Nothing Fancy-Just a Good Old 4th of July at the Fort TCD TR

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

A new TCD report, and a mini rant by the Troll?

 

:thewave1:

[momof3kids-Yvonne 596]

I'm here.

I really like the parade photos you got from the train station. I have enjoyed the other ones you posted before, but there is just something about these that stand out to me.

[Big Kahuna aka John 71]

I'm here....  where are we?

[Starbuc71 162]

Page two bragging rights...not too bad. We missed you by a week and a half. Just got back from 7 hot and steamy nights. July is hot. The wife and I agreed no more week long stints at the fort in July or August. The a/c in he camper ran just about 7 days straight. Your right about watching the parade from the train station. Best view in the park

[LONE-STAR 370]

Page two bragging rights...not too bad. We missed you by a week and a half. Just got back from 7 hot and steamy nights. July is hot. The wife and I agreed no more week long stints at the fort in July or August. The a/c in he camper ran just about 7 days straight. Your right about watching the parade from the train station. Best view in the park

The heat is one reason I left the camper at home and we stayed at SSR. But our week wasn't hot because it rained all week.

[Millermouseketeers MaryAnn 150]

For real the week of the 4th was hot but lots of rain to cool it off too.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I'm in too.  Certainly a different perspective of the parade from the train station!  Those floats are even taller than I imagined.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

I'm here!  Great view from the balcony; we managed to snag that for the night parade in June.  Nice pics of the parade...we haven't seen that one yet.  Think it will be around in mid-October??

[jmaul 65]

Page two is the new page one only because DIT and Beckers hog up slots 2-20........

 

Nice seeing the FOF Parade from that angle.  Even tho not up close and personal, I think it looks better.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

First page bragging rights? Yay! Can't wait to see more!

 

Nicely done!

 

Im in.

But I still haven't caught up on all the other TRs.

I need a day off just to catch up.

Oh well. Bring it on.

 

Good job, Ray.  You haven't been around much, but you got the second spot.

 

I'm in! First page!

 

That's awesome that you were able to take advantage of a missed FP+. 

 

The parade looks cool from up there. 

 

Good job.  Glad you're here, as you will get a coupe of shout-outs in this one.

 

Page one, hurray! This happens for me so rarely!

Just went back to read the post, very sweet deal on the fastpasses!

 

Good job. 

 

Yeah, that was some pixie dust on the FP's.  I'm glad we didn't break our necks to get there only to find the ride down.

 

I'm in too!

I was posting on your other report and still made first page.

 

Good job, Nick.  Page one!

 

What was I doing before my sister in law came to visit?

 

Oh that's right.  Waiting to see if I could get first response bragging rights on the new TCD report.

 

Ah well.  I still think I am on the first page.

 

 

First page is good.

 

 

I'm in!

FPBR.....again.

 

uh-oh.

 

Why hasn't Dave posted yet?

 

Hah!  DIT is going to get a taste of his own medicine.

 

Or Becks?

 

Yeah, what's going on?

 

count me in!

 

Absolutely.  You will be getting a couple of shout-outs too.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great Googley Moogley, Page 1 on a TCD TR! 

 

Looking forward to reading along

 

Googly Moogley?  Haven't heard that one in a while!

 

Welcome!

 

In!

 

There you are!

 

Have no fear, I am here!

 

LOL.

 

Have no fear, I am here!

 

How does in go?  ROTFL?

 

Yea.....Page 1. :jumpforjoy

 

Lucky you got in before the Aaron, Beckers, DIT trifecta froze you out.

 

Page 1!

 

Good job!

 

Whew!  Made it on page 1!

 

Ah nuts.

 

Just in time.

 

Becks is here!

 

4th post on page one.  DIT status.

 

Anyone else going to make it??

 

Classic.

 

TCD

[lklasing 16]

Page 2!!! :jumpforjoy

 

Now that I've gone back and read your first entry, I'll say that it's awesome that you got the flexible FP+ for mine train.  I loved those when we were there.  The rainy days were pretty good at producing several opportunities at that for the rides that closed down during the storms.

 

Looking forward to this report!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Awesome on getting to ride the Mine Train later on for all three of you.  So it looks like the delay worked out in your favor.

 

Well, it was kind of awesome.  Read on to see how that worked out.  I have a dirty little secret to share about the Mine Train.

 

Parades suck.

 

Yes!

 

The Troll!

