A few observations Thanksgiving week

[Starbuc71 162]

I thought I'd post a thread where fiends could post things strange, new or whatever during thanksgiving week. Here a few I saw

1.

this was only parked for a day near the DVC kiosk. Never saw it before. 

2.

new whatever's being built by the lodge.  Back when I was here in July, they were just clearing the land.  They look huge.  I think I counted 16 on each side of the lodge

3. Empty sites

as of Tuesday morning, there are 13 empty sites on the 2000 loop, 8 between 1600-1900 and 3 on the 1500 loop.  I haven't checked the rest yet but I'm sure there are at least 10-15 more between the other loops  The new loop looks nice   It has 3 empty sites

4. Refrigerator group

i thought I was going to report no sighting of the large group who are always here that bring a full size fridge and dishwasher but I was wrong. They are on the 1500 loop with (3) full size fridges and at least (2) full size dishwashers....no comment

5. Fence frenzy update

looks like all fencing is complete at the fort. All 3 playgrounds are now all fenced in with black chain links and gates. The pool fencing is complete (with no card readers) and most of the water eats in common areas gave the rope fencing. Creeks/canals behind most sites just have gator and wildlife signs posted 

6. Less merchandise is offered at the trading post than years past.  It looks like less toys and clothing 

7. No main tree near trails end as of yet and a lot of garland not lit on trails end

8. Seems all the buses have a digital sign on the back that says do not pass. Also it looks like all the buses were retro fit with HID lights. They are all super bright now. 

9. Epcot has minimal holiday decorations compared to other parks  Maybe this was always so   Future world continues to become more pathetic   

 

Going to Disney springs tonight  will report on new things 

 

[caveat lector 181]

Outstanding update. Thanks 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great update!

I saw a few Instagram posts about that Stagecoach.

Apparently, there was a castmember party to commemorate Fort Wilderness' 45th birthday on Saturday.  I guess your invitation got lost?

I think it's great that the cast got to celebrate the birthday.

But nothing for the paying customers?

TCD

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Should we start the whole "Florida grey water dumping laws" discussion again?  Seems to come up every year about this time, when the dishwashers appear at the Fort.  

[Starbuc71 162]

9 minutes ago, DaveInTN said:

Should we start the whole "Florida grey water dumping laws" discussion again?  Seems to come up every year about this time, when the dishwashers appear at the Fort.  

I thought the same thing....lol

[Starbuc71 162]

.....a few other things

i got busted by the rangers for using an unapproved fire pit. Mine has an open top with a screen. Bad S71.  I know why they are so strict (at times) due to all the stupid people who could burn the place down

also, I saw them putting notices on cars that had tires off the pads

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

11 minutes ago, DaveInTN said:

Should we start the whole "Florida grey water dumping laws" discussion again?  Seems to come up every year about this time, when the dishwashers appear at the Fort.  

I think we've discussed it to death.

Clearly the Fort management doesn't care.

Absolutely ridiculous and hypocritical, but what else is new?

TCD

[hunter99 7]

I was at the Fort last year for Thanksgiving and was in the 1600 loop 2 spots down from the comfort station. The problem was we were right behind those folks. Completely inconsiderate. They were running a chain saw while they cut the wood around the sand pad and then dug a trench. That particular site they had four tents and setup a shower or something in the middle and the trench going out of the sand pad, and into the woods, was the waste water. Always had spot lights on at night until around 1 to 2 am. Loud, etc. 

I complained about them and was told that they were the people installing the wifi. I tried to push it and was blown off. I could hear the person in the back telling her to just make us go away. Was really pissed at that time. Filed a complaint with a higher up person in resort operations as I have a relative that works higher up the chain. Heard the manager has since been removed. Either way these people should not be coming back and be removed from the property. Be like me getting a resort room and remodeling it to be the way I want. 

[libbylovespluto 1]

I was in 1510 last week and had a great time! There were a few strange things, such as the aforementioned large group moving in to 1500 with their full sized refrigerators. The folks in the group who moved into the site next to mine were out front complaining loudly about my presence in 1510, and at checkout, while I was waiting for bell services to fetch me, they all hovered nearby. Additionally, they were out in protective gear spraying pesticide all over from a pneumatic sprayer. I was not very pleased to see poison so liberally applied.

