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

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I gotta tell ya TCD, I am reading your last update on my phone, and even on this little screen your photo of the parachutist with the large American flag made me get a bit emotional.

I love that stuff too.

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

Looks like a fun time at the football game!!!!

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Very cool about the parachutists. I don't know if I mentioned this before or not but my oldest stepson is stationed at Macdill. Now I am extra proud!!

The first time you leave your kids on there own at WDW is a little nerve racking. I'm glad they made you proud. You go twins, I laughed out loud when they bent the rules a tiny bit. This is how we get all our gray hair Andrew.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great update! And great win by FSU, yeah I'm a ND hater.

Respect points to the twins for thier independence AND not being there when you got back

I didn't have anything aganist ND before the game, but I thought their fans were a bunch of butt heads.

I'm not used to that.

There's a lot of mutual respect on display at SEC and ACC games.

The ND fans were just a bunch of butt heads.

No offense to any butt heads reading along.

And that stupid Leprechaun guy kept on taunting the FSU fans. I wanted them to get whooped for that reason alone.

Fortunately, my wish came true.

And yes, this was a good win for FSU. They ended up being only one of the two ACC teams to win their bowl games. Bad job ACC.

Yes, respect to the twins. I would have done the same thing if my parents had ever been foolish enough to turn me loose at WDW when I was 16.

I gotta tell ya TCD, I am reading your last update on my phone, and even on this little screen your photo of the parachutist with the large American flag made me get a bit emotional.

I love that stuff too.

Well, there you go.

You have redeemed yourself from the spankula hijack.

Go USA!

I felt a few goosebumps there watching that whole episode play out.

It was a really cool thing to see.

Looks like a fun time at the football game!!!!

Yes, it was.

And, I forgot to mention that they served beer there.

I'm not sure about other colleges, but UF and FSU don't serve beer at their stadiums.

Very cool about the parachutists. I don't know if I mentioned this before or not but my oldest stepson is stationed at Macdill. Now I am extra proud!!

The first time you leave your kids on there own at WDW is a little nerve racking. I'm glad they made you proud. You go twins, I laughed out loud when they bent the rules a tiny bit. This is how we get all our gray hair Andrew.

I think you did mention that before about your stepson, but I forgot. I am proud of him too.

Yes, the twins got me.

And, I know I have plenty of gray hair, but I don't recall you having any.

TCD

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

I think you did mention that before about your stepson, but I forgot. I am proud of him too.

Yes, the twins got me.

And, I know I have plenty of gray hair, but I don't recall you having any.

TCD

That's because I'm a unnatural redhead, and as long as my stylist keeps the right bottle in stock I always will be. :rofl2:

[Heidi-meetsTCD@TSM 5]

TCD,

Finally caught up!

Great report, as always!

looking forward to more!

Heidi

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Hey, you know what?

I uploaded some more photos, so what do you say that we keep this thing going?

I know Doodle needs something to read.

It was not as cold Thursday night as it was Wednesday night.

I don't think it went below 50.

It was another nice a sunny morning on Friday, December 30th.

And I beat the sun again.

Here's a couple more photos from the TCD sunrise series.

First, it's Sunrise over FSU Inflatable Guy:

And then it's Sunrise over Big Snowman:

I headed from here down to the Settlement.

Time for some more of that great Fort coffee.

I checked on something that I have been meaning to check on along the way.

It was here at the 1400 loop bus stop:

There's something pretty funny here.

I don't take credit for discovering it.

It was discovered by Fiend Daddy'sCoolTV.

Speaking of DCTV, where the heck has he been?

Anyway, there's something funny about this drink machine:

You see that little sign there above the dollar bill slot? :

Take a close look at it:

This sign has been here for a long time.

Stop by and see it the next time you're around the 1400 loop.

But, don't try going up to the second floor.

They are lying about the snacks.

As I headed down to the Settlement, I decided to take a loop around the 300 loop.

As I headed around the loop, I saw someone pull out of the loop back by the canal in a car.

A car!

I had to investigate.

Do you think I'm lying?

Well I'm not.

Here it is!:

There are signs there saying no electric carts beyond this point.

But, I'm not sure there are any saying no cars.

So, maybe that guy wasn't breaking any rules.

It turns out that this guy was a girl castmember on her way to the Settlement Trading Post.

