TCD is Thankful for Thanksgiving @ The Fort 2012

[Momoffive aka Loretta 34]

I just finished Book 1 of The Kingdom Keepers Series and loved it!! You're right about the Robot world.

Had our first sandwiches at the Earl on this last trip and we all loved our choices and will go again. Between us we tried 8 of their choices.

Can't wait to see Canine Tetherball!!! Perfect site I am guessing?

I hated the Birthday Castle back then and seeing it again doesn't change my opinion, ugh!

Wish I could see the light show on the castle, it looks really cool.

Oh Go Gators and Irish!!

Page 3 not so bad, I'll take it.

[alexwyattmommy 181]

I'm all about page 3. Well that and I didn't do much on line yesterday so I missed this report.

I would tell you where the photo taking is, but this isn't my report so I'll let the Mr. TCD do it right.

Such a sad way to celebrate Mickey's birthday. Surely they would have made some sales if they hyped it up a little? Because we all know it is about the profit for the effort.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Wow, thanks for all the comments!

My comments on the comments:

There is a rumor that there is a special hidden mickey somewhere in the MK that is only visible on Mickeys birthday. And only during one hour (between 1300 and 1400). Of course, we all just missed it this year so will have to wait one year. But the imagineers designed some architecture so that when the sun is positioned just right (mickeys b-day between 1300 and 1400) there is a perfect mickey head shape on the ground. The other times of the year create an obscure mickey.

I do agree that more should have been done for Mickeys birthday, but there was allot backstage. All of the CMs remembered and we had cake and banners and some even wore birthday buttons that read Mickey 84.

I think I might know something about this secret Hidden Mickey you mention. On one of our recent visits to the new Little Mermaid ride, there was an off duty CM walking through the queue with us. She stopped and was pointing out details in the queue to her friend. At one point, she stopped at a place near one of those virtual crab portals, and knelt down and pointed to a spot on the wall. She then pointed up to the ceiling and showed where there was an opening. She said that when the sun was in the right position, the opening would cause a shadow of a Hidden Mickey to show on the wall. I thought it was a bunch of BS, but now you mention this. I know exactly where the spot is. Let's meet there next year on November 18th at 1300. Let's hope it's not cloudy that day.

Mickey told me he isn't into celebrating birthdays anymore.

I don't blame him.

I don't like my food to touch each other and I also don't like cranberry or stuffing. I guess that sandwich will not be on my LOF.

But I like turkey! ^-^

Sorry you were the only nerds in Tortuga Tavern. There's always next time.

Nice job rocking the Gator sweatshirt!! I wore mine too, Christmas shopping with my good friend (who wears garnet & gold)

Happy Belated Birthday Mickey! :heart:

So, you are more like the oldest TCD DD than the twins in the food department. That girl gave me some push back on the Pirate Jeff macaroni and cheese because there were hot dogs in the macaroni. She asked if she could have PJMAC without the hot dogs. Where did she come from?

We never did catch any nerds in Tortuga Tavern this trip. I told the girls I would put on some white socks and flip flops and set up shop there, but they asked me to please not.

Good for you for repping the Gators at the mall!

Are there any bragging rights for making it in on page 3! If not there should be as a TCD TR moves along very fast!

Love all of the photos. Except the homage to the Birthday Cake castle, but you had to report so good job.

Page 3 is good for you, so yes, you get Bragging Rights!

I think I'm the only person on earth who liked the Pink Castle. That was how it was when we first began to regularly visit WDW, so it holds a special place for me. One of my favorite memories of it was when my then five year old oldest DD said she wanted to lick it because it looked so good. So I told her go ahead. And she did. And she didn't like it. She was so disappointed that she almost cried. Dad of the Year.

I agree to all of the above! The cake castle makes me vomit. Ugh.

So exited for another TCD trip report!

You think that pink castle looked bad? You should have tasted it (see comment above).

I am late but in. I had to ship, buy, and chauffeur for Christmas gifts

Quit bragging.

I still have scarecrows and pumpkins in my yard.

First page! Awesome!

Anyways....the sandwich looked good.

The dreamlights and projections look cool. Never seen any of that in person.

Looking forward to the Fort exploring as always.

Go Irish! (had to sneak that in)

The bridge and tree at AKL seems like it would be worth a side excursion.

You had to sneak that Go Irish in, huh?

That's OK.

The Irish had an amazing season. And it is good for college football that they're back.

So Go Irish.

