Down by the Riverside (and Fort): A TCD End of Summer Trip Report

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

4. I am turning over a new leaf. With the fairies running amok, anything I say is being used against me in a court of law in a tag. Though I will admit, it doesn't take much for my mind to wander.......

Nothing wrong with a wandering mind... at least until it wanders to a place you didn't want it to.... :dropjaw:

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

1. I know. Me too. And, they are even connected. But Bay Lake > Seven Seas Lagoon.

The twins have been riding the Disney coasters since as soon as they were tall enough. Remember they have an older sister, and it seemed like forever until they finally met the height requirements for the different rides. I remember they had a certain pair of sneakers that made them just tall enough to qualify to ride Space Mountain. They are fearless, and the WDW coasters are all pretty tame, so they have been riding them for years.

They started out on the Goofy roller coaster, which is currently closed for the Fantasyland expansion. If your kids think they don't like coasters, that is a good one to start out on. I think most kids love it. Mine sure did. We rode that darned thing a lot. I think our record for consecutive rides was 13.

TCD

My daughter rode the Barnstormer with me. I thought she was going to climb back into my stomach through my belly button. Ever tried to ride a coaster while attempting to keep a child from hitting their mouth/head on the lap bar..... You just can't hold your hands up properly! Although she has promised to ride space mountain with me next trip... I"m not holding my breathe on that one.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

They use the robot logs to keep down the population of robot rabbits - and maybe the occasional robot guest. :rofl2:

LOL!

Good one, Ed!

I've been gone - OldeKoot had a Doctor's appt in Tallahassee. I'm sure this has been picked up on ... and I'm sure it wasn't by a Tag Fairy! Our Tag Fairies aren't Snarky enough to stick you with this tag ...

Dude, you are a glutton for punishment.

You and S70 have been blasted by those fairies, haven't you?

TCD

[momofmany...Christina 17]

Great trip report! We love POR too, especially Alligator Bayou. I think it's really pretty at night.

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

LOL!

Good one, Ed!

Dude, you are a glutton for punishment.

You and S70 have been blasted by those fairies, haven't you?

TCD

I have come to the conclusion that Stef needs to text me anything she wants to post beforehand. It will either keep her out of trouble or if she let's me edit them, make them worse :rofl2:

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

LOL!

Good one, Ed!

Thank you.

Dude, you are a glutton for punishment.

You and S70 have been blasted by those fairies, haven't you?

TCD

S70 has been on the receiving end - they leave me alone ... maybe because I have too much Grump & too much Snark for them to handle.

[Sunset Lady 6]

Thank you one and all for the very warm Welcome! You all seem to be a wonderful group of people, glad that I am here.

Just wanted to add, (sorry for the hijack) that I used to camp with my parents, started out tent camping, then after I got married they moved on to an RV.

My husband and I camped with them at Disney one year, but I am not sure where we stayed. Camping is not my husband's favorite thing to do, but

I have always enjoyed it. Therefore I enjoy reading about everyones adventures here on Fort Fiends Forum.

Now back to the regular programming.:heart:

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

I am so glad you got your daughter the t-shirt! I think it's amazing that they still love to go with you to the parks and still can find new things to keep them interested.

I wasn't sure about the water issues in the loops when we were there, but it appeared to be a problem in the 1900 loop. The water was very low in the canal, so I would assume that there had not been a lot of rain in the area. As soon as we had all the bad weather there was a lot of standing water around the area, especially the 1900 loop.

[Starbuc71 162]

Glad to see another TCD report. Being that will live close to you, I can't wait til my kids get a bit older then we will buy the season passes like you do. It seems you guys have a blast park hopping and doing all the EMH. It's been a few years since we stayed at Port Orleanes. We actually stayed in the french quater side back in 05 on a $79 FL resident special. I actually turned it into a work function/trip and treated all my mangers and thier spouces to a night out. Everyone really enjoyed the place and I agree the boat to DD (and pleasure isalnd back in the day) was great. We always say it would be great if the EDD (extended drainage ditch) made it's way to bay lake. Imagine hoping a boat from the forts dock to DD? That would be awsome

I also agree with you on the standing water at the fort. For the prices we pay you feel like your staying at a crappy low budget state park. I hear 1500 and 1900 are the worst during rainy season. I bet if every camper decided to at the end of thier trip to all concentrate on one specific complaint, the managment still would not change anything. I also agree on how some of the resorts actually blow the fort away on manicured grounds. I guess in somebodys eyes after Walt passed away the phrase, "thier just trailer trash" lingers on...... Great job as usual so far

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

Yay!! I haven't even finished the Sea World TR and there's another one!

