The TCD Gang Springs Forward at the Fort- A Spring Break 2014 TR

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

1. Started up your own cinnamon roll business on Main Street?

2. Stole a FW golf cart and did donuts in front of the movie screen during the campfire sing-along; screaming at the top of your lungs while holding a 40 oz beer in your hand and uncontrollably spilling it everywhere in your wake?

3. Promoted the Affordable Care Act for a Comedy Website tv show while riding the peoplemover?

4. Chloroformed the CM who plays Pete and hopped aboard the dragon just prior to the Main Street Electrical Parade.

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

The first three are just educated guesses. The fourth item on the list? Not so much.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

I guess I'd better claim a spot on page three, before those spots all get taken! Can't wait for another update. We might need to try the GAG, when we're there in May!

 

"Might"?!?!? You do. Period. 

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

"Might"?!?!? You do. Period.

Yep. Unless you don't like good food at a relatively "cheap" price.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I'm in!

Jessica is going to be so disappointed that they canceled her birthday fireworks show.

 

Yes, you're in, and you're first!

 

Good job.

 

I wish they hadn't canceled the fireworks show, as I would have been able to provide an eye witness report. 

 

I guess you'll have to do it next year?

 

 

Yeah!  I was hoping we would get to hear about your latest visit! 

 

Well, it's your lucky day.  Your wish came true.

 

I am here!! First page and only the third to repy!  This has never happenbed before!

 

Wow.

 

Amazing.

 

Well done.

 

In!

 

Yup.

 

and I knew there was a typo but didn't want to take the time to correct it just in case someone posted ahead of me and made my 4 instead of three.

 

Now I am 3 and 5.    

 

Firstly, I love Mrs. TCD's frame of the month idea.  Genius. 

 

Secondly, The contrast between Twin 1 being small in the framed photo contrasted with her all grown up was very touching.  Time flies too quickly.

 

Thirdly, I would say sorry about the rain, but, a rainy day at WDW is better than any day anywhere else. 

 

Double first page bragging rights for you.

 

You are right about the time flying too quickly. 

 

And you're right about the rain. I didn't like it.  It wasn't the experience I was expecting, but it's better than not being there at all.

 

I'm here and even got to say "HI"....

 

I'm glad you stopped by.  On the rare occasions I ventured out of the Settlement area, I saw no signs of life at your site.

 

I never did catch Grandma zooming by on the path next to my site.  We weren't there very much.

 

Enjoy your last few days at the Fort.  And please let us know how you like Jetty Park.

 

Sure, why not. Im in.

 

Glad you joined the fun!

 

I don't know how I didn't run into you this trip, but I didn't.  I know we were in the MK at the same time one day.

 

I'm in!  First page - first time ever!  :jumpforjoy

 

Wow, another first timer with the First Page Bragging Rights!

 

Congratulations!

 

 

Page 1! 

 

You know what that usually means? 

 

I accidentally post several more times and use up all the page one bragging rights spots. j

 

But I am REALLY going to try to restrain myself this time. 

 

Well, mainly because I'm about to go into a bunch of meetings and will be tied up long enought that y'all will be moved on to pages 2 and 3. 

 

But just for the record...I could screw all of you page one posers if I wanted to. 

 

Thank you for your restraint.  That was very kind.  Of course, it did no good.  It just gave someone else the chance to pone everybody else.

 

I'm in!

 

Yup.

 

And, you got the rest of the FBPR!

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Hoping to make page 1!

 

Ah well, top of page 2 bragging rights!

 

Top of page 2 is good!

 

I'm in too!

 

Glad to have you along, Gwen.

 

You would have made page one.

 

No way!  Rainy Fort pictures are good.  They mean someone is at the Fort.  Probably, if I am looking at the pictures, it is someone I know and like.  And that means someone I know and like has been at the Fort.  And that makes me happy.  Almost as happy as when I am at the Fort. :D

 

Very true.

 

Page one is so yesterday!

 

Absolutely.

 

Page 2 is where the cool kids hang.

 

I would have made page one, but I've spent a whole day helping Lou get all his Apple products updated with latest iOS. :). How many smart phones can one man possibly carry?

 

That's about the funniest thing I've heard in a while.