 

I need to remember what else the Troll hates so I can post something about it and get another reaction.

 

Seriously, though, Norm, it's good to see a post from you.  I hope all is well with you and Leslie.

 

Cool, another TCD report!

 

Yup.  They just keep coming.

 

A new TCD report, and a mini rant by the Troll?

 

:thewave1:

 

This report is getting off to a pretty good start.

 

I'm here.

I really like the parade photos you got from the train station. I have enjoyed the other ones you posted before, but there is just something about these that stand out to me.

 

Welcome.  I have been wanting to watch the parade from the train station.  I would like it a lot better if we could have gotten a spot along the rail.  It was OK standing behind the people sitting in front of us, but we sometimes had to peer around raised cameras and such.

 

I'm here....  where are we?

 

We are at the beginning.  You're fine.  Just keep reading.

 

Page two bragging rights...not too bad. We missed you by a week and a half. Just got back from 7 hot and steamy nights. July is hot. The wife and I agreed no more week long stints at the fort in July or August. The a/c in he camper ran just about 7 days straight. Your right about watching the parade from the train station. Best view in the park

 

Nice job, Dave.  Yup, July is hot.  But it's hot at home too.  We're used to it, right?

 

The heat is one reason I left the camper at home and we stayed at SSR. But our week wasn't hot because it rained all week.

 

I'm not going to lie, I would probably have preferred a nice room with air conditioning too.  But, the camper works fine for us when we are busy running around all day.   We had a lot of rain over the weekend too.

 

For real the week of the 4th was hot but lots of rain to cool it off too.

 

Agreed.  It was actually quite pleasant most of the time.

 

I'm in too.  Certainly a different perspective of the parade from the train station!  Those floats are even taller than I imagined.

 

You really need to see the floats in person to understand how tall they are.  I think it was a neat idea, but I also think they may have gone a bit too far with some of them.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I'm here!  Great view from the balcony; we managed to snag that for the night parade in June.  Nice pics of the parade...we haven't seen that one yet.  Think it will be around in mid-October??

 

Welcome.

 

It's a very safe bet that the parade is going to be there in October. This is the first new daytime parade they've rolled out at the Magic Kingdom in a long, long, time.  I have a feeling that we will be watching this one for years.

 

Page two is the new page one only because DIT and Beckers hog up slots 2-20........

 

Nice seeing the FOF Parade from that angle.  Even tho not up close and personal, I think it looks better.

 

It's OK.  Page 2 is cool.

 

I prefer the parade from ground level.  It's cool seeing it from the train station, but there is more to see at eye level.

 

Page 2!!! :jumpforjoy

 

Not bad.

 

You're going to get a shout out in the bonus features.  But those are a long way off.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Let's move along.

 

It's still Thursday, July 3rd.

 

The oldest TCD DD and I left the MK right after the parade.  That wasn't the original plan, but we had heard from Twin #1, and she was expecting to be at the Fort by 5.

 

We had no problem catching a boat and getting back.

 

Since we had stuff to do, I went right to Trail's End and ordered our dinner.  It's pretty awesome staying on the 100 loop, as I was able to walk back to the site to wait for the food to be prepared, and then went back to pick it up.  It had started to drizzle a bit, so we ate our fried chicken in the camper.

 

I just realized that I do not have a single photo of our campsite from that first day.  I remember now that I was waiting until I put up some of our 4th of July decorations.  I didn't get to that earlier, as we rushed off to the MK.  Since it was raining a bit now, I didn't put up the decorations that evening.  And, I'll tell you right now that I never got around to it.  After missing the first night, it didn't seem worth it, and we didn't plan to be around the site that much anyway.  

 

So, we ate an early dinner.

 

Then it was back to the MK, this time with Twin #1 and big sis.  Twin #2 was at work.

 

I had managed to snap a couple of Anna and Elsa FP's for 6:30-7:30, and the girls were going to meet those sisters.

 

We headed away from the Fort at 6:30.  That rain had cleared the beach:

 

 

At this point in time, there had been no official communication from the Fort about anything special going on on July 5th.  These buoys were definitely here for something, though.  I know that they used something like these when they had a triathlon at the Fort, but I believed the fireworks rumor more than thinking that there was some kind of triathlon event going to be hosted at the Fort:

 

 

In my previous post, I mentioned that there was something going on at the Castmember dock.  Remember that on our earlier trip to the MK, we took the long way around Discovery Island, so I figured that they had fireworks stored at the dock, and they were keeping the guest boats away.  Well, this time, we went the regular way past the Shoe Tree and the Castmember dock.  Here's the Shoe Tree:

 

 

Take a closer look at the bountiful crop:

 

 

And here's the CM dock- those have to be fireworks:

 

 

A closer look for you:

 

 

So, we get to the MK.  The girls went to meet the princesses, and I went to the FP+ kiosk to check on a cheat that I've been researching.  The cheat worked.  I used it again on Friday, and I'll tell you about it when we get to there in this TR.

