![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.chilltravelers.com\/chill\/wp-content\/uploads\/fort-wilderness-logo.jpg\" "\\"fort-wilderness-logo\\""){kind=logo}
<\/a>There are many reasons that we come to Disney\u2019s Fort Wilderness at this time of year. People that know our 365 on-the-road lifestyle often ask us, why Disney World and why Fort Wilderness.\u00a0 Since most of our days are filled with events for Keys and KODA products, visiting our dealers and doing seminars\/speeches, this seems like a very unlikely place for us to be.<\/p>\nThe reality is that just after Thanksgiving, most of the US starts to think about the holidays.\u00a0 Most are girthing for shopping season and 99% of our retailers do not want to see us until after the rush.\u00a0 So, this is a time for repositioning products, strategic planning and new product development.\u00a0 Taking the Grizzly to WDW at this time would seem to be a little crazy, but in fact, this is one of the slowest and quietest times of the year.\u00a0 Considering above, there are a few other reasons why we make the trek.<\/p>\n
- \n
- The Best Campground in America<\/strong><\/li>\n
- 70 Degrees<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Olympic Swimming Pool<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Great Restaurants<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Quiet Nights<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Nightly Fireworks<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Incredible Theme Parks<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Happy People<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Restful<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Good Friends<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Car Guy Events<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Good Place To Work aka Creative Time<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Inspirational<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
We could just keep going!<\/em><\/p>\n
Besides many friend asking why, we have so many that have wanted to see what it is like in a typical day for us.\u00a0 I guess the first answer is always, there is no typical day.\u00a0 So, we decided to grab one single day beginning with dinner the night before and proceeding through a day around Fort Wilderness.<\/p>\n
Later, on is a video we constructed set to music that gives an idea of just one day here at WDW<\/p>\n
\u00a0One Days Chronicle<\/strong><\/h3>\n
We start every morning the same.\u00a0 After we wake, we seek out the meaning of life.\u00a0 It is not what you think.\u00a0 It is the brand of coffee we drink.\u00a0 Introduced to us by our chef friend Traci, Meaning of Life is the coffee bean we order in from Cafe D\u2019Arte in Seattle.\u00a0 No matter where we are, we ship in our Meaning of Life blend and press it using our very simple yet high tech AeroPress coffee maker<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.chilltravelers.com\/chill\/wp-content\/uploads\/california-grill-pano.png\" "\\"california-grill-pano\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.chilltravelers.com\/chill\/wp-content\/uploads\/Yoshi-281x300.png\" "\\"Yoshi\\"")
<\/a>Our friend Yoshi and one of her creations<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n On this particular day, we were happily remembering our last night\u2019s dinner at the California Grill atop the Disney Contemporary Hotel.\u00a0 The CA Grill is usually ranked among the top 10 restaurants in the US and our friend Yoshi, from Okinawa, is one of the most renowned sushi chefs in the world.\u00a0 No surprise she is at the CA Grill.\u00a0\u00a0 One of our secrets is that there is a sushi bar at the CA Grill where Yoshi works.\u00a0 It is not on the seating plan and reservations require some special requests through the business office.\u00a0 Yoshi says that to tell them that we are her family which has become true\u00a0 over time.\u00a0 The resemblance gets closer over the years.\u00a0 While here, we try to schedule dinner as often as we can and we take clients to dinner here because the CA Grill is not inside the parks, so our guests do not have to have a park pass.<\/p>\n
Visiting with Yoshi is always fun and we have become close friend with Brian, the exec chef, and many of the other people that work at the grill.<\/p>\n
Our plan for today started with the Meaning of Life and we headed out to the pool which is about a 1\/2 mile walk from where the Grizzly is parked.\u00a0 Our daily walking goal is 5 miles and between walking Jasper, our own walks and going to the Disney parks takes care of the rest of the requirement.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.chilltravelers.com\/chill\/wp-content\/uploads\/ft-wilderness-pool.png\" "\\"ft-wilderness-pool\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nWe both try to swim daily trying to go 1500 meters as a form of daily exercise.\u00a0 After last night 750 meters was about all we could manage.\u00a0 The pool at Fort Wilderness is an Olympic pool, warm and very clean.\u00a0 After our swim, we walk back to the Grizzly for breakfast and to get ready for the days expedition.<\/p>\n
Wendy and I have never had a 9 to 5 job and now with Keys, it is 24\/7 and seven days a week.\u00a0 Don\u2019t feel sorry for us, because we take parts of some days off to play.\u00a0 Today our plan is to venture to Disney\u2019s Hollywood Studio and then to walk to Epcot.<\/p>\n
We jumped in the car to drive over to Disney\u2019s Yacht Club Hotel.\u00a0 From there, you can walk to the Studio along a waterway.\u00a0 We arrived at the Yacht Club and started our walk to the Studio seeing some sky writing on the way.\u00a0 We love the walk and it was a perfect day.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.chilltravelers.com\/chill\/wp-content\/uploads\/studios.png\" "\\"studios\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nWe arrived at the Studio and had reservations at one of our favorite restaurants named Mama Melrose.\u00a0 Great Caesar salad!\u00a0 Then it was time for a walk around to see what was new.\u00a0 Unlike most, as season pass holders, we are not rushed to use up tickets, so we return as often as we like and see different things on the various trips.\u00a0 This is in contrast to the frenetic families that run around on schedule.<\/p>\n
After lunch we headed to Epcot to walk around the international pavilion on a leisurely stroll and to check out what is new.\u00a0 The walk from the Disney Studios to the France gate at Epcot is about a mile and passes Disney\u2019s Boardwalk.\u00a0 Wendy has to stop for M&M\u2019s to fuel the balance of the walk to Epcot.<\/p>\n
Arriving at the France gate, we started our walk past France, Morocco, Japan, the USA pavilion, Germany, Italy, China, Norway and Mexico.\u00a0 Not much had changed.\u00a0 Many new young faces working in the various countries.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.chilltravelers.com\/chill\/wp-content\/uploads\/GeirNess250.jpg\" "\\"GeirNess250\\"")
<\/a>What was exciting was when we got to Norway was to see a sign out front that our good friend Geir Ness was making appearances with his line of perfumes and fragrance made in Norway.\u00a0 We have been friends for years and Geer started his line shortly before Keys was born.\u00a0 So we cruised inside and caught his eye.\u00a0 Geir is the quintessential salesman and this good looking Norwegian coaxes women into buying his perfume while he stares into their eyes and rubs their hands.\u00a0 Both Wendy and I laughed as women lined up and their eyes roll back in their heads.\u00a0 Kaching another sale!\u00a0 We had a great time visiting with Geir and hope to have dinner with him before we leave.<\/p>\nNext stop was Mexico where Wendy had heard a rumor about a new Tequila Bar that opened inside the pavilion.\u00a0\u00a0 We walked through the museum portal and down into the marketplace.\u00a0 Dark as usual, we spotted Cava Del Tequila to our right and went in.\u00a0 A beautiful very friendly bar with great smells.\u00a0 We walked to the bar and looked at the drink menu.\u00a0 Traditional margaritas were there, but we spotted the exotic ones.\u00a0 Blood Orange, Passion Fruit, Pineapple and then Wendy spotted it….Avocado Margarita!\u00a0 This drink has become Wendy\u2019s new best friend and after tasting it, she was hard pressed to leave.\u00a0 Here is a link to Cava Del Tequila<\/a><\/strong> if you find yourself near Mexico when in Orlando.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.chilltravelers.com\/chill\/wp-content\/uploads\/cavadetequila.png\" "\\"cavadetequila\\"")
<\/a>Cava Del Tequila and Fran the three-armed bartender ***<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Now staggering, we completed the walk back to the Yacht Club.\u00a0 Please excuse the shaky video after Mexico.<\/p>\n
So enjoy the video here that captures our one-day at Disney.\u00a0 Oh, it turned out that we walked about 8 miles today, so the Margarita\u2019s did not contribute to any weight gain.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
[jwplayer config=”16-9 720″ mediaid=”2224″]<\/p>\n
*** For my photo friends, the panoramas were shot with my new iPhone 5 and its panorama feature. \u00a0Very cool and it sometimes does some interesting things like giving Fran the bartender a third arm….or was it the Tequila?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
- 70 Degrees<\/strong><\/li>\n