A Whole New World, A Whole New Life! -- A Jan-Feb-Mar 2015 TR -- *COMPLETED* 9/29

[KathyM2]

Sounds like another fun day. Once again, I love that you can stop and do a couple of shows and just take your time doing everything. I've never sat through the whole show for the drummers or the acrobats and both sound good! Mission Space is a ride I want to go on but have always been afraid of motion sickness. Does the less intense side move at all or does it just seem like it's moving because you are watching the screen? So like if you close your eyes you don't feel like you are moving? I do that sometimes on Soarin if I start to feel motion sick! So I was wondering if it's the same lol. I also LOVE the land!! You notice something different every time...or maybe they actually do change it often lol

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Sounds like another fun day. Once again, I love that you can stop and do a couple of shows and just take your time doing everything. I've never sat through the whole show for the drummers or the acrobats and both sound good! Mission Space is a ride I want to go on but have always been afraid of motion sickness. Does the less intense side move at all or does it just seem like it's moving because you are watching the screen? So like if you close your eyes you don't feel like you are moving? I do that sometimes on Soarin if I start to feel motion sick! So I was wondering if it's the same lol. I also LOVE the land!! You notice something different every time...or maybe they actually do change it often lol

Mission Space is tons of fun! The less intense version does move, but it's more like a side to side thing, and it isn't constant. I've never heard of anyone experiencing real motion sickness on the less intense version.

Hi friends! I know I've been absent again this week. Since we've gotten back nothing has gone quite as expected, and we're going through some more life changes and whatnot. I would still love to continue with this trip report, even at the snail's pace I seem to be moving at, if you guys are still interested in reading! I haven't really gotten any response lately, so I'm not sure if anyone is really reading this, other than a couple of people. So, if you're still out there and would like to continue on this journey with me, please let me know! If there are more than 5 of you out there, I will gladly keep putting out updates. If not, than I might put this thing on hold for a while. Also, I wanted to know what I could do to make this report better! I've never written a trip report before, so I;m not exactly sure what it should be like. Let me know if you would like more detail, less detail, more tips, if you would like to know more about something we did, if you want more pictures, less pictures, stuff like that! I'm writing this for you guys, so I want your input! Thank you!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Hey Shannon! Your trip report thread has gotten more than 27,000 views! Your story is also one of my all-time favorite trip reports. It is so cool that you guys were able to spend three whole months at WDW. You lived a dream that most of us can only imagine. I thought your trip report was going great just the way it was. The only thing I would change is that I wish you were able to update it a little more often, but I understand you're really busy. I don't know of any rules for how a trip report is supposed to be. You get to do it your own way, and that's part of the fun. It's a reflection of who you are, and that's what makes it special.

I have no idea why more people haven't been commenting, especially given that so many have viewed it. But please, do continue! Also curious what you all have been doing since you got back from the trip. Will your family buy another house, or are you continuing in the more mobile mode?

To all the other readers out there -- please say something to give Shannon some encouragement, and let her know we'd like to read more.

 

[okiedisnut]

Hi Shannon---love your trip report!!! Please keep posting updates!!!!

 

[pfitter2]

We're here, Shannon. We don't often comment, but if you post it, we'll read it. I usually pick 4 to 6 reports to follow, and the "Disney Freak" name has been an eye magnet since the "Frumps" a few years ago. So......your name got me to look, but your writing keeps me coming back. Good job!

 

[KathyM2]

I'm here too!!! Love reading about life as a long term resident of FW!!

 

[RDawn]

Please keep up this post. I appreciate you sharing such a special WDW experience. I also agree that we would enjoy hearing what your family has done since you got home. Thank you! I'm quite happy with the way you have been reporting. It's awesome to read that you popped into MK just to ride Buzz.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Help save Shannon's trip report!

If at least one more person responds, that would be enough people that this trip report would keep going!

 

[15isto2]

I only found your report last night and am really enjoying it, please keep going.
Also... any chance of some pics inside the RV, would really be interested in seeing how you live,

 

[WDWCP96]

I am here as well. Jealous that you were able to spend so much time at Disney and the Fort. Would love to see your families camper as well. We are heading down again in June and excited to stay at the Fort again.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Yay, that's already seven people who responded! Shannon, looking forward to your next update, when you get a chance!

