Someone brought their $350,000 Ferrari to the Fort. It is parked next to their $500,000 Tiffin motor home. This car fits into a ‘garage’ located in the rear underbelly of their RV. $$🤦🏻‍♀️$$

Glamping at its finest !!

Farewell to the winner of the golf cart parade … the ‘train’ left this morning.

Sadie enjoys greeting new dog friends everyday and she especially enjoys the attention & loving she receives during every walk.

Ref last photo – is that a hawk ? It’s a big ass bird for sure !! Its wing span was incredible when it flew away.

Last night the Fort held its annual Wonderland Party complete with tree lighting, snow, arts & crafts, food trucks, carolers, DJ music, a Muppets Christmas movie & Santa 🎅!

Unbeknownst to me, I took a selfie with a rogue Santa 😳 ! Ten minutes later I watched as he was escorted away … it was then I found out this dude dressed as Santa was not the ‘official’ Wonderland Party Santa 😂! He may have had one too many hard ciders 🤣 !!

I found out quickly that I am not very crafty! I made a pathetic gingerbread cookie, filled a mason jar with tinsel and candle and ended up throwing away 2 glitter filled ornaments. It was very dark at the craft area of the party so I decided to finish the ornaments at home. I didn’t want to carry them all night so I put them in my hoodie pocket … bad idea !! Glitter ended up EVERYWHERE … the golf cart, my house and even on my face !! 🤣

First up is the tree lighting video then some silly photos !! 🎄🎉

If someone asked me to rate which golf cart parade (Halloween 👻 or Christmas 🎄), was better … I would say the Halloween parade was far more creative and elaborate and had way more participants ! Yesterday’s parade was subdued & didn’t have much of an audience either.

As I showed you in a recent blog article, there were a few over-the-top golf carts scattered throughout the campground. Some of those did not appear in yesterday’s parade, probably because they had already left for home?

The winner of this parade was the train that produced ‘snow’ as it traveled down the parade route. I wonder 🤔 how folks get some of these vehicles here, perhaps on a trailer attached to the back of their RV ? The winners receive a plaque & either a 4 pack archery experience, 4 pack Segway experience or a 4 pack horseback trail ride.

Fort Wilderness campers spend an incredible amount of money on decorations. Literally thousands $,$$$ 😳 !! Frugal me spent around $65 🤣.

It’s a beautiful, sunny ☀️ 77 degrees here today. Some would argue they need cold and snow for it to feel festive. I beg to differ … This is my first Christmas in warm weather … it’s very festive here … I could easily get used to this !!

Enjoy the pics & short video !

Merry Christmas All !! 🎄😃💖🐶🐾

There were many Christmas Eve activities at the Fort today. I attended 3 of them & snapped many photos. I will post the 3 events separately.

The Christmas Dog Parade was the highlight of Sadie’s week. Sadie looked adorable in her Minnie Mouse dress & ears. Although she did let me know that she felt humiliated wearing this costume. Unfortunately she did not win any of the top 3 prizes. She did, however, leave with a container of dog biscuits, and she was quite happy about that !

Please enjoy the photos below …

Before the hectic Christmas Eve activities begin, Sadie & I want to take a moment to wish all our friends (back home & across the country), a very Merry Christmas & a Happy, Healthy New Year 2020 !!

A sincere thanks to all for your friendship & support since Sadie & I began our bucket dream journey on 8/12/19.

Special thanks to my dear friend & colleague Ann who has been monitoring my PO Box & sending me my mail. Thanks Ann … You are the best !!

Our wish to all of you … that all of your bucket dreams come true too !! Follow your heart !!

Blessings … XO

Sadie 🐾 & Donna 🥰

There are some really unique “golf carts” roaming the loops at the Fort. Below is an example of just a few that I’ve seen in my neighborhood. And, yes, if cars are small enough, they can be driven on the Fort’s golf cart trails.

Since I arrived here at the beginning of October, I noticed that the Holiday Disney Campers are extremely competitive when it comes to decorating their sites and/or their carts. So, I am looking forward to the golf cart parade on Christmas Eve. We’re in for a treat if the Christmas parade is anything like the Halloween parade.

Stay Tuned for those photos !!

The 8th pic is a family of Storm Troopers dressed in Christmas pajamas … 🤷🏻‍♀️

The 9th pic is my Canadian neighbor, John & his sidekick Minnie 🐾

Winter officially begins tonight at 11:19pm. Today is also the shortest day of the year with 10 hours of daylight in FL & 9 hours in PA ! I am not a fan of darkness, another reason why I have always hated being born on this day.

