A Trip Report Sure to Win Applesauce. . .TCD's NYE 2011 TR!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Well, here it is . . .

2012!

Time for the first TCD TR of the New Year.

The TCD gang made it back to the Fort to ring in 2012.

This was our fourth NYE in a row.

I guess we like to spend NYE there or something.

This trip began on Wednesday, December 28, 2011, and ended on January 1, 2012.

That's 4 nights at the Fort.

And, as usual, we had a blast.

I have a few photos to share.

I did some exploring.

We will be taking a look at something old.

And something new.

And for the first time ever, we have several TCD Real Man of Genius Awards from the same trip. I couldn't choose just one.

We will also look at a lot of Christmas decorations.

And you will hear some of what it is like to visit WDW when it is packed to the gills.

But, let's begin at the beginning.

We headed East from the TCD ponderosa at about 2 on Wednesday afternoon.

Much later than I like to leave on my first day, but I had a busy weekend (it was Christmas you know), and the oldest TCD DD and I had made a round trip to Tallahassee the day before, on December 27 to move her into a new apartment. That took way longer than I had anticipated.

I had reserved a partial site and requested the 1500 loop, but since I would be arriving later in the day, I was prepared to be banished to the 2000 loop. Which really would have been fine, since I expected most of the Fort to be in party mode for New Year's Eve.

Traffic was surprisingly light, and before we knew it, we were at those magic gates:

Take a moment to take that scene in.

Do you see the blue sky?

And the palm trees?

It had been in the high 70's for the past week. Today, it had cooled off a bit, but it was still a beautiful day.

The lanes at the front gates were still decorated for Christmas, but I felt that maybe they were not as nicely decorated as I recall in years past:

So, where were you on December 28th?

Someplace cold?

Wouldn't you rather have been here?:

I should mention here that since I was driving, I turned the photo taking over to TCD twin #1.

She snapped this photo as we made our approach to the Fort on Vista Drive. I like this stretch of road, because it means we are almost to the Fort (don't miss the blue sky):

And then we were there.

Twin #1 got a photo of half the Fort entrance sign. Half is better than nothing, right?:

Since it was about 4 pm, I expected the check in lanes to be busy and a long wait. But, it wasn't bad at all:

Nobody was behind me, so I hung back for a moment to carefully choose my lane.

Which one would you have chosen?

We pulled in there behind the white Class B with the little trailer.

We had seen the castmember handing them their paperwork, so we figured they would pull out soon.

And we figured right.

Awesome!

Check-in was a breeze.

No problem.

And, we were assigned the 1500 loop.

Site 1507!

We've had that site a couple of times before.

So, I was quite pleased.

I noticed that we got the last available site on 1500- it was totally full when we pulled in.

Here we are on the site, before I got busy setting up:

You can see that the sun was already getting low in the sky, so I had to work quickly:

I ran the TCD twins down to the marina so they could go off for their traditional adventure while I got camp set up. Right after I had dropped them off, I ran right into my first Fiends- it was TiggerinBama and Millermousketeers- they were standing out in the 100 loop chatting. Oh yeah, I also saw my buddy Fiesty too.

From there, it was back to bust my hump getting set up.

First order of business was to get my site decorations up.

Here you go:

Festive, right?

Then I got camp set up.

I thought that the girls would be calling me to pick them up, but they showed up just as I was finishing my set up. They had been at the Wilderness Lodge, and took the bus back to the Fort. As many of you know, that bus becomes an internal Yellow route bus once it reaches the Fort, and they got dropped off right at our loop.

As I was setting up that night, I couldn't help but notice my neighbors right across from me. There were about 10 young men, I would say in their early 20's, setting up one big tent. It took them quite a while, as they were drinking and fooling around the whole time. They had one van and three golf carts there on the site, but only one tent. And ten guys. At first, I thought that maybe this was going to be a rainbow convention (not that there is anything wrong with that), but from what I overheard, they were a bunch of college boys from FSU who were planning to head over to the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando on Thursday for FSU's game against Notre Dame.