But with all due respect, I still hope they get pounded by Georgia or Alabama.

One thing I forgot to mention about the projection show is that it is amazing how they are somehow able to do this even though the Dreamlights are draped all over the castle. You can't see them at all when the show is going on.

AKL is definitely worth a visit. It is an amazing place with all kinds of details, not to mention the animals.

I like that sandwich from Earls. I've tried to do that with my leftovers but your right it's not the same! Enjoying your TR!

Thanks.

With all the kudos going to that sandwich, I am scheming on how I can get over there ASAP to get one.

That sandwich looks awesome!!!!!!!!!!!

So... where is the camera at Space? I'd love to know. Please?

I wish I knew where that camera was. Darned if I can figure it out. It always catches me off guard.

OK, I'll tell you.

It's right near the start. When you start out, you go through that blue tunnel. As soon as you come out of the tunnel, there is a sharp turn as your rocket heads toward the lift hill. The camera is right there as you make the turn- on the inside of the turn.

And just in case, the camera in Expedition Everest is at the top of the hill that you go down after the uphill backwards part of the ride. The camera in Dinosaur is near the end when the bit Dinosaur pops out. The camera on Test Track was just above the doors that you are going to "crash" into. The camera in Buzz is in the part where your car won't spin and everyone is pointed toward the big Buzz statue. The camera in Splash Mountain is right in the middle of the big drop. The camera in Tower of Terror is up top, where the doors open. I think that's all of them.

TCD,

Was that huge pin trading board at the pin store at Downtown Disney? That must be new in the past year. My boys would have LOVED that!

We also love the holiday sandwich.......and pretty much every sandwich at Earl of Sandwich!

The new light show on the castle looks great.

Heidi

Yes that big pin board is in the pin shop in Downtown Disney. I wasn't there to see it, and apparently, they only open it at random unannounced intervals, but it had a ton of pins, and gave the girls plenty of options.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

well I think I made page three. Im here.

Nothing wrong with page 3.

Gald you made it!

I just finished Book 1 of The Kingdom Keepers Series and loved it!! You're right about the Robot world.

Had our first sandwiches at the Earl on this last trip and we all loved our choices and will go again. Between us we tried 8 of their choices.

Can't wait to see Canine Tetherball!!! Perfect site I am guessing?

I hated the Birthday Castle back then and seeing it again doesn't change my opinion, ugh!

Wish I could see the light show on the castle, it looks really cool.

Oh Go Gators and Irish!!

Page 3 not so bad, I'll take it.

Yes, page 3 is fine.

So is page 4.

Another pink castle hater.

That confirms that I'm the only one who liked it.

I'm all about page 3. Well that and I didn't do much on line yesterday so I missed this report.

I would tell you where the photo taking is, but this isn't my report so I'll let the Mr. TCD do it right.

Such a sad way to celebrate Mickey's birthday. Surely they would have made some sales if they hyped it up a little? Because we all know it is about the profit for the effort.

That's right. Be proud to be on page 3!

I guess since this isn't a big birthday year for Mickey, and they have the New Fantasyland to hype, Mickey got ignored.

Walt would definitely not approve.

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Nothing to brag about here.... I still have a few to go. So how about an update to distract me from the fact I'm not done

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Nothing to brag about here.... I still have a few to go. So how about an update to distract me from the fact I'm not done

Deal.

I am working on it now.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Well, it turns out I forgot to mention one more thing about Sunday.

There were another couple of Fiends I met that day.

They were at the Fort keeping a low profile.

It was The Troll and Mrs. Troll.

You know, the guy whose most recent trip report went over 10K views?

He and Mrs. Troll stopped by my site as I was setting up on Sunday.

They are great folks.

Very un-troll-like.

Hopefully that means some more Troll Rants^tm are on the way.

I remember deriding the Troll in one of his recent reports for taking notes for his trip reports. It turns out that he has a good idea there. I messed up my telling of what happened on Sunday pretty good.

And that brings us to Monday.

For some reason, I did not begin my morning with a visit to my favorite spot. I can't remember why, but I just didn't. I should have made notes.

I do know that I slept a bit later than usual, since we had been up for EMH the night before.

My photos begin with a photo of the back of our site:

If you were at the Fort last week, you must have seen it.

We were right there on the main road.

The official decoration rules say that all decorations must sit back 30' from the main roads. But nobody seems to follow that rule. So, I put my decorations there, and waited to see if I would be asked to move them.

I wasn't.

Rules schmules.

