17 Days: Wordless Wednesday, Inside Wilderness Lodge

68 Days: I Lack Adult Supervision

I mean you just innocently go on to check availability for adding a night to your October trip and before you know it you're talking yourself into Wilderness Lodge for that night instead of remaining at Coronado Springs. It's totally the website's fault. And my new friends' of the Small World Club Twitter community. They are, in the words of the lovely Miss Lisa, enablers. Not that she was any sort speed bump, she's just sitting next to me on the couch saying "Oh yeah, that sounds great. Do it!"

I lack adult supervision.

Adult supervision is totally over-rated.

77 Days: #5ThingsINeverDidAtWDW

This hashtag has been floating around Twitter this week and I figured I'd take a stab at it as a blog post. I'm thinking the caveat is that it should include things I haven't done but want to do, so that's how I'm coming at it. These are in the order as they come to me :-)

#1--Kali River Rapids-- We've tried to ride a few times, but the line was longer than we wanted to wait. Also, the lovely Lisa is hesitant to hit this too early as she doesn't want to wander around in wet clothes all day. I'm going to make a concerted effort to fit this in on this trip because I really do love this kind of ride, and I think John would really enjoy it.

#2--Wilderness Lodge-- I hadn't even been to visit the place before our anniversary trip last September, and now that I have it's on my list of have-to-do's. It doesn't enjoy monorail service to the Magic Kingdom, but it the alternative is a BOAT ride!!! I love that, and it reminds me of the Fort Wilderness trips with my family growing up. The resort is absolutely beautiful, too, and seems really tucked away. I think it would make a perfect home base.

I totally want to stay here

#3-- Amphibicar--I mean if I'm going to drive one as my Dream Disney Job someday, I had better ride one first, right?

rest

Amphibicars!!!!

#4-- Victoria and Albert's Chef's Table-- This is quite pricey. We're talking over $200 per person with an additional $100 for wine pairings (and how could you not do the wine pairings?). But this is one of the very best restaurants in Florida if not the nation and with up to 13 courses prepared just for you right in front of you by some of he best chef's in the business, we're really and truly planning to indulge in the experience. Disney Food Blog has a mouth-watering review. 

#5-- Treehouse Villas-- I remember seeing these when they were brand new and they captured the imagination of our family. I had about forgotten them until John and I chanced upon them while cruising the Sassagoula River in a rented boat. If you haven't ever seen these, they are built like treehouses, with the living area in a round, second story space. It's soooo cool. They've apparently been refurbished and are ready to rent as part of the Saratoga Springs resort and Spa. They sleep up to 9, so I'm thinking maybe a trip with my sister and brother-in-law and the kiddos someday....

The best way to tour the Sassgagoula River

The Just Us, No Parks, No Schedule 20th Anniversary 2015 Disney World Trip

This trip was just for us. For my sweety and me. Go ahead, gag, It's ok. She's my sweety though and I'm happy to say so. After 20 years of marriage, we are still very much in love, still enjoy each other's company over others', still giggle over stupid stuff, still love simply being around each other. And where better to be around each other than Walt Disney World?

Spoiler Alert! I got my mug

We even enjoy the car ride. It's a chance to talk :-)

This trip came about in classic Lisa and Jeffrey fashion. I was seeing photos from the newly opened Trader Sam's Grog Grotto and they included a souvenir mug shaped like the Nautilus. I HAD TO have one. We had some friends heading down to Disney World in November so I asked them to try to pick one up for me. But when I told Lisa, she was all like, "Hey, why don't WE go down for our anniversary and get one for you?" The boy told us since it was our anniversary trip, we should go without him. And so the Just Us, No Parks, No Schedule Disney Anniversary Weekend 2015 was born.

We always leave the driving to Disney

Lisa and I grew up in Pennsylvania, so the novelty of being able to leave home at breakfast time and eat dinner in Disney World has never worn off. And probably it won't ever, to be honest. We packed up, took the boy to the bus stop (it was raining) and left the island by 7:00. After a new-GPS-inspired detour to the Kissimmee DMV office, we found Pop Century Resort and were walking in the front doors by about 5:00. We had a plan to do the monorail bar tour Friday night, bum around the pool Saturday morning then hit the brand spanking new Jack Lindsey's Hanger Bar for lunch and cocktails, then have a look around Wilderness Lodge before our 7:30 Artist's Point ADRs and hopefully catching the electrical water pageant from the Wilderness Lodge beach. That was the extent of our plans. They included no parks and only one dining reservation, and that only because we wanted to make sure of a table at a nice place for a sort of anniversary celebration dinner. And this all
worked out PERFECTLY!

Having the window seat meant Lisa was on photo duty

We're on a boat!!!!!!

In the coming days and weeks I'll be blogging about all the different aspects of our trip. For now the short version is this--we completed the monorail bar tour including drinking with a retired Imagineer and experiencing Trader Sam's complete with Nautilus mug, we chilled at the pool reading books, we explored the new Hanger Bar, we loved Wilderness Lodge and Artist Point, we saw both the fireworks and water parade from the beach, and we got some very relaxed shopping time in at Downtown Disney before leaving in time to arrive home by 10:00 pm Sunday night.

We spent about 20 hours driving and pretty much exactly 46 on Disney property. There are those who

Jock Lindsey's Hanger Bar is PERFECT

would think that nuts. But for us it was a dream. We relaxed and unwound after a crazy summer, we enjoyed each other's company talking and laughing our way from doorstep to doorstep, we took a ton of photos, we people watched, we ate and drank without worrying about a DD, we rode the monorail and several different boats, we tried out a new resort and quite a few new bars and restaurants. We simply had a ball doing what WE wanted to do when we wanted to do it.....together.

People can decide to celebrate a big milestone anniversary many ways.

We chose wisely.