This is NOT a Trip Report - May 27 - June 9, 2012

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Character butts, speedos and ohanas. Glad I'm not in that pop-up.

amen sista

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

I'm just glad I'm not in a pop up tonight!

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

Great job so far! Can't wait to read more. As for the poopy pants people...I sometimes wonder if I research too much before we go. But I guess I'd rather have the knowledge and not need it, than not have it and look like an ass.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I am way behind with these comments, but what the heck:

- I love the Space Mountain photo- it probably came out better with you looking the wrong way- very funny! And, no, you are nowhere near as cool as one of the three TCD twins.

- I think that is some kind of photocell that you saw up in the bus stop rafters. Interesting. I never noticed one before.

-You are doing a great job- looking forward to more!

TCD

[babets 0]

Ok all caught up on your Non-Trip Report reading. I have enjoyed it so far. I am simply amazed that you could just rent a camper.. amazed. Things you find out...

[mgsmom 9]

Great non-TR you have going here! Enjoying it tremendously!

II am also anti-poncho. I mean, come on, let me get wrap myself in plastic when it's hot and wet. Dang.

Fantasmic looks fun - that is one thing we have never done. One of many things, anyway...

Also looking forward to Vodka fest!

[Brent... Just Brent 83]

More rain!! Dang was a dark cloud over your head on thus trip.

You haven't heard the last of the rain stories. Just you wait.

Vodkafest 2012? Awesome!! Sounds like my kind of festival!

Anxious to hear if your popup experience was good enough to make you want to buy one.

For the record:

I DO NOT know if Brent looks good or bad in a Speedo, or if he even really wears one.

I DO fully understand the old saying "A picture is worth a thousand words" and seeing yourself in any bathing attire is usually something that makes you go, hmmmmm......

Thank you for clarifying. Once you meet me you'll understand why there's no need to clarify. There is not, has not been nor will there ever be a speedo in my swimsuit drawer.

vodka fest... sounds promising

Great name, right?

Love the "character butts" photo! We have been there when it rained for the entire week except for 1 day, so I can empathize with you. I'm glad that you and your friends are having a good time anyway. I'm sure the vodka helped!

Vodka always helps!

Great update. "Farts in a Pop-up", sounds like a song title. :rofl2:

I am anxiously awaiting my first drink under my awning, it will be in the rain, I'll be thinking of you!

It was fantastic and glad you enjoyed yours!

Great update. I saw at the beginning of the update you finally decided to just call this thread a TR. Very good but now Lou wont read anymore.

Can't wait for the Bay Lake excursion and Vodkafest!

No! Still not a TR!

[Brent... Just Brent 83]

You got that right Aaron.

I didn't fall for the "this is not a TR" title anyway.

Other's have tried to trick me into reading TRs, but I didn't just fall off the turnip truck.

Oh Lou. I know you can't be fooled so easily. Wait. I thought you didn't read?

Great update!

So, did you tell Matt about Fort Fiends so that he could share the information with his other customers?

I haven't mentioned it yet, but I should. He's seen my sign, so maybe he figured it out.

Speedos, character butts...

That's an easy way to hook some of these Fiends on a TR.

I on the other hand, am not so easily influenced.

I don't have a degree in marketing for nuthin.

I'm anti Speedos and most, not all, character butts.

Agreed.

Character butts, speedos and ohanas. Glad I'm not in that pop-up.

More updates please.

It got rough by the end of the trip. More on that later.

I'm just glad I'm not in a pop up tonight!

We had some pretty nasty storms. Apparently the whole thing was rocking and shaking and I never even woke up.

Great job so far! Can't wait to read more. As for the poopy pants people...I sometimes wonder if I research too much before we go. But I guess I'd rather have the knowledge and not need it, than not have it and look like an ass.

I try to keep an open mind. It's vacation. WDW is a BUSINESS. Things cost money. I'm not going to bicker over a few dollars for something when I'm spending thousands on vacation already.

I am way behind with these comments, but what the heck:

- I love the Space Mountain photo- it probably came out better with you looking the wrong way- very funny! And, no, you are nowhere near as cool as one of the three TCD twins.

- I think that is some kind of photocell that you saw up in the bus stop rafters. Interesting. I never noticed one before.

-You are doing a great job- looking forward to more!

TCD

Thanks. That's high praise from the TR master.

Ok all caught up on your Non-Trip Report reading. I have enjoyed it so far. I am simply amazed that you could just rent a camper.. amazed. Things you find out...

It was super duper easy. Actually, and I'll talk more about this later, it was cheaper to rent for 10 days than the gas would have cost to tow one down from Charleston.

Great non-TR you have going here! Enjoying it tremendously!

