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

[Ok Grumpy AKA Cindy~~ 9]

Love the TCD farm pictures!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I love the Yoda and Darth Vader photo. ROFL Yoda won.

 

There were lots of the Disney blow ups when we were there.  More of those than traditional lights.

 

I think I have another photo of Yoda and Darth. They are in a different pose.  I will post that when we get to that part of the trip.

 

There are more Disney themed blow-ups these days than ever before.

 

But, I think the blow-up fad seems to be fading overall.

 

2 for 1.... you know how to please people. 

 

The Jingle Cruise doesn't look too special. A missed opportunity for sure, much like most of LTM. 

 

I have no idea about the box. I bet Devores knows, or he can make up something believable. 

 

The shoe tree was mentioned on our last trip, but that's because the guy heard Z mention it. He slowed down for him which was nice. 

 

Yes, it's no surprise that they dropped the ball on the Jingle Cruise thing.  It could have and should have been much more.

 

Glad that Z appreciated the shoe tree!

 

You're raising him right (except for when it comes to which SEC team to root for).

 

When we were there Thanksgiving week one night the boat stopped at Wilderness Lodge first and the CM announced "Fort Wilderness Lodge."  We knew where we'd stopped so we stayed seated but a whole bunch of people stood up and were making their way to the door. Then he said "No, this is not the campground. The campground will be the next stop" and a whole bunch of people returned to their seats. I don't remember him telling any other stories but it was dark and rainy so we couldn't see anything anyway.

 

Seriously, I laugh when guests call Wilderness Lodge Fort Wilderness Lodge, but how can a CM make that mistake?   When they share boats like they do during busy times, it is confusing to guests.  How are they supposed to know the difference if CM's don't?

 

 

I'm surprised you only had a couple of Christmas-related jokes on the Jingle Cruise.  Almost all of ours were related to Christmas!

 

The shoe tree has lots more shoes on it than when we were there only a few weeks ago.

 

One of these days I want to do a sleigh ride.

 

And hopefully in 2015 we will see the Christmas decorations at the fort again.

 

When I was doing some research to see if I could find out any more of the Jingle Cruise boat names, I came across a blog by Kenny the Pirate in which he told how he rode Jingle Cruise back-to-back, and had two totally different experiences with the skippers.  One told lots of holiday jokes, the other none.  How can that be?  Do they just let the skippers do whatever they want?  That doesn't seem very Disney-like to me.

 

I'm not sure if there are more shoes as much as there are less cypress leaves on the shoetree- it is time for the cypress trees to drop their leaves, and that exposes more shoes.

 

I hope that you do make it back to see the Christmas decorations at the Fort.  This trip was the first I had seen them this year, and I really was looking forward to it.

 

I  love the water bridge.  I would love to see an action movie set at WDW with a boat chase through that area.  Esp. if there was water spilling over onto the cars going under the bridge.  I am picturing James Bond driving one of the boats and Sheriff J. W. Culpepper in an open convertible underneath getting splashed.  Hmm....  maybe I am spending too much time thinking about this.

 

I can't imagine spending the time necessary to braid each horses mane like that every time there is a Christmas party at MK.  Wow.

 

I have yet to try a GAG, but I hope to remedy that in about a month! :D

 

I think you are spending too much time thinking about that movie scene.

 

I never thought about the work that goes in to grooming those ponies- you're right- that is a lot of work for what ultimately is just a small part of the parade.

 

I hope that you are able to enjoy your first GAG soon!

 

 

What did we ever do before google?

 

Thank you for clearing up the meaning of GAG.   :)

 

So many great pictures.  No snow.  Can't wait.

 

Yup, no snow.

 

We had mostly perfect weather.

 

Mostly.

 

 

Also, for some reason I thought the Jungle (Jingle) cruise would have real animals. Oops.

 

The Jungle Cruise has never had real animals.

 

But the Safari ride at Animal Kingdom does.

 

I'm not sure if it's always been that way, but the Jungle Cruise is more about the skipper cracking corny jokes than seeing the animals.

 

I was waiting for a picture of Moon Over River Canyon, but you must have been too disgusted to take one.

In the last picture, is that a tiki hanging from the bushes? Why?

And just an aside, we finally had a GAG this fall. We all loved it, it definitely lived up to the hype. The price definitely impressed my husband, so a big thank you for all the advertising you do for it!

 

Good question about the tiki.

 

I've had it since we started camping.  It came from a luau themed party we had.  I also had a couple of fake parrots that I used to hang around the campsite to set the mood.

