July 2016 Trip Report Thread

[SouthAlabama5er]

The Mickey ears - were they hard to make?

Thanks, no not at all. Wreath wire rings, rope lights and zip ties. @CDNCruiser has a nice website where I got all the instructions, www.carol-anne.ca
I think we'll be seeing you next June at Gulf State Park right?

 

[bama_ed]

We've been busy, haven't had time to post. Today is our last full day, doing laundry this morning, Hoop Dee Doo tonight, heading home tomorrow. We'll be back in September.

Wrap-up?

 

[ruthies12]

Thanks, no not at all. Wreath wire rings, rope lights and zip ties. @CDNCruiser has a nice website where I got all the instructions, www.carol-anne.ca
I think we'll be seeing you next June at Gulf State Park right?

Thanks for posting that!! I definitely see some orange and purple mickey rope light heads coming to my campsite next October..............

 

[proudmomof4]

Wrap-up?

06/30 - check-in and set-up...hot and exhausting day, it rained

07/01 - walked around the campground in the AM (photos in previous posts), got breakfast, hung out at the site waiting for friends and family to arrive (I was solo for the first 2 days since DH couldn't get those days off from work). Very hot, it rained sideways, everything got wet

07/02 - Pool, Disney Springs with friends and family...it was very HOT, no rain, lots of spirits were shared among the friends and family.

07/03 - Rented boats on Bay Lake, cooked out with friends, pool again, watched fireworks from the beach (sorry, no photos)...once again HOT and no rain

07/04 - breakfast at Trail's End but as a surprise they were serving the brunch, so that was nice, walked the trail to Wilderness Lodge and back, visited the Tri-Circle stables, friends checked out and went home...HOT, HOT, HOT, no rain.

07/05 - Disney Springs again, saw a movie (Central Intelligence, it was pretty funny), ice cream at Ghiradelli's, cooked out for dinner.....HOTTTTTTT, no rain

07/06 - DS30 came over to get us into Hollywood Studios, had lunch at 50's PrimeTime, half of the park was closed so we hopped over to Epcot, rode the new and improved Soarin' (really like it), watched the Bee Gees tribute band, tried to ride Frozen but after 1 hour in line we had only moved 1/4 of the way through the queue and we had dinner ressies so had to bail on that, had dinner at Via Napoli (love their pizza), once dinner was over the park was closed...and guess what? it was hot with no rain.

07/07 - DS19 and friend went to Typhoon Lagoon, DH and I went to PO Riverside for lunch, rented a golf cart for the day, cruised around, went to the pool, DS and friend came back from water park with another guest (friend's girlfriend) who spent the night, went to campfire and made smores, cruised around on the cart some more...still hot and no rain.

07/08 - laundry day! also played mini-golf, checked out Coronado, and AK Lodge, had lunch at The Mara at AK Lodge, dinner at Hoop Dee Doo....hot - no rain.....this was the longest trip I have ever had with no rain.

07/09 - packed up and came home...more laundry, cleaning, etc...and guess what? IT RAINED, luckily for us, it was after we were already home, I really hate packing up a wet popup.

We will be returning for 6 nights in September to celebrate my 50th birthday. During that visit we will be at the parks daily since DS28 will fly down from Michigan to join us and he hasn't been for a few years. We plan on hitting all of the Disney parks and Universal.