007s Trip Report

[rtguy007 74]

1 hour ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

If you don't mind, please elaborate on how you watched Tomorrowland- I think I saw an earlier post from you that you were able to stream it over the Fort's Wi-Fi.  Since the Wi-Fi is a relatively new development at the Fort, I'd like to hear what equipment you used and how it worked.  I pay for a Netflix subscription that I might like to use at the Fort.  I know I could use a Wi-Fi enabled Blu-ray player or a Smart TV to stream, but I know there are other options out there too. 

Absolutely.......I used a Roku attached to my TV via HDMI. Pretty simple setup. The Roku was joined to the disney guest wireless (there is no capture page to accept terms of service yet but I have a way around that as well when it comes). Once the Roku was on the wireless I had the VUDU app loaded in the Roku which is where my Disney Digital Copy licenses from my bluray disc's get loaded to. Just pulled up the movie and streamed to the TV. I had it hiccup and buffer 1 time for about 3 seconds but other than that I was watching it in full 1080p with no problems. Now if everyone was using the wireless like this I bet it would be different and there may be more buffering. However this time around it worked flawlessly.

I will say sitting beside the camper watching the rocket scene drinking an adult beverage was nice and relaxing.

 

On a side note, those magic bands at the outlet ranged from $8 to $11 a piece when we were there. They had a lot of the Grumpy/Ariel/Haunted Mansion ones. They also had some Zootopia/Some sports one that I don't remember/Nemo and Dory/Cheerleader/and another one I don't remember. They also had the magic band bling there as well at roughly 50% off if I remember correctly.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Good to know about the Roku.  Is there any reason you chose Roku as opposed to all of the other options out there?

TCD

[Travisma 1,317]

39 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Good to know about the Roku.  Is there any reason you chose Roku as opposed to all of the other options out there?

TCD

I got Roku, because it had the most options that I needed, access to Netflix, Amazon Prime TV, channels I watch, etc.  We have Apple TV, but that leans heavily towards Apples paid subscriptions.  Amazon Fire was in the running, but I found the Roku on Groupon or one of those sites for a great price and decided on that.

Look at what options each company has to offer and pick the one that suits all/most of your needs, then wait for a sale!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

29 minutes ago, Travisma said:

I got Roku, because it had the most options that I needed, access to Netflix, Amazon Prime TV, channels I watch, etc.  We have Apple TV, but that leans heavily towards Apples paid subscriptions.  Amazon Fire was in the running, but I found the Roku on Groupon or one of those sites for a great price and decided on that.

Look at what options each company has to offer and pick the one that suits all/most of your needs, then wait for a sale!

Yeah, the prices on all of these things is constantly coming down.

My girls access Netflix and Amazon Prime via Wi-Fi enabled Blu-ray players.  Those aren't very expensive anymore, and they can also play DVD's and Blu-rays on them.  I know that with Apple TV, they could play stuff from their phones and computers on the TV, but do Roku and Amazon Fire do anything that the Blu-ray players don't?

TCD

[Travisma 1,317]

11 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Yeah, the prices on all of these things is constantly coming down.

My girls access Netflix and Amazon Prime via Wi-Fi enabled Blu-ray players.  Those aren't very expensive anymore, and they can also play DVD's and Blu-rays on them.  I know that with Apple TV, they could play stuff from their phones and computers on the TV, but do Roku and Amazon Fire do anything that the Blu-ray players don't?

TCD

Just depends on what apps they can access.

My Blu Ray is older, it could do Netflix and espn, but not hulu or amazon.

[rtguy007 74]

1 hour ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Good to know about the Roku.  Is there any reason you chose Roku as opposed to all of the other options out there?

TCD

I have a lot of them. I like the flexibility and the channel options. If you stick to the big players for streaming like netflix/hulu/amazon prime/vudu then almost any player will play them. The Roku was one of the first for VUDU and I got into digital copies AND physical copies pretty big and VUDU made that easy for us. That and you can convert physical copies to digital copies with their service for a small fee per conversion. Not everything can be converted though.

[rtguy007 74]

24 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Yeah, the prices on all of these things is constantly coming down.

