Trip - Dallas to WDW and back

We were planning on leaving home Tuesday (10/25) morning. When we found out Tuesday was going to be windy, we decided to hurry up and get the trailer packed so we could leave Monday. We left home around 12:30 and drove as far as Bossier City, LA. Stayed at Diamond Jack's Casino Campground, and went to Horseshoe to play awhile. Got back to the trailer about half an hour after the WS game started. Good game - much, much better than the one we saw Saturday night. Switched channels just at the right time to see the group dance on DWTS.... then went back to the game.

Tuesday morning we got up and headed to our planned Tuesday night stop at Vicksburg, MS. Stayed at Ameristar Casino Campground, and played at Ameristar casino - got free buffet, it was very good. The fried chicken was outstanding!

Today is Wednesday. Got out of Vicksburg shortly after 9am, and headed for Ocean Springs, MS. On the last leg of the trip, on MS Hwy 67, we passed some mowers. One of them threw some debris our way. It hit with a loud thump that we could feel inside the truck. Didn't pull off, just kept on going. When we got to the campground - Davis Bayou Campground in Gulf Islands National Seashore, MS Division, we looked for the damage. All we could see was a black smudge on the driver's door. Apparently it was a piece of tire, and fortunately it didn't do any harm. Review of Davis Bayou is in Campground Reviews.

Looks like a great trip so far, glad there was no damage to truck or trailer take care and enjoy.

Bill & Pat

Had a good night's sleep at Davis Bayou - it was very quiet, and dark. The casino campgrounds have a lot of bright lights, and we usually discover that we are parked right under one. No need to have a nightlight at those places. I'm sure Davis Bayou had some sort of lights - maybe around the comfort station, but we didn't notice any. We didn't go to any casinos, although there are quite a few right across the bay.

We left Davis Bayou and headed towards Chattahoochee, FL. We are at Tallahassee West KOA. We really like this campground. It's about a mile off the highway, and very quiet. Most of the sites are pull-throughs. It's also very clean, and the owners have been making improvements since they bought it. Our first time here, it was owned by someone else.

The owner mentioned that he almost shut it down last summer - just nobody camping. Last night was his best night since sometime last winter. I'd hate to see this place close.... it's one of our favorite stops along the way to my brother's in Leesburg. So, if any of you are traveling past Chattahoochee and it's about time to stop for the night, please consider staying here.

Tater

Have a safe trip, and I'm sure you are going to enjoy WDW.

Have a great time and a safe trip. Out of curiosity, what trip number does this one to WDW make for you Tater? You will never get tired of going there. We never have. May the winds be calm and the breeze cool.

Bob

Robert, I don't know. The time we met you was our first trip with the trailer, but there were many more before that. We even stayed at Fort Wilderness during the period of time we didn't have a trailer (late 80's) - stayed in one of their Fleetwood trailers. These were the predecessors to the cabins.

From 1992 to 2006, we were driving to WDW and staying in their resorts 2-3 times a year.

Since the time we met, I think it's been 6-7 trips to WDW. We drove to Leesburg to visit my brother and sis-in-law without the trailer sometime in that timeframe, and got down to WDW for dinner one night - but we don't really count that as a trip to WDW.

The night after Tallahassee West KOA in Chattahoochee, we pulled in to Holiday Travel Resort in Leesburg, FL. Holiday is a nice place. Most of the "campers" are yearly or half-year residents. We are parked right next door to some half-year residents who are friends of my brother and sis-in-law.

Our first night here, we stayed in the trailer. Nights 2, 3, and 4 we stayed at my brother's, and tonight we are staying in the trailer. Tomorrow morning we will hitch up and head down to WDW's Fort Wilderness. We didn't call in advance to try to arrange for a specific campsite. Our plan is to ask if one of three of our favorite sites is available. If not, we will request one on the outside of loop 800, 1200, or 1300. We have a golf cart reserved from Kenny at Tee-time Golf Cart Rentals. We haven't made any dinner reservations, and will probably make a few at Guest Services after we get set up. My brother tells us that many of the restaurants are requiring a credit card number to guarantee reservations regardless of the number of people in the party. Previously, the cc was required for 6 or more people. We'll see how that works.

