Bama Ed Is At The Fort April 2013

[rajak73]

So here are the Saturday pix from Universal Studios. There aren't many pix but we did a fair amount of riding before lunch (and caught my son's high school parade), had a pretty good lunch at Finnegan's, the Irish food place in the New York section, and then caught the Blues Brother show right outside the restaurant. We didn't dilly dally after that and headed back to the Fort about 330pm. It's 20 minutes one-way between the front of the Fort and the Universal parking decks (if you use Hwy 536 on the Disney side).So all you former high school band members and parents, here it goes.

My DS18 nearest the camera in the center with the glasses on sousaphone.

All of us who tailgated back there (and took damn good care of it too - left it cleaner than we found it) were disappointed and I moved just outside the Woods Quad. But I was pissed. So I did what any mature, responsible, honorable alumnus (2x) of the University of Alabama would do.
I stole one of the signs.


I'm around the Fort tomorrow and I hope to have many pictures to share.

Bama Ed

What, you didn't stop at Margaritaville on the way out? Best place in universal
FANTASTIC watching your kid march, I will bet he very much appreciated you being there.
I would have did the same thing back here in Nebraska, if they cut down on the tailgating spots, they might have a riot.

 

[bama_ed]

What, you didn't stop at Margaritaville on the way out? Best place in universal

Uh, no rajak I did not stop at Margaritaville.

Although I would have if I had ridden that roller coaster the ROCKIT with the straight up verticle lift at the start.

But as Jimmy, a Bama boy from the Eastern Shore, says,

"The Tiki Bar is open."

And it's always 5 o'clock at site 127 at the Fort.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

Here are some more pix from my bike ride this morning. It's Sunday morning and that means it's going home time for a lot of folks.

First while still over by the Meadow pool, I notice the construction fence has come down around the new sidewalk by the bike barn I showed you. And there was one solitary squirrel on it watchin' me watchin' him...





Next a shot from the Meadow TP porch towards 900 then from 900 looking back at the TP.





Things were quiet in front of the Bike Barn.



Going into the loops, here's a Mickey lamp (lots of them around here) with a cute character stick.



People ask if they can pitch a tent on a Premium site. We answer that it can go on the concrete pad or off the pad if you can find space. Like this guest.



This popup in 2000 was turned so the door faced the BACK of the site (I guess to improve the privacy). Well, he was close to my Cub Scout friends.



Speaking of them, note how the "1-car-per-site" rule is followed religiously...



BTW, this bunch got Popo fliers yesterday. The flyers basically said, "move your vehicle to the overflow lot". Based on my unscientific observation, if you had dropped two wheels off the pavement you were okay - no flyer. If you dropped three or four tires off the pavement - you got a flyer.

Some of the Cubs tried to rough it. Who wants to sleep in a tent? This kid's ready for the Wilderness Survival merit badge.



Here's a great Den Leader (been there, done that) saying farewell to his den.



Blue tarps over tents? Yep, got those too.



Here's proof the Disney 6-seat golf carts do exist (can't reserve them, first come first served, limited quantity).



I think they're like $85 a day.

Some example of towel art from Mousekeeping over at cabin loop 2200.





And I tell folks if they request a site or loop, if a guest was on it and checking out the day you check in, you have to allow a Cast Member time to clean and prep it for your arrival. Like this one.



The pony rides were in full swing down by the Tri-Circle-D horse barn.





Some camper mods next. Plus more Fort pix. Stay tuned.

Bama Ed

 

[tiggerdad]

Keep it coming Ed, I keep coming over to your thread between studies. Also, hold your position, weather back home is rainy and miserable...

 

[iheartpeterpan]

No I don't. Laying so close to the camper it would take a lot of wind to lift it up given the weight of the canopy and the cross-bar at the end. And if the wind were blowing hard enough to do that, the canopy would be the least of my problems.

We are watching tv outside (the Masters mostly) and I leave it outside when I go and the dropped canopy protects it. I also put bikes under it and sometimes under the pup bunks. Just depends on how much protection I want.

I''m going to take a few pix and show you the mod I did on my awning poles.

Bama Ed

Thanks. I have a HW camper and I'm super short, so I always struggle with how to handle my awning once up - even with a step ladder I can't reach to put it away. Look forward to seeing your mods.

 

[sweet maxine]

Another great day of pix of the Fort!

I'm really getting in the swing of things here, gathering up lots of things for our upcoming trip in May. The days can't pass quickly enough to suit me.


On a another note, I'm picking Snedecker for the win today. Adam Scott as the sneaker, Couples as the sentimental favorite, but I think Snedecker redeems himself and wins it all today.

 

[bama_ed]

Thanks. I have a HW camper and I'm super short, so I always struggle with how to handle my awning once up - even with a step ladder I can't reach to put it away. Look forward to seeing your mods.

Okay iheartpeterpan. Here is what I have done with my awning. It was born out of frustration.

My awning has three spring loaded push poles in 2 parts that push the awning to its full length away from the camper. A bar with receiver holes is sewn into the end of my awning. One end of the push pole with a rubber cap is against the trailer. Here is a picture of the middle pole.





