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

[campingpixi 11]

Wow Hippies and Occupy people!! What a great TR!!

[ftwildernessguy 778]

ftwildernessguy, on 08 April 2012 - 07:34 PM, said:

I just have a couple things to say about the sing a long song DVD. I seriously doubt the cover photo was taken at FW. Looks like a set at a bad high school play. Gotta love the bowl haircut on the kid with the yellow jacket. I hope the girl isn't gonna rely on that crappy plastic canteen for survival. Looks like she made a trip to Dollar Tree for that piece of equipment. That tent. Come on. There is no way those kids are gonna fit in that with Goofy and Mickey and their gigantic heads. Not to mention it looks like it isn't going to survive the night anyway. Who the heck put that thing up, anyway? Oh wait a minute - it must have been Goofy for one of his many instructional films. Mickey obviously has no eye for safety as he has the Coleman lantern dangerously close to that pitiful tent. Not exactly certain why he needs the lantern anyway since it looks like nightfall isn't coming for a few hours anyway. Of course, he may be doing everybody a favor by burning that fire trap down. Gotta love the mouse's outfit, though. I'm heading out to the geek store tomorrow and see if I can pick up a similar one. And I'll see if they have a stylish plaid vest for FWGirl while I'm there.

I know this is going to sound ironic coming from me, but you are overthinking this.

I have been told I am a thinker.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

My 16yodd and i have decided we want to chuck everything and go work for WDW. Great photos, Lou!

I think that is exactly how WDW management wants you to feel when you see the Casting building.

Everything is super cool and nice.

They hook you with the pixie dust, but the reality is that when you work for WDW it is still a job.

Wow Hippies and Occupy people!! What a great TR!!

Thanks.

And, now that we are on to a new page, we need to get this thing moving along!

I have been told I am a thinker.

I am not surprised.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Man, we have gotten a bit off track here.

But, not to worry, I remember where we are.

We are on Monday evening already.

The girls had been to Epcot, and I had been on my adventure with Lou.

We had our ice cream at the Lodge, and we spent the late afternoon hanging around the Fort.

It was EMH at HS that night. Until 1 am. As a result, there would be two showings of Fantasmic. The second showing was at 10. We figured we would go to that, and then see how things were in the park.

So we were not in a hurry to get to HS.

Since daylight savings began, it stays light to about 7:30 or 8 this time of year.

We decided to head down to the marina to see if there was anything to see.

There wasn't much to see there.

The girls asked to visit the horse barn. I visit the barn on every trip to the Fort. The girls don't. But they wanted to this evening. So we headed over there.

Don't tell anyone, but we drove our cart on the mulch path between the River Country entrance and the barn. There was no Backyard BBQ tonight, and no one was back here. Plus, the last time we were here, on New Year's Eve, the rangers told us to drive down this path and park in the field that we were driving by.

The good thing about approaching the barn this way is that I got this great photo of the Fort Wilderness Pavilion at dusk:

According to many rumors, this pavilion may not be here much longer.

The sun had set when we arrived at the barn, but the sky was still lit by the setting sun.

Here we are at the ranch named after the most prolific Fort Wilderness trip report writer:

Less prolific trip report writers get docks or bathroom stalls named after them.

I have always loved this profile of a horse which is mounted outside of the barn:

The path to Wilderness Lodge begins just across the street from here:

Dang the man! :

Maybe I could get those occupy people to protest this?

Here is the view of the barn from across the street:

Twin #1 asked me to get a photo of her and her old pal, Dan. I obliged:

Dan apparently has bad eyesight, as he thought Twin #1's hair was hay, and he tried to take a bite.

Twin # 2 wanted to get in the photo, but they both kept as safe distance from Dan and his big teeth:

I told Twin #1 that I hadn't gotten a good photo, and that she needed to man up and stand up straight next to Dan. So she did:

Dan was mad that I took his photo from this angle. He is very self-conscious about his nose. This is not a flattering angle:

And poor Dan also had a braid on his mane:

I wonder how long it will take for me to hear from Dan's lawyer?

The girls played the calliope a couple or ten times.

It was funny that every time they pushed the button, the horses down the way stuck their heads out of their stalls:

Do you see that office there on the right in the photo above? And the open door to another office on the left? I'll bet there's some cool things in that office and the other room.