 

Glad you liked the GAG.  I never miss an opportunity to get one.  For $25, you get more than enough food to feed four, and still have leftovers.  There is no better deal anywhere in WDW.  I keep waiting for the day that some evil Disney beancounter puts a stop to it.

 

River Canyon?

That should be a fire-able offense.

That extract seems like something that the CMs used when "imagineering" the Winnie the Pooh ride.

I wonder who that fiend was you met on the porch? Hmmm.....

 

The mystery Fiend on the porch will be revealed in the next update.

 

Although, it's not mystery to you.

 

I am still amazed by the River Canyon statement.  How could a CM be that clueless?

 

 

The full meaning of the crate is a mystery.

 

BUT,

 

Dhatura fruit can be used to treat specific types of malarial fever. Since the fruit is not considered edible, only specific parts of it are used for treatment.

 

This could be the meaning behind it as malaria is a common ailment in the jungle.

 

Wow.  I can't believe that no one has figured out the full meaning of the crate.  The way things are done at WDW, I would imagine that everything written on it has some significance.

 

That's a good theory about the malaria treatment.  I think you are on the right path.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I think we had the same boat Captin last month. Except we were on a launch coming from CR going to the Fort. He was going on about Discovery island and AK. He went into alot of detail about Discovery island but I forget what he said.

 

LOL.  He must not have said anything good if you don't remember any of it.

 

I don't remember any boat captain ever saying a word about River Country.  I would think Disney would prefer it that way.

 

 

What is a lawnmower tree? 

 

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.

 

Just wanted to express how much I enjoy these trip reports. For those of us who had to cancel our December trips this is a way to get some Disney experience. So a big THANK YOU for all the work all who take the time to write and post these reports. BigTom

 

Thanks, Tom.  I'm glad you like it.

 

I agree with you- even though I get to go more often than a lot of folks, I still really enjoy reading trip reports and especially seeing photos in between trips.

 

Love the TCD farm pictures!

 

Me too!

 

It's one of my favorite places.

 

They named it after me, you know.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Update time!

 

We left off with the TCD gang back at the campsite devouring a GAG.  That was some good eating!

 

Epcot was going to be having EMH’s from 9:30 to 11:30, so our plan was to head there next.

 

This would be our first time using our Magic Bands for FP+.  Well, at least in an official capacity.

 

You see, once I had known the girls’ school schedules, I had made a tentative reservation for a camping trip to the Fort for a week beginning on December 13.  At the time, the only site level I could reserve was a Full hook-up, but I took it.  I knew that we wouldn’t be able to stay a whole week, and I knew that I wanted to change to a different site level, but every time I checked on-line, there would either be nothing or just full hook-up sites.  Plus, there were several scheduling issues, and right up to the last minute, I thought I might be cancelling the trip altogether.  On Wednesday night, the 11^th, I was playing around on the Disney site, and was surprised to see that all levels of sites were now open for the weekend.  So, on Thursday morning, the 12^th, I made the call.  I hate calling that 407-WDISNEY number.  But I had to.  To my surprise, my call was answered promptly by a friendly and competent CM, and before I knew what hit me, I had been able to score a AAA rate on a preferred site, at a rate cheaper than my full hook-up reservation.

 

Anyway, because I had made that original reservation, we got invited in to the world of Magic Bands.  I had truthfully not looked forward to this, but since we would be staying on property, I figured I needed to give it a try.

 

Before we left home, we went on the My Disney Experience site, and made our FP+ reservations.  This was simple enough.  We knew that we would be visiting Epcot on Friday evening, so we focused on making our 3 FP+ reservations for as late as we could that afternoon/evening.  As you may have heard, Epcot uses tiers for the FP+ attractions. This means that you must choose between Soarin’, Test Track or the Maelstrom for one of your FP+’s, and then you can pick two more of the rides that never needed FP in the first place.  We chose Test Track,  Spaceship Earth and Finding Nemo, and had times that ranged from 7:30-9:00 to ride all three.  Easy.

 

So we just had to be to Epcot by 7:30.  That left us some more time to hang around.  When I knew that we were going to make this trip, I sent a PM to fellow Fiend ACinA2, Aaron, to let him know we were heading that way.  We exchanged cell numbers, and I had texted him when we arrived.  He was in the MK, and was heading out at the same time I was heading over, so we couldn’t meet up earlier.  After we finished our GAG, I texted Aaron, and he said he was sitting on the porch at Crockett’s.  I told him I’d be right there.  And I headed that way.  I finally got to meet Aaron and Mrs. ACinA2, along with their young'uns.  We sat and rocked a bit while the kids played on the playground.  It was a nice visit, but I had places to be, so I had to go.

