A sampling of interesting restaurants.
Finally, we spent a day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom park, which is part theme park, part zoo.
The central Tree of Life:
Avatar land:
Africa:
Jenn likes collecting the pressed pennies:
African safari:
Lunch:
Train:
Snack:
Tortoise:
The Tree of Life; if you look closely, it’s covered with animal sculptures:
The backside of water:
One day was enough to see everything we were interested in at this park. Worth a visit, but probably not a re-visit.
We also visited Hollywood Studios in Disney World a couple of times.
Entrance:
Main street:
Us in front of the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge:
Smugglers Run ride:
Drinks and snacks at Oga’s Cantina:
Uh oh:
Lunch:
Rise of the Resistance ride:
Muppets:
Runaway Railway:
Hollywood Tower of Terror:
Video:
Mickey ice cream:
Toy Story Mania:
Alien Swirling Saucers:
We went to the Brown Derby restaurant for dinner:
Neon:
Another day:
Back to our favorite part, Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge:
Transition from Galaxy’s Edge:
… to freeway tunnel:
We had dinner at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater restaurant:
Neon:
The Fantasmic! show, better than in Disneyland as they have actual seating:
More neon:
We visited Epcot within Disney World a couple of times.
Epcot’s Spaceship Earth globe:
We dropped off our backpacks at a locker, and marveled at the advanced futuristic technology nearby:
Spaceship Earth:
A customized video created at the end of the ride.
Topiary:
Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind ride:
Monorail:
Epcot is arranged in several sections called pavilions, around a central lake. We first visited the Mexico Pavilion:
Frozen ride:
United Kingdom Pavilion:
Fish & chips for lunch:
France Pavilion:
Morocco Pavilion:
Japan Pavilion:
USA Pavilion:
Germany Pavilion:
We had dinner at the Coral Reef Restaurant:
Seas exhibits:
Mission: Space ride:
During our second visit the Flower and Garden Food Festival was underway, so we sampled several of the options:
Journey of Water:
The second day, we had dinner at the Space 220 Restaurant, which simulates a restaurant on a space elevator 220 miles above the Earth:
Spaceship Earth globe:
We did the Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind ride again:
Monorail:
We spent eight days at the four Walt Disney World theme parks. We took over 3,000 photos during that time… so a bit of a challenge to filter them down to a reasonable number for the blog. (Where “reasonable” is rather subjective.)
I’m doing a separate post for each park, starting with Magic Kingdom.
Us in front of the railway station:
Main Street USA:
Cinderella’s Castle:
Adventureland:
Pirates of the Caribbean:
Something we don’t see in California’s Disneyland: alligators and snakes:
It’s a small world:
The line was inside, vs outside in Disneyland:
New Zealand representation:
Teacups:
The new Tron lightcycle ride:
A video:
Speedway:
Carousel of Progress:
Train:
Liberty Belle Riverboat:
Haunted Mansion:
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad:
The Dapper Dans:
Haunted Mansion:
Parade:
Skipper Canteen restaurant:
Back to the campground:
Boat from campground:
Monorail:
Train station:
Jungle Cruise:
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train:
A video:
Rain:
Tomorrowland:
Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor:
Peoplemover:
Space Mountain:
Peter Pan’s Flight:
Journey of the Little Mermaid:
Gaston’s Tavern:
Monorail:
Ferry boat:
Parade:
We stayed at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground, within Walt Disney World, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)
So nice to spend over a week inside the Disney bubble. Disney World is huge, covering 25,000 acres (39 sq mi; 101 sq km), including four theme parks, dozens of resorts, golf courses, etc. The Fort Wilderness Campground is 750 acres of tree-covered paved campsites, cabins, and various amenities, with boats and buses to the parks.
Dates:
Weather:
Noise:
Site:
Utilities:
Internet (in usage priority order):
Amenities:
Our review on Campground Reviews:
A state park, but make it Disney!
If you’re an RVer and want to do the Disney Bubble experience, this is the place to be. Direct access to all the parks from the campground (boat to Magic Kingdom, buses to all the others) and a bit of that trademark Disney flare in the campground itself. We stayed a week and have already booked for next year, we enjoyed everything so much. We spent pretty much all day every day at the theme parks, so didn’t use many of the amenities in the campground, but it looked like you could have a blast of a day just hanging out here.
Our site (1334) was plenty big enough for our 40′ motorhome, tow vehicle, and rented golf cart. Renting a golf cart is a must. There are shuttles that run through the campground, but we enjoyed the freedom of getting around on our own timetable. Unfortunately, our site was right next to a playground with a basketball halfcourt that some sociopaths thought would be fun to play on late at night and early in the morning. Not cool.
