Time to move on and meet the Mouse! The drive to Orlando was only about an hour, so naturally it took us two-and-a-half. Behemoth is not speedy, y'all, nor is Mikey. Nor are the diesel pumps, when you're taking on 40-50 gallons.

We would be staying for ten days at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort. I wasn't expecting to be THIS close to Disney World, but as we drove in there was no doubt where we were. It's the Mouse's world, and we're just renting a little bit of it.

Check-in was predictably efficient; it's Disney, after all. We were very happy with our roomy spot amid the lush landscaping.

However. Lush landscaping has its downside. Our wonderful roof-mounted, automatic-satellite-detecting antenna twirled and twisted and tried its best, but was unable to find its targets, due to the tall trees and also because we are so far east of western satellites. The solution? An eastern-configured carry-out, joy joy. Mike had anticipated this eventuality and purchased the necessary equipment before we left.

Or so he thought.

Without going into all the frustrating details, it took five days (with no TV), two Amazon deliveries, and several hours of assembling, disassembling, aiming amd re-aiming before -- finally! TV!

Interestingly, my boob-tube withdrawal was less distressing than I expected; for a while, the silence was actually nice.

But as soon as the drug became available again, I predictably fell off the wagon.

Even though we were deep in Mouse-land, I traitorously chose Universal Studios for our first outing. Universal has two different parks, the original Universal Studios and the newer Islands of Adventure. You can buy one ticket that allows you to visit both in a day. For more money, naturally.

We started off in Islands of Adventure, bypassing the front section devoted to Marvel super-heroes; I wasn't going to ride any big coasters or barf-inducing 3-D motion simulators.

We worked our way to Jurassic World and enjoyed a short but fun experience, the "Raptor Encounter". A performer in a dinosaur suit did a credible and scary impression of a velociraptor, and the "handler" added to the illusion.

The big new thing at Universal, relatively speaking, is Harry Potter. Both parks have Harry Potter sections, with a Hogwart's Express train connecting the two. There's a lot of detailed atmosphere here, including Hogwart's castle and Hogsmeade village.

I broke my own barf-rule and rode Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey inside the castle. It was a ton of fun, a 4-D simulation of riding a flying broom behind Harry, but I suffered the consequences and had motion sickness for a couple of hours afterward. *Sigh*.

After looking around Hogsmeade, we boarded the Hogwart's Express to make the trip to Universal Studios. The train itself is an attraction, with scenery passing by in a "window" that continues the illusion of being in Potter-world.

At the other end of the train, there's a complete replica of Diagon Alley, including Ollivander's wand shop. Here you can buy your own wand, even get an interactive version that can be used in various locations to create "magical" effects.

We made a rest stop sitting on some steps next to Gringott's Bank, which features an overhead dragon that belches flame every 15 minutes.

We made our way toward the front section of Universal, which still has a lot of old-Hollywood atmosphere. I remembered the E.T. Adventure ride from our visit in 1992!

One of the best attractions is on this side: the Bourne Stuntacular, a stunt show based on the Jason Bourne movies. It takes place on an enormous stage and combines giant rotating sets with live-action stunts in front of projected background films. In one scene, two stunt actors "fight" on top of cars. Even though the cars are actually stationary, the road-racing background movie is timed so realistically you get a real feeling of jeopardy and suspense.

I wasn't impressed with the few live street shows, but I did really enjoy the Beat Builders, a group of percussion performers posing as construction workers. They start their act on a faux-scaffold, beating on metal pails and other improvised instruments, then they move out front to sawhorses and garbage cans and even a "wrench xylophone".

It was a long, full day of walking. Lots and lots of walking. While there were some fun moments, overall the experience didn't really stick.

The next evening, we attended a new-ish Cirque du Soleil show called "Drawn to Life". It was designed in collaboration with Disney and depicts the animation process as experienced by a young girl whose father left behind an unfinished animation that she wants to finish. While I enjoyed the storyline, some of the acrobatic acts seemed random and didn't really fit the show's theme. The best act, a lone male aerialist, appeared early in the show.

Our next outing was to Epcot Center. I had fond memories of Epcot from our 1992 trip, but I didn't recognize much after twenty years. It was a tiring day with few memorable moments. I did enjoy the Soarin' attraction, an Imax film that simulates flying over many of the world's great landmarks. And Turtle Talk with Crush (the turtle from "Finding Nemo") is a cute digital-puppetry attraction that allows on-screen Crush to carry on conversations with audience members.

I guess we were just too tired to take many photos, or else nothing grabbed our attention, because all we have are a shot of the mob waiting to get in, and one of me resting in the Miss Piggy garden area. In the mob photo, you can see the fencing that surrounds what was once Future World and is now a giant construction zone.