Tater

Earl

Scruffy and Tater wrote:My brother tells us that many of the restaurants are requiring a credit card number to guarantee reservations regardless of the number of people in the party. Previously, the cc was required for 6 or more people. We'll see how that works.

Hi Tater, the credit card policy only applies to the most popular restaurants. Personally, I think this is a great idea as people were abusing the old system by making multiple reservations at different restaurants for the same time period. This would make it difficult for others to get a reservation and then there would be a number of empty "reserved" tables for people who had no intention of showing up. Anyone checking availability at the restuarant would be told there was nothing available but they could look inside and see many vacant tables.

In case you don't already know, it applies to the following; 1900 Park Fare, Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, Artist Point, California Grill, Cape May Cafe, Chef Mickey's, Cítricos, The Crystal Palace, Flying Fish Cafe, Garden Grill, Hollywood and Vine, Jiko, Le Cellier Steakhouse, Narcoossee's, 'Ohana, Tusker House Restaurant, Hollywood Brown Derby, Victoria and Albert's, Yachtsman Steakhouse.

Also, I've made numerous reservations in the last 10+ years for 6 or more people and have never had to give a CC unless it was for one of the restaurants that require prior payment (Cinderella's Royal Table, Spirit of Aloha, Hoop-Dee-Doo, Musical Revue or Mickey's Backyard BBQ). What does happen if you have 6 or more is that an 18% gratuity is automatically added to the bill.

Hope you have a great time and keep us upated on any new developments at the Fort.

The 15 minute rule was supposed to make tables available if someone with reservations didn't show up. And it wasn't reservations for a long time - preferred seating is what they called it, I think. But, people didn't like to wait on the chance that someone wouldn't get there at the last minute.

There are quite a few restaurants on that list where we like to eat..... but not on every trip. My brother did mention that the rule applied to the most popular restaurants, but he couldn't recall offhand which ones they are.

We haven't eaten at Flying Fish lately, and were thinking we should.... and maybe Tusker House. The rest on the list we can skip this trip - well, maybe Ohana..... although I was quite upset when the waitress kept calling us peasants. Call me cousin, aunt, neighbor, or princess - but not peasant. I've eaten there pretty often, and have never been referred to as peasant, and wondered if it was her way of being insulting.

Tater

'Ohana, Cape May, and Trails End are the 3 "must do" places each trip. We had a great CM in August at 'Ohana... he just kept bringing skewers of meat and shrimp!! I've only been referred to as "cousin" when I've been in there so I have no idea what she meant by peasant. I'd wonder about that too.

In 2001 or 2002, we had a guy who went by the name "Cousin Clem" and he was great. Our kids were around 5 & 6 then and they still talk about him when we are there.

We have to have at least one breakfast buffet and one dinner buffet at Trail's End. We also always have at least one lunch at Trail's End. Jeff, do you know if Trail's End still has the full-serve menu at lunch time. They had some very good stuff on that menu last time we were there.

Well, there was something else we were wondering about, and I was going to ask, but I forgot. I should have made a note of it in my celphone - that's how I remember a lot of things now-a-days.

We are in the 1300 loop - site 1318. The view is great - right by the canal, looking over at the Meadows area. We're going to try to move tomorrow, though. The neighbors are so close that if we put our screen room up behind the trailer, they'll be practically in there with us.

We're having fun. Went to guest services and got our annual passes and tables in wonderland card. Also told them the APs were gifts from our kids for our 50th anniversary - so we have pins that say it's our 50th anniversary. All of the CMs are wishing us a happy anniversary.... and, I bet we will get at least one free dessert out of it. The wait staff at Trail's End will most likely sing to us - Scruffy won't like that.