I want to thank everyone who adds comments on our blog, or sends me emails, texts, greeting cards & gifts in the mail ! Even though I am over 1,000 miles away, I can still feel the love, so thank you !!

Today I ventured out to my fave restaurant, Colombia in the town of Celebration. I enjoyed an amazing meal, washed down with a glass of white Sangria ! I also strolled through the town & stopped at a few shops. On the way back to my truck I decided to splurge on 2 scoops of toasted coconut ice cream at Kilwins … yummy!

Spent the rest of the day roaming the campground with Sadie. During our walk we came upon a BeagleFest ! Sadie couldn’t believe so many dogs looked like her 🤣! A Tom Turkey got a little too close to Sadie for her liking, a Mohawk popped up on her back! (see pic with black arrow) 😂

Kids absolutely love Sadie and smother her with lots of attention when they see her.

The lone video in this post is of 2 damn turkeys that strutted by my truck !

If my shorts look too big, it’s because they are ! I’ve lost 30 pounds since beginning this adventure & I refuse to buy smaller clothes until I know that I am done. So, for now, belts are my friend !!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone !!

Sadie & Donna

My adventure continued after I exited the Rise of the Resistance. I was just too tired to post 2 articles yesterday … so here’s the rest of my day …

I headed to Smugglers Run & saw there was already a 90 minute wait at 7:37am to get on that ride, but, I noticed that the single rider line was empty, so I asked the Cast Member if I could enter & she said yes … so I headed into the ride & waited only 10 minutes to get on that ride (see exciting video).

On the way out I ran into a storm trooper & got half a selfie with him because he scared me 😂 ! He started talking Star Wars gibberish & I hadn’t a clue what he was saying but it sounded like he was scolding me so I quickly took the pic & ran !! 🤣

I had a few hours before my lunch reservation, so I took some festive photos of Hollywood Blvd & checked out all the stores on the strip.

I ran into Pluto who started barking & made me laugh (thus the silly pic of us) !

Next was a free outdoor Star Wars performance … (check out the video – it’s the 2nd pic below Chewy). The video features the full cast & a fireworks blast at the end !

It was now time for lunch. I headed to the 50’s Prime Time Cafe. This place is a HOOT ! The wait staff are intentionally rude, but it’s all acting & part of this diner style ambiance. My waitress put a basket of utensils & napkins on my table & said to me … “I’m busy, set you own table” ! 😳😂. They serve up some classic comfort food. I had the pot roast which was delicious 😋 !

Farewell Hollywood Studios !

Today I woke up at 4:30am so I could get to Hollywood Studios in time for their 7am opening. You MUST get up this early if you want to experience Disney’s newest Star Wars cutting-edge, immersive attraction which just opened on 12/5. At 6:15 I was parking my truck & by 6:24 I was standing shoulder to shoulder behind hundreds of other crazy people!!

This attraction puts you in the middle of a battle between the First Order & the Resistance. It is a sensory overload of 4 rides in 1. There is a lot of visual & sound effects, simulations, animatronics, holograms, computerized trackless vehicles & an unexpected elevator drop. The cast members create an amazing experience as they are in full character when they interact with you during your ride. The building that houses this ride is massive !! Some of the props were over 2 stories tall!

To enjoy this ride, one must download the Disney My Experience App & at precisely 7am you need to click a link in the app to join a virtual boarding group queue. This morning I was lucky enough to join group 9! By 7:09 my phone alerted me that my group was boarding the ride (you then have 2 hours to board the ride). By 7:13 I was entering the ride & by 7:37 I was exiting the ride.

By 8:15 this morning, all boarding group passes were distributed for the day, which means if you weren’t there on time you were out of luck for the day!!

This ride is incredibly over the top Disney ! I definitely recommend getting up early – it’s worth it !!

I did not ride every single ride in all the parks, I just picked the most popular. Below is a list of my favorite rides from all the parks:

Rise of the Resistance, Avatar Pandora’s Flight of Passage, Animal Kingdom Safari, Test Track, Hollywood Tower of Terror & Millennium Falcon-Smuggler’s Run.

Please enjoy the pics & videos from Rise of the Resistance.

May the Force Be With You !! 😂

I texted this to a dear friend earlier & decided to share it on my blog. I just met my campsite neighbor who, within minutes of meeting him, freely told me his family story.

I am extremely grateful for my blessings.

Live life, don’t just exist.