A Fiend Looks at Fifty-A TCD Birthday Trip Report

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

It’s hard to believe.

50.

A half century.

I remember when I thought 30 was old.

Then I thought 40 was old.

It turns out that neither really is.

But 50?

There is no doubt that is old.

And, I will hit that milestone in just a few days.

For a long time, Mrs. TCD and the girls have asked me what I would like to do for my 50^th birthday.

What kind of question is that?

Of course I wanted to celebrate my 50^th at the Hoop Dee Doo Review.

Duh!

In fact, I had even specifically discussed Six Bit’s schedule with him so I could make sure to attend on a night when he would be there.

So, months ago, I planned the whole thing out. My birthday fell on a Thursday, so we would celebrate a day later, on Friday September 30^th. As a bonus, this is also the night the Haunted Carriage Rides begin. I booked a reservation for the very first one. FSU has a bye on Saturday, so my oldest DD would be able to drive down from Tallahassee. October 1^st is the 40^th anniversary of the opening of WDW- we would be there for whatever special events were planned. Plus, the Food and Wine Festival begins at Epcot on October 1^st. Everything was set.

It would be an epic weekend!

Then the TCD twins went back to school.

And found out that their Homecoming weekend is the weekend of September 30^th. The Homecoming football game is on the 30^th, and the dance is on October 1^st.

Fail.

All the plans went out the window.

As luck would have it, Friday, September 23 was a random school holiday for our local school district. That meant that we could head over to the Fort on Thursday night, and make it into a three day weekend. I was able to make new reservations, and we were all set. We would celebrate my birthday a week early.

So, on Thursday, September 22, as soon as the TCD twins got home from school, we hit the road. We left home just before 3 pm. We timed things perfectly. We missed all of the typical afternoon traffic in Tampa, and made it to the Fort in less than two hours. Three of the check-in lanes were open, and a guest was pulling forward from one just as we pulled up. Sweet. We got checked in quickly. And we were assigned to site 1509. Awesome.

The weather report for Thursday was scattered thunderstorms. We hit a doozy of a storm heading through Lakeland. Unfortunately, it followed us to the Fort. As soon as we got to the site, the rain started. My oldest daughter would not be arriving from Tallahassee until a bit later, so I sent the twins off with some ponchos to the MK, and got busy getting set up. I had just gotten started when I got a phone call from the twins. The boats from FW were all suspended because of lightning. They let me know that they were going to head over to Wilderness Lodge by bus, and decide what to do from there.

The rain was light, but it didn’t stop for my entire set-up. I heard from the girls after a bit, and they decided that they were going to just take the bus back to the Fort. Just as I was finishing up, the girls came driving up in my oldest DD’s car. She had been driving by the bus stop just as they were exiting. It was about 7 pm.

Luckily, the rain let up for a bit, and we were able to head down to Trail’s End to get our Giddyup and Go. It was pretty damp out, so we ate inside the camper. Originally, we had plans to hit a park at the end of the evening. But, there were no EMH’s tonight, and everything would be closed by 9 pm. Plus, it wasn’t done raining. So, we hung around the Fort. When the rain let up we looped. We got ice cream from the Trading Post right before it closed at 10, and we caught the very end of UP! At the Theater under the stars. There were maybe 20 people there.

There’s not much to tell about our Thursday evening. In fact, I think I’ve told it all.

Because of the rain, I have no photos from Thursday.

Not even one!

So the photos and our story begin on Friday morning.

Don’t worry about the slow start. There is plenty to tell in this trip report. In fact, I have six new things to tell you about. Six. All at the Fort. I also have a bit of important news about a favorite place at WDW that we almost always visit. And, I even have a solved mystery to share. Plus there is a new TCD Real Man of Genius that you will be hearing all about. I would say that it was a successful trip.

But, we must begin at the beginning. . .

If you have ever read a TCD trip report, you know that I was up early on Friday. We were planning to do rope drop at Epcot at 9 am. But, I was up way before that.