My girls access Netflix and Amazon Prime via Wi-Fi enabled Blu-ray players.  Those aren't very expensive anymore, and they can also play DVD's and Blu-rays on them.  I know that with Apple TV, they could play stuff from their phones and computers on the TV, but do Roku and Amazon Fire do anything that the Blu-ray players don't?

TCD

The Roku can stream from devices now. I think it may be limited in what type of streaming it supports (miracast only I think). I have used it and it worked well for the one time I needed it.

[Friend of a Fiend ... Pam 8]

Looks like so much fun so far! We always try to jump over to Chuy's for dinner while at WDW. I can't remember which night it is, but they do have a kids' night with a great balloon artist. If he's still there, he can make just about anything for the kids. Last time we were there, he was getting requests for all sorts of characters and he was able to do each one. Fun!

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Looks like so much fun so far! We always try to jump over to Chuy's for dinner while at WDW. I can't remember which night it is, but they do have a kids' night with a great balloon artist. If he's still there, he can make just about anything for the kids. Last time we were there, he was getting requests for all sorts of characters and he was able to do each one. Fun!

I'll second this, and I usually refuse to leave Disney property. They made Z a minion and Ariel. It was impressive.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rtguy007 74]

It's amazing how time flies. Been trying to finish up my report but life keeps getting in the way.

 

Anyway we started out Wednesday semi early. Missed rope drop at MK which I wanted the kids to see. No big deal though. When we got in the park we had to get the traditional castle photo.

 

 

Once the photo was done we went over to the barnstormer. We had a fast pass for it. Riley was so excited. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of her on it but she had a blast and wanted to do it again which we did since the wait was only 5 minutes.

 

After that chip and dale made an appearance so we got some more pics. Riley wanted nothing to do with them and she wouldn't go near them.

 

 

Once we got our pics over to dumbo we went. There was surprisingly no wait so we didn't get to play in the new queue which I was looking forward to seeing this time around. Dumbo was.....well dumbo. Kids enjoyed it but it was short.

 

Next up we hit small world to use our FP. Riley was in awe and Logan just looked and said ehh. I think he is starting to outgrow a few things there. Just 2 years ago he loved small world. At least he cheesed it up for a picture.

 

 

 

After the relaxing boat ride we made our way to the speedway. I know this is an older ride but for the love of god Disney....please do some work to the cars. They are like driving drunk when you are not only sober but also have kids in the car. The kids thought it was funny but the enjoyment wore off quick as everyone had to keep stopping because they couldn't steer which lead to a lot of bumping.

 

After sobering up from the speedway we head over towards buzz for some shooting action. I did pretty good but not my all time best.

 

 

My wife didn't do as good and was around 75000 and my son got a whopping 1200. My nephew was around 55000 if I remember right.

 

From here we headed back to the fort once we realized how long the lines were getting. Once back we grabbed a sandwich at the site and took a nap. It was hot at this point so the nap really helped to replenish some energy. After we got up back over to the MK we went for a long night. And long night it was. Hit the gate at about 4pm and first thing we did....eat.

 

Pecos Bill here we come. I like the new taco burger. It was great. The kids meals were decent sized but a little pricey. The wife got the salad because she wanted to eat something healthier. Overall not bad for our first visit since the menu change.

 

Stuffed and lethargic we decided to walk off some of the food and hit up the people mover. I really can't believe they almost took out the people mover. It is one of the best rides there. The kids wanted to keep riding it and since there was no wait we rode it 3 times without getting out of the car.

 

Once done we went down for some dancing with the Incredibles. Let's just say that Logan hates to dance in public. Riley had a good time. Mommy had a great time here as well. First time we actually did the dance party and we will probably do it again.

 

At this point mommy decided she had enough of the crowds (they were not bad) and decided to call it a day. She took Riley back to the camper. Logan and I met up with my mom and nephew who stayed in the park when we were napping.

 

The line for space mountain was not bad at 20min wait so we hit it again. Logan cant get enough of this ride now that he is big enough to ride it.

 

Since it was getting late the crowds started to line up for the electric light parade and fireworks. Wish we would have stayed to watch the parade a little more than we did as we found out the next morning it was going to be killed off again. It's a shame as the light parade is a Disney icon and should be kept.