Before they arrived, my neighbor for a couple nights was a guy who prowled behind my site at night with a headlamp, ripping branches from the trees. I asked him to cease this behavior and he did. Next night, he built a fire with said branches in his grill. The fire was so large that burning branches were spilling out all over the ground. He was stomping around trying to put it all out. I called security. They never showed.

I saw a number of in plain sight unapproved firepits. There were also vehicles everywhere. Some sites with 5 cars, some with campers parked in between sites. Crazy.

All that said, everyone in the loop was generally and mercifully quiet ...and I had an absolutely phenomenal time at the Fort. I wish I had booked a few more days!

PS 1510 is a fantastic site. Separated a bit from its neighbors and on the canal. I did yoga out there in the morning!

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[Roberta 42]

On 11/22/2016 at 10:20 AM, Starbuc71 said:

Quote

 

4. Refrigerator group

i thought I was going to report no sighting of the large group who are always here that bring a full size fridge and dishwasher but I was wrong. They are on the 1500 loop with (3) full size fridges and at least (2) full size dishwashers....no comment

 

 What. The. Heck?!

Having missed out on all past discussions on this, I am completely shocked. Do they show up in a semi, or what? That is at least 5 full sized appliances at a campsite!

I'm assuming, from the other comments, that they let the dishwashers drain onto the ground? I just have so many questions ....

How many sites do they have?
How many people?
Paper plates, anyone?

I am so curious at who ever thought to do such a thing to begin with. I can understand a fridge. A full sized one, maybe. But DISHWASHERS? OMG

 

13 hours ago, hunter99 said:

I was at the Fort last year for Thanksgiving and was in the 1600 loop 2 spots down from the comfort station. The problem was we were right behind those folks. Completely inconsiderate. They were running a chain saw while they cut the wood around the sand pad and then dug a trench. That particular site they had four tents and setup a shower or something in the middle and the trench going out of the sand pad, and into the woods, was the waste water. Always had spot lights on at night until around 1 to 2 am. Loud, etc. 

I complained about them and was told that they were the people installing the wifi. I tried to push it and was blown off. I could hear the person in the back telling her to just make us go away. Was really pissed at that time. Filed a complaint with a higher up person in resort operations as I have a relative that works higher up the chain. Heard the manager has since been removed. Either way these people should not be coming back and be removed from the property. Be like me getting a resort room and remodeling it to be the way I want. 

Even more shock. Are chainsaws allowed at the Fort? I never thought they were allowed at any campground, let alone the Fort. Digging is never allowed. 

This is just such insanity. Why not use the perfectly nice comfort stations to shower? I'm so confused.   

Are the photos of this craziness floating around anywhere? I would love to see this fiasco for myself. 

 

 

 

[FEARtheEERS 18]

21 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Great update!

I saw a few Instagram posts about that Stagecoach.

Apparently, there was a castmember party to commemorate Fort Wilderness' 45th birthday on Saturday.  I guess your invitation got lost?

I think it's great that the cast got to celebrate the birthday.

But nothing for the paying customers?

TCD

There apparently were 45th activities for guests although there was no advertisement of them. I was checking out at the settlement and noticed a cast member with a 45th button. I asked if I could have one. She said bike barn was giving out but she was sure they had run out. Fail. But she said she thought they were doing free wagon rides but she couldn't confirm it. We were on our way to MK so the kids didn't want to try. I was sadly disappointed not to investigate it all further. This week has been weird with major flaws in transportation. I think that it had been way more crowded in parks than the past couple of years before thanksgiving. I don't think they were prepared for all the guests on property this year and have also seen a lot of empty merchandise shelves and frustrated cast members.

[southernview -- Ray 25]

On 11/22/2016 at 10:02 AM, Starbuc71 said:

.....a few other things

i got busted by the rangers for using an unapproved fire pit. Mine has an open top with a screen. Bad S71.  I know why they are so strict (at times) due to all the stupid people who could burn the place down

also, I saw them putting notices on cars that had tires off the pads

1

If they went through all of the loops, they would have had a real job on their hands.  I took the Granny Cycle looping late Tuesday and there were cars in several loops parked in all sort of fashions.  Several loops had two cars and others had three at their sites.  I had a fine neighbor in the 1700 loop that tied two dogs out on long leads, long enough to reach a few feet into my site.  The dogs did their thing on my side of the line and they never picked any up that I saw.