 

Sorry TCD. But gals made me post it.

Anyways. Glad it stopped raining long enough for you to set up camp.

Glad you'll get to some d the weekend with all 3 girls.

Site 114 holds special place in my heart. That was the first site we saw, getting off the boat, and where we met the previous resident and she told us all about FF.net, the Fort, and camping at the fort. And if it wouldn't have been for her I wouldn't have met so many wonderful fiends and Lou. Lol

 

Thanks for sharing your experience with site 114.  I'm glad that your meeting there led you here.

 

I hear you that's why I waited for page 2!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hey Rennie.  We checked on the Dole Whip machine for you.  I'll report back on that later.

 

I am in.

GAG. Brilliant!

Glad the rains went away for setup.

Setting up in the rain would SMB.

 

Yes, GAG is brilliant.  I'm glad we were able to get it on the first night too.  I was looking forward to it.

 

Setting up in the rain definitely SMB, but I would have done it if I had to.

 

I'm in and can't wait to hear about the new things.  I know 1 of them but have no idea about the others. 

 

Now that I think about it, there are more than four new things.  The first one will be revealed when I post the next update.  Which I intend to do as soon as I respond to all these comments!

 

I'm in! SPBR!

 

Hmmm.... so far your Fort pictures look a lot like my January Fort pictures.... soggy. 

 

Yeah, I was afraid I was going to have a Troll-ish soggy trip.

 

But, we didn't.

 

Stay tuned for blue skies!

 

I'm no Troll, I get the good weather.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Yay, second page!! Just glad to be reading along and 24 hours from now I will be there (okay, so maybe I'm really just excited about that)!!!!

 

So, you will be at the Fort soon!

 

I hope you have a great time!

 

Whatever page bragging rights. :)

 

You got a solid page 2.

 

Not bad.

 

In honor of your new TR, I completed our next trip's reservation today.

 

Good for you!

 

Is that next trip going to include a stay at the Fort?

 

 

well, second page anyway.

 

Hey, a video!

 

Nice.

 

I'm still in 931 but anxiously waiting for more!

 

I hope you're having a great time!

 

It was nice to meet you and your family.

 

The weather must've hated you. We left Tampa heading towards Orlando around 10 and only had overcast skies the entire way. We were supposed to tent camp at Avalon Park Friday night as a first time family camping get together in their town square. It was too windy and cold to attempt it. We walked over and got the burgers and hotdogs, but didn't camp. My daughter and granddaughter were both getting over colds, and we were flying to Omaha on Sunday and didn't want to risk getting sick. We didn't encounter any rain at all on Friday, just wind and overcast skies. Avalon Park is in the NE section of Orlando just below Hwy 50 up near UCF.

 

Shoot, I should have left at 10, as planned.  I had rain the whole entire way.  After Thursday night, though, the weather was great.  It was a little chilly Friday night, but no more rain.

 

I read 39 replies.... I didn't realize that it was just four people....    I'm in TCD....   Nice work on making that rain stop during set up...   I know you did that.... :thumbsup1:

 

 

Bottom of page 2 braggin rights....... 

 

LOL.  39 comments from four people!

 

Congrats on the bottom of page 2 bragging rights.

 

Alright, the work day is over and I was hoping for another update.

 

I know.

 

Sorry about that.

 

I'll try to post two today to make it up to you.

 

 

another trip report!! YIPPEE!!!!

 

I made page 3, now to go back and read!!

 

Glad that you're here.

 

Page 3 things happen fast around here!  Exciting TCD trip report I'm in.  That looks like a nice campsite set up! I never really realized how close it is to everything!

 

Yes, I loved the location of that site. I could see where others would not like it, but I did!

 

There was a major issue the first morning.  I'll be telling about that the update after next.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Whew!

 

I think this will do it with the comments, and then we can get to an update!

 

I guess I'd better claim a spot on page three, before those spots all get taken! Can't wait for another update. We might need to try the GAG, when we're there in May!

 

Good job on claiming that page three spot.

 

It's going to be page four soon!

 

You must try the GAG.  It is the best deal on WDW property.  Period.

 

I'm in...do I dare ask what happened to 114? It sounds ominous... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

There was a lady that stayed there for several months every winter, and no longer stays there in the winters.

