We Biked, Got Spiked, Celebrated and Swam Around the World!

[Brent... Just Brent 83]

Great updates! Looks like you really had a great week at the Fort doing exactly what I like to do. Loop, eat, pool, eat, pool....

[Southern Blessings 4]

Enjoying all your pics!

[stefa70 205]

Wow, I was behind on two installments. This working stuff is for the birds.

So many comments.

I love getting an overpriced fruity drink at Crocketts. We usually take it down to the beach and watch the madness at the boat docks.

I see your strawberry daquiri and raise you a pina colada. :)

I'm sorry about your white t-shirt, but I'm so glad I'm not the only one. Trevor threatens to make me wear a bib whenever I cook because I always spill something.

You worked for Bacardi? Very cool!

The salad you made looks delicious! We are like you guys, we hardly ever eat out, with the exception of a sandwich or snack in the parks. My gang would rather eat my cooking than some over priced, foo-foo, WDW meal. I don't mind at all, there's something about cooking while camping being much more enjoyable than cooking at home. Kind of like your coffee story.

I'm going to try to keep up now!

[fortpartyof4 108]

Here is the reason that the new chair lifts are out at the pool.

http://www.aquaticac.../adaadvisor.htm

Ah! When I saw them in state park swim areas, I figured it had to be some sort of new regulation.

Great updates! Looks like you really had a great week at the Fort doing exactly what I like to do. Loop, eat, pool, eat, pool....

Yup, we did a whole lot of those things, add in some biking, playgrounds, basketball and tennis and that pretty much sums it up!

Enjoying all your pics!

Thanks! I took more on this trip.

Wow, I was behind on two installments. This working stuff is for the birds.

So many comments.

I love getting an overpriced fruity drink at Crocketts. We usually take it down to the beach and watch the madness at the boat docks.

I see your strawberry daquiri and raise you a pina colada. :)

I'm sorry about your white t-shirt, but I'm so glad I'm not the only one. Trevor threatens to make me wear a bib whenever I cook because I always spill something.

You worked for Bacardi? Very cool!

The salad you made looks delicious! We are like you guys, we hardly ever eat out, with the exception of a sandwich or snack in the parks. My gang would rather eat my cooking than some over priced, foo-foo, WDW meal. I don't mind at all, there's something about cooking while camping being much more enjoyable than cooking at home. Kind of like your coffee story.

I'm going to try to keep up now!

Actually, I am supposed to be working too! Gotta get back on that.

I usually go for a margarita, not sure why I chose the daiquiri, but man it was good!

The stains came out, though I don't expect the shirt to stay white for long. With 2 boys I always have the Shout handy!

Yes, it was a cool job in terms of the perks and fun parties. But it was very stressful, hard work too. Funny thing is, when we moved to Charlotte and I left Bacardi, I went to work for Coca Cola. My friends thought it was funny since they kind of go together.

Once we get passes again, I will be trying one of those waffles I learned about from your TR's, and some of the other yummy things I have noticed in reports here. I did have my first GAG last spring and we all liked it a lot! But for the most part, I cook or pack sandwiches when we go off somewhere. That is part of how we are able to afford to go anywhere. The cost of eating out for a family of 4 is very high at WDW. Heck anywhere really.

Photobucket was being difficult again, but I will try and see if it's working better and get another update out.

FP4

[charitycase20....Charity 10]

Yes, it was a cool job in terms of the perks and fun parties. But it was very stressful, hard work too. Funny thing is, when we moved to Charlotte and I left Bacardi, I went to work for Coca Cola. My friends thought it was funny since they kind of go together.

.

FP4

Do you still work for CCR in Jacksonville? Are they hiring? LOL

I work for Coca-Cola here in Maryland. 13 years...and lots of grey hairs! :banghead:

[fortpartyof4 108]

Do you still work for CCR in Jacksonville? Are they hiring? LOL

I work for Coca-Cola here in Maryland. 13 years...and lots of grey hairs! :banghead:

I worked for CCBCC (aka "Consolidated") in Charlotte, NC, which is also where their headquarters are.