I tried to zoom in on the open door. But, the light was bad in the barn, and it was too far away for the flash. But, you can see the sign that says this is the Tack Room. The little plaque on the door says "Treat others the way you want to be treated." That is a good rule. Golden even:

On our way out, I got one last shot of the beautiful sky. You can see the castmember parking lot there in the background of this photo. That's where all the speeding cars that zoom past the 2000 loop and group camping area are coming and going from:

According to the rumors, everything we just looked at in this post is going to be torn down and replaced with a DVC resort in the not too distant future.

What a shame.

On the way back to our campsite, we did some looping.

It was now dark, and there wasn't much to see.

We did see this interesting decoration on the 800 loop:

I think that is a decoration that you are supposed to use on a dock. Or at least near a body of water. Those kids are supposed to be holding fishing poles. But, these campers thought this would look good sitting on a big patch of concrete under their fifth wheel. I am not feeling it.

We hung out at base camp for a while, and then headed up to the Outpost to catch a bus to HS.

We saw this interesting golf cart in the golf cart parking area:

Nice, huh?

That's an 8 seater.

Must have cost some $$$.

And, then they let their kids write all over it.

I wasn't feeling that either.

I would have taken some more photos.

But our bus arrived right on cue.

Next stop, Hollywood Studios!

TCD

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

Love the sunset pics!

[stefa70 205]

Hey! I thought we didn't judge here. Why does Dan have to be "poor" Dan just because he has a braid in his mane? I think he looks...Dapper. :rofl2:

( Yeah, sometimes I'm the only one that thinks I'm funny)

If they do ever start demolishing this area, you really should find a CM who may be able to salvage a TCD sign for you. Do you know any CM who may be nice enough to check into that?

[Heidi-meetsTCD@TSM 5]

Great update TCD!

I've said it before, but I'll say it again......I think its GREAT that you and the girls have so much fun together!!!

Waiting for the next update.

Heidi

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Love the sunset pics!

Thanks.

I wish that there was a way for photos to truly show how beautiful it is at the Fort at sunrise and sunset. Photos do a pretty good job, but there is nothing like being there in person.

Hey! I thought we didn't judge here. Why does Dan have to be "poor" Dan just because he has a braid in his mane? I think he looks...Dapper. :rofl2:

( Yeah, sometimes I'm the only one that thinks I'm funny)

If they do ever start demolishing this area, you really should find a CM who may be able to salvage a TCD sign for you. Do you know any CM who may be nice enough to check into that?

Dapper Dan.

I get it.

I do know someone who will keep a look out for any Tri-Circle-D relics that end up in the property control store.

I'm not sure if I would want any of this stuff, though.

What would I do with it?

Great update TCD!

I've said it before, but I'll say it again......I think its GREAT that you and the girls have so much fun together!!!

Waiting for the next update.

Heidi

Thanks, Heidi.

It is great.

We always seem to have a blast.

TCD

[campingpixi 11]

you must have got really close to Dan and his big teeth to get that one pic!! You sure are brave!! :)

[stefa70 205]

What would I do with it?

TCD

Surely you must have an empty room, or you will have soon when the girls go off to school. Turn it into the TCD Ranch/Bar, complete with disco ball and red solo cups!

You're welcome. (though if Mrs. TCD won't go for it, tell her it was Lou's idea)

[caveat lector 181]

....

And poor Dan also had a braid on his mane:

.....

TCD

Technicallly, Dan should be docked several Man Card Points. However, since it was done to him by "the man," and he lacks opposeable thumbs to undue the injustice, I believer we can let this one slide.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

It looks like I have time for a short update.

Which works out well, because I don't have a whole lot of photos from our visit to Hollywood Studios.

We arrived in enough time before 10 that we were able to enjoy Star Tours.

Then we headed over to the Fantasmic area to get in line.

I can't even count how many times we have visited WDW over the years.

But I can count how many times we have visited Fantasmic before this time.

Anyone want to make a guess?

If you guessed once, you are right.

That's right.

Once.

Why?

Well, how about if I show you the scene we encountered as we made our way to the Fantasmic entrance.

This was just a bit after 9 pm:

All those people that you see between us an the Tower of Terror were in line for Fantasmic.

I would have turned around right then, but we didn't really have a plan B for the night, so we stayed put.

The line continue to grow behind us. We were in front of all these folks:

Are we having fun yet?

What's the deal with this?

The good folks at Disney are masters in crowd control.

There has to be a better way to do this.

But, I guess there isn't.

It is amazing to me that there are this many people willing to stand in line for an hour or more to see this show.

At about 9:45 the line finally began to move, and we shuffled our way into the big arena.

I thought we got pretty good seats.