 

Yup.  Nothing ominous, unless you want to believe some very nasty and hateful rumors.

 

I have no personal knowledge of what happened.

 

But, I consider the lady who used to stay on site 114 a friend, and always will.

 

I think TCD posts every morning while I am doing school with the kids so I have something to read during lunch.

 

I try to.

 

I didn't do too good with that the last couple of days though.

 

 

I'm in too, but only for 2 reasons.

 

1. A beautiful picture of the dragon calliope

 

2. The insane claim at the end of the first post-no one actually believes there are 4 things the TCD gang has never done at WDW unless it is something negative (like wait in a line without a FP).

 

Wow.  BFM!  Nice to see a post from you.  I hope y'all are surviving the brutal winter.

 

I'm glad that you got to see the calliope photo.

 

I know it's hard to believe, but there were four big things that we did this trip that we had never done before.  And none of them were negative.  All fun!

 

And, on further thought, there were more than four big things.  There are a couple more smaller TCD firsts to boot.

 

Late in the evening, but I am in none the less.  

 

The only thing worse than setting up a pop up in the rain is taking it down in the rain.  

 

Glad it stopped for you.  We have had the same experience the last two trips to the Fort.  I guess we Bayside owners get all the luck!

 

YC

 

You are so right about having to pack up in the rain.  That is the worst.  And, I had to pack up a wet camper on my last two Fort trips.  Not this time though!  Woo Hoo!

 

I don't have a Bayside. I have a Utah CP.  I do get a lot of pixie dust from it, though.

 

I have been trying to make a list of what they could be! I'm interested to see what they are.

 

Stay tuned.  The first one is coming up!

 

1. Started up your own cinnamon roll business on Main Street?

2. Stole a FW golf cart and did donuts in front of the movie screen during the campfire sing-along; screaming at the top of your lungs while holding a 40 oz beer in your hand and uncontrollably spilling it everywhere in your wake?

3. Promoted the Affordable Care Act for a Comedy Website tv show while riding the peoplemover?

4. Chloroformed the CM who plays Pete and hopped aboard the dragon just prior to the Main Street Electrical Parade.

 

Now that is an impressive list.

 

I will consider some of them for a future visit.

 

Good job.

 

The first three are just educated guesses. The fourth item on the list? Not so much.

 

The fourth one is my favorite. How much fun would that be?  Plus, I'd have a mic.  I can just imagine!

 

TCD

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

 

Good for you!

 

Is that next trip going to include a stay at the Fort?

 

TCD

5 nights at the Fort/9 nights at Bay Lake Tower

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

5 nights at the Fort/9 nights at Bay Lake Tower

 

Now that's a trip!

 

Congratulations!  That is going to be a blast!

 

TCD

[Starbuc71 162]

A great start as usual. I hope my kids are still in the Disney mode like yours when they get to be their age. You are one lucky man Mr TCD

[Starbuc71 162]

A great start as usual. I hope my kids are still in the Disney mode like yours when they get to be their age. You are one lucky man Mr TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

A great start as usual. I hope my kids are still in the Disney mode like yours when they get to be their age. You are one lucky man Mr TCD

 

Yes I am.

 

I wasn't sure that the girls would want to spend their college spring breaks at Disney.  They had friends heading to Panama City Beach, Mexico and on cruises.  But I wisely had renewed their AP's in January.  And it helped that the new parade was going to debut during this trip.

 

I hope that your kids will be the same.  I think they will be.  You're raising them to love the Fort.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Wow, here we are on page four, and the trip is just getting started!

 

I'm sorry that there hasn't been another update yet, but I'll try to do two today.

 

We left off with us putting a hurtin' on a bucket of chicken out back of site 114.  It was only me and Twin #1, so there was only so much damage we could do.  We ended up with a whole bunch of chicken, fries, mac and cheese and cornbread left over. Poor us.

 

I forgot that I had made a screen cap of the weather report right before we pulled out from home.  This is it:

 

 

I had hoped that it would be wrong and that the sun would be shining when we arrived at the Fort, but it was pretty much right for the afternoon.

 

But, it was really clearing up for the evening, so we decided to head on over to the MK and use some of the FP+'s I had booked.

