THE ULTIMATE TRAVEL GUIDE FOR
So, on day 5 the family decided to stick together and explore the Campground. The whole Jennings–James family together again! We decided to start by checking out the "loops." Which, much to my relief, does not refer to an extreme roller coaster that goes upside down several times. No, loops refer to the different groupings of tents and cabins. They were the different areas of the campground, each themed to its own critter or concept. The theming was rather tasteful and subtle though. Mostly just some wood carvings and subtle details. When I was prepping for this travel blog (It takes a lot of work to be the dog with the best blog!), I saw a lot of pictures of the old version of the campground, Fort Wilderness. I'm happy to report that the dignity and character of the old campground has remained. The addition of more themes and characters is really well done in my opinion. I may just be a humble dog with a blog, but in my opinion the update of the campground was so well done that if it was, hypothetically, proposed by a team in an online armchair imagineering competition, that team would definitely win! *wink* Anyways, we decided to make a loop of the loops. Start with the 100 Acre Woods stuff Loop and work our way around clockwise. Here's the map of the campground again for reference: It was a magical place! Inside we saw all sorts of strange animals, at least I think they were animals. A bear that was fascinated with honey, a rabbit and his garden, an owl and his treehouse. The people staying here were very friendly too. They pet me and gave me treats. I tried to eat the bark on the tree, and then I realized the bark was fake. All the trees in the 100 Acre Woods were fake and cartoony. I guess it was to make them look animated as I soon discovered that this whole area was based on a Disney cartoon, Winnie the Pooh. Now it all makes sense. Though Avery kept trying to tell me that the dimensions of the 100 Acre Woods were actually 100 Acres and that they were 12.76 acres but I wasn't counting. We went and walked into one of the cabins that looked like the inside of Pooh's house from the old cartoon. Of course I can only see in black and white, but I took Avery's words for it that the cabin was similar in color to Pooh's house. She got really excited when she saw Pooh walk into the cabin, along with a really sad donkey, Eeyore. Yes, it seems as though the characters walk around the cabins door to door at times, and greet the visitors. That's a nice touch I guess. I enjoyed the 100 Acre Woods, even if they weren't 100 Acres, it was a fun place and a great stop during the day. Next up was Bambi's Woodlands Loop. Prety nice place. The trees were real here (and pretty much everywhere else, they must've wanted the 100 Acre Woods to be special). The tree coverage was a bit less dense here, but there was a lot of flowers and other plants. There was even a Butterfly garden nature walk that we got to walk through! All the flowers were so nice and colorful... I assume. As a dog, I'm color blind. Chloe went crazy for this place though. Next time (and we definitely plan on coming back), we'll probably try to get a cabin here for her. Then, we walked through Grizzly Park Loop. Unfortunately I wasn't able to visit Magic Kingdom with the rest of the family, but Avery was telling me that this place reminded her of the Country Bear Jamboree show. There's a small peformance stage here. Posters are up for The Country Bears, the Beaver Brothers Jug Band, and the Raccoon Rockers. All saying they're "coming soon." I think that's just decorations though. But who knows? I'm a dog with a blog, how much more ridiculous is a Raccoon with a drumset? But there are also some real human bands coming through for performances advertised. All small scale shows that end by 8 so they don't keep the campers up with noise. They keep some drums, jugs, and tamborines around for kids to play with during the day. Nice place, I'm bear-y glad I saw it! We decided to break from our loop of loops to get lunch and check out the Settlement. They had a sign up explaining how Critter Country Campground came to be. Apparently this used to be a small town where animals of all kinds lived in peace. There was a sort of truce between the predators and prey here. Years ago, Davy Crocket discovered this remarkable place. He fell in love with the peaceful wilderness. Soon, some other humans found this quaint slice of nature too. With permission from the animals, Davy and the humans set up a small town. Dedicated to the same spirit of harmony Critter Country was founded on, the Settlement was born. They got a lot of fun stuff here. Horseback rides, petting zoo, playground, arcade, the Hoopdeedoo Revue, all kinds of stuff for all kinds of people. Even boat rentals and tours down by the Duckling Docks. The family got lunch at Crocket cafe (formerly Trail's End Cafe). After that we went down to the Sherwood Forest Loop. This area was a bit denser with trees. A few of the lots were filled with some decorative medieval type tents. Felt like Robin Hood and his Merry Men were camping with us. The tents weren't really just decoration though. The medieval tents were really little booths where they handed out treats for the people staying there and let you rent different toys. They also handed out bags for humans to use when dogs like me take care of business on our walks. Naturally, this is where my family stayed. We had a cabin instead of a tent though. Also here in the Sherwood Forest Loop is an archery range. The real arrows are shot in a closed off range (you need to be 18 or 16 if your parents sign a waiver). The outdoor range had fake arrows. The tips are dipped in paint though, so you can still see where you hit. I tried to make the argument that in dog years I was old enough for the real arrows, but they wouldn't go for it. For dinner we went to Mickey's Backyard Barbecue. Great show! Not much changed from the Fort Wilderness version. They did add a section with pet tricks that was pretty nice. It featured a poodle that was also nice and pretty if I do say so myself (hopefully my wife doesn't read this blog haha). We ended our day in Friendship Meadows (formerly just the Meadows. I suppose it is less lonely now *laugh track*). Right in the center of the resort, Friendship Meadows has a shop, bike/golf cart rentals, and a pool. Also, Chip & Dales treehouse! Well, a walkthrough version of their treehouse that's a part of a playground for the kids. Chloe enjoyed it a lot! Avery told me that the cabins here were the Pet-Unfriendly cabins, for the humans that didn't bring their pets but still wanted to live in a cabin for their Walt Disney World vacation! To top off our night, we went to the campfire sing along with Chip & Dale. You should be proud of me readers. I am a civilized canine and resisted the primal urges to bark and chase the chipmunks as I have done with countless other small rodents in the past. As Avery likes to remind me, I'm a good boy. Yes I am.
They loved me so much there that they said I can video call in (they'll put me on the big screen!) and help with a song or two whenever I want! So expect me to be a part of that at going forward. Overall another great day with my family. Maybe tomorrow, I can convince them to take me to Animal Kingdom. I wanna talk to the Disco Yeti. He's a broken animatronic with a blog, I'm a dog with a blog. I think we'd have a lot in common! For now, I'm gonna log off and go walk three circles around my bed and then get some shut eye. (Disco Yeti's blog if you're interested: http://discoyeti.com )
2 Comments
Chip
1/16/2017 03:49:31 pm
Thank you for not chasing Dale and I Stan! As a token of our appreciation, we will be sending you a special S'more doggy treat (without chocolate)! We can't wait for you to livestream to our singalong, we were thinking you could sing "Home on the Range" Thanks!
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Dale
1/16/2017 03:52:30 pm
Note: We will only be having you as a guest for a limited time. Afterwards, our friends Pooh, and Henry from the Grizzly Park and Hundred Acre Woods loops will join us in animatronic form on the medicine wagon. Pooh with take over your sing of choice, and Henry will play "Davy Crockett" thanks again.
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Author:Hey there! My name is Stan James-Jennings and I live in Pasadena, California with my humans! Their names are Avery, Tyler, Chloe, Bennett and Ellen. They take me with them on all of their family adventures, so I've decided to create a new section of my blog that is dedicated to my exploration of the human world! ArchivesCategories |