First stop was the canal behind the 300 loop. We have had plenty of rain in central Florida lately, so the canals are pretty full. But, Bay Lake is full too, so the canals are not flowing out into the lake. Which means that the water is starting to stagnate. You can see a green sheen on top of the water here:

The pumps that were here earlier in the year are gone. Water is not being let out in to the lake. The dams are shut. Here you can see that the water from the lake is slowly leaking in to the canal:

This is where the pump was. You can see it is gone now:

This is an interesting piece of equipment:

I have no idea what it is. If you look at this tag, you can make out that it says U.S. Government Property on the top line:

I came back here to enjoy one of my favorite vistas in the Fort.

This:

I was still too early for my coffee from Trail’s End, so I popped in to River Country for a look around.

These slides look worse than ever. The photos are a little dark since the sun was still rising, but you can see that the rock work is really crumbling:

There is a lot of water in the old pool:

The area that the public has access to is in decent shape:

The new landscaping planted when Pop’s Place was removed has really grown in:

7:30 finally rolled around, and it was time to get some coffee.

There was something new here at the Trail’s End drink station.

This sign:

You don’t think that’s new?

Well it is.

Here’s the old one:

I guess they wanted to make sure everyone knows the rules.

I don’t know why it doesn’t mention the Meadow Trading Post. The coffee machine is still there. And, you can refill your mugs there. Also, you used to be able to get iced tea here at Trail’s End. Now it says just hot tea. But, guess what?

There’s a new Sweet Tea dispenser here:

And, it’s good Sweet Tea.

All of the other resort drink stations use a machine that dispenses Peak iced tea. That stuff isn't bad, but it tastes like instant tea.

You can see that this sweet tea is real brewed tea.

This is a very good thing.

I’m sure it won’t last.

If you are keeping score, that makes two new things. The sign on the drink machine and the sweet tea dispenser. There are still four more new things to come!

Back at the site, I got the girls moving.

While waiting for them, this DVC van came by:

I see them from time to time at the Fort. If you want to take a tour of a DVC resort, they will come and pick you up at the Fort. I spoke to this fellow for a while. I asked him what he knew about new DVC resorts. He said all he knew was what he read on Discussion Boards- they don’t tell him anything. We discussed the Grand Floridian project, which I didn’t realize still has not been officially announced. He didn’t know much about the Fort Wilderness DVC- just rumors.

We were just a little late for Rope Drop at Epcot. We were pulling in the parking lot at 9. There were no lines at the turnstiles, and we were able to get Soarin’ Fastpasses without having to fight a mob. Epcot was not busy. We rode Test Track, Sum of All Thrills and Soarin’. At 11, we headed over to Mexico, and had lunch at the San Angel Cantina when it opened at 11:30. It was hot and sunny then, so we decided to head back to the Fort for a little break. The loose plan was to visit the MK in the afternoon. There was going to be a Halloween party that night, so the MK would be closing at 7. Usually that means lighter crowds during the day.

We spent the afternoon at the Fort looping and visiting the pool.

On one of our looping runs, we noticed a bunch of buzzards around the 500 loop:

There’s a bunch up here in this tree:

There were some picking at a dead armadillo on the other side of the road:

I’m not sure if there was something else attracting them. It seems like a lot of birds showing up for just one armadillo.

I have noticed that a few trees have been removed around the Fort lately. There was a crew right at the entrance of the 500 loop taking a tree down:

At some point that afternoon, I stopped by and picked up our Hoop Dee Doo tickets. As I was being helped, I Iooked behind the castmember, and noticed a really cool photo on the wall. It was an old photo of the Fort entrance. I asked the castmember about it. He said it was from 1974. I asked him if he would mind taking a photo of it for me. He said sure. I handed him my camera. He didn’t do such a good job. But, you can still make out the highlights. You can see the check-in lanes, but the lobby building did not exist then. The guard shack looks like it’s in the same place, as is the Outpost bus stop:

I will have to go back for a better photo some time. I would really like a chance to study the photo up close.

While I was in the area, I snapped a photo from the Trail’s End porch. You can see that it was kind of dead around the Fort on this Friday afternoon:

If fact, the Fort was kind of dead all weekend.

The 800 loop was empty.

Completely empty!

It’s hard to take a photo of an empty loop, but here are a couple shots of the 800 loop on Friday afternoon:

The girls did some decorating around the campsite for my birthday. Here is some of their handiwork:

As Friday afternoon moved along, nobody really felt like heading over to the MK. We were pacing ourselves, as our reservations for the Hoop Dee Doo were for the 9:30 show.