 

About a month ago, there was some kind of glitch in the system, and the tier restrictions at Epcot and DHS were not being enforced.  So, this is what our plans looked like for the weekend:

 

 

The plans were heavy on the DHS and Epcot.  I did this because we had the rare chance of being able to ride more than one headliner at those parks with FP+'s.  You can't normally do that.  At Epcot, you can only pick Test Track or Soarin', but not both.  As you can see, I scored both for Sunday.  At DHS, you can't have both RNRC and Toy Story, but I did.  Twice.  On Saturday, I got the trifecta and got Fantasmic, which meant I had three tier one attractions on one day.  Take that, MDE!

 

One of the supposed magical features about the MDE program is that guests can change their FP+ reservations "on the fly>"  I knew that we would more than likely not be able to make our Space Mountain time slot, so I tried all afternoon to change it.  This isn't such a magical thing.  First, you have to log on, and watch your battery drain as the system tries to connect.  And some times it just plain doesn't work.  I got the same message every time I tried to change the Space FP+:

 

 

Finally, I gave up.  It was frustrating.

 

We headed over to the MK in time to ride Big Thunder Mountain using our FP+.

 

On the way there, we stopped by the kiosk near the Jungle Cruise, and a CM there was able to give us a later time for Space, even though we had missed our earlier time.  She also told us that the app had been down all day.  I would have appreciated an email or something to let me know that, rather than having to try to log on 20+ times.

 

It started raining while we were on Big Thunder, and continued for a while as we walked over to Space Mountain.  Enough that I had to break out the ponchos. 

 

Our FP+'s worked fine on Space:

 

 

We noticed both at Big Thunder and Space that the standby lines were not bad at all.  The rainy day and evening had kept the crowds down for sure.  As luck would have it, the rain had stopped when we were done with Space. The ponchos stayed stowed for the rest of the night.

 

The standby on Buzz was only 5 minutes.  So we headed there, and walked right on.  There was nobody at all in line. There wasn't even a five minute wait.

 

And this raises a possible interesting benefit of the FP+ system.  The MK was open until 11 tonight.  Every guest could only get 3 FP+ reservations for the day.  What are the chances that there are guests still holding FP+ reservations late in the evening?  Wouldn't most guests have used them much earlier in the day?  So that means as an evening wears on, there are no longer guests using the FP queues.  That's good for the standby lines.  And that's what seemed to be happening on this trip. 

 

Now, about those four cool TCD firsts on this trip, here's the first one.  This was the first time in all my visits to the MK and all my rides on Buzz that I achieved Galactic Hero status:

 

 

That may not impress you.  But it impresses the heck out of me.

 

And, it impressed Twin #1.  So much so that she snapchated it, and sent a photo of her old man and his score out to her followers.

 

TCD is a Galactic Hero!:

 

 

If you're keeping track.  That's one cool thing that's never happened before.

 

Do you want to know my secret?

 

Well, to be perfectly honest I had a little help.

 

We got stuck briefly in the room with the volcano.

 

And, I had heard there's a target on the volcano that's worth a lot of points.  It turns out I heard right.  I sat there and shot that mother until I maxed out my score.  I told Twin #1 about it too, but the way our car had stopped, her shot at the target was blocked.

 

Some of you might say that my score doesn't count since the ride stopped.  I say to you too bad.  I rode the ride.  I shot the targets.  I am a Galactic Hero.  End of discussion.

 

Did you notice that our third FP+ reservation was for Wishes?

 

I normally wouldn't waste a FP+ on that, but it's something that we wanted to try.

 

I heard they let guests out on the grassy area in the Rose Garden.  And you can sit or even lie on the grass and watch the fireworks.

 

So, we presented ourselves at the gate to the Rose Garden at the appointed time:

 

 

At the appointed time, a CM in a raincoat announced that because of all the rain today, the grass would be off limits, so we would instead have exclusive access to the path next to the grass:

 

 

If you read TCD TR's, you might know that this path that we were being granted exclusive access to is a path that we have used to watch fireworks from in the past without any FP+'s.  It used to just be an open path with first come first served access.  So, how is this some kind of benefit now?  We found a spot on that path to watch the New Year's Eve Fireworks that were shot of on December 30th on a very busy night with no problem.  Oh well, I'm sure that grass was soaked, and we wouldn't have wanted to sit on it anyway.  Not their fault.  So we got a spot along the rail and waited.