I believe the one in Jacksonville is a CCE bottler (aka "Enterprises") - the big one based in Atlanta. Different franchises. I'm not even sure if their is a bottling plant anymore, may just be distribution. There is a big Pepsi plant in town, and a small copacker that I worked for before Bacardi who does 7 Up/Canada Dry and Snapple.

I do still have one or two connections at Bacardi, but the place has changed a LOT since I was there.

What do you do for Coke?

[charitycase20....Charity 10]

I worked for CCBCC (aka "Consolidated") in Charlotte, NC, which is also where their headquarters are.

I believe the one in Jacksonville is a CCE bottler (aka "Enterprises") - the big one based in Atlanta. Different franchises. I'm not even sure if their is a bottling plant anymore, may just be distribution. There is a big Pepsi plant in town, and a small copacker that I worked for before Bacardi who does 7 Up/Canada Dry and Snapple.

I do still have one or two connections at Bacardi, but the place has changed a LOT since I was there.

What do you do for Coke?

CCE (Enterprises) is no more as of the year before last...Everyone is Coca-Cola Refreshments, CCE and CCNA (Coke North America) combined and now we have a huge mess! LOL :gaah:

Officially my title is Inventory Analyst...I work in the Cooler Services Dept. Unofficially, I do everything except install fountain equipment and deliver coolers on a daily basis (I have done it though). I wasn't aware there was still a privately owned bottler on the east coast. Cool! My husband and I dream of how nice it would be to move to the Jacksonville area, we have family there already and its so much cheaper to live than up here! However, I would probably have to go back into sales to transfer and Alex manages a close-out/bargain store, Ollie's Bargain Outlet, and they haven't started branching out that far south yet. *Sigh* Its nice to dream about though. LOL Of course being closer to the Fort is a huge plus!! :coonskincap:

[fortpartyof4 108]

Friday morning rolled around, and we wanted a change of scenery. Later in the day, we were driving to Daytona to meet my husband halfway. My older son had a karate belt test that night and he didn't want to have to make it up so he was going back to Jacksonville for the night. Before we had to get on the road, I wanted to stop over at the new resort and look around.

I had also wanted to stop and visit my friend from back home in NY who is a CM at Pop Century. She had said we could come over and visit her and go for a swim there. So the plan was to visit, have lunch and swim, tour A of A and get on the road to Daytona.

We drove over to Pop. I had never been there. I really liked it! I think I'd like to try it out some time. I just wonder how the rooms are?

I loved looking at all the stuff on the walls while we waited for my friend. It was incredible all the stuff they had remembered about each decade and the actual replicas of so many of them! I recognized way too much of it from my youth, my boys had fun making fun of how old I am.

I visited with my friend while the boys watched TV in the lobby. We went out to the pool, but it had been closed for some reason so we just walked around a little bit.

Since swimming was out, we decided to go ahead and walk over the generation bridge (?) and check out A of A.

Since there have been many photos of the new resort already posted, I will stick to the pool area. We did get to go inside one of the buildings and see a room. They look really nice. We also walked around the food court, but it wasn't quite lunch time. I'd stay here, but not at the current rates.

Grab shell, dude!

After while, we were getting really hot and starting to get hungry. We headed back over to POP to see if the pool had reopened.

It hadn't. So we headed inside to their food court to grab some lunch and plan what we would do instead.

The boys shared a chicken strip plate, I had a burger. Forgot to take a picture until we were done, but I didn't finish mine (it wasn't very good), so here is my half-eaten burger - gross I know!

My friend had told me we could try another nearby resort for swimming. I wasn't sure I wanted to. I knew we couldn't swim at A of A since I saw in person the gates with the KTTW swipes were in place and working. We started to head out and I remembered we were very close to OKW where we had stayed before. I wanted something better to eat and knew they had good options and the boys loved the pool and slide there.