 

While the crowds were over for the parade and fireworks we hit pirates and splash mountain....twice. We were really shocked at how the crowds thinned out. Normally we would have headed back over to the fort at this point but.....IT WAS EXTRA MAGIC HOURS NIGHT.  We wanted to be there at 2am when they closed it down.

 

Dripping wet....we headed back over to tomorrow land since the kids were enjoying it. That and we had a space mountain fast pass to use at 10:30. If you notice, we have been back and forth by the mine train a lot here. And every time we went by it was broken down. I was not happy as we missed the opening by 1 day last time we were there. Anyway I digress.

 

So space mountain it was again. 2 times as the wait after the fast pass was 10 minutes. Another round on the people mover as well. Went and did stitch once and Logan had a good time. I love stitch but they really need to do something new with that space. Would like to see them keep something stitch related in the park but maybe over in frontierland where the little varmint can do damage :).

 

At this point it started to rain and my nephew wanted a turkey leg. So over we went to get a turkey leg and hit pirates again. When we got out of pirates there was no wait for splash mountain so we did it twice again.

 

The second time through we were in the front of the boat and the annoying foreigners behind of us were complaining about something. So I took it upon myself to bring them a little magic....by all 3 of us ducking down under the front of the boat on the drop and they got soaked. They were not happy which I was fine with because who goes to the happiest place on earth to complain and bring others down.

 

When we got off the boat the second time we were going to hit the jungle cruise until something caught my attention. One of the maintenance workers had his radio turned up and I heard them say at 12:15 they were going to open the mine train back up. We ran.

 

Once over there the sign was already showing an hour wait. I was determined to ride it so we hit the restrooms and into the line we went. Well 30 minutes into the wait....it broke again. I was not a happy camper unlike what my shirt said. We stayed in line and I am glad we did. 10 minutes later it started moving again and the ride was going at least we were by the water piano so the kids kept busy with that while I got more annoyed. 20 minutes later we were in the queue and 2 trains away from the ride.....and it broke again. This time for about 15 minutes. It was at that point that they figured out the problem. Apparently they installed ride safety sensors on the gates leading to the track from the queue. People kept leaning on the gates and tripping the safety shut down. Once they figured out a way to reset the gate safety shutoff without purging the line we were able to finally get on the mine train. While it was a lot of fun and you could feel the cars swaying, I will say I expected more from it after all the hype. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed it but I think the constant breaking down got to me so I have mixed feelings about it.

 

Once off the train, we hit buzz up again....and again....and again. We actually rode it 7 times in a row. The kids love it and there was no wait at 1a. This is when I hit my crowning achievement.....my best score ever. To bad my phone was dead and I couldn't get picture proof. I scored 262200 and Logan got a 26500 which isn't bad considering he is 6.

 

Around 1:45 we headed up to the gate stopping to get some rice crispy treats and a few pics from the photo pass guy of Logan and I. I will post it later since I don't have it on me but it is almost my favorite photo from the trip. At exactly 2am we walked out the gate and our last time at the MK this trip. We were already planning the next trip by the time we got on the boat for the fort.

 

Back at the camper by 2:30, I couldn't sleep and the wife woke up. We decided to take a stroll around the campground. It is amazing how peaceful the fort is at night. What made it better is that there was no mosquitos or those yellow flies that night. Really we didn't have any issues the entire time with flying insects.

 

Overall Wednesday was an awesome day and we got to ride all of our favorites at least 3 if not 7 times.

 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Good job not giving up on your report!

Great update!  You all got a lot done at the MK!  You have had some bad luck with the Mine Train- I'm glad that you finally got to ride it.

Very cool about the late night walk around the Fort.

TCD

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

Slowly catching up on trip reports.  This is a good one!  Loved that you got to ride your favorites so many times.  I've ridden Mine Train once after a very long wait in line.  Weird about leaning on the gates would stop the train.  Shouldn't that have been found out much earlier?  Unless it's a new control.                                                                

Your kids are cute.

[rtguy007 74]

Dear trip report,

I have not forgotten about you. My work life this week has been hell followed up by a bunch of house stuff. I am hoping to give you some much needed attention sometime this weekend.