I had vertical adjustable poles that held up the receiver bar. They could be guyed down to the ground. I also used some bungee cords from the ends of the receiver pole to my camper frame to keep some tension on it from being lifted up into the air by an updraft. This worked okay.

But our favorite place to camp (other than the Fort) is at Gulf State Park on the Alabama Gulf Coast. Its campsites are all paved like an upside down capital "L" so the wide end where the camper and awning ended up was too far to guy down the poles. And I didn't want to lug around weights or use water bottles to hold it down.

The final straw at Gulf was while using my bungees the wind got gusty (we are near the beach after all) and an updraft lifted the vertical poles off the ground but they were held by the bungees. Then the awning came down suddenly, slacking the bungees. The hooks on the frame end came loose in front of me and as I got up to reattach them, a second gust blew the whole shebang up onto the pup roof.

Ed was not a happy camper.

So last fall I worked up a solution. I have seen the Carefree Colorado awnings for pups that attach to the side with stiff poles but they are expensive and I wanted to work with what I had. I also wanted more ability to adjust the slant and dip one side. But I liked the idea of attaching to the side of the camper to hold the awning more firmly in place.

My solution was to basically use two adjustable sliding painters poles from Home Depot. I used a cheap roller brush handle on the end (designed to screw on there). I pulled off the wire roller bracket and screwed in a big eye bolt to slide over the end of the receiver pole. The rubber handle has a hole in it for hanging it up and I used a c-clamp (name?) through a 3" strap (also at Home Depot bent in a U shape and bolted to my camper frame). I had to drill a hole in the frame, the middle of the strap for a bolt onto the frame, and a pair of holes in the U portion of the strap for the C-clamp.







Notice in the set up position, the eye bolt is on the INSIDE of the end push pole.



Here is the final side view.



I am very happy with this solution. I can leave the painter poles attached and simply slide them down as short as possible which leaves a little angle away from the pup body. For more protection, I slip the push poles off the receive pole on the ends, slide off the eye bolts, reattach the end push poles, and simply let the awning fall all the way down as the picture I posted earlier showed. The adjustable length of the painters poles helps me dip one end more than the other and secure it or alter the entire angle (almost out horizontally for max shade protection, etc.).

Maybe something like this can work for you?

Bama Ed

 

[iheartpeterpan]

Pretty slick arrangement. My PUP canopy already attaches to the side of the camper, but it is not nearly as sturdy as what you've done. I think I might steal some of your ideas to modify mine.

Hope you're having fun! Jealous.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

Pretty slick arrangement . . .

1) Clever arrangement.
2) Sometimes you don't need big bucks to effect a solution.

 

[iheartpeterpan]

2) Sometimes you don't need big bucks to effect a solution.

It's a good thing! ('Cause I don't have 'em)

 

[bama_ed]

This afternoon has unfolded very nicely.

As I type this there is a tie after regulation play at the Masters so we are going to a playoff.

Meanwhile, I wanted to say (and I'm not rubbing it in) how nice the weather was last night and earlier today. We turned off the AC last night, unzipped the screens, and let the fresh air move through the pup. Temps were in the high 60s overnight and it was very pleasant.

After lunch I went exploring some more. I noticed that there are many Cruise America Class C rental units here.



People must really like them because I see a lot of them.

I said early on in this TR that I was doing some things differently but one thing I always do is go check out the old rusting remaining track of the FW railroad. It's over by 1500 loop. Someone has taken a machete and cleaned out a path to it (which makes it a little too obvious) but parts of the track are visible still under the long grass.









1500 is just across the small canal.



The end of the tracks are surprisingly close to the main road. The tennis courts are on the other side of the road.



The pool was hoppin'.



At this point I ambled over and found another DISser who arrived today, storyteller. He had bikes, chairs, tents, and all kind of kid stuff over the campsite. We had exchanged details and when I found out he was taking care of about 5 kids, I said "I will come to you". So it was good to meet him and his crew. They're here for several days.

The weather turned a little wet around 430pm as I went to participate in the Meadow Pool "family friendly" activity of the day, tie dying t-shirts. I wanted to learn how to do this. It is the normal Sunday afternoon activity which I have missed in the past because we go home either on a Saturday or Sunday morning.

I chose to have a Mickey tie-dye (or you can do a traditional tie-dye). First you use a template underneath the shirt to trace the Mickey head(s) where you want them.





The chalk washes out but it's there now to show you where to put the rubber bands.







I applied extra rubber bands for that tie-dye effect. Then the shirt gets dunked in cold ice water, the better to absorb the dye.



Then I started applying the dye. As I said, mine was a combo type of tie-dye. So I applied different colors to where the rubber bands were; the open areas I used a splatter pattern approach.





Ugly, ain't it?



A traditional tie-dye shirt is apparently rubber banded like a big noodle with different (or the same) color dies applied between the rubber bands. This was the kid's next to me.



Then, while still wet and dyed, it is wrapped in saranwrap to hold the colors in for 24-48 hours while they set.