I have to say, your first post was SO funny I had to read it out loud to my family. Great job!!

[TheLug 10]

Awesome report so far i am in for the long haul!!! I have a couple trips coming up to the Fort. I am in Pensacola for 2 weeks right now for work.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I am so glad you got your daughter the t-shirt! I think it's amazing that they still love to go with you to the parks and still can find new things to keep them interested.

I wasn't sure about the water issues in the loops when we were there, but it appeared to be a problem in the 1900 loop. The water was very low in the canal, so I would assume that there had not been a lot of rain in the area. As soon as we had all the bad weather there was a lot of standing water around the area, especially the 1900 loop.

I would say the 1900 loop has the worst problem with drainage. A couple of years ago they dumped tons of fill in there, but did nothing to improve the drainage. So all the fill has subsided or eroded, and it back to being a swamp after every rain.

It's been a few years since we stayed at Port Orleanes. We actually stayed in the french quater side back in 05 on a $79 FL resident special.

I also agree with you on the standing water at the fort. For the prices we pay you feel like your staying at a crappy low budget state park. I hear 1500 and 1900 are the worst during rainy season. I bet if every camper decided to at the end of thier trip to all concentrate on one specific complaint, the managment still would not change anything. I also agree on how some of the resorts actually blow the fort away on manicured grounds. I guess in somebodys eyes after Walt passed away the phrase, "thier just trailer trash" lingers on...... Great job as usual so far

1. Wow, $79 a night! What a deal. Our Florida Resident rate for this stay was $130 a night. Which is a pretty good deal when you consider what it would cost for a site and a golf cart at the Fort.

2. Complaining about anything at the Fort is a waste of time. For a while, I filled out every survey they sent to me. But, every survey is the same, and nothing has changed. The plan of operation at the Fort is clearly to spend as little money as possible and charge as much as possible. Judging from all of the empty campsites I have seen this summer, including many this past weekend, that strategy is not working too well for them.

Yay!! I haven't even finished the Sea World TR and there's another one!

I have to say, your first post was SO funny I had to read it out loud to my family. Great job!!

Gee thanks.

I'm glad you and your family like it.

Awesome report so far i am in for the long haul!!! I have a couple trips coming up to the Fort. I am in Pensacola for 2 weeks right now for work.

Hey Lug!

Thanks for checking in.

We are about to head to the MK in this TR.

You know we will be visiting the Laugh Floor.

Do you think I will be "That Guy" again?

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

It's time for another installment.

We left off with our return from our visit to the Kona Cafe sushi bar and the Fort.

We will be heading to the MK for EMH.

But first, we are going to try something new.

Yehaw Bob.

"Who?" You say.

You heard me:

Yehaw Bob.

I have this vague recollection of having heard of Yehaw Bob, but I really didn't know much about him.

There are a lot of activities offered at POR. They are outlined here on this activity sheet:

But this doesn't tell us anything about Yehaw Bob.

Hilda told us we ought to see him when she made our reservation for POR. Earlier in the day, we were looking at the River Roost Lounge, where Bob performs, and ran into a friendly castmember who told us about Bob. Bob apparently has been performing at the POR for the past several years. He plays the piano and entertains the crowd. They have a piano set up there in the lounge, and lots of tables. They serve bar-type food like chicken wings and nachos, and even crawfish bites. The castmember told us Bob would be performing tonight from 8 to 11. So based on the recommendation of this castmember, and more importantly, HIlda, we decided that we would stop by the River Roost Lounge at 8 to see Bob.

And that is what we did.

We arrived right before 8 and found an open table. A friendly server got me a beer. The girls just brought their mugs from the food court. We had just eaten, so we didn't order any food, but the tables around us did. And, it looked good. A couple of tables brought in pizza's that they had purchased from the adjacent food court. So, apparently that's OK.

8 came and went and no Bob. Then, a little after 8, a goofy guy dressed in weird clothes came ambling in. He went up to the piano, and set some things up. Then he walked around the room, stopping at tables to say hello. He stopped by and spoke to us for a couple of minutes. He asked my name and where we were from. He welcomed us to the show, and encouraged us to participate, and then he was on to the next table. At around 8:30, Bob sat down at the piano and began to play. He is pretty good. In the first song, he started calling out names, and asking people to stand. He called out a lot of names, and people stood. He then called up a lady for us to sing Happy Birthday. Then he sang another song, and called out more names. He even called out my name and had me stand. He remembered a lot of names. That was pretty impressive. The girls were happy because he did not call out their names.

