ICYMI: A New TCD Trip Report April 2016 at the Fort

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

43 minutes ago, Travisma said:

But, one thing I did notice is that the MB reader at the returning guest gate at the Fort does have a longer range than the scanners they use at the parks and at the comfort stations- if I got my MB anywhere near that reader, it opened the gate.  I did not have to touch "Mickey to Mickey."  I appreciated that.

 

That's so them big boy diesel rigs 7 foot off the ground don't have to fall out of their window trying to scan their MB!

LOL.  I don't know if you noticed, but there used to be two card readers for the Returning Guests gate.  One was set up at Motorhome height.  I didn't notice if there are still two since they built the new guard shack and swapped the lanes.

14 minutes ago, Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie said:

Is this the day we were blessed to meet you? 

I think that was in January, right?

10 minutes ago, Katman1356...Jason said:

Hey TCD can I get a digital copy of that new map for my files. If I download from here it get blurry when I zoom in. 

Sure- you want to PM me your email address?

TCD

[Travisma 1,317]

5 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

LOL.  I don't know if you noticed, but there used to be two card readers for the Returning Guests gate.  One was set up at Motorhome height.  I didn't notice if there are still two since they built the new guard shack and swapped the lanes.

I think that was in January, right?

Sure- you want to PM me your email address?

TCD

Aren't there two at the bus entrance at the end of the overflow lot?

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

I do believe there is one higher up at the bus entrance

[djsamuel 322]

17 hours ago, Travisma said:

That's odd, especially like Carol said about the overflow lot at the Fort.  I can see the other resorts not needing them since they will be scanning your Magic Bands to get on property. Maybe the Fort is cracking down on unregistered day visitors?

 

15 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Interesting.  As I mentioned, the CM at check-in told me that the paper passes weren't necessary, but he would print me some if I wanted him to.  That was on April 22- which was after the Star Wars Half.  And, I know that I just showed that pass when we drove to AK on that trip.  So, the CM who told you that they no longer print passes at all wasn't correct.

Sorry about the screwed up formatting here.  I can't type outside of the quote boxes.  In any case, I was told about the resort not printing parking passes while checking in at at Coronado Springs.  I asked if they could print them out anyway and was told they no longer do.  I think the situation at the Fort is different possibly because as Travisma says, they are trying to crack down on so much parking in the overflow lot.  When we were still at Coronado Springs we were heading to Epcot and I didn't feel like getting my pass out to get in so I held my arm out with the Magic Band.  The attendant asked me what resort I was staying at and when I quickly responded Coronadop Springs, she waved me in.  She did have the scanner in her hand but never used it.  

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

11 hours ago, Travisma said:

Aren't there two at the bus entrance at the end of the overflow lot?

I think so, but I'm not sure- I don't use that entrance very often.

11 hours ago, mouseketab.....Carol said:

I do believe there is one higher up at the bus entrance

And I know that there used to be one at the main returning guest gate at the guard shack, but I'm not sure if that is still the case.  I will get photos on my next visit.  (which should be by the end of this month if all goes according to plan).

2 hours ago, djsamuel said:

 In any case, I was told about the resort not printing parking passes while checking in at at Coronado Springs.  I asked if they could print them out anyway and was told they no longer do.  I think the situation at the Fort is different possibly because as Travisma says, they are trying to crack down on so much parking in the overflow lot.  When we were still at Coronado Springs we were heading to Epcot and I didn't feel like getting my pass out to get in so I held my arm out with the Magic Band.  The attendant asked me what resort I was staying at and when I quickly responded Coronadop Springs, she waved me in.  She did have the scanner in her hand but never used it.  

Interesting that they don't even print the parking passes out anymore at Coronado Springs.  I was just at the Polynesian Resort for dinner a couple of weeks ago, and I noticed cars in the parking lot there with paper parking passes.  Parking is always closely scrutinized there too, so maybe it's a resort by resort decision as to whether or not to print parking passes.

Those hand-held scanners have a lot of technical issues, so I'll bet it happens a lot that CM's just wave guests wearing MB's in rather than stopping them to scan the MB's.  I wonder how much revenue Disney loses from that?  My guess is none, because they just raise the parking rates to cover those losses. That's easier and cheaper than trying to get the scanners to work.

TCD

[djsamuel 322]

I think parking at a resort like Coronado Springs is less of an issue than one like the Polynesian.  At the Poly, you can just jump on the monorail, so parking there has more advantages.  Also, parking seems more limited at the Poly than a resort like Coronado, since the lots at Coronado Springs are very large.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

1 minute ago, djsamuel said:

I think parking at a resort like Coronado Springs is less of an issue than one like the Polynesian.  At the Poly, you can just jump on the monorail, so parking there has more advantages.  Also, parking seems more limited at the Poly than a resort like Coronado, since the lots at Coronado Springs are very large.