 

We made it just in time to use our FP+’s for Spaceship Earth.  Which had a 10 minute standby line.  Big Whoop.  It wasn’t a total waste, though, as we found out that the girls will have moustaches in the future:

 

 

Next, we headed to Finding Nemo.  There was zero wait in the standby line, but we used our FP+’s anyway.

We then had some time to kill before our TT FP+ return time.  The twins decided to see if we could move up the time, and checked the App.  They found out there that we could use one of our FP+ selections for reserved seating for Illuminations.  We decided to give that a try, and they switched our last FP+ selection to that.  No problem.

 

Since we were in the area and had some time to kill before we were supposed to report for our reserved space at Illuminations, we popped in to the Land.  The Living with the Land boat ride was a walk, on, so we did.  That was one of the FP+’s that we could have chosen.  That also would have been a waste of a FP.

 

When I was last in the Land Pavilion, they had a Fall-themed display set up outside the rotating restaurant.  Today, they had a winter-themed display.  I’m still not sure why they put these displays out like this- they never did before.  I’m not sure exactly what the point of this display was.  I don’t think it was all made of food, but parts of it appeared to be.  I’m also not sure what they were trying to depict.  Is this mountain the Matterhorn from Disneyland?:

 

 

I don’t think it is, and if it is, what’s with the tree house?

 

I think this is supposed to depict the new DVC in Hawaii:

 

 

And this is supposed to be the Disney Magic cruise ship:

 

 

Is that the castle from Disneyland?  And what’s with the train?:

 

 

I don’t know- it’s all so confusing.  They ought to at least post a sign here and tell the guests what the point of all of this is.

 

The MDE App told us that we should report to our reserved place for Illuminations between 9:05 and 9:20, so we went.  The App didn’t tell us where to go, but we asked a CM, who told us to head to the area between the two gift shops that are the first things you come to as you enter the World Showcase from the center path leading out of Future World.  We saw a CM off by the gift shop to the right, and checked with him.  He scanned our Magic Bands, and let us in.

 

In case you’re wondering where the reserved FP+ space is, I’ve marked it on this aerial map:

 

 

A closer view:

 

 

Looks small, doesn’t it?

 

It is.

 

And it was crowded.

 

Not what we expected.

 

We arrived right at the time we were told to, but the area was full of guests. 

 

And not all of them had Magic Bands.  What the Fort?

 

There was a place in there where the people closest to the railing were sitting, so the twins sat down there, and so did I.  We had about 20 minutes to wait, and as we did, guests came and sat behind us.  That wasn’t going to work for me, as I intended to stand up when the show started.  No way was I going to sit on that concrete the whole time.  So I got up and stood to the side.

 

Here’s a photo to give you an idea of the conditions in there-the TCD twins are seated there near the center of the photo:

 

 

I guess this was a good place to watch Illuminations.  We’ve never watched it from this side of the lake.

 

Feugo!:

 

 

 

And more Fuego!:

 

 

 

Two more:

 

 

 

 

Meh.

 

That reserved seating area wasn’t so great.

 

We could have found many places around World Showcase to sit behind people.

 

I’m not sure this is how it was supposed to go.  The people in that area would have had to have chosen to forego  a FP+ for TestTrack, Soarin’ and Maelstrom just to be there.  We did, but we’re not most people.   If this is how it’s going to go, then this is most definitely a waste of a FP+.

 

Illuminations ended around 9:50, which meant we had just over an hour and a half left to enjoy the park.

 

The first order of business was to head to France for some of the great ice cream they have there.  I’ve mentioned before that I intend to try every flavor, and I’ve had my eye on one weird one in particular.  The flavor is called profiterole.   I have no idea what it is, and have tried to find out.  As best I can determine, it is named after some kind of French pastry.  We were in luck tonight, because they had plenty of profiterole:

 

 

Here’s something weird:  the young French lady who waited on us was actually nice and helpful.  That is the first time that has ever happened.  I actually asked her what a profiterole was, and she answered the question without sneering or name-calling.  She said a profiterole is like an éclair.  So, I said let me have it.  And she did.  You know what?  It’s good.  So far, it’s one of the best flavors I’ve tried there.