[rtguy007 74]

well after 2 weeks of hell at work and fighting my phone and tapatalk, I am going to post an update to my trip report. Now where was I........oh yeah.

 

Thursday was another day of relaxation. We poked around the fort a little and then ran over to Disney springs again and ate at Bongos. It was ok for what it was. Not exactly my cup of tea but everyone liked what they had. I have the chicken nuggets/bites and a bowl of chicken soup. The soup was great but the nuggets we just ok. I don't recall what the others got but they said it was good.

After eating I wondered down to the Lego store with my kids and mom. The wife took a stroll around a few stores she wanted to go in. At the Lego store my son and I looked for something special for him. His second tooth fell out earlier in the week and I promised the tooth fairy to pick him something up at the springs. Of all the things he wants.....legos. He decided on some small star wars kits and was so excited to get them back to the camper. And to the camper we went.

Once back we decided to take a nap. My mom agreed to watch the kids once we got up so the wife and I could have a night out. We decided to head over to the boardwalk to eat. I don't recall the name of the restaurant but I have the meatloaf and she had a steak. We had the nachos for an appetizer. It was all good including the cocktails we ordered. Around the time we were finishing up a small side walk show was starting up. We watched for a few minutes and decided to head back to the springs to have a few more cocktails at house of blues. I had always wanted to go over there but never really did until this trip. We wondered through the gift shop and my quote of the night was "were on a mission from god" after seeing the blues brothers shirts. Good times.

Shortly after 11 we decided to head back to the fort. The next day was epcot.

On Friday we got up and headed over to epcot. We ran through figment and nemo. The kids loved nemo as usual and my daughter couldn't get enough of figment. We had to cut that part of the park short and head over to japan for our lunch reservations. On our way over we stopped and got pictures with Anna and Elsa. Riley was in 7th heaven and Logan seemed a little less than impressed. I think he may be starting to outgrow Disney which makes me sad.

At japan we were seated early which was nice. Our hibachi chef was fantastic and he made an olaf out of the vegetables. The wife got to stand up and get a picture with him acting crazy. The kids loved it. The food was fantastic but drug us down to want a nap. We decided to go ahead and use our fastpass for soarin and ride the land. After that the rain started to move in and we decided to move out an call it a short day at Epcot.

This was the last of the park for us this trip. While we didn't do a lot in the parks we still had a great time on this trip. However the best part of the trip was still to come. Saturday brought us a surprise and you will have to stay tuned in for the last post of our last full day at the fort.

On a side note, I do have more pictures and once tapatalk decides to work I will get those posted up.

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

Your days were busy, sounds like fun.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Wow... late to the game, sorry!

Okay, a deer licked you?!  Crazy stuff!  The 1300 loop is a nice loop...it had some great Christmas decorations last year.  Glad you finally got to ride Mine Train but yeah...after all that waiting, it's hard for almost any ride to match up to the hype.  Over the years, I've had rides break down a few times. The "best" is always when you're right at the front of the line and then it's shut down for the night.  Fun times   2am...y'all are crazy!! :)    Rain Forest Cafe, we feel the same way...which is a bummer, as our kiddos like it.

Great TR!!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Good job fighting through the adversity to get this trip report finished!

That's awesome that your mom let you and the Mrs. have a date night.  Sounds like a fun time.

Don't quit now- you're almost done!

TCD

[rtguy007 74]

Not giving up. My work life is pretty stressful and has been insane since we have been back. Going to give it a fe more days and finish everything up.

I like the 1300 loop but that may be just because of the site we had. Our site was awesome. I liked 1124 when we were over there 2 trips back as well. Maybe next time we will try something back towards the settlement. I struggle with that though because I like being up by the meadows.

we are still trying to figure out the deer. That was odd. Only place I have known that to happen was when I was a kid in brown county Indiana. Back then the deer would walk up to you and we would feed them potato chips. The deer were really used to people feeding them.

[rtguy007 74]

Tapatalk has been removed from my phone now that it has ceased to function at all. I had some pics I wanted to share with this last post but I don't have a quick and easy way to upload them at the moment. Anyway.....

Saturday....our last full day.

