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

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

1. pretty flowers

2. You are blessed. I tried to convince DH that florida was a good state to establish residency for WDW reasons... I got overriden.

3. I was there last Christmas and it was cold!

4. not sure I wanted to know about stef's weird positions

5. waiting on the something new

[stefa70 205]

4. not sure I wanted to know about stef's weird positions

:banghead: How does that happen?!

I honestly meant picture taking. I thought of a weird picture I got on the dock when my camera slipped out of my hand, really strange angle, but kind of cool.

Maybe I need some "phrasing skills"

[Lou... 3,118]

Applesauce, I thought I read apple pie.

Glad I'm not reading this TR.

[Tweedletent....Julie 0]

:flush2: Does this thing work like on Harry Potter and I can flush my self to the fort and join your trip.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I'm in. Sorry I'm so late -- staying many hours every day at the hospital with Dad.

What is a fern bar?

[dblr....Rennie 224]

New Year and a new TCD trip report, looks like it's going to be a good year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

Great report so far! Although, with all the references to how nice and warm it is (while I'm sitting here in Pittsburgh) makes me think we need a "pouring salt in the wound" emoticon!

Ah well, I'm a glutton, so keep up the good work!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

:banghead: How does that happen?!

I honestly meant picture taking. I thought of a weird picture I got on the dock when my camera slipped out of my hand, really strange angle, but kind of cool.

Maybe I need some "phrasing skills"

there some entertainment in your "weird phrasing skills"....

[wdwpoohbear...Jennifer 40]

I can't believe this TR is on page 3 already!?! What am I thinking...it's a TCD report. :jumpforjoy Anyway, great start to your report and can't wait to hear about this "new place" you are going to explore next.

[BouncingTiggers 98]

TCD all the crockett pic are awesome. I've only seen the bear before.

Those blue sky pics are just plain cruel. It was -10 with the wind chill last night up here.

[CKCK 45]

Woo hoo!

That's all I have to say about that.

[Lil Lisa 53]

Another great TR on the way. I can tell by the cirrus clouds in your "blue sky" pictures.

[kampfirekim 260]

:bravo: Ok.. the Davy Crocket installment is my favorite installment of all TCD TR installments EVER!!! :heart:

It is getting late now so I'll need to go back and read everything/examine the photos more closely tomorrow.

I grew up LOVIN" me some Davy!!! Seen the movie gazillions of times (tsk tsk to you for never seeing it!) I haven't been in Crockett's Tavern in many many years but will NEED to change that! Lil' H was Davy Crockett for Halloween this year. He will definitely need to go in an look at all of the memorabilia. I can picture him now jumping up and down clapping his hands when I show him that installment tomorrow!

I feel giddy inside.... thanks.

[LONE-STAR 370]

When ever my cousins from Florida would come to Texas (when I was a kid) we had to go to the Alamo. The last time I was there I was about 16 and it was not interesting to me. But now I might like it. Nice report so far.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I was traveling yesterday and just now got caught up with day one of your TR.....and WOW! These were information heavy updates!!

I have selected a few pics below from your Crockett update to comment on. I LOVE U.S. history, and want to share some (probably boring) tidbits on Davy.

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

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

Here's a map of Tennessee:

As you may guess from the pics I selected, Davy Crockett was a Tennessean. He actually represented TN in the US House of Representatives. In the maps above, you will notice Nashville's original name, Nashborough.

Andrew Jackson was also from TN. His home is on the east side of present day Nashville and is pretty grand and interesting to tour. And old Andy was a BAD DUDE in at least one way...he was primarily responsible for the removal of the Native Americans from the region though his Indian Removal Act. We can argue about not placing the values of today on that time...he probably was doing what he felt necessary to ensure the survival and growth of the young country, but his methods were brutal and I've read some things about him that are not at all flattering. In any case, Davy Crockett vehemently opposed the Indian Removal Act, and accordingly during the next House election campaign President Andrew Jackson ensured that he lost his seat. I guess politics has always been a dirty game.

So after losing his congressional seat, Davy was pretty pissed off and decided to leave TN and head to Texas. And the rest is history of course, including his death at the Alamo.

There is a lot of evidence of Davy Crockett's legacy in TN. Just a bit down the road from where we live is David Crockett State Park. There are also some roads named after him.

Ok, enough history. On with this most excellent report!

[we3peas 12]

And here's a close up of one of its flowers:

Those beautiful flowers are camellias. They were brought to the US by explorers and adventurers from Asia.