II am also anti-poncho. I mean, come on, let me get wrap myself in plastic when it's hot and wet. Dang.

Fantasmic looks fun - that is one thing we have never done. One of many things, anyway...

Also looking forward to Vodka fest!

Exactly. It's already hot. You want me to put on plastic?! No thanks. Twice I had to, though. Twice....

[Brent... Just Brent 83]

Day 6 - Saturday

OK, wow. I'm slow. Thanks for all the comments everyone. I really appreciate it. So far, this is my most successful non-TR. No, it really isn't a trip report.

So… let's move this forward.

Saturday was a good day. Saturday was a HOT day. Thankfully, the heat dried everything up nicely. I stomped and made noise and clanged pots and pans, etc, etc etc to get Justin to wake up. He finally did. We were off to the MK to meet some friends. I'd declined the 7:45am Crystal Palace breakfast, but we were meeting them at COP at 10. I didn't want to be late. Everyone thinks I'm late to everything, so I had to prove them wrong.

Luckily, the one good part to using the comfort station is that getting showers and shaving and all happens twice as fast. We were off on our speedy golf cart.

Now, I have to tell you, I've always been somewhat anti-cart. I mean, they're nice, but they always seemed unnecessary to me before. In the 1500 loop, I enjoy the walk to the marina. In the 2000 loop, the bus to the Settlement takes a lot less time than carting (if you can get on one quickly), so yeah. I've rented carts before for a day here and there, but never had the desire to rent one for the trip. This trip was different. I knew there was a good chance we'd be in the 2000 loop and for 10 days. I figured a cart would be nice. Plus, we could loop and meet Fiends.

Well, after having the cart, I can't imagine not having it. Visiting Friends was easy. Running to get a coffee was almost bearable. Looping…. was a blast. In fact, I think that's what we did the most with the cart.

So yeah, where were we. Right. Off to MK. I actually don't think I have any photos of that morning. It was pretty quick. We had a quick lunch at Cosmic Rays and headed back to setup for VodkaFest 2012.

(It's not a party unless you have a sign/banner)

The party went pretty well. I was a little nervous since i had no idea if I was breaking any sort of rule or anything. I didn't think I was, but the rangers were constantly passing by. Oh well. The more I thought about it, the less I cared.

The report when I got home was that it was a HUGE success. It got a little over-crowded at one point, but I knew everyone there, so I figured that was ok. There was a lot of camper touring and me running around trying to figure out how to entertain the kids. It never occurred to me that people would bring their kids to something called VodkaFest. Clearly, I was wrong. I mean, they were teenagers and all, but still.

Now… this is the part many of you have been waiting for.

Vodkafest was over promptly at 7pm. I ran people right on off. I hated to do it, but they had already drank me out of liquor (really), so there wasn't much reason for them to stay. Plus, it was getting later and I didn't want to be too annoying to the families around us. I had made some beef tips in the Crock Pot that morning, so we feasted on that and then hopped on the cart (and discovered the lights were shining up at a 45 degree angle) and headed to the marina. From there we took the resort launch to the Contemporary where we met 18 of my closest friends for a Wises! cruise.

I can't remember exactly what was supposed to happen, but there was some issue with a lost reservation. We got a late start, but 12 of us were on a nice pontoon (without a top speed of 9MPH). We cruised around Discovery Island and Bay Lake. The driver was getting annoyed because we knew all of his WDW trivia. Then we stumbled on the EWP and watched it from behind with WL in the background.

We then moved to Seven Seas Lagoon. I asked a lot of annoying questions (i'm sure, but I wanted to know. I wasn't testing the captain's knowledge). We saw some stuff in the lagoon that I'd never gotten to see up close before, so that was really fun. Then we anchored and watched Wishes!. It was really great. Here's a photo with yours truly in the front of the boat.

And here's one of some of the gang on the dock before the cruise. I believe they'd had some cocktails at Top of the World.

So, after fireworks, our friend Donna asked if she could be dropped at the Poly. She was concerned about getting back if we got back tot he CR too late. I can't really blame her, but I didn't think it would be a problem. The driver said, "Sure. Anything you want to make up for earlier." So, we dropped her off at the Poly. It was a nice feeling to be pulling up in a private boat there, saying good night and then taking back off.

So. Here's where it all goes south. Since we dropped her off we were running even later getting back to the CR. I asked if it would be possible to drop us off at Fort Wilderness (along with someone else on the boat who was going to Port Orleans and we figured the cab ride would be cheaper from the Fort). The driver said "Sure. Anything to make up for earlier." I NEVER ask for something like this. Ever. I felt bad doing it, but they did owe us an extra 30 minutes of cruising time, so yeah. Off we went. I was imagining how great it would feel to just be dropped off and not deal with the resort shuttle. How great this would be. Fancy even. I was clearly lost in these delusions and not paying attention. OK, not really. We were all running our mouths. Then I heard the captain lifeguard yell "WOAH! Hold On!"