 

Then it was time for our Mine Train FP+ ride.  I had one FP+ reservation for the 7:25-8:25 time slot, and then we had those two that were extended from earlier, so we were good to go.

 

But the Mine Train wasn't.  The ride was shut down. There were people lined up for the FP+ return.  And we could see them testing the ride, so we figured we'd wait too.  We didn't have anything better to do:

 

 

It turned out that there was a guy that Twin #1 knew from school in line right behind us, so the girls had a good time reminiscing with him as we waited.

 

In all, we waited there 45 minutes.  But, that ended up being worth it, because as soon as the ride opened, we got to go on first.

 

So this is the dirty little secret- the Mine Train breaks down all the time.  Like daily.  Like every single time we've been there, there has been some kind of problem  When we get to the bonus features of this TR, you will find out that I have gone to the MK twice since this trip was completed, and both times, the Mine Train was broken down and temporarily closed while we were there.  And one time, we got stuck on it.  Inside the mine.  For over 10 minutes.  But, we'll get to that later. So, it took them over two years to build this thing, and it breaks down daily?  Wow.

 

With that FP+ cheat I mentioned, we had three more FP+ selections to enjoy that night.  Now, they weren't great ones, but they were better than nothing.  One of them was available right after our Mine Train ride. It was for Winnie The Pooh.  Yeah, it's a baby ride.  But the stand-by wait was 45 minutes, and we got to ride immediately.  It's been a while, and it's an OK ride, so why not.  Funny thing is, we got stuck for a while on this ride too.  But, that let me get an awesome photo of the silly ole bear:

 

 

The main reason we went to the MK tonight was to watch the 4th of July fireworks.  They perform them on both the 3rd and 4th, and the 3rd is always less busy than the 4th.  We wanted to watch them from Main Street, but on busy days like this one, they employ some weird crowd control methods, and they were not letting any more guests onto Main Street.  Or the hub.  We ran into this on New Year's Eve.  That meant we needed to find a different spot for the fireworks.

 

We considered New Fantasyland, but that was pretty mobbed too. 

 

We had watched the New Year's fireworks from the bridge that goes from Frontierland to Big Thunder Mountain, and that wasn't a bad spot, so we decided to head that way.

 

They had a DJ set up next to the Country Bears:

 

 

We got to the bridge- and it was crowded too. 

 

So, I suggested that we try the exit to Big Thunder Mountain.  That was a place that was recommended by someone in my NYE TR, and this would be a good time to try it.

 

We were right here:

 

 

This was a good spot to see the two sets of fireworks that they shoot off simultaneously on special nights like this.  And, the perimeter fireworks were cool to see from here too:

 

 

But, we couldn't hear the narration or soundtrack from here, and we didn't get a good view of the lower fireworks that they shoot off around the castle.  So, I don't recommend this spot.

 

It was a good spot for us, though, because we had BTMRR FP+'s to use, and hopped right on the ride after the fireworks.

 

It had started to rain as the fireworks ended, and was raining pretty good after our ride on Big Thunder.  We headed over to Pirates, and then the Jungle Cruise.

 

Then we caught the Main Street Electric Parade:

 

 

And we grabbed some of the citrus swirl ice cream there next to Aladdin's flying carpets.

 

It was getting near midnight now.  But, the MK was open until 1, and then had EMH's to 3.  We had talked big earlier about staying that late, but everyone was kind of tired, and Twin #2 was supposed to be arriving back at the site sometime after she finished work at 12 am.

 

So, we bailed.

 

I like how they had stars projected on the castle for the 4th:

 

 

That's my last photo from the 3rd.

 

When we got back to the camper, we found Twin #2 inside munching on a piece of fried chicken.  The gang was all here!

 

The girls hadn't been all together for a while, so they stayed up late talking and giggling, but I went to bed.

 

Tomorrow was the 4th, and I was going to hit the ground running.

 

TCD

[Duane 152]

Present and accounted for!  There is a special place in heaven for all of the brave souls that visit WDW on a major holiday... Just sayin'

 

 

Parades suck.

 

This made me laugh!  Perfect timing, and straight to the point.  I think the Troll needs to come out of his shell and tell us what he really thinks!

 

Googly Moogley?  Haven't heard that one in a while!

 

 

Also one of my favorites!

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

I'm in!

 

I like the parade view from the train station, looks like you can see the floats much better.

 

Daily break downs SMB. You think they would have all the kinks worked out in the time it took to open the ride.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

 

So this is the dirty little secret- the Mine Train breaks down all the time.  Like daily.  Like every single time we've been there, there has been some kind of problem  When we get to the bonus features of this TR, you will find out that I have gone to the MK twice since this trip was completed, and both times, the Mine Train was broken down and temporarily closed while we were there.  And one time, we got stuck on it.  Inside the mine.  For over 10 minutes.  But, we'll get to that later. So, it took them over two years to build this thing, and it breaks down daily?  Wow.

 

 

My sources had, at one point during the construction, provided some very interesting information to me.  As you know, the train cars on the Mine Train ride have a unique "rocking" feature, where they rock back and forth sideways while the train is moving along the track.  This is a design feature that the Imagineers wanted for the ride, but the ride engineers tasked with actually building the ride had serious reservations about the viability of the plan, including whether the mechanisms necessary to create this effect could withstand the continuous rocking under various loads limits placed by guests of different weights riding day after day.  They were fearful that, in short order, these mechanisms would begin to fail.  And that is, in fact, happening, and leading to the nearly daily closures you are witnessing.  BUT, the crafty Disney Imagineers came up with a long term fix, in the event that the engineers from the ride company were right.  And this plan will be implemented any day now.  They designed the ride with a permanant "fix" that can be put into place to stop these failures, and the best part is that the experience for the paying guest will not be diminished whatsoever.  Essentially, they are going to be inserting bolts into the rocking mechanisms to permanently disable that feature.  But fear not, because they also built into the ride a series of strobe lights that will flash in your eyes, and trick your mind into thinking the train cars are actually rocking back and forth. 

 

Brilliant, wouldn't you say? 

[DramaMama .......... Janet 75]

I'm in.  Better 3rd page than never.

 

I am thinking that Dave may be right in the eventual bolting of the cars.  It may or may not change the ride that much.  I mentioned in my TR about our ride car not really swinging side to side because we had the 3 adults on one side and the 3 kids on the other.  Weight was NOT evenly distributed.  Next time I will pay more attention to that while loading.  They could put up signs in the queue suggesting people sit themselves according, but we all know many guests do not read signs.  CMs do not have time to tell people to do that while loading - it would just make lines LONGER.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Present and accounted for!  There is a special place in heaven for all of the brave souls that visit WDW on a major holiday... Just sayin'

 

 

I know it's weird, but I actually enjoy the crowds.  We get to go plenty when it's not busy, so going when it's wall to wall people is a fun experience.

 

If you want to see some scary stuff, stick around for my after the 4th of July fireworks photos- I got stuck in the biggest crowd ever.

 

 

I'm in!

 

I like the parade view from the train station, looks like you can see the floats much better.

 

Daily break downs SMB. You think they would have all the kinks worked out in the time it took to open the ride.

 

 

Unfortunately, based on prior experiences, it's not surprising that the Mine Train breaks down so much.  I remember when Test Track first opened, it was horrible how often it broke down.  We had some very bad experiences there.

 

My sources had, at one point during the construction, provided some very interesting information to me.  As you know, the train cars on the Mine Train ride have a unique "rocking" feature, where they rock back and forth sideways while the train is moving along the track.  This is a design feature that the Imagineers wanted for the ride, but the ride engineers tasked with actually building the ride had serious reservations about the viability of the plan, including whether the mechanisms necessary to create this effect could withstand the continuous rocking under various loads limits placed by guests of different weights riding day after day.  They were fearful that, in short order, these mechanisms would begin to fail.  And that is, in fact, happening, and leading to the nearly daily closures you are witnessing.  BUT, the crafty Disney Imagineers came up with a long term fix, in the event that the engineers from the ride company were right.  And this plan will be implemented any day now.  They designed the ride with a permanant "fix" that can be put into place to stop these failures, and the best part is that the experience for the paying guest will not be diminished whatsoever.  Essentially, they are going to be inserting bolts into the rocking mechanisms to permanently disable that feature.  But fear not, because they also built into the ride a series of strobe lights that will flash in your eyes, and trick your mind into thinking the train cars are actually rocking back and forth. 