Since this was a special weekend, Mrs. TCD was going to be joining us for the evening. And that’s not all! The TCD dog, Rocky, was also coming along. Mrs. TCD was planning to bring Rocky by for the afternoon, and she and he would be spending the night.

Mrs. TCD and Rocky arrived at about 4.

Then the fun really began!

You’ll hear all about it in the next post !

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Sweet... 1st page!! I'm going to write out my favorite version of the happy birthday song. Be glad I didn't offer to sing it for you.... even my dogs don't like my singing! Oh... and please don't be offended it's the only version of the song I like:

Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. You smell like a monkey and you act like one too!

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Happy Birthday, Andrew. Getting to spend your special day at the Fort is awesome, even if it is a week early. I'll be celebrating my birthday at the Fort in November. By the way 50 isn't old, especially when one is looking at 55 :rofl2:

I'm ready for more whenever you are :jumpforjoy

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Happy Birthday, Andrew. Getting to spend your special day at the Fort is awesome, even if it is a week early. I'll be celebrating my birthday at the Fort in November. By the way 50 isn't old, especially when one is looking at 55 :rofl2:

I'm ready for more whenever you are :jumpforjoy

Doodle you will get the same birthday song written to you when it's time for your birthday!

And yes, I am waiting too!

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

Happy Birthday to the great TCD!! Can't wait to read about the rest of your adventures!

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

Happy Birthday Andrew!! Good start and a good review of things going on around the fort.

[Starbuc71 162]

Andrew, Happy Birthday. I was excited to see you were going to be at the fort this weekend until I read futher down. We arrive on Friday the 30th. getting old sucks...especially when you have to continue to work full time and then some. Great report so far. Look forward to more

[stefa70 205]

Please don't think that just because you had to celebrate early that I will not be singing to you on your actual Birthday! I put it on our desk calendar at the first of the month, and then had to explain to Trevor that, "No, TCD does not need any landscaping done on that day" but I would not, could not, forget!

I'm so happy that the whole family was with you to celebrate. I know it's not often that Mrs. TCD and Rocky get to visit. Please tell me that you got some new pics of Rocky?

Can't wait to hear more about your weekend! Did Yuri happen to make it? Was there Corona involved? But, take your time, I want to savor every moment. :laugh:

[TheLug 10]

Happy Birthday Andrew!

My first page one on a TCD Report!!!! I'm here for the ride! This is exciting!

Will you be at the Fort on Halloween?

I hope beer is involved!

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Happy Birthday TCD and spending it at the Fort sounds just great, hope you had a great time as usuall and can not wait to read about it!!!!!!!!!!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Sweet... 1st page!! I'm going to write out my favorite version of the happy birthday song. Be glad I didn't offer to sing it for you.... even my dogs don't like my singing! Oh... and please don't be offended it's the only version of the song I like:

Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. You smell like a monkey and you act like one too!

Thanks for the song. My version of it ends with " . . .and you look like one too!"

Happy Birthday, Andrew. Getting to spend your special day at the Fort is awesome, even if it is a week early. I'll be celebrating my birthday at the Fort in November. By the way 50 isn't old, especially when one is looking at 55 :rofl2:

I'm ready for more whenever you are :jumpforjoy

Yep.

I have learned that as time goes by, everything is relative. 50 sure seemed old when it was a long way away. Now, it doesn't seem old. But, there is no denying that I have less days ahead of me than I do behind me.

Happy Birthday to the great TCD!! Can't wait to read about the rest of your adventures!

Thanks.

I don't know about the "great" part though.

Happy Birthday Andrew!! Good start and a good review of things going on around the fort.

Thanks, Carol.

There is more new stuff around the Fort to report.

Stay tuned.

Andrew, Happy Birthday. I was excited to see you were going to be at the fort this weekend until I read futher down. We arrive on Friday the 30th. getting old sucks...especially when you have to continue to work full time and then some. Great report so far. Look forward to more

Ah, man, I just missed you.

Have a great time!

I hope this rain we have been having lets up by the weekend.

Please don't think that just because you had to celebrate early that I will not be singing to you on your actual Birthday! I put it on our desk calendar at the first of the month, and then had to explain to Trevor that, "No, TCD does not need any landscaping done on that day" but I would not, could not, forget!