Very true.  Plus, Coronado Springs has that huge convention center, and off-site folks are coming in and out of there all day long.  So, they're used to having a lot of day visitors without parking passes.

That said, the CM who checked me in at the Fort on April 22 only printed parking passes for me when I asked- so it seems like the Fort is not issuing parking passes to guests on a routine basis.

TCD

[djsamuel 322]

Just now, Tri-Circle-D said:

Very true.  Plus, Coronado Springs has that huge convention center, and off-site folks are coming in and out of there all day long.  So, they're used to having a lot of day visitors without parking passes.

That said, the CM who checked me in at the Fort on April 22 only printed parking passes for me when I asked- so it seems like the Fort is not issuing parking passes to guests on a routine basis.

TCD

True.  When we checked in last week, the woman at check in printed us out a parking pass without asking.  However, as she handed it to us she mentioned that after 28 years, she is still old fashioned and likes to put things on paper even though they tell her it isn't necessary.  I prefer having the parking pass.

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

When we checked in for WWW the cast member asked how many passes I needed.  We got 3.  And Carol had some too.

[Travisma 1,317]

With allowing 10 people per site, there would probably always be a need for some type of parking pass for the overflow lot. Lots of times my relatives will visit for a day (they count as part of our 10) and of course they cant park at the site and have to be in overflow. 

They need to have the guards issue a parking pass at the gate for something like that.  Scan the MB to verify they are legit, ask them how long they are staying, and give them a pass with that date/dates. If people are legitimate visitors and don't have a MB, then the campers should've put them on a visitors list when they checked in.

For people coming over to HDDR, etc, they get a different color pass good for X number of hours.  

If you don't have a legitimate reason to be there, then you can pay to park or be barred from entering.   If they are charging valet parking fees at  hotels when you want to visit to shop and eat without a ressie, then they can do the same for our dear fort!!  A $25 parking fee may deter the pool suckers from dropping in.

Then guards can patrol the lots and look for the proper tags, since everyone should be in compliance.

[keith_h 420]

15 hours ago, Travisma said:

Aren't there two at the bus entrance at the end of the overflow lot?

One low for the cars and one up higher for the buses.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

4 hours ago, djsamuel said:

True.  When we checked in last week, the woman at check in printed us out a parking pass without asking.  However, as she handed it to us she mentioned that after 28 years, she is still old fashioned and likes to put things on paper even though they tell her it isn't necessary.  I prefer having the parking pass.

28 years?  I don't think I've ever met her.  It seems like there's a lot of turnover of CM's for the check-in lanes.

4 hours ago, fladogfan aka Gretchen said:

When we checked in for WWW the cast member asked how many passes I needed.  We got 3.  And Carol had some too.

She didn't tell you that you didn't need passes?

4 hours ago, Travisma said:

With allowing 10 people per site, there would probably always be a need for some type of parking pass for the overflow lot. Lots of times my relatives will visit for a day (they count as part of our 10) and of course they cant park at the site and have to be in overflow. 

They need to have the guards issue a parking pass at the gate for something like that.  Scan the MB to verify they are legit, ask them how long they are staying, and give them a pass with that date/dates. If people are legitimate visitors and don't have a MB, then the campers should've put them on a visitors list when they checked in.

For people coming over to HDDR, etc, they get a different color pass good for X number of hours.  

If you don't have a legitimate reason to be there, then you can pay to park or be barred from entering.   If they are charging valet parking fees at  hotels when you want to visit to shop and eat without a ressie, then they can do the same for our dear fort!!  A $25 parking fee may deter the pool suckers from dropping in.

Then guards can patrol the lots and look for the proper tags, since everyone should be in compliance.

Sure they could do this.  But the flaw in your plan is that they'd have to pay a CM to patrol the parking lot, plus what if they find someone parked without a parking pass?  Say it's a Hoop Dee Doo guest who was in a hurry and didn't put his parking pass on the dash.  Are they going to tow that car?  Not good guest relations.

The current system works fine for the management.  Look- they're even telling CM's that the old paper passes aren't needed.  There's no incentive for them to change it.

40 minutes ago, keith_h said:

One low for the cars and one up higher for the buses.

I could be wrong, and I've been wrong before, but I'm pretty sure that the bus drivers don't need to scan their Magic Bands to get in the parking lot.

TCD

[ajcjmom 8]

We missed you by a few days. We checked in to the cabins on Friday the 29th.  

It was a bittersweet visit. It was the first overnight stay since I lost my Dad but we had the grandkids with us. it was real fun to be with the little ones. i did miss the CM discounts though! 

A couple of things... My husband said that channel numbers on the large tv in the living room was slightly different than the tv in the bedroom. The pic you posted looks like the channel lineup from the bedroom tv.

This story I had a good laugh at...waiting for the boat, I overheard a "helper" say that all the cabins are being taken out and there will only be campsites. I didn't have the heart to ask him why would Disney do that when they just updated all the cabins.

Whitney

[keith_h 420]

28 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

I could be wrong, and I've been wrong before, but I'm pretty sure that the bus drivers don't need to scan their Magic Bands to get in the parking lot.

OK, I'll concede that point. How about bus height then?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

57 minutes ago, ajcjmom said:

We missed you by a few days. We checked in to the cabins on Friday the 29th.  

It was a bittersweet visit. It was the first overnight stay since I lost my Dad but we had the grandkids with us. it was real fun to be with the little ones. i did miss the CM discounts though! 

A couple of things... My husband said that channel numbers on the large tv in the living room was slightly different than the tv in the bedroom. The pic you posted looks like the channel lineup from the bedroom tv.

This story I had a good laugh at...waiting for the boat, I overheard a "helper" say that all the cabins are being taken out and there will only be campsites. I didn't have the heart to ask him why would Disney do that when they just updated all the cabins.

Whitney

Great to see a post from you, Whitney.  I missed you by less than a week!

I'm really sorry about your dad.

Interesting about the different channel line-ups on the cabin TV's.  I was wondering about that.  I'm pretty sure that the TV line-up is the same in all the other WDW resorts, and I figured the cabins might align with them- but maybe not.

Good story about the boat helper, but we all know how common it is for some CM's to spread incorrect information.  You just have to laugh.

50 minutes ago, keith_h said:

OK, I'll concede that point. How about bus height then?

I can go along with that.

I'm still wondering if they have two MB readers at different heights now that the readers seem to be more sensitive.  I will make a point to look the next chance I get.

TCD

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

1 hour ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

 

She didn't tell you that you didn't need passes?

TCD

I don't remember her saying that.  Bill checked in with the camper and pulled out, as I started thru the check in area, the cast member stopped me to ask how many passes I needed.  She didn't take time to print them, just gave them to me. 

Just asked Bill, he says the lady printed them out and gave him one and told her to check with the lady behind him.  I was driving our car.  I did not see her print them, but wasn't looking for that at the time.

[Avatab.... Steve 124]

We keep hearing that each resort is it's own unit for business and budget purposes, I wonder if it is also up to each resort management on how to control parking in their area?

On the other hand it sounds as though the parking passes are going away across the entire WDW empire.

If I had to guess they have decided to approach it from the other direction. Instead of requiring proof of being eligible for free parking at the parks, they might be going to a system of letting everyone in to the outer lots for free, then charging more for the closer ones and/or Valet parking.  Wasn't there a story on here recently about tiered parking passes?

 

[Travisma 1,317]

I thought the higher scanners were to read some sort of tag in the bus.

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

2 hours ago, Travisma said:

I thought the higher scanners were to read some sort of tag in the bus.

The buses have a totally separate scanner and reader.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Well, it turns out that I made it over to WDW for a day trip yesterday, May 15, 2016, and I have some bonus material to share.

Following up on the unnecessary discussion we had about Magic Band readers at the returning guest gates, I started out this trip at the gate at the overflow lot at the Fort.

Here's the current state of things there:

I think I've seen monitors in the guard shack at the main entrance- I guess they get a live feed from this camera:

I've always figure that the big square thing over there on the right is what scans to put the gate arm up:

For those of you who were still wondering, this photo shows you that there are, indeed, high and low MagicBand scanners at this gate:

It wasn't too hot out yet on Sunday, so I strolled though the parking lot to the Reception Outpost.  It's a beautiful building that most of you probably never visit:

I can't think of another resort that has nicer flowers planted around their lobby:

For anyone interested, there's a weather vane up there on the roof:

I walked through the building, and came out on the other side by the check-in lanes.  I was going to walk all the way up to the guard shack and take photos of the MagicBand scanners up there, but it's a long walk all the way out there, and the guards would probably want to know what I was doing, and I wasn't sure exactly what to tell them, so I took a photo from way back here:

I zoomed in a bit, and saw what I was looking for:

In case you can't see the scanners, here's a clue:

They did some work on these check-in lanes in the last year- I think those lane numbers and lights above each lane are new:

Also, is that a speaker up there on the lane closest to us in that photo?  I wonder what that's for?

And, while I'm asking questions, do you thing that flag is at half-staff, or did someone just not raise it all the way?:

I think these booths are new- I'll have to dig around and see if I can find a photo of the old ones:

Here's the garden on this side of the Reception Outpost building:

From here, I decided that I ought to go and take a look at the 2100 loop and see what had happened back there in the three weeks since I had been at the Fort.  So, I headed over to the Outpost Bus Stop.  I really like the information monitors they are using here now, although they don't tell you anything about the internal buses:

As luck would have it, and Orange bus pulled up, and I was on my way.  I hopped off at the 2200 loop bus stop, and was surprised to find that the 2200 loop was closed and empty:

On the ride here, I saw that the 2800 loop was also closed- I think they're completing the cabin renovations on that loop.  So, that made two full cabin loops that were closed, plus the 2100 loop, which is now cabin-less.

It looks like maybe the 2200 loop received new pavement, so maybe that is why it was closed:

One new thing I noticed right off the bat is that they now have a chain-link fence with screening all the way around the 2100 loop:

Just try getting past this:

Luckily, that fence isn't too tall for me to reach my arm over and snap a photo, so we can look right into the loop and see what's going on:

I think I see a stack of the basins they use for the sewer hook ups and drains in the full, preferred and premium sites stacked up over there on the left:

Then, over here on the right, we see what looks like pavers and some posts- also it looks like the toilets are gone from the old Comfort Station's porch:

Here's a look at the fence- it looked to me like they have the entire loop fenced off:

I started walking toward the 1100 loop and the four-way stop.  Here's an over-the-fence shot I took along the way-the loop has been cleaned up a lot since I last saw it, and it does look like they are preparing new campsites.  The slab on this site is in two pieces- and I'm not sure if that is how it was when the cabin that was sitting on it was removed, or this is something that has been done since then:

Now, this one has posts stacked on it, and I didn't know why.  But, then it dawned on me- don't those look like the timbers they use to frame the coquina pads on the partial, full and preferred sites?:

The fence goes on and on:

Another look at a site from over the fence:

I walked along the fence line and came up to where it met up with the existing stockade fence that is set up behind the 1100 loop comfort station- there was a crack there that I could fit my arm and camera through- you can see the sidewalk that leads from the comfort station into the 2100 loop there on the right:

The temporary fence is secured there by these two sand bags from the National Rent a Fence company:

It turns out those sandbags aren't as heavy as they look, and I could really slide my arm into that crack.  That let me take this closer shot of the sidewalk:

This trailer was on the site next to the sidewalk- here you can see that there are stakes and string on the ground:

There are also stakes and string around this site on the other side of the sidewalk- here you can also see concrete forms in the ground around the slab:

Here's another slab that is in two pieces, with forms set up around it-  I am guessing that those two piece slabs were under the cabins like that, and now they're going to fill in the space in the middle, and add to the back part of the slab as outlined by the forms:

One thing that seems like good news for right now is that they haven't sent Chainsaw Guy into the loop yet- it doesn't look like any trees have been removed around the loop:

Here's another site where you can see the forms in the ground around the slab- they clearly are not expanding the slabs to the degree they did when they converted the other camping loops into premium loops:

This site by the sidewalk doesn't look like it's going to be widened:

This site is going to need a new marker:

All of the debris we saw in this loop three weeks ago has been cleaned up and removed:

The stakes and string on this site make it look like there will be some expansion of the site toward the sidewalk:

There's a deep hole in the ground around this conduit.  I'm not sure why:

There are stakes and string behind this site- but no concrete forms:

That's all I have from 2100, and it's enough for now.

From what I see, it looks like they are prepping these sites to be full or preferred sites, not premium.  I think the slabs are going to be enlarged slightly and any gaps in the pavement filled, and then they're going to add coquina pads in the back.

Next, we are going to walk over to the Meadow Trading Post and take a look around there.

Then, we are going to check on things over at the Lodge.

After that, we will be checking out Disney Springs.

And there's even more after that.

So check back.

TCD

 

 

 

 

 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Wow. the ghost got me with a double post.

And, I know I didn't click submit twice!

TCD

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Thanks for the 2100 loop updates - excellent job getting the camera over, around and through things. 

Will definitely be checking back for the Disney Springs update (and then have to go back and get caught up on the rest!)

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

Wonder why some of your photos did not show on the report on my computer?  Some did, some didn't. 

But with your words I can "see" what you saw.

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

2 minutes ago, fladogfan aka Gretchen said:

Wonder why some of your photos did not show on the report on my computer?  Some did, some didn't. 

But with your words I can "see" what you saw.

OK it's something wrong on my end.  I just went to read WWW TR and photos I could see yesterday are not showing.

[Travisma 1,317]

One of those banned selfie sticks might be helpful for reaching above and thru the blockades!