 

After the ice cream, it was time to decide what to do next.  We decided that we ought to try to ride Test Track.  We headed that way.  The sign said it was a 45 minute wait, and guests were lined up out the door.  No thanks.

 

We decided to head back to the Fort.

 

As we walked, Twin #2 got excited because she saw a shooting star.  Someone near us saw it too.  That’s when I remembered that there had been something on the news earlier in the week about the Geminid meteor shower on Friday night.  Which was tonight!  So Twin #2 saw one of the meteors.

 

On the way out, we stopped to admire this ice skating Goofy:

 

 

I thought he looked familiar, and found him in this photo from the Flower and Garden Festival earlier this year:

 

 

The Fort was dead when we got back.  We did a little looping, and called it a night.

 

I headed up to the Comfort Station to see if my Magic Band would open it.  It didn’t.  The CM who checked us in told us that our Magic Bands would not open the Comfort Station doors or the parking lot gate, so we were issued Key to the World (KTTW) cards too.  I had my KTTW card with me, and that worked fine.  There have been other Fiends who say that their Magic Bands did open the Comfort Station doors and the parking lot gates, but ours definitely did not.

 

The trip to the Comfort Station was not a total loss, however, because I spotted a meteor as I headed there.  It was a good one too.  Our camper was set up so I could see the part of the sky where I had seen the meteor over the 1400 loop comfort station, so I stayed awake as long as I could to see if I could spot another one, but I didn't.  Oh well, at least I saw one.

 

So that's it for our first day.

 

Tomorrow will be a full day at the Fort and around WDW.  And we will get an early start!

 

TCD

[DaveInTN 3,247]

In case you’re wondering where the reserved FP+ space is, I’ve marked it on this aerial map:

 

 

A closer view:

 

 

Looks small, doesn’t it?

 

It is.

 

And it was crowded.

 

Not what we expected.

 

We arrived right at the time we were told to, but the area was full of guests. 

 

And not all of them had Magic Bands.  What the Fort?

 

 

 

When we've done the CP Dinner package, that area is the exact spot they had reserved for CP dinner package guests.  I wonder if they are now also cramming FP+ people in there?  The 2nd time we did the dinner package, we skipped Illuminations altogether cause the seating area is so crammed, and we found it more enjoyable to do other things during that time.  

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

You had a great first day!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Here we are already on day two of our trip-Saturday morning the 14th.

 

I had arranged with Aaron the night before to be at his site at 7 am so he and I could do a little sunrise looping and coffee drinking.

 

So, here I am leaving the 1400 loop, just before 7:

 

 

 

The swamp between 1500 and 300 is another of my favorite places at the Fort:

 

 

Aaron was at his site, and he hopped aboard and we took off.  We did some good exploring-all of it in areas that are open to campers.  But, for some reason, I have no photos to share from this little tour.

 

When we got back to Aaron's site, I did some SOTMK card trading with his kids.  I think they must be getting close to completing their sets.  I had a lot more cards than they needed.

 

I didn't know it then, but that was the last I saw of Aaron and his family.  He was leaving early the next morning, and he did.

 

It was great to meet you, Aaron.

 

I know that Aaron and his gang were heading to the MK early.  I knew the TCD twins were going to sleep for a while, so that gave me time to loop some more.

 

This is a photo of the back of a site on the 1600 loop.  I met the camper who occupies this site on this trip, and it turns out that she read a prior TCD trip report, and didn't appreciate some prior comments I made.  Fair enough.  I'll just post the photo and not say anything else.  It is really not my purpose here to make anyone feel bad:

 

 

This is the last site on the outside of the 1500 loop- these folks had decorations and tents way off of their pad- which I guess is OK with the Fort:

 

 

Whoever was staying in that tent is lucky it didn't rain.  That area where they have their tent turns into a nice frog pond when it rains.

 

One of the two new speed limit signs they installed earlier this year wasn't working all weekend:

 

 

Here we are back behind the 300 loop at the dog walk along the canal:

 

 

That guy with the dogs was holding the dogs back because there was a flock of turkey there just ahead- it wasn't as dark as these photos make it appear.

 

Across the canal, there were three or four deer:

 

 

Sorry that photo is dark, too.

 

Let's zoom in on it- you see the blob over there on the left?  That's a deer. Unfortunately, zooming also shows the Four Seasons roof:

 

 

I guess since we're back here, we may as well look at the dam mess:

 

 

The installation of the new gate and photos of it appeared on an earlier thread posted by fellow Fiend AlexWyattMommy/Annie here:  http://www.fortfiends.net/forum/topic/11563-no-more-visits-to-the-cabin/

 

This photo of Annie's was the topic of some discussion on that thread:

 

 

I didn't understand how the Reedy Creek Improvement District was issuing a stop work order on land owned by Disney.

