Renovations Coming to Fort Wilderness - 2100 Loop

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

17 minutes ago, DramaMama .......... Janet said:

Not sure if this comes under "rennovatios" or not but the old pay phone boxes are being taken down this morning at the 1500 comfort station. 

I was surprised they were still up!  As of last fall, there were still a few banks of pay phones in the parks too.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

The TCD Gang made it over to the Fort on the morning of July 4th to have breakfast at Trail's End. 

The construction workers had the day off, so after breakfast, I fired up the TCD drone, and had it take a flight around the 2100 loop.

Here are the photos it took . . .

Here's a look at one of the new sites from the back.  They have made progress since the last batch of photos that were taken on Memorial Day weekend.  We can see that there's metal box with the electric connections there on the left, and that the fake stump is still in place.  There's a wood post in front of that.  There's also a pallet sitting on this site, with a large metal pipe on it:

Here's a look at the various utility connections on this site:

The fakes stumps look like they will be staying, and that the water connection will be located on the stumps:

I could be mistaken, but that stump looks like it was cut thinner for some reason.

You can see that coquina/sand has been added around the expanded slabs- there's a big pile of it over there:

It seems like all of the stumps have been cut down to a thinner size, and the old electric connection boxes have been removed from them:

The water connections remain on the stumps, and seem to have been upgraded:

I don't know what's going on here with all the valves, but I recall some of the new water connections on the expanded part of the 600 looked like this:

I think the new wooded posts which have been placed in front of the stumps must be for the cable connections:

This site had an extra post, which I presume will be for a light:

All of the sites have the new wood post, the stump with water pipes attached, and then the new gray metal electric posts in the back:

There are new metal basins with a sewer hook-up at each site:

All of the sites toward the front of the loop have a new metal box attached to the back side of the fake stump:

This appears to be a breaker box with no electric sockets in it:

I don't know what that circuit breaker is for, as the new electric boxes have breakers for the connections:

These boxes are brand new- the literature that came with them is still in the box:

All of the stumps in this part of the loop have that extra breaker box on them.  I assume that they got these done and are working their way around the loop:

For some reason, there's a rain gauge set up on this fence in the loop:

On this interior site, you can see that a grill post has been added to the bump-out.  I think this tells us where the grills will be located on these sites- in the bump-out, and not in the back corner like the other full hook up, preferred, and premium sites:

The utility connections on this site are just like all the others we've looked at- the wood post first, then the fake stump, then the sewer basin, and the new electric box in the back:

And here's another site, set up the exact same way:

You may be wondering, like I have, what they're going to do with the old comfort station located on this loop.  When it was used as a cabin loop, that building was used by the maintenance department.  You can see from this side view that they have a window air conditioner unit and one of those small Mitsubishi mini split units rigged up there.  Those must have been used by the maintenance folks- they wouldn't be adequate to cool the building if it was used as a comfort station again:

The front porch of the comfort station is currently being used as a dump for the old electric boxes:

The doors have not been swapped out for the doors used on the other comfort stations:

Bottom line- it doesn't look like the comfort station has been worked on to prepare it to be used as a comfort station again.  But, that could be something they're saving for later.  Time will tell.

This site around the loop has a grill post in place, and also has a couple of bales of pine straw- they spread that last, so this one may be close to being finished- it just needs the grill on top of the post and a picnic table:

The sites that back up to the 1100 loop seem to have a bit more coquina than the other sites on the loop:

The coquina pad on this site seems large enough for a good sized tent.  For some reason, they left the concrete slab on this site small and the coquina pad big:

There's that big coquina pile again:

I have always wondered where they get this stuff from- I've never seen a beach in Florida with sand like this.  But, Florida has a long coast line, so it's possible I've missed a beach or two:

And now we are back where we started.  This is the pallet that we saw in the first photo in this update- that big pipe is a grill post, which surely will be installed on this site:

It seems like they're pretty close to being done with all of this, and that campers could use this loop soon.

TCD

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

Does it appear they are going to put electrical outlets on the site marker?

