January 2022 Trip Reports

[snowmedic]

Couldn’t make the 5 a.m. Atlanta schedule like others have suggested, thanks for the heads up, but 6 was not as bad as I thought it would be. Flew right through there with the rest of the traffic with out any slow downs or back ups and made it to Destin 5 hrs. later.

 

[JETS70]

Ian had a Philly toasted cheese

@Teamubr, did you happen to try the chicken bacon ranch grilled cheese?

Steve

 

[Teamubr]

@Teamubr, did you happen to try the chicken bacon ranch grilled cheese?

Not yet. We did go down and watch fireworks again tonight, but we had just eaten at Raglan Road. I might give it a try next week unless they are there more this week. The signs say they are only there Tuesday and Wednesday, but someone said they were there Monday. I'll probably check them out to see if they are there tomorrow.

We are heading to HS tommorrow. Trying to decide of we will do Genie+ or not. Haven't done it yet. Probably won't do $LL for RotR or MMRR. Looking into wait times this week to see about Genie+

j

 

[Boomer1]

Not yet. We did go down and watch fireworks again tonight, but we had just eaten at Raglan Road. I might give it a try next week unless they are there more this week. The signs say they are only there Tuesday and Wednesday, but someone said they were there Monday. I'll probably check them out to see if they are there tomorrow.

We are heading to HS tommorrow. Trying to decide of we will do Genie+ or not. Haven't done it yet. Probably won't do $LL for RotR or MMRR. Looking into wait times this week to see about Genie+

j

We were at DHS yesterday at early opening and were able to ride Rise of the Resistance and Rock N Roller Coaster. I’m sure we could have ridden MMRR as well. If you can get there early you probably won’t need Genie or Lightening Lane.

 

[ilovedisneymm]

Good Morning, campers!

The chances of us getting this site again is slim to never, so I will enjoy it to the fullest!

I’m obsessed with these here turkeys; we all are. Each morning at dawn one by one they fly down from the tall pines and one by one they make their flight across the canal. Wait a couple minutes and here they come over to greet us and then they wander on about their business of the day. Come dusk, they come back by for a visit, scale the canal, and up they go again into the tall pines.

Have you all ever seen a flock of 40/50lb bird scale a 30 ft canal? Or take flight 40ft up in the air? Animal Kingdom can keep their Flights of Wonder, we have Turkeys of Flight!

Coffee with the Fort critters is what’s on the agenda.

I’ll do better with pictures and details later of something other than the turkeys. Lol!

 

[PaHunter]

Good Morning, campers!

The chances of us getting this site again is slim to never, so I will enjoy it to the fullest!

I’m obsessed with these here turkeys; we all are. Each morning at dawn one by one they fly down from the tall pines and one by one they make their flight across the canal. Wait a couple minutes and here they come over to greet us and then they wander on about their business of the day. Come dusk, they come back by for a visit, scale the canal, and up they go again into the tall pines.

Have you all ever seen a flock of 40/50lb bird scale a 30 ft canal? Or take flight 40ft up in the air? Animal Kingdom can keep their Flights of Wonder, we have Turkeys of Flight!

Coffee with the Fort critters is what’s on the agenda.

I’ll do better with pictures and details later of something other than the turkeys. Lol!

View attachment 638485

Yes turkeys roosting is a pretty cool sight. The PA Game Commission has activated the two Eagle cameras they have to watch the eagles rebuid their nest and hopefully have little eagles.

 

[mco65]

Heading to Tybee Island for the long weekend. So wish we were headed to WDW instead.....

 

[bama_ed]

I’m obsessed with these here turkeys; we all are. Each morning at dawn one by one they fly down from the tall pines and one by one they make their flight across the canal. Wait a couple minutes and here they come over to greet us and then they wander on about their business of the day. Come dusk, they come back by for a visit, scale the canal, and up they go again into the tall pines.

Have you all ever seen a flock of 40/50lb bird scale a 30 ft canal? Or take flight 40ft up in the air? Animal Kingdom can keep their Flights of Wonder, we have Turkeys of Flight!

What I hate is when the mob comes through like they own the place and try to shake you down for your lunch money.



My DW and @garneska shooed these guys away and Kris sent them over to PaHunter's site (yellow semi).