I'm so happy that the whole family was with you to celebrate. I know it's not often that Mrs. TCD and Rocky get to visit. Please tell me that you got some new pics of Rocky?

Can't wait to hear more about your weekend! Did Yuri happen to make it? Was there Corona involved? But, take your time, I want to savor every moment. :laugh:

Oh yes, there are new Rocky pics!

In fact, there will be some in the next post!

Yes, there was Corona involved.

And other beverages too!

Yuri did not show up. He probably thought I was going to be there next weekend. He knows when to show up for free beer and cake.

I had to do my own exploring this time.

Don't worry, I came up with something pretty good.

My first page one on a TCD Report!!!! I'm here for the ride!

Now that's the way to do it!

Good work there, Lug!

TCD

[ajcjmom 8]

Happy Birthday! Can't wait to hear more!

[Starbuc71 162]

Andrew, Was the 800 loop closed last weekend or was it just empty? We always request that loop and sent our fax yesterday. Just curious to what to expect. Thanks

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

The first order of business upon Rocky's arrival was a walk.

So he and I headed out along the canal next to the 1500 loop.

It was drizzling a bit, but neither of us minded.

To me, it looks like the trees on the other side of the canal from the 1500 loop have been thinned out. But I may be mistaken about this:

Rocky and I decided to walk along the canal past the 1600 and 1800 loops to see if we could see anything going on over in the Golden Oaks/Four Seasons project. That's the golf course there in the distance on this shot:

Speaking of Rocky, here he is!:

You can see raindrops in the canal in this shot:

And, here's another Rocky photo.

You can never have too many Rocky photos:

Rocky and I walked all the way up to the gate by the cart path:

The last time I was back here, the gate was unlocked. But today it is locked:

There is a sign here that says No Pets Beyond This Point:

Rocky doesn't read very well, so he wanted to keep going:

But, look at those locks. I would have to be a Houdini to unlock them!:

Of course, the gap between the gate and the post was large enough for us to walk through, but what would be the fun in doing that?

Plus, I always follow the rules.

So, we just stayed on our side of the gate and looked.

If you look at this photo, past the bridge, you can see a green construction fence:

Here's a bit closer of a look:

The new Four Seasons hotel is going to be built on the other side of that green fence. They are advertising this hotel as including a roof-top restaurant which will feature views of the Magic Kingdom. That means that this stinking hotel is going to be visible from the Fort.

To illustrate, let's look back the other way. You see that RV there along the canal? That's the 1800 loop:

And, looking further, we can see the 1600 loop and 1500 loop:

That's too bad.

It was always nice to come back here and just see trees, and maybe a bit of the golf course.

Now we are going to see a big hotel.

Boo!

Rocky next went to the dog park.

But, an owner came in with two pretty crazy dogs.

She asked if Rocky was alright.

I said yes, he's very friendly.

Then her dog growled and snapped at Rocky!

I guess by alright, she meant if he was OK with being growled and snapped at.

He's not.

If a dog tries to start anything with Rocky, he will finish it.

He is no wimp.

This would not end well for the stupid lady and her aggressive dog.

So we left.

Which is fine.

Because Rocky loves to loop.

We checked on the 800 loop to see if anyone had been placed there yet.

It was still empty.

So Rocky enjoyed the 800 loop tetherball court:

As you can see, that dog enjoys himself some tetherball. I don't know why he likes tetherball so much, but he does. I got a couple of shots of him leaping. It was hard to get a shot of that. But, he does that almost everytime the ball comes around. He hits it with his nose. We really need to get him one for home.

This was just the 800 loop tetherball.

Rocky tried out all of the tetherball courts over the weekend.

We will see some more tetherball pics later.

Here are some more photos of the empty 800 loop:

We enjoyed looping and hanging out for the rest of the afternoon.

Then, at about 7, it was time to take Rocky to the doggy day care.

That's right, Rocky was going to visit the new WDW kennel.

He has never been.

But we decided that we would try it out on this trip.

Just for the evening, while we were at the Hoop Dee Doo.

For a dog Rocky's size, it is $18 to leave him there for up to six hours.

That sounded better to us than leaving Rocky in the pop-up.

We have a cage err. wire home that we keep him in at home. But it's a PITA to lug that thing around. So, we opted for the kennel.

I'll have some photos and a report about the kennel in my next post.

TCD

[caveat lector 181]

Woo-Hoo!!! The TCD trip report train is leaving the station, and I'm onboard in the front car no less. :)

Happy Pre-Birthday Big Fella.

TDCRMoG to boot. There's electricity in the air.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Andrew, Was the 800 loop closed last weekend or was it just empty? We always request that loop and sent our fax yesterday. Just curious to what to expect. Thanks

No, it wasn't closed.

Sometime on Friday, one big motorhome showed up and parked in 801. It was a newer Prevost. The guy's toad was a tricked out F350. I thought maybe that a Prevost rally was going to show up there on Saturday, but no one ever did. The guy left on Sunday, and the loop was empty again.

The Fort was pretty dead all weekend. It didn't look like they were going to be closing the 800 loop. I think they just left it empty so they could fill up the other loops.

TCD

[stefa70 205]

Great Rocky pics! I especially love Tetherball Rocky! He definitely needs one at home, what a great way for him to get some exercise. I can't begin to tell you how many times that same thing has happened at the dog park. We don't even visit that much anymore, unless it's empty. No matter how small I may be, I doubt any canine would enjoy my foot in their ass, after they went after Mason. He's just as happy to ride in the cart.

You should have called me, I would have drove over and babysat Rocky for free! :heart:

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

Happy Birthday! 50 is not old, I'm right behind at 49 now. Rocky is adorable! I have never been to Hoop Dee Doo so I am looking forward to hearing more!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

You really should invest in some tetherball. Can you imagine the hours of enjoyment the family would get from this. Just imagine. One morning you wake up, let rocky out, get your coffee and look out the back door. rocky is swinging by his mouth from the tether ball..... you almost choke on your coffee and then burn yourself as you spit it out..... Ok, so maybe not such a great idea.

We have saying in our TT. If the dog ear is flipped back it's TROUBLE. Partial is just mischief. Normal is naptime. Rocky is a handsome boy. I can't wait to see more pictures!

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

Old isn't an age - it's a State of Mind ... I haven't been to that State, yet.

[Heidi-meetsTCD@TSM 5]

Happy Birthday TCD!!!!!!

What a fun surprise to log on this afternoon and see a new report from you!

Those River Country photos never fail to bring a tear to me eye.............I spent so many happy times there as a kid and I was lucky enough to bring my own kids when they were 1 and 4 right before it closed for good. I sure do miss the place!

We have been at the fort when entire loops are empty too, it sure makes for a different feel.

Looking forward to more!

Heidi

[Lou... 3,118]

And now you know who the mystery guest is that was at the Fort this weekend. No, not TCD, it was Mrs, TCD.

[Brent... Just Brent 83]

I thought I saw a TCD twin on Saturday at the Fort! Then I was Sure I saw you loop by. Turns out we were neighbors. I was/am right next door in 1505 and never realized it. It's a small fiend world!

[CKCK 45]

Happy Birthday.

Is 50 really old? I hear it's the new 40. Of course, if you think 40 is old, then being the new 40 may not sound good at all.

If it makes you feel any better, you and my grandmother share the same birthday. She will be 86 I think. That should make you feel a lot better about being 50!

Can't wait to read more. We arrive at the fort in two weeks so this is great timing to get me even more excited!

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

At some point that afternoon, I stopped by and picked up our Hoop Dee Doo tickets. As I was being helped, I Iooked behind the castmember, and noticed a really cool photo on the wall. It was an old photo of the Fort entrance. I asked the castmember about it. He said it was from 1974. I asked him if he would mind taking a photo of it for me. He said sure. I handed him my camera. He didn’t do such a good job. But, you can still make out the highlights. You can see the check-in lanes, but the lobby building did not exist then. The guard shack looks like it’s in the same place, as is the Outpost bus stop:

I will have to go back for a better photo some time. I would really like a chance to study the photo up close.

TCD

OK, why would there be an Outpost Bus Stop in 1974?? There was only the Magic Kingdom, no Epcot, no Studios or Animal Kingdom. Only the resorts around Seven Seas Lagoon. Was any of the Lake Buena Vista Village developed yet?? The ADA rules were not totally in place at that time, so no need to provide "alternate" transportation for wheelchairs or scooters.

Perhaps a tram stop?? Maybe even the train platform?? Just curious.