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Great update, TCD.  Thanks!!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

10 minutes ago, mouseketab.....Carol said:

Does it appear they are going to put electrical outlets on the site marker?

That's a good question.

We need some of our utility experts to chime in here- this breaker box has to be here for a reason- so that would suggest there will be some kind of electric outlet around the front of the site.  That new box on the wood pole could be an electric outlet- but I was thinking it was for cable.  I saw no signs of electric boxes being attached to the site markers like you find on the full hook up loops:

TCD

[BayLake Campers 83]

I would think the breaker by its self are for the outlets to charge golf carts on the post, just not installed yet.

The coquina comes from "gravel pits". it is deposits of limestone that has shells in it, it is crushed when mined.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

1 hour ago, BayLake Campers said:

I would think the breaker by its self are for the outlets to charge golf carts on the post, just not installed yet.

The coquina comes from "gravel pits". it is deposits of limestone that has shells in it, it is crushed when mined.

That makes sense that it would be for an outlet to charge carts or to use near the front of the site.  I think that they have the post outlets hooked up through the regular breaker box on the other loops, and sometimes the outlet on the post is actually connected to a neighbor's breaker box- which can sometimes cause problems.

Do you have any idea where the gravel pits are that the coquina comes from?  I know that there's a lot of coquina up around St. Augustine.

TCD

[keith_h 420]

4 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

That's a good question.

We need some of our utility experts to chime in here- this breaker box has to be here for a reason- so that would suggest there will be some kind of electric outlet around the front of the site.  That new box on the wood pole could be an electric outlet- but I was thinking it was for cable.  I saw no signs of electric boxes being attached to the site markers like you find on the full hook up loops:

TCD

I know our site in 1300 had an additional breaker for golf cart outlet and the street light in it. My guess is the same here as they are both at the front of the site.

[Travisma 1,317]

Construction fence went up yesterday around the kiddie pool at the Meadow.  Toddler splash area still open.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

36 minutes ago, Travisma said:

Construction fence went up yesterday around the kiddie pool at the Meadow.  Toddler splash area still open.

I vote fill it in and put up a Tiki bar!  

[articfox676 11]

9 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

The TCD Gang made it over to the Fort on the morning of July 4th to have breakfast at Trail's End. 

The construction workers had the day off, so after breakfast, I fired up the TCD drone, and had it take a flight around the 2100 loop.

Here are the photos it took . . .

Here's a look at one of the new sites from the back.  They have made progress since the last batch of photos that were taken on Memorial Day weekend.  We can see that there's metal box with the electric connections there on the left, and that the fake stump is still in place.  There's a wood post in front of that.  There's also a pallet sitting on this site, with a large metal pipe on it:

Here's a look at the various utility connections on this site:

The fakes stumps look like they will be staying, and that the water connection will be located on the stumps:

I could be mistaken, but that stump looks like it was cut thinner for some reason.

You can see that coquina/sand has been added around the expanded slabs- there's a big pile of it over there:

It seems like all of the stumps have been cut down to a thinner size, and the old electric connection boxes have been removed from them:

The water connections remain on the stumps, and seem to have been upgraded:

I don't know what's going on here with all the valves, but I recall some of the new water connections on the expanded part of the 600 looked like this:

I think the new wooded posts which have been placed in front of the stumps must be for the cable connections:

This site had an extra post, which I presume will be for a light:

All of the sites have the new wood post, the stump with water pipes attached, and then the new gray metal electric posts in the back:

There are new metal basins with a sewer hook-up at each site:

All of the sites toward the front of the loop have a new metal box attached to the back side of the fake stump:

This appears to be a breaker box with no electric sockets in it:

I don't know what that circuit breaker is for, as the new electric boxes have breakers for the connections:

These boxes are brand new- the literature that came with them is still in the box:

All of the stumps in this part of the loop have that extra breaker box on them.  I assume that they got these done and are working their way around the loop:

For some reason, there's a rain gauge set up on this fence in the loop:

