Error Message: TCD's Spring Break 2012 Trip Report!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

This is the trip report that almost didn't happen.

The TCD gang finally hit the Fort for a stay from March 24th through the 27th.

Everything was going great until the morning of the 27th when TCD Twin #1 was looking at the photos on my camera and asked why they began with photos from the night before. I checked, and sure enough all of the photos the first three days of our trip were gone!

I'm still not sure how that happened, but when I got home and plugged the memory card into the computer-same thing- 90% of the photos I had taken were missing.

What to do?

I have heard that when things are erased from a memory card, they aren't really gone. I soon learned that there are numerous companies that sell software that supposedly will allow you to recover erased images from a memory card. I did a little checking, and bit the bullet and bought some of that software. Sixty bucks later I had my photos back.

That was close.

I think I know when the erasure happened. I think there may be a problem with the camera. I will be watching that. But, should it happen again, I have the software to retrieve the photos.

So, this trip report is now a go.

And with that, let's get going.

The TCD twins had their spring break the week of 3/25. So, it seemed like a logical time to go to the Fort. We usually visit the Fort for Spring Break.

And, it has been a while since we have been able to visit the Fort. For us anyway.

We hadn't been since our New Year's Eve trip.

And, that stinks, because we always camp in either January or February, and sometimes both. But we didn't get a chance to this year. Don't feel too sorry for us though, we did manage a couple of one night hotel visits to WDW in January and February.

But WDW hotels, as nice as they are, are not the Fort.

We needed a Fort fix.

And we got one.

We only got to stay for three nights, though.

The girls had a school competition to attend beginning on 3/29. So we had to get home for that.

Well, three nights are better than none, right?

Heck, some people pay a lot of money to go on three night cruises.

So, the plan was to arrive at the Fort on Saturday, March 24, and head home on Tuesday, March 27. And that is what we did.

I would have liked to arrive on Friday, but we had too much other stuff going on, and we would have probably arrived very late at the Fort.

I decided instead that we would head out early on Saturday, and try to arrive at the Fort a little after noon.

That is what we did.

Word is that WDW has been very busy for all of March.

The MK gate sure was busy when we arrived:

But, we passed through quickly.

Then we were at the Fort.

Twin #1 is in charge of the photos for this part of the trip:

Fort Wilderness' finest:

Here's what happens when Twin #1 gets her hands on a camera:

So, it's a Saturday and a lot of the local schools have Spring Break. I am expecting a big wait at check in. But, this is what we saw:

That castmember with the big white hand on a stick, waved me over to an empty check-in lane.

Sweet!

There were three castmembers out here in the lanes directing traffic:

As you can see, there wasn't any traffic to direct when we arrived.

I have never seen castmembers out here doing this before.

I think it's a great idea.

But it wasn't necessary when we arrived.

We had a great castmember check us in.

His name was Miguel. He was hilarious. And bright. He won't last long. Too bad.

I knew that the Fort was going to be pretty full this week, as I had a heck of a time making a reservation. Up until the week before our arrival, I could not find a partial hook-up site, so we were going to go with a full hook-up. Which is fine, but we don't need the sewer, and I would rather save the money. But, there were no partials to be had. Finally, just a few days before our arrival, I was able to score a partial. I figured that meant my chances of getting assigned to the 1500 loop were pretty slim. But I was wrong.

Because here's our site:

After I got the TCD gnome set out (thanks again S70), the TCD twins left me at the site, and I got busy setting up.

It was so nice to set up camp on a beautiful day. On the past few trips, I have either had to set up in the dark, or in the rain. Not today. It was a perfect day. Mid 70's with a breeze. And sunny!

It is good to be TCD.

I got camp set up fast.

Here's how things looked after a while:

So, what's with all the Gator stuff, you ask?

Football season is long over.

Yes, but the Gators were playing basketball that night. For a chance to return to the Final Four. And, I was going to represent.

I even broke out my Gator chairs for the screen room (you can see the FSU ones back there leaning against the picnic table) :

Here's some more of my set up. There's my tree hugger and my genuine WDW horseshoe:

And here's our back yard. There's the TCD outdoor kitchen, and the official TCD hammock:

Looks like we are ready for action!

So, it was time to loop.

That was fun.

The last few times we have been to the Fort, it has been dark before I was done setting up camp.

We had a big group in the first few sites on the 1500 loop.

I will talk some more about this later, but for now, here's a photo taken from the road, looking in to the loop. That tent belongs to the folks on 1501, but it is set way back from the tent pad:

That area usually floods when it rains. I was secretly hoping that it would rain so I could see what happened. But, as luck would have it, we had only a very brief drizzle the whole time we were there.

I found this fellow with very good taste over on the 1800 loop:

Not too long ago, someone asked on ff.net about cabins that have water views. This person had looked at the official FW map, and noticed the beautiful blue canals that are depicted on the map. Well here are the cabins that face the canal:

As I have said before, they took a bit of an artistic license on that map.

It was about here that I heard from the twins. They had ended up in the MK, and were on their way back on the boat. So, I headed down to the marina to pick them up.

We will pick up our story from there.

TCD

[Starbuc71 162]

yeah, I'm finally #1 to post on a TCD trip report. Looking forward to your exciting 3 days

[dblr....Rennie 224]

WhooHoo page 1, it's a first for me!!!!!!!!!!!

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

Glad you got the pics recovered!!! Ready to read more!

[ImDownWithDisney 342]

In like Flynn

[Gots2pitt.. Jeff 64]

Here's some more of my set up. There's my tree hugger and my genuine WDW horseshoe:

And here's our back yard. There's the TCD outdoor kitchen, and the official TCD hammock:

There looks to be something missing here... oh yeah the Spankula. I am definitely following along.. and lucky to make the first page.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

yeah, I'm finally #1 to post on a TCD trip report. Looking forward to your exciting 3 days

Hey Dave!

Nice job!

Since you were at the Fort for all of my trip, and then some, maybe I should let you tell the story?

BTW- I have a stealth photo I took of you and Herbie. That will be coming up when we get to Sunday morning in our story.

WhooHoo page 1, it's a first for me!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, page one!

Way to go!

Glad you got the pics recovered!!! Ready to read more!

You are not nearly as glad as I am. I was really bummed when I thought the photos were lost.

And, if you're ready to read more, then you're in luck, because I'm about to post another update.

In like Flynn

Ah, a Tangled reference.

I like that movie.

There looks to be something missing here... oh yeah the Spankula. I am definitely following along.. and lucky to make the first page.

By golly, you're right!

I never broke out the Spankula on this trip.

What was I thinking?

TCD

[Lou... 3,118]

I may be wrong, but I don't recall TCD posting a new TR on a weekend. In fact, he rarely posts about anything on a weekend.

If correct, this is a special occasion.

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

I'm here too! Glad you got your pictures back!!

[Gots2pitt.. Jeff 64]

I may be wrong, but I don't recall TCD posting a new TR on a weekend. In fact, he rarely posts about anything on a weekend.

If correct, this is a special occasion.

I thought every TCD TR is a special occasion? Well it is to me anyway.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Since I have some momentum going here, and a bit of time, you are going to get another update.

Right now.

How's that for everyone?

On other boards, you have to wait for days for an update.

But not here.

Nobody even has to beg.

How do you like that Ed from Alabama?

And, while we are talking about other Boards, I should mention again that I saw zero green ears at the Fort. Zero. Just like every other time I have visited the Fort in the past year.

And, it's too bad, too.

I would like to meet you one of these days, Ed.

I don't have any hard feelings about the old place.

I am sad about what happened.

But, I have moved on.

And, I really wish everyone else would too.

Anyway, enough of that.

Back to our story.

It is Saturday afternoon.

I fetched the twins from the marina.

We stopped by Trail's End for a drink.

And, I noticed something different.

These picnic tables were where the bike racks used to be:

And something else was missing too.

The barrels of fun!

You know, the ones that you drop a quarter in for a foot massage?

Gone!

Then I looked down the way just a bit.

And there they were:

False alarm.

The last time we camped here, there was a big Christmas tree here:

From here, I took the girls looping.

We saw this cool little trailer on the 2000 loop:

I recall reading an article about these in an RV magazine. They are manufactured by a Canadian company. They are like a normal teardrop trailer, but the roof lifts up to provide more space inside the camper. The black panels along the top are windows. It is a pretty cool little unit. I haven't seen one in person before. I liked it.

We checked out the group camping area. There were a lot of tents set up there:

Here comes the purple bus! :

Here is one of the few sites that was decorated for Easter:

Those Packer decorations look familiar.

These folks were here for Halloween.

In the same site.

The TCD twins ran into the folks camped here later on our trip. They found out that their son is a Castmember. Got to love those Castmember discounts!

Somebody tell me what the Fort is going on here. Either that's a very light fifth wheel or BMW has dropped a big motor in that Mini:

Sometimes TCD trip report fans get stressed out about whether or not I am going to remember to post a photo of my favorite campsite. So, since we were in the 600 loop, I decided to go ahead and get that out of the way.

So, here is the glorious site 617, rusty premium grill and all:

If I recall correctly, the basketball game started around now. So, I had to watch that. Life was good. The Gators were kicking butt. They had a double digit lead through the first half, and well into the second. They were on their way to another Final Four appearance.

Awesome.

I forgot to mention that we were expecting visitors for the evening.

Well, we were.

It was my oldest daughter, who had decided to visit her BFF who attends UCF. My oldest daughter goes to FSU. In Tallahassee. She left town that morning with a friend who is a boy, and stopped in Gainesville to pick up another friend who is a boy before heading to Orlando. This was all planned independently of my trip to the Fort. When I spoke to my DD earlier that week, I invited her and her friends over to the Fort for dinner. I wasn't sure they would come. But you know how college kids like a free meal.

So, while I was enjoying my basketball game, the crew arrived. Here they are enjoying some appetizers:

I was only allowed to take that one photo.

God forbid I take a photo and one of the twins posted it on Facebook or something.

It could ruin my DD's street cred if people found out she hangs out with her Father.

Seriously, though, it is good to be TCD.

What a great group of kids.

You may recognize my daughter's BFF. She used to camp with us back in the day. And she came on one of our cruises a couple of years ago.

Even though I was only allowed to take one photo, I took one more while I was watching the basketball game.

Just to show they who is the boss:

It was right after that that something surprising happened in my basketball game. The Gators let Louisville catch up. And, with about a minute left in the game, Louisville took the lead. How did that happen? As you may have heard, the Gators ended up loosing that game. Did I ever tell you that I hate basketball? Well I do. I swear I am not going to watch it any more.

And, the same thing happened last year.

I mean the same exact thing.

We were at the Fort, and the Gators lost a game that would have admitted them to the Final Four.

Did I mention that I hate basketball.

I mentioned earlier that we had a big group on the 1500 loop. There was also a site over on the 1600 loop that had a lot going on. I took these photos from in front of the Comfort Station:

These people had tents and tarps and cars everywhere. All on one site.

Over here on the 1500 loop, these folks had an EZ up canopy in the center of their site, and three or four tents all around the site:

This is the group from the 1500 loop loading up to head somewhere:

All of those people and golf carts were from just three sites. And that wasn't even all of them.

My plan for the night was to feed the kids at the site with Fried Chicken and Pizza from Trail's End.

But the kids had other plans.

They wanted to go to Wolfgang Puck's at Downtown Disney.

And I don't think they wanted the old man tagging along.

So, I passed out some money, and the kids took off.

I was all alone.

What do you think I did?

Well, I needed to eat.

So I was going to go and get the single serve chicken meal at Trail's End. For about 9 bucks, you get two pieces of fried chicken and two sides. But, for about $24, I could get a whole bucket of chicken and big servings of sides. I went with the GAG. I only ate two pieces, and saved the rest for later. I had cold GAG whenever I wanted for the rest of the trip.

The kids were gone for a while.

So, I broke out the DVD player and watched my new Davy Crockett movie. I bought it off of Amazon after my last trip during which I examined all of the Davy Crockett memorabilia in Crockett's Tavern. The movie is pretty good. Davy is quite the badass. And Buddy Ebsen is the co-star (you know, Uncle Jed?), only he is very young. I watched maybe 45 minutes of the movie before I decided I needed to take a break. I will watch the rest on a future Fort trip.

We had quite an interesting evening. The kids broke off into groups. Some went to the MK. Some stayed at DTD, and then headed to the Poly for Dole Whips. For a while, some of them hung out with me in the camper. It was around 1 am before everyone made it back. I said they could all spend the night, but they decided to head back to my DD's BFF's apartment in Orlando. So, around 1:30, I said goodbye to our guests, and called it a night.

That pretty much covers the first day. But, there is one part I left out. We had another technical difficulty. I was able to solve it, no thanks to the FW concierge department. I'll tell you about that in the next post.

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Woohoo! I made it onto page 1 too! I think every TCD TR is a special occasion too.

[campingpixi 11]

you made great use of the Fort grill.. I may have to steal that idea and what gives.... where are the pics of the CHICKEN!!!

Can't wait for the rest!!!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I may be wrong, but I don't recall TCD posting a new TR on a weekend. In fact, he rarely posts about anything on a weekend.

If correct, this is a special occasion.

You are correct, sir.

But, the twins are gone on their school trip, and Mrs. TCD went out shopping.

I was supposed to be doing yard work, but then we had a big storm.

Bad for the yard.

But good for me.

And for TCD trip report fans.

I'm here too! Glad you got your pictures back!!

Thanks, Cherie. I am really glad too.

I thought every TCD TR is a special occasion? Well it is to me anyway.

Every TCD TR is a special occasion for me, too.

And, I hope to write a lot more!

Woohoo! I made it onto page 1 too! I think every TCD TR is a special occasion too.

Yes, good job- page one!

There are only a few more spaces left folks.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

you made great use of the Fort grill.. I may have to steal that idea and what gives.... where are the pics of the CHICKEN!!!

Can't wait for the rest!!!

Oh yes, my water jug. I fill that sucker with ice and a couple of gallons of bottled water. Before I started bringing it, I can't tell you how many half-full water bottles I would throw away.

Sorry, no pics of the chicken. But I did remember to take some food photos. I'm sure DIT will be happy to hear that.

TCD

[campingpixi 11]

:jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy

[DoctorDalek 7]

I like the tree wrap around thing I need to get one of those.. Maybe for the next trip I've spent enough for this trip i can't wait to see what else happens what's GAG?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I like the tree wrap around thing I need to get one of those.. Maybe for the next trip I've spent enough for this trip i can't wait to see what else happens what's GAG?

Sheez!

What a newb!

A GAG is a chicken dinner sold at Trail's End restaurant at Fort Wilderness. They call it the Giddyap And Go. Us cool kids call it the GAG. It's ten pieces of chicken, cornbread or biscuits, and your choice of two sides (fries, mashed potoatoes, cole slaw, mac and cheese, or cowboy beans) all for about $24. It will feed 5 people easy. You won't find a better deal anywhere at WDW.

If you want a treehuggerz, you can buy one here: http://www.tree-huggerz.com/

TCD

[DoctorDalek 7]

Well I'll never be able to have one of those bad boys food allergies are the worst

Well the only way to break the noob shell is to ask questions so

[stefa70 205]

Thanks for the TR start, we don't see much of you over the weekends.

So glad that you got your pictures back!

You're a cool Dad, I'm sure none of the kids were worried about being seen hanging out with you.

(Especially after you passed out money )

[Live4FW 30]

Checking in for a rare Saturday TR. Sorry about your Gators, I was really pulling for the Bulls early on but it was not to be.

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

Ah...just the way to wrap up a busy Saturday...a cold Dew, some pizza, and the beginnings of another beautiful TCD trip report.

[SCTigerCock 171]

TCD, great tO hear you recovered the photos!

Enjoying the report!

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Sitting here pondering dinner and now I really want a GAG!!

Great you were able to recover your pics.

[CKCK 45]

Woo hoo.

I too would have gone with the GAG by myself. Easy decision.

Btw, my wife is trying to make hoity toity tea ressies for our trip in June.

What the fort?

It is for our 10 year anniversary so I might oblige.

Buti will get a GAG the next night!