Thanksgiving Week 2007 @ The Fort

[PolynesianPixie]

I see what you mean about being a hottie there!

TCD

Hey that's me!!!

Too bad you can't see my mullet!

 

[Gatordad]

Let me modify my statement. Not everyone under 200lbs should wear a tube top. Let that lady be the first.

 

[Tri-circle-D]

OK lI need to get this thread back on topic before Rhonda shows up.

So, remember I said that I had a photo of the inside of the tipi?

I hope that you weren't expecting too much.

The guy that I was talking to gave me permission to take this photo. The only problem was that this was not his tipi. He told me his buddy wouldn't mind, but I snapped this real quick, just looking in the front door:

Here's a couple more exterior shots that I have not yet posted:

TCD

 

[PolynesianPixie]

What a stick in the mud~geez.

Nice teepees, though. In VA we have longhouses.

 

[Tri-circle-D]

OK, for those of you still with me, let me share my golf cart experiences from this past week.

First, some more background. I did not try to make reservations for Thanksgiving week until late October. My family and I had planned on taking a cruise for Thanksgiving, but that did not work out this year. So, around the end of October, I realized that we needed to make some plans.

I was able, after about 20+ phone calls to CRO (I can push all of the prompts before the voice mail system tells me to), I was able to piece together 6 nights. Once we got to the Fort, we got the 7th! Perfect.

Not so much with the golf cart. I called the Bike Barn the week before, and was only able to reserve a cart from Sunday to Thursday. I had to give it back on Thanksgiving morning, and go on the wait list (I was number 76!). I begged to no avail, I had to give the cart back. I briefly contemplated "forgetting" to return it, but decided I did not want to be on the naughty list in the computer. So our cart went back on Thursday, and we waited, and waited. I called on Friday and got to speak to the honorable Miss Sundee herself. She was as nice as can be, but told me, in so many words, don't hold my breath.

Then, Saturday morning, we got the call. A cart was now available!

Of course, we were leaving Sunday, but you gotta take what you can get.

Anyway, when I returned the cart on Sunday am, look how many carts they had:

that's not all, here is the parking area behind the Bike Barn:

And, keep in mind that the campground was still rather full!

Until you see them all in one place, it's hard to comprehend how many carts they have at the Fort.

How many would you say? I would say maybe 200-300 carts.

One of you bean-counters do the math. They now charge $49.00 per day to rent a cart. One cart can bring in $17,000 plus a year. How much does a cart cost? How long can they keep it in service? I wish I had a piece of the action!

Oh, and BTW, the rumors about the special Hummer golf cart are true. Here it is:

I had not seen this before, and when I heard about it on the boards, I thought it wasn't true, but we saw different folks driving it during the week, and it was there at the Bike Barn after having been turned in on Sunday morning.

TCD

 

[PolynesianPixie]

By the way, Tri-circle-D, I really enjoyed your pix of the horses in the morning. My DD's would love to see that! Just how early in the morning do you need to get up to see that?

 

[Gatordad]

they have at least 300 carts. the people at the bike barn told me. They want to build a place near the entrance to store them, as they can only charge a few at a time.

 

[Tri-circle-D]

By the way, Tri-circle-D, I really enjoyed your pix of the horses in the morning. My DD's would love to see that! Just how early in the morning do you need to get up to see that?

The horse grooming gets done pretty early in the am. I took the photos that I posted above at around 7:30 am. These horses work in the MK, so they get groomed early in the day. But, there is usually something going on at the barn all day long. As I already stated, it is worth the effort to go early. It is incredibly quiet and peaceful.

I haven't seen it in a while, and I'm not sure if they still do this, but there is a blacksmith shop right in this area. They used to do a demonstration of how they care for the horses' feet. Very interesting, and something that all kids should get to see. The blacksmith would show how they cleaned the feet, kept the hooves trimmed, and then would put a horse shoe on. I would suspect that this must still go on, as the horses still need to have their feet cared for. I'm sure any castmember working at the barn can tell you.

Also, don't forget the pony rides. My DD's are all too big now, but we spent many a morning riding the ponies. The DD's used to know the ponies' names, and they had their favorites. It used to be $2.00 per ride. A pretty good deal for WDW. The animals are now gone from the petting zoo, but the pony rides are still there.

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

OK, let's see, just a few more photos, and this trip report will be finished.

Here is a photo of a remaining uncleared area of the Fort. This is taken from near the bridge that goes over the canal between the 1400 and 1500 loops on Big Pine Drive. This is facing toward the pool/Meadows/1400 loop area. The vines that you see choking out the trees are the air potato vines that you might have heard mentioned. This is not Kudzu- it is a different plant. There are still some large areas like this around the Fort. While it looks nice and wild, these vines are killing the trees. Based on the clearing that has already taken place, I would expect that this area will be cleared, too. When that happens, you will probably be able to see the 1400 loop campsites and the campfire area from this vantage point.

TCD

 

[PolynesianPixie]

The horse grooming gets done pretty early in the am. I took the photos that I posted above at around 7:30 am. These horses work in the MK, so they get groomed early in the day. But, there is usually something going on at the barn all day long. As I already stated, it is worth the effort to go early. It is incredibly quiet and peaceful.