Maybe 2/3 of the way back right in the middle.

Plus we were right next to this guy:

This dude was all huddled over in the middle of a dark, crowded, arena trying to read a book.

It must have been a good book.

When one of the twins spotted the cover, she told me I needed to get another photo. So I did:

My man was reading The Hunger Games.

A kid's book.

To which I can only say: What The Fort?

Plus, where did he get that pretzel from?

We had all just been packed in a line for an hour.

How did he get a pretzel?

I wanted a pretzel.

And why is a grown man reading The Hunger Games in the dark in the middle of a noisy arena?

People were doing the wave for crying out loud!

Just seeing this guy made my night.

It was worth it to stand on line for an hour to see that.

Then the show began.

Fantasmic is an odd show.

It has a lot of older, obscure movie refences in it.

A lot of Pocahontas, and Hercules, and Beauty and the Beast.

This was all great with the TCD twins, because these are the movies that they grew up with.

But Pocahontas and Hercules are not so popular now.

The opening scene comes from Pocahontas:

And, then there is a bunch of other stuff, including Mickey battling a dragon:

In case you missed him, Mickey is down there on the lower right in that last photo.

As I mentioned, we have only seen Fantasmic once before, so I have no idea what the heck the story line is, or if there is a story line.

As best I can tell, the villians must have killed all the good guys, and they are all being taken to heaven in this white steamboat by Steamboat Willie:

Then Sorcerer Mickey comes and saves the day.

But, everyone is already dead, aren't they?

It is all so confusing.

Well, here is Sorcerer Mickey:

I guess I liked Fantasmic OK.

At our current rate, we will be back here at least once in the next ten years.

And when we return, I'm going to remember to bring a book.

And a pretzel.

Another thing I do not like about going to Fantasmic on an EMH night is that when everyone gets dumped back out into the park, the waits for RRC and TOT instantly jump to an hour plus. And, that is what happened on this night. We foolishly thought that maybe Toy Story wouldn't be bad, but it was 70 minutes there.

So we decided to bolt.

For some reason, we went over and walked through the New York city street. It is weird to see it at night when it is not decorated with the Osborne lights. I noticed something missing when we headed back toward the exit:

That is where the mermaid statue from Splash used to be.

And where all those ferns are used to be a fountain.

It has been here for as long as I can remember.

Now it's gone.

I never heard anything about that.

I am not sure if the Little Mermaid show always runs during EMH's at HS, but it was running tonight. So we watched it.

Then we went back to the Fort.

And that was our Monday.

We are going home tomorrow.

Which means we are near the end of this report.

But, I did take a lot of photos on Tuesday morning.

And you may have noticed that there is something missing from this trip report.

I have not yet awared a TCD Real Man of Genius award.

Up to this point, I had not seen anyone worthy of the award.

Which is most unusual.

I have never had to go out and search for a TCDRMOG. Somehow, one always materializes.

But no one had yet on this trip.

Could this be the trip where there is no TCDRMOG?

You will have to check back to find out.

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Dan does look a little sissy with that braid, doesn't he? Reminds me of a man I saw in a restaurant on Sunday. He had short grey hair and a long grey beard. He made a ponytail out of his beard and wrapped a fluorescent orange band around the beard repeatedly. And then an inch or so down from that he wrapped it in a fluorescent yellow band! If you had seen him you would surely have given him the TCDRMOG award!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

you must have got really close to Dan and his big teeth to get that one pic!! You sure are brave!! :)

Even though poor Dan has very bad eyesight, even he would not mistake my old grey hair for hay, so I was safe.

Surely you must have an empty room, or you will have soon when the girls go off to school. Turn it into the TCD Ranch/Bar, complete with disco ball and red solo cups!

You're welcome. (though if Mrs. TCD won't go for it, tell her it was Lou's idea)

Wow.

Great idea!

You should be an interior decorator.

Although, sadly, it probably won't work.

I think I have told the story before about how when we got married, Mrs. TCD laid down the law that none of my furniture or decorations from my bachelor pad were allowed in our home. So, I had to give away my cool Old Milwaukee light, and a bunch of my other bar paraphanelia, and even my naked lady statues. All my jungle room furniture from Pier One had to go too.

That's what I get for marrying a classy lady.

Even after the kids are gone, I don't see her backing down on this.

Technicallly, Dan should be docked several Man Card Points. However, since it was done to him by "the man," and he lacks opposeable thumbs to undue the injustice, I believer we can let this one slide.

