The Trolls Run from Isaac!

[stefa70 205]

This is new, isn't it? Look at how they attached the shovel to the post. Who still knows how to work rope like that? How does Disney find people who can do that? "Wanted: Guy who can tie rope in really cool ways to various rustic objects."

No, not new, but definitely spruced up. Here's a photo taken in May 2011

Notice the rope has a much tighter and more intricate design. Maybe they hired a new rope guy? Maybe rope guy has been in training learning new & improved roping techniques? Either way, much improved.

This was a great installment. First one I read this morning and enjoyed the laughs.

Party stick? :lmao1:

[wak648...Bill 94]

Hey, has anyone figured out why a one day ticket to this park costs a whopping $80 yet? Anyone?

This guy is lucky. He doesn't have to pay $80 to get in:

Damn free loading local, probably just came from the pool at the Fort.

[fortpartyof4 108]

Duck face, kissy face…..whatever it's called, I don't care for it either.

Your BTMRR shots are awesome! I can't wait to get back and ride it again post-refurb. Even thought everything I've heard indicates it didn't change much, I missed it!

Oh, and ass-scratch lady was probably just pulling her undies out of her butt. But there are far more subtle ways to do that too!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great photos, Norm.

I think we have only been on BTMRR at night since it reopened, so I have not noticed the new details. I do know that the cave which used to have falling rocks has been redone, and there are no more falling rocks.

You got some really cool photos on the ride.

Looking forward to Laugh Floor.

I wonder if you were That Guy?

TCD

[The Troll 67]

Excellent post! Great pics.

Lipstick = party stick. Love it...

Thanks for kind words, and thanks for reading along!

I can't steal the glory of inventing the term "party stick" -- that's a Mrs. Troll term!

It's a wonderful life, I googled, BUT I like beer. I LOVE free beer :)

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner. One of the greatest movies of all time. I owe you one beer...even though you cheated.

Enjoying pretending I'm there with y'all! I would totally go back to River Country if it were ton reopen! I loved it! I didn't know that look was called the duck face, but I've seen kids posting those on Facebook. Sorry y'all didn't get the waffle sandwiches. Everyone talks about how great they are, so I will have to check them out next time.

River Country was the bomb. And yes, you really must check out the waffle sandwiches. We love them.

No, not new, but definitely spruced up. Here's a photo taken in May 2011

Notice the rope has a much tighter and more intricate design. Maybe they hired a new rope guy? Maybe rope guy has been in training learning new & improved roping techniques? Either way, much improved.

This was a great installment. First one I read this morning and enjoyed the laughs.

Party stick? :lmao1:

You're right! I much prefer the refurb'd Nugget Way over the old one. They definitely found a better rope tier guy.

Damn free loading local, probably just came from the pool at the Fort.

These birds are all over the place. They're actually almost a nuisance.

Duck face, kissy face…..whatever it's called, I don't care for it either.

Your BTMRR shots are awesome! I can't wait to get back and ride it again post-refurb. Even thought everything I've heard indicates it didn't change much, I missed it!

Oh, and ass-scratch lady was probably just pulling her undies out of her butt. But there are far more subtle ways to do that too!

I'm glad you like the BTMRR pictures. I'm really happy with how they came out, if I say so myself.

Great photos, Norm.

I think we have only been on BTMRR at night since it reopened, so I have not noticed the new details. I do know that the cave which used to have falling rocks has been redone, and there are no more falling rocks.

You got some really cool photos on the ride.

Looking forward to Laugh Floor.

I wonder if you were That Guy?

TCD

I have been to the Laugh Floor at least two dozen times and I have yet to ever be That Guy. Maybe I just don't have a That Guy face?

OK, sorry for the delay in the next installment. I've been traveling and had no access to the computer. But the next episode is in the hopper!

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

OK, sorry for the delay in the next installment. I've been traveling and had no access to the computer. But the next episode is in the hopper!

You have to say hawwper with a New York accent. (That commercial drives me crazy!!!)

[The Troll 67]

It's that time again, folks!

Time for the next exciting episode of the TTR!

In our last episode, we had just finished an awful hot dog at Casey's Corner. We had also taken a fun ride on the newly refurb'd BMTRR.

TCD pointed out that the final room at the end seems to have changed with the refurb. In the past, the idea was that you're riding through the mine and the mine is collapsing. Rocks are supposed to be falling all around you. The Imagineers effected this effect -- or I should say, attempted to effect this effect -- with shadows of "falling rocks" projected on the walls. Now I don't think there are any falling rocks anymore. I'm not sure. I didn't notice any. But that segments whooshes by so fast, it's hard to tell.

So if the rocks aren't falling, what's the point of that segment?

Anyway, if you've been paying close attention and are a hardcore Frontier Land fanatic, you might be wondering, "Hey! What self-respecting Fort Fiend would walk all the way over to Frontier Land to ride BMTRR and not take a ride on Splash while he's there?"