I haven't seen it in a while, and I'm not sure if they still do this, but there is a blacksmith shop right in this area. They used to do a demonstration of how they care for the horses' feet. Very interesting, and something that all kids should get to see. The blacksmith would show how they cleaned the feet, kept the hooves trimmed, and then would put a horse shoe on. I would suspect that this must still go on, as the horses still need to have their feet cared for. I'm sure any castmember working at the barn can tell you.

Also, don't forget the pony rides. My DD's are all too big now, but we spent many a morning riding the ponies. The DD's used to know the ponies' names, and they had their favorites. It used to be $2.00 per ride. A pretty good deal for WDW. The animals are now gone from the petting zoo, but the pony rides are still there.

TCD

Thank you! That is good info! 2 of my 3 kids are too young for horseback riding, so the pony rides will be great!

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Well, it was just in October that I posted this photo of an old map which was still prominently displayed on the boat rental building at the marina:

I thought it was neat, because it showed the 500 loop with its old name (Terry Trail), and also listed Marsh Mellow. Well, guess what?

It's gone!

TCD

 

[WMILLER86]

The clearing between the 700 and 800 loops has uncovered a good portion of the old railroad tracks from the old FW train.

There are still railroad ties in there:

You used to be able to see the tracks from the road, but now they are cleared out from the road to just behind the 700 loop.

TCD

Andrew, on your next trip, you should bring your metal detector(I know you still have one.) and search for rail spikes left from the old track. That would be a great find!

Reading ths report has me wanting to head out camping here in East Texas. The Miller Family has not been on a camp trip in two years. A fact that is brought up to me on every cool dry weekend of the Fall by Erin Miller.

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Andrew, on your next trip, you should bring your metal detector(I know you still have one.) and search for rail spikes left from the old track. That would be a great find!

Reading ths report has me wanting to head out camping here in East Texas. The Miller Family has not been on a camp trip in two years. A fact that is brought up to me on every cool dry weekend of the Fall by Erin Miller.

Willie- Welcome to the camping board, my old cruise buddy! You are right, I once owned a metal detector. I think Mrs. TCD must have made me get rid of it along with my collection of beer signs and my other valued bachelor possessions back when we got our first house.

I'm not sure if there are any railroad spikes to be found. The rails are definitely gone. I would imagine the spikes got taken up when the rails were taken up. The railroad ties, however, are still there, at least what is left of them.

You need to take the DD's camping! They are going to be grown and out of the house soon!

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

As is to be expected during any holiday, there were groups of party animals at the Fort over Thanksgiving week:

This group occupied several campsites in the 2000 loop. They set up two connected screen rooms on one site as their party HQ. These folks pretty much were daytime partiers- on Saturday, Nov. 24th, they were overflowing into the loop. Lots of cars parked all over the place. It was all over by evening, though.

This group was set up in the 1400 loop, backing up to the Meadows area. They distinguished themselves by having the largest collection of coolers ever. They were a pretty subdued group. It is hard to keep the party intensity going at the Fort- everyone gets tired, and it is not easy to sleep in-so the late night group is a rarity. Also, I am thinking that the Fort is not a good place to wake up with a hangover. You probably only make that mistake once. Sorry for the photo quality, but you can still see all of the coolers:

And, last, here is a real party animal. This fellow was rooting around the campsite across from ours. We watched him for a while, and he climbed right into one of the semi-buried trash cans. Then, he couldn't get out. What a ruckus! We finally had to help him out by pulling the bag out of the can. He didn't even say thank you!

TCD

 

[tungpo1]

Yumm shell food LOL

 

[ftwildernessguy]

The tail makes a great toothpick.

 

[parrothead365]

mmmm possum on the half shell

 

[WMILLER86]

How did that Lil Feller get all the way down there from Texas? I swear that is a Texas Armadillo! I can tell because he is showing you his backside when you are taking his photo while he eats! Cocky son of a guns.
If you see him again, tell him to be careful when travelling. I saw his cousin today on the side of the road.

 

[tellnotails]

So, we have heard about all the clearing going on at the Fort. Here is an official proclamation from the top:

And, they are not kidding around with this clearing. There is heavy equipment all around the campground. Check out this back hoe behind the 800 loop:

Here are some more workers on the 800 loop:

When I first saw the results of all of the clearing earlier this year, I did not like the loss of privacy. Now, I like the openness.

Also, they have begun to plant new, native, tree species. Here are some shots that I took along the roadway behind the 700 loop. There are tons of new trees, and they have set up an irrigation system to take care of them. This already looks great, and will look even better as the trees mature. I saw slash pine, cypress, ligustrum, and maybe some magnolia trees. Really nice!:

TCD

Awesome thread TCD as always...........I knew they cleared it because of the potato vine.............not FIRE danger........

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Awesome thread TCD as always...........I knew they cleared it because of the potato vine.............not FIRE danger........

Thanks, TNT- I appreciate the compliments. I think that clearing the brush also does reduce the threat of fire. When I first saw the extent of the clearing this past summer, I did not like it. But, now that I see the quality of the replanting- I am now convinced that this is a good thing. The majority of what has been removed was nuisance vegetation.

TCD