Tater

Sounds like y'all are having to much fun.
Trails end does have some good food.

Tater, does this look familiar?



We were in site 1318 for 25 nights this summer... what are the chances of that? We loved this site because of the afternoon shade and because it was relatively "private" compared to a lot of others. We had our trailer backed up to the end of the pad, so between the trailer and the bushes, the site behind was blocked out. We were also fortunate that the site behind was only occupied on two of the nights we were there.

Congratulations on your 50th anniversary... hopefully, the anniversary buttons will result in a "magical" experience for the two of you. We love the Tables in Wonderland card and have saved a lot of money using it. Some nights when we don't feel like cooking and don't want to go to a sit down restaurant, we'll go to the cafeteria at Pop Century, All Stars, or Port Orleans French Quarter. The good thing about these 3 is that the Tables in Wonderland card gets you the 20% discount but the 18% gratuity is not added to your bill

For the record, I'm with Scruffy on the singing... I wouldn't like that either!!

The lunch menu at Trail's End is still "a la carte". Here is the current lunch menu (from September)...

LUNCH
11:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.

Appetizers
Hearty Beef Chili - with Beans topped with Cheddar Cheese and Red Onions $6.49

Mixed Greens Salad - topped with cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, blue cheese crumble, and cornbread croutons, served with a choice of dressing $5.49

Soup of the day - ask your server for the day's selection $6.99

House-made Potato Chips - choice of Barbecue, Natural, or Peppercorn & Vinegar served with house-made onion dip $4.49

Entrees
Pan-seared Catfish - lightly breaded catfish with coleslaw, corn and chive hush puppies, and side of remoulade $14.99

Fried Chicken and Waffles - served with warm maple syrup and butter $13.49

Spicy Grilled Shrimp and Andouille Sausage - served over cheese grits with red-eye gravy $16.99

Chicken Waldorf Salad Sandwich - with cranberries, grapes, apples, and walnuts on toasted multigrain bread served with house-made potato chips $13.49

Barbecue Pulled Pork - with corn-bacon coleslaw, picked green tomatoes, and house-made potato chips served on a toasted butter roll $11.49

Angus Chili Cheeseburger topped with chili, cheddar and swiss cheeses, grilled red onion, lettuce, and tomato served with sweet potato fries $13.99

Fried Green Tomatoes with marinated portobello mushrooms, roasted red peppers, smoked Gouda cheese, and fried green beans served with sweet potato fries $15.99

Angus Chuck Bacon Cheeseburger topped with bacon, cheddar, lettuce, and tomato served with sweet potato fries $12.99

Fresh Berry Salad with Chicken - grilled marinated chicken with salad greens tossed with raspberry vinaigrette, fresh berries, blue cheese and candied walnuts $12.99

Sides
Cheese Grits - with andouille sausage $3.99

Hopp'n John $3.49

Desserts
Wilderness S'more - dark chocolate mousse layered with graham crackers and topped with toasted marshmallows, and drizzled with chocolate sauce $4.79

Warm Sticky Bun Sundae - warm pecan sticky bun layered with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, and whipped cream $4.99

Angel Food Cake - with fresh berries and raspberry sorbet, a no-sugar added dessert $6.99

Beverages
Soft Drinks - Coca Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite, Minute Maid Light Pomegranate Lemonade, Barq's Root Beer, Pibb Xtra, Cherry Coke, Sweet Iced Tea, Unsweetened Iced Tea $2.69

Thanks for the lunch menu. I looks like it hasn't changed since we were here last winter.