Those canal sites in 1500, 1600, and 1800 are pretty nice. Enjoy your day!

Bama Ed

 

[ilovedisneymm]

We have been maximizing all things Fort Wilderness this trip. Pony rides over and over and over and over again. And just one more and swipe that band for $12 and one more round…..The big kids and I went on a trail ride yesterday too.

We ventured out of the Fort today and over to Disney Springs. Grace and I did some damage at World of Disney! And then the usual, lego store, soap store, bakery…..and get out! Except we made one more stop to the Coach store. I bought hubby a coach wallet 25 years ago, I guess it was time to upgrade it. Love this new olive green color.

 

[ilovedisneymm]

Like this one, Ed?

She was like hello there, are you going to finish that bacon sandwich?

 

[bama_ed]

Like this one, Ed?

She was like hello there, are you going to finish that bacon sandwich?

View attachment 638625

Yes. I bet she knows this big guy. He was comin' at me until I was rescued by DW and @garneska as potential witnesses.



On a more serious note, our departure time is rapidly approaching. I installed one minor modification in the Aliner this week. Back last summer in New Mexico and Colorado, the lack of storage/shelf space was an apex issue. We limped through a beach trip in the fall but with DD also crashing in the Aliner this trip that meant:

DW tells me I'm the Mr. Roper character. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you youngsters can look up this old tv show.

So to garner what shelf and storage space there is, I rigged a hanging shelf in the high interior triangle of the Aliner interior. Now I'm about 6 foot 7 inches tall (minus 8 inches) so the shelf clears my head but it's within easy arm's reach for us.





The idea is to get all the light weight groceries, paper plates and towels, etc. off the limited counter space and up out of the way. It won't hold ten gallons of chocolate milk but light stuff that takes up a lot of space is always in the way.



The old style Magic Bands have been pulled out and readied for this trip. Mine is the patriotic Mickey one on bottom. It's my custom to wear it during the drive to WDW to help "set my mood".



Yesterday and today I was loading the truck and prepping the camper. Sheets and blankets are on the beds. I love having the YukonXL/Suburban to throw whatever I want into the back. The only WDW item not making it this trip is the green Mickey globe light. For 4 nights at the Fort but 7 down in South Florida, certain concessions had to be made.

So after the trailer prep, I closed it up to get ready to hitch it.



We.Are.Locked.And.Loaded. Headed to Lake Louisa State Park for a few nights before rolling to the Fort on Monday morn.



Yes, that's my driveway. Tight, ain't it.

No hurry.

Bama Ed

PS - hey the temps are falling for next week. Sunday is some rain and then high of low 60s Monday (checkin to Fort) and Tuesday (MK Day) with lows in the low 40s. And it could still change between now and then. I'm prepared but aren't we headed to sunny warm Florida? But it should hit the 70s Wed-Fri while we are there. And Naples is looking even nicer.

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

So after the trailer prep, I closed it up to get ready to hitch it.



We.Are.Locked.And.Loaded. Headed to Lake Louisa State Park for a few nights before rolling to the Fort on Monday morn.

I always liked that cartoon as a kid. It's a good one.

Safe travels. Keep the greasy side down

 

[bama_ed]

I always liked that cartoon as a kid. It's a good one.

Safe travels. Keep the greasy side down

Thanks Jack. I made that gif myself.

Went to the website noted in the gif and pulled in the YouTube video link of the MM video that I was familiar with.

There are some limitations (you can't make a 40-minute gif) with time length of the gif, how fast the source plays (I chose the fastest 2x to get as much video as I could, and the bit rate/video clarity). But if you go to that website and search the key words I saved it with (Mickey, Mouse, trailer) then it should come up as a link if you want to use it.

Be my guest. You're welcome!

Ed

 

[bjschil]

Yes. I bet she knows this big guy. He was comin' at me until I was rescued by DW and @garneska as potential witnesses.



On a more serious note, our departure time is rapidly approaching. I installed one minor modification in the Aliner this week. Back last summer in New Mexico and Colorado, the lack of storage/shelf space was an apex issue. We limped through a beach trip in the fall but with DD also crashing in the Aliner this trip that meant:

DW tells me I'm the Mr. Roper character. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you youngsters can look up this old tv show.

