I mentioned in a previous post about a last-minute trip to Disney my wife.  One downfall with a last-minute vacation especially at Disney is you don’t have the 180 day window to book dining reservations or 60 days out to book fast passes for rides.  You end up just winging it which has the potential to be disastrous.  But thankfully for us we managed to try out some new dining locations that are kind of hidden gems and are much easier to get a table at without calling ahead.  One of these places we still talk about is the Trail’s End Restaurant located in the Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground.

First off I’ll say this place is huge.  It’s so expansive that there is an internal bus system with various routes taking you throughout the campgrounds and cabins.  On this more recent afternoon trip back I did manage to make a reservation for lunch, but before heading all the way to the marina I had a few stops along the way.

After parking in the guest lot I headed into the Reception Outpost (Registration Lobby).  All of the buildings here look like log cabins and tend to be a little dark inside but I enjoy this place immensely.  It’s just fun to be here.

Up against the back wall of this registration area is the first pressed penny machine.

The set of pennies here are all from the Pixar movie Monsters, Inc: Waternoose, Celia, and Boo in her Monster Costume.  With these pennies in my pocket I walked back outside and across the parking lot to the bus stop.  There are three different routes trough the campground, but they all end up near Pioneer Hall.  But note that if you want to get all the pennies available here you do need to take the Orange bus as it’s the only one that stops at the Meadow Trading Post.

This is kind of like a general store for a certain area campsites, and is where you can get all your snacks, food and souvenir needs.

There are some cool things in here like S’mores kits and popcorn which always seem to taste better over a campfire.

At the back of the settlement post near the check out register was the second penny machine.

This second set of pennies has designs of Pioneer Mickey with a Musket, Chip & Dale, and Western Goofy all tied up.  I headed back outside to the Bus Stop and hopped on the next bus that came by.  After a short ride I hopped off on the final stop which was up at Pioneer Hall.

There are a lot of things going on up here, including Tri-Circle-D Ranch, Mickey’s Backyard BBQ, and Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue.

This is also where the Marina is located where you can take a nice boat ride over to the Wilderness Lodge Resort, Contemporary Resort and/or the Magic Kingdom.  There is also another shop called the Settlement Trading Post.

Inside this place is very similar to the Meadow Trading Post, and sells pretty much the same stuff.

The third penny machine is located just outside the main set of doors to this Trading Post.

This machine has a classic set of designs including Mickey, Minnie and Goofy.  By this time it was getting pretty close to my lunch reservation and thankfully I didn’t have far to go.

The Trail’s End Restaurant was still as good as I remember and really hit the spot.  It’s a buffet with a fairly unique set of options, and I still recommend this place highly.  After a busy morning of collecting pressed coins the filling lunch was a nice end to my visit at the campgrounds.

Click here to see my YouTube channel video on these machines
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Years ago my wife and I had decided to take a last-minute trip to the most Magical Place on Earth.  This was out of the ordinary for me as I’m always much more of a detailed pre-planner.  We only had a few resorts available to us at the time, but we wanted to stay somewhere we hadn’t been before.  Port Orleans French Quarter was the one we decided to book and to this day we will talk about how much we loved that resort.

All this time later I wanted to make another trip back and just walk around the resort and see what has changed.  Plus I figured I can also go check out the related sister resort Riverside.  The French Quarter resort opened in May of 1991 as is themed like New Orleans during Mardi Gras.

After I parked my car I headed inside the French Quarter resort first and wandered past the registration area.  Nearby is the Jackson Square Gift shop.

As with pretty much every other resort gift shop it has the same merchandise with not too much variance.

Towards the back of the store near where the coolers are with soda and other refrigerated snacks is where I came across the first penny machine.

The penny set available here included images of Mickey playing the Trumpet, Donald with a Trombone, and Jester Goofy.  We were going to finish up our visit back at this resort, but decided to head over to the Riverside part of the resort for quick visit.

The more scenic way over to the resort would be to walk but this is a quite a long hike, and with our younger daughter with us we opted for the air-conditioned car.

The Riverside resort is themed after the American South along the Mississippi River.  It opened less than a year after the French Quarter in February 1992.

The large lobby and registration area really transform you into the deep south.  The staff has that wonderful southern charm as well and as the Disney saying goes welcomes you home.  Located in the registration area are the next two penny machines we came across.

The first machine has three designs with images of the Prince from Snow White, Princess Jasmine, and Steamboat Willie Mickey Mouse.

Only a few steps away on the opposite side of the large window was the second machine.  Unfortunately when we visited this machine was out-of-order, but thankfully for my collection I already acquired these coins on my previous stay here.

The set of pennies from this machine (when working) have designs of Grumpy Dwarf, Spaceman Mickey, and the Wicked Queen from Snow White.

Just across from the registration area is this resorts gift shop known as Fulton’s General Store.

As you walk into the gift shop you will find the next penny machine.

The penny set available at this machine are all about your friends from the Hundred Acre Wood.  Tigger, Winnie the Pooh, and Eeyore.

At the back of the General Store is the fifth and final machine currently available at the Port Orleans resorts.

The last set of pennies has designs of Classic Mickey Mouse, Sleepy Dwarf, and Goofy with a Swimming Tube.  With all the coins pressed we headed back outside to take a look around.

This resort has a few different dining options and one of them is the Riverside Mill Food court, and the above picture is of the outside of that building.  The raised boardwalk pathway around the resort is a fun way to take in the entire atmosphere of the south.  After aimlessly walking around we went back to our car for a quick stop back at the French Quarter resort for a special treat.

In the Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory is the main food court for the resort.  They have items known in New Orleans like Po’ boys, Gumbo, and Jambalaya.  For dessert there is my daughters favorite straight from Tiana’s Place in The Princess and the Frog, beignets.  Fried squares of dough covered with powdered sugar just can’t be beat and was a nice ending to our staycation.  My daughter’s reaction below explains just how we felt about those beignets.  Happy collecting.