I didn't remember it being a DVC when we stayed there. We aren't DVC owners, so I am not sure why we did. My husband must have made those arrangements. We had a great time there and enjoyed the resort. A lot of people complain that it's dated but I thought it was fine. Very spacious suites, and they had maintained it well enough over the years that it wasn't bad at all.

When we pulled up to the gate I was getting ready to tell the guy we were coming in for a visit and some food. But he just waved me by. I guess he saw my parking pass for the Fort? Not sure, but I never even rolled the window down.

So there we were, no better than the freeloaders at the Fort. Not proud of that. The only difference would be that we walked in with some sunscreen and a bottle of water and stayed for less than an hour. Their pool is really fun, and we got a refreshing dip, they rode down the slide 2 or 3 times, I had a little snack, and we got on our way. It was busy, but I was able to find a chair easily. This pool was a thousand times cleaner than the one where we were staying, and was a nice treat.

They had a blast.

I apologize to anyone who is anti-pool-hopping. I know it's wrong. Judge me later.

FP4

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

No judgement from me. I'm glad you had a nice day!

[stefa70 205]

No judging here either. I see nothing wrong with pool hopping when your a WDW paying guest. My only beef is half of the "hoppers" at the Fort are driving in from home and freeloading. Big difference.

I think pool hopping should be allowed.

1. It would allow people to see other resorts that they otherwise wouldn't and maybe even decide to stay there at some point.

2. It would keep all the resort pools competitive (in other words, the Forts would probably be one of the less visited pools as it's one of the most boring)

[fortpartyof4 108]

CCE (Enterprises) is no more as of the year before last...Everyone is Coca-Cola Refreshments, CCE and CCNA (Coke North America) combined and now we have a huge mess! LOL :gaah:

Officially my title is Inventory Analyst...I work in the Cooler Services Dept. Unofficially, I do everything except install fountain equipment and deliver coolers on a daily basis (I have done it though). I wasn't aware there was still a privately owned bottler on the east coast. Cool! My husband and I dream of how nice it would be to move to the Jacksonville area, we have family there already and its so much cheaper to live than up here! However, I would probably have to go back into sales to transfer and Alex manages a close-out/bargain store, Ollie's Bargain Outlet, and they haven't started branching out that far south yet. *Sigh* Its nice to dream about though. LOL Of course being closer to the Fort is a huge plus!! :coonskincap:

Oh! So on the sales side. Well I actually do know someone at the CC office here in Jacksonville who works in sales. I've been gone for over 10 years and didn't realize CCE had merged.

There are a lot of those types of outlet/closeout stores in our area. Maybe he'd find something, too?

That being said, I don't like living here so I am not the best person to talk to about relocation!

No judgement from me. I'm glad you had a nice day!

Thanks - we did. It was a nice little treat.

No judging here either. I see nothing wrong with pool hopping when your a WDW paying guest. My only beef is half of the "hoppers" at the Fort are driving in from home and freeloading. Big difference.

I think pool hopping should be allowed.

1. It would allow people to see other resorts that they otherwise wouldn't and maybe even decide to stay there at some point.

2. It would keep all the resort pools competitive (in other words, the Forts would probably be one of the less visited pools as it's one of the most boring)

Good points. I know the definition of freeloading/pool hopping/misuse is up for interpretation when it comes to WDW resorts. I tend to agree with you. But, I can't help wonder if I were one of those people staying at WL for 3 or 4 bills a night, and saw flocks of FW guests coming off of the boat and jumping in the pool, I would be annoyed. In a way, we are doing to those guests what the "locals", or other non-WDW guests, are doing to the FW guests. Does that make sense?

One can also argue that if everyone is allowed to come on over and use the Fort pool, go to the campfire sing-a-long, ride the bike trails, visit the TCD ranch, etc. then it would see that paying guests from any resort, including the Fort, ought to be able to enjoy the amenities of all other resorts.

Or maybe there could be some kind of pool pass we could buy that would allow us entry into all of them, but only as part of a room registration.

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

Or maybe there could be some kind of pool pass we could buy that would allow us entry into all of them, but only as part of a room registration.