 

And then we watched the castle projection show:

 

 

 

As that show went on, we watched as a large group was admitted to the grassy area.  What the Fort?  I thought it was off limits?  Not for this group.  It was some kind of youth group, and they had videographers there to video them.  The stood right in front of us with their lights and cameras and partially blocked the view that we had wasted a Fastpass+ on.  If I thought it would have done any good, I would have gone and complained. 

 

Where we stood was right under Tinker Bill's wire, so I decided to shoot a video.  While shooting the video, I captured some footage of the group standing where we were supposed to be.  This video is two minutes long, and it is bad, even by my very low standards.  You're been warned:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf6ath-rwug&feature=youtu.be

 

I hope you didn't watch that.

 

Here are two fireworks photos, in case anyone wants to see what the fireworks look like from here:

 

 

 

After the fireworks, we headed back to New Fantasyland, as Twin #1 had told me how good the mine train ride is looking.  We went and took a look.  Here's a shot through one of the viewing ports in the wall:

 

 

We decided to walk all the way around the new mountain.  We found a new statue next to Prince Eric's Pickle Emporium:

 

 

The posted wait time for Ariel was 30 minutes.  But it was pretty obvious that there was no one in line, and certainly nobody was using FP+.  So, we gave it a try.  We walked completely through the queue without stopping.  Once again, here was a ride with no wait at all.

 

It was getting to be near 11 pm when we finished, so we decided to head on out, leaving time to stop at the Main Street ice cream shop.

 

We popped in there around 10:45, and got a couple of kids cones.  That's a good deal.  They are only one scoop, but it's a big scoop.  The normal cones cost almost twice as much, and have two big scoops of ice cream on them.  I could eat it if I had too, but one scoop is just right.  And it's cheaper.  So it's all good.  You don't have to have an actual kid with you to order the kids' cone.  There's your free tip for today.

 

We got our ice cream, and planned to enjoy it on the way out, as it was almost 11 now.

 

What we didn't know was that there was a performance of the Main Street Electric Parade scheduled for 11 pm.  Which is kind of odd, as the park closed at 11 pm, and the parade obviously would still be going on past closing time.

 

There was plenty of room all along Main Street, so we grabbed a spot right in front of the Starbucks, and waited.

 

Sure enough, along came Tinkerbell:

 

 

And Goofy:

 

 

And the druggie Caterpillar:

 

 

And Captain Hook's boyfriend:

 

 

And Dopey:

 

 

And good old Elliot:

 

 

I guess he had taken a hit off of the Caterpillar's peace pipe?:

 

 

Tonight's Pete was kind of subdued.  Not the best Pete I've seen:

 

 

It was 11:25 before the good old USA float reached us and it was time for us to go:

 

 

While we were watching the parade, we got a text from Twin #2, and she was at the campsite. 

 

So, we headed back, and the twins had a mini reunion.  They hadn't seen each other for about a month.

 

Then we did a little looping.

 

And Twin #2 enjoyed some cornbread and chicken.

 

I thought that night would have been a good night for our planned golf cart ride to the Polynesian.  And it was.  But, we were tired and didn't really want to risk spending the night in Disney jail, so we passed on that opportunity.  One of these days, though.

 

And that was the end of Day #1.  Which isn't so bad.

 

We still have four mornings left.

 

And four days.

 

So, we are just getting started.

 

Next up, a rude awakening.

 

TCD

[Starbuc71 162]

Thanks for the info on the wishes fireworks fast pass. I was wondering if it was worth giving up a ride for. Are they building other spots for this unique viewing opportunities (Casey's corner?). Glad you had some walk on rides

[lklasing 16]

Good installment!  Rain can be a good thing sometimes, as long as it doesn't come and stay for too long.  One question:

 

While we were watching the parade, we got a text from Twin #2, and she was at the campsite. 

 

So, we headed back, and the twins had a mine reunion.  They hadn't seen each other since for about a month.