Here's Bob:

Bob then asked us all to help him with something. He said when new people arrived, he would ask them where they were from. He asked us to all say "me too" and cheer. No sooner had he said that when some new folks wandered in and sat down. Bob immediately greeted them and asked where they were from. They said "New Zealand." Everyone yelled out "Me Too!" and cheered. It was fun.

Then Bob said he was going to play a song with which he was going to need some help. He said he needed the girls from Dunedin to come up and help him. That was the TCD twins. They had not been spared. And Bob somehow remembered where we were from. The girls didn't want to go, but Bob insisted, so up they went. Then Bob said they needed help, and all the other kids in the place needed to come forward. Then he called out a couple of adults by name. He then busted out with "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes," and told the kids to do what needed to be done. Here they are having fun and being embarrassed:

As the song ended, the girls were obviously anxious to sit back down. But Bob was having none of that. He broke right into "When the Saints Come Marching In" and had everyone march around the bar. The girls came by our table and told me that they were marching right on out the door and would wait for me outside. So I paid our tab, and headed out during the commotion. I felt bad leaving, but we needed to go anyway.

I loved Bob! If you ever have a spare evening at WDW, and you are looking for something fun and inexpensive to do, check out Bob. He plays from 8:30 to midnight Wednesdays through Saturdays at the River Roost Lounge at POR.

After Bob, it was time to head to the MK. To this point, we had not availed ourselves of the POR transportation system, but we were going to bus it to the MK. There are four bus stops at the resort. I hear that sometimes they share buses with POFQ, but I think that is only during not-busy times. We were closest to the main bus stop, so that's where we went. A MK bus was just pulling out as we arrived. Grrrr. But, it was packed, and we may not have been able to board anyway. The next bus came by in about 10 minutes, and it had plenty of room. I thought we would have to circle the resort to pick up more passengers, but we headed right on out from there. Right after we sat down, one of the twins asked me why there was sawdust on the floor. I looked. Sure enough, there was sawdust on the floor. Look:

But wait. That isn't sawdust. It's the stuff the school janitor used to use when somebody thew-up at school. You know what I'm talking about. Gross. I was surprised that in this day of heightened disease control that a bus driver would sprinkle this stuff around and still use the bus. But, that appears to be what was going on here. Gross.

When we arrived at the MK, there was a huge bus back up. That's how it works these days. The POR bus doesn't go to the POR bus stop. It waits until someone tells it where to go, and then pulls up there. Tonight the person directing the buses wasn't too efficient. So we sat for a while. And we had that "sawdust" right next to us the whole time. Yuck.

Here's an interesting photo my DD took as we waited to pull up somewhere and be let off the bus:

I think it was 10-ish when we finally disembarked. The EWP was performing for the crowds leaving the MK:

I thought to myself that Lou would sure have enjoyed seeing that.

The MK apparently had been packed today.

Look at this group waiting for a ferry:

Despite all of the folks heading out, it was still really busy in the park as we arrived. It turns out that there still was a parade that was going to take place at 11. The park was supposed to close at 11. We EMH folks got gypped there.

We headed to Tomorrowland to see if they might be using the Fastpass machines for tonight's EMH. They do that sometimes. But they didn't tonight. We decided to visit the Laugh Floor. We always visit the Laugh Floor. To my relief, I was not chosen to be "That Guy." They picked a clueless old guy. It was hilarious. As usual.

I don't think I mentioned that it had rained somewhere in the evening. Somehow we missed it. But, it was definitely wet around Tomorrowland. Check out this cool photo of some lights reflecting off of the water:

We hit the People Mover after Laugh Floor. It was getting to be around 11, and Tomorrowland was still pretty busy. So, we decided to go get some ice cream, and move over to Adventureland to see if it was less busy over there. We also wanted to check out the Enchanted Tiki Room without the new management.

We got our ice cream on Main Street. The parade was still going on. So, we ducked in to the bakery and used one of the tables there until the parade passed.

Then it was off to Adventureland.

But first we needed a photo in front of the castle:

The stupid Tiki Birds closed early tonight, so we couldn't see them:

That meant we were going to have to come back here tomorrow.

No biggie.

We headed over to the Pirates.

It was closed too!

Fail.