Still, I don't think she was allowed to drive her car back here.

I was glad that I followed that lady.

Because the view from my favorite spot was fantastic this morning:

I always take a photo looking toward the Magic Kingdom.

But, the view looking to the right was fantastic this morning as well:

Look at that mist hanging over the lake!

Awesome!

From here, it was down to the Settlement.

I decided that I should snap a few photos of Fiesty's Christmas decorations.

I shared some of her Thanksgiving decorations in my last trip report.

But, I hadn't seen the Christmas ones until this trip.

Here's a shot of the front of her site:

And a closer look at the front corner:

Notice how Fiesty has decorated her tree with beer cans:

Respect to Fiesty for her display of her Fort Fiends sign:

Here's a look down the fence line:

Look at all the decorations up under the awning (and the Fort Fiends sticker on her fridge):

Do you think those are a lot of decorations?

Well, that's not the half of it!

Here's more:

And more respect points to Fiesty for this display in the back corner of her site:

Here are some shots of the back of Fiesty's site:

Fiesty's decorations always make me smile.

Another camper who always does a great job decorating is Hilda's friend, Jeannie, who has been on the last outside site on the 700 loop for the past many years.

Jeannie sets up this great train/monorail village:

You probably can't read the sign posted there on the windshield, but it says "How much is that doggie in the window?" Those are Jeannie's doggies there in the photo:

More of Jeannie's great decorations:

Jeannie always sets up this tree decorated with a red sewer hose each year. I love it every time I see it:

Jeannie had this screen room up and decorated for Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and now it's Christmas:

Jeannie even had a life-sized Santa:

As many of you know, Fort management issued new site decorating rules this year. These rules were largely ignored by all of the campers, but Jeannie followed them. As a result, her inflatable decorations were set very far back, and were much fewer than in years past. Boo Fort management. Here are Jeannie's inflatables. I like the Mickey golf cart, and I like how she has Mickey and Minnie in a car pulling Santa's trailer:

I have more Christmas decoration photos, but I will stop this post here as we are nearing the photo limit.

I'll post the rest of the decoration photos in the next update.

Which I will try to get posted this afternoon.

TCD

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

I LOVE THE CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS AT THE FORT!!!!!!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I LOVE THE CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS AT THE FORT!!!!!!

ME TOO!!!

(and yes, I meant to yell!)

TCD

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

ME TOO!!!

(and yes, I meant to yell!)

TCD

I did too :-)

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Love the sewer hose on the tree, how someone took something crappy and used it to decorate is great, watch out Martha Stewart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

First let me say that I was happy with the outcome of the bowl game! :) I did not attend the game, but my friend said that she had to call for security because some ND fan started a fight with a much smaller, older Nole fan. I was shocked about that.

I worked at the local high school and took our seniors to WDW many times. As a chaperone, it was a super place to go. The kids loved it and we were able to give them much more freedom than we would have in other locations. We would buy them season tickets, stay on site and let them hit the parks! It's nice that the TCD twins could have some independence there.

Love the Christmas decorations and Judy!

[stefa70 205]

Hey whoa, you're going a little fast today!

Where do I start?

That's awesome that you invited DD friend and parents, when you probably could have scalped the tickets! :rofl2:

I too loved the parachute flag guy. The Asian blond looks like she doesn't have any teeth.

I like leprechauns!

Good for the girls staying at the Fort by themselves. I would be willing to bet that Twin #1 was behind the getting home late idea.

Your spot did look great that morning and they other side was good too.

Smoke on the water...... and fire in the sky.

Oh, no fire, never mind.

Ok, carry on. I think I'm caught up.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

If there are any more Fiends reading along who like Christmas decorations, then you will like this update.

If you are a grinch, then maybe you will want to skip it.

We left of looking at Jeannie's decorations, which are always good.

And you know who is always camped across from Jeannie, right?

Good old Hilda!

And I don't mean that Hilda is old.

Good Hilda didn't sound quite right.

Let's take a look at the world famous site 734:

And I'm not kidding about the world famous part.

Since there are a lot of newbies around, I'll repeat something that a lot of us old-bies know well.

Samantha Brown herself visited Hilda during one of Samantha's Disney World Christmas specials, and Hilda and Charlie took Samantha on a tour of the Fort.

How cool is that?

Very.

