Birthday Celebration at Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground

This is Anna and I'm going to talk about how there is no better way to turn a year older than the Disney way! Birthdays are always fun, but I was a little nervous about turning 24. Each new age just seems old. I'll feel stupid for this post when I'm in my 50's, but for now it seems logical. Ashleigh, Shannon, Neil, Matt, and I figured the best way to help the birthday blues was to be a child again and what better way to do that than to have a Disney experience???

The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground

Matt and I met Ashleigh, Shannon, and Neil at the campground to check-in. The check-in went very smoothly and Neil and Ashleigh even played checkers while I was waiting in line. The customer service/front desk people were really friendly and full of information. At the end of the check-in, our clerk gave me a Happy Birthday Anna button to wear around for our stay. This insured that every Disney employee (and some random people) wished me a happy birthday everywhere we went and since I love attention it was a big plus!

Ashleigh and Matt grilling

Since we were staying in a cabin, we went to that section of the campground and immediately started to unpack our cars and explore our home for those two days. There was a porch, a kitchen/dining room/living room, a bathroom, and a bedroom with a double bed and a bunk bed. We fooled around for a little while, but then got to cooking. We had brought stuff to make bacon cheeseburgers, fries, and BBQ beans. Since Matt wanted fries made from actual potatoes he had to peel them as Neil washed/scrubbed them. After that, the boys and Ashleigh went outside to set up the convenient charcoal grill located right outside our cabin. Shannon and I stayed in the air conditioning to finish up the fries, beans, and bacon. Even though the kitchen was small; it was still stocked with most of the utensils we needed to prepare our dinner. After all was cooked and ready to eat, we sat down at the dining room table and ate our supper. When dinner was done, everyone surprised me with a cake and presents. The cake was chocolate, and I mean every part was chocolate. It was absolutely delicious!

Cake and presents!

Ashleigh had given me my present the night before which was a Beauty and the Beast Vinylmation (which turned out to be Belle) and a Mickey shaped wine cork. Shannon and Neil had made me a card with pictures from past Disney trips along with getting me a Vinylmation for my animation collection and an Eeyore (one of my favorite characters) coffee mug. Matt had found me the missing Eeyore animation vinylmation that I was so desperately was seeking. Even though they say you shouldn't swim after eating, we took the risk and headed off to the pool. (Note: Even though the pool wasn't too far, I would recommend reserving a golf-cart ahead of time for your trip to the campgrounds.)

Pool time!

The pool we went to was the main one and was equipped with a fountain area for kids and a water slide. After some convincing from everyone else, we all went down the slide, which was really fun! We made some friends there (mainly underage boys hitting on Ashleigh), and it was a lot of fun. After the pool we went to Chip 'n Dale's Campfire Sing-A-Long. A lot of the songs were Disney favorites and a man was playing a banjo which gave it a campfire feel. Shannon, Ashleigh, and I roasted marshmallows and made s‘mores. (Note: Ashleigh had brought us s ‘mores supplies, but they do have a "wagon" at the campfire that sells everything you'd need). After the singing ended they put on that night's movie, which happened to be Wreck-It Ralph. Even though the movie was cute (and we had all seen it) we didn't stay for the whole thing.

Sing-a-long and Wreck-It Ralph

(Note: If you're going during the summer months, bring bug spray. Mosquitoes are killer in Florida.) After hanging out at the pool for a while longer, we went back to the cabin, played Scattergories, and then went to bed. The beds were pretty comfy, but we had somehow set the air condition to keep running and I was freezing almost the entire night. The next morning we got up and made breakfast. Shannon had brought her waffle maker, so we had waffles, eggs, and bacon. (Note: If, after getting to the campsite, you notice that you forgot something important to your menu [i.e.: eggs, butter, milk...], there's a number on your refrigerator that you can call and get those things delivered to you.) After we ate our delicious breakfast, we put all the dishes in the dishwasher (Note: The Campground will come in and clean up the kitchen for you), got packed up, and headed for Magic Kingdom.

Disney's Magic Kingdom

At the park, we went to get Shannon and Matt's The Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom cards for the day. We then followed them around as they each beat a villain in the game. After that we did Mickey's PhilharMagic. It's one of my favorite attractions because the wait is hardly ever long, you get off your feet in air conditioning, and it has a lot of Disney character and music favorites. We then went on the Haunted Mansion, another one of my favorites (it is my birthday after all...). The Haunted Mansion is home to many dancing and singing ghosts and ghouls who would really like for you to move in. They only have room for one more though... Since it had been awhile for everyone else, we hopped on a raft to Tom Sawyer Island next. There, we braved "Injun Joe's Cave" and other such places told about in Mark Twain's stories. After exploring the island, we went to Casey's Corner for hot dogs. I got (and loved) their corn dog nuggets. They were fresh and I will totally be going back for more. The cashiers were very friendly and even wrote me a greeting on my receipt. We then left there and watched the parade as we were leaving. It was a great ending to another great Disney trip.