 

The red tag wasn't there when I visited, but I did notice that there were two locks on the gate:

 

 

This is how it's done where someone has access to someone else's property.  They put two locks on the gate, and both the owner, and usually and easement holder can access the property.

 

So, who owns the property back here, and what's going on?

 

Let's take a look around . . .

 

Clearly, some kind of construction is going on- there's a porta-potty and everything.  There are also some large wire cylinders laying over there to the right of the porta-potty:

 

 

There is a lot of construction material laying around.  I also noticed a way that someone could access the area across the canal, if so inclined- I don't think it would be hard to hold on to the fence, and walk across the wall there on the outside of the fence:

 

 

Despite all the work that is going on back here, nobody has bothered to remove the moss from the antenna:

 

 

There's a big dumpster parked over here on the side of the canal that isn't fenced off:

 

 

This stake says that the RCID property line is 10' away:

 

 

And this stake apparently marks the property line:

 

 

Interesting.

 

I took a look at he Orange County Property Appraiser's website, and found this map:

 

 

So, I guess the legal owner of the canal and the land adjacent to it is a different entity from the owner of the land that the campground is built on.  I would guess that the Disney corporation owns both of those subsidiaries.  But, for whatever reason, there are different legal owners of the land back here.  Thus the red tag.

 

I considered walking across the dam wall and looking at things on the other side, but decided that I had better not.  I'm not sure I would be able to squeeze between that metal box you see in this photo and the fence.  What if I got stuck? Awkward:

 

 

Let me ask you something:  When I posted that photo of the dumpster, did you wonder what was in it?  Hey, what a coincidence!  So did I!  Let's take a peek:

 

 

Hmmm.  What's all that concrete from?  Did they tear that up from the other side of the dam?  Why?  And is that a Good and Plenty box?  Good and Plenty?  Really?  Who eats Good and Plenty? That used to be a thing when I was a kid, but it's licorice.  Since when is that good?  There is plenty, so I will give them that.  But, who eats that now?  Very suspicious if you ask me.

 

Time to move on from the dam mess.

 

I noticed a citrus tree here that I've never noticed before-I'm not sure if that fruit is any good- it looks like very small tangerines:

 

 

Sorry, I lied- I have one more picture of the dam mess:

 

 

And now we will move on.

 

I have a lot of places that I like to visit around the Fort, but this is by far my favorite:

 

 

I had some business to attend to at the Trail's End take out, so I headed that way.

 

The gates behind the Settlement Trading Post were open, so I took a peek.  I really wasn't surprised to see that the covered wagon with the ripped roof was still sitting back here, where it has been since September:

 

 

So what's the problem here?

 

Buy some fabric and sew a new roof.

 

What's taking so long?

 

I saw something really sad here.

 

I wish I had a better photo of it, but this is the only one I have.

 

Site 114 was empty:

 

 

For the past few years, that site has had the best decorations in all of the Fort.

 

Now it's empty.

 

That's sad.

 

Moving right along, I am almost at the Trail's End take-out.

 

See the ferns growing on the tree there?  That is called resurrection fern- I heard the guide point that out on a Segway tour that had stopped here once:

 

 

Did you notice how the Christmas tree photobombed that last photo?

 

Funny stuff.

 

Before heading in to Trail's End, I stopped for a photo of Pioneer Hall- there were too many folks around last night for me to get a good photo.  I love this building:

 

 

I think that's a good place to stop.

 

Next up, I rustle up some grub.

 

Something off the secret menu!

 

TCD

[CampMImi 22]

I feel like I just went on TCD Investigation Discovery Stuff.  I feel like I need to whisper.

 

Is that firewood on the site of the woman who didn't like your comments? If so, did they truck that in?! :dropjaw:  Confused.

[Lou... 3,118]

I didn't understand how the Reedy Creek Improvement District was issuing a stop work order on land owned by Disney.

So, who owns the property back here, and what's going on?

So, I guess the legal owner of the canal and the land adjacent to it is a different entity from the owner of the land that the campground is built on.  I would guess that the Disney corporation owns both of those subsidiaries.  But, for whatever reason, there are different legal owners of the land back here.  Thus the red tag.

 

 

 

The answer to all of those questions is the one you know it to be,.... RCID.