So to garner what shelf and storage space there is, I rigged a hanging shelf in the high interior triangle of the Aliner interior. Now I'm about 6 foot 7 inches tall (minus 8 inches) so the shelf clears my head but it's within easy arm's reach for us.





The idea is to get all the light weight groceries, paper plates and towels, etc. off the limited counter space and up out of the way. It won't hold ten gallons of chocolate milk but light stuff that takes up a lot of space is always in the way.



The old style Magic Bands have been pulled out and readied for this trip. Mine is the patriotic Mickey one on bottom. It's my custom to wear it during the drive to WDW to help "set my mood".



Yesterday and today I was loading the truck and prepping the camper. Sheets and blankets are on the beds. I love having the YukonXL/Suburban to throw whatever I want into the back. The only WDW item not making it this trip is the green Mickey globe light. For 4 nights at the Fort but 7 down in South Florida, certain concessions had to be made.

So after the trailer prep, I closed it up to get ready to hitch it.



We.Are.Locked.And.Loaded. Headed to Lake Louisa State Park for a few nights before rolling to the Fort on Monday morn.



Yes, that's my driveway. Tight, ain't it.

No hurry.

Bama Ed

PS - hey the temps are falling for next week. Sunday is some rain and then high of low 60s Monday (checkin to Fort) and Tuesday (MK Day) with lows in the low 40s. And it could still change between now and then. I'm prepared but aren't we headed to sunny warm Florida? But it should hit the 70s Wed-Fri while we are there. And Naples is looking even nicer.

Have a safe trip, and a great time at the Fort. We miss it already..
Bill and I drove through, both ways, Alabama. it was a bit longer but tons of less stressful. up to Nashville, Paducah, and the L. O. N. G state of Illinois. You live in a beautiful State.

 

[Teamubr]

Pack some warm clothes, Ed. It is going to turn cold on Monday. It has actually been getting pretty chilly in the evenings. Monday and Tuesday show the high temp in the low 60s. It's 49 right now.

j

 

[Teamubr]

Long day at HS today, but an update on our down day yesterday.

Donna worked again yesterday. The only plans we had was dinner at Raglan Road. It had been years since we ate there. I had Bangers and Mash. It was great. I didn't get pics. We wandered around the shops again. Ian also picked up a new wallet at the Coach store and it was green too. Earlier in the day, I washed the salt and dirt off the car and coach. Thanks Melissa for the bucket and brush. We did a lot of looping. Went by and saw Melissa and family for a bit, but pretty much just hung nout at the Fort.

We rope dropped HS this morning. I decided to get Genie+ today. I had been watching the standby times at HS this week and the popular rides were over an hour wait an hour after park opening. I was up at 0650. Bought Genie+ and then waited until 0700. Genie asks for your preferences when you go to "My Day". I selected SDD and TSM. The LL I really wanted was SDD. At 0700, Genie+ automatically grabbed a LL for TSM (1040). I tried to switch it to SDD, but it said SDD was not available. At 0710, SDD was showing LL times. It took a few minutes to cancel the LL for TSM and at 0714, SDD was already booked up to 8pm. Park closes at 9pm. Not a great start to my first experience with Genie+.

We made the bus to HS at 0800 and arrived to the park about 0810. They were already letting people in, so we made a straight walk to RotR. Wait time was listed at 60 minutes at 0830. We were on within 30 minutes. After that, we did TSM (35 minutes) and walked over to ToT (45 minutes). It was 11am by then and we could finally try for a 2nd LL, so we grabbed a 2nd LL (Rock'n Roller Coaster for 4pm). We picked up a 3rd LL for TSM (735pm) in the afternoon. So we had 3 LL reservations at one time.

We also saw the new, updated Indiana Jones (interesting changes to be more socially conscious and Covid appropriate). Did some shopping and watched Frozen Sing Along. Ian went over to do Star Tours (not my favorite) despite it being almost a walk on. After RR, we had a couple of hours to kill and MMRR was showing a 60 minute stand by, so we jumped in lione for that. It was about an hour, but not too bad. By 630pm, we had seen everything we wanted and were just waiting for the LL for TSM and SDD. It was getting cold, we grabbed some coffee/hot chocholate and found a park bench until our 7:35 LL.