When did they rename the Taco place?:

Do you know that we still have never eaten here? They have always had weird hours. Here's the menu in case you're interested:

This sign is new, too:

Grub, yes.

But Grog? Where's the Grog?

We headed over to Big Thunder Mountain after this. The lines there are usually very short on EMH's. Not tonight. We waited about 20 minutes. Much longer than usual for an EMH. Here are the girls about to ride:

We will often ride this a few times in a row on an EMH night. But not tonight. The lines were too long for us. So, it was off to the Haunted Mansion. It was busy too, but not too bad:

The cemetary addition to the queue is good. If you bypass it, the line moves real quick. We really enjoy the new tricks the hitchhiking ghosts use at the end.

After HM, we discussed heading back to Tomorrowland. But, the crowds clearly were not thinning out. It was taking us a long time to ride the rides. And we were planning to hit another rope drop in the morning. So we all agreed to bail. I hate to leave early on an EMH, but that's what we did.

One of the twins took a couple of cool photos of the lantern tree in Liberty Square on our way out:

And, here's the classic last photo of the castle:

Since we left early, I was expecting that the bus wouldn't be too crowded on the way back. I was wrong about that. There were already a bunch of folks waiting at our bus stop when we got there, and we waited a bit more. There was a castmember there with a radio calling buses in. She was waiting for the lines for each bus to get long enough so each outgoing bus would be absolutely packed. I guess that's efficient, but it isn't pleasant being packed on to a standing room only bus at the end of a long day. That's what happened to us. She waited until our line got really long, and then she packed all of us on to that bus. I found out on the way back that the main bus stop where we got on at POR is the last stop at the resort. So, we had a long ride around the resort before we got to our stop. I sure missed the FW boat.

We made it back to our room eventually, and we hit the hay at around 2 am.

We wouldn't be in the hay for long, as we were planning to make rope drop at AK on Saturday.

Next up, our very wet visit to AK!

TCD

[stefa70 205]

Yehaw Bob sounds like a lot of fun! I can't believe the twins bailed on him...poor Bob. :'(

Can't wait to hear about AK. If I remember correctly, you hadn't been there in a while. I hope you saw the baby monkey! :heart:

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Great update, Andrew. All I can say is "Sawdust, why did it have to be sawdust". I am really surprised that the crowds were that bad for EMH"s. It must be that we usually visit during the off season. No Tiki birds, No Pirates, WTF.

I have eaten a couple of times at the taco place, now known as Tortuga Tavern. I wish it were open more often, I get tired of the usually counter service food.

I'm also glad it's not just me that must resemble a sardine. I will only take the boat to the MK, all other resorts I drive. Nothing says the end of a good day like a bus full of tired, stinky people :rofl2:

Now, I'm ready for more please :popcorn:

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

We have eaten at the, now, Tortuga Tavern... yum! They have a great vegetarian burrito!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I have to say that you can get spoiled by the FW boat. Our fist stay was at All-Star Music and the buses were almost always packed. It's also nice to have the option of taking the monorail from EPCOT to MK to catch the boat home.

Waiting on AK.. we didn't visit it last trip!

[stefa70 205]

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

it's torture... this waiting....

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Yehaw Bob sounds like a lot of fun! I can't believe the twins bailed on him...poor Bob. :'(

Can't wait to hear about AK. If I remember correctly, you hadn't been there in a while. I hope you saw the baby monkey! :heart:

Yes. Bob is awesome. Since POR is right around the corner from the Fort, this would be a fun place to visit.

Crud. I forgot about the baby monkey. So, we didn't get to see him/her on this trip. Maybe next time.

Great update, Andrew. All I can say is "Sawdust, why did it have to be sawdust". I am really surprised that the crowds were that bad for EMH"s. It must be that we usually visit during the off season. No Tiki birds, No Pirates, WTF.

I have eaten a couple of times at the taco place, now known as Tortuga Tavern. I wish it were open more often, I get tired of the usually counter service food.

I'm also glad it's not just me that must resemble a sardine. I will only take the boat to the MK, all other resorts I drive. Nothing says the end of a good day like a bus full of tired, stinky people :rofl2:

Now, I'm ready for more please :popcorn:

Well, this was a Friday night EMH. It seems like most of the time, they do the EMH's at MK on Sunday nights. But, this one was definitely more crowded than we are used to. Not even the rain scared people off.

We have eaten at the, now, Tortuga Tavern... yum! They have a great vegetarian burrito!

Good to know.