Here are the final instructions after waiting 24-48 hours.



We got a strong rain here about 545pm that was heavy and created some weather situations up near Wildwood where the Turnpike spins off I-75. My awning held up, we kept watching the Masters, so we are ok. But there is lots of standing water around now.

Our DIS poster NorthOfMouse stopped by tonight during the Masters playoff. She and DH were just around the corner in our loop 100. It was nice to meet them. Have a pleasant rest of stay, NoM.

We go home tomorrow but I still want to tell you at some point out the drive down (we did things differently) plus I'll wrap up a few odds and ends.

Bama Ed

PS - Adam Scott wins the Masters.

 

[Flametamr]

Hey Ed, Enjoying the trip report. Getting more excited for our Halloween trip to the Fort. We also love Gulf State Park. Were checking in there this Friday for an 9 day Spring Break camping trip.

 

[MamaJessie]

Was there a fee to make the shirts? Did they have shirts or did you have to bring your own?

 

[tiggerdad]

Thanks Ed, I'll be looking for the directions in report. You know how I quizzed you about it before...
Thanks for the pics and report. Be careful on your trip back.

 

[bama_ed]

Was there a fee to make the shirts? Did they have shirts or did you have to bring your own?

Jessie,

The answer is "yes".

Well what I mean is this.

When I saw the activity schedule when I checked in on Thursday I went to the Bike Barn on Friday to ask about shirt sizes available and costs.

"oh, you're in luck", the CM said. "We just got in a new shipment of t-shirts".

(they had nearly run out of them during the Easter break period).

I asked what sizes they had and they went up to Adult Large.

(Now I need a 2XL because of my shoulders and expected shrinkage from even pre-shrunk t-shirts).

So Friday evening I went to Wal-Mart on Hwy 535 because they usually carry plain Beefy t-shirts of quality thickness. I found a white Haines for $7.

The CM who had told me they only had Adult Large was working this afternoon and remembered my predicament. They were selling t-shirts to other folks for $17 along with the activity. Since I brought my own t-shirt they only charged me $12 because the dye is the most expensive part of the activity, not the shirt.

And I can see how you can go through some dye and use a lot if you do the noodle t-shirt approach like my neighbor and soak it with a lot of color. If it's not too ugly I'll show my shirt after I get home and wash it out per the instructions.

I'm kinda like poster N365PA said earlier in the thread - I'm just a big kid when I get to the Fort and WDW.

Bama Ed

 

[storyteller]

Bama Ed, it was a pleasure to have met you and really enjoy reading your TR, hope to run into again some day and have more time and maybe a beer. Thanks for the visit.

 

[rajak73]

Uh, no rajak I did not stop at Margaritaville.

Although I would have if I had ridden that roller coaster the ROCKIT with the straight up verticle lift at the start.

But as Jimmy, a Bama boy from the Eastern Shore, says,

"The Tiki Bar is open."

And it's always 5 o'clock at site 127 at the Fort.

Bama Ed

I looked at the ROCKITtold DW....NO WAY. She readily agreed with me.
Wish I could have been down there at the same time to visit your tiki bar
Have a safe trip homeReally enjoyed the trip report.

 

[North of Mouse]

Robert & I were glad to meet you last night bama_ed, and put a 'face' to your 'name'!

Hope you have a safe trip home today - the sun has come out again - think most of our showers are over for now. For all the threatening we've had the last week, it has really been beautiful weather.

No problems with a pop up, or 'anything' anyone enjoys camping in. We've basically done every RV there is in our 46 years of camping! Actually, our two problems (personally) with the pop up we had for two years was folding it down wet (seemed to rain every time), and not being able to get inside it on the road when we stopped. We travel a lot. Otherwise

Until we meet again! Off to explore! Joy & Robert

 

[retired and happy]

Ed, It was good to finally meet you in person last week. I enjoyed our chit-chats about this and that. We left Saturday around noon and had a nice drive to Lake City. Sunday morning it was cloudy. We hit rain just north of there and kept with it all the way to Atlanta....heavy lightning stuff to drizzle. Uneventful trip, no wrecks, just some slowing near the big city.

..............................

For any AU people reading this, Ed turned out to be a pretty good UA guy. And is looks like he and his father had a pretty enjoyable visit at the Fort.

 

[bama_ed]

Well folks I made it home today.

I had a few electrical problems all the way home with my tow vehicle and/or camper. I'm going to have to find out what's causing it.

Before I leave I usually go out for a spin and take a few final pictures. These scenes are from around 100 loop, the Settelement bus depot, and down by the marina.





My wife says I take too many pictures of signs.







Aw come on, dad. He's a boy and he just wants to play in a puddle....





A tow truck for golf carts came to the aid of one cart that had a flat tire.



Back in my loop this guy got a flyer. What did it say? It even had a picture drawn on it by a helpful Cast Member.





My camper is all closed up and ready to go.



But don't go away yet. As I said I want to tell you about the drive down which was different and I'll also comment on some other things.

Bama Ed