It's The End of the World as We Know It-The TCD Gang's Last Fort Trip (BC)

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

 

 

No pics, so it didn't happen.

 

The funny thing is that we met up at the Settlement Bus Stop and there were guests everywhere looking to see why a grown woman in a tiara was screaming like a little girl.  They probably were all wondering what was with the fat old dude.

 

 

 

One of the things I love about WDW is that grown women can walk around in a tiara and scream like a little girl at old men and make them blush.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Update time!

 

I've been trying to get this done all morning, but there have been an amazing variety of error messages, not to mention great comments which slowed me down.

 

But here it is!

 

We left off in the early afternoon on Saturday.

 

The TCD twins were still sleeping off the 24 hour event.

 

I was out looping.

 

I was on my way back to wake them.

 

But first, a quick detour around the 1500 loop.

 

Ordinarily, this is where the TCD gang can be found.

 

But, the geniuses who run the Fort turned most of the loop over to these people:

 

 

 

I am very much in favor of scouts and youth groups and such, but I wish they would not let huge groups like this camp in the loops.  It isn't fair to the regular campers who pay good money for their sites to be overrun by a bunch of noisy kids.  Did you notice all the food piled up there by the fake stump in the first photo?  These folks aren't going to spend a dime on the overpriced food served at Disney World. Remember those pool photos I posted in the last update?  I had just left there.  What if this group decided to show up at the pool?  I have a funny story about that, actually.  The next night, I saw all of these kids heading down the path to the marina with towels draped around their necks.  They were going someplace to pool hop, presumably the Lodge or Contemporary.  The poor rich guests at those resorts!

 

But I digress.

 

From here, I headed back to the 100 loop and roused the zombies.

 

They actually woke up in good spirits and agreed to a pre-lunch loop.

 

So we looped.

 

The girls hate it when I stop and take photos while we are looping together, so I refrained.

 

But, when we got to the group camping area, I insisted that I needed to take a couple of photos.

 

It looked like there was something in the water, right over there:

 

 

Indeed, there was:

 

 

Do you see it?

 

How about now?:

 

 

GATOR!!!!

 

This is where any Yankees reading along are supposed to freak.

 

And the Floridians yawn.

 

Yeah, it's a gator.

 

NBD.

 

He was just a little feller:

 

 

 

Even though that was just a little gator, it was still fun to see.  We don't see gators all that often at the Fort.

 

If there are any Yankees reading along who liked the gator, please be sure to check back later for the big black snake photo.

 

Good times.

 

Now it was lunch time.

 

We ate at the site.

 

That wall TCD twin #1 hit last night got her pretty good I would say:

 

 

After this, we kind of had a leisurely afternoon around the Fort.  The girls got showers, and I enjoyed some hammock time.

 

At one point, Lou showed back up, and we had a nice visit.

 

At another point, I ran into Devores, and we compared notes about the 24 hour event.  I also shared with him that we were planning to head over to Hollywood Studios.  He told me that it had been reported on the hub that the Hollywood Studios parking lot had been closed because it reached capacity, and they were having guests park at Epcot and were busing them over.  Well poop.

 

I shared the bad news with the Twins.

 

We had planned on eating dinner at a quick serve in DHS, and staying for the Star Wars Weekend show, Hyperspace Hoopla. We knew it would be busy, but not that busy.  I suggested that since the parking lot was closed, we take the bus there.  They said it would probably be a pain to get something to eat, and might be so crowded that it wasn't worth trying to go.  So we made another plan.

 

The girls love Wolfgang Puck Express at Downtown Disney.  They said let's drive there, then try to drive to DHS.  If the parking lot was still closed, we would bail.  If it was open, we would go.  Sounded like an OK plan to me.

 

We knew we would need to allow plenty of time, so we headed out at around 5:15.

 

When Lou visited, he told me how busy the overflow lot was.

 

Still, I was surprised to see that they were parking cars in the big field next to the old kennel.  I've never seen that before:

 

 

So, this is the overflow for the overflow?

 

And this is the overflow:

 

 

 

No wonder the pool was so busy.

 

What are all of these cars doing here?

 

It wasn't just the Fort that was busy.

 

As we headed to Downtown Disney, the signs for the parking lot announced that the lots closest to the Marketplace were full and closed.

 

Lies, I thought.

 

We headed to where we always park.

 

The twins were mad.

 

It was packed solid, and cars were circling like they do at the mall at Christmas.

 

I can play that game, though.

 

I spotted a couple walking out with bags in their hands, and made a little gesture to them.  The gave me the wave, and they walked to a spot just down from where we were.

 

Score!

 

That was easy.

 

It was a great spot too.

 

I have never been to Wolfgang Puck Express.

 

Here's the menu:

 

 

Twin #2 loves the spaghetti and meatballs, so she went for that.

 

Twin #1 wanted the chicken alfredo, so she went for that.

 

I had hit the leftover GAG chicken not too long before this, so I was looking for something on the light side.  I decided on the roasted turkey cobb salad.

 

Sorry, but I have no food photos.

 

I will say this:  I will go back there in a heartbeat.  That was some high quality food, and I thoroughly enjoyed my salad.

 

So, that part of the plan went smoothly.

 

Now is was time to brave the DHS parking lot.

 

Our arrival there was completely uneventful.  The lot was open like normal, and they even had us park in the closest part of the lot. 

 

But that didn't mean the park wasn't crowded.

 

It was.

 

Very much so.

 

We didn't have any plans to do anything other than see Hyperspace Hoopla, so no big deal.

 

And there were Star Wars geeks everywhere! :

 

 

The weekend before was the first weekend, and word was that it was a couple of hour wait just to get in to the merchandise tent they have set up by the Rock N Rollercoaster.  I knew that since it was not the second weekend, it was unlikely there would be a line for that today, so I suggested that we head back there and see what we could see.

 

Sure enough, there was no line to get in to the tent.

 

Every year, they add some new things, and this year, one new thing was a photo op with this Rancor:

 

 

 

 

You have to wait in line to get your photo taken with the Rancor, though, and the line was closed when we got there.  These last few guests were going to meet the fake Luke, and then that would be it for the night:

 

 

So no photo with a giant fake rubber space critter for the TCD gang.

 

Fail.

 

Oh well, it was still worth coming here, because the Star Wars art was out on display and for sale.

 

Not only that, but a real live artist was here, too:

 

 

I really wanted to shake this guy's hand.  He makes more money than a fake Santa, and doesn't have to walk around looking ridiculous either.

 

But, he was busy, so no handshake.

 

I did, however, get to admire the art.

 

I looked for my favorite painting from last year- the Wookie Family Portrait- but it was gone.  Sold out!  Darn, I should have bought it when I had the chance.

 

I looked at this year's offerings.

 

Hey look- a poster for the Star Tours ride. That's nice:

 

 

And it's only $295!:

 

 

Maybe that's a bit too much for a poster.

 

How about this one?:

 

 

Nope, that one is $295 too:

 

 

OK, so no posters for me.  Maybe a small painting?

 

What's this- a funny looking Storm Trooper? :

 

 

Nope, everyone knows that is a Biker Scout.  Duh.  And Reasonably priced at only $450:

 

 

Geez.

 

Better get back to the posters.  Hey how about this? :

 

 

Still $295:

 

 

Gotta keep looking.

 

Now, here is something interesting:

 

 

Admittedly, I may not know much about art.  But I know a masterpiece when I see it.

 

Dang, it, this one is $295 too! :

 

 

I enjoyed standing near that last one and hearing the comments people made about it.  The Star Wars geeks loved it.  Too bad they all live in their parents basements and couldn't even come close to forking over the purchase price.

 

Plus, wouldn't you get tired of looking at that?

 

It was right here that I spotted it.

 

The best piece of Star Wars art I had ever seen!

 

I'll start the next update with that.

 

TCD

[CoachClough 12]

^{This is where any Yankees reading along are supposed to freak.
 
And the Floridians yawn.}

 

 

 

^{Dear Floridians,}

 

^{We'd like to invite you up north, to meet our bears.  We'll see who's yawning then.}

 

^Love,

 

^Yankees.

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Is this a Clark Griswold reference?

Yep.

Clark talking to Cousin Eddie.

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Gator.....shmater.

I have run into Gators bigger than that while at work........

Not kidding. When you are doing a house search after a break-in and have them meet you on the other side of a walk-in closet door.........that is when they are scary.

[MinnieMom 4]

I'm in! First one on page 10! Oh. paIge 10. Or 11, because I type very slow. Better late than never, I guess. I am reading along with a bit of sympathy for you. My oldest graduated last year and did not go on our trip this past January because of college classes. I think it is wonderful that you have such a close relationship with your daughters.

[Beckers 1,136]

Gator.....shmater.

I have run into Gators bigger than that while at work........

Not kidding. When you are doing a house search after a break-in and have them meet you on the other side of a walk-in closet door.........that is when they are scary.

I was wondering where you were going with this. I didn't think you had gators in MI. Wasn't expecting you to say they were pets!

[Santa ... Shannon 160]

Is this a Clark Griswold reference?

 

Yes sire, Bob! Actually, one of my favorite lines in the movie. Just after Cousin Eddie arrives he asks if everybody was surprised by their being there.

 

"Eddie, if I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet I couldn't be more surprised than I am right now." I distinctly remember something fizzy traveling mouth to nose and beyond the first time I heard that line. Good times!

[magnoliafig 51]

Phfffft!

Floridians and Yankees would wet their panties if they came to Louisiana. Everybody knows we have vampires.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Phfffft!

Floridians and Yankees would wet their panties if they came to Louisiana. Everybody knows we have vampires.

 

Poor Spec...

[Lou... 3,118]

 

Dear Floridians,

 

^{We'd like to invite you up north, to meet our bears.  We'll see who's yawning then.}

 

^Love,

 

^Yankees.

 

You're not under the impression that Floridians are southerners? They're mostly Yankees.

Of the people I've met over the past 22 years, only a handful have been natives.

[caveat lector 181]

Does that include Ponce de Leon. Sorry, I couldn't resist the Harvey Korman like straight line. :)

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

^{This is where any Yankees reading along are supposed to freak.}

 

And the Floridians yawn.

 

 

 

^{Dear Floridians,}

 

^{We'd like to invite you up north, to meet our bears.  We'll see who's yawning then.}

 

^Love,

 

^Yankees.

 

Bears?

 

You don't think we have bears in Florida?

 

There have been bears spotted at the Fort.

 

You can read all about it on the bulletin boards posted around the Fort.

 

Oh, and there's a panther that lives in River Country too.  So be careful.

 

And by the way- the location under you Avatar says you're from the Eastern Shore of Maryland.  Is there a Western Shore?

 

 

Yep.

Clark talking to Cousin Eddie.

 

 

Knew it.

 

I'm pretty sure you've only seen two movies in your life.

 

Gator.....shmater.

I have run into Gators bigger than that while at work........

Not kidding. When you are doing a house search after a break-in and have them meet you on the other side of a walk-in closet door.........that is when they are scary.

 

Yep.  Michigan/Notre Dame folks don't want nothing to do with no Gators!

 

I'm in! First one on page 10! Oh. paIge 10. Or 11, because I type very slow. Better late than never, I guess. I am reading along with a bit of sympathy for you. My oldest graduated last year and did not go on our trip this past January because of college classes. I think it is wonderful that you have such a close relationship with your daughters.

 

Way to go!  I knew you could do it.

 

So have you been typing all week just to post that post?

 

You did it!

 

I am glad that I've got a good relationship with my daughters.  But, it's only because they need money.

 

 

I was wondering where you were going with this. I didn't think you had gators in MI. Wasn't expecting you to say they were pets!

 

Yeah, me either.

 

I know they're in the subways in NYC, though.

 

Yes sire, Bob! Actually, one of my favorite lines in the movie. Just after Cousin Eddie arrives he asks if everybody was surprised by their being there.

 

"Eddie, if I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet I couldn't be more surprised than I am right now." I distinctly remember something fizzy traveling mouth to nose and beyond the first time I heard that line. Good times!

 

Of course you love any movie involving Christmas.

 

Phfffft!

Floridians and Yankees would wet their panties if they came to Louisiana. Everybody knows we have vampires.

 

Truth.

 

I saw things that I can't even talk about on Bourbon Street late one night.

 

You're not under the impression that Floridians are southerners? They're mostly Yankees.

Of the people I've met over the past 22 years, only a handful have been natives.

 

More truth.

 

Florida is not in the south.

 

Does that include Ponce de Leon. Sorry, I couldn't resist the Harvey Korman like straight line. :)

 

Yes.

 

TCD

[CoachClough 12]

And by the way- the location under you Avatar says you're from the Eastern Shore of Maryland.  Is there a Western Shore?

-TCD

 

Yessir.  In Maryland everything revolves around the Chesapeake Bay.  If you live east of it, you're considered from the Eastern Shore (despite the fact that most of the Eastern Shore is, in fact, a western shore to the bay, and very little of it is Eastern Shore to the Ocean.  Stupid Delaware).  Anything to the west of the Bay is the Western Shore.  No one admits to being from Baltimore.  Its a very small state, yet we're quick to qualify Western MD, Southern MD...etc....

 

Ha!  There's 7 minutes of your life you won't get back!

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Hey....i seem to recall the Wolverines beating the Tebow led Gators.

And didnt the Wolverines just crush the Gators in the Final Four?

Just sayin.

Also, i will have to work movie quotes into all of my posts in your TRs from now on i guess......to prove my indepth plethora of useless movie knowledge.