 

 

What is a mine reunion?    I was thinking that "mine reunion" was some new catchphrase that I'm totally out of the loop, but then I decided it was supposed to be "mini reunion".  But mine reunion could be something new for me to learn, so I'm hoping that's it!

[devores 382]

The group that was let onto the grass was the Disney Dreamers Academy. I normally frown upon these "special" groups, but actually endorse this one. They had a convention at WDW the weekend you were there. They had seminars in the Hall of Presidents (you probably didn't even notice it was closed down for the weekend, did ya?) and had activities all around Disney.

 

If you want to know a little about what its about, watch the videos below.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EEunLNUVP4&list=PLflf8xbnbx67VbTZYOCOq3Rtb6yka59ug&feature=share

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr2OD6369ZM&list=PLflf8xbnbx67VbTZYOCOq3Rtb6yka59ug&feature=share&index=4

 

If you watch the first video, at 32 seconds, where the boy is taking a selfi in front of the castle, look to the left of the frame (its quick). There I am. Im wearing a rain coat as it had just finished raining.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Thanks for the info on the wishes fireworks fast pass. I was wondering if it was worth giving up a ride for. Are they building other spots for this unique viewing opportunities (Casey's corner?). Glad you had some walk on rides

 

Definitely remember what I said about the later hours at the parks.  I'm not sure if your kids can make it, but we had some real good experiences late at night at the MK with the stand-by lines.

 

I would not waste a FP+ on Wishes.  It would be neat to be able to sit on the grass, but it's really not the best place to watch Wishes.  Those new areas that they're building will be much better.  If you can find a spot along the rail in front of Casey's now, I would stand there and watch rather than near the Rose Garden.

 

Good installment!  Rain can be a good thing sometimes, as long as it doesn't come and stay for too long.  One question:

 

 

What is a mine reunion?    I was thinking that "mine reunion" was some new catchphrase that I'm totally out of the loop, but then I decided it was supposed to be "mini reunion".  But mine reunion could be something new for me to learn, so I'm hoping that's it!

 

Oh come on Leslie, you have teens.  You don't know what a mine reunion is?

 

No?

 

That's because it was a typo.  Spell check doesn't help with that kind of typo.

 

It was just a mini reunion.

 

Sorry.

 

You didn't learn anything new.

 

The TCD girls have plenty of hip lingo that they use.  But I gave up a while back trying to understand it.  They prefer it that way too.  Fine with me.

 

The group that was let onto the grass was the Disney Dreamers Academy. I normally frown upon these "special" groups, but actually endorse this one. They had a convention at WDW the weekend you were there. They had seminars in the Hall of Presidents (you probably didn't even notice it was closed down for the weekend, did ya?) and had activities all around Disney.

 

If you want to know a little about what its about, watch the videos below.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EEunLNUVP4&list=PLflf8xbnbx67VbTZYOCOq3Rtb6yka59ug&feature=share

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr2OD6369ZM&list=PLflf8xbnbx67VbTZYOCOq3Rtb6yka59ug&feature=share&index=4

 

If you watch the first video, at 32 seconds, where the boy is taking a selfi in front of the castle, look to the left of the frame (its quick). There I am. Im wearing a rain coat as it had just finished raining.

 

That is exactly who it was!

 

The DDA.  It does look like it's a good group.  Still, it's not right that they told guests with FP+ reservations that the couldn't go on the grass, and then let these people in to stand in front of us.  They can take over the Hall of Presidents all they want.  But don't stand in front of me in the space where I was supposed to be.  That is not the experience I was anticipating.

 

And, I call BS on you being in that video- I had a hard time pausing it, but this doesn't look like you:

 

 

TCD

[devores 382]

That's me. I was walking from Liberty square to the Town Square Theater with a couple of trainees. Photopass is the only ones, in the parks, who wear those blue pants. I remember walking and talking to them about how they did during training and seeing them filming. I quickly changed paths to walk behind the camera man so we wouldn't be in the shot. Its kind of blurry and I had been in the rain all day training. If I didn't know that was me, Id be skeptical too.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

That's me. I was walking from Liberty square to the Town Square Theater with a couple of trainees. Photopass is the only ones, in the parks, who wear those blue pants. I remember walking and talking to them about how they did during training and seeing them filming. I quickly changed paths to walk behind the camera man so we wouldn't be in the shot. Its kind of blurry and I had been in the rain all day training. If I didn't know that was me, Id be skeptical too.