One other minor niggle was that we decided to extend our stay while we were there. I called the number for reservations and was told that only the front desk could do that. Went to the front desk and was told that they couldn’t do it because we’d booked a package through the Disney Travel Co. So I booked a new reservation online and then went to the front desk to get them to join the two reservations so we didn’t have to check out and check in again. A bit less magical than I expected from Disney customer service, but we got there in the end. We camped at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
We rented a golf cart during our stay, which is highly recommended to get to the boat and bus stops, and other amenities:
(They do have a shuttle bus to take people to various parts of the campground, too, so a cart isn’t critical, but it is more convenient.)
More of our site; we didn’t really use the site, other than to sleep, since we were at the parks during the days:
Utilities:
One thing we didn’t enjoy was that our site was right next to a playground, with a basketball hoop; kids bouncing basketballs is super annoying for us DINKs:
The campground offered horse and cart rides:
A popular thing is to decorate the golf carts, which not only makes them more festive, but also easier to spot in a parking lot (if you look at the earlier pictures, we added a couple of koi wind socks to ours).
Some examples of decorations:
On our first evening we attended the onsite Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue:
Afterwards, we watched the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the nearby beach:
Welcome to Fort Wilderness:
Store:
We took the boat to the Magic Kingdom park on several days:
Pioneer Hall has mobile-order or grab-and-go food options:
Bathrooms:
Other sites, which people often decorate too:
There are sections of the campground with cabins, for people without RVs:
The Meadow Swimmin’ Pool:
An excellent campground. We’ll be happy to stay here again in the future (though would see if we can request a site away from playgrounds etc).
We stayed at Yacht Haven Park & Marina, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A canal-front site, with a boat docked in front, and food onsite.
Dates:
Weather:
Noise:
Site:
Utilities:
Internet (in usage priority order):
Amenities:
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Mega yachts and pizza!
This was a nice enough place, but a bit expensive for the current amenities. They’re building a new pool and clubhouse, but it’s not there yet. We had a Grand Waterfront site, but our particular site (425A) seemed to also be a bit of a placeholder site. We parked directly on the astroturf and our power pedestal wasn’t a pedestal, just a raw outlet with no breaker switch. Other sites in the row had nice brick driveways with landscaping. If they finish installing this site, it will be lovely. As it was, it was just kind of meh and we were paying for the nice view of the canals. Watching the big yachts come and go was very entertaining. There’s a nice NY-style pizza place onsite which was pretty decent. We camped at Yacht Haven Park & Marina in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Canal view:
Superyacht:
The boat out front had a couple of cats, one of which visited Paladin through the door:
Rental Airstream trailers:
Other sites:
Yachts and RVs:
Party boat across the canal:
Food boat:
Pizza trailer:
Pizza menu:
Pool:
A new pool and clubhouse is coming soon:
Shelter:
Bathrooms:
Rental tiny home:
“Royal Point Waterfront” site shelter:
Office:
We stayed at Encore Sunshine Key RV Resort & Marina, in Ohio Key, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A large park in the Florida Keys.
Dates:
Weather:
Noise:
Site:
Utilities:
Internet (in usage priority order):
Amenities:
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Waterfront and road noise
We have a Thousand Trails Adventure membership, but that did not help us get a reservation here at all. Considering how hard it is to get a reservation in the Keys, we bit the bullet and paid retail for a two-week stay in a waterfront site that was the most expensive site we’d ever booked. I should point out that site 406 really shouldn’t be considered a “Premium waterfront” site. There is a peep of the water through the mangroves, but nothing like a panoramic view. However, we enjoyed watching the water and the ibises hunting in the mangroves from our front window, so I’ll let it slide.
While the peek of the water was nice, the constant highway noise was not. No matter where you are in the park, there is a constant hum of the Overseas Highway, although it’s somewhat reduced on the far edge and towards the marina.
The park has definite drainage issues. We arrived after a major thunderstorm swept through the Keys and there was a large lake at the entrance and in several other places around the park, including the road our site was on. They had pumps going to try and divert the worst of it out to sea, but it took days to completely dry up.
They allow motorhomes to front-in at the waterfront sites, which is nice even though the hookups were then on the wrong side of the coach. Luckily, we have pretty long power cables and hoses, so we’re able to reach across the nice wide site.
One downside of the waterfront site is that people think it’s okay to walk through your site on their way to the beach. It is not.
There are lots of activities and a robust social scene if you’re into that. We liked that it was convenient to everything we wanted to do in the Keys, but $300/night would be a dealbreaker if we wanted to visit the Keys again. We camped at Encore Sunshine Key RV Resort & Marina in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Our power and water hookups were on the passenger side, since we fronted in. Fortunately we have a long power cord and hoses, so it wasn’t a problem (I didn’t even need to use my power extension cord).