Now. Before we finish this little story. It's important to know that I grew up on a lake. A large one. I've been on boats all my life. I live in Charleston. I'm on boats half the weekends in the summer. I am no stranger to boats, swimming, water, safety, etc. I even owned a boat in my wasteful early 20's. I also know what to do when you realize there's large wake coming from a large boat, similar to the size of, oh, I don't know, a MK/Resort cruiser, and you're about to hit it. More importantly, I know what you do not do. You do not slam the throttle to a stop right before the wake (knowing you've got a lot of people in the front of your FULL pontoon.

Think scene from Deadliest Catch.

(I borrowed this from EW.com)

The wake comes. The boat stops abruptly. I see it happen in slow motion. Grab hold of the railing. Close my eyes as tight as possible to avoid the brain-eating amoeba. Oh yeah, and held onto that railing with a death grip. The front end of the boat does what inertia/gravity dictate and dives at the worst time. The bottom of the wake. What happens then, well the damned boat goes under. I mean, not really UNDER UNDER, but that was a terrible combination. Under enough that I was completely under water from the waste down - oh, and don't worry, the swell got the rest of me. It was over within seconds. And there was stunned silence.

The driver panicked. It took some convincing to just go and I wasn't going to sue him or get him fired. I threw my phone at Justin so he could dry it out. And then. THEN. Someone offered me a hand towel. A HAND TOWEL. Were there fiends on the boat? There was a lot of comedy that evening. We pulled up to the Fort Wilderness dock and I said goodnight and squished off. We drove back and I hung my clothes on the clothesline. See, I knew there was a reason to have one of those.

And that is the time I took a very unexpected dip in Bay Lake.

There are, obviously, no photos of this… just a lot of jokes that seem to make it sound like I fell out of the boat. Which I did not. I hope it lived up to the hype!

So, we started laughing about 30 seconds into the drive back to the 2000 loop. The jokes continued from there. I showered off the brain eating amoeba and then we grabbed some red solo cups and headed to site 523 where some friends of mine were camping. I can really see why Stef likes the 500 loop. That was a great site.

What happened next involved a red solo cup filled to the brim with bourbon, then some nasty sweet tea vodka (they make it here in Charleston and I still don't like it) and then tequila shots. There may be photos of this, but I'll never, ever post them. Rumor has it that I poured myself in bed around 1:30 or 2. The next day was DATW (drink around the world) at Epcot at 11am (in the morning).

[Total Joker ... TJ 203]

That my friend sounds like an awesome evening!!

[stefa70 205]

Great update Brent!

How awesome that you even made a banner for VodkaFest. Love it!

Sounds like your boat captain may have skipped his boater safety course. That's one of the first things I did when we bought our boat. Yeah, some of the material was silly common sense, but I did learn a lot of other stuff!

Glad that your brain survived the amoebas, but wonder how much damage was done by the vodka, bourbon, tequila.... :rofl2:

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

That was an awesome update Brent! I never knew you could swim in Bay Lake without ever leaving your pontoon! While not funny for the split second it took to happen it will be a fun story to tell for awhile.

[mgsmom 9]

OMG :rofl3: What a great story! Well, first of all, thanks for the review of the Wishes Cruise - but secondly - :rofl3:

I have been on a pontoon with a less than savvy driver (and two leaky pontoons) before - so I totally get you. We also had a dog on the front of the boat, thank goodness she was a lab and actually enjoyed the whole event!

Don't worry about those brain-eating amoeba. You had enough alcohol in your system to kill 'em all. :whew:

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

You have certainly packed alot into your days!! Enjoyed the last update... waiting for the next!!

[CKCK 45]

While I love the story of the boat ride, we need more pics! I think you owe us tequila shot pics now.

I also started my golf cart journey the same way...rented one for a day, realized it was awesome, then bought my own. Same thing happened with our TT.

At this point I'm surprised I haven't found a way to buy the Fort.

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

Awesome update!!! Unfortunately, I can't see the pics Sometimes my work server lets me see pics, sometimes it doesn't. I guess I'll wait till I get home!!!

[SCTigerCock 171]

(It's not a party unless you have a sign/banner)

What happened next involved a red solo cup filled to the brim with bourbon, then some nasty sweet tea vodka (they make it here in Charleston and I still don't like it) and then tequila shots. There may be photos of this, but I'll never, ever post them. Rumor has it that I poured myself in bed around 1:30 or 2. The next day was DATW (drink around the world) at Epcot at 11am (in the morning).

You had me at vodka, beer and whatever......

Do you still have that sign? Don't you want to save the planet and let me borrow it for September?

Have you made it out to the Firefly Distillery on Wadmalaw? If you want to entertain one Saturday, try it. They have tasting for the vodka and wines. $6 for the vodka tasting, includes your seletion of 6 vodkas or spirits and the shot glass. TRY the lemonade vodka, you will love it! Made with real sugar, lemons and vodka. Once open it has to refrigerated or in the freezer since it is not pasturized. Only sold at the Distillery, $20 for a 750. You can sip this stuff strait and not know it is vodka but taste just like lemonade. At 40% alcohol, it will knock you on your butt.

There wines are decent for muscadine too.

I'm not a huge fan of the sweet tea vodkas, but love the lemonade.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

AGU!

I am impressed by the banner.

I love the boat story. I know of one former FW Ranger who went on to become a Fireworks cruise boat driver. So, the lack of common sense exhibited by both of those boat drivers does not surprise me in the least. I'm glad no one got hurt. It could have been bad.

Bring on the rest!

TCD

[alexwyattmommy 181]

I am glad no one was hurt. But hand towel, that is some funny stuff.

I'm sure your innards were too pickled for the amoebas to do any damage.

Looking forward to more.

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

Brent, would you do the fireworks cruise again? Pretend you didn't get dunked in the water with the brain-eating amoebals before you answer that!

[Lou... 3,118]

The driver panicked.

Panicked, I don't believe that for a minute. He's a highly trained professional.

First of all, he's not a driver, he's a WDW boat Captain.

He makes at least 8$ an hour and he's had at least 30 minutes of in-depth boat driving captaining training.

[Dollface...CindyC 18]

Great non-report. Glad you survived the boat wake! ugh! Can't wait to read more.

[Brent... Just Brent 83]

OK, it's been bugging me for a long time that this report wasn't finished. I've finally had the time to work on it some more, so here we go!

Day 7 - Sunday #2

As you can imagine, the 8am wakeup didn't happen. Not a chance. I think I finally rolled out of bed around 10, took some advil and headed outside. Justin's curtain was closed and the popup wasn't moving around like it did every time one of us blinked, so I assumed he was still passed out cold. I took the cart and got some coffee at the Meadows, came back, made noise to wake him up, got ready and we were off to Epcot.

The plan was to drink around the world, which really isn't a plan for me. I'm not a huge drinker and I'm generally anti-daytime drinks. The problem was, everyone had met hours before, so we had to find them.

Our first stop was to grab Soarin' fast passes and then we visited Figment. I know it's corny, but it's one of my favorite attractions.

Finally we met up with everyone. Did some attractions and then had lunch at Via Napoli.

First, I have to apologize. There are no food pics. Not a single one. I have to tell you, though, that this may be my new favorite (non-signature) table service restaurant on property. Three of us split a large pizza and salad and it was more than enough food. And at under $20/person, well, that's quite a value.

After lunch we had to run (literally) to use our FP's. I took a shortcut and we walked in 1 minute before the cutoff. Girl working the FP line was watching the clock, too. She gave us the dirty look when we power walked in. I do not approve of that. I'd had a similar experience at the MK on Saturday, except it was worse Saturday, and actually caused me to file a complaint against that CM… which I'd NEVER done in my 100 or so WDW trips. Heck, I'd never even considered that was an option, but when you say the things that guy said to me and in the tone he did it had to happen. It just wasn't a good day for CM friendliness I guess.

At some point we ended up at DHS in the Tune In Lounge for drinks (which I did partake in) and then dinner at 50's Primetime. No photos of that either, but I had the pot roast. I wasn't expecting much since I didn't remember loving the food there, but it turned out to be a fantastic meal. I think that waitress is now a friend on Facebook even. Yes, it was that much fun.

After we all headed over to MK for EMH. The only photo I have of that is this one of my friends Dan and Donna on BTMRR.

We closed that place down and I exited the park about 2:15am (in the morning). There's no photo of a clock, so I can't actually prove that it happened.

And then it happened. I somehow lost Justin, but it seems like that was the plan. He was going to go back or something. I was walking Donna to the Poly boat since she was uncomfortable on her own since it was so late. When I got to the Fort boat queue, Justin was about 100 people in front of me and no boat was in sight. We ended up getting back to Fort Wilderness around 3:30am (in the morning). It was a LONG day. Overall it was good, though and it was good to see so many friends and actually have a chance to talk and catch up.

Tomorrow's plan… DAK. Would we make it?

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

I'm so happy to see you finishing this TR!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I'm so happy to see you finishing this TR!

Me too!

But I thought it wasn't a TR?

Brent- you got a great photo of that dude in the moon on the Figment ride. That is one creepy sight!

TCD