They also parked a car on my side that came and went for three days and stayed the nights.  They parked this car where it blocked my Tailgater satellite antenna, I guess I'm lucky that they didn't run over it.

 

[LONE-STAR 370]

After 10 years of doing Thanksgiving weekend at the  Fort we finally quit because of all the stuff that goes on there.

[Starbuc71 162]

Well, we leave in the morning.  We had a great trip. I will have to agree with Lone star. It has gotten more crazy over thanksgiving. The golf cart shenanigans after 10pm has been crazy. The rangers seem to be out and about more, but when you speak with them, they are short and to the point.  The under age drivers seem to be  on private carts so the rangers do nothing.  I believe people in general just care about themselves these days and that changes the way Disney and everything else runs.  I do think the new management has done better than any other management over the past 10 years. Some things look better, some the same and very little worse. 

[Avatab.... Steve 124]

 

It's not complicated, when rules are seen as not being applied equally and fairly to all guests then respect for all of the rules goes out the window.  

If the new Manager is truly interested in making things better, the first thing they should do is to get serious about the rule-breakers.  Start asking people to leave if they refuse to comply with the rules and start banning people and/or groups after 2 or 3 warnings. It's ridiculous that the same groups come back year after year doing the same things and with no consequences.

If someone has received the same warning more than once, clearly they don't give a you-know-what.  That attitude is reinforced when Disney does nothing to them.

No consequences equals no respect.    

 

[Classact....Mike 17]

>The golf cart shenanigans after 10pm has been crazy. The rangers seem to be out and about more, but when you speak with them, they are short and to the point.  The under age drivers seem to be  on private carts so the rangers do nothing.  I believe people in general just care about themselves these days <

 

I concur. The growing tendency for people to not respect others, and well, just act like morons tests the patience of many of us rule-abiding guests. We received a notice on our windshield last night that our Star Shower lights were on past midnight (shame, shame). And yet you have these a-holes driving around like 12 year-olds. Last night 3 carts went blowing by in front of us at the beach during the fireworks .  Well beyond the sign stating "no carts beyond here" sign. Today 5 carts were driving around, each with 5-plus people / kids honking horns constantly. One of the carts had what sounded like a semi air horn or something. We heard the same idiot blowing the horn right at midnight.

[Tall Lady 2]

What are the rules for guests? We have a couple who may stay with us for a few days during our trip. Do they leave their car in the big lot? If so, do they get a car pass? Is there a fee? There are 2 adults, 2 kids, and 1 infant in our camper. The couple pushes us to 7 total. I think I read we could have up to 10 per site. I could be wrong. Thanks for any insight. We want to follow the rules and help keep the Disney magic for everyone.

 

[Tall Lady 2]

Quote

On 11/22/2016 at 10:20 AM, Starbuc71 said:

I thought I'd post a thread where fiends could post things strange, new or whatever during thanksgiving week. Here a few I saw

1.

this was only parked for a day near the DVC kiosk. Never saw it before. 

2.

new whatever's being built by the lodge.  Back when I was here in July, they were just clearing the land.  They look huge.  I think I counted 16 on each side of the lodge

3. Empty sites

as of Tuesday morning, there are 13 empty sites on the 2000 loop, 8 between 1600-1900 and 3 on the 1500 loop.  I haven't checked the rest yet but I'm sure there are at least 10-15 more between the other loops  The new loop looks nice   It has 3 empty sites

4. Refrigerator group

i thought I was going to report no sighting of the large group who are always here that bring a full size fridge and dishwasher but I was wrong. They are on the 1500 loop with (3) full size fridges and at least (2) full size dishwashers....no comment

5. Fence frenzy update

looks like all fencing is complete at the fort. All 3 playgrounds are now all fenced in with black chain links and gates. The pool fencing is complete (with no card readers) and most of the water eats in common areas gave the rope fencing. Creeks/canals behind most sites just have gator and wildlife signs posted 

6. Less merchandise is offered at the trading post than years past.  It looks like less toys and clothing 

7. No main tree near trails end as of yet and a lot of garland not lit on trails end

8. Seems all the buses have a digital sign on the back that says do not pass. Also it looks like all the buses were retro fit with HID lights. They are all super bright now. 