Very pretty but no smell.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Thanks for the splash of color in my day! :heartsmiley:

Now, are you taking us to the kennel?

You are welcome!

And, no, we are not going to the kennel.

I've already been there and done that. My report on the kennel is filed in my September, 2011 trip report. The official TCD dog, Rocky gave it two paws up.

We are going to something much newer.

In fact, they just broke ground on it in December.

Your timing was perfect, Andrew. I fell asleep from boredom. There is absolutely no color in Nebraska. What a nice surprise tow wake up to a post just for me!!

The pictures of the flowers were especially nice. :)

Glad you enjoyed in Cherie.

I'll see what I can come up with to keep you entertained today.

Great trip report as always. I wish i was blessed enough to be closer and be able to visit as often as you. Enjoy it whenever you can!

Yes, I am blessed. In many ways. And I try to always be appreciative of the fact that we can visit the Fort and WDW as often as we do.

I bet you could give me a run for my money at the pole shimmying skills!

It did give you a great shot of the Pioneer hall sign. Sometimes, being in a weird position gives the best results.

I did not notice the MK boat in your special spot until you pointed it out. The way the the weeds are half hiding it, it kind of looks like an old 20,000 leagues sub! Cool!

I'll bet you can shimmy with the best of them, too. And by best of them I mean Dave.

That dude can shimmy like nobody's business.

It is kind of disturbing, actually.

Just ask poor Janakowski (who hasn't been seen around the Fort since Thanksgiving, I might add).

1. pretty flowers

2. You are blessed. I tried to convince DH that florida was a good state to establish residency for WDW reasons... I got overriden.

3. I was there last Christmas and it was cold!

4. not sure I wanted to know about stef's weird positions

5. waiting on the something new

I'll just comment on #3. Last year was a record setting year for cold in Central Florida in December. This year was very much the opposite. We had weather in the 80's for many days in December, and lots of sunshine!

Applesauce, I thought I read apple pie.

Glad I'm not reading this TR.

Thanks for popping in, Lou.

You really ought to read this TR.

You know there is going to be mention of a Lou sighting.

That will be coming up when I get around to 12/31.

Which at this point seems a long way off.

We are still in the morning of 12/29.

Just in the off chance that you might read this comment, even though you are not reading this TR, I will say that it was good to see you again.

:flush2: Does this thing work like on Harry Potter and I can flush my self to the fort and join your trip.

I don't know.

Why don't you give it a try and let us know what happens?

I'm in. Sorry I'm so late -- staying many hours every day at the hospital with Dad.

What is a fern bar?

I am so sorry to hear that your Dad is sick.

Surely you remember fern bars?

You know, those places in the 80's with the fake Tiffany lamps and all the potted ferns hanging around- like TGI Friday's, Bennigans, Ruby Tuesdays, those types of places.

If you want to read more, Google fern bar, and see what it says on Wikipedia and Urban Dictionary.

There used to be fern bars all over the place in my neck of the woods in the 80's.

For anyone familiar with the Clearwater area, there used to be one called Bombay Bicycle Club that Mrs. TCD and I used to go to all the time when we were dating. That place had a menu almost identical to the 1987 Crockett's menu.

New Year and a new TCD trip report, looks like it's going to be a good year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, 2012 has been pretty awesome so far!

So far, so good!

Great report so far! Although, with all the references to how nice and warm it is (while I'm sitting here in Pittsburgh) makes me think we need a "pouring salt in the wound" emoticon!

Ah well, I'm a glutton, so keep up the good work!

If it makes you feel any better, we had a cold snap here in Florida right after I left the Fort.

It got into the low 30's for the past two nights.

I won't mention that it's going to warm back up now.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I can't believe this TR is on page 3 already!?! What am I thinking...it's a TCD report. :jumpforjoy Anyway, great start to your report and can't wait to hear about this "new place" you are going to explore next.

Thanks for reading along!

The wait will not be much longer. I am going to get right to work on the next update as soon as I catch up with my comments on the comments.

TCD all the crockett pic are awesome. I've only seen the bear before.

Those blue sky pics are just plain cruel. It was -10 with the wind chill last night up here.

Hey Steve-

Yowsah! -10 is cold!

I am glad that the person posted that menu on ebay, or else I never would have taken the time to take a good look at all the things on display there in Crockett's. Plus, now I have an interest in finding out more about old Davy. There's probably stuff in there I overlooked because I didn't realize its significance.

Woo hoo!

That's all I have to say about that.

Thanks for the Woo hoo!

Another great TR on the way. I can tell by the cirrus clouds in your "blue sky" pictures.

Thanks, Lisa I'm glad to know you are reading along!

:bravo: Ok.. the Davy Crocket installment is my favorite installment of all TCD TR installments EVER!!! :heart:

It is getting late now so I'll need to go back and read everything/examine the photos more closely tomorrow.

I grew up LOVIN" me some Davy!!! Seen the movie gazillions of times (tsk tsk to you for never seeing it!) I haven't been in Crockett's Tavern in many many years but will NEED to change that! Lil' H was Davy Crockett for Halloween this year. He will definitely need to go in an look at all of the memorabilia. I can picture him now jumping up and down clapping his hands when I show him that installment tomorrow!

I feel giddy inside.... thanks.

You know, I forgot about Lil' H being Davy for Halloween, but now that you mentioned it, I remember you telling us about that.

Tsk, tsk is right for me never seeing the movie. I will have to remedy that soon.

When ever my cousins from Florida would come to Texas (when I was a kid) we had to go to the Alamo. The last time I was there I was about 16 and it was not interesting to me. But now I might like it. Nice report so far.

Hey, it was the same for me growing up, only we lived near Philadelphia. I can't count how many times I went to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell and such. It seems like I went to Washington's Crossing State Park at least once a year too (that's where Washington crossed the Delaware river during the Revolutionary War). And I've been to Valley Forge and Gettysburg several times too. I didn't really have an appreciation for it then, either.

I was traveling yesterday and just now got caught up with day one of your TR.....and WOW! These were information heavy updates!!

I have selected a few pics below from your Crockett update to comment on. I LOVE U.S. history, and want to share some (probably boring) tidbits on Davy.

As you may guess from the pics I selected, Davy Crockett was a Tennessean. He actually represented TN in the US House of Representatives. In the maps above, you will notice Nashville's original name, Nashborough.

Andrew Jackson was also from TN. His home is on the east side of present day Nashville and is pretty grand and interesting to tour. And old Andy was a BAD DUDE in at least one way...he was primarily responsible for the removal of the Native Americans from the region though his Indian Removal Act. We can argue about not placing the values of today on that time...he probably was doing what he felt necessary to ensure the survival and growth of the young country, but his methods were brutal and I've read some things about him that are not at all flattering. In any case, Davy Crockett vehemently opposed the Indian Removal Act, and accordingly during the next House election campaign President Andrew Jackson ensured that he lost his seat. I guess politics has always been a dirty game.

So after losing his congressional seat, Davy was pretty pissed off and decided to leave TN and head to Texas. And the rest is history of course, including his death at the Alamo.

There is a lot of evidence of Davy Crockett's legacy in TN. Just a bit down the road from where we live is David Crockett State Park. There are also some roads named after him.

Ok, enough history. On with this most excellent report!

Dave- Thanks for the little history lesson.

I like to read and hear about history too, and this discussion has led me to realize that I know very little about the period of time that Davy and Andy were helping to form our nation.

I don't want to get in to a political discussion either, but it is kind of sad to think about what was done to the Native Americans during the period of our history. It makes me have a better understanding about why the totem poles, tee pees, and other things associated with Native Americans have been removed from the Fort. This is not a part of our history that we can feel particularly proud of.

Those beautiful flowers are camellias. They were brought to the US by explorers and adventurers from Asia.

Very pretty but no smell.

Thanks, I thought that those were camellias, but I wasn't sure. They look a lot like gardenias, which have a great smell. I did smell that flower, and I though it had a bit of a pleasant smell. Must have been my imagination.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Whoops-

I missed a couple of comments yesterday-

Ya gotta love the internet! I found the game!! I guess WDW wouldn't want the young-uns shooting at the indian these days.

http://www.pinrepair...ade/daveycr.htm

Good job with the Google, Stef.

So that game used to be in Crockett's?

Sometime in the late '70's/early 80's?

I am not so much into the whole P.C. thing, but I have to say that having kids shoot at cartoon Indians is definitely not right!

Cool, I was shooting (no Davy Crockett pun intended) to make it onto page 2.

Your pictures and narratives are great as usual.

You timed your departure well. Got so cold that the Fort personnel put all the water hoses on drip to keep them fromfreezing.

Yes, for once my timing was good!

It was 80 as I drove home on Sunday.

And then we had a couple of nights near freezing.

It's supposed to be warming back up today.

But if I recall correctly, you are heading home today.

Sorry!

BTW- it was good to meet you!

Imma always wantin' to be well-edjamucated, so I's thunk to google the mixins to that thar drink. Hrmph! Only findin' sum musical gang by that thar name....no recipe! Looks like yer gonna have to do some recon-like work to help me with ma researchin'... :clint:

Yep. I've got to do some research on the Gullywhumper drink.

As I said, I've only heard that it exists.

I'm going to go in to Crockett's next time I'm at the Fort and see if it really does exist, and, if it does, I will watch the bartender carefully as he or she makes it.

Of course, if anyone is there now or gets there before I do, please feel free to conduct your own research.

TCD

[stefa70 205]

Definitely 70's, as it was a Mom/Dad trip before Mom and I moved to Florida, which was in 1983.

Weird that I didn't recall the indian part, until I saw it. I just remembered the "real gun" :clint:

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Definitely 70's, as it was a Mom/Dad trip before Mom and I moved to Florida, which was in 1983.

Weird that I didn't recall the indian part, until I saw it. I just remembered the "real gun" :clint:

Yeah, I see that "real gun."

Do you remember how it worked? Did it shoot BB's? This made me remember that my brother and I used to have a shooting game that had little metal BB's in an enclosed case. They would circulate around, and you would shoot them at targets inside the case. That was a fun game. With video games, kids today would think that game was lame, but we had a lot of fun with it. As I recall though, our targets were little ducks and things like that- not Native Americans.

TCD

[HappyCamper...Deb 61]

Hey, it was the same for me growing up, only we lived near Philadelphia.

TCD

Me too!! :)

[rm0530 5]

You're going to visit the Four Seasons, am I right??

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

OK, are you with me?

I would suggest that you set aside some time to read this update, as it is going to be a bit detailed.

We are going to head out to take a look at something that could possibly have an impact on the Fort, but the more I have thought about, I don't think it will.

But, we are going to take a look anyway, because it does involve a construction project very close to the Fort.

It's the Four Seasons Resort Project.

Do you remember hearing about it?

It was first announced in 2007, and was supposed to be open by 2010.

But, they just "broke ground" on it in the beginning of December.

There was big ceremony.

Mickey was there and everything.

If you want to know more details about it, there is a great thread here on Fortfiends.net discussing the plans which have been filed. It's in the construction section.

To keep it simple, I'll give you a brief bit of background on the project before we head off to take a look at it.

Right next door to the Fort, to the East, Disney has operated two of its golf courses. These were known as Osprey Ridge and Eagle Pines. Back in 2007, Disney decided to sell a large chunk of the land here to a third party to develop. This was a bit controversial, as this type of thing has not happened since the Eisner era when the Swan and Dolphin hotels were built by outside companies. The new project was supposed to consist of a resort and private homes, and it was supposed to open in 2010. Since then, the Eagle Pines course has closed, and they have opened the Golden Oaks community, which is where the private homes are going. Some of the lots in Golden Oaks have sold, and there are private homes currently under construction.

There wasn't a lot of news about the hotel part of this project until late in 2011, when plans were filed, and then again in December when there was a groundbreaking ceremony and artists' renderings were released.

The plans show that the project is going to be built roughly across from the current golf clubhouse, where the Eagle Pines course used to sit.

This is a screen cap of the construction plans. I drew the location of the 1500-1900 loops on here so you can have an idea of the area we will be looking at:

This is a screen cap of an aerial photograph of the same area. You can see the canal that flows next to the 1500, 1600 and 1800 loops, as well as the golf clubhouse. Look for the big oval area of trees on the Fort side of the canal, near the center of the photo, which is marked with diagonal lines on the construction drawing, and then look across the canal at the golf fairway. To the right of that fairway, you can see a cleared area- this is where this project is going. It looks like that golf fairway is going to become a small lake, and the Four Seasons building will then be situated next to and overlooking that new lake:

I am giving you this background because we are heading over to this area to take a look at what is going on.

After all, the plans have been filed for months, and they had a big groundbreaking ceremony.

Something must be going on over there by now.

I saw something on this trip that suggested something was going on, so we are going to go and check on that right now.

Please feel free to come along.