I flew my drone for some aerial views; this first one is above our site:
Entrance sign:
Direction sign:
Rental golf carts:
Rental Slingshot:
Mail room; quite well organized. People go in to claim their own packages:
They regularly had food vendors onsite:
Birds in front of our site:
Our coach next to a rental tiny home:
More tiny homes:
Rental trailers:
Other sites:
Dog park:
Swimming pool:
Marina:
Fish in the marina:
Sunset Pier, with a swimming area and fishing:
People checking out a grounded boat:
Beach access down from our site:
An old bridge, now a walking path:
The old bridge next to the newer Overseas Highway bridge:
A glimpse of our coach from the water:
A large, nice RV park. It would have been nicer if we could have stayed for free via our Thousand Trails membership, but the premium site was nicer.
We did a quick visit to Key West, Florida.
Lots of golf carts on the roads:
And tour trams:
And bikes:
Also lots of free-range chickens (mostly roosters):
We visited the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center and Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, which will be featured in subsequent blog posts. But we also stopped by the beach in the state park for lunch, which I’ll include here.
This beach is one of the southernmost points in the continental US. Quite a nice and popular beach, too:
Direction sign on the beach:
We grabbed some lunch at the cafe on the beach:
Another rooster:
We had considered visiting the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum and other touristy places, but had enough of walking around, so drove by them instead.
Houses with nice Caribbean paint jobs:
The aforementioned Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum, with a bit of a line outside:
Why did the chickens cross the road? No, really, why?
The famous Southernmost point buoy, which as mentioned isn’t actually southernmost, but is a popular spot for selfies, with a long line of people waiting their turn:
Really not our kind of town; way too crowded.
We stayed at Sugarloaf Key / Key West KOA Resort, in Sugarloaf Key, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A very nice resort, that actually lives up to the resort label. We wished we could have stayed longer.
Dates:
Weather:
Noise:
Site:
Utilities:
Internet (in usage priority order):
Amenities:
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Most resort-like KOA ever
This was a last-minute change as we had reservations at another place in the Keys, but needed to avoid a major storm and came down a couple of days earlier than planned. We only stayed two nights, but I wish we could’ve stayed for our entire trip in the Keys. We’ve stayed at lots of KOAs and lots of other so-called “resorts”, but this one felt the most like a true resort that we’ve ever stayed at. The pool and bar area were like something at a beachside resort in Cancun, with lush landscaping and attentive bartenders. It does get a bit loud in the evenings when they have live music, so if that’s not your scene, just be aware that you will hear it from your site.
We had a back-in along the perimeter, which we enjoyed. There is very nice landscaping between the sites, so it was relatively private. The site was just long enough for our 40′ motorhome, with our tow vehicle parked perpendicular at the front of the site. Since everyone does this, the road was a bit narrow when backing in and when we left, so make sure you have a reliable spotter.
The cost is a bit higher than we are used to, but it is what it is. It was cheaper than a less-fancy resort that was further away from Key West, so bear that in mind. We would definitely stay here again. We camped at Sugarloaf Key / Key West KOA Holiday in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Office:
This KOA is different in that it has a couple of hotel buildings for non-RVers:
Other sites:
Dog park:
They have nice paths in the middle of rows, so people aren’t tempted to cut through unoccupied (or occupied!) sites:
Sothernmost KOA:
Marina:
Rentals:
Boat ramp:
Hammock:
Pools:
Always nice when there’s food onsite. They have a poolside pub:
Menus:
We tried some beverages:
Sandwiches and fries:
Second round:
The next day, more beverages:
And pizzas:
Cafe and store:
A path to a “beach”:
Bridge:
Mangroves:
“Beach”:
A nice resort. We’d be happy to stay here again.
We drove our coach 122 miles, about 3 hours of driving, from Everglades National Park in Homestead, Florida to Sugarloaf Key, Florida.
This was a late change; we had planned to stay a couple of days more, but decided to leave early to avoid some bad weather.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading down the Overseas Highway in the Keys:
An interactive map:
Leaving our site:
We stopped at the dump station, which was rather popular at that time:
A bird in Everglades:
Leaving next to the entrance station:
Road works:
Entering route 1:
Our coach in traffic cams:
Overseas Highway, with an adjacent fishing bridge:
Fuel stop:
Paladin sat on the dash at the fuel stop, but jumped down once underway again:
Turtle hospital:
Passing Encore Sunshine Key, where we stayed a couple of days later:
Our destination:
Guided to our site (even though it was literally right around that corner):