Yeah, poor Dan. Nobody asked him if he wanted a ridiculous braid in his hair. No wonder he was trying to bite the twins, he probably thought they were going to put in more braids. The next time I'm there, if Dan still has that braid, I'm going to get a ladder and unbraid it. I think I'll let him out of his stall too. Just to teach those mean castmembers a lesson. Maybe those occupy people could protest horse abuse too.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Dan does look a little sissy with that braid, doesn't he? Reminds me of a man I saw in a restaurant on Sunday. He had short grey hair and a long grey beard. He made a ponytail out of his beard and wrapped a fluorescent orange band around the beard repeatedly. And then an inch or so down from that he wrapped it in a fluorescent yellow band! If you had seen him you would surely have given him the TCDRMOG award!

Hmmm.

Sound kind of hippie-ish if you ask me.

I wonder if that look would work for me?

But, I had better not grow a beard, or I will have trouble from S70.

TCD

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Waiting in that crowd for Fantasmic once was enough for me. Maybe I'd try it one more time if I had absolutely nothing else to do just to try and figure out the story line. I have no idea what's going on in that show either!

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Okay, not seeing Fantasmic was on my regrets list, but you all are talking me out of it.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Hmmm.

Sound kind of hippie-ish if you ask me.

I wonder if that look would work for me?

But, I had better not grow a beard, or I will have trouble from S70.

TCD

TCD, that look won't work for ANYONE!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Waiting in that crowd for Fantasmic once was enough for me. Maybe I'd try it one more time if I had absolutely nothing else to do just to try and figure out the story line. I have no idea what's going on in that show either!

Good to know that I'm not alone in my lack of enthusiasm for Fantasmic.

But man, a lot of people obviously disagree with me.

Let me know if you ever figure out what is going on.

Okay, not seeing Fantasmic was on my regrets list, but you all are talking me out of it.

No, you have to go.

Just remember to bring a book and a pretzel, and you will be fine.

TCD, that look won't work for ANYONE!

I think you're right.

Plus, I don't want to grow a beard, so I'll pass.

TCD

[stefa70 205]

So, I had to give away my cool Old Milwaukee light, and a bunch of my other bar paraphanelia, and even my naked lady statues. All my jungle room furniture from Pier One had to go too.

TCD

Say it ain't so!! Even the naked lady statues?! :holysheep:

Well I love bar paraphanelia and any type of nakedness, so if you get a TCD sign, give it to me and I will make a TCD Ranch/Bar and you can come over and belly up to the bar for a Corona!

But, I had better not grow a beard, or I will have trouble from S70.

TCD

You're darn tootin!

Funny stuff :rofl2:

Now to comment on the update.

I'm going to share a secret with you (Ok and all 5,000 other people who read TCD reports) I too have only seen Fantasmic once. It was a long time ago, it was packed, it was freezing, it was a long wait and I wasn't overly impressed.

You know that patience is not my strong suit and I was bored to death. Maybe I needed a book & a pretzel too. Thank Goodness, it was New Years eve and they gave us noisemakers to entertain ourselves.

Thatta Boy! :hah:

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

Fantasmic: Mickey is having a dream about various Disney characters that turns into a nightmare when the villains take over the dream, then he realizes "Hey, this is MY DREAM" and defeats the vilians and rescues all the good characters on his steamboat Willie ship!!

Then at the end "Some Imagination, Huh" Meaning, this is all about Mickey's Imagination.

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Ok, that makes sense. :)

[kampfirekim 260]

I agree that the boy and girl decoration was weird.

Darn it! I haven't been to Fantasmic in a very long time!!! Glad you got some great photos for me to remember it by. :)

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Great updates and love the behind the scenes day - must have been a blast!

Thanks for the Fantasmic report. It kind of confirmed for me that I'm not really missing a lot in missing this show.

We've seen it exactly once... I think in 2000? 2004? I don't recall exactly when, but it was a while ago and was back when it showed every night.

I don't recall it being awesome or even all that memorable. Not sure exactly why, as I'd watch Wishes! and/or Illuminations twice a night every night if I could. I'll even park myself somewhere 30 minutes ahead of time to get a decent view.

That said, my in-laws saw it 5 or 6 years ago and still rave about it. They ask us every trip if we went to see it. (no)

We were actually going to this past trip... until we saw the line mass of people queuing up an hour prior... on a slow-ish night... when there were 2 shows. No thanks.

Maybe next year.

...or the year after that.

[ciciwoowoo 0]

Signing on ... As always, love your trip reports, TCD!