I figured the college boys would be a nuisance with their drinking and carrying on, but just after it got dark, they loaded up on their golf carts and headed out to the bus stop. They were going to Downtown Disney to party. I heard them later when they got back after 2, but they really weren't a problem at all. Somehow, all ten of them got into that tent. Must have been frat boys. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

When the girls got back, we headed down to Trail's End and got our traditional first night meal- a Giddyap And Go fried chicken dinner. We enjoyed that back at the camper.

Then it was time for looping and hanging out.

We enjoyed all of the great decorations at the Fort.

And a nice cup of hot cocoa.

And before we knew it, it was midnight, and we hit the hay.

We were going to have visitors tomorrow, and we all had big plans.

I'll pick it up from there in the next post.

TCD

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Oh goody, a TCD trip report!! This is awesome, nothing like a TR to make the miles fly by!! I have lots of miles tobgo by the way so no slacking. :rofl2:

[blm2003 2]

Excellent news! A TCD TR to start the New Year off right! And to make it in on the first page....this is something special for me! :toot: :popcorn:

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

Can't wait to read more!!!

[SCTigerCock 171]

Thanks for sharing! :heart:

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Excellent news! A TCD TR to start the New Year off right! And to make it in on the first page....this is something special for me! :toot: :popcorn:

Welcome, and we will get this year started off right!

My first couple of posts are light on photos, but things will pick up from there.

Can't wait to read more!!!

Not to worry, there will be more.

Much, much, more.

Oh goody, a TCD trip report!! This is awesome, nothing like a TR to make the miles fly by!! I have lots of miles tobgo by the way so no slacking. :rofl2:

Yes ma'am.

I will do my best to keep you entertained on your journey west.

In fact, another update is coming your way right now!

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

As you may have noticed, I didn't take a lot of photos on our first evening.

I was busy setting up camp and there isn't much to take photos of in the dark.

So, we will move right along to Thursday morning the 29th of December.

It got a little cold that first night.

The TCD pop-up's on board weather station told me that it got down into the 40's.

But it was already feeling warmer in the morning.

Let's begin with the sunrise photos.

I call these sunrise over 1507:

This is my next door neighbor in 1506. They had some nice lighted decorations on their site:

Now, how about we look at the college boys?

You can see their tent and one of their golf carts here. You can't really see it, but someone left the keys to the van right there on the golf cart seat. I could have had a lot of fun with the college boys, but I let them alone. You can see that they brought their own trash can, and that they left their shoes scattered around their site when they all cuddled up together in that one tent:

Check out how they left all of their food and stuff out on their picnic table, and used their grill to hang their wet towels:

They hadn't bothered to plug in any of their golf carts to charge the night before:

I was kind of looking forward to see how these guys survived the weekend.

But, they all got up a little after this, and packed up and left.

Bummer.

They were on their way to their tailgate party at the Citrus Bowl.

I took these photos early in the morning before they began packing up.

From here, I headed down to Trail's End for that first cup of coffee.

And that is where I did my first exploring.

Please be sure to join me in my next update where we will take a look at some things that many of you have probably seen before, but, like me, never really appreciated.

TCD

[We4mickey 6]

Yay, I got in on the first page. Can't wait to read more!

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

Now THAT's the way to take advantage of staying on property so you can party! 10 folks, 1 tent, Disney's bus system. Cool!!

I'm just wondering WHERE they managed to party at Pleasure Island?? There is nothing to do there anymore!!!

[stefa70 205]

Since it's freezing and I have nothing better to do, I'll read this report. :rofl2:

Actually, I've missed you here! I did have a dream about you two nights ago, which was strange since I haven't even heard from you for a couple of weeks. I will blame it on the cold medicine I've been taking.

(Rita, Genia and doodle, we will need NO further comments, thank you! :siren: )

I love your decorations!! :heartsmiley:

Hoping this is going to be a long and drawn out one!

