Camping with Mickey Mouse at Fort Wilderness in Orlando

Winter's here in Florida, which means the weather has cooled down to a sprightly 79 degrees with 80 percent humidity. Regardless, it means the chance of nice weather has emerged and it's the right time to go camping. And nothing says camping like the Fort Wilderness camp grounds at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL. Everybody loves Disney, some to the extent that it makes you wonder if they don't have a collection of restraining orders to match their collection of porcelain Mickey Mouse figurines. I am not one of those people. I love Disney the way a person with a large family loves holiday get-togethers: that was fun but, barring a wedding, funeral or christening I don't really want to see you again until next year. Limiting your time in a theme park is good if you wish to continue enjoying your trips to it. Thankfully, the Florida weather offers a tremendous amount of aid in this regard. After years of bombardment by the heat, insects, hurricanes and tourists associated with Florida, any native who still has a functioning brain knows better than to go to a theme park in the summertime. The waiting, the stickiness, the pushing, the unending heat, the screaming children… and that's just the line to buy tickets INTO the park. The actual summertime theme park experience itself would have made Job lose his patience. A seasoned theme park visitor knows to wait until the weather becomes pleasant enough to spend all day in it. As a month of seasonal change, October would be the ideal month if it wasn't such a tease. It might be hot, it might be cool, there could be rain, humidity is anyone's guess, a hurricane or two might be imminent, hell, it may even be cold. You never really know. I don't step foot into the parks until the fall, which has led me to equate the fall with Disney. I amble into the parks in mid-October and spend one glorious weekend running through the park grounds and revel in (usually) cooler weather. The air is (usually) cool and crisp, a jacket is (sometimes) needed and the smell of a fire (might be) floating in the air. A Disney campground is an ideal place to experience the possibility of fall weather. While few things are more refreshing then waking up early and going for a stroll on a cool fall morning, it's also neat when the appearance of said fall morning will be meticulously re-created for paying patrons by grumbling Disney employees. There have been several occasions when the trifecta of good weekends occurs during these visits: the air is cool, the sun is out and the wind has picked up enough to offer a breeze. This weather might hang around for a few weeks but it's fantastic if it hits when you're outdoors for the weekend. This would be the point in the essay where I write how sad it is that I equate the changing seasons with a gigantic entertainment corporation. I would then add that we need a return to the things I valued growing up, like pumpkin patches at churches and fall festivals and dressing up kids in Power Ranger outfits asking for candy and throwing TP at houses. I might also argue that, to do this, I need to escape the confines of the Disney complex and head for the nearest charming little town. I would do all this, if only the kid in the Mickey Mouse costume would stop following me around the park.