A "here now" sporadic Fort trip report

[BradyBz12]

Having too much fun to waste time online, but will try and post here and there.

Arrived Sunday - hot and humid! Pulled in about 11:30, got texted that our site was ready just at 1:00. We got the #2 site we requested in the 300.

CM told us the Fort was completely sold out for Halloween, but it was a mass exodus leaving Sunday.

It's been veeeeery quiet since we've been here. Almost feels like we have the whole place to ourselves! Since we pulled in, I'd say 300 has had between 4 and 10 empty sites - a few more emptied out this a.m.

Dog park is well used - always at least 2-4 other dogs there when we arrive. Everyone is pretty well behaved, although I think when we let our 2 border collie girls in, the energy level goes up about 12 notches!

Still, the girls have made lots of friends and they definitely make sure the other dogs get their exercise too.

Weather cooled/dried off quite a bit yesterday - almost needed a sweater in the evening. A bit sunnier/warmer today, but with the breeze it's still very pleasant. No bugs! Well, just these beauties...



Have seen lots of deer along the other side of the 300 canal, we also surprised one on the golf cart 2 nights ago driving up the road past the tennis courts.

We've already seen some Christmas decorations starting to go up, and were lucky enough to see Whipperwhirl's amazing pirate ship - which apparently floated from their site down to the area right before you enter the Settlement. A perfect spot so everyone can admire her handiwork.








Will try and post more info/pics as we go along.

[Tri-circle-D]

Great job, Monique! Glad to hear that you are enjoying your trip, so far.

Are you going to be there through Thanksgiving?


TCD

[Born 2 Fish]

HEY ! The GG was last week !
oh well, I'm sure you'll hava great time without us.

[Whipperwhirl]

Hey theres my ship again - I imagine people are getting tired of looking at it - I should start sending little accessories down so it will change ever so slightly. Boy - that would make DH a bit upset wouldnt it - lol.

[Born 2 Fish]

Originally Posted by Whipperwhirl

Hey theres my ship again - I imagine people are getting tired of looking at it - I should start sending little accessories down so it will change ever so slightly. Boy - that would make DH a bit upset wouldnt it - lol.

Make a duct tape'n glue pirate fishing to add to it !

[kaguilbeau]

Originally Posted by Whipperwhirl

Hey theres my ship again - I imagine people are getting tired of looking at it - I should start sending little accessories down so it will change ever so slightly. Boy - that would make DH a bit upset wouldnt it - lol.

Where did you leave the ship? On someones site or Fort Wilderness grounds?

[Tri-circle-D]

Originally Posted by kaguilbeau

Where did you leave the ship? On someones site or Fort Wilderness grounds?

The ship is behind and to the side of site #733. This is the first site that you see as you emerge from the walkway that goes to and from the marina and Pioneer Hall. The campers who occupy this site are Fort regulars, who camp from October through January on the same site. These folks, along with the folks in site 734, decorate their sites to the hilt. The pirate ship is in very good hands.

I haven't heard this directly, but I am surmising that Disboard member PirateJeff brokered this deal, as he was in site 731 over Halloween, and he appears to be chummy with the campers in 733 and 734.

TCD

[BradyBz12]

Originally Posted by Tri-circle-D

Are you going to be there through Thanksgiving?

Unfortunately not. We leave 11/20.

Originally Posted by Born 2 Fish

HEY ! The GG was last week !

I know - we were bummed we missed y'all by just a few days. We've definitely got lousy timing this year, but we're milking these APs for all their worth!

Originally Posted by Whipperwhirl

Hey theres my ship again - I imagine people are getting tired of looking at it

No way - it's great! The fact that it's now the first thing you really notice coming out of the Settlement is super.

Originally Posted by Whipperwhirl

I should start sending little accessories down so it will change ever so slightly.

OMG that would be a hoot! People are definitely taking good care of it. The shark fell over a few times (it's been pretty breezy the past few days), but people keep standing it back up.


The Fort continues to be pretty darned quiet. It filled up a bit for the weekend, but there are still plenty of empty sites to be found.

The pool has been pretty busy, but not crazy. It's been warm enough (for anyone living north of VA anyway) but breezy. Evenings have been pretty cool.

We tried out the hot dog concoction at the Meadows Snack Bar - hot dog with pulled pork and cole slaw on top. Sounded weird, but tasted pretty darned good.