 

Brilliant, wouldn't you say? 

 

I'm not sure if you're kidding around with any of this, but it actually sounds right.  The rocking motion is barely noticeable anyway.  From what I've seen, the only time any guest experiences the cars rocking is when they intentionally rock the car.

 

It's sad how bad they dropped the ball on this attraction.  It looks great, and when it runs it's fun.  But, I don't think there's one time that we've ever ridden in start to finish where our car hasn't stopped somewhere on the tracks.  And, there isn't a day I recall being at the MK where they haven't shut the whole thing down for a while.

 

 

I'm in.  Better 3rd page than never.

 

I am thinking that Dave may be right in the eventual bolting of the cars.  It may or may not change the ride that much.  I mentioned in my TR about our ride car not really swinging side to side because we had the 3 adults on one side and the 3 kids on the other.  Weight was NOT evenly distributed.  Next time I will pay more attention to that while loading.  They could put up signs in the queue suggesting people sit themselves according, but we all know many guests do not read signs.  CMs do not have time to tell people to do that while loading - it would just make lines LONGER.

 

Page 3 is good.  I am not sure how much difference loading the car would make- I haven't seen the cars rock except when people intentionally make them rock.

 

TCD

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

Interesting notes about the Mine Train.  I wonder if they will bolt the cars.  I would be surpised if they use strobe lights, as they can cause seizures.  Or are they okay to do that as long as they put a sign somewhere?

 

When we told our kids about our upcoming trip to WDW, my 17yob's first comment was about how the mine train cars rock and how much he is looking forward to riding it.  Now I am reading that he might not be able to since he is so tall.  Apparently some people are being turned away because there isn't room for their knees to be strainght in front of them and the pabar doesn't work right if you have your knees off to the side?

[Travisma 1,317]

It was good to meet you and get one of the cherished RR spikes.

 

I havent started on our report yet or even opened up the pop up and emptied it. Luckily it was a dry morning on the 5th when we packed up.

 

We had a busy first week back, then ended up back in Orlando (Not Disney) for a week and a 1/2 to take care of some family business, so the report has been on the back burner.

 

Keep it coming...

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Interesting notes about the Mine Train.  I wonder if they will bolt the cars.  I would be surpised if they use strobe lights, as they can cause seizures.  Or are they okay to do that as long as they put a sign somewhere?

 

When we told our kids about our upcoming trip to WDW, my 17yob's first comment was about how the mine train cars rock and how much he is looking forward to riding it.  Now I am reading that he might not be able to since he is so tall.  Apparently some people are being turned away because there isn't room for their knees to be strainght in front of them and the pabar doesn't work right if you have your knees off to the side?

 

Dave may have been kidding about the strobe lights.   That's what they're currently using in Expedition Everest instead of fixing the broken Yeti there.

 

I haven't seen anyone get turned away from the Mine Train for being too tall.  The leg restraints are tight, that's for sure, but I think a tall person could just pull the bar down until it locks, and it would be fine.

 

It was good to meet you and get one of the cherished RR spikes.

 

I havent started on our report yet or even opened up the pop up and emptied it. Luckily it was a dry morning on the 5th when we packed up.

 

We had a busy first week back, then ended up back in Orlando (Not Disney) for a week and a 1/2 to take care of some family business, so the report has been on the back burner.

 

Keep it coming...

 

It was good to finally meet you, too, Mark.

 

I got to meet a lot of Fiends for the first time on this trip.  There were 4 new spike recipients.

 

You're lucky you got home dry.  I almost did, but drove through some really heavy rain around Tampa.  I had to open the camper back up, because I always seem to get some water in it if I tow in the rain.  BTW- I don't think you left until the morning of the 6th.

 

I hope you get around to starting your trip report.

 

TCD

[jmaul 65]

Tear down SDMT and put up Pastryland.

 

The main attraction would be a water ride thru the production of the Main Street Bakery Cinnamon Roll.....

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Tear down SDMT and put up Pastryland.

 

The main attraction would be a water ride thru the production of the Main Street Bakery Cinnamon Roll.....

 

Very good.

 

But, you also need to think of something to replace the mermaid ride before you would get DIT to sign off on that idea.

 

TCD