Good point, if you were, indeed, wondering that.

Answer: Splash was inop when we were over there. Don't know why, but the logs weren't falling.

BTW -- no one has taken a guess yet at my favorite ride at all of the MK. Actually, it's my favorite ride in all of Disney World. What? No takers?

So we were on our way for a visit to the Laugh Floor.

Along the way, we noticed this great Kodak Photo Spot, so we took advantage of it:

And here's one of yours truly:

Little known fact about us Trolls -- as the males of the species age, we lose our fur.

Bet you didn't know that.

Also notice I'm "flaunting my colors" by wearing my official Fort Wilderness t-shirt.

Here's another shot of Mr. Troll:

The reason why Mrs. Troll suggested this second picture is because she liked this tree:

It is pretty, isn't it?

Mrs. Troll wants me to plant one in our backyard.

I decided to take a shot with the cool tree in the foreground:

OK, enough tree pictures. On to the Laugh Floor.

When we arrived, we were greeted with this fine sight:

Wait time: 10 minutes. And you know what that means? Yep -- pretty much, no wait. Just walk right in.

And we did.

Unfortunately, neither Mrs. Troll nor I got to be "That Guy." As I mentioned earlier, we have both been to this attraction dozens of times and neither of us has ever been "That Guy."

Do they sometimes pick women to be "That Guy"?

Anyway, after the Laugh Floor, we decided we better head back to camp and check on the pups. It was their dinner time.

On our way out, though, we decided to take a quick detour through the bakery. I mentioned earlier how Mr. Troll is a hot dog junkie? Well, Mrs. Troll is a cupcake fiend. So we decided to grab her one to go for later. See below:

See those two cupcakes to the left of the row of cupcakes with Mickey ears? Those are Reese's peanut butter cup cupcakes. See that one that the cast member is reaching for? That baby was ours. I wanted to dig into it immediately, but Mrs. Troll insisted we wait.

So we waited.

Here's a closeup:

Imagine yourself standing in that line, trying to make up your mind which guilty pleasure you were going to indulge.

OK, so we slapped that baby in a plastic to-go container and headed for the gate.

It was getting dark, so I snapped this picture coming out of the bakery:

I think this "cinema" is no more than a junk shop now. Just about everything on Main Street is a junk shop. But I still like it, though.

If you didn't know this, a good way to avoid some of the foot traffic out on Main Street is to cut through the candy store, which we did:

Notice again that they were getting the Halloween stuff out, even though it's still August:

We made our way to the boat.

As we were boarding, Jeff, the boat captain, announced, "We are headed to the Fort Wilderness campground. If that's your destination, please be careful, because those people staying at the campground are more in tents."

Ha ha ha. A submarine with a screen door. Ha ha ha. Good one, Jeff. Did you think of that one all by yourself?

Here's Mrs. Troll showcasing her cupcake:

Here's a special POV photo:

You're trip reporting!

Yes, folks, I actually carry a little reporter's notepad with me on my vacations so I can capture all my trip reporting notes as they happen. That's how I managed to remember Jeff's awful "in tents" joke. Otherwise my brain would have dutifully deleted that memory.

Rightfully so.

You know, this trip reporting game is pretty competitive. I'll do anything to gain an edge. That TDD guy is like the New York Yankees of trip reporting...

...and I'm like the Toledo Mud Hens...

...not even in the same league...

OK, now check out this nibble of "artistic expression":

Isn't that cool? I set my camera to its fastest ISO, which is, I think, 6400 ISO, and that makes the photos really, really grainy. In this case the photo came out really pixelated. It kind of looks like a Van Gogh painting! See?

I should get paid to do this.

Here's another grainy expression:

By now the sun was dropping fast.

Coming up next I share some more really ugly artistic nighttime photos!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

You should get paid for writing this stuff!

You are doing great.

My comments-

I recall there actually being large fake rocks moving in and out of the walls in the falling rock sequence in BTMRR. Then they stopped working. Right before the refurb, the big moving rocks had been removed, and black tarps covered the holes left in the walls. They have now patched up those holes, but nothing is moving in that room any longer.

I am going to guess that your favorite ride in all of WDW is something in Epcot. Is is Soarin'?

I have been chosen to be That Guy many times. It's weird, too, because when I'm not chosen, they seem to go after some old clueless guy that everyone will laugh at. Then sometimes they pick me. What a contrast.

I have never seen a female That Guy.

I think it's cheating if you take notes for a trip report.

I think your trip report is the first one I have seen refer to Van Gogh. Nicely done.

TCD

[SCTigerCock 171]

I like the "artistic expression".

Nice pics.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I think your trip report is the first one I have seen refer to Van Gogh. Nicely done.

TCD

yes, but he calls you TDD.....

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

yes, but he calls you TDD.....

Oh, he was talking about me?

I thought there must be someone named TDD whom he was talking about.

