February 2011 Trip Report From TCD

Yes.

I’m back.

It’s really me.

I was just taking a break.

For those of you who are not familiar with me, I do that from time to time.

In this case, I have taken a permanent break from the place where I used to post.

That’s right . . .

I quit.

There are some things that I will not tolerate.

Two biggies are ignorance and lying.

And when those in charge of the place where I used to post exhibited both, it was time for me to go.

So I left.

That was in January.

Since then, I have thought about not writing trip reports any more.

I also received an offer to create a TCD blog.

But, I have chosen to join the Fiends.

And so a new chapter begins . . .

The past is in the past.

Long live TCD!

Enough of that.

This is a trip report.

So let’s get it going.

First, let’ make note of something.

As I post this in new trip report in the trip report section of this new website, I note that there have already been some really good trip reports posted.

But even the best of them has only been viewed less than a thousand times.

That is not acceptable people.

So, let me make a promise to you:

This trip report will set a new record of viewers.

And this is only the beginning.

If you are reading along, you will be a part of history.

This is where the Fort Fiends site will take off.

It’s time for a lot of new readers.

And a lot of new members.

If you are a lurker, it’s time to join the party.

TCD trip reports need comments.

And tangents.

And hijacks.

But first, our story begins.

A trip report should begin with an introduction. So, please allow me to introduce myself. I am TCD. I am married to Mrs. TCD, and we have three teenage daughters, two of whom are twins. And we have a dog, Rocky. He is an awesome Boxer, who just turned one. We live on the west coast. Of Florida. And we visit Fort Wilderness about six times a year. Sometimes for a long weekend. Sometimes for a week. We rarely all make it together for every trip. Lately, it has just been me and the TCD twins. And so it was on this trip.

For whatever reason, the TCD twins had a school break on Feb. 14^th. Usually, they get President’s Day off. But this year, they had the Monday before President’s Day off. Odd. But good for us. The greedy Fort management charges a premium for sites on President’s Day weekend. Luckily for us, we got to go the weekend before, and the rates were much lower.

As usual, I reserved a partial hook-up site. We camp in a pop-up camper, and have no need for a full, preferred or premium site. I faxed a request to be placed on the 1500 loop. Since TCD is a VIP, I am always accommodated. Except for this time.

We arrived at the Fort in the late afternoon of Friday, February 11. It was a clear and cool afternoon. The check-in area was not crowded. And, since it was the week before President’s Day, I did not expect the campground to be crowded. I expected to check in, get to our site on the 1500 loop, and let the fun begin.

But it didn’t work that way.

We had a nice young lady check us in. When she handed me my information, she cheerfully reported that I was assigned to site 2009. “Wait a minute,” I said. “Did you say 2009?” “Yes,” she said. I told her that there must be a mistake, and that I should have a site on 1500. I asked her to please check and see if a site on 1500 was available. She picked up the phone and called. She spoke for a while with whoever it was on the other end, and then reported that there were no more sites available in the 1500 loop, as a group had reserved most of the loop. Bummer.

I am no fan of the 2000 loop.

But, that‘s the chance I take when I reserve a partial hook-up site.

So, we headed to our site.

We have camped on this exact site before.

In fact, we camped here on New Year’s Eve in 2008.

It really isn’t a bad site.

And, we had a great time.

You know what?

This report needs some pictures!

And, as luck would have it I have a few.

Well, actually more than a few.

Maybe more like a few hundred.

With me, it’s all about quantity.

I leave the quality to the real photographers.

So, I had better get posting, right?

Here we are set up in good old 2009:

I was a bit concerned when I arrived at the site, as there was a group just across from me. With a big fire pit right in front of their site. And a lot of noisy kids. This could be bad. But, we would be visiting the parks a lot on this trip, and since they had so many kids, they couldn’t party too much, could they?

Here they are:

As is our practice, the girls had run off to the Magic Kingdom while I set up camp. Just as I was putting the finishing touches on the set-up, I got the call that they were heading back from the MK so we could eat. So, I hopped on the cart and headed to the marina.

On the way, I saw two deer.

This one could walk on water!:

This one apparently could not:

I picked up the girls, and we stopped by Trail’s End for our Giddyap and Go. It is a tradition. And, it was good.

It was Extra Magic Hours at Epcot that night. That meant Epcot would be open until midnight. So that is where we headed.

It’s been a while since any of us have watched the fireworks show at Epcot (I call it Illuminations, but it may have a different name these days). We picked out a spot over by Italy and watched:

What a great show this is!

Lately, the girls and I have committed to experiencing some of the attractions that we have seldom or, in some cases, never visited. So, after the fireworks, we headed to the American Adventure. It has been years since I last forced the girls to watch that show. But, it was cold, and the park was crowded, and it was right there, so the girls really didn’t put up much of a fight. I remember the first time that I saw this attraction. How amazed I was! Now it seems very dated. And, kind of boring. But, it is still a great attraction, and it makes you proud to be an American. We ended up enjoying it. From there, we headed around the lagoon, and back to Future World where we enjoyed Soarin’ and Test Track, and headed back to the Fort.

The partiers were still up when we got back. But, they were just huddled around their fire. Not a very lively bunch that night.

As you might expect, I was up with the sun on Saturday morning, and headed down to Pioneer Hall.

After grabbing my coffee, it is time to take a look at some of the Valentine’s Day decorations around the Fort.

Which we will see in my next post.

If you are reading along and know the answer, please let me know how many photos are allowed in each post. I had 25 in this post initially, but I had to keep on editing it so that I could post it. I have a lot of photos, so I need to push it to the limit so to speak. Is it 10?

And coming up after that . . . we will explore a part of the Fort where TCD has never ventured.

Never.

And we will take a look at some really cool things I discovered off the beaten track.

I will also run into a few Fiends.

And there will be a lot more photos!

If you are reading along, please feel free to post a comment or question.

Let me know what you think.

It makes trip reports more interesting when folks chime in.

So feel free.

TCD