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

You didn't tell me not to comment!! Dreaming of TCD??? I mean I know his trip reports are good and all, but "seriously" :rofl2:

[stefa70 205]

You didn't tell me not to comment!! Dreaming of TCD??? I mean I know his trip reports are good and all, but "seriously" :rofl2:

Well I asked for some psychological counseling from those girls the next morning, and I didn't need any comments from the peanut gallery. I think there is some kind of patient confidentiality, isn't there?

Moving right along.......TCD? Another update soon PLEASE!

[charitycase20....Charity 10]

WooHoo! Nothing like to TCD trip report to make me wish these next 15 days REALLY fly by!! :jumpforjoy

[Memphis 105]

Wow, Stef met Zac Brown just a few days ago yet she is dreaming of TCD! You the man Andrew.

Is that snowman blow up new? I like it.

[SCTigerCock 171]

Well I asked for some psychological counseling from those girls the next morning, and I didn't need any comments from the peanut gallery. I think there is some kind of patient confidentiality, isn't there?

Moving right along.......TCD? Another update soon PLEASE!

Now that right thar was funny as..........well just funny. :clint:

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

I will respect your wishes, Stef. It will be difficult though. :-X

[North7... Jeff 2]

Then it was time for looping and hanging out.

We enjoyed all of the great decorations at the Fort.

TCD, this may seem like an odd question but I've always been curious how you get your cart to FW when pulling the pop-up. Do you tow it behind your pop-up? IIRC from the pictures in your previous trip reports, you didn't have a Disney cart, and because you are there so often and always seem to be looping, I assume you have your own cart.

See, I told you it was an odd question!! :rofl2:

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I'm late but in....

[jugman 4]

:popcorn:

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

A few comments to respond to, and then I will work on my next update.

It's going to be a nice, long one, so be sure to check back.

And, if you haven't already jumped in, the first page is now full.

But you can get in early on the second page!

Yay, I got in on the first page. Can't wait to read more!

Hey, Lynn!

Yep, 1st page!

Nice job!

Now THAT's the way to take advantage of staying on property so you can party! 10 folks, 1 tent, Disney's bus system. Cool!!

I'm just wondering WHERE they managed to party at Pleasure Island?? There is nothing to do there anymore!!!

House of Blues is fun, from what I hear.

And that Irish place has a bar, right?

Since it's freezing and I have nothing better to do, I'll read this report. :rofl2:

Actually, I've missed you here! I did have a dream about you two nights ago, which was strange since I haven't even heard from you for a couple of weeks. I will blame it on the cold medicine I've been taking.

(Rita, Genia and doodle, we will need NO further comments, thank you! :siren: )

I love your decorations!! :heartsmiley:

Hoping this is going to be a long and drawn out one!

Yes, this is going to be a long, drawn-out one!

Aren't they all?

I thought you would like the decorations!

No comment on the dream.

Other than I get that a lot.

It's some kind of magic power I have over women or something.

You didn't tell me not to comment!! Dreaming of TCD??? I mean I know his trip reports are good and all, but "seriously" :rofl2:

I know,

Seriously?

Well I asked for some psychological counseling from those girls the next morning, and I didn't need any comments from the peanut gallery. I think there is some kind of patient confidentiality, isn't there?

Moving right along.......TCD? Another update soon PLEASE!

Yes, another update is what we need here!

I'll get right to work on it, and perhaps we can off of this subject!

WooHoo! Nothing like to TCD trip report to make me wish these next 15 days REALLY fly by!! :jumpforjoy

This one ought to be going for at least the next 15 days, so you are golden!

Wow, Stef met Zac Brown just a few days ago yet she is dreaming of TCD! You the man Andrew.

Is that snowman blow up new? I like it.

Scary.

I've had that snowman for a few years.

He was a floor display at our local Lowe's.

I got him for 50% off.

He's pretty tall!

Now that right thar was funny as..........well just funny. :clint:

Yes, Stef is funny today.

I will respect your wishes, Stef. It will be difficult though. :-X

Per Stef's request, we will now be moving along in this trip report!

TCD, this may seem like an odd question but I've always been curious how you get your cart to FW when pulling the pop-up. Do you tow it behind your pop-up? IIRC from the pictures in your previous trip reports, you didn't have a Disney cart, and because you are there so often and always seem to be looping, I assume you have your own cart.