9. Epcot has minimal holiday decorations compared to other parks  Maybe this was always so   Future world continues to become more pathetic   

 

Going to Disney springs tonight  will report on new things 

 

 

 I didn't even know #4 was an option. And that happens every year? 

Any update on current decorations?

[keith_h 420]

20 hours ago, Avatab.... Steve said:

 

It's not complicated, when rules are seen as not being applied equally and fairly to all guests then respect for all of the rules goes out the window.  

If the new Manager is truly interested in making things better, the first thing they should do is to get serious about the rule-breakers.  Start asking people to leave if they refuse to comply with the rules and start banning people and/or groups after 2 or 3 warnings. It's ridiculous that the same groups come back year after year doing the same things and with no consequences.

If someone has received the same warning more than once, clearly they don't give a you-know-what.  That attitude is reinforced when Disney does nothing to them.

No consequences equals no respect.    

 

Rene and I were camping this weekend at a state park and had a teenager playing his music very loud. He was there alone and obviously bored to death. I went over and asked if he could please turn it down which worked for about 10 minutes then it was louder than ever. I managed to catch a ranger who went and talked to him about it with the warning that the next complaint would result in he and his families eviction from the park.  In our case that settled it but I know from past experience the rangers don't make idle threats and would have followed through. I really don't see why Disney appears to have such a hard time with something that is easy and straight forward to implement.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

1 hour ago, keith_h said:

Rene and I were camping this weekend at a state park and had a teenager playing his music very loud. He was there alone and obviously bored to death. I went over and asked if he could please turn it down which worked for about 10 minutes then it was louder than ever. I managed to catch a ranger who went and talked to him about it with the warning that the next complaint would result in he and his families eviction from the park.  In our case that settled it but I know from past experience the rangers don't make idle threats and would have followed through. I really don't see why Disney appears to have such a hard time with something that is easy and straight forward to implement.

People staying in a state park haven't invested so much money on things like nonrefundable park tickets. 

[keith_h 420]

11 minutes ago, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

People staying in a state park haven't invested so much money on things like nonrefundable park tickets. 

Which means it shouldn't take more than one or two instances for word to get around and for folks to hopefully straighten up.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

1 minute ago, keith_h said:

Which means it shouldn't take more than one or two instances for word to get around and for folks to hopefully straighten up.

I would say most of those rude people aren't on sites like this, so they won't know about the consequences of others. 

[bdm 47]

It pains me to read threads like this.  I wonder do these same people go to the GF or Polly and shout in the lobbies?  Do they run up and down the halls at 12:00?  Why is it Ok to act the fool at a campground, but not a hotel resort? 

I've been very lucky in my camping experience to never be in a uncomfortable situation with a neighboring site.  My family isn't a loud family we don't play music outside hardly watch any TV while camping and don't have an outside TV.  I never really have a problem with people being "loud" before 10pm, after 10 is quite time in my book, mostly because I've been sleeping for 2 hours. 

[keith_h 420]

On 11/27/2016 at 6:21 PM, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

I would say most of those rude people aren't on sites like this, so they won't know about the consequences of others. 

In this day and age I'm sure the offenders would put it up post on their Facebook page, Twitter feed or make a Youtube video that would be picked up on. One thing I will say about social media is things that used to fly under the radar tend not to anymore. 

[djsamuel 322]

11 hours ago, bdm said:

It pains me to read threads like this.  I wonder do these same people go to the GF or Polly and shout in the lobbies?  Do they run up and down the halls at 12:00?  Why is it Ok to act the fool at a campground, but not a hotel resort? 

 

Yes.  We've had it happen after midnight at the Grand Floridian, the night before our daughter's wedding.  A family came back to their room next to ours late, had their kids running down the hall, and then got them in the room and they were yelling and laughing very loudly.  After about 45 minutes, I finally called the front desk, and they must have called them.  Really had me missing the camper.  MUCH noisier.