On this interior site, you can see that a grill post has been added to the bump-out.  I think this tells us where the grills will be located on these sites- in the bump-out, and not in the back corner like the other full hook up, preferred, and premium sites:

The utility connections on this site are just like all the others we've looked at- the wood post first, then the fake stump, then the sewer basin, and the new electric box in the back:

And here's another site, set up the exact same way:

You may be wondering, like I have, what they're going to do with the old comfort station located on this loop.  When it was used as a cabin loop, that building was used by the maintenance department.  You can see from this side view that they have a window air conditioner unit and one of those small Mitsubishi mini split units rigged up there.  Those must have been used by the maintenance folks- they wouldn't be adequate to cool the building if it was used as a comfort station again:

The front porch of the comfort station is currently being used as a dump for the old electric boxes:

The doors have not been swapped out for the doors used on the other comfort stations:

Bottom line- it doesn't look like the comfort station has been worked on to prepare it to be used as a comfort station again.  But, that could be something they're saving for later.  Time will tell.

This site around the loop has a grill post in place, and also has a couple of bales of pine straw- they spread that last, so this one may be close to being finished- it just needs the grill on top of the post and a picnic table:

The sites that back up to the 1100 loop seem to have a bit more coquina than the other sites on the loop:

The coquina pad on this site seems large enough for a good sized tent.  For some reason, they left the concrete slab on this site small and the coquina pad big:

There's that big coquina pile again:

I have always wondered where they get this stuff from- I've never seen a beach in Florida with sand like this.  But, Florida has a long coast line, so it's possible I've missed a beach or two:

And now we are back where we started.  This is the pallet that we saw in the first photo in this update- that big pipe is a grill post, which surely will be installed on this site:

It seems like they're pretty close to being done with all of this, and that campers could use this loop soon.

TCD

Good pics. Don't see any wifi, poles in he ground. Did you see any? 

 

[Travisma 1,317]

I forgot to look for poles.  There were utility marker flags all over the main road today when we left and 3 telecommunications trucks near the cart parking by the outpost area.

Also there were purple marker flags around the pool area used for irrigation markings, and someone was measuring all around the outside of the pool deck yesterday.

 

They fenced off the playground at the pool last Wednesday, added retaining timbers around it and added a thick layer of mulch. The fence officially came down yesterday, but someone ripped 1/2 of it down Saturday, but it was back up by Monday.

[momof3kids-Yvonne 596]

I vote fill it in and put up a Tiki bar!  

Sounds good to me.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[BayLake Campers 83]

Here is a Coquina mine.

http://www.coquinarock.com/tour.php

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

18 hours ago, articfox676 said:

Good pics. Don't see any wifi, poles in he ground. Did you see any? 

 

No, I didn't see any Wi-Fi poles.  I reckon those will go up near the end- shouldn't take long.

16 minutes ago, BayLake Campers said:

Here is a Coquina mine.

http://www.coquinarock.com/tour.php

Cool.  Right up the street from WDW.

TCD

[keith_h 420]

4 hours ago, BayLake Campers said:

Here is a Coquina mine.

http://www.coquinarock.com/tour.php

I like the looks of some of the larger stones and wouldn't mind having them for a couple of places in our yard.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Well, the new 2100 loop officially opened for business on Saturday, August 13.

Everything looks neat and tidy.  And it's clear that Brown Paint Guy was a busy man in the past month.

Here's a typical site- this one is on the outside of the loop, and those campsites you see in the background are across the ditch in the 2000 loop.  Here we can see that the picnic tables and grills are, in fact, placed in the bump-out area, and that the slabs are straight on both sides, with no extra pavement for a patio area.  The placement of the utility connections is the same on each site, which we will take a closer look at in other photos:

They already had installed the "bear proof" trashcans on this loop back when it was a cabin loop, and they're still here:

Here's a look at a site on the interior of the loop- the utility connections are pretty uniform on this loop- that isolated wood post you see there on the right is a dedicated post for an extra electric box, and each site has one.  Then you can see the fake stump behind that, and the new electric pedestal and wood post for the cable toward the back of the site:

As mentioned above, each site has a separate wood post with an electric box installed on the back of it:

This is new- as they use the back of site markers on other loops for an extra electric outlet.  Typically, that outlet gets used by your neighbor's site.  Here, it is tied to a separate breaker box for the site it's located on.  I have some photos of that coming up.

