Wilderness Lodge

So with my racing season wrapped up for '18, I headed south for a few days of warm temperatures and some much needed fun and downtime.

We left Sunday morning at 3 AM, and I was setting by the Wilderness Lodge pool by 12:30. After shaking off the drive, I can a chance to run some miles at a warmer temperature. I cruised through the Wilderness Lodge grounds, and then I picked up the New Balance Trail over to Fort Wilderness Camp Grounds. I got a chance to cruise along the beach, along their dirt trail, and through the camp grounds. Pretty cool to see how they decked out their campers with holiday decorations. I saw one camper that must have had 100 inflatable Mickey's. It was quite a sight to behold.

Later in the afternoon, and evening we cruised by boat over to the Magic Kingdom resorts to check out their ginger bread houses. The Contemporary Result had an alright ginger bread house, but the one at the Floridian resort is pretty awesome. Lots of people were stopping in to see it.

The Wilderness Lodge had some awesome decorations as well. They had one of the largest indoor trees at Disney. We had our picture taken in front of it.

We took the bus to downtown Disney, and boy was it busy. We did the Wreckin' Ralph 3d adventure at The Void. We did the Star Wars version during our past visits so we opted for the Wreckin' Ralph encounter this time. I believe that I enjoyed it more than the Star Wars adventure.

Monday, I was up at 6 AM for a few miles before heading to the Hollywood Studios. Tuesday, we were off to the Magic Kingdom. We spent the day riding and seeing shows, and we stayed the evening for the Mickey's Merry Christmas party which was pretty cool. Everyone should do this at least once. They provide snacks all evening, different shows, and an awesome fireworks.

Wednesday, we were off Animal Kingdom. We stood in line for for 2+ hours for the flight of passage which I guess wasn't bad since at one point the line was close to 4+ hours. We were there and in line before the park opened. People absolutely flock to this ride. Later, we did the Na'vi River Journey, the Dinosaur ride, Everest, and the Safari ride after sunset. Anyone visiting Disney's Animal Kingdom needs to do the night time Safari ride. The animals tend to be up and moving especially the lions.

Thursday, we headed for EPCOT. This day was a wet one. The rain was absolutely coming down. My shoes were soaked, but we were not deterred. With rain pouches, we kept going. The crowds were staying away and most of Disney's rides at EPCOT were inside so we road and rode and rode some more.

The rain slacked off in the evening so we decided to park hop over to the Hollywood studios where we rode the Slinky Dog, Toy Story, Aliens, and Tower of Terror. We finished off the evening by seeing Fantasmic for the second time this week.

I had no trouble falling in to bed each night. In fact, with in minutes of my head touching my pillow, I was a sleep until my alarm sounded.

Friday, we hit the stores of downtime Disney for one last time before heading home.

As my daughters get older, I treasure each of these adventure more than ever. I know before long that they will have families of their own, and hopefully, they will continue to find their way down main street at the Magic Kingdom for years to come.

Happy Trails,

The Cool Down Runner