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Hey Shannon! Your trip report thread has gotten more than 27,000 views! Your story is also one of my all-time favorite trip reports. It is so cool that you guys were able to spend three whole months at WDW. You lived a dream that most of us can only imagine. I thought your trip report was going great just the way it was. The only thing I would change is that I wish you were able to update it a little more often, but I understand you're really busy. I don't know of any rules for how a trip report is supposed to be. You get to do it your own way, and that's part of the fun. It's a reflection of who you are, and that's what makes it special.

I have no idea why more people haven't been commenting, especially given that so many have viewed it. But please, do continue! Also curious what you all have been doing since you got back from the trip. Will your family buy another house, or are you continuing in the more mobile mode?

To all the other readers out there -- please say something to give Shannon some encouragement, and let her know we'd like to read more.

Hi Shannon---love your trip report!!! Please keep posting updates!!!!

We're here, Shannon. We don't often comment, but if you post it, we'll read it. I usually pick 4 to 6 reports to follow, and the "Disney Freak" name has been an eye magnet since the "Frumps" a few years ago. So......your name got me to look, but your writing keeps me coming back. Good job!

I'm here too!!! Love reading about life as a long term resident of FW!!

Please keep up this post. I appreciate you sharing such a special WDW experience. I also agree that we would enjoy hearing what your family has done since you got home. Thank you! I'm quite happy with the way you have been reporting. It's awesome to read that you popped into MK just to ride Buzz.

Help save Shannon's trip report!

If at least one more person responds, that would be enough people that this trip report would keep going!

I only found your report last night and am really enjoying it, please keep going.
Also... any chance of some pics inside the RV, would really be interested in seeing how you live,

I am here as well. Jealous that you were able to spend so much time at Disney and the Fort. Would love to see your families camper as well. We are heading down again in June and excited to stay at the Fort again.

Yay, that's already seven people who responded! Shannon, looking forward to your next update, when you get a chance!

Thank all of you guys so much! I'm so glad you're all here, and I look forward to continuing this for all of you who responded and also all of those who are just reading along! Thank you for your understanding, and for the kind words. I plan on giving some sort of real life update tomorrow since more than one of you has asked what we've been doing since we've gotten back. I would have done this sooner, but we only just recently actually figured out what our next steps are! After that I will continue with regular updates, trying my best to put them out as often as possible! Thanks for sticking with me through this, for being interested in our adventure, and for putting up with my inconsistency. Your support means a lot to me. I would say that updates would become more regular once things settle down, but I honestly have no idea when that will be. So for now, stay tuned for more sporadic updating!

 

[RDawn]

Shannon, I appreciate your efforts! It sounds to me like you are putting a lot of pressure on yourself to keep a regular schedule for this trip report. Don't stress & post when you are able. We all understand life's little interruptions Thanks again.

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Some of you have asked to see what what our RV looks like on the inside, and also to know what we've been up to since we got back! So, here are some photos of our house on wheels.
The dining/living room area:

The kitchen:

And the bedrooms:



That kind of gives you the basic idea of what it's like on the inside.
As for what we've been up to since Florida, that will take a little explaining. We had an amazing time traveling and living in Florida for 3 months. Like, it was seriously close to the best 3 months of our lives. But the thing is we have so much family and friends back here at home, and it was really hard to be away, even though some family did come to visit for a couple of weeks. By the end of our time, we were all a little homesick, especially Mom. So, when we got back we had to decide - did we want to continue with this lifestyle of traveling and being away, or did we want to stay with our family and friends. In the end we decided that it would be too hard to be continually leaving and coming back, especially because 2 of my sisters are pregnant. Since we wouldn't be traveling around, it didn't make sense to keep living in RV. We have since put the RV up for sale, and someone is actually buying it next week. The next step is to find a new house to live in, which is a new adventure all in itself. Until we find a place, we'll be staying with our brother Nathan!
So, it's not exactly the outcome we expected going into this. We're obviously a little disappointed that it didn't work out like we thought it would, but we always knew it was just an experiment. We do plan on buying a smaller RV to use for shorter trips and vacations once we buy a house, though, so we will most likely definitely be back at the Fort in the future!​