The water connection, utility hose, and a new breaker box are all located on the fake stumps- which all have received a nice coat of brown paint:

At the rear of each site we see the new electric pedestal and a separate wood post with the cable connection on it:

The new electric pedestals are now Fort Wilderness Brown and have an engraved sign on them identifying which site they belong to:

This warning label is helpful.  It tells me I might die if I use the electric box, but doesn't really tell me what I need to do to avoid that outcome.  Other than not use the box:

Here's a look at what's under the hood:

I don't recall any other loops where there's a separate post just for the cable connection, but that's what we have here:

There are a lot of new landscaping plants and trees planted between the sites, but I didn't notice irrigation lines which was something they did when they added new plants on the other sites.  In most cases back then, they used the water connections on the sites to connect to the irrigation lines.  I don't see that here, so either there are no irrigation lines, or they went a different route on this loop:

Here's another site.  Basically the same as all the rest.  You can clearly see where they added new pavement.  They didn't add much:

Here's a look down the loop.  It won't be this empty again for a while:

Some of the sites have longer slabs than the others, but none of them are wider:

Another look at the new landscaping:

Like on the majority of Fort Wilderness sites, the slabs here a perfectly flat and level- to the point that water doesn't run off:

That class C you see over there is the second camper in the loop- they were having some kind of issue with their cable, and the usual cast of characters were around to troubleshoot and fix the problem:

The Comfort Station has a new coat of brown paint:

There is some kind of sensor on this stump.  A few other sites had these as well.  As best I can figure, they are for the light posts that are scattered around the loop at strategic locations:

Here's a look at what's going on at the fake stumps:

Every one of the fake stumps has a second breaker box.  This one has three breakers in it which are labeled for the pedestal, pargo (FW slang for a golf cart) and lighting:

That is a new way of doing things.  The fake stumps used to be where the single breaker box and electric connections for the site were located.  And they still are for some loops- like the 2000 loop.  On other loops, they added new electric pedestals and the old boxes on the stumps don't do anything.  I think that's how it is on 100 and 200.  And on some loops, the stumps got yanked- like on 1400.    On loops where they have the separate electric outlet on the site post, that outlet is tied to the single breaker box on the loop.  I could be wrong, but I don't know of any loops where there are two separate breaker boxes like this.

There are some crazy things happening with the water connections. I imagine all of the new valves we see here are required by some type of new code that didn't exist when the other sites were built.  The "new" sites on the 600 loops have whacky valves like this:

Here's the new very brown Comfort Station.  Brown Paint Guy outdid himself on this one:

That sign tells 2100 loop campers to keep on walking- over to the 1100 loop comfort station.  Which is a bit of a hike from some of the sites on the far side of 2100:

The 1100 loop comfort station is visible from here, which will give you hope as you make your way there.  But, you still need to plan ahead if you're in the 2100 loop and will be relying on a comfort station for your comfort station needs:

There's a small bat house next to the 2100 loop comfort station:

Now we're looking at the canal/ditch between the 2100 loop and 2000 loop.  There are new alligator/snake warning signs, but no fence:

Here's a look down the loop- all the little plants are new:

Here's another stump:

At first, I thought all of the grills were old ones that had been repainted.  Clearly, the picnic tables are not new.  But, on closer examination, the grills are brand new:

One more look at an empty loop:

I looked around for wifi poles and only saw this one, which is near the entrance of the loop.  There probably is another one somewhere, but I didn't see it:

This guy in the pop-up gets bragging rights for being the first camper on the new 2100 loop- his site is right on the sidewalk to the comfort station:

Here's a look at the sites on 1100 that back up to 2100.  No more cabins to look at from those sites:

I think that's enough.

You get the idea.