I am going to have to get there when it is open one of these days. Maybe with the name change, and apparent sprucing up, it will be open more.

it's torture... this waiting....

Slave-drivers!

I have some more coming right up!

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

we always have it for lunch either before or after jumping on POC. Like I said yum!

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

we always have it for lunch either before or after jumping on POC.

That sounds like a Tag to me ...

Meanwhile,

[Lou... 3,118]

we were going to bus it to the MK. There are four bus stops at the resort. I hear that sometimes they share buses with POFQ, but I think that is only during not-busy times.

MK has separate bus stops for RS & FQ. and does not share, however some of the other attractions do share. If required those other attractions will split them up at peak times.

I thought we would have to circle the resort to pick up more passengers, but we headed right on out from there.

Buses headed for MK leave directly from the South Depot bus stop, but as you found out, it's the 4th stop coming back to RS.

But wait. That isn't sawdust. It's the stuff the school janitor used to use when somebody thew-up at school. You know what I'm talking about. Gross. I was surprised that in this day of heightened disease control that a bus driver would sprinkle this stuff around and still use the bus. But, that appears to be what was going on here. Gross.

I'm going to give the driver the benefit of the doubt and say that there was some sort of large non-puke spill.

We don't have anything that will clean up large soda or coffee spills, so we'll use that sawdust looking stuff instead.

Whenever there is a puking incident, the bus is taken out of service right away and cleaned up.

When we arrived at the MK, there was a huge bus back up. That's how it works these days. The POR bus doesn't go to the POR bus stop. It waits until someone tells it where to go, and then pulls up there.

You are correct. We never go to the bus stop that we're coming from. It's to the one we're going to.

Tonight the person directing the buses wasn't too efficient. So we sat for a while. And we had that "sawdust" right next to us the whole time. Yuck.

It's not that the person wasn't efficient, BTW, the main dispatcher at that time of night is highly trained and experienced in order to do that job, it's usually that way when it's near closing time. They're concentrating on getting people out and you were going against the flow. You simply got caught up in the outbound process. People coming to the parks when the clearing of the park process has begun will experience delays getting in to the park.

The EWP was performing for the crowds leaving the MK: I thought to myself that Lou would sure have enjoyed seeing that.

Why, were the floats sinking?

There was a castmember there with a radio calling buses in. She was waiting for the lines for each bus to get long enough so each outgoing bus would be absolutely packed. I guess that's efficient, but it isn't pleasant being packed on to a standing room only bus at the end of a long day.

Sounds normal to me.

I'm also glad it's not just me that must resemble a sardine. I will only take the boat to the MK, all other resorts I drive. Nothing says the end of a good day like a bus full of tired, stinky people

That's fine if you're staying at FW, but if you're not and don't have a car, it's sardine packing time baby. PLEASE KEEP MOVING TO THE BACK OF THE BUS.

It's also nice to have the option of taking the monorail from EPCOT to MK to catch the boat home.

You'd have to take two monorails though. The Epcot MR goes to TTC. You'd have to get to MK to catch the boat to FW.

I would take the WL/FW bus from Epcot. That bus doesn't have to deal with the numbers of people that the buses for the very large resorts have to, so it's not that bad and it's only about a 15 minute ride to the Outpost.

Remember folks, most WDW buses now are designed for standing and not sitting. If it's a fully loaded bus, more people will be standing than sitting.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

After a quick night, I was up early on Saturday morning.

We had to make it to AK for the 9:00 rope drop.

Piece of cake.

They open the food court at 6 am at POR. At first, it's just the bakery that's open. Then, they start serving the hot food a bit later. But, that means you can get coffee at 6. Unless you make your own, you have to wait until 7:30 to get coffee at the Fort.

The girls wanted to sleep until the last possible minute. They were not going to do much fixing up that morning, as we planned to ride Kali River Rapids at AK.

While I let the girls sleep, I took a short walk around the grounds of POR. I love the landscaping here. It reminds me of how the Fort used to look. It's hard to remember, but there used to be a lot more wilderness at the Fort.

Here's a few photos of the landscaping.

This is the typical landscaping you see around the buildings in the Alligator Bayou section. These are azaleas here. I'll bet it's pretty here when they are in bloom:

This is typical Florida landscaping- ferns and palmettos. I love it!:

More azaleas:

Even the light fixtures here are great:

The pathways are wide and paved:

There are many small bridges along the pathways:

The bridges pass over small water features that are built to resemble swamps. These are actually like small pools, and the water appears to be circulated and treated:

They even built fake cypress knees in the water features:

And there are plenty of real cypress trees around:

Here is another example of the signage used in this part of the resort:

Here's another bridge:

After my little walk, I got the girls up and we headed over to AK.

We made it there right before 9 am.

The last few times we have been there for rope drop, there hasn't been an actual rope drop. They kind of just let everyone in a little early, and let you get on your way. That is good, as it eliminates the stampede to Expedition Everest. And that is good, even though we are pro-stampede.

Speaking of Expedition Everest, here is the forbidden mountain now:

Of all the fake mountains Disney has built, this one is the coolest.

And best looking.

We made it to the entrance of EE before 9 am. They didn't start letting guests on until 9. But, as soon as they opened up, we breezed right through the queue, and we were on our train. Since we were a party of three, I got a single rider with me. That usually happens here. This single rider was a know it all. I would describe her as a real housewife from New Jersey. And not a classy one. She asked if I had ever ridden EE before. I told her no. She proceeded to tell me all about it. Little did she know. It was funny actually. And Good Lord could that lady scream. Oy!

Here we are on our journey up the mountain:

The Yeti is still broken.

The EE manager must have been assigned here from the Fort.

Speaking of broken, how long has it been now that Primeval Whirl has been closed? It still is:

Which is just as well, because I don't like that ride anyway.

As you may have noticed, we headed to Dinoland USA from EE. We had to ride Dinosaur. The girls hate it. But, they always want to ride it once. Here's our photo. And, no, the girls aren't clowning around- they really hate the part where the big Dinosaur pops out at the end:

After Dinosaur, it was time to do what we came for:

Kali River Rapids!

We have not ridden KRR for a long time. One of us, if not all of us, usually gets soaked on this ride. And, that does not make for a pleasant rest of the day. So, earlier this year we vowed that we would come to AK and ride KRR all we wanted, and then leave for a change of clothes. Today was that day.

Here we go!:

I like that photo. Note how you can see my DD's hand and camera reflected in her sunglasses.

On our first ride, we rode with a bunch of people of the Brazilian persuasion. They were not speaking our language. And, they were not speaking Spanish. The girls know enough Spanish that they can usually tell me what people are saying. They said these folks were not speaking Spanish. But, I did not need a translator for when they got a big wave. I believe what they were saying was: "Aye, Aye, Aye!":

My only complaint about KRR is that it is too short.

After our first ride, we went around again for another. This time we rode with some very proper Brits. It was like the United Nations up in there!

After that ride, I wanted to go again.

But, the line was getting long.

And the girls thought twice was enough.

So it was.

I never paid much attention to these howler monkeys, but they were howling like crazy while we were there. Maybe a storm was on the way:

There are some pretty cool fountains by the restrooms on the way out of KRR. When the girls were little, they used to love playing in these. Then, when Florida had a few years of drought conditions, they turned these and other fountains around WDW off. These fountains were off for a long time. Today they were on. Kids love them!:

There is something about this fountain that makes you want to stick your head in it:

These two kids actually got all the way under the water by crawling in the fountain!:

Fun times!

So, after EE, Dinosaur, and a couple of rides on Kali, we were ready to go. I had picked up Fastpasses for EE and KRR, so the plan was to leave for a while, and come back at the end of the day to use the Fastpasses.

We headed for the gates.

It wasn't even 11 am yet.

But, that's how we roll.

We were all pretty wet.

I asked the girls what they wanted to do about lunch. If we went back to the hotel to get ready, we would be pretty late getting lunch. One of the girls suggested that we just drive through the McDonalds which is right outside of AK.

Brilliant!

That's what we did.

It wasn't long ago that someone posted a question asking if this McDonalds had a value menu. It doesn't. It's prices are probably a bit higher than what you would see at your local McDonalds, but it's still not a bad place to pick up a quick and cheap meal on WDW property. Here's the menu for anyone wondering what the prices are like:

From there, it was back to the room. We were going to get showers and change to get ready for our next adventure.

We weren't all in agreement what that would be.

One twin was lobbying hard for Epcot.

The other wanted to take the boat to Downtown Disney.

I had to be the tie breaker.

You'll find out who won in the next installment.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Why, were the floats sinking?

Lou- Thanks for your comments. This one-liner cracked me up!

You are a funny guy!

TCD

p.s. I think you are right about the sawdust. The spill didn't smell bad, and it did just look like a bunch of sawdust on the floor.