FW stories?~~

[AllisonG]

I'd love to hear all about peoples magical FW happenings. It's such a special place on Disney grounds.
I know the times I have stayed there I have all sorts of stories.

February, 1995
We're alseep in our tent. It's our year anniversary in dating each other. Our air mattress is flat, deflated on the floor. It's 28º outside and I have to go to the bathroom.
I open the flap to the tent and peer outside. It looks like we're in heaven or something. The fog is so thick I can't see our picnic table and grill. But peeking through the fog and trees you see sun beams shooting through.
I grab a flashlight and start walking in the general direction of the comfort station. I hear scrambling in the bushes and see a Mommy bunny and her 3 babies hopping through the forest.
OK< walking, more noise, I look and theirs a Mommy armadillo and her babies walking through the forest. I also saw a quail Mommy and children that morning. I made it to the bathroom and everything was magical.

It was like Disney planted those animals there just for me to run into. Unreal.

 

[Colleen A.]

I'm not sure if this would be under the 'magical' category, or just 'funny', but here goes!

It was Feb 2000. We were there with our 3 kids, aged 9, 8 and 5 at the time. We were walking up to Pioneer Hall to do the Hoop Dee Doo that evening. DH's sister from Miami had come up and was spending a couple days in Disney with us and she was going as well. As we were walking, my son, 9, see 2 peacocks..."becoming acquainted" with each other...shall we say? Kirk, trying to be a man of the world, says, "Oh, look, they're mating." My daughter, 8, looks over and laughs. She then announces, in a way only a little girl can, "They're not mating...they're just makin' out!" None of us adults knew what to say to her comment, but I think their aunt almost choked! Kids!!

 

[MELSMICE]

I have a magical and a not so magical story:

Magical - Having our cabin decorated each day by our housekeeper, Isabel. She would make animals out of the washcloths & towels. My DD's had all brought their favorite stuffed animals, along with a bag of beanie babies. Every day she would make a new scene for them - one day it was a swimming pool, using a blue plastic bag for the water. My DD's couldn't wait to get back to the room each day to see what surprises waited for them. To this day we keep in contact with Isabel via e-mail & Christmas cards & visit her whenever we are in WDW.

Not So Magical - It was 10 p.m. in the evening. We were leaving early the next morning. We had gone to see the fireworks & just have fun down at Pioneer Hall. Got back to the cabin & DD's were getting ready for bed. All of a sudden DH tells the DD that was sitting on the top bunk bed "not to move". Of course, she moves instantly & sees a lizard (or whatever they are) scurry down the wall. Well, we searched & searched for it because I told DH that I was not sleeping with it in the room. (Of course, it could have been there the entire trip, but I didn't know about it). Anyway, we couldn't find it. I called the front desk & they told me not to worry because they don't hurt you. They also told me they are endangered & they could not kill it anyway. I said to them, "Yeah, right now it is in danger of my husband finding it & he is going to kill it if he does". I told them I wanted another cabin. They were very accommodating. I went up to the front desk. DH packed all the remaining items & at 11 p.m. we moved to another cabin!

To this day DH can't believe I made the whole family move because of that lizard - but I would move again if I knew there was some other creature sleeping with me.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I'm not so sure whether this is "magical" or just an indication of how popular FW is with the little ones. Our first trip was in 1987, when DS #2 was 4 yo (Back then they only had trailer homes, not cabins). He enjoyed the parks, but only for a little while. His constant refrain was "Can I go back to our 'village' now and watch TV?" All he wanted to do was spend the whole week watching the Disney Channel in FW. We have a picture of him sitting on the monorail with his arms folded, pouting, because we were going to another dumb park instead of back to our "village".

 

[DVCDAVE]

Hmmmm.....

Got lots of stories, but here is one.......

Went down in January 1977 with a few college buddies in a rented 25 ft. RV. Did the Sing-a-long at Trails End (they don't have that anymore, at night it used to be a Sing-a-long and make your own Pizza bar)...we had a great time drinking beer and had a lot of fun doing a sing-a-long with a bunch of guys that I always thought were to "he-man" for anything like that. But we had a great time.

On our last day we bought a case of beer, and back then they had trams that went through the campground, and we asked a CM if we could just sit in the last seat and drink beer. He said "fine as long as you don't litter", and thats what we did for three hours.

I'll alway remember my old friend Phil, a State Cop, 6"5" and weighed 275 pounds, running after Mickey Mouse on our first day in the MK, as he saw Mickey signing autographs in the Town Square. What a sight to behold !!! He was 26 years old back then, going on 6. Phil towered over those kids in line !!

Our night at the Hoop-Dee-Doo, we sat down, and the waitress just said, looking at the four of us guys, "I know what you guys want, and I'll be right back".......seconds later she returned with 4 pitchers of beer !!! HA !! HA !!........We gave her a $25 tip that night !!! (back then that was a lot of money)

Very fond memories..........

 

[lindsey]

On our first trip in 1982, we had gotten a late start due to car trouble. We did not get to FW until 11pm. We had to put up the tent with the light from our headlights. It was so funny.

In Aug 1988, we returned to our camper to find a squirrel trying to eat the remaining peanut butter from a jar my mom-in-law had put in the trash bag. We quickly got the camera and took a picture.

 

[clkelley]

I've never arrived at Ft. Wilderness during the day, so putting up my tent in the daylight is something I've never done!!

On my first Ft. Wilderness trip, I arrived about midnite and set up my tent by lantern light, then sat in my lawn chair just enjoying the warm weather, the full moon and watching the armadillos playing around the campsites, I sat there like that till the sun came up, then walked over to the swamp trail to start the day. The beauty and peacefullness of everything just floored me.

My second Ft. Wilderness trip, I arrive about 2 am after driving through pouring rain all the way through Florida. As I pull into the side road going to Ft. Wilderness, I see two deer on the side of the road! Fortunately the rain let up to a mist long enough for me to get my tent and awning up and once again I sat in my chair till it got daylight (no sun, just brighter clouds) watching the rain and watching the armadillos play!

I love Ft. Wilderness!!!