Day 887: Two Armadillos in the Bush

Guess who's finally back from trips with edited pictures and plenty of blog posts to write? ME!

It's been almost three weeks now since I last blogged, mostly because I've been traveling all over the place and haven't had time to think or make my proper morning coffee much less sit down to write blog posts, but that's alright. Over the next few days I've got everything from trip updates from both Walt Disney World and the Band Trip I just went on (where Disney ran rampent as well!) to cupcakes and YouTube Videos, so now it's just a matter of getting them all finished and posted! So stay tuned as I make things up and get back on track!

Now then, let's get started with going through my most recent trip to Walt Disney World, which started on the day this blog post would have originally been published. Per usual, I spent my time focusing on Disney while I was down there instead of blogging, and where better to start than the resort we stayed at?

Previous to this trip, I'd never actually stayed at Wilderness Lodge, and to be honest I hadn't spend much time there at all. Well..that hasn't really changed because I'm fairly certain that a portion of me doesn't even believe I stayed there. Even with sleeping I'm pretty sure I spent more time at Magic Kingdom on the first day than I did in our room the entire trip. Then again, normally I spend a bit more time at the resort, but because this was such a short trip it got a little cut off, but that's alright. I do know that in the future I'll be hanging out there more often, especially since I spent five days there and have a total of about 15 pictures to prove I was actually staying at Wilderness Lodge.

Luckily the rest of my family took a few pictures (mainly my Dad), so I have some evidence of my stay there. Officially, we took up residence in the Villas at Wilderness Lodge, AKA the DVC portion of the resort. DVC is one of the world's greatest inventions if you ask me, and I'm honestly not sure what my family would do without it. It makes it possible to travel the way you like, whether that be on one larger trip every few years (you could probably go for weeks depending on how many points you have) or a few shorter trips each year. It's brilliant. 

Of course, being the Wisconsinites we are, the first thing we did was curl up in front of the fire, room not quite ready yet, despite the fact that it was about 100 degrees outside (alright, so not quite that bad, but it felt awful for those of us used to about 60 degree weather). However, it was cold inside, and sitting by that fireplace was one of my favorite things about staying at Wilderness Lodge, as I spent more time there later in the trip as well. 

A big bonus, especially for my Dad and Brother, was the Iron Spike Room, where you can find railroad cars from Walt Disney's own Carolwood Pacific. I only walked over there once unfortunatly, again due to time, but the pure knowledge that such an important piece of Disney history was in the same building felt right.

While we waited by the fire, Dad made sure to catch some pictures of the lobby and the rest of the grounds, which I passed every day, multiple times per day, but never actually got around to taking pictures of myself. 

Just a couple of pictures from inside our room. We had a one bedroom, as you can see from the pictures. It wasn't long after we finally got into our room that I ended up facetiming Frank, who accompanied us on our trip in January. She was currently situated at the dunk tank to support our High School Band back home, so while we shared our room with her, she was sharing live action dunking of our friends. 

However, previous to actually getting into our room, we had a bit of an issue concerning our Magic Bands. We've never really had any problems before, but for some reason it just didn't work on this trip, although it sounded like Wilderness Lodge in general was having some issues that day. They worked fine towards the end of the trip though. So while the parents headed back down to the front desk, Jonny and I stayed up at the door, on the floor of course. Nothing like being locked out of your room!

And that's about it when it comes to Wilderness Lodge...except for one thing...that title. Two Armadillos in the Bush. On our first night at Disney, my Dad, brother and I headed back to the resort around one in the morning (and by the time we got there it was probably almost two), where at night, things get a little spooky. So as we made our walk back from the boats to the Villas, I stopped, curious by the something that was moving in the bush. One flashlight feature on my phone later, we discovered that it wasn't squirrels or something, but rather two little Armadillos searching for food. Not sure if they would attack or anything if approached further, we left in a hurry, but not before jumping at the owl that was making noises too! Leave it to Disney to give you your first wild armadillo encounter.

If you've stayed at Wilderness Lodge, what were some of your thoughts? I greatly enjoyed my stay there, although I think it definitely still ranks lower than both Old Key West and the Contemporary, for sure. Regardless, I can't wait to stay there again in the future!

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on June 22 due to Travel).

Day 842: Stressed Out

Finals are only a few weeks away, and that means that there's a lot of work left between now and then that has to get done. With a concert coming up this weekend, a music analysis due next week, a final paper to write for the Friday after and then finals to study for in addition to preparing a solo and scales for Barrier Juries, things are getting pretty crazy. It's the reason the blog gets behind from time to time, and it's also the reason that I find myself and my fellow classmates more stressed out than ever.

However, there is a silver lining. With so little time left in the semester, it also means that there's only a short time left before my summer of Disney trips, and just over a month until Disney World. That means I'm pretty excited at the same time. In fact, I find that most of my daydreaming in between study sessions ends up being about one of two things: Once Upon A Time and Disney World. In addition, I've spent more time watching Disney Parks YouTube videos in the last two weeks that I think I have all year, and I've officially declared the music from the YouTube All Stars #DisneySide Videos to be my Jam, but beyond that, there are a few other things on my Disney-centered mind that help ease some of the stress when I need a break from getting frustrated with my saxophone.

Today I stumbled across this video in my searches and I realized how excited I am to be staying at Wilderness Lodge for the first time in June! We were originally going to stay there in January, but when we added people on we moved to a bigger room over at Saratoga Springs, another resort I hadn't stayed at previous to the trip. It all worked out well, but when mom announced we were staying at Wilderness Lodge in June after all, I got pretty excited. You guys have no idea how many pictures I'm going to take.

I've also spent a lot of time recently trying to figure out what I want to wear when I'm in the Parks this summer. I know, this sounds ridiculous to most, but I've explained this before. DisneyBounding and looking good, even on my vacations, is important to me, mostly due to the fact that I need to make up for all those pictures I avoided as a child...or rather, the pictures I'd like to replace from those awkward years. Now that I'm comfortable and happy taking pictures, I want to look good in them so I can treasure them for years to come! However, quite a bit of planning goes into these things. There are already things in the works for DisneyBounds with one of my friends out in California, and when it comes to hot and humid Florida, I've got to think about what will both look good and keep me cool. Think me crazy if you want, but I'm going to just keep planning. 

Of course, there's plenty of other things to plan, little things like a new bag for traveling, what else I need to pack, when to make my packing list, what I want to eat and so on and so forth. When paired with a bunch of Once Upon A Time it keeps me pretty calm...or at least calm enough to get back to work on that Music Analysis. Speaking of which...

Have a magical day!