Has Anyone Seen This?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I periodically check the Fort Wilderness Instagram hashtag to see if anything of interest is posted.

The other day, this posting caught my eye:

When I first saw it, I was looking on my phone and was confused as to the location.

I was also thrown of by Melissa the Mouse Expert's caption suggesting that this was some recreational activity available at the Fort.

Upon further study of the photo, I see that this was, indeed, taken at the Fort Wilderness marina- that is the deck around the boat rental hut that you see there on the right, and the sandy shore of Bay Lake north of the Settlement Trading Post that you see there in the background of the photo.

But, that canoe isn't there for Fort Wilderness guests to use.

I asked the TCD twins what they thought about this, and they figured the canoe is there to be used in the WDW castmember canoe races.

Did you ever hear of these?

Here's a recent article reminiscing about past cast canoe races: http://disneyatwork.com/2016/02/lessons-from-the-annual-canoe-races/

If any of you know Melissa the Mouse Expert, clue her in.

TCD

[keith_h 420]

I don't know about WDW but the cast canoe races have been around as far back as I can remember at Disneyland. That would be late 60'/early 70's. They were held at the Rivers of America attraction. It doesn't surprise me that the Fort or the game wardens have one there for their team members to practice with.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

2 minutes ago, keith_h said:

I don't know about WDW but the cast canoe races have been around as far back as I can remember at Disneyland. That would be late 60'/early 70's. They were held at the Rivers of America attraction. It doesn't surprise me that the Fort or the game wardens have one there for their team members to practice with.

I think the WDW races have been around since the early 70's and are also conducted in the Rivers of America.

I have also heard of cast races in Bay Lake, but I haven't seen any kind of confirmation of that.

You may not be surprised to see this big canoe, but I am- I've never seen one like that at the Fort.  And, if this one is for a race in the Rivers of America, they have a long way to paddle to get there.

TCD

[keith_h 420]

Maybe the new management really wants to win this year and have set it up there to keep the prying eyes of the competition away. Or in an effort of ecological friendliness the game wardens are going to stop using gas powered boats.   

[djsamuel 322]

You get a seat for a 30 minute excursion plus free ice cream and a bottle of water for only $299. Only $399 for Paddling with the Pyrotechnics which includes a fireworks viewing dessert party.

 

[Travisma 1,317]

Looks like an updated or refurbished edition of the old war canoes they used to have for the Marshmallow Marsh Excursion

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Good catch, TCD.  Very cool!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

2 hours ago, keith_h said:

Maybe the new management really wants to win this year and have set it up there to keep the prying eyes of the competition away. Or in an effort of ecological friendliness the game wardens are going to stop using gas powered boats.   

LOL.  If the management wanted to hide the canoe, they could have found a better place.

2 hours ago, djsamuel said:

You get a seat for a 30 minute excursion plus free ice cream and a bottle of water for only $299. Only $399 for Paddling with the Pyrotechnics which includes a fireworks viewing dessert party.

 

Wow.  If you were a manager at WDW, you'd get a huge bonus for an idea like that.

55 minutes ago, Travisma said:

Looks like an updated or refurbished edition of the old war canoes they used to have for the Marshmallow Marsh Excursion

They didn't use canoes like this for Marshmallow Marsh, did they?

It is about the size of the Davy Crockett canoes that are still in use at Disneyland, but those canoes have seats, and this one just has gunwales- requiring the paddlers to kneel.

TCD

[ftwildernessguy 778]

Actually, it is the boat transportation from the 3000 loop to MK.   Free to use for 3000 loop guests, of course.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

43 minutes ago, ftwildernessguy said:

Actually, it is the boat transportation from the 3000 loop to MK.   Free to use for 3000 loop guests, of course.

In case the on-site beer taps weren't enough reason to book 3000.

[Beckers 1,136]

I responded 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

4 minutes ago, Beckers said:

I responded 

LOL. That was a nice way of calling out the Mouse Expert.  It will be interesting to see if she responds.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Hmmm.

It just occurred to me that I could post another IG photo, and maybe this could be a fun thread.

So, here's another.

This fellow is proud that he owns a genuine FWRR spike, which came with a certificate of authenticity.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFcpghKDzrG/?tagged=fortwilderness

Here's a zoom on that photo so you can read what it says on the plaque- this was a castmember recognition award:

But here's the thing- that ain't a FWRR spike.

I've handled a few genuine FWRR spikes in my day, and the cool thing about them is that they are noticeably smaller than a standard railroad spike, because the FWRR was built at a reduced scale.

That spike on the plaque is a standard railroad spike.

Poor Matthew.

He's been had.

TCD

[parrothead7368 aka Norm 101]

I was going to say that is an awfully big spike, and their way of putting the spike on the plaque is kind of sloppy. You can't see wires on my mounting.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

9 minutes ago, parrothead7368 aka Norm said:

I was going to say that is an awfully big spike, and their way of putting the spike on the plaque is kind of sloppy. You can't see wires on my mounting.

Very nice, Norm!

But do you have a certificate of authenticity?

TCD

[parrothead7368 aka Norm 101]

No, but I have a real spike. LOL

I still have a letter form Lou, does that count as a COA??

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

49 minutes ago, parrothead7368 aka Norm said:

No, but I have a real spike. LOL

I still have a letter form Lou, does that count as a COA??

Of course.

If you got your spike from Lou, then I know where he got it from, and can tell you that it is definitely a genuine FWRR spike.

TCD

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

2 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Hmmm.

It just occurred to me that I could post another IG photo, and maybe this could be a fun thread.

So, here's another.

This fellow is proud that he owns a genuine FWRR spike, which came with a certificate of authenticity.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFcpghKDzrG/?tagged=fortwilderness

Here's a zoom on that photo so you can read what it says on the plaque- this was a castmember recognition award:

But here's the thing- that ain't a FWRR spike.

I've handled a few genuine FWRR spikes in my day, and the cool thing about them is that they are noticeably smaller than a standard railroad spike, because the FWRR was built at a reduced scale.

That spike on the plaque is a standard railroad spike.

Poor Matthew.

He's been had.

TCD

Hah - good catch!

5 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Of course.

If you got your spike from Lou, then I know where he got it from, and can tell you that it is definitely a genuine FWRR spike.

TCD

I still haven't found the perfect frame for mine, but it's on the bulletin board in the camper along with the original TCD note that was left with it, which I consider its Certificate of Authenticity.  :)

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

8 hours ago, parrothead7368 aka Norm said:

I was going to say that is an awfully big spike, and their way of putting the spike on the plaque is kind of sloppy. You can't see wires on my mounting.

Very nice job Norm.

[Cortezcapt (Derek) 156]

If he's calling the letter on the board a COA it says absolutely nothing about fort wilderness or the Fort wilderness railroad. Hope he didn't pay to much for it....

I didn't get a letter with my spike but I did get to meet Lou. It is proudly framed and mounted in the trailer.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[parrothead7368 aka Norm 101]

9 hours ago, Cortezcapt (Derek) said:

If he's calling the letter on the board a COA it says absolutely nothing about fort wilderness or the Fort wilderness railroad. Hope he didn't pay to much for it....

I didn't get a letter with my spike but I did get to meet Lou. It is proudly framed and mounted in the trailer.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

I just read it as well, and it says nothing about Fort Wilderness or the FWRR, its just a regular old railroad spike. I was perusing his instagram site and commented and he deleted my post. He just likes to collect "hard to get" things. I think he thinks people are oblivious.

Best Regards,

Norm

[Grumpy and Grandma 740]

20 hours ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

Hah - good catch!

I still haven't found the perfect frame for mine, but it's on the bulletin board in the camper along with the original TCD note that was left with it, which I consider its Certificate of Authenticity.  :)

Hey, I never got a note, but I did shake TCD's hand. 

[Santa ... Shannon 160]

I just had thought, and it's either devious or wonderful... I'm not sure which. I was thinking that, since finding real FWRR spikes is next to impossible these days, it might be fun to "seed" the old roadbed with standard spikes, you know, so the kids can have some fun. Does it really matter that the spikes are from the BNSF? Does it matter that Mickey's head comes off and there's a petite woman inside? WDW is the place of make-believe, so why not help make some magic?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Here's another Instagram find- it looks like someone has some mad chalk art skills!

TCD

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

1 hour ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Here's another Instagram find- it looks like someone has some mad chalk art skills!

TCD

That's pretty awesome!