Hilda got herself a new rig this year. Which resulted in some changes to her decorations.

She now had this great display set up under her hitch:

I hope that you will take a moment and really look at all there is to see in that last photo. The detail is just amazing.

I noticed this award ribbon, and thought that it meant that Hilda had won the site decorating contest this year:

But if you look, you will see it is from 2007. But it was still for site 734.

HIlda is a lucky lady- she's been on this site for every Christmas that I can remember visiting the Fort.

And while we are speaking of awards, does anyone know who did win the site decorating contest this year?

I wasn't there on Christmas, and nobody I spoke to could tell me for sure.

One more thing about that last photo, take a look at the object draped over the chair there to the left.

It's something really interesting.

Look:

It's a Fort Wilderness blanket.

With the new logo!

I went Ga-Ga over it.

I hadn't seen those in the trading posts.

I asked Hilda where she got it.

She said she got it in the castmember store.

What the Fort?

What was that doing in the castmember store?

As far as I know, they never even made it to the trading posts first.

In case Lou is not-not reading along, Hilda said the blanket was in the 75% off section, if that means anything.

Boy, would I like to have one of those blankets!

Here are some more of Hilda's decorations:

Do you see that little Santa Stop Here sign down there in front in this photo?:

Hilda's daughter, Stephanie, wrote that, and she is very proud of it.

If you have ever had the pleasure of meeting Stephanie, you would be proud of her too.

Did you notice that big castle in Hilda's display?:

Isn't it awesome?

That used to be a display somewhere in WDW.

HIlda got that at someplace called property control.

Here's a couple of shots of the other side of HIlda's site:

There's Steamboat Willie over there:

Since I was in the area, and on a Christmas decoration photo streak, I decided to pop over to the 100 loop to take some photos of another really nicely decorated site.

This family also is one of my favorites every year at Christmas time.

For the past many Christmases, they have been on the 800 loop.

The first outside site.

But this year, they were on the 100 loop.

It is none other than our very own TiggerInBama!:

My favorite TiggerInBama decoration is the screen room that she sets up with Santa sitting inside:

She had decorations and lights all over her entire site:

From back behind TIB's site, I could look across to the 400 loop, and over to the 700 loop and see decorations everywhere. This isn't so impressive in the daylight, but at night, it's just magical:

Standing near the front of TIB's site, I could look toward the 200 loop, and see MillerMousketeers site:

This is a neat thing about being a Fiend.

No matter where you are in the Fort, a Fiend is always near.

If you don't mind, I have just a few more decoration photos, and then we will move on to something else.

This sign was at the 400 loop entrance. I don't know the people it belongs to, but I remember it from years past. At night, the sign lights up and spins, and spells words or shows images like a snowman or santa. My girls love to sit and watch this sign. If anyone knows where I could get one, please let me know. I like it too:

Here's another look over at the 700 loop those are Jeannie and Hilda's decorations that you see:

And this is the back of a site on the 400 loop. You may remember this guy as the Thriller guy from two Halloweens ago. He has a very nice display and his lights "dance" to a music soundtrack that he plays at night:

OK, that's enough Christmas decoration photos.

For now.

There will be more.

But at this point, we will move on to look at some other things.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

TCD,

Finally caught up!

Great report, as always!

looking forward to more!

Heidi

Hey Heidi-

I'm glad to know that you are reading along.

I was working on some more when you posted.

I hope you like it.

Love the sewer hose on the tree, how someone took something crappy and used it to decorate is great, watch out Martha Stewart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Somehow, I don't think Martha would decorate with a sewer hose.

I think there are a lot of ladies at the Fort who could give Martha a run for her money.

First let me say that I was happy with the outcome of the bowl game! :) I did not attend the game, but my friend said that she had to call for security because some ND fan started a fight with a much smaller, older Nole fan. I was shocked about that.

I worked at the local high school and took our seniors to WDW many times. As a chaperone, it was a super place to go. The kids loved it and we were able to give them much more freedom than we would have in other locations. We would buy them season tickets, stay on site and let them hit the parks! It's nice that the TCD twins could have some independence there.

Love the Christmas decorations and Judy!

Hey Rita-

It sounds like your friend saw some butt-heads too.

I'm glad FSU beat those butt-head leprechauns.