I like the potential of this idea. Probably means they will never do it.

[MetalDad 33]

That might work in theory, however, the Fort hosts events that are attractions in and of themselves, BYBBQ, HDDR, Campfire Sing-a-Long, and in the distant past, River Country. That makes for a lot of non-camper incoming traffic. I really don't see where hopping in the WL pool is an issue. I mean heck... I'm sure that was partially in mind when they hatched the idea of resort-to-resort boats. Not to mention, I always seem to drop some dough at the bar... pay to play!

[fortpartyof4 108]

That might work in theory, however, the Fort hosts events that are attractions in and of themselves, BYBBQ, HDDR, Campfire Sing-a-Long, and in the distant past, River Country. That makes for a lot of non-camper incoming traffic. I really don't see where hopping in the WL pool is an issue. I mean heck... I'm sure that was partially in mind when they hatched the idea of resort-to-resort boats. Not to mention, I always seem to drop some dough at the bar... pay to play!

MD!!! I am glad to see you here.

You're right. And there are ways around everything anyway. If people want to do something badly enough they will.

This will come up again later, as it's not the last time we hop on this trip.

[stacktester 78]

I did Bacardi's air testing for years on their boilers until this past year when they got a new environmental coordinator. She hired a competitor from Gainesville who she had worked for before. Funny thing is this was about $600 a year in work. I just won a bid the same co. that is now at Bacardi was doing but it's about a $20k project for the Navy. They can have Bacardi.

My contacts still there that I worked with are Michelle A. and Dan P. If you know them you know their last names.

[fortpartyof4 108]

I did Bacardi's air testing for years on their boilers until this past year when they got a new environmental coordinator. She hired a competitor from Gainesville who she had worked for before. Funny thing is this was about $600 a year in work. I just won a bid the same co. that is now at Bacardi was doing but it's about a $20k project for the Navy. They can have Bacardi.

My contacts still there that I worked with are Michelle A. and Dan P. If you know them you know their last names.

They don't sound familiar. That story doesn't surprise me though, there was a lot of nepotism and secret handshake type of stuff going on there all the time. That was a big part of the stress of the job - the political BS. Also I think back when I was there that position didn't exist and maintenance or QC took care of environmental stuff.

Congrats on winning that sweet bid! Mayport or NAS?

[Gots2pitt.. Jeff 64]

The August activity guide says Corn Toss at 7 pm on Wednesdays. That must be what was going on. I didn't know Chip and Dale came out for this:

Ok is it just me or does "Design Your Own ($)(*)" look funny?

[Dollface...CindyC 18]

Love to see photos from the Fort! We stayed in the 1600 loop too :-)

Yep, C&A come out at 7pm to play games with the kids. so fun!

[Southern Blessings 4]

Ok is it just me or does "Design Your Own ($)(*)" look funny?

It does lol!

[fortpartyof4 108]

We changed into dry clothes and got something to drink at the OKW counter place. Then it was time to get on the road to head to Daytona and meet up with Dad.

I only hit a little bit of traffic in Orlando and counted myself lucky for that, since it was about 4 pm on a Friday afternoon.

But, when we got closer to the I-4/I-95 merger, the skies started to look very gloomy. I handed my phone to one of the boys to get a couple of shots:

It was one of those spooky kinds where you see beautiful sunny sky with fluffy clouds on one side, and black clouds covering the other side. It began to thunder, and then we started seeing lightning hitting really close, and then the skies just opened up. So much that I missed the exit. I couldn't see the car in front of me on the interstate, we were going like 45 in a 70 mph zone. Called my husband, who was waiting at a gas station by the speedway, and told him to get back on 95 and meet me at the next exit up to transfer the kid.

It rained for a really long time, we all hung out under the awning at a gas station before heading back in our separate directions. My husband and oldest son headed back to Jacksonville for his belt test, and the younger one and I headed West toward Orlando. This next one is front eh ride back, and was after things had calmed down. But it was still no picnic driving in it!

