Fort Swampy-ness!

[Tri-circle-D]

As you may have deduced from reading the many recent threads posted by folks who have been returning from the Fort, it has been raining in Central Florida for the past few weeks.

A lot.

In the past year, the management of the Fort has spent probably millions of dollars ripping out existing vegetation, and indiscriminately filling in areas of the Fort which have historically been low and held water. When this filling project was first reported on these boards, many folks wondered where the water was going to go when the rainy season came. Well, the rainy season has come.

So, what is happening with all of the run-off? Where does it go now that all of the low areas have been filled?

Quite simply, nowhere.

But, as is sometimes the case, I have gotten ahead of myself.

What, you may ask, is TCD doing starting another thread about a visit to the Fort, when he just finished another thread about a previous Fort visit?

The TCD gang was on a special mission on 5/28/09.

It was the TCD twin DD's birthday!

And, as passholders, that meant if we showed up at WDW with birth certificates in hand, each DD would get a $75 gift card. So we went. We paid a brief visit to Hollywood Studios, where we met these characters:

As evening approached, I asked the girls where they would like to eat their birthday dinner. I was willing to take them to the Sci-Fi diner, or to another restaurant of their choice. Guess what they chose?

A giddy-up-and-go chicken dinner from Trail's End!

(They have been brainwashed, what can I say?)

So, on this damp afternoon, it was off to the Fort.

We noticed that there was a bit of a water issue at the entrance area to the 1600-1900 loops:

So, now we know where the water goes.

Nowhere.

It just sits there.

Yuck!

What about the 1900 loop?

That used to turn into a swamp whenever it rained.

But, last summer, they filled in the low spots.

So, what happens when it rains now?

Let's see . . .

Some of the sites on the 1900 loop are now like islands (or I guess peninsulas to be more precise):

Some more shots of the area:

So, what we can see from these photos is that the "improvements" to this area have resulted in things being more of a mess than they used to be. All the filling has accomplished is to make the water that used to accumulate in the low places now accumulate in other places. And, because the lowest places are gone, the flooding is now more widespread.

What were they thinking?

TCD

 

[magicforever]

I just reserved a site for these loops. Hope they plan on spraying for mosquitoes!!!!

 

[fldisneymommyto2]

Great reporting as usual TCD!! Did you happen to notice how the 300 loop was?? We are heading to the fort in the am and have requested the 300 loop.

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Great reporting as usual TCD!! Did you happen to notice how the 300 loop was?? We are heading to the fort in the am and have requested the 300 loop.

The 100-300 loop looked pretty good. Everything is wet, but those loops did not seem to have the standing water to the extent of the 1600-1900 loop area.

TCD

 

[fldisneymommyto2]

Great!! Dh will never stay in the 1900 loop... he would turn around and leave before accepting a site in that loop!

 

[DisneyBishops]

We were there last week and originally were put in 1700 loop. I had to complain because of all the water around the site. They moved us to the 200 loop. the middle of the loop had water but the sites were for the most part high and dry. I know Disney can't do anything about the rain, but a better drainage system would be good.

And they will be working on the mosquitos, There will be a few but not many around.

I will not stay in 1600-1900 again, Even if I have to pay more for premium.

 

[Tri-circle-D]

There was standing water at the entrance to the 1200/1300 loop:

The Fort is a swamp!

Anyway, after our brief tour, we parked out front, and took a bus to the Settlement, and ordered our food.

We were fortunate to snag a picnic table on the porch. The last time we did this, our table was down at the beach, but it was raining on and off, so we stuck with our table on the porch this time.

The other table was occupied by this guy:

This guy could be a Dis Board member for all I know, so I will choose my comments carefully. I guess all I have to say about this is that I found the whole use of the fan thing to be intriguing. Have you ever noticed that there are usually more than a fair share of interesting folks at the Fort?

Moving right along . . .

Some shots from dinner:

I have said it before, and I will say it again. The chicken dinner at Trail's End is the best deal on WDW property. Period. If you haven't tried it, you need to. The three of us ate all we could, and still had a bucket full of chicken and biscuits to bring home. What a deal.

After dinner, we headed to the pool for a look around.

Here the DD's had to navigate their way around a puddle. One DD chose to leap. The other, to execute a puddle jump. You may wish to brush up on your puddle jumping techniques if you plan on visiting the Fort anytime soon:

I think you can see that the 1000 loop is still closed, and that there is a lot of water around the bus stop in this photo:

There is now a babbling brook behind ynottony's favorite site (601). Well, I might be exaggerating about the babbling, so let's just say there is a ditch with a lot of water in it here:

This is a photo of some birds flying over the pond behind the Meadow Trading Post:

These shots were taken from behind the 900/1000 loop comfort station, looking toward the 1000 loop:

This is the only path that leads from the 1000 loop to the comfort station. Good luck with that once they re-open the 1000 loop:

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

This thread will be short and sweet.

These are the last of my photos.

Not all of the water from the recent rains has accumulated in the loops.

A lot of it did run off into the pre-existing canals.

Some of it traveled along new paths because the old ones were filled.

That resulted in the beginning of a new canyon, now forming outside of the 900 loop:

So, in a couple of thousand years, there will be a new canyon here.

Pretty cool.

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to just dump fill dirt everywhere?

Heading out, I got a couple of photos of the new retention pond that they dug last year by the entrance:

It doesn't look like it can hold much more water.

As I drove out of the Fort, I accidentally turned right down the little driveway that you see when you enter the Fort. The one that has the Do-Not-Enter sign, and says Cast Members only. This goes back to the area where they now store the golf carts. Something has been going on back here over the past few months. I was hoping that there would be a big sign at the entrance identifying what this area is called. But, there wasn't. This was all that I saw:

From here, we did a u turn, and headed for home.

That's all I have folks.

Until next time.

TCD

 

[liv luvs disney]

Thanks for the info. I have requested the 1700 loop for our September reservations. Surely, it will dry out by then. Of course then it will be hurricane season and who knows what that might bring!

 

[mdoc]

It looks like my neighbors' yards for most of the spring here in Illinois, except that their yards are even swampier and don't have palm trees. Luckily we have the high ground in the middle! A little standing water wouldn't keep me from the Fort so long as they spray for mosquitos.

TCD, your daughters look like they're having a fabulous time. Which birthday was it?

 

[Tri-circle-D]

It looks like my neighbors' yards for most of the spring here in Illinois, except that their yards are even swampier and don't have palm trees. Luckily we have the high ground in the middle! A little standing water wouldn't keep me from the Fort so long as they spray for mosquitos.

TCD, your daughters look like they're having a fabulous time. Which birthday was it?

The twins just turned 14! My oldest DD turns 18 next month . Dang, I'm getting old.

TCD

 

[FIREKYMMIE]

The twins just turned 14! My oldest DD turns 18 next month . Dang, I'm getting old.

TCD

Don't feel bad... my oldest DD turned 18 on Mommy's day and just had he last day of high school today,,,, I am finding The Beer tent at the Carnival tonight....

 

[I'mDownWithDisney]

As a kid I can remember camping in the area of the 1900 loop when it was real swampy. I thought that it was the coolest thing in the world. I spent most of my time at camp wading through it. It freaked my mom out....dad didn't care.

 

[des1954]

Happy "Co-Birthday" to your DD's!! Mine was yesterday, too!!

The thing about all the water at the Fort is this. It's always collected like this, but you never noticed it because of all the ground cover.

In 2002 we stayed 4 months in site 1701 (seems to be a favorite site with us disboarders) and that winter we had a LOT of rain. So much so, that on NYE we didn't even attempt to go watch the fireworks because it was raining so hard. Anyhow, I digress.

It rained so much that year that site 1701 was an island & we had lake-front property. No extra charge! LOL

Last weekend, Tig n Taz had knee deep water surrounding their site next to the CS on 1700. The paved walkway from 1700 to same CS had a small lake about 6" deep where the walkway met the loop.

It doesn't look as if the water has gone down.

But that being said, I think the water has always collected in the low spots, but you just couldn't see it because of all the foliage.

Good pictures as usual, TCD!!

 

[DaveInTN]

Wow TCD, those pics are unbelievable. I always go to the Fort in early spring or Christmas time, so have never seen it wet. And it looks WET! Maybe they decided to turn the entire campground into a giant splashzone! It's not River Country, it's......Swamp Country!!

 

[webbmom]

We are leaving in 5 days for our very first Ft trip. You are scaring me. This certainly does not look like the happiest place on earth

 

[Shan-man]

It's not River Country, it's......Swamp Country!!

If they don't do something about underwater sewer connections it's gonna be E-coli-Country!

Thanks for the update TCD! As always... you da man!

 

[liv luvs disney]

If they don't do something about underwater sewer connections it's gonna be E-coli-Country!

Thanks for the update TCD! As always... you da man!

Seriously?

 

[Shan-man]

Again, I'm no expert, but exposure to fecal bacteria causes E-coli... and standing water around sewer connections means fecal material in that standing water! So, yeah, YIKES!


...and of course I'm serious that TCD is DA MAN! LOL

 

[liv luvs disney]

Again, I'm no expert, but exposure to fecal bacteria causes E-coli... and standing water around sewer connections means fecal material in that standing water! So, yeah, YIKES!


...and of course I'm serious that TCD is DA MAN! LOL

Well that's just GREAT! Just what a borderline germaphobe wants to hear!

(Of course I am talking about the E-coli, not TCD.)