Bricker Family Disney World Trip Report – Pt 1
Our most recent trip to Walt Disney World was a return visit with my parents, which we decided to take in lieu of having a family Christmas together. Although it stunk to not see family over the holidays, I think they were excited about the prospect of escaping the ‘lake effect snow machine’ of Southwest Michigan for a week.
I’ve mentioned this several times on the blog, but they’re the ones who got me into Disney fandom, with annual spring trips beginning in the 1980s. So, if there’s anyone you want to blame for this blog, direct your ire towards them.
During the early days of those family trips, camping at Fort Wilderness was our go-to option. Given that and because we’d need a larger room or two rooms, we decided to book a cabin at Fort Wilderness. It seemed like our best option from a size, price, and atmosphere perspective…
We arrived at Walt Disney World before my parents, who had approximately 15 layovers en route, and went directly to the cabin (love the new online check-in process). This was our first time staying in the cabins since they’ve been redone, and I was mostly a fan of the changes.
The loss of the Murphy bed was a bummer (unless you don’t have to sleep on the pull-out couch!), but almost every other change was a positive, and it’s a huge net positive, I think. I’ll update our Fort Wilderness review soon (we have much more to refresh based on our experiences this trip), but for now, here are a few photos of the cabin…
Since we had about an hour to kill, we opted to stay in the ‘Wilderness’ region for dinner rather than making the trek over to Gasparilla Island Grill at Grand Floridian, which is what we really wanted.
We chose Territory Lounge at Wilderness Lodge. This is one of those places we really enjoy, in large part for its ambiance. The menu seems to change quite a bit, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse.
Relatively recent changes include the removal of the chicken lollipops, chips & dip, and standalone truffle fries. However, the addition of the nachos is a plus.
The gourmet burger now includes truffle fries, and this was a fine option, I guess. The burger itself was tasty, albeit small, but the fries left a lot to be desired. (Let’s just say this won’t be dethroning the burger and truffle fries at Crew’s Cup Lounge anytime soon.)
We returned to Fort Wilderness and my parents had just arrived, so we sat and chatted with them for a bit. No longer living in the Midwest, we don’t see them nearly as much, so it was nice to catch up.
The next day we started out by doing brunch at Trail’s End. I haven’t reviewed this yet, and am not sure I will. It’s only offered on weekends, and is basically just a mix of the breakfast and dinner buffets.
If you’re curious about it, you could just read our separate breakfast and dinner reviews and have a pretty solid idea of what to expect. (Josh at easyWDW has a good review of brunch if you “need” more info.)
On the other hand, I could copy and paste liberally from my other reviews and have some new content with only a few minutes’ worth of effort! 😉
I was a big fan of this brunch. The cost was only $23, which actually might be cheaper than breakfast (a few readers reported a price increase for breakfast starting in 2017, but I’m not sure if this was just a seasonal change).
I could see Disney raising prices for breakfast and dinner but forgetting to do so for the brunch since it flies under the radar.
In any case, it’s (at most) $3 more than breakfast and $5+ cheaper than dinner. Given that it has all breakfast items on it and some of my favorite dinner items, I consider this a significant victory.
Additionally, servers throughout the restaurant were encouraging guests to linger, as they’d be switching over to the full dinner spread around 11 a.m. (YMMV on this, brunch is ‘officially’ supposed to run until like 2 p.m.)
After this, we stopped into Settlement Trading Post. Fort Wilderness’ merchandise game has been strong for the last couple of years, which is great to see.
It has perhaps the most resort-specific merchandise of anywhere at Walt Disney World.
My parents didn’t have tickets for everyday of the trip, so we decided to do Disney Springs the first day. They haven’t been since it was converted from Downtown Disney, so I was curious to hear how they felt about it.
This would be the fourth iteration (with Walt Disney World Village and Disney Village Marketplace being the other two) of this area they’d experience.
Back when I was young, my mom was a fairly enthusiastic planner for these annual trips, regularly reading guidebook and keeping apprised of changes.
The levels of obsession the internet has bred have put planners like her to shame, but my point is that she was pretty ‘into’ Walt Disney World in the 1990s.
I share this as context, because I’ll share their (mostly just her, really) take on things throughout the report.
I think it’s interesting to view Walt Disney World from a different perspective, and she’s now removed from the Disney scene as compared to us, and probably as compared to most people reading this.
One of our first stops after wandering around a little was D-Luxe Burger, which we’ve already reviewed separately. (Spoiler: we love it.)
I think she generally liked the changes (then again, she loves to shop). She bought nearly the entire selection of Orange Bird merchandise at Marketplace Co-Op, and really liked several of the 28 & Main designs.
This was definitely a much better, and more relaxed, shopping experience for them than World of Disney, which was overwhelming.
My dad was less enthusiastic about Disney Springs, and I’m guessing its size a big part of that (also, he hates shopping). His interest was piqued by the Boathouse and he really liked Jock Lindsay’s.
He’s normally pretty…let’s go with ‘stoic’…but his face lit up and he became pretty talkative when we went inside Jock Lindsay’s. He was a pilot, and all of the decor inside was fascinating to him. It was also (presumably) authentic, because he kept telling us about different things, what they’d do, etc.
Without question, Marketplace Co-Op, the Boathouse, and Jock Lindsay’s were the highlights of Disney Springs for both of them, despite us not dining at either of the restaurants. (This was a mistake–we should’ve done both.)
The day we were at Disney Springs, it was the official opening of Paddlefish; we briefly debated going before deciding not to subject my parents to Disney bloggers in the wild. I don’t think they would’ve been quite prepared for that.
After wandering Disney Springs for a bit, we decided to take a boat ride on the internal transportation. We didn’t really need to get anywhere, but it was a fairly hot day.
There also isn’t a ton of shade in Disney Springs, so this was basically a reprieve from the heat. Sarah and I had actually never done this, and I was pleased to see that it was pretty efficient–and relaxing.
Dinner that night was at Planet Hollywood Observatory; for those keeping score at home, this was our second table service and third overall meal of the day. If you’ve read our new review, you already know Planet Hollywood went…
After dinner, they were already exhausted, so they opted to head back to Fort Wilderness to go to bed. It was only around 6 p.m. at that point, so Sarah and I stayed out, wandering Disney Springs more before heading to Old Key West. We’ll pick up there on Page 2–and also cover our evening visit to Magic Kingdom.
I LOVE how much you guys get done in a single day! Brunch, DS exploring, MK…that’s the kind of time maximizing I truly appreciate!
As someone who was born and raised in NY…but is a Seahawks fan…I guess you could guess how I feel about the Patriots. I actually think Belichick is an excellent coach with amazing systems. I do think Brady is overrated and limited in his specific skills sets, and what he does excel at just happens to fit well into Belichick’s system. I’m actually pretty ambivalent toward Deflategate (the Seahawks–aka Russell Wilson–lost that game for themselves), but as a recently transplant to the South Shore of Boston (15 minutes away from Gillette Stadium), it is absolutely INFURIATING to listen to radio announcers who say “any player can get hurt, including Brady, and they’re still guaranteed to be in next year’s SB.” I’ve never met a market that is so purely nonobjective about literally every facet of their home teams. I’ve heard MINORLY critical statements about the Bruins, but Celtics, Red Sox, and especially the most holy precious Pats? NEVER!
Patriots fan here! (born, raised and still live just south of Boston) I love this report, your memories of Walt Disney World and family vacations at Ft. Wilderness are almost mirror images of my own. I am 35 now and spent 10 days every February of my childhood at WDW and almost all of them camping in my Grandparents camper in the 100 or 200 Loop or a cabin. I miss the days of River Country and riding around in the golf cart with my family. This Trip Report has been one I have been waiting to read for a while!
So nice to “meet” your parents 🙂
“He’s normally pretty…let’s go with ‘stoic’…” LOL. I want to know about this man who raised one of Disney’s most premier bloggers.
Your report reminds me of when I brought my stepfather to Disneyland. He grew up on a farm in Italy during WWII, the youngest of 9 siblings. A fairly stoic fella as well. At 70 years old, he had never been to a Disney park. Both he and my mother arrived before my family–and I remember being so worried as to how he would take to all the Disney “magic.” When we finally met up, he was wearing Mickey ears, lanyard round neck, and ice-cream in hand. He took to it like a fish in water 🙂 Six months later he unexpectedly passed away, but that trip will always be one of my sweetest memories.
I LOVE this image of your dad, brought a smile to my face thinking about how cool it must have been to see him with Mickey ears and ice cream during this first Disney trip!
That’s an awesome story, and it sounds like a really great memory. My dad is also normally really quiet, but one of the things we also enjoys is pin trading. Seems somewhat odd, but whatever works!
Another football remark! I feel your pain with the Lions, because I live in Minnesota, and my heart gets broken every year. Now I’m a big Packer fan:)
Love your report so far. You see, we are the parents that go with the kids sometimes. Nice to see it through anothers eyes. We can relate with going back to the resort to rest early each evening, as we just wear out quicker, but still Love WDW:) Also always enjoy your beautiful pictures, thank you so much, they are appreciated!
Big fan of the blog. Big HATER of the Patriots (sadly, a Bills fan). HUGE supporter of taking kids out of school for Florida vacations!!! If we vacationed during spring break, the cost would easily double or more and crowd levels would be insane. As another person put it, family time comes first. I hope to make the same memories with my children as my parents made with me, going back to our late 70’s / early 80’s west coast FL and WDW trips. Those memories easily outweigh learning about the Klondike… referring to the region of the Yukon territory, not the delicious ice cream treat.
Good to hear it was learning about the region; if you missed out on the lesson plan that covered ice cream, I honestly don’t know how you could get by in life. 😉
Thank you for another fun trip report to read. We live in Northern California and pull our three kids out of school for a week at Disneyland every other year. They are given independent study work, but the teachers are always fine with them missing a week for Disney. Even in high school. Our school district lets all kids have 10 days of independent study a year, so it is pretty easy to arrange. We find taking time off from their sports can be a bit challenging, but it is worth it to go in September or May.
From what you write about Old Key West and your pictures, I almost want to stay there some day as badly as the Poly. It looks like such a nice place to enjoy family time.
“Our school district lets all kids have 10 days of independent study a year, so it is pretty easy to arrange.”
I’ve never heard of this (I also don’t keep tabs on the latest “school news”) but it’s awesome. Enabling kids to travel, learn on their own, etc., seems very empowering to me, and a great approach by the schools.
“I’ve mentioned this several times on the blog, but they’re the ones who got me into Disney fandom, with annual spring trips beginning in the 1980s. So, if there’s anyone you want to blame for this blog, direct your ire towards them.”
Such a truthful statement that can be applied to so many of us crazed Disney lovers. I can say the same for my parents…it’s not even our fault! Having a crazy obession with Disney was basically not even a choice for myself and my siblings!
A Lions fan! I feel your pain, annually. My first Lions game was an exhibition in, I believe, 1971. It was in Michigan Stadium, and was the great Alex Karras’ last game. He stuck around that year to play in that game because George Plimpton quarterbacked one play for the opposition (I forget who the other team was!). (Anyone who doesn’t know George Plimpton, or any football fan who hasn’t read it, get a copy of “Paper Lion” and enjoy!) In any case, on that one play the defense just let Karras through the line untouched, and he creamed Plimpton. What fun!
I have lived in Chiefs’ country for nearly 40 years, and the experience is much like being a Lions’ fan, except that the Chiefs’ fans usually have more reason to be optimistic, so the let-down is perhaps greater.
A Lions fan! I feel your pain, annually. My first Lions game was an exhibition in, I believe, 1971. It was in Michigan Stadium, and was the great Alex Karras’ last game. He stuck around that year to play in that game because George Plimpton quarterbacked one play for the opposition (I forget who the other team was!). (Anyone who doesn’t know George Plimpton, or any football fan who hasn’t read it, get a copy of “Paper Lion” and enjoy!) In any case, on that one play the defense just let Karras through the line untouched, and he creamed Plimpton. What fun!
I have lived in Chiefs’ country for nearly 40 years, and the experience is much like being a Lions’ fan, except that the Chiefs’ fans usually have more reason to be optimistic, so the let-down is perhaps greater.
A shout out from Southwest Michigan! Who knew I lived so close to a famous person’s parents LOL! I really want to stay at Key West sometime. I fell in love with the look of the resort when we floated past on the boat heading to (then) Downtown Disney from POFQ. Your reviews make me want to stay there even more. I’m looking forward to reading more of your report.
We quite often visit Disney with my parents for at least part of the trip so I was really interested in reading your report and how it would change your dynamic, love the “Disney bloggers in the wild” quote. Really looking forward to the rest of your report!
GO PATS!!!!! Oh…sorry…was there something non-football/Super Bowl/most AMAZING comeback of all time ever in the history of the world in this post? I’ll try to focus more on the next one 😀
Love your blog and looking forward to reading the rest of this report. My hatred for the Patriots is tempered by the fact that I’m a Giants fan and they seem to have a block about beating us in the big game ;-). However, as a Yankees fan, I am required to hate all teams that share general fan base with the Red Sox…The Patriots aren’t special, they share my hatred with The Bruins and Celtics.
I just did a WDW trip with my parents & siblings for the first time in a decade for the Disney Princess Half. I’d done a few trips with friends and solo over the past year, but it was great to reintroduce them to The World after so long away!
Why do you two have the same dopey smiles in every photo?
Is the cabin at Firt Wilderness 1 or 2 bedrooms? Wondered about sharing with 4 adults. Very much enjoyed reading your wtite-up, as always.
It is a one bedroom (queen bed / bunk beds in there), one bathroom, and one common area… the common area has its own pull-out couch. We’ve stayed here as 6 adults … it was a bit tight.
If you want separate bedrooms the family suites at the Art of Animation are better for you!
1 bedroom the queen bed and bunk beds in it. There used to be a Murphy bed in the living room but they got rid of it and have a pullout couch now.
So these digital arrival times boards… are they at every resort? And at every they at the bus stops over in the parks too?
They are at most (if not all) of the resorts; but I have not seen them at the park bus stops.
I went to WDW for the first time in 1980, when I was 4. My parents had no idea what a Disney monster they were creating. The three of us still go, now multiple times a year. Some of my beds family memories are from the earlier days of WDW.
Also- lifelong Bostonian and Pats fan. We know it’s envy, not hatred. We like to say, “they hate us cause they ain’t us!” LOL.
Sorry, that should have been best, not beds!
Excited for this trip report, Tom. I’m with you on the Patriots. I actually really admire (and very jealous) of their organization’s consistency – especially with my Chargers leaving San Diego. Can’t wait for the next installment of your trip!
-Michael
It has been interesting watching all of the drama with the NFL in SoCal play out. It seems like Angelenos now have 2 teams they don’t really care about, while the one team they did care about ended up in Las Vegas. (Raiders to Vegas makes sense to me as an outsider, I will say.)
I won’t say the whole thing was bungled…but there had to have been a better result than this.
I can’t believe you’d risk alienating sensitive readers by declaring your stance on the Patriots! Your reasoning is just so, well, reasonable! 😉
Haha, I’m guessing most people reading this don’t really care about my take on football. (Which begs the question…why include it in the first place? Eh, why do I include most of the obscure pop culture references or half the stuff I write about? Who knows.) 😉
I care about your take on the football, and more importantly the Patriots. I don’t hate them either. I just like that when they play against my team in the Super Bowl, they don’t win.
Signed,
A NY Giants fan.
I don’t hate the Pats. I think Gronk and Bennett are fantastic. I dislike Brady and Belichick because both are considered the best of the game yet both blatantly cheated. I have no tolerance for people who cheat to be held up as the pinnacle of a sport. GOAT? Someone who spies on other teams and someone who purposefully alters game equipment shouldn’t be remotely near the GOAT conversation. Just like I can’t tell my kid that Barry Bonds was the greatest home run hitter, I can’t tell my kid that Brady and Belichick should be idolized or respected.
As a parent who first brought her children to WDW in 1973, I feel they became lifelong fans as a result of early exposure to the World (one theme park, three hotels in those days). In fact, on that first trip, my seven year old son missed a few days of school and was required to come back with a report (we drove from NJ and made numerous stops).
Reading your “report” on this trip with your parents made me nostalgic. At the end of April and after Thanksgiving, one of my sons will join us at Port Orleans. While making new memories, we will discuss old ones. We’re not together the entire day, as age has crept up on me, so we meet for meals and at other times of the day. We’ll call it a night a lot earlier than they do. But as you know, the time spent together is priceless. Sounds like you felt the same. Can’t wait to read part 2 Tom.
I regularly missed school for our family vacations; it’s interesting to me that pulling kids out of school is practically heresy now. It’s a topic I now tend to avoid because I’m not a parent so I “don’t know what I’m talking about” (or so I hear).
I will say that I recall more from traveling to Florida and National Parks with my parents than what I was taught in school. And look at how well I turned out…I have my VERY OWN DISNEY BLOG! 😉
I’m a teacher. Not only do I recommend parents take their children out of school for family trips but I also don’t give homework. There is more to life than academia. Children will remember a trip more than a discussion on the solar system. Both are important but family time should come first on occasion.
When I was a kid we did our annual Disneyland trip Sunday of Columbus Day weekend and would drive home on the holiday. My Dad as a state worker got the holiday then and had a CSEA discount. When I Iived in Ventura we had the day off, but after we moved to the Sacramento area we no longer did so I expected no trip.
The first year we lived up here on that Friday my teacher deliberately gave the class no homework and gave me a winking “have fun” as I left. When my brother and I got home Dad was home from work early, bags were packed and we were headed down to Disneyland. My teacher knew.
Thanks for the trip report, Tom!! Can’t wait for the rest! I love that you guys can still visit WDW with your parents!! I have young kids (elementary-middle school) and pull them out of school (with a notice to their teachers) every year for our family trips. They rarely miss school otherwise. My husband is a boat captain and doesn’t work a “normal” schedule. We would not be able to vacation as a family if we weren’t able to take them out of school. I see no problem with it, but I’m biased lol.
I work in the school system and I have no problem with parents pulling their kids out of school for vacation. Family time should always come first.
I am a teacher and I pull myself and my child out of school for a week or so every year for a Disney trip. As a teacher, I can’t afford to travel during peak times. I also think we both get a lot of educational value out of our trips. I wish I could take my students with me and expose them to the amazing things we’ve been able to see and do. Unfortunately, most of them have never been anywhere. Their parents can’t afford it. I try to show them how important their education is if they want to have the resources to travel later in life!
My parents never took me to Disney as a child. They couldn’t afford it. My first trip was at 21. I am to blame for my own love of Disney. I have taken my parents to WDW though. My dad’s face when he entered the Magic Kingdom is one of my favorite memories ever!