See, I told you it was an odd question!! :rofl2:

Since I answer all questions, I will answer yours.

You are very observant.

I don't have my own cart.

But, I know people who have carts.

I can usually work out a deal to borrow one.

It's good to be TCD.

TCD

[North7... Jeff 2]

Since I answer all questions, I will answer yours.

You are very observant.

I don't have my own cart.

But, I know people who have carts.

I can usually work out a deal to borrow one.

It's good to be TCD.

TCD

Thanks TCD. If I had a cart and lived closer than 28 hours from FW I'd be more than happy to let you borrow it also. It's the least I could do in return for all these great trip reports. :jumpforjoy

Can't wait to read more.

Jeff

[kampfirekim 260]

:yay: Great beginning. I am looking forward to more. My expectations are very high. I mean... any report that can win applesauce has to be a doozy right?

(Note to Stef.... Mrs. Devores and I saw TCD in a swimsuit. Imagine the dreams we have. :raspberry2:)

Ok. I'm finished with my commenting before I get into trouble with H. ;D

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

(Note to Stef.... Mrs. Devores and I saw TCD in a swimsuit. Imagine the dreams we have. :raspberry2:)

This TR is heading to an unexpected place... real quick!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

As mentioned, first stop on Thursday morning was Trail's End for some of that delicious coffee.

Over the years, I have gotten to know some of the ladies who work there on the morning shift.

Josephine and Paulette are a couple of the ladies who have worked there for a long, long, time.

They are always fun to see.

They usually don't work weekends, so I don't get to see them on my weekend trips, but today was Thursday, and I got to say hello to both of them, and catch up on the gossip. Josephine told me how busy it had been this Christmas season. This year apparently has been a lot busier than the last few.

While I was in the area, and since it was really early, I decided that this would be a good time for me to cross something off of my to-do list.

I have been wanting to take a good look around the inside of Crockett's Tavern.

Why, you ask?

Well, a few weeks ago someone posted an old Crockett's Tavern menu from 1987 for sale on e-bay.

For $25!

Good luck with that.

But, I found the menu to be very interesting.

This is the cover page:

Isn't that interesting how there was all that Davy Crockett memorabilia on display inside Crockett's Tavern?

That must have been cool.

Well, guess what?

All of that stuff is still there.

Well, most of it is anyway.

I have seen it many times and never realized what some of it was.

So, on this morning I decided to do a bit of exploring right there inside Crockett's Tavern.

Here we are:

Did you read what is says on the menu?

If not, you should before you continue reading.

It might make the photos more interesting.

Here is that old Bear that Davy kil't, along with a display box full of stuff, and a map, and even Davy's rifle (Ol' Betsy, I presume) :

This here is old Davy himself:

Here's a look at some of the items on display, we have a couple of portraits, and something in a display case:

This is a map of the Creek Indian territory. From what I gather, Davy liked to kill these savages:

I am not sure who this guy is, but notice how blurry his picture is. I guess he is a big drinker. Based on the names mentioned on the menu, I assume that this is George Russell:

This would be a good place for me to confess that I really know very little about Davy Crockett. In fact, until I saw the menu on ebay, I honestly never really thougth about the fact that Crockett's Tavern at Fort Wilderness is named after Davy Crockett, who was a real person, not just some folktale creation. My ignorance is somewhat understandable, as there is nothing inside of Crockett's tavern that makes any effort to explain or identify what any of this stuff is. The old menu did, but there isn't even a menu for Crockett's Tavern anymore.

What is very interesting to me is that over in Disneyland Paris, they have a campground about 15 miles away from the park called Davy Crockett Ranch. And they have a Crockett's Tavern over there. And an Alamo Trading Post. Why do the French embrace Davy more than Americans do? I guess it's because Davy isn't exactly politically correct, what with all the murdering of Native Americans and racoons and such.

But, enough of that, let's get back to our tour.

According to the menu, this is President "Andy" Jackson along with a 15 star and 15 stripe star spangled banner:

We only had 15 states back in Davy's time.

This is the model of the Gullywhumper:

From what I gather, the Gullywhumper was Mike Fink's keelboat, and it raced down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. I guess there must be some connection between Mike Fink and Davy, but I don't know what that connection is. I know that the MK used to have an attraction called Mike Fink's keelboats, but I still am not exactly sure who MIke Fink is.

I should also confess that I don't recall seeing any of Disney's Davy Crockett movies. Maybe if I had, this would all make more sense to me. But, I think those came out in the 50's. I know they were a big deal back then, but by the time I came along, kids were more interested in space and stuff, not old pioneer stuff.

Here's another look at that display box we saw earlier. You can see Davy and Mike's hats in there along with some playing cards and various documents:

Here's a close up of one of the documents. It looks like it may be a script for a play or something:

Here's a close-up of another document. I am guessing that this is Davy's "openin' speech to Congress" mentioned on the menu:

These are the lyrics to Davy's famous song:

You know what's weird?

I know the words and the tune to that song.

But I have never seen the movie.

I think they still play that song at the campfire program at the Fort.

And while we are on the subject, when did Davy fix the crack in the Liberty Bell?

The last time I checked, it was still cracked.

Here's a map of Tennessee:

And here's Davy's rifle, Ol' Betsy again:

And that poor dead bear:

It's pretty impressive that Davy killed this bear when he was only 3.

And the canoe build by two old indians:

I could not smell any b'ar grease.

Here's another shot of the canoe with the wall that hand Andrew Jackson's portrait on display in the background. The menu mentions something about a target that Davy hit with one bullit, but I didn't see that target around anywhere:

This sign has hung over the bar for as long as I can remember, and there is a drink they serve here called the Gullywhumper, but until now, I never realized that this sign was from a boat:

There is a shelf that goes around the whole tavern which holds all kinds of old stuff:

Back in the corner of the tavern, we find this drawing depicting Davy at the Alamo:

According to the menu, this must be Jim Bowie and his knife:

I have heard of Bowie knives before, but didn't know where the name came from.

Now I do.

I recognize this as a drawing of the Alamo:

I have never been to the Alamo, but Mrs. TCD has. I remember her telling me how small it is, and how it didn't really look like something worth getting killed over.

But apparently, this is where Davy went to the big Fort in the sky.

Bowie, too.

Again according to the menu, I am guessing that this is a drawing of Col. William B. Travis:

Since these pipes are on display back here with the Alamo stuff, I guess that they must have something to do with Davy, or one of the other gentlemen whose portraits are back here, but I didn't see anything on the menu describing these:

The menu tells us that this is Davy's song, "Farewell," which he wrote on the way to the Alamo:

On the wall next to all the Alamo stuff, we have this Buffalo head and snow shoes. All the other stuff on display here has some connection to Davy Crockett, but I'm not sure if this does or not:

Well, there you have it.

I thought it was cool that almost all the stuff described in the 1987 menu is still there.

I wish that they had signs or something there now identifying it.

And, in case you are interested, here are a couple of other images from that menu which were posted on ebay (the prices were cut off like that in the posting, but you can kind of see the first digit anyway) :

The appetizers listed there take me right back to 1987.

I remember all the "fern bars" served that stuff.

Buffalo wings were a relatively new thing in Florida back then.

They are obviously still around.

But whatever happened to potato skins and deep fried vegetables? You don't see those around too many places anymore.

And, look at how you could get yourself a nice steak there at Crockett's Tavern!

Boy, wouldn't that be nice if you could still do that!

As much fun as it was poking around in Crockett's Tavern, it was time for me to move on.

In my next post, we will take a look around the Settlement.

And I may even shimmy up a pole for old times sake!

TCD

[rm0530 5]

Oh how I wish I was in the 1500 loop again for this New Years!

It's nice to have some detailed pictures of these items. Most of the time when I'm at WDW, there is so much to look at and I start to feel overwhelmed. Sensory overload!

Can I put in a request for you to do a researched tour of Main Street?