We're going to try to get 1307. We like that site, even though the busses beepbeepbeep a lot because of the bus stop. That doesn't bother us. The music coming from the pool area is kind of bad, and bothers Scruffy more than me. I can just block it out if I want to - by singing Small World in my head. If we can't get 1307, we'll probably stay here.... there are some other sites that were occupied yesterday, but if they become available today, we might try for one of them. If we stay here, we might do like you did - put the trailer all the way back and not put up the screen room. I suppose we could set the screen room up in front of the trailer - it would actually be more private there with the truck parked in front of it than it would be at the back of the site. Thanks for the idea.


Tater

It looks real familiar to me since we had site 1316 (the one behind) for 9 nights until this past Sunday. Believe it or not, but directly across from your site there is a hollow stump to the right of the recycle center, that is where we were originally going to hide the "Hidden Mickey"!! Did you get my PM's giving you clues to the Hidden Mickey?

The pool music sounds like war drums all day long if you have your windows closed in the camper, and the mosquito's are so bad, I would definitely put up the screen room.

We really enjoyed 1316 due to its having so much space on the pad and the neighbors (the previous residences of your site) had a canopy with 2 walls set-up on the back of their pad that blocked us from them completely. They did invite us over for "adult" trick or treat shots, and we ended up enjoying a glass of wine while visiting. They had the whole family in and had all sites surrounding us with about 15 kids and 5 campers. The guy came down 2 days early to decorate and he made 2 extra trips back home to get more stuff. We didn't have any decorations out, he seemed to think I was odd....

We went to Trail's End for dinner last night. Got there around 6:30, and waited about 5 minutes for a table. Of course the waitress noticed our anniversary badges, and asked for my name - they already had Scruffy's from when he registered at the podium. After dinner the waitress brought out strawberry shortcake and a couple more anniversary pins. No singing, no yeehaw! The shortcake was delicious. So were the pecan pie bars - they were to die for.

Today we went to Publix for a few groceries and some trash bags. Just relaxed mostly. We put up the screen room, and maybe tomorrow or Sunday we'll put up some decorations. Went out to our favorite deer hunting place. There were 2 deer right by the gate, and another one came out from the shrubbery. One of them was curious and looked at us for a long time - and even came a few steps closer. We were getting concerned because she was stomping her front feet a little and hissing. If she would have come over the fence, we would have been out of there fast! They walked towards the bend in the trail, and we spotted two more in the bushes... one of them was very young. They went to join the others, and as we were leaving we saw one more - a buck. He walked through the brush, came out in the clearing by the gate, and walked on to join the others. By now it was getting too dark to see them, so we drove back to the trailer.

Tonight at the MK they are going to light the castle. The first MVMCParty will be Tuesday night. We'll get to see the lighted castle, but won't try to go to the party.

Brad and Danielle,
We got your PMs about the Hidden Mickey, but haven't gone over there to look. I look around from the golf cart everytime we go through. We'll let you know if we find it. We might recruit some kids to help. That will be fun. Of course, the Hidden Mickey is mine!

Tater

The sign was actually Tumbleweed Turn, not Tumble Weed Pass like I had said in your clues, sorry if that messed you up any. Did you "dig" any yet?

Awww. We knew what you meant. Havn't gone on our "dig" yet. I know, time is running out. We'll get there. In the meantime, I scope out the area every time we go by.

Tater

We haven't met up with Eric and family yet, but we know they are here. At least there is a truck/5th wheel in loop 400 that meets the description that they have in their signature. We drive by once a day, but figure they are out having fun. They'll have to stop for a breather, I'm sure. Then again, it's hard to take a rest when kids are involved.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

In the meantime, we were relaxing at our trailer this morning and a very nice couple stopped by. They knew us from reading the forum - but they aren't members.

They had a couple blowouts on the way to WDW, and were asking advice about tires.

Funny thing is, I believe we've been here at the same time as them at least once before. They have a 31ts, and said they were in the first spot in loop 1300 once - and Scruffy and I remember commenting about the 31ts in the first site once. Coincidence, maybe.

Okay, maybe we should all encourage these folks to join the forum. Tell them how easy it is to join and post messages and replies.

Tater