If things go well for the TCD twins, they may be in a National competition for a school club they belong to in June which will take place at the Coronado Springs resort. I would love to be a chaperone, but I actually know the teacher in charge of the club pretty well. So, she probably would know not to let me be a chaperone. Bummer.

Hey whoa, you're going a little fast today!

Where do I start?

That's awesome that you invited DD friend and parents, when you probably could have scalped the tickets! :rofl2:

I too loved the parachute flag guy. The Asian blond looks like she doesn't have any teeth.

I like leprechauns!

Good for the girls staying at the Fort by themselves. I would be willing to bet that Twin #1 was behind the getting home late idea.

Your spot did look great that morning and they other side was good too.

Smoke on the water...... and fire in the sky.

Oh, no fire, never mind.

Ok, carry on. I think I'm caught up.

Hey Stef-

As I have said before, don't worry. I'm not going too fast. I know what I'm doing. Just relax and enjoy it.

There are a lot of things that I could say about the toothless blond Asian, but I will leave that alone.

I am not surprised that you like the leprechauns.

I know that you go for the taller men.

Have a great weekend.

This might be the weekend that I get on-line and do some posting.

But probably not.

TCD

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

Wow, I would love one of those blankets too!!!!!!!

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

Ok, I know this was a fwe pages back, but I am catching up. For thhose of you whose upbringings were lacking, here is all you need to know about the Christmas Donkey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok5rOO2v2dU

Also, in case you don't know the bicycle built for two lyrics, here they are:

Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do, I'm half crazy all for the love of you. It won't be a stylish marriage - I can't afford a carriage, But you'd look sweet on the seat Of a bicycle built for two.

And the less well known second verse:

Harold, Harold, here is your answer true

I'm not crazy oh, for the love of you!

If you can't afford a carriage

You can't afford our marriage

And I'll be d*mned if I'll be crammed on your bicycle built for two!

Great report as always, TCD!

[Lou... 3,118]

I skipped this TR as I have no interest in it. I have no idea what TCD is talking about regarding FW blankets, but I'll pick one up for you if they still have them, which I doubt.

[Starbuc71 162]

And more respect points to Fiesty for this display in the back corner of her site:

So, do you think Mary and Joseph pulled the TT to Bethlehem or did the wise men pull it for thier long trip? Either or, I'm glad to see the use of campers back in biblical time. My money is on the wise men. Did you notice the one wise man looks a tad like Eddie Murphy?

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

And more respect points to Fiesty for this display in the back corner of her site:

So, do you think Mary and Joseph pulled the TT to Bethlehem or did the wise men pull it for thier long trip? Either or, I'm glad to see the use of campers back in biblical time. My money is on the wise men. Did you notice the one wise man looks a tad like Eddie Murphy?

Actually, I was kinda worried aboout his Hitler moustache.

[Lil Lisa 53]

TCD's got himself a spankula.

OMG!!! That is the best! I needed that! :rofl2:

Sorry I'm late. I'm trying to finish my iPhone app.

Lovin' the report TCD. Someday I want to be at the Fort at Christmas.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Actually, I was kinda worried aboout his Hitler moustache.

Marty, you kill me. I had noticed the placement of the trailer next to the nativity scene. But I had not noticed the frankensence-carrying Hitler. Good catch.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

A girl goes away for a few hours (ok the afternoon) and look what happens......

1. Nice to hear your team won

2. Go TCD Twins (I'm not betting it was Twin #1... I think it was Twin #2's idea)

3. Love the decorations.. I missed being at the Fort this year for Christmas

4. I will be looking for a replay of that Samantha Brown

5. Love that blanket too!

[FtWildernessFamily...Holly 25]

TCD - your trip reports ALWAYS make me feel like I am there....and I like that feeling.

I have a lot of the same pictures you do of the Fort decor....but yours are better. You'll see in my TR later.

AND I WANT THAT BLANKET! TWO OF THEM! I WILL PAY DOUBLE!!!

[kampfirekim 260]

I gotta tell ya TCD, I am reading your last update on my phone, and even on this little screen your photo of the parachutist with the large American flag made me get a bit emotional.

I love that stuff too.

I love that stuff three. God Bless America.

Great updates TCD!

Love the decoration photos. I didn't copy the photo but I love Feisty's Nativity set up. However, I didn't know there was an inflatable camper on the first Noel. My bad for not knowing that. ;D