Now here's what I'm wondering:  The first post in this thread mentions that the Notices of Commencement filed by the contractor listed other loops where work would be done.  So what's next?  Here's my prediction:  I think we are going to see improvements along the lines of what we see on 2100 on the other loops- new breaker boxes, new electric outlets and posts, maybe even all of those fancy water valves. We'll see whether or not that's right pretty soon.

My thoughts on the new loop:  I think these sites aren't going to be ideal for large RV's with multiple slides.  All of those poles on the side of the sites, right up at the pavement, will create challenges for units with slides.  And, I don't like where they put the picnic table and grill- it's potentially going to interfere with how guests want to set up their awnings and seating areas.  Personally, I don't like the idea of a hot grill being that close to where people will be sitting.  And, I don't like how the pavement is straight on both sides, with no wider spot where guests might set out their awnings.  Lastly, none of these sites allow for a tent of any size to be set up on the pad.  On most, there's room to have the tent extend off of the back of the site, but that means the tent will be on top of a wooden beam, and won't be on a level surface.  Also, compared to the other full hook-up sites, the comfort station situation on this loop is not very good.  The sites on this loop would work great for my situation with a pop-up camper, but I think guests with larger RV's might not like some of these things so much.

One last thing- there are no poop bag dispensers on this loop.  Which might mean it's the first not pet friendly full hook up loop.  Or it might not.  You know how that goes.

TCD

 

[momof3kids-Yvonne 596]

Thanks TCD for providing the update.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

2 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

 

This guy in the pop-up gets bragging rights for being the first camper on the new 2100 loop- his site is right on the sidewalk to the comfort station:

I wonder if this guy put in a request to be close to the comfort station.. If so I can imagine his disappointment when finding he is close to one that is not functional.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

3 minutes ago, Helmsey......Todd said:

I wonder if this guy put in a request to be close to the comfort station.. If so I can imagine his disappointment when finding he is close to one that is not functional.

Actually, he is as close as you can get to the 1100 loop comfort station- that sidewalk you see to the left of his site will take you there, and you can see it right behind his camper.

What is not nice about that site is that it sits on the only sidewalk that the 44 sites in the loop will be using.  That's a lot of people watching.

TCD

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

3 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

What is not nice about that site is that it sits on the only sidewalk that the 44 sites in the loop will be using.  That's a lot of people watching.

TCD

Could this be the new site 617??

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

One more thing I just realized about the 2100 loop-

When it was a cabin loop, traffic entering the loop would turn left and go around the loop clockwise- as in the other cabin loops.  The first site on the loop was on the inside of the loop, and the numbering continued around the loop with 2144 being the last site.  That's where the Class C was parked in the photos I posted above.

Now, with it being a camping loop, traffic entering the loop is directed to the right, and travels around the loop counter-clockwise.  The site that Class C is in is now #2101. This site that I photographed- site 2143 used to be cabin #2101.  Are you confused yet?

That makes any 2100 maps floating around out there (including Shannon's Google map) obsolete.  And if you want a site close to the comfort station, those old maps won't help you.

Had I realized this when I was there, I would have jotted down the site #'s.  Someone else needs to do that, or get a photo of the new sheet from the top secret book.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

5 minutes ago, Helmsey......Todd said:

Could this be the new site 617??

LOL.  Yes, it could be.  The grill might even be close enough to snag a hot dog off of.

TCD

[keith_h 420]

Did it look like there was any construction going on around the old 2100 CS? I'm wondering if Disney is planning to renovate it but didn't want to let the campsites sit empty and not making money while they worked on it.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

5 minutes ago, keith_h said:

Did it look like there was any construction going on around the old 2100 CS? I'm wondering if Disney is planning to renovate it but didn't want to let the campsites sit empty and not making money while they worked on it.

They put a fresh coat of paint on it, and put new Castmember Only signs on all of the doors. There is no indication that they have current plans to do anything else at this time.  My guess is they will see how it goes with having everyone share the 1100 loop comfort station, and may at some future time refurbish the old 2100 loop comfort station, but I don't see that happening any time soon.

TCD