I admit that my stomach sinks the day that seven-page stapled paper comes home with a science fair project that will consume the next three months. It may be even worse for people like me, and here’s why. Even though it’s not my project, I go straight into my survival-of-the-fittest mode. I pester my kid immediately to work together to come up with the most creative title, the most relevant topic (we had an oil spill project after the Gulf of Mexico disaster), and the most clever graphics. What worked: we ended up having some fun, and he won it all in a large school – twice. What didn’t work: it sucked a lot of time and money. If I had it to do over again: we might try to double the fun, and do all or part of it at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground. Continue reading “Six Swell Science Fair Projects to Do at Fort Wilderness”
Ultimate Fort Wilderness Family Bucket List – Luxury Edition
Last month we looked at ways to deeply enjoy those non-park days at Disney’s Fort Wilderness without spending hardly any money at all. This bucket list has a few similarities to the budget edition, but all of these have a cost, with some being quite substantial. If you do all sixteen of these, you will have spent enough money to buy a small used travel trailer. Continue reading “Ultimate Fort Wilderness Family Bucket List – Luxury Edition”
Yes, There are Cats at Disney World, Too
For many years, I was among the hopeful believers of the legend of the cats at Disney World. The story was that the cats were kept in a magical kitty place in the utilidors, to be let out at night to keep the rats away. But I never saw a cat in the Magic Kingdom – and I looked. Years later, I heard that the cats were really at Disneyland, not at Disney World. When I finally made my way to Disneyland in the 1990s, I spotted two cats in one day. While this was the best Disney day ever, it was also the worst. It confirmed to me that something was terribly wrong in Florida. Continue reading “Yes, There are Cats at Disney World, Too”
Sunday Morning with President Carter: An Extraordinary I-75 Side Trip
My best friend and I had just finished doing back flips on her trampoline (with no net) when she suddenly started calling her dog by the name of “Jimmy Carter.” I insisted that she had just “made this up,” and our argument continued through our dinner of Hamburger Helper. In Georgia, we thought it was a very big deal that we finally had a president, and our common residency somehow made us very special, too. The years went by, my friend moved away, Reagan was elected, and we all grew up and went off to college. In my mind, Jimmy Carter occupied the land of things influential but nearly forgotten – along with Andy Gibb, 45 records, maxi skirts, the gas crisis and my eighth-grade boyfriend. Continue reading “Sunday Morning with President Carter: An Extraordinary I-75 Side Trip”
10 Ways to Get Your Attention-Fix at Disney’s Fort Wilderness
Maybe at home or at work, it’s pretty much all about you. And then you show up one day at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground, and figure out that you are just one in 250,000. I understand – it’s truly a lonely world in a big crowd. So, if you are in dire need of vast attention during your stay at the campground, here are some ideas that will ensure that people will look at you, tweet about you, and write about you on their blogs. The French call these faux pas, and the British reference clangers. In Spain, they are metidas de pata. And in the United States . . . well . . . we call them family.
Continue reading “10 Ways to Get Your Attention-Fix at Disney’s Fort Wilderness”
Quiz: Disney’s Wilderness Lodge – How Much Do You REALLY Know?
Take this 20-question quiz to find out if you know as much as you think you do about one of WDW’s favorite deluxe resorts, Wilderness Lodge. Even though you will likely not get them all correct, you will have inched ever closer to a mastery of both interesting and useless Disney facts.
Continue reading “Quiz: Disney’s Wilderness Lodge – How Much Do You REALLY Know?”
The Subliminal Brilliance of Fort Wilderness: Why Didn’t All Campgrounds Get the Memo?
Let’s ask ourselves why campers flock to Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground, paying premium prices, and sometimes choosing not to even go to the parks. Well, the obvious answer is the proximity to the parks and other resorts. Other easy answers Continue reading “The Subliminal Brilliance of Fort Wilderness: Why Didn’t All Campgrounds Get the Memo?”
On Moving Forward and A View from Georgia’s #1 Campground
I scowled when Captain Bacon reminded me that I was no longer a spring chicken. It didn’t much matter that it was 94 degrees on the third of July, I was going to climb to the top of Stone Mountain. And hopefully, the other six family members would tag along. This was the most recent of our many camping (RV) trips to Georgia’s Stone Mountain, which is an absolute majestic wonder, but deeply scarred by its history as a centerpiece Continue reading “On Moving Forward and A View from Georgia’s #1 Campground”
Ultimate Fort Wilderness Family Bucket List – Budget Edition
I believe that the biggest regret that some guests of the Fort have after leaving is that they didn’t spend enough time just enjoying the campground and surrounding areas. There are really so many unique experiences to enjoy with a family that I prefer to have four days in a week vacation with no parks scheduled. This is extreme for most, but please consider at least two. Of course, part of the fun is making a bucket list of all that you want to achieve Continue reading “Ultimate Fort Wilderness Family Bucket List – Budget Edition”
How Bambi Messed Up My Head and The True Story of Abby Jack Russell
Before 1970, we had to get into my grandma’s attic through a closet hole. It was a tiny and later forgotten hole once my grandfather built the steep wooden stairs. This actually came in handy when some were fighting over my grandparents’ estate around 2000, because I was the only one who vaguely remembered the other passage to the hidden secrets. And I climbed into that narrow hole at 8 months pregnant because I get that crazy about injustice to people (and animals), and found what we were looking for. Continue reading “How Bambi Messed Up My Head and The True Story of Abby Jack Russell”