The only spot I could put the TCD hammock was over here to the side:

But, that was better than my last site, where I had no place for my hammock at all.

Here's a look toward site 807 from the sidewalk:

As you can see, the site had a good amount of privacy despite being next to that sidewalk.

Here's the view from the front of the site. I had a couple of more blow-ups that I could have put up here, but I didn't bother:

You can see that I did put up the one mandatory TCD site decoration there on the left. This:

That's the TCD Gator Gnome. A generous gift from my good friend Stefa70. He is the first thing that gets set up and the last thing taken down on every Fort visit.

I did some looping that morning to deliver some spikes.

I checked on the 1500 loop, which is where we normally stay. I loved this set-up on 1501. Just a small tent:

They were there a couple of nights.

Way to go.

I stopped by Ed and Rita's site for a while. Ed was still sleeping, but I got to visit with Rita and Momma. You won't find nicer folks anywhere.

I also rean in to Gots2Pitt/Jeff that morning. Good to meet you Jeff.

In the late morning, our special guests arrived.

It was Mrs. TCD with the oldest TCD DD and the TCD dog, Rocky.

Rocky ran right from the car to the tetherball court and got busy:

I think that will do. You get the picture. Pun intended.

Next, the girls went looping, and I took Rocky for a walk.

Rocky wanted to see my favorite site, so we headed down toward the 800 loop bus stop:

Here we are at the crosswalk, looking back at our site:

I love when they decorate the bus stops for Christmas:

That big sign you see there directs everyone down the sidewalk and over the bridge to the campfire area:

And, here we go, down the sidewalk, right past my favorite site, #617:

Here's a look at the Fishin' Hole from the footbridge- there's Bob's dock with no Bob on the far side:

Here's the campfire area- it has been decorated for Christmas too:

The hay from Halloween is still there by the stage, but you can see a little Christmas tree there to the left:

The projection building has been decorated. You can also see that they are just using a big copy of the activity guide to list the movies instead of the old board that used to be updated each week:

I still don't like that giant copy of the activity guide.

Boo!

There's the Christmas tree. I remember a bigger tree:

Rocky was not impressed.

We headed back to camp to find Twin #2 making lunch for us. I put Rocky on his chain so I could sit down. He objected to that. But he had to deal with it. Here is a rare photo of all the TCD girls (and Rocky) together at the Fort (twin #1 is striking a model pose) (I don't know where that girl comes up with this stuff) :

I think this is a logical place to stop.

Up next, lunch with the TCD gang.

And a few more Rocky photos.

And even a TCD family group shot.

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

`

Now that is pure happiness there

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

Very cool!! Rocky looks like he's having a BLAST!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

`

Now that is pure happiness there

There is a fine line between crazy and happy. Rocky walks it.

Very cool!! Rocky looks like he's having a BLAST!

Yes he did have a blast. That dog will play tetherball till he drops.

TCD

[Sheraugh ~~~ Sheila 21]

Love the Rocky pics --- as much as I love all the Twins pics! Heck, I just love your trip reports. Thanks for sharing and keep them coming. :heartsmiley:

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Moving right along . . .

Shortly after Mrs. TCD arrived, it was lunch time.

The plan for today was that the oldest DD's friend, who goes to UCF, would be visiting us. She has a pass, and we were going to hit up a couple of parks.

She had texted and said she wouldn't make it for lunch, so we went ahead and ate.

Lunch today was Twin #2's egg salad sandwiches. It's one of her specialities, and we only have it while camping.

Rocky forgot his manners:

I was trying to eat my lunch, and had a mouth full for this photo:

After lunch, we hung around camp for a while. Rocky doesn't realize how big he is, and still tries to sit on my lap:

We tried to pose for a group shot. This is the best we came up with. Rocky kept looking everywhere but the camera:

After lunch, it was time for more tetherball:

After a while, it was time for Mrs. TCD and Rocky to leave.

They weren't planning to stay. They had just driven over to bring the oldest DD.

So, Rocky hopped in the car, and stuck his head out of the sunroof:

Rocky didn't seem to upset to leave:

After Mrs. TCD left, we got another update from the oldest DD's BFF- she was going to be a while longer.

So, we decided to head over the Hollywood Studios. We wanted to do some things there and then see the Osborne lights. Twin #1 made a fashion statement with socks and flops:

We took the bus.

While waiting, I observed something that really bothered me.

Here it is:

Do you see it?