As we drove further West, the rain let up. I think we were driving a little ahead of the system, because the skies were beginning to turn dark to the South. We saw about 6 rainbows on the way back, 2 of them at once:

The colors were stunning. These cell phone pics don't do them justice.

We stopped for dinner on the way back and ate it in the car.

Here is my older son getting the tip on his belt that night. He is a deputy black belt and will test for his black belt in November. This test was the last step before intensive training which started this week, and then the 6 hour test in November.

My youngest hadn't been able to get a good shot of the welcome sign the last time he tried and wanted another shot at it. He did much better this time:

There was a wonderful surprise waiting for us when we got back to our camper:

We had been spiked! My son was so excited:

I was too, but also bummed that I had missed both TCD and Lou. I knew they'd be dropping by some time over the weekend but not when. I had left something out for Lou to put in the next auction stash and had hinted I would like a spike. I later found out TCD's site was right behind us! Lou, next time we just need to set up a specific time so I can be sure we are around. I don't usually have pie on hand, but am told I make really good coffee and lemonade. The kids would love your dog.

We rode around in the cart for a little while then went back to the camper to watch some TV. Then we went back out to go see the fireworks at the beach. As we were exiting the 1600 loop, I noticed one of TCD's twins on the back of his cart as he passed us going into our loop. I did a u-turn and caught up with him. Said a brief hello and got on our way. TCD, it was very nice to meet you even though it was brief. And thank you again for the spike!

We missed the start of the fireworks, but caught the end, then hung out and played tetherball on the beach waiting for the traffic to die down. Took a couple pictures with my phone, not the greatest.

That's the end of Friday.

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Love the rainbow pictures! A rainbow almost makes a storm worth it. Congrats on being spiked!!

[fortpartyof4 108]

My husband and son came back very late Friday night. I got up and made pancakes and bacon Saturday morning while everyone slept in a little.

I just have this one picture of the food, but it's the best part - the BACON!

Making that meal while camping is like cooking Thanksgiving dinner. It takes forever to make it and everyone's done eating in 20 minutes. And then you have a big mess to clean up! It was good, though.

While I was making breakfast, I noticed this HUGE grasshopper on one of the trees by our site:

After breakfast we went looping. Tried to see if the alligator we saw on day one would reappear for Dad. Of course, he did not. One of the boys took these:

how does that bird stay so nice and white in that green goo?

No gator, but we did see this turtle across the water:

We headed back to the camper after looping for quite a while.

Then, it was back to the tennis courts on the bikes.

And boy it was hot. So we went for a swim at the cabin pool.

Unfortunately, our visit to the pool was cut short by yet another nasty storm that went on and off all day.

Had some lunch, then more looping. We saw this cool thing in the 300 loop:

I liked the artwork:

Then more rain, so we stayed in and played some games.

After dinner that night, we went over to makes some s'mores. I took a couple of pictures on the ride over of the sky at dusk:

Enjoying the gooey sweetness:

Next, we headed over to the Settlement to grab a boat across the lake to watch the fireworks from the Poly.

Got off at the Contemporary and went up to grab a monorail to the Poly.

We got there a little early, so the boys watched some of the movie on the beach there and my husband and I grabbed a cocktail from the poolside bar while we waited.

We had never watched them from over there, and enjoyed it very much.

When they were done, we headed back inside and browsed around one of the shops inside.

I love the 70's architecture of the Poly, and all the plants inside.

Went back out to the monorail waiting area, and this pulls up:

They were beyond psyched. The Avengers monorail! We'd never been on one that had been wrapped. So cool!

Stopped for some pictures at the Contemporary before getting on what turned out to be the last boat of the night! (phew!)

We got back across the lake, took the long way back in our cart, and called it a night.

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Except for the rain chasing you around, it sounds like a perfect day!

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

Woah what does it mean?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSNhk5ICTI

[Big Kahuna aka John 71]

Jason... My first thought was "a double rainbow.... Oh God ... Another double rainbow"... cue Youtube :rofl2: