We Need a Little Christmas- TCD's Express Christmas TR

[blm2003 2]

Wow, good job to WDW helping out with that tire.

 

I have been a member of Good Sam Roadside Assistance for a long time now. They cover all the vehicles in the family, including my motorcycle's and the fifth wheel. If you recall my tire mishap last August on the way back to Boston from Ohio, I had a service company at my trailer within 15 minutes of my first call to Good Sam, on a Sunday morning! They had told me 70 minutes when I spoke with them, and I was ok with that.

 

In addition, they have an APP for your phone that has all your vehicle info in it, and it provides them your exact location to make getting help when you are travelling a lot easier. 

 

I have used them twice now while towing the fifth wheel and have been more than satisfied both times. 

 

Thanks for sharing another great TR with us! 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Wow, good job to WDW helping out with that tire.

 

I have been a member of Good Sam Roadside Assistance for a long time now. They cover all the vehicles in the family, including my motorcycle's and the fifth wheel. If you recall my tire mishap last August on the way back to Boston from Ohio, I had a service company at my trailer within 15 minutes of my first call to Good Sam, on a Sunday morning! They had told me 70 minutes when I spoke with them, and I was ok with that.

 

In addition, they have an APP for your phone that has all your vehicle info in it, and it provides them your exact location to make getting help when you are travelling a lot easier. 

 

I have used them twice now while towing the fifth wheel and have been more than satisfied both times. 

 

Thanks for sharing another great TR with us! 

 

Oh yeah, I remember your tire incident.

 

At this point, I rally can't recommend AAA RV+.  They have made things worse by not responding to my complaint.  I was supposed to have heard something back by the end of last week, and I'm still waiting.

 

Not very impressive.

 

I have heard great things about Good Sam.  The thing is, I already have AAA, and the Fort is about as far as I plan on towing the camper- which is only like 90 miles for me.  I figure if I have a big problem, I can leave the trailer somewhere and come back for it later.  I am still hoping that AAA will have a satisfactory explanation for what happened to me.  But that hope is rapidly diminishing.

 

TCD

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Oh yeah, I remember your tire incident.

 

At this point, I rally can't recommend AAA RV+.  They have made things worse by not responding to my complaint.  I was supposed to have heard something back by the end of last week, and I'm still waiting.

 

Not very impressive.

 

I have heard great things about Good Sam.  The thing is, I already have AAA, and the Fort is about as far as I plan on towing the camper- which is only like 90 miles for me.  I figure if I have a big problem, I can leave the trailer somewhere and come back for it later.  I am still hoping that AAA will have a satisfactory explanation for what happened to me.  But that hope is rapidly diminishing.

 

TCD

I used to have AAA for the 4 of us, but when we got the camper, I needed to add coverage for it. First off, AAA wouldn't let me buy the RV+ until my renewal time. This was June, my renewal was the following April. I asked around, Good Sam covered all of us and the camper immediately, and since I also joined the general Good Sam discount club, the rate was very attractive.

 

Long story short, I got Good Sam Towing, AND kept a single AAA membership for less than what AAA RV+ would cost. (I kept the AAA single for hotel, and Disney resort discounts).

[azpowerwagon 0]

 

 

 

So why are these here?

 

Look at this photo:

 

 

See how the Yeti is welcoming Wilby Daniels?  Who the heck is Wilby Daniels?  I think some knucklehead imagineer came up with a plan to have some technology read guests' MagicBands and display their names here in the queue.  I guess they think guests will love that.  I'm not so sure about that plan.  How about you build some more rides, so that the guests spread out among them, and you don't have to think about how to entertain them while they wait?  How about figuring out a way to reduce the wait?

 

We got seats near the front of the train.  I love those seats, as you can see over the top and catch glimpses of other parts of WDW- like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 Wilby Daniels was the main character in the Shaggy Dog movie! 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I used to have AAA for the 4 of us, but when we got the camper, I needed to add coverage for it. First off, AAA wouldn't let me buy the RV+ until my renewal time. This was June, my renewal was the following April. I asked around, Good Sam covered all of us and the camper immediately, and since I also joined the general Good Sam discount club, the rate was very attractive.

 

Long story short, I got Good Sam Towing, AND kept a single AAA membership for less than what AAA RV+ would cost. (I kept the AAA single for hotel, and Disney resort discounts).

 

Very smart.

 

Up until this one incident, I've never had a problem with AAA.  My oldest daughter has used their services both in Tallahassee and Auburn, and I am glad to know that help is available to her if needed. 

 

I never really considered Good Sam, mainly because I just have the pop-up, and have never even traveled out of the state with it.  But, I may look in to it.

 

 Wilby Daniels was the main character in the Shaggy Dog movie! 

 

Wait!

 

This is your first post!

 

And, it's a great one!

 

Welcome.

 

I meant to Google that name.  But I forgot to.  Why in the world do they have a Shaggy Dog reference in Expedition Everest?  That makes no sense. 

 

Now you've got me thinking about these video monitors again.  Why would they spend the money to put those in the queue?   By the time guests get to that part of the queue, the line generally moves pretty quickly, as it is the last room you walk through before going out to the loading area.  This has to be something connected with the My Disney Experience (MDE) program.  But why Wilby Daniels?

 

Anyway, thanks for posting.  I hope that you will post some more. 

 

TCD

[devores 382]

Zeke Kelso was the main character in That Darn Cat and Steve Walker was the main character in Black Beards Ghost.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Zeke Kelso was the main character in That Darn Cat and Steve Walker was the main character in Black Beards Ghost.

 

Whoa.

 

Good work.

 

The Yeti Brand Tinned Meat add has a quote from Klaus Wesselhoft.

 

Google tells me that's the name of a character in a 1959 Disney film called Third Man on the Mountain.  Never heard of it.

 

Why is this stuff in Expedition Everest?

 

I guess that movie is about mountain climbing.  But it's not about climbing Mt. Everest.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Oh, and the Yeti Tour add has a photo of a guide they say is named Gazenga.

 

Gazenga is the name of the witch doctor in the 1973 Disney classic, The World's Greatest Athlete.

 

TCD

[thegooftroopfla 18]

Great report

[devores 382]

Whoa.

 

Good work.

 

The Yeti Brand Tinned Meat add has a quote from Klaus Wesselhoft.

 

Google tells me that's the name of a character in a 1959 Disney film called Third Man on the Mountain.  Never heard of it.

 

Why is this stuff in Expedition Everest?

 

I guess that movie is about mountain climbing.  But it's not about climbing Mt. Everest.

 

TCD

 

 

Oh, and the Yeti Tour add has a photo of a guide they say is named Gazenga.

 

Gazenga is the name of the witch doctor in the 1973 Disney classic, The World's Greatest Athlete.

 

TCD

One of the imagineers has a soft spot for Disney classic films.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great report

 

Thanks for saying that!

 

I appreciate it.

 

One of the imagineers has a soft spot for Disney classic films.

 

No doubt.

 

The images on those screen change, so there's probably a bunch more obscure references that I missed.

 

But this is even more reason why these video screens are totally out of place here.  It makes no sense.

 

The theming of the  Expedition Everest queue is probably the best of any attraction at WDW.  First you pass through the office of a mountain tour company, then a temple, then you used to pass along a path where tea plants were growing (this part of the queue has been bypassed for a while now), then more mountain climbing props, then you would enter the Yeti museum.  They themed all of this to make you feel like you were at the base of a mountain, getting ready to make a journey.  The museum is semi-serious, and has exposed wires and other rustic touches to complete the illusion that you're in a remote foreign country.   After all of that, the last room had wooden walls and photos of sherpas and climbers- all trying to keep with the theme that you're about to take a journey on the forbidden mountain. 

 

But now, they have these flat screen video monitors projecting images of a cartoonish looking Yeti shilling fake Yeti products, and inside references to old, obscure Disney films?  What the Fort? Did Joe Rhode approve this?

 

TCD

[Sunset Lady 6]

 

Oh boy.

 

You don't know about the Lawnmower Tree?

 

And you call yourself a Fiend?

 

It was a cool old relic that goes back to the earliest days of Fort Wilderness.

 

You can read about it here, on this page from a 1973 check-in packet:

 

 

Make sure not to miss the second paragraph, where it mentions how Walt and Roy Disney drove down a dirt road to an old fishing lodge on the shores of Bay Lake.  At the end of the first column, we are told that the Settlement Trading Post sits on the spot where that old fishing lodge once stood.  Then, we are told about how an unusual tree was discovered in the area.  That is the Lawnmower Tree.

 

Think about this for a moment- it is likely that Walt Disney himself saw that Lawnmower Tree, and approved of it being preserved and displayed at the campground.

 

The Fort was built around that old tree, and there it stood.  Unfortunately, about 8 or so years ago, the tree died, and they cut it down to a stump.  But the stump remained.  As did a little sign identifying the Lawnmower Tree.  But about a year ago, they removed the sign.  The last photos I have of the old tree are from this past September, when it looked like this:

 

 

That last bit of the tree was removed not long after this photo was taken -some time right around Halloween.

 

Now, it's nothing but a memory.

 

 

 

I just now got back to reading the TR, Thanks for the information on the lawnmower tree, that indeed was a very cool thing to have in the campground. Too bad that it has been removed, always sad to see things like that go away.