How about now? :

What you see there looming behind the Trail Ride area is the new Four Seasons Resort. Up until now, I had seen the cranes. Now, I can see the top of the building. So, our Wilderness will now have a big ugly Four Seasons Resort building as a backdrop. Nice.

Here are the girls at Hollywood Studios:

Our first stop at Hollywood Studios was the animation building to meet Wreck It Ralph. The twins had met him, but the oldest DD had not. Here we go:

Ralph has huge hands:

Vanelope is a trouble maker:

Finally, we got the photo:

Hollywood Studios was crazy busy.

There were no more Fastpasses for any of the rides.

We walked down to Tower or Terror to see for ourselves how bad the line was.

It was bad.

So, we hung out some in the One Man's Dream attraction, and decided to go to the lighting ceremony for the Osborne Lights.

We will pick it up from there in the next update.

TCD

[charitycase20....Charity 10]

Oh I am sooo jealous!! I cannot WAIT until February! We've decided no parks, so we're just gonna meander around all week, hope to see some of the neat sites in your TRs. :jumpforjoy

[stefa70 205]

Awww, for once, I am speechless.

The family shots are great!

The Rocky photos are great!

He has really filled out since I last saw him. I love him at the table (Mason forgets his manners on vacation too) I love him in your lap, and I definitely love him sticking his head out the sunroof!

Having the whole family with you is such a nice change!

I'm honored that Gator Gnome has his spot at your site.

Believe it or not, you guys are never far from my mind. At least I know when GG comes out, you haven't forgotten about me. :)

By far, one of your greatest updates!!

[ftwildernessguy 778]

How come old 00 is flipping everybody the double bird?

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Rocky says "My Dad.... Mine... Mine.. Mine"

We tried to pose for a group shot. This is the best we came up with. Rocky kept looking everywhere but the camera:

Rocky said "I am too sexy for this picture"

After lunch, it was time for more tetherball:

can one dog ever get enough tether ball?

I must have good taste as I am currently rocking some five fingered toe socks with my sandals

what was twin #1 looking at?

[ajcjmom 8]

Great family photo's!

I may have to try and get a NYE trip into the Fort!

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Great updates! Especially love the family photos and the Rocky playing tetherball photos.

David wants to know how Rocky learned to play tetherball.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Love the Rocky pics --- as much as I love all the Twins pics! Heck, I just love your trip reports. Thanks for sharing and keep them coming. :heartsmiley:

Thanks, that is nice of you to say.

I will keep them coming!

Oh I am sooo jealous!! I cannot WAIT until February! We've decided no parks, so we're just gonna meander around all week, hope to see some of the neat sites in your TRs. :jumpforjoy

February will be here before you know it.

And good call on the no parks, there is plenty to do around the Fort and the rest of WDW without visiting the parks.

Awww, for once, I am speechless.

The family shots are great!

The Rocky photos are great!

He has really filled out since I last saw him. I love him at the table (Mason forgets his manners on vacation too) I love him in your lap, and I definitely love him sticking his head out the sunroof!

Having the whole family with you is such a nice change!

I'm honored that Gator Gnome has his spot at your site.

Believe it or not, you guys are never far from my mind. At least I know when GG comes out, you haven't forgotten about me. :)

By far, one of your greatest updates!!

Thanks, Stef!

I forgot to mention how much Vanelope reminds me of you. Like I said before, you just need a green hoodie and some sprinkles in your hair, and you could go work at the meet and greet!

That Gator Gnome goes on every trip, and sits out by the site marker. That's how some people find me.

How come old 00 is flipping everybody the double bird?

He's an FSU player.

Enough said.

Actually, he is doing the number one sign. But, it does look like a double bird now that you mention it.

The Seminole tribe prevents FSU from having some of the cool marketing stuff that UF has. You would think they would be happy with all the cash they are raking in from their casinos, but no.

Maybe that double bird is directed at the chief?

Rocky says "My Dad.... Mine... Mine.. Mine"

Rocky said "I am too sexy for this picture"

can one dog ever get enough tether ball?

I must have good taste as I am currently rocking some five fingered toe socks with my sandals

what was twin #1 looking at?

Great comments!

I don't know what Twin #1 was looking at. But it looks like something was going on there behind Vanelope's back.

Great family photo's!

I may have to try and get a NYE trip into the Fort!

Thanks.

Let me know if you're going to be there for NYE. You need a spike.

Great update! Especially love the family photos and the Rocky playing tetherball photos.