RCID, a "State of FL" created entity, which is not a Disney subsidiary, owns 29% of the land at WDW, but has jurisdiction, in certain areas, over all of WDW.

[Command Module...AKA-Brian 8]

Wow, I wish I would have known you were there TCD, we checked out Friday the 13th from site 123, we were there till 1 and then checked out and parked in the overfilled overflow lot and went swimming till 2, I wish we could have met! I need to figure this pic posting thing out and get to work on our TR!  Brian

[DaveInTN 3,247]

TCD, you probably didn't know that, while in college, I worked for a large east coast candy distributor that has huge contracts in the Middle East.  At that time (and keep in mind this was still less than 10 years after the Islamic revolution), the most popular candy in Iran, by far, was Good and Plenty.  Over the years that has changed somewhat as the Clerics have moved to eradicate any aspects of Western culture, but amongst the Iranian expat population, Good and Plenty is still plenty popular.  In any case, you know where I am going with this.  Just more evidence to support my hypotheses, IMO.  

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Ok. Somebody needs to figure out what they are building by the dam. If only we knew a good attorney or some that was married to one that might be able to go look at the public records. Or anyone that lives there.

I have filed plenty of building permits in my day and I know that they are public record. So maybe someone on this board can go by or send one of their people by the city, county, or RCID and or the city of lake buena vista, fl and take a peak at the permits. That would end the mystery.

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

It was great to meet you also Andrew.

Hopefully that wont be the last time.

Thanks again for hooking the kids up with the cards. That was nice of you.

Our MBs didnt work for comfort stations either.

I do believe i saw that scooter on the holy lawnmower tree ground too. I rolled my eyes and mumbled some unpleasantries. Not sure if I took a picture though. I may have been too distraught.

[alexwyattmommy 181]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention on my TR that we ordered a secret item not listed too.  What you didn't read my TR?  Hrmmp! Well, never mind then.

 

Love all the photos.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

When we've done the CP Dinner package, that area is the exact spot they had reserved for CP dinner package guests.  I wonder if they are now also cramming FP+ people in there?  The 2nd time we did the dinner package, we skipped Illuminations altogether cause the seating area is so crammed, and we found it more enjoyable to do other things during that time.  

 

Well, that explains the guests who were in there without MagicBands.  That's a pretty crappy thing for them to do both for the CP package people and the FP+ people.  I was expecting something a little more exclusive.  They have great areas on the other side of the lake that I see them rope off for other groups. 

 

You had a great first day!

 

Indeed we did.

 

But, I've never had a bad day at the Fort!

 

I feel like I just went on TCD Investigation Discovery Stuff.  I feel like I need to whisper.

 

Is that firewood on the site of the woman who didn't like your comments? If so, did they truck that in?! :dropjaw:  Confused.

 

Yeah, that's a lot of firewood, isn't it?

 

More than one person could possibly need.

 

So, what's up with that?

 

The answer to all of those questions is the one you know it to be,.... RCID.

RCID, a "State of FL" created entity, which is not a Disney subsidiary, owns 29% of the land at WDW, but has jurisdiction, in certain areas, over all of WDW.

 

If I've ever heard that 29% of the land in WDW is owned by RCID, then I have forgotten hearing that before.

 

So, almost a third of the land is owned by an independent entity?  But, doesn't Disney pick who gets to live there and sit on the governing boards?

 

 

Wow, I wish I would have known you were there TCD, we checked out Friday the 13th from site 123, we were there till 1 and then checked out and parked in the overfilled overflow lot and went swimming till 2, I wish we could have met! I need to figure this pic posting thing out and get to work on our TR!  Brian

 

Well, you just missed me.

 

Unfortunately, there were a lot of Fiends I missed on this trip.  We weren't in the campground much.

 

TCD, you probably didn't know that, while in college, I worked for a large east coast candy distributor that has huge contracts in the Middle East.  At that time (and keep in mind this was still less than 10 years after the Islamic revolution), the most popular candy in Iran, by far, was Good and Plenty.  Over the years that has changed somewhat as the Clerics have moved to eradicate any aspects of Western culture, but amongst the Iranian expat population, Good and Plenty is still plenty popular.  In any case, you know where I am going with this.  Just more evidence to support my hypotheses, IMO.  

 

You're right, I didn't know that.  Funny that you never mentioned it before.

 

But, your crazy talk is starting to make sense.

 

This is a plausible explanation for that Good and Plenty box being in the dumpster.

 

I mean, when is the last time you saw a red blooded American buy a box of Good and Plenty?

