Day 3

Let's just say that in retrospect, perhaps our Saturday plans were not the best way to ensure for plenty of energy for an 8-mile race that was scheduled to start at 9:30.

We had a 9:50 ADR at Trail's End restaurant at the Fort Wilderness campground before our 2-hour Segway tour. We drove over from the BW, but missed the turn for Ft. Wilderness right after the Magic Kingdom parking lot entrance. We ended up in the Magic Kingdom parking lot and, having not driven to MK in a long time, I decided at that point it would be easier to just catch a boat from the MK to FW. Like I said, it had been a long time. First we had to catch a parking lot tram (2 full ones before we got on one), which dropped us off at the Ticket and Transportation Center, where we had to catch a monorail to the front of the MK, where we finally got our boat! Needless to say we were a little late, but it worked out perfectly. We waited maybe 5 minutes for a table to clear (it wasn't too crowded, it was 10:15 or so when we arrived) and settled down to some breakfast. While we were finishing up, we saw Masayo and Newell, who had done the earlier Segway tour that morning.

The Segway tour was great! I think half the people on it had already done the tour in Epcot so most of us were familiar with how the Segways work. These were heavy duty Segways, suitable for off-road use. We spent some time practicing and watching safety videos, and then we were off through the campground. We saw some of the RVs with some pretty elaborate Halloween displays. We saw a deer. We went all the way to the Wilderness Lodge, where Dave and I stayed on one of our trips. And, then, mostly cruelly, we got as close to the old abandoned River Country as possible without actually getting close enough to see anything. You should understand, I have a certain obsession with abandoned, pay-no-attention-to-this-thing-that's-totally-here-but-we're-pretending-it's-not, attractions and whatnot. And River Country is at the top of the list. Also on the list is the Skyway station in Tomorrowland. Somehow I managed not to break from the group and go exploring. Around this time, Dave declared that he "had his Dis on." That any morning that started with biscuits and gravy, followed by 2 hours of not walking, was good by him. The Segways aren't entirely effortless to the ride though. I think walking is less strenuous.

The rest of the day to follow...