Have gotten takeout from Trails End twice. DH likes the pizza (I know, I know) - especially for breakfast with a fried egg on it (not kidding). I've gotten the chicken and have to say it's a pretty good meal for $8.

For those of you doggie folks staying on 300 - they added another bag dispenser and trash can near the very end of the dog walk.

Lots of dogs all over 300, of all shapes and sizes, and yet 99.9% of the time you don't hear a peep. Dog park has been great - all the dogs we've met there have been friendly. Our 2 border collie girls are quite popular - probably because they get EVERY dog in the place running at full speed, even the old, chunky Labs.

We got some new neighbors with a whole bunch of kids that are about the most noise we've heard all week, and even that isn't bad. Kids ride their scooters around in the a.m., but then everyone packs up for the parks. Aside from that one group, those are the only kids under 15 I've seen on this entire loop!

Having fun enjoying the last of the F&W. All the logo merch went on sale yesterday for 50% off.

Been popping in and out of the parks here and there. Will post pics when I get a chance to unload the camera.

I probably won't check here every day, but if anyone has any questions or anything they want me to scope out, let me know.

[BradyBz12]

A few more tidbits...

We're getting some wind from Ida, and some rain on the way tonight/tomorrow, but it shouldn't be bad and we should be back to lovely weather by Thurs.

Whipperwhirl's pirate ship gained a passenger a few days ago - a scarecrow in full pirate regalia! Unfortunately the wind took its toll, although I did see this a.m. that someone tried to right the ship.

In general WDW news, HS was really quiet yesterday. DH and I rode ToT 5 times with virtually no wait. Once we even were allowed to pick our seat because the car wasn't half full (front row of course!) TSM only had a 15 min wait, and single rider for RRNC was a breeze.

Hit the Disney outlets today on Vineland/International. Some good deals, although mostly clothing. The one on Int'l did have a bunch of the Star Wars merch, including the potato head characters.

HS is pretty much all decked out for Christmas - presumably because Osborne starts tonight. MK is all done too - first MVMCP tonight - well, no big tree in the square yet. They may be waiting until after the parade taping again this year like they did last year.

No Christmas decor at the Fort yet.

300 loop has had a ton of turnover. Half the loop emptied out on the weekend, and then about half of that filled back up Monday. A bunch more turnover today. Went looping last night and saw a few premium loops that were barely half full.

We've seen 2 sites with real Christmas decorations up - if you don't count the tiny little singing snow globe here on 300.

Quite a few sites with Thanksgiving decorations - including the folks that go all out on the 100. They switched over from Halloween to Thanksgiving almost as quickly as Disney does.

Didn't see/hear anything about the latest golf cart accident, but there's some crazy cart goings-on to be sure. Yesterday we were at the dog park and saw 2 kids come shooting out from the grassy area up towards the canal in broad daylight. They whizzed past and waved - the older driver couldn't have been more than 14.

Deer are EVERYWHERE! Our friend down here with us is a hunter and he tells us it's mating season. We went "deer hunting" last night (flashlight and a camera) and saw tons - especially in the grassy area between the hitch/unhitch area and the cabins. Loads of does laying down in the grassy/wooded areas, and we saw 2 small bucks too. I guess it's that time of year.

Will try and post some pics soon.... promise.

ETA...
Forgot to add that I tried something new and DELICIOUS yesterday - the carrot cake cookie at Writers Stop in HS. OMG, this baby is killer!! DH had one of their giant chocolate chip cookies - also delish and definitely tasted homemade with the appropriate amount of butter. Mmmmmmm. Definitely will have one more of those before we go home!

[Lil' Lisa]

Originally Posted by BradyBz12

Deer are EVERYWHERE! Our friend down here with us is a hunter and he tells us it's mating season.

So Bambi would say that they are "twitterpaited"???

[Pirate-Jeff]

Originally Posted by Tri-circle-D

The ship is behind and to the side of site #733. This is the first site that you see as you emerge from the walkway that goes to and from the marina and Pioneer Hall. The campers who occupy this site are Fort regulars, who camp from October through January on the same site. These folks, along with the folks in site 734, decorate their sites to the hilt. The pirate ship is in very good hands.

I haven't heard this directly, but I am surmising that Disboard member PirateJeff brokered this deal, as he was in site 731 over Halloween, and he appears to be chummy with the campers in 733 and 734.

