TBT: Walt Disney World November 2011, Part 1

By Nick

Back before I blogged, I participated regularly in the DVC News Forums where I would post trip reports, such as this one from November of 2011. Any current commentary will be in italics.

PART 1 : 11/11/11

Who?
Me, my wife, Barbie, and our friend's Josh and Jill.
Where?
The Cabin's at Fort Wilderness.

Friday, November 11th:

We flew into Orlando from Philly, and took Magical Express to Fort Wilderness, checked in, and proceeded to our cabin.

We were in cabin 2768, which is very close to the main road, and one of the many bus stops throughout the grounds.
It is also a fairly short walk to the Outpost Depot, which is where you get a bus to Downtown Disney and all the parks except the Magic Kingdom, which is reached by boat.

Our cabin:







You walk into the kitchen area straight ahead.



To the right is the living room. There is a Murphy bed, which is where my wife and I slept.





This is very comfortable, perhaps more comfortable than other resorts beds. It is a double however, so some may find it a little small.
The hallway.



The bathroom. I felt the water pressure was also better than some resorts.



The bedroom.



A couple of things of note. I think this may have been one of the cleanest and most well kept of the rooms we've stayed in! Mouse Keeping was exceptional.

Also, one of the things I got the most feedback about, was the bus service. Many suggested we rent a car, but our friends decided that wasn't necessary. The bus service was the best of any other resort we've stayed at, with the exception of one late evening, after returning via boat from the Magic Kingdom, when we had to wait about 20 minutes for a bus. Even the internal bus service was often arriving just as we would approach both our local bus stop or the main Outpost stop. On only a couple of occasions was a bus not at the ready, and we opted to simply walk either to the main depot, or our cabin.

The pools, we did not try, but our friends enjoyed the heated quiet pool and hot tub.

Me, my wife, and our friends all agree, we would absolutely stay at the cabins again.

A big thank you to Jill for getting the interior pics for us after we left, mine didn't come out very well.

We dropped off our bags, and headed right to Epcot for some Food and Wine.
Josh, my wife Barbie, and Jill.



The weather was absolutely perfect. The Christmas decorations were already appearing, and the Christmas loops were playing.



Loved the Lamp Chop from Australia.



2 other great choices were the Steak Taco and Flan from Mexico.



Just so-so were the ravioli's from Italy.






We got our pics with Beauty and the Beast. I'd never even seen the Beast there before! We didn't get one picture where we were all looking at the same camera, as the PhotoPass person, Josh and Jill were all taking pics at the same time. 

I did a post about this, which can be found here.



A Torontopolitan from a cart in front of Canada.



Having made our way around World Showcase, we headed for Future World, and rode Imagination and the Seas With Nemo, and explored the Seas.
By now, it was almost time to head back to World Showcase. We were attending the 3D Dessert party, which was at 8PM.
On the way there, we ran into a co-worker of my wife, Mary! From New Jersey! And this wouldn't be the only time!!
.
The Dessert party:

We lined up about 730, and were admitted not to soon afterwards. We waited in front of a curtain, which was parted at 8, and all rushed for tables, which really wasn't necessary, as there were plenty.
I picked out a table, and next to our table was Barbie's co-worker, Mary! What are the odds?!



The room was beautiful.







There was an excellent live band playing songs such as "Sweet Caroline", "Sweet Child of Mine", "Sweet Home Alabama", you get the picture.



There was a lot of drink choices, coffees, teas, and many adult beverages, wine, punches, etc., and our favorite, the DeKuyper liquors.





There was also a savory station of dried meats and cheeses, as well as fruit.

Sadly the most disappointing thing about the dessert party were the desserts.



The best thing, and almost worth the price of admission alone, was the Flambeed Cinnamon Doughnuts with Red Stag Infused Sundried Cherries served with Red Stag Ice Cream.





Most of the rest of the desserts were fairly pedestrian. We all agreed the dessert trio from the Food and Wine Dessert and Champagne Booth was far superior.

At about 930, there was an announcement that we would be going to the Illuminations viewing area, located between the 2 shops at the entrance of World Showcase. On the way out, we were each handed a gift bag with a Merci Chocolate assortment, as well as some other goodies. We were also provide special glasses that made small Mickey heads out of the fireworks.



All in all, it was absolutely worth experiencing once, but we agreed we wouldn't do it again.

Please stop back next Thursday for Part 2!