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Thanks for the glimpse inside the RV! I think things worked out great for you and your family. You all must be really good at getting along with each other in such a small living space. It's awesome that you had the three months at WDW!!! But I think it's also awesome that you will be getting another house and living near the rest of your family again. What a great plan to get a smaller RV so you can live in a house but still have occasional shorter RV trips. That is truly the best of both worlds. You are very blessed to have such a large and caring extended family. I think your dad's RV experiment was a success because you guys got to enjoy the three months at WDW. Your next adventure of getting a new house is also something to celebrate. Congratulations on both! Life is good!

 

[KathyM2]

Wow, that RV is amazing!! But yes, I imagine being away so much is hard even when you are having so much fun. It's great that you got to have that experience though. And now just a new chapter but you'll still get to do lots of travelling by the sounds of it...maybe just for shorter trips.

 

[DisneyFreak98]

We got up this morning to get to Hollywood Studios at 8:30 for 9:00 opening. We were meeting Scott and Sarah and Amy and Jack there! We got ready and got all our stuff packed and headed out around 8:00. We didn't have to wait too long for buses, and we made it to the park at just about 8:30. Scott and Sarah were already there, and we were happy to see each other!

The kids were so excited to tell us all about their day at Magic Kingdom yesterday. The things they talked about the most were how much they loved the Buzz Lightyear ride, and how much they hated the Haunted Mansion. Apparently it was a little too scary for them! Amy and Jack showed up after about 10 minutes, and everyone had a good time catching up. We discussed our plans for the day, and we decided that we would head to Toy Story Mania first, then do Tower of Terror and Rock N' Rollercoaster. We would just kind of go from there and base the rest of the day on some showtimes.
They let us into the park about 10 minutes early, and we were off to TSM! We had FastPasses for later, but we still went there first so we could ride it twice. We got to the ride pretty quickly, and thankfully it was actually open this time! We only had to wait 5-10 minutes, which was so nice.

We had a great ride, and the kids really loved it! I got a new high score of 195,600, which I was very proud of.
After the ride we headed over towards Sunset Boulevard to ride ToT and RNR. We did Rock N' Rollercoaster first, and I sat out with the kids. We just sat outside and had a snack. The wait was only about 15 minutes, so it didn't take too long. It was Jack's first time riding, and he ended up really liking it!

After that we had FP's for Tower that were good, so we went ahead and used those! Scott and Sarah aren't big fans of that ride, so they walked around the shops with the kids. Travis and I went with them, too, and everyone else rode.

That's them in the back right corner. The guy in front is blocking Mom and Amy's faces, but that's okay.
When they got off it was about 10:00, and we decided to head over to Star Tours. James likes to watch the Clone Wars show on TV, so he was very excited for the Star Wars ride! Maddie is too short to ride, so Mom stayed out with her. The sign said the wait was 20 minutes, but once we got in line we quickly saw that it would be a bit longer than that. It ended up taking close to 40 minutes, which was okay except for the fact that we felt bad leaving Mom and Maddie alone for so long. We did get on, though, and we had a great ride! James ended up loving it, and the whole simulator thing didn't seem to bother him at all.
We got off the ride and met back up with Mom and Maddie. We apologized for taking so long, but they had had a great time just hanging out. They had looked around the store, sat outside, and got some cute pictures on the speeder bike!

After that we decided to head over to the Great Movie Ride! We made our way over there, and we only had to wait about 20 minutes.

We had a nice ride, and the kids seemed to enjoy it. The Alien part didn't scare them too much, which was good. Once we got off we decided to go over to see Muppet Vision. So, we headed over there and only had to wait about 10 minutes until the next show started.

The show was cute as usual, and the kids thought it was pretty funny. It was after 12:00 once we got out of the show, so we decided to get lunch at Pizza Planet, which was right there. We got inside, everyone decided what they wanted, then some of us went upstairs to find a couple of tables while the rest stayed behind to order the food. It wasn't too busy inside, so we found a couple of tables with no problem. James and Maddie really love Toy Story, so they were loving the theme inside the restaurant!