Here we are along the canal by the 1500 loop. We are going to walk along here past the 1600 and 1800 loops and on over to the construction area. You see that little bridge there in the distance? That is where we are heading:

You can see here what caught my eye over there:

It's a huge crane!

Maybe it is there to lift the steel up to the upper floors of 455 room hotel that they have been busy building the foundation for.

We must go and take a closer look!

This is the gate that keeps us riff-raff campers out of the golf course:

There is a sign posted there that says "No Pets Beyond This Point." But there isn't one that says a human can't go past that point. So that makes it fair game, right?

Here we are looking back toward the 1800 loop from the gate. You can see someone's trailer there in the photo:

As I got closer to the area of the project, I can see that they have erected two sets of fences, and the crane is behind the second fence:

I have canoed up to this bridge before, but I have never crossed it.

Today will be the day that I do.

This is the view from the bridge, looking back toward the Fort:

And, looking the other way, this is the view of the construction area from the bridge:

Well, we are much closer to the crane, but I still can't see anything going on.

We need to get a little bit closer.

This sign marks where the 18th hole of the Osprey Ridge golf course used to be:

I say used to be because the 18th hole is fenced off, and it is in the area depicted in the construction drawing and aerial photo I posted above.

Here's the fence that fences off the 18th hole:

The crane is right behind the pine tree there on the left.

The cart path that runs along the fairway for the 18th hole is fenced off:

Since the Osprey Ridge course is still in operation, they must have built a new 18th hole somewhere. Because this one is definitely closed.

It was around here that I lost my bearings, and went the wrong way trying to find my way back to the Fort.

I ended up in this big empty field:

And there's our crane:

That big empty field is where the big resort is going.

As you can see, they haven't exactly gotten a lot done.

In fact, they haven't gotten anything done.

These Four Season people don't move real fast.

So that crane isn't lifting anything up to anywhere.

It is there to drill a big hole in the ground. You can see the drill here:

Notice that the area where the crane sits is circled by a black silt fence, and the area leading up to where the crane is appears to have a pathway marked off by orange fencing. It looks like there will be something going on here in this area.

So what is this all about?

I don't think they are drilling a well.

I think they must be getting ready to drive pilings in to the ground.

That's going to make a lot of noise.

We will see.

What I do know is that this project is a long, long way from being completed.

Once I got to the crane, I regained my bearings and was able to find a way back to the Fort.

Silly me.

I got lost.

Nothing wrong with that.

My new Fort Wilderness t-shirt says the Fort is a "Great Place to Get Lost."

I was just doing what they wanted me to do.

From here near the crane, I can see that there is some kind of building back there:

I first thought that it was some kind of clubhouse, but now I think this is one of the private McMansions from Golden Oaks.

Here we are looking back toward the Fort from near the crane:

You can see the bridge that I just crossed there in the second photo, above.

Here is the golf clubhouse:

There is another bridge here that crosses the canal.

These birdhouses sit right along the canal next to the bridge:

This little pond and fountain sit just in front of the clubhouse. You can see both of these on the aerial photo I posted above:

After I crossed the bridge and walked toward the clubhouse, I could see up the canal, and clearly see this huge home under construction along the canal:

From here, I walked past the clubhouse, waving to the ranger there, and headed back toward the Fort along the cart path by the second hole. I noticed this sign posted near the tee box for the second hole:

Here are a couple of shots of the second hole. This is a very pretty golf course:

After I walked past the green for the second hole, I was back on the path to the Fort.

I wasn't lost anymore.

But the Fort is a great place to get lost.

As I headed back, a maintenance guy came by.

I waved at him.

He waved at me.

That's him there heading down the path that I was also walking along.

No problem at all:

Soon as I was at the gate, and back on Fort property.

That was a nice little walk.

And now we all know that nothing has happened at the Four Seasons resort.

Except they have put up a lot of fences.

And they have a really big crane.

I'll be checking on this again on a future visit.

If I get lost by mistake again.

Oh, the Fort is so confusing.

It's a great place to get lost, you know.

But it looks like it will be a long time before there is anything really interesting to see.

Next up, I head back to the 1500 loop, and take some photos along the way.

Then I am going to wake up the TCD twins and we are going to go looping.

It's still just Thursday morning.

There's a lot more trip report coming.

We had some big plans for Thursday afternoon and evening.

And we all ended up having a lot of fun.

I'll tell you all about it as we go along.

TCD

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

Cool pictures.