If you knew my mom Judy, you know about her obsession with all things Disney.

Disney Cruises and Disney World, among her favorite destinations. 

Every year my mom would book a few Disney related trips with her closest female aunts and cousins, but one special weekend would be reserved for my dad, my mom, a few friends and I… a camping trip to Fort Wilderness for the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party! 

A group of us would spend a weekend camping at Disney’s campground, followed by a fun-filled, costume-wearing, trick-or-treating, candy bag-toting evening at the Magic Kingdom (MK) for one night during our weekend. 

Did I mention we didn’t have any kids with us?

Sure they call it Mickey’s “Not-so-scary” Halloween Party because it’s, well, for kids, being not “scary” and all, but my mom LOVED going… and so did we. We’d spend all day on Saturday playing around Fort Wilderness swimming, driving spookily decorated golf carts around the property, and enjoying all that the campground had to offer. Around late afternoon we’d get our costumes on and board the boat from camp over to MK to spend hours upon hours walking around the park, riding all of our favorite rides, and collecting as MUCH candy as we could get our awkward “hey look at those adults with no kids trick-or-treating” hands on, and yelling at my mom for going through the candy lines more times than I’m willing to admit! 

We’d finish our evening with burgers at Pecos Bill, then head back to camp to count and trade our loot (my mom would ALWAYS try to trade us for our Sixlets!

In the morning, we’d pack up camp and hit Trail’s End restaurant for the best all-you-can eat breakfast buffet before heading home. My mom absolutely LOVED the Mickey shaped waffles they served there, and all across the Disney property. They are delicious… SO delicious that my mom searched far and wide for the recipe that they used to make these golden crispy little treats. Lucky for her it wasn’t a recipe at all, but a product that was easy to order. And boy did she! She’d purchase tubs of these to keep for upcoming camping trips, special occasions and even Christmas morning! She found any excuse to make Mickey Waffles now that she had the “secret!” 😉

Not a camping trip went by without those waffles, and now, as I use her waffle iron in my own house, memories of my mother flood my heart.

Since my mother’s passing, I haven’t returned to Disney. I wanted to go camping for Halloween, but I just couldn’t bring myself to go. It wouldn’t be the same without my mom decorating the golf cart and driving all around looking at Halloween decorations at the other campsites. It wouldn’t be the same without seeing her run around MK trick or treating and giving us that “look” she always gave when we started complaining about her crazy antics in the candy line. It wouldn’t be the same enjoying the buffet without hearing her oo and ahh over the waffles. I hope to someday show my children all the fun their grandmother had gallivanting around Fort Wilderness and MK around Halloween time, and make them golden waffles just like my mom made for us during every camping trip. I know I won’t be able to be as wacky and fun as she was (she was wild!) 🙂 but I know that someday I’ll be able to make those same memories with my children, just like the ones I hold in my heart of my mom.

This weekend I was feeling sentimental, and decided to take out “the” waffle maker and create some waffles for breakfast. I used this recipe from Paleomg for pumpkin waffles and they were DELICIOUS!

Always thinking of you mom.
Your daughter, Stephanie.

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