TCD

I couldn't let whip cut it up and put it in the trash. The pirate ship is in very good hands.

The campers in 733 live here in Delaware close to me. and are Dis-board members. 733 Dis-board name is "camelot82297", 734 I believe is the Disneychicks.
I'm waiting for pictures of their Christmas displays with the pirate ship

[des1954]

Originally Posted by BradyBz12

Deer are EVERYWHERE! Our friend down here with us is a hunter and he tells us it's mating season.

Sounds like you're having a great time!! We were there 12/28 to 11/8 over on the 200 loop with the rude people!! Didn't you see me riding around in the GEM car?? And FWIW....I love Trail's End Fried Chicken!

Now about the deer....nope...it's not mating season here yet. Florida deer are a few months later than northern deer in that respect. The rutting season begins in January around here. I think Disney is going to have to thin out the deer as they are getting too bountiful & thus will become diseased. In September, we saw a fawn get hit by a car at the travel plaza to the MK. It was so sad...and I'm sure the kids in the car that hit the fawn were somewhat traumatized.

I'm sorry to hear Whip's Ship blew over. I hope it was able to be righted and salvaged. I know the shark kept tipping over & I picked it up two or three times!

Glad to hear you're having such fun! Keep it going!!

[BradyBz12]

Well isn't this proving to be the world's most pitiful trip report?

Hopefully I'll get caught up with all the gory details and pics once we're home, but a few more tidbits along the way...

Loads of turnover here in the 300 today. As of now (12:44pm) I'd say half the loop is empty at least. There are 8 of 10 sites in a row empty from 335 on, and many more towards the end of the loop.

Brady and I saw 3 deer on the dog walk late yesterday afternoon. One poked its head out from the end (where it turns the corner) and was standing about 20' from Brady (who never noticed - silly herding dog). 2 more young bucks trotted up the other side of the canal, past us, stopped, looked for a second and ducked into the woods. Saw 3 on the side of the road driving in last night. They hardly budge, even for cars.

We tried out the Characters in Flight balloon at DTD yesterday - very cool indeed!! It was a crystal clear day and you could see for miles from 400 ft up. Super smooth ride too. It's $16 for adults, but we were told if we held onto our receipt we could come back any time and get 20% off.

Also tried out the new restaurant @DTD - Paradiso 37. We sat out on the deck by the water, they had some great live music, and we ordered an assortment of apps. Delish! Drinks were good but seriously pricey ($10+ for margaritas)

Ooh - bonus of the trip...
I'd been checking online for news of Space Mtn and heard soft openings started Friday. So we popped in Saturday afternoon and sure enough, we lucked out! It opened on and off throughout the afternoon, but we made it on. Not a ton of changes, but it's a nice refresh. Cars are essentially the same, but much cushier now thanks to extra padding. For you taller folks, try and sit in the back. I'm only 5'6 but I could stretch my legs all the way out. Ride is definitely smoother... and darker. Most of the rest of the updates are to the queues going in/out (incl. interactive games to pass the time) and some cool lighting.

I haven't been reading all posts here, but see some pics of decorations being posted. This weekend definitely brought out more of the holiday spirit with the folks at the end of the 700 really diving in head first. Hoping to do a nighttime loop before we go to get some pics to post.

Dog park has been jam packed - especially around 9am ish. Haven't encountered any real "problem dogs" at all and people seem to be pretty on the ball and paying attention to whose doing what.

Along those lines... 300 is chuck full of pups of all shapes and sizes, and in the 16 days we've been here so far, everyone has been very quiet.

Weather this week is be-a-u-ti-ful! Highs in the upper 70s/80 and not a cloud in the sky. Hoping to catch a good view of the shuttle launch this afternoon. Speaking of - gotta run and check the schedule to make sure it's still going off on time. More later....

[TBoss68]

Originally Posted by BradyBz12

Along those lines... 300 is chuck full of pups of all shapes and sizes, and in the 16 days we've been here so far, everyone has been very quiet.

Why is it that those of us with pop ups are immediately categorized as loud?

[kaguilbeau]

Originally Posted by BradyBz12

300 is chuck full of pups of all shapes and sizes, and in the 16 days we've been here so far, everyone has been very quiet.

It's because we're not there yet! I've got one that is so panic ridden that he'll move his kennel from one side of the room to the other - while inside! I've got his medicine packed. Better hope it knocks him flat!