Overall, a full day at HS and we got to do everything we wanted. The jury is still out on Genie +. As I suspected, the top rides go fast and even your first selection may not be until late in the day. Of the 3 LL reservations we got, one ride we had already done and we probably saved a couple of hours in stand by lines for the other 2. SDD had been 60-85 minutes all day and RR was in the 45-65 range.

We will be at MK tomorrow. We don't plan on doing rope drop and probably won't stay for Enchantment. We'll see.

j

 

[ilovedisneymm]

I had to sit and think about our past trips. Husband and I agreed this is our 9th trip over 9 years as one year we went twice. Only missing last Jan 2021…..and we know several couples or family down here not on the DIS that we continue to see annually and visit with. I’ve decided when we get back home, I’m getting a wooden sign made up for our next trip. Looking back on early trips and seeing those nice wooden signs people have made me envious to think people camp down here annually and love this place so much to have signs like that and then welcome people in. I need a fort sign!

Its different here. People are nice & happy! Wait a second…..I’m nice and happy here! And if they show up grumbling like me, they turn that around right away!

Our current neighbors are super nice. We have been visiting with them and last night they gave us a card with their names, state, picture of them and their Motorhome and email info……..on a card!

Whaaaaat! Is that a thing?! I love that!

Like trading cards but for adults.

They have a Boondockers Welcome site at their home. It also turns out they live exactly where hubby and I have been looking for land for a remote cabin. I think we made more fort friends!!!

We have been visiting the party pool in the afternoons and the cabin pool in the late evenings. The cabin pool is so underrated. Wanna know why? Nobody is there, that’s why! I wanna soak in that hot tub, but not with other people in it. No thanks. I’ll wait. If you time it right, you can get that hot tub all to yourself!

The laundry is attached to the cabin pool. It’s so cozy and warm at night with the amber lights and homemade curtains. I feel like Willy Wonka’s mom is going to come out and sign me a cheer up song.

“Cheer up, Charlie.” Lol.

The kids are constructing their lego sets this morning they got yesterday at Disney Springs. They really enjoyed the trail ride we did a few days ago, so we are going to see about availability here soon.

 

[mco65]

Long day at HS today, but an update on our down day yesterday.

Donna worked again yesterday. The only plans we had was dinner at Raglan Road. It had been years since we ate there. I had Bangers and Mash. It was great. I didn't get pics. We wandered around the shops again. Ian also picked up a new wallet at the Coach store and it was green too. Earlier in the day, I washed the salt and dirt off the car and coach. Thanks Melissa for the bucket and brush. We did a lot of looping. Went by and saw Melissa and family for a bit, but pretty much just hung nout at the Fort.

Glad you washed the car, that was starting to bother me! HAHA!

 

[ilovedisneymm]

Same!

Glad you washed the car, that was starting to bother me! HAHA!

 

[bama_ed]

I arrived today to Central Florida and saw several grimy cars on the road like @Teamubr's all with far-away license plates. But once they are cleaned, they "belong" in the Sunshine State.

So we arrived at Lake Louisa State Park about 315pm today. Left out at 5am-ish and little traffic along the way. Got set up, went to Wal-Mart for some cheap gas and groceries, and came back to catch up on the world and the DIS.

Here is my site at LLSP. Power and water, no sewer at this site (some do, not all).





After getting back from WM and stashing groceries, returned a few calls home while the sun set. Got one late last picture but hope to get more tomorrow.



It's a clear crisp night in Central Florida.

After we all had a meal, time for me to sit outside and "do some DIS".



This is my 7th stay at LLSP and the first time I've ever unhitched the camper (since we were here for one-night stays). But we're retired now and can go at a slower, more leisurely pace.

Bama Ed

PS - hey @Teamubr, we need to get a headcount/signup list going for the pot-luck lunch on Wednesday next week. You said location was TBD and I get that but I over-stress on what to bring. But first comes "who" and "how many", right?

PPS - I see a hint of REALLY cold temps on Monday night here. 39F is the low Monday night (and of course I'm going to MK on Tuesday morning ).