Thanks, Gwen.

I should have given Twin #1 the photo credits for the Rocky playing tetherball photos. Most regular TCD trip report readers would know that already, but just in case, Twin #1 gets the props.

TCD

[SCTigerCock 171]

Awesome Rocky Picks! He's georgious!

I showed the pics to Tony, and he agrees with me, no way our Savannah is coordinated enough to play tether ball. She would end up just chasing Rocky.

And Savannah still thinks she is a lap dog, in fact she always gets to "sit" in Tony's lap in the truck while I drive....

Glad the whole family was there, even for a short while!

Will Rocky ride up front in the Explorer? When I had mine, Clemmy "owned " the whole back with the seats down. But she would not ride up front. Just curious.

And like I said, Savannah now "owns" the front passenger seat of the truck.

[kampfirekim 260]

Page 3 is good for you, so yes, you get Bragging Rights!

I think I'm the only person on earth who liked the Pink Castle. That was how it was when we first began to regularly visit WDW, so it holds a special place for me. One of my favorite memories of it was when my then five year old oldest DD said she wanted to lick it because it looked so good. So I told her go ahead. And she did. And she didn't like it. She was so disappointed that she almost cried. Dad of the Year.

If I didn't know better I might think you were mocking me. But at least I get bragging rights so that's all that counts.

And this is a plug for being Pro Pink cake? :rofl2:

Anyhooooo..... Love the update! Oh to be at FW during the Christmas season. Great seeing the whole gang made it this trip!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I think we need one more update today. Carol can read it before she takes off for the Fort. It will be one less thing for her to do when she gets back.

As I mentioned in the last update, we decided to head over to the Osborne Lights lighting ceremony.

We have never seen the lighting ceremony.

I have seen photos of a giant switch, but I haven't seen it in person.

So, we headed over that way.

It looks kind of bleak around there at dusk with the ligths not lit:

It kind of looks like a gray winter sky like I remember from New Joisey:

Hey look-it's a dreidel! They have covered all the winter holiday bases:

There isn't much to see here when the lights are not on:

There were people waiting around, but no sign of the giant switch:

It turns out they had it hidden behind that big box:

Before the lights came on, they cranked up the fake snow machines:

Nothing puts me in the Christmas spirit like fake snow!

Still waiting:

Can you read the official name on the switch?

It says Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.

Spectacle.

I agree.

You'll see.

Then, Santa Goofy came out. And the family that was picked to help him:

And, the switch is flipped:

And the spectacle begins:

Santa Goofy is new this year.

He has a meet and greet area at the end of the street.

Right where they used to have a big nativity seen.

So Jesus is out.

Santa Goofy is in.

Heaven help us.

For some reason, Twin #2 was able to snag a solo shot:

As we were waiting for Santa Goofy, my oldest daughter's BFF showed up. You may recognize her from the TCD cruise trip report from earlier this year and prior TCD trip reports.

After Twin #2's solo, the girls met Santa Goofy together:

Then we wandered around the lights for a bit longer:

It turns out Jesus and his family weren't given the boot after all. They just got moved to a new spot:

It's good to see that political correctness has not completely taken over at WDW.

From here, we headed to Pizza Planet for dinner. Some of us had pizza, and some, including me, had the meatball sub. The meatball sub is pretty good here.

Next, we decided to do Tower of Terror and then Fantasmic.

We didn't wait on the Fantasmic line because I told the girls that we would be able to walk in right before the show started.

I was right about that.

But we got really bad seats.

It was crowded.

We were all the way to the left. Everything else was full:

The girls all liked the show.

Then we had a decision to make.

We could hang out at Hollywood Studios until it closed at 11. Or head over to the MK and hang out there until midnight. We elected to head to the MK.

Since my DD's BFF drove to DHS, we all piled in her car and rode back to the Fort. I grabbed the golf cart and met them back at the site.

We will be heading over to the MK to close it down next.

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Glad to hear Jesus and his family are still there!

[MetalDad 33]

Heck yeah! Pg 4 baby! Nice to see shots of you guys at the site. Awesome that the Nativity is back, kinda hard to have Christmas without it!

Have you fired up your seasonal disc yet? We played it friday by the fire!

[dvccamper 32]

Great pictures, especially your family pics at the campsite. You can tell you all have fun together :)

You are not the only one who liked the pink castle. My mother loved it. She took a ton of pictures of it. She still talks about it. And she bought the t-shirt of it. In fact, I bet she still has it.