 

Ok. Somebody needs to figure out what they are building by the dam. If only we knew a good attorney or some that was married to one that might be able to go look at the public records. Or anyone that lives there.

I have filed plenty of building permits in my day and I know that they are public record. So maybe someone on this board can go by or send one of their people by the city, county, or RCID and or the city of lake buena vista, fl and take a peak at the permits. That would end the mystery.

 

Come on Ray.

 

Wake up!

 

Like the Iranians are going to pull a building permit?

 

It was great to meet you also Andrew.

Hopefully that wont be the last time.

Thanks again for hooking the kids up with the cards. That was nice of you.

Our MBs didnt work for comfort stations either.

I do believe i saw that scooter on the holy lawnmower tree ground too. I rolled my eyes and mumbled some unpleasantries. Not sure if I took a picture though. I may have been too distraught.

 

It definitely won't be the last time we meet-up.

 

I hope it's not as long as you say it will be.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention on my TR that we ordered a secret item not listed too.  What you didn't read my TR?  Hrmmp! Well, never mind then.

 

Love all the photos.

 

As best I can tell, you not only forgot to mention in your TR that you ordered from the secret menu, but you also forgot to post your TR.

 

So, what was the secret item you ordered?

 

Are you allowed to say?

 

TCD

[lklasing 16]

See the ferns growing on the tree there?  That is called resurrection fern- I heard the guide point that out on a Segway tour that had stopped here once:

 

 

Did you notice how the Christmas tree photobombed that last photo?

 

Funny stuff.

 

I love a good photobomb, and that's a good one.  :)

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I love a good photobomb, and that's a good one.  :)

 

I'm glad you liked it.

 

I share your appreciation for photobombing.

 

It's not as easy as it looks.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Let's see, we left off on Saturday morning at 8-ish.

 

I am here inside Trail's End to order something off of the secret take-out menu.

 

The Joffrey's coffee pots are all in place:

 

 

 

I placed my order, and was pleased to find that the item I was looking for was still available despite not being listed on the menu.

 

Have you head about these secret menus?

 

It's quite the thing.

 

Supposedly, you can order something called a grand slam burger from McDonalds, which is four hamburger patties on a bun, or the Barnyard at Wendy's, which is a burger, a chicken filet, ham and bacon.  Starbucks has a secret menu.

 

So does Trail's End.

 

After paying, I was handed a beeper, and headed out to the porch to sip some coffee and wait.

 

What a view:

 

 

I picked the rocking chair right next to the Christmas Tree on the porch.  I could hear the Christmas music fine from here:

 

 

I had the place to myself:

 

 

Here's a shot from my rocker:

 

 

I love quiet mornings at the Fort:

 

 

The details on the Christmas decorations around the Fort are amazing.  Take this squirrel ornament, for example:

 

 

Here comes the sun:

 

 

There was a dad out early with his kids on the playground. Been there.  Done that:

 

 

Uh-oh, it's the Po-Po:

 

 

If anyone is down the pedestrian path with a golf cart, they're about to get a talking to:

 

 

Good thing the Po-Po likes to sleep in.

 

I could have sat here longer, but my beeper beeped, and I went and fetched my food.

 

I got to say a quick hello to Josie, who was here working on a Saturday morning.  Which is rare.  She's there at the podium talking those guests' ears off:

 

 

You might be wondering what I ordered off the secret menu.

 

This is it- the famous bagel sandwich.  It's awesome.  You can have it with bacon or sausage.  That's a hard choice for me. Today, I went with the sausage:

 

 

The sandwich is served with a side of potatoes.  But, you can order just the sandwich and save a buck.  For a buck, I'll take the potatoes:

 

 

My receipt:

 

 

This shows there's still a button on the cash register for the CM's to push for the bagel sandwich.

 

You may have noticed the sausage.  It was a big link split in half.  It was OK, but I would have rather had a patty.  Or bacon.  Next time, I'm getting the bacon.

 

There was a post recently on another thread that suggested that the Fort no longer distributes those nice love letters to guests on the last morning.  Well, this guy got one:

 

 

The girls asked me to get them up at 9.

 

I still had some time on my hands.

 

So, I decided to go and see about something up at the Reception Outpost.

