Getting Out of the Cold: A January 2024 Visit To Fort Wilderness

[bama_ed]

Schofield Rd option is a winner. Rolled out of the LLSP gate at 545a and got up on Hwy 429 and got off for Disney at the Western Way exit at 600a. About halfway along that big east-west, though, is a tight curve where the new pavement joins the old existing roadway. I didnt slam on the brakes but it was unexpected at 50mph.

1500 loop is full with only 1 departure planned for today which is what i should receive once prepped. 2000 is also (supposedly) full with 6 departures planned.

I say "supposedly" because after finishing checkin, i drove first thru 2300 and 2200 cabin loops then 2000. I counted 11 (eleven) empty campsites but still pretty full. Either folks bugged out very early or something.

Then rolled thru 1500 and every site was occupied. All the CM would tell me was that I should get an interior site. I prefer exterior but if its the only 1500 site available, so be it.

One new checkin feature is that the CM added preferences to my guest profile. She noted i prefer 1500 loop exterior. I saw it added on the screen. Wonder how that will integrate in to the site preassignment method.

Sun coming up. Hope it burns off these patchy clouds.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

So about 8am i walked to the grass field by the hitch/unhitch that @Cousin Ed C and @Boomer1 spotted activity in yesterday. I will be brief here in this post.

Learned a few details i will share when i do my after dinner post after we get set up today. This is prep for the cabin conversions to DVC.

Thumb typing is no fun.

Bama Ed

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

This is already exciting and you haven't even occupied your site yet!

 

[4077]

The lobby at 615a this morning.

Waiting for a site in 1500.

Temp is low 60s. Will get on the bikes soon.

Bama Ed

SO jealous... I want to be in overflow lot, trailer hooked up, waiting for a site in my desired loop.....

 

[bama_ed]

SO jealous... I want to be in overflow lot, trailer hooked up, waiting for a site in my desired loop.....

I am glad i retired early so me and DW could do stuff like this, @4077. It may not be a shiny Class A but it works for us.

 

[DL1WDW2]

Thanks for the personal Invite I am just now reading… I think I will be at Universal on Saturday .

I do have a request …if you and friends need to discuss the DVC moving into the Fort and if I was there ..
I would ask Why do you think the maintenance dues will be so high ?
I have only stayed at FTW Cabins one night and really was aware of a lot of those maintenance needs with such a short visit. I kinda understand and am not surprised .
So if anybody has opinions, please share .
With just one quick visit , it did seem like a lot to take care of on property but not confident with explaining Why .

And if you want a good laugh , I was a nervous wreck worrying about all those pine needles on the ground under the bbq pit just outside the cabin door. And the missing water hose . I was certain I was going to cause a fire and burn down the Fort !
Loved staying there Hope I can afford one more night soon .
It is a special place .

 

[bama_ed]

Got some catching up to do but BOY was I glad when this text arrived at 1237pm.



You know the feeling!

1505 is in 1500 loop on the left side (interior site) and it's the second spot.



Now we are mostly set up.



The 1500/1600 Comfort station is right off the back of our spot.



You can see it out there in the trees.

I will be back later with some updates.



Mostly cloudy and 74F.

Bama Ed

 

[Teamubr]

Got some catching up to do but BOY was I glad when this text arrived at 1237pm.



You know the feeling!

1505 is in 1500 loop on the left side (interior site) and it's the second spot.

Welcome Home!

j

 

[bama_ed]

About to eat dinner then have many pics to share.

 

[bama_ed]

So the best way to start today is chronologically.

Let's start while we were waiting for our campsite text. I had gone down to the big overflow parking grass field by the Hitch/Unhitch area to scout out the work noted by @Cousin Ed C @Boomer1. It was BUSTLING with activity.

The basic idea is they are putting down pieces of a plastic work surface to roll heaving equipment on. The "on-ramp" to that field will be down by the Hitch loop. The "off-ramp" will be out towards the 2800 cabin loop end of the field. It will be fenced soon with a gate at either end.

**** Two different workers told me that this work yard will be there for 18 months! ****

Think about that. The field that's used for Halloween and Christmas overflow parking will not be available during the 2024 season.

Let's get to some pics.

Here is the intersection up by the Outpost bus depot. The field is on the right and 2800 cabin loop would be on your left.



Standing on the cabin road with our back to 2800 loop looking down the field towards the lake.



From the walking trail where the golf cart parades line up looking across the road.



Down towards the big 4-way stop of Big Pine and FW Trails, we see the rolls of fencing that will be installed.



This is a pic of the planking coming down towards the Hitch loop looking back towards the entrance.