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

I was wondering where you were going with this. I didn't think you had gators in MI. Wasn't expecting you to say they were pets!

They were guarding the dealer's stash.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

And by the way- the location under you Avatar says you're from the Eastern Shore of Maryland.  Is there a Western Shore?

-TCD

 

Yessir.  In Maryland everything revolves around the Chesapeake Bay.  If you live east of it, you're considered from the Eastern Shore (despite the fact that most of the Eastern Shore is, in fact, a western shore to the bay, and very little of it is Eastern Shore to the Ocean.  Stupid Delaware).  Anything to the west of the Bay is the Western Shore.  No one admits to being from Baltimore.  Its a very small state, yet we're quick to qualify Western MD, Southern MD...etc....

 

Ha!  There's 7 minutes of your life you won't get back!

 

Um, it took me like 1 minute to read that, so no worries.

 

And thanks, now I know.

 

Hey....i seem to recall the Wolverines beating the Tebow led Gators.

And didnt the Wolverines just crush the Gators in the Final Four?

Just sayin.

Also, i will have to work movie quotes into all of my posts in your TRs from now on i guess......to prove my indepth plethora of useless movie knowledge.

 

You know I hate it when you use facts.

 

They were guarding the dealer's stash.

 

The dude must have been sampling his stash.  It's not like you can train a gator.

 

TCD

[CoachClough 12]

_{I underestimated your ability to process my gibberish.  Well done.}

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

_{I underestimated your ability to process my gibberish.  Well done.}

 

You're new here, right?

 

After a while you'll get good at processing the gibberish.

 

TCD

[BuckeyeFortMama 43]

If I recall correctly you are a transplanted Yankee.

 

So does that mean that you have overcome your 'Yankee' fear of gators because you changed your address?

 

PS I love the stage coach in the display case. It makes more sense than the calliope (don't get me wrong I love the calliope), but Walt bought that Stage Couch to give rides in Frontierland.

 

It just makes sense that it should be displayed in the only place leftover to give the feel of the Frontier-our Fort.

 

That's all this Yankee has to say.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

It looks like I'll be able to squeeze in one more update before the weekend.

 

Then, that will be it until Monday.

 

There will be no time for TR updates this weekend, with graduation parties and such.

 

We left off in the Star Wars Merchandise Tent.  AKA Darth's Mall.  Seriously, that's what they call it.

 

I have this photo of another painting, but I missed the price tag.  I'll guess it was $450:

 

 

Now, here's the piece that I mentioned in the last update.

 

The best thing I saw there:

 

 

Princess Leia in the slave outfit?

 

That's what I'm talking about!

 

And not a bad price either:

 

 

$450 for that.  Totally worth it!

 

That would look great over the TCD fireplace.

 

In case you're wondering what it looks like in the merchandise tent, here's a blurry photo for you:

 

 

There's more to see here too.

 

Like this Darth Vader made out of Legos:

 

 

If you like that, there's a whole land of this type of thing down the road.

 

If you need someplace to spend your extra cash, you can get crappy little souvenirs with your image scanned on to them from that little booth over there:

 

 

It was getting near 7 pm at this point.

 

That meant we needed to go and claim a place to watch Hyperspace Hoopla.

 

We love the show, but not how it is presented. 

 

We would have to go find a place in a mob that would grow over the next hour, and cross our fingers that some tall guy or guy with his kid on his shoulders didn't jump in front of us at the last minute.

 

Here we are at 7:09 pm.  You can see that many people arrived before we did:

 

 

We have seen much worse.

 

And, the nice thing about tonight was the weather.  It really wasn't humid.  And the temperature was in the low 80's.  We have been here in much worse.

 

So we waited.

 

I thought this guy in front of me was some kind of secret service guy or something, but he just had a stupid padawan braid in his hair:

 

 

That first photo I took when we arrived was taken at 7:09, this is a photo I took to show how many people were behind us at 7:27:

 

 

As always, I enjoyed the people watching.

 

You know what fascinates me?

 

Tattoos.

 

Do you ever wonder what people are thinking when they choose to permanently mark their body with a tattoo.

 

I do.

 

Take this guy in front of us:

 

 

That's one of the mice from Cinderella, right? Gus, isn't it?

 

Why in the world would a grown man pay money to have that tattooed on to the back of his arm?

 

Seriously.

 

Why?

 

They had a DJ playing music to entertain the mob.  He knocked off at around 7:30.  Then the crew came out and rigged up some stuff for the show:

 

 

Before we knew it, it was 8.

 

Look at the crowd behind us now:

 

 

Why are there so many nerdy guys and so few ladies in the crowd?

 

The show started:

 

 

There was a twist this year.  Emperor Palpatine had captured the regular hosts, and the bad guys were going to take over:

 

 

But, the premise of the show was still the same-a bunch of Star Wars characters came out and danced to popular music:

 

 

Here, the Emperor hams it up for the audience by wearing rapper clothing and an afro wig:

 

 

Bad guy pose:

 

 

Then the good guys come out.  This year, since it was the 30th anniversary of Return of the Jedi, they chose some older songs too.  For this number, they were spoofing an Outkast video:

 

 

In case you didn't notice, the good guys feature Princess Leia in her slave costume:

 

 

Good guys pose:

 

 

Then the bad guys come out again:

 

 

And then the big finish!:

 

 

Hah!  They fooled us.  There's more:

 

 

The ending was different, though.

 

I wondered if it would be since Disney bought Star Wars since the last Hyperspace Hoopla.

 

Look who came out at the end:

 

 

 

That was one of those freaky Mickeys with the blinking eyes and moving mouth, too.

 

And that was it.

 

In years past, I tried to video some of the show, but those never turned out very good.

 

If you would like to see some pretty good video footage of the show, I recommend this site:  http://attractionsmagazine.com/blog/2013/05/18/2013-hyperspace-hoopla-dance-off-with-the-star-wars-stars-adds-a-little-disney-to-the-mix-video/

 

The show ended by 8:30.  The park was open until 10.  But we bailed.  It was crowded.  Plus, we were going to be coming back here tomorrow.  For a good old fashioned rope drop.

 

So we left.

 

We got back to the Fort in time to head to the movie to make s'mores.

 

And that is exactly what we did.

 

The moon was hanging out above the dog park, and I stopped and stood perfectly still to take this photo:

 

 

Twin #1 was right.

 

Since I'm posting bad photos, here's one of the campfire at 9:43 pm.  There was not an empty seat to be found:

 

 

We made it back to the site in time to see Wishes through the trees.

 

Then I enjoyed some hammock time.

 

I got to watch the big traffic jam caused by the inept Rangers directing traffic after the fireworks.

 

Fun!

 

And then we hit the hay early.

 

Remember, we had been up all night the night before.

 

And we were going to be doing a super early rope drop at Hollywood Studios in the morning.

 

So that was all for Saturday.

 

We still have a very busy Sunday and Monday morning to cover, so there is plenty more to come.

 

TCD

[CoachClough 12]

Yup, can't go wrong with the slave outfit!!!

[Lou... 3,118]

You know what fascinates me? Tattoos.

Do you ever wonder what people are thinking when they choose to permanently mark their body with a tattoo.

 

 

Ditto, I don't understand it either. 

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I have to say, you have had some strange trip reports before, but I don't recall one that has gone off the rails as spectacularly as this one. 

 

Santa compensation discussions.

 

Seashells.

 

Granny wigs.

 

Gator vs. Bear debates.

 

And Leia in a slave costume (ok, that is firmly "on" the rails).

 

What's next....an update about swamp gas?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

If I recall correctly you are a transplanted Yankee.

 

So does that mean that you have overcome your 'Yankee' fear of gators because you changed your address?

 

PS I love the stage coach in the display case. It makes more sense than the calliope (don't get me wrong I love the calliope), but Walt bought that Stage Couch to give rides in Frontierland.

 

It just makes sense that it should be displayed in the only place leftover to give the feel of the Frontier-our Fort.

 

That's all this Yankee has to say.

 

Yes, I am a reformed Yankee.

 

I never saw a gator before I moved to Florida, and for some reason never had a fear of them.

 

Same with snakes.  Don't bother me a bit.

 

And giant cockroaches?  Yankees scream when they see those.  Not me.  You should have seen my college apartment in Gainesville.

 

I like your point about the stagecoach.

 

But, they should have some kind of sign there to explain what it is.  I wouldn't have know that Walt himself purchased it if you hadn't shared that.

 

Yup, can't go wrong with the slave outfit!!!

 

On that we agree!

 

I have to say, you have had some strange trip reports before, but I don't recall one that has gone off the rails as spectacularly as this one. 

 

Santa compensation discussions.

 

Seashells.

 

Granny wigs.

 

Gator vs. Bear debates.

 

And Leia in a slave costume (ok, that is firmly "on" the rails).

 

What's next....an update about swamp gas?

 

Yeah, you're right- this report is pretty spectacular.

 

It's the last one, so we have to go big.

 

So, if you were going to get a mouse from Cinderella tattooed on your body, which mouse and where?

 

On second thought, please don't answer that.

 

How about this one?:

 

Princess Leia Slave Outfit or Dirndl?

 

TCD