 

Today was December 14th.  According to the news, the northeast United States was going to be getting snow today.  But, here at the Fort, I got to enjoy this beautiful butterfly garden:

 

 

 

The Reception Outpost has nice Christmas decorations:

 

 

They even threw some poinsettias in the butterfly garden:

 

 

Another name for the Reception Outpost is the Lobby:

 

 

As luck would have it, the same CM who checked me in out in the check-in lanes was here at the desk this morning.  I asked her about the glow in the dark sliders that we had seen on some guests' MagicBands yesterday.  I think they were giving these out for free at check-in, but we didn't get any.  She said she knew what I was talking about, but they were all out.  Sorry.  Oh well, I said, thanks anyway.  A CM down the counter was eavesdropping, and said she had some in her drawer.  I don't have a photo of them, but here's a photo I swiped off of Ebay:

 

 

I think those were going for $8 for four on Ebay.  I got three.  Now we're cool.

 

There was a sign posted here saying that the golf carts were sold out:

 

 

That stinks.

 

I guess it's busier at the Fort than I thought.

 

Sorry this photo is blurry, but I don't have a better one, and you need to see the Christmas tree and that the FWRR poster that has been sold several times on EBay is still here:

 

 

I love how Chip and Dale have their stockings hung here:

 

 

I don't remember seeing this pin board on display here, and it seemed like an odd time for it to be out.  The pickings were slim:

 

 

 

I haven't seen kids riding around the lobby on these horses, but I would like to:

 

 

While I was here, I picked up some copies of the latest literature they had on hand.  I'll share some observations about that in the next update.

 

And we will go looping and look at some Christmas decorations!

 

TCD

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Here comes the sun:

 

 

 

 

Do do do do.

[CampMImi 22]

Thank you so much for sharing! I am learning so much from this board.  :jumpforjoy

 

What is the note that special people get on departure day?  I have never ever seen that.

 

What is up with the pin board?  Are those contributions or pins available for guests?

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

The note is the yellow envelope (your bill). If you do express checkout with charging priveleges, your final bill of what was charged to your card is in that envelope.  Lately they have been sending it by email.

 

That is a trading board. So if you want to trade some pins and see one you like, then you can trade 1 for 1 from what you have.

[alexwyattmommy 181]

Same item as you only with bacon instead.  We got it twice.  Ate in the inside& potatoes for breakfast and then the bagel with cream cheese for snack.

 

Are you sure those are horses?  They kinda look like hound dogs to me.

[Lou... 3,118]

 

If I've ever heard that 29% of the land in WDW is owned by RCID, then I have forgotten hearing that before.

 

 

I assumed that if anyone would know that, it would be you.

 

So, almost a third of the land is owned by an independent entity? 

 

 

 

Not just an entity, but a government created entity. It's not a privately held company.

Also, the state of FL owns 550 acres, and miscellaneous others own 110 acres.

 

 

But, doesn't Disney pick who gets to live there and sit on the governing boards?

 

 

Technically, no, but as a practical matter, yes.

A five-member board of supervisors governs RCID. Supervisors are elected every two years at the district’s annual landowners meeting. An individual must own land within the district in order to serve on the board.

 

Here's where it gets dicey. Each board member has historically been deeded approximately five acres of land by an affiliate of the Walt Disney World Co. When a supervisors election is held, each landowner is then entitled to one vote for each acre of land owned; the largest land owner by far is Disney and so it has the most votes. IE, whatever Disney wants, as long as it falls under the agreement, they get. But that was the whole point of creating the RCID. It works for Disney, it works for the state, and it works for the counties bordering RCID, because Disney pretty much pays for everything that the RCID does.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

 

But, your crazy talk is starting to make sense.

 

This is a plausible explanation for that Good and Plenty box being in the dumpster.

 

I mean, when is the last time you saw a red blooded American buy a box of Good and Plenty?

 

TCD

 

You are encouraging Dave. Do we need to contact Mrs. TCD and let her know it's time for you to get your head checked?

[c_line 1]

I made the call.  I hate calling that 407-WDISNEY number.  But I had to.  To my surprise, my call was answered promptly by a friendly and competent CM, and before I knew what hit me, I had been able to score a AAA rate on a preferred site, at a rate cheaper than my full hook-up reservation.

 

That was the number I was using but then I found another one 1-407-939-1289.  I found it somewhere, listed under resort reservations.  The first time I called I went through all the automated menus, then I set the phone down and went to the door because the dog was barking at something.  I've never called the other number without being on hold for what seems like ages so I thought I was safe.  I was gone for 10 seconds and I came back to the phone and there was someone on the call already.  Crazy.  And it's been like that every time I've called since - no waiting on hold.  Maybe I've just lucked out.