TCD

[stefa70 205]

Gee Norm, I think that's the first real pic I've seen of you. I expected older and hairier (Thanks for explaining the age-fur loss, BTW) and maybe slightly humpbacked.

Mr & Mrs Troll are a pretty darn hot duo.

Now, if you tell me that your favorite ride is IASW, your Troll credibility is shot!

I don't take notes as I go, for a report, but at night I jot down what we've done or all the days just kind of meld together. The TR Master says that's cheating? He wants us to believe he remembers all the details?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I don't take notes as I go, for a report, but at night I jot down what we've done or all the days just kind of meld together. The TR Master says that's cheating? He wants us to believe he remembers all the details?

I promise you I don't take notes.

I do, however, post my photos in order, and that helps me to keep everything in sequence. If I don't have a photo of it, then it probably will get left out of the report.

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I promise you I don't take notes.

I do, however, post my photos in order, and that helps me to keep everything in sequence. If I don't have a photo of it, then it probably will get left out of the report.

TDD

I fixed it for ya

[Southern Blessings 4]

I like the artistic pic, it really does look like a painting! I was gonna guess Splash Mountain was your favorite ride, it used to be mine.

[dvccamper 32]

I'm going out on a limb and saying your favorite is the Hall of Presidents.

[Gots2pitt.. Jeff 64]

Nothing wrong with the Toledo Mud Hens.. hopefully they are future TIGERS! :) Enjoying the TTR.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I already owe you one Pabst Blue Ribbon... I am afraid to guess anymore.

[The Troll 67]

I like the artistic pic, it really does look like a painting! I was gonna guess Splash Mountain was your favorite ride, it used to be mine.

You got it!

Darn, I thought everyone would guess that one straight away. Splash Mountain rules. It rules!

Prepare for much Troll praise for Splash Mountain in an upcoming installment!

I'm going out on a limb and saying your favorite is the Hall of Presidents.

Wrong. We trolls might live under bridges, but that doesn't mean we're dullards.

You owe me a beer just for suggesting that.

Nothing wrong with the Toledo Mud Hens.. hopefully they are future TIGERS! :) Enjoying the TTR.

Go Mud Hens! You got to pull for them just for their mascot.

I already owe you one Pabst Blue Ribbon... I am afraid to guess anymore.

Yeah, ha ha ha, Nicki...I do believe I made it clear that PBR was not on my beer selection.

Stay tuned! The next installment of the TTR is on the way!

[The Troll 67]

All right, as promised, I have a few more of those grainy nighttime boat ride photos to share with you. Here's one:

Keep in mind it was almost pitch black night at this point. The sky looks blue because of the ultra fast ISO speed I was using.

Very grainy:

And here we are, pulling up the Wilderness Lodge dock. Yes, we had to stop there before our Fort destination.

Now, just to give you a sense of how dark it actually was, here's another photo of the same subject NOT using such a fast ISO:

Can anyone guess what this one is:

And here we are, approaching the Fort dock:

That one above is fairly awful picture, isn't it?

Now this one below is really bad, but notice the standing water in the tether ball court:

Notice also that these two Fiends weren't letting a little water stop them from tether balling! They take their ball-tied-to-a-rope sport seriously!

This one's a tiny bit better. Look at the weird yellow light on the trees:

Finally we made it back to the camper...to be greeted by two very happy dogs.

Mrs. Troll decided it was time to remind the dogs of their college football loyalties:

Notice above that Zoe does not like wearing hats. She looks pitiful, like she's being beaten!

So we took the hat off, showered, and decided to turn in. It had been a very busy day.

Mind you, everything that happened in this trip report up until now happened in our very first day! Yes, that's just the first day!

My alarm clock got us up the next day promptly at around 7AM. I was excited because it was time for me to try out my new coffee mug:

And here's a POV shot for you:

I hope you like cream in your coffee!

I stepped out of the camper to take a look around the site. One word for you -- humid! Holy crap! It was like I had stepped into a steam room. And it was early morning!

Yuck.

Notice, however, that most of the standing water had dried up:

So now it's time to explore the 700 loop. I mentioned that in the first installment of this TR but didn't realize it would take this long to get there! Our first day was action-packed!

Exploring the 700 loop is up next!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

1. Just because you win the beer doesn't mean you get to choose the vintage. (though I might have some shiner on hand)

2. I thought that was orange juice in your new mug

3. waiting for some loopin

[stefa70 205]

Woohoo! Norm takes crappy pictures too!

I have felt so inadequate after looking at your pics, I feel better now. Thanks! ^-^

[shoreline99 137]

Looks great, Norm. Good job so far!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Can anyone guess what this one is:

Is that the ridiculously lit-up River Country?

TCD

[Dollface...CindyC 18]

We were at the Fort at the same time! Sorry we didn't get to meet up. We went to Downtown Disney the day you arrived. :-)

Glad you had a good first day and your puppies are adorable!

Wow, I so need to get to work on my TR... but I"m waiting on my Photopass CD so I can have everything in order... I like order.