 

We woke up with the intentions of hanging around the fort and doing pretty much nothing.......which semi happened. We got up and decided to head back to trails end. First time we ever had their brunch on Saturday mornings. Let's just say it was different but good. Since most of my clan is a breakfast is breakfast and lunch is lunch we had a hard time at the buffet. We meaning me and not the rest of them. The kids pigged out on waffles and bacon with a side of waffles and bacon and some fort moonshine (funny thing is out waiter didnt know that it is called stitch juice at ohana which is what the kids kept calling it). The wife had something but I don't recall exactly what at this point. I on the other hand took it upon myself to get our monies worth. So 5 full plates of food and an hour later they were dragging me out in a food coma. My favorite part was the smores bars and waffles. Just thinking about them makes me want to jump in the car now to head back down. It would be worth the 18 hour drive.

Now that we were stuffed, we headed back to the site to start cleaning a few things up in the camper to get ready to head home. Then I took a short nap. The kids ended up going outside for a little to play with their light sabers for a while then came back in to wake me up. Apparently there was a planned trip to the pool. So off we went.

What happened next was the best part of the trip but also a little disappointing. While we were out we had a visitor I was hoping to meet. He came, he left a note and a present, and we didn't get to meet. What made this the best part of the trip since we didn't get to meet?

I GOT SPIKED!!!!!!!!! I never did get to say it but THANK YOU SO MUCH TCD. The kids thought it was the coolest thing after my mom and I told them about the old train and showing them where it used to go through the campground. I really wish it was still there. I never got to ride it but vaguely remember the track when I was little. Trains were my life when I was young and a little part of my youth came back seeing that spike and being at Disney. 2 of my fondest memories as a kid.

After the spiking it looked like it was going to let loose and the wind picked up. We decided to break down the mickey light and wooden sign. I had one thing left I had to get....a picture of my son on his bike back by the fence in the settlement. My parent have one of me somewhere and I wanted to turn it into a family thing starting with me. Now if they can just find the picture.

After making the mad dash back to the settlement from 1300 we packed the bikes into the truck and put all the chairs away we had out. At this point we were almost ready to hookup and head home the next morning.

That night we finished up the rest of the sandwich food and snacks we had in the camper, tossed the rest of the bottles water in the fridge, packed the camper up for the long trip home and staged it to be easier to unload when we got home, and went to bed.

8am Sunday morning we said goodbye to the fort. On the way home the wife and I had a long talk about one day buying a house somewhere in Florida to retire in. Hoping around 10 years from now we will be in a position to start looking. I will be 45 then and she will be 50. Our hopes is that we can keep the house in Ohio and stay down there during the winter. That is my dream and hope to make it a reality. Puts me closer to the fort and hopefully you will all still be around and I will get to meet more of you.

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

Good for you, getting your moneys worth out of the buffet.  and.... You got spiked ...big congratulations on that.  How will you display the spike?

[rtguy007 74]

Not sure on how I am going to display it yet. Thinking of having it framed with a few other things but not 100% on that yet. I know one thing, if I don't stop talking about the fort my wife may drive it through my chest. At least then I could take it to my grave....literally.

[caveat lector 181]

That is an epic trip and report. My spike travels everywhere we do. TCD is a righteous dude.

We have a similar hope to spend more time in the sunshine state. I've heard about communities where you buy a small lot. The lot has an rv pad and a small bungalow on it. Maybe a living room, kitchen, and a small bedroom. Sounds like awesome. I just have to find a good one in central Florida.;)

[rtguy007 74]

I have heard of those as well. Not sure where to look. I have some family that has purchased second homes around Lakeland. I was thinking more north but I know nothing about the sunshine state outside of Disney and Treasure Island (which I have not been there in years).

[BigTom 76]

There are a lot of Snowbird parks around here, usually a retired person buys a park model trailer and rents the lot for a yearly rate. They pay their own utilities and some live in them year around. It is real convenient, no yard work or worries about the property. Also not as much worry about break in because they are close together and everyone looks out for their neighbors. I have several in my SS class that have second homes like this and come down every winter to live here where it is warmer. Most parks have organized thing to do, rec centers, etc, and some are even on golf courses if that is an interest.

[caveat lector 181]

Snowbird park....I didn't know that's what they are called....cool.....I'm one step closer