 

I hear what you're saying, but that's not you.

 

Too much hair.

 

TCD

[devores 382]

The part at 2:10 where they were on RnR, I was there for that filming as well. We were in line right where they launch and the film crew was standing next to us on the other side of the fence.

 

This was the day I was paid to rid rides all day.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

The part at 2:10 where they were on RnR, I was there for that filming as well. We were in line right where they launch and the film crew was standing next to us on the other side of the fence.

 

This was the day I was paid to rid rides all day.

 

Hey- we were at DHS on Friday, and saw some of these kids with the red shirts in the FP return line with us.  But I don't think they were there for filming.  I'm not going to start a rant, but I found it highly suspicious that these kids seemed to have unlimited FP+'s.  I never saw them in the standby lines.

 

I thought that it was a secret that you got paid to ride rides all day.

 

TCD

[devores 382]

Nope, no secret. A perk of the job. I just cant say what we were testing.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Nope, no secret. A perk of the job. I just cant say what we were testing.

 

I know.

 

And that drives me nuts.

 

But, I have a Disney secret too.

 

So there.

 

I'll tell you what it is about when we get to Saturday in this TR. It's one of the four new things I mentioned doing on this trip. But, I can't talk about the secret stuff until after March 21.  I signed a binding legal document prohibiting that.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I said I would try for two updates today, and here comes the second.

 

I hope everyone appreciates the effort.

 

We left off with Thursday night.  We turned in sometime around 1 am.  The plan for Friday was to take it easy in the morning.  Then head to Epcot, where we would try some of this year's Flower and Garden Food Booths, and I would look for this year's beet lollipop replacement.  Then we would hop to DHS and use those FP+'s I reserved for the evening.  Good plan.

 

Did you catch that part about how we turned in around 1?

 

Imagine my chagrin when I woke to the sound of a roaring engine and the inside of the camper being illuminated by very bright lights.  It seemed like we had just gone to sleep.  What was this?

 

I unzipped my bunk window and took a peek.

 

The milk man.

 

Making a delivery.

 

How do you think that milk and ice cream and stuff gets in the Settlement Trading Post?

 

I have no idea what time it was that the milk man showed up.

 

Only that it was dark out.

 

And, it seemed like the middle of the night.

 

Thankfully, the milk man was quick.

 

And I went back to sleep.

 

A little while later, I heard rain on the roof.

 

It was raining again.

 

Ah, heck.

 

I was hoping for good weather on Friday.

 

Hopefully, this was the last of it.

 

I don't mind the rain.  I kind of like the sound.  And it wasn't a hard rain.

 

I went back to sleep.

 

Then lights, motor action again.

 

Another truck.

 

This time I looked at the clock.

 

6:30.

 

AM.

 

It was the Potato Chip guy.

 

Hey, how do you thing those bags of chips get in the trading post?

 

Are you sensing a pattern here?

 

I was.

 

I figured I may as well get up.

 

So I did.

 

Here's the Lay's guy- that's the corner of my tarp there in the photo.  The precise timing device on my camera says this photo was taken at 6:30 am:

 

 

I headed over to my personal washroom at the trading post:

 

 

And gave the chip guy the hairy eyeball on my way back:

 

 

I went and got my shower.  The chip guy was gone when I got back, but he left the back gate open.  That probably meant I would have more visitors:

 

 

It was 7:02 when I took that photo.  Trail's End doesn't open until 7:30, so I had to make my own coffee.

 

I could see Crockett's Tavern though the trees from sitting at my picnic table:

 

 

A lot of my camping equipment is stuff that we used to use around the house, but has been replaced.  Like my camping coffee maker.  It's a Krups.  Nice.  But we always hated it.  You can't pour a cup of coffee from the decanter without spilling some.  It's impossible.  We replaced it about 20 years ago.  And the handle on the decanter is loose too.  I fixed that with a lot of tape-which you can see in this photo:

 

 

It gets the job done when we're camping.