They came up with the food in just a few minutes, and we all dug in! Everyone got pizza except for Maddie, who got the kids power pack lunch. The power pack is a box filled with little snack things, such as a granola bar, a yogurt, some crackers, and a couple of other things. It was perfect for Maddie because according to her, she doesn't like "hot pizza". We had a great lunch, as Disney pizza is always a favorite.

Scott and Sarah got cupcakes with their meals because of the meal plan, and the kids enjoyed sharing with them!

It was close to 1:00 by the time we were all done with lunch, and there was an Indiana Jones show at 1:30, so we decided to head over there. We got to the theater a little after 1:00, and we got seats over to the left side of the theater near the front. Before long the show was starting, and it was awesome as usual.

It was Jack's first time seeing it, but he wasn't fooled by the planted guy in the extras. He said they got him for a second, but once she started "hitting" him, he knew it wasn't real. The kids liked the show, too, but the explosions did scare them a little.
After the show, we decided to split up. Scott and Sarah took the kids over to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground while the rest of us went over to the animation building. We hung out there for a while, playing the games they have in there. At about 2:30 we starting heading over to Sunset Boulevard to get seats for the 3:00 Beauty and the Beast show. We got there about 20 minutes early and we got pretty good seats over to the right of the theater near the middle.
I've probably said this before, but Beauty and the Beast is my absolute favorite show in Disney, and I adore every opportunity I get to see it. I didn't have my long zoom lens this day, so my pictures aren't great, but I think I still got some good ones!

After the show, our FP's for Toy Story Mania were ready, so we headed over there! It took us about 10 minutes to get on the ride, and we had a great time! I broke my high score once again, and I reached my goal of breaking 200,000! I got 202,900, and I was super excited! Everyone else did well, too, but I didn't keep track of everyone's scores.
After that we decided it was time to head out. We weren't going back home, though! We were taking the boat over to Epcot to meet up with Lindsey and Adam! So, we headed on over to the boat dock. A boat came within about 15-20 minutes, and we were on our way!

Scott and Sarah spent the rest of the day seeing Disney Jr., Voyage of the Little Mermaid, going to the animation building, getting ice cream, and doing a couple of other things. They had a really great day, and were having an amazing vacation so far!​

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Shannon, I appreciate your efforts! It sounds to me like you are putting a lot of pressure on yourself to keep a regular schedule for this trip report. Don't stress & post when you are able. We all understand life's little interruptions Thanks again.

Thank you so much!

Thanks for the glimpse inside the RV! I think things worked out great for you and your family. You all must be really good at getting along with each other in such a small living space. It's awesome that you had the three months at WDW!!! But I think it's also awesome that you will be getting another house and living near the rest of your family again. What a great plan to get a smaller RV so you can live in a house but still have occasional shorter RV trips. That is truly the best of both worlds. You are very blessed to have such a large and caring extended family. I think your dad's RV experiment was a success because you guys got to enjoy the three months at WDW. Your next adventure of getting a new house is also something to celebrate. Congratulations on both! Life is good!

Thank you so much! I absolutely agree! We definitely don't regret anything, and we had so much fun on our adventure! Buying a new house is a whole different adventure in itself, and we're just trying to enjoy all these crazy different stages of life we're going through. We're very excited to be getting a smaller RV, because we loved Fort Wilderness so much! We would definitely be disappointed if we didn't go back.

Wow, that RV is amazing!! But yes, I imagine being away so much is hard even when you are having so much fun. It's great that you got to have that experience though. And now just a new chapter but you'll still get to do lots of travelling by the sounds of it...maybe just for shorter trips.

Yes, Disney did keep us busy, but we were definitely missing home by the end of our trip! We hope to still do some traveling in the future, but it will be nice to actually have a house to come home to!

 

[jandlinz]

All caught up! Sounds like the kids had a great time for their first visits! Yippee for you high score!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Glad the Toy Story ride was running this time! Great picture of Maddie and your mom outside of Star Tours. So, since Maddie doesn't like hot pizza, does that mean she likes cold pizza?