move the car closer for Carol and this monorail crossed over me as I waited for her at our normal pick-up spot. Just as she arrived it started to rain!

It was a rainy afternoon and we were happy to spend it at home with the dogs.  We pulled a couple of tote bins out of the 'basement' storage bays and Carol began to pack up the decorations she displays on the RV dash.

We had planned to head to Chef Art Smith's Florida Homecoming for dinner, but Carol cancelled that reservation and instead we went to Ford's Garage, a beer and burger joint on Vineland Avenue past the Outlet Mall.  It was good, we'll be going back there!

We watched a bit of TV and hit the hay early.

Thursday Nov 21, 2024 - Magic Kingdom - evening carriage ride at Fort Wilderness

Friday Nov 22, 2024

Saturday Nov 23, 2024

Sunday Nov 24, 2024 - we leave Fort Wilderness and head to nearby Titusville for a week at Indian River RV Park.  Hopefully there will be a few launches at Kennedy Spaace Centre directly across the Inland Waterway because we'll have ringside seats!