This was the work plank they are putting down. I was told each panel weighs 2,000#. But I don't know if I believe it.



This is what they are putting down. For 18 months. Think the grass will survive?

https://www.signature-systems.com/megadeck-hd

Approaching the Hitch loop.



I saw 2 flatbed semi's arrive with more planking.



And after I went back to the overflow, a 3rd flatbed showed up with more planking.



Let's roll to the next post.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

Let's take a break and notice a few things going on around us otherwise.

This was about 830am in the morning and the Cast Members were running out golf carts to the Outpost Checkin building to be picked up by guests (rentals were available this morning). I noticed something that was different.

Here is a 4-seat cart in a 4-seat-cart space. Fits like a glove, no?



Here is a 6-seat cart in a 6-seat-cart space. Also fits like a glove, no?



There are skads of 4-seat carts (in spaces and lined up in the old checkin lanes). But it's interesting that the ONLY place the 6-seaters were positioned is in the 6-seat-cart spaces.

How many spaces for 6-seat-carts were there?

Probably as many as they have 6-seat-golf-carts.

We know that are rare as hen's teeth but I counted the 6-seat spaces.

Ten (10). So that's (I'll bet @Teamubr 's last $hiny dollar) how many 6-seaters FW has.

Also while sitting in the overflow, a tree trimming crew was there (outside contractors) to cut on a tree on the back right corner of the old FW Kennel (now the Horse Ride checkin building).

There was a yellow claw arm behind the tree (hard to see) that could grip a limb and cut it and lift it down. There was a guy in the red arm bucket truck with a chain saw to take off the stump arms near the center core.



After a while they paused to bring in a truck to remove the pieces taken down thus far.



After lunch they took town the rest of the 3rd tree and gave a haircut to the other two.



It be gone. Could have been a diseased tree. Could have been an insurance attorney worried about a downed limb in a hurricane damaging the building. But it gone.

I admit every 90 minutes or so waiting in the overflow, I get in the truck and pull the trailer around the Fort and go looping. I see some cool things.

This guy was in 1500 loop (my future home). He's got the 3-wheel motorcycle with a mini tow-behind and a tent. He wants to camp so bad. And he did. My hat's off to him.



In 1100 I came across this airstream-like trailer that looked like it has a door on the FRONT end? Do I see that right?



Must be vintage.

Good place to break before I rattle off our visit to the Meadow Trading Post.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

Merch at the Meadow TP. And a Beer Barometer update.

FW ears if you are so inclined. $45.



Christmas Ornament. $35.



This one almost got me.

A box of 4 puzzles each 500 pieces but different puzzles on both sides (so 8 different puzzles) for $40. That's only $5 a side.









Kinda bland designs.

Here is the first puzzle I'll be working on this stay. (Rode it both in 2021 and 2023 in New Mexico).



(I hear the fireworks from the MK castle show whatever-its-name-is these-days).

My Beer Barometer is a picture I take EVERY visit to the Fort. You can measure inflation, you can measure the money supply, you can measure the producer price index; but nothing beats the Fort price of a 6-pack of weak watery beer. The price goes up in big round numbers (a dollar at a time).



The pool was hopping and although the lifeguards make it look like it was cold, it was in the 70s.



We went back to overflow to eat lunch and we got our site text so you know that we went down to set up for a while.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

After getting set up, I went for a bike ride.

I think I'm safely under the speed limit.



I had noticed on my earlier drive-arounds that 800 loop was closed off (as had been previously reported). Naturally I wondered why.



When I was here with DW for Thanksgiving 2022, I noticed they were using directional boring machines to pull new communications cables down Fort Wilderness Trail and into the Pioneer Hall area. Well, they're pulling smaller cables (inner ducts actually) in 800 loop.







Down by Trails End porch and the old playground, there were benches angled for viewing over Discovery Island. For MK fireworks maybe?



A boat was coming in. Hear the horn?



Then I road my bike up the right hand side of the TE porch up toward the old game room.



And, well, something happened. Still don't know what it was.

Next post.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

So I had parked my bike at the end of the pavement



because there were some guys working down along the rope fence near the water's edge on old Clementine's Beach area. Looked like they were landscaping/trimming and mending the ropes.





I swear I got back on my bike and rode up toward the Meadow TP. But somebody got a hold of my phone and took these pics of the old River Country (won't-say-its-name) area.







Weird, right?

I turned into 900 loop across from the Meadow TP (we camped in it twice) and wanted to take the trail out the back of it to the Creekside Meadows group campsite as a shortcut. But the bridge behind 900 was blocked and looked in bad shape.



And beyond that, Creekside Meadows (the first place I ever camped at FW in the 1980s with my Scout troop) looked pretty rough and unkept too).



Sad. Disney doesn't want to spend the money to fix it up. People pay a smaller fee person to camp there as a group. Memories don't pay the bills (and get WDW management the bonuses) I guess.

Think we're done yet? Not by a long shot.

Next post.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

In 2000 loop (the other Tent loop besides my 1500), I noticed they still have the old utility stumps.



Back in 1500 loop, we have these modern (unimaginative) utility posts.









Checking out the progress in the big field being prepped for the DVC Cabin work, they had laid several more planks down past the Hitch area.

Another little nugget about the DVC cabins.

**** The expected replacement rate is 2 cabins per day **** (once they get started which may be another month or two). That lends credence to the 18-month replacement cycle. Wonder if they will work through the busy, crowded Halloween and Christmas seasons? Bet that doesn't include weekends.

Third little nugget about the DVC Cabins.

**** I was told that they were placing 365 cabins which is the EXACT number of cabins in loops 2022-2800 plus the 2 cabins in loop 100. *****

And you might expect this last nugget but when they are pulling and replacing the cabins, **** the new ones will be hooked up in "batches". That is several will be placed and electricians will come in to hook up several and plumbers will come in and hook several up at once and the decks will rebuilt brand new (old ones torn out) all in batches. ****

I can see the Finish Line ahead.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

Getting ready for dinner, I ran a wifi speed test and it did pretty well.



The WIFI antenna is on a post across the road from me.



A turkey walked by like she owned the place. There was a second one across the road.



Where do the Fort Wilderness turkeys sleep?

Just around the corner from me is 1513 which is where our extended family celebrated Thanksgiving in 2009 IIRC.



The nice thing about that site and the ones around it is they back up to the canal which is a nice quiet, peaceful place to enjoy nature and the woods on the other side.



Again, where do the Fort Wilderness turkeys sleep?

I brought my Dietz '76 lantern again this trip. I love the low flame glow from this protected flame that is allowed under Fort rules.



The sun was going down as I prepped for dinner.



Forecast is looking good the next couple days (subject to change, naturally).



A little colder towards the end of our stay.



Eating dinner outside, I was struck by the light of the lantern, the light from the camper interior, the green light of the DIS lamp, the light from the string on the EZ up, and the light of the moon. Lots of light.



MK day tomorrow. Not rope dropping for a change - can sleep in a little.

Bama Ed

PS - met @BarbLynnM and DH who have been here for several days and would you believe they are in the spot next to us? (it's a) Small World (after all).

 

[4077]

Love when I am reading "live" as they get posted...like I am right there! I know you prefer the outer part of loop, but doesn't look to bad for an inner loop site....

 

[bama_ed]

Love when I am reading "live" as they get posted...like I am right there! I know you prefer the outer part of loop, but doesn't look to bad for an inner loop site....

Like I said, @4077, it was the only one available to me. If I didn't take it I would have to go to 2000 loop.



But no, not bad. And the neighbors are nice.

 

[4077]

Getting ready for dinner, I ran a wifi speed test and it did pretty well.



The WIFI antenna is on a post across the road from me.



A turkey walked by like she owned the place. There was a second one across the road.



Where do the Fort Wilderness turkeys sleep?

Just around the corner from me is 1513 which is where our extended family celebrated Thanksgiving in 2009 IIRC.



The nice thing about that site and the ones around it is they back up to the canal which is a nice quiet, peaceful place to enjoy nature and the woods on the other side.



Again, where do the Fort Wilderness turkeys sleep?

I brought my Dietz '76 lantern again this trip. I love the low flame glow from this protected flame that is allowed under Fort rules.



The sun was going down as I prepped for dinner.



Forecast is looking good the next couple days (subject to change, naturally).



A little colder towards the end of our stay.



Eating dinner outside, I was struck by the light of the lantern, the light from the camper interior, the green light of the DIS lamp, the light from the string on the EZ up, and the light of the moon. Lots of light.



MK day tomorrow. Not rope dropping for a change - can sleep in a little.

Bama Ed

PS - met @BarbLynnM and DH who have been here for several days and would you believe they are in the spot next to us? (it's a) Small world (after all).

Is there a screen on that top half open door?

 

[honeymo78]

Thank you so much for this report. Makes me miss the fort - haven't stayed there in probably 15 years, but it was the only place we stayed until I was out of high school. Still going to Disney plenty but the pop-up trailer is long gone and the cabins are a bit out of the budget anymore for the number of times we visit. Still love stopping by for a visit though.