 

Other items in my camping equipment collection were acquired at the Fort.  Like this coffee scoop:

 

 

That is a genuine, made in China, Disney product- it comes from the Disney Theme Perks line.  Yes, I said Perks- get it?:

 

 

I didn't love those trucks waking me up this morning, but I did love this view-and I especially loved being greeted by blue skies after the rainy day we had the day before:

 

 

If you've ever read a TCD trip report, you might be familiar with the fact that I often wander down the pedestrian pathway behind the Settlement Trading Post.  How convenient it was that the entrance to that path was right behind my site:

 

 

But, as you can see, there's a problem. The sign says this area is closed.  But what area is the sign referring to?  The whole path?  The fence?  Where?  How am I supposed to know?  And that plastic fence was not pulled across the path.  Plus, I had seen guests coming and going out of there the day before.  So, I had to go.

 

Here's something that no one will find surprising.  That wagon with the roof that needs replacing is still sitting back behind the trading post with its ripped roof.  How long has it been now?:

 

 

I noted on a previous visit that the canal that runs along the back of the 100 and 200 loops has looked very un-slimy lately.  And it didn't look bad today: 

 

 

This is the maybe-one-day-future site of a new dining pavilion for the Backyard BBQ, but nothing is happening here today:

 

 

This is an open area near Bay Lake.  It cracks me up that there's usually a sign posted at the beginning of this trail saying that it is for pedestrians only.  There was once a Fiend who got yelled at for riding her bike on this path.  Like it's some kind of fragile ground.  And then look at all these tractor tire tracks:

 

 

This is a look from that spot toward the canal that empties into Bay Lake back here.  Even though I think it's Spring, these leafless cypress trees are telling me not so fast:

 

 

Here's some more tracks all over the place where they don't even want you to ride a bike:

 

 

This being the first morning of this trip and all, it was necessary for me to stop for a couple of photos here, at my favorite spot in all of the Fort:

 

 

 

There was some weird cloud action going on there over Bay Lake this morning.

 

The last time I was out this way, which was only a few weeks ago, there were construction fences and all kinds of equipment back here.  That's all gone now, and it's almost back to normal.  The old cabin sits across the canal, slowly rotting away:

 

 

It looks like all the work on the dam and BABH has been completed- and it looks good:

 

 

In contrast to the new stuff, this old cypress tree is just hanging out here like always.  Note how you can see all the different canal water levels marked on the trunk:

 

 

I've seen old photos that suggest that this sea wall may have been used as the place where Fort Wilderness guests used to rent boats to take out in Bay Lake. But I'm not sure if that's why this is here.  All I know is that it's old:

 

 

What a beautiful morning it was:

 

 

I wonder how long the wood on this sea wall has been rotting away.  And how much longer it will be here?:

 

 

Before the latest round of construction back here, they had placed a 6' chain link gate across the bridge over the dam.  Today, that chain link gate is gone, and there's just this little plastic fence here:

 

 

I thought this sign was funny.  So much so that I brought the girls out here later to see it for themselves. They didn't think it was funny:

 

 

Did you read that bottom part?

 

How I can use the Meadows (with an s) pool instead of enjoying the dam?

 

Like what does the pool have to do with the dam?

 

That's funny, dam it!

 

The twins said it wasn't.

 

They obviously had that sign left over from when they worked on the cabin pool.

 

But, they are saying that this area is being prepared for my future enjoyment.

 

Or is that sign for the bats?

 

This is their new house:

 

 

The puny little inadequate bat house is still here.  I wonder if anyone has moved in to the new digs?:

 

 

While the gate across the bridge is gone, there are still gates with locks on the sides of the bridge:

 

 

In the past, we have discussed all the weird stuff that is back here around the dam and wondered what it is and why it's here.  Here's a new sign that sheds some light on this:

 

 

I've seen stuff with US Government markings on it back here before.  My question has always been why?  What does the US Government have to do with any of this?   Are my tax dollars being used to help Disney drain its land? 

 

Somebody could call that phone number (collect no less) and find out.

 

I won't.

 

I don't want any government officials to have my phone number.

 

Next thing you know, the black helicopters will show up.

 

Well, that's 30 photos.

 

And we haven't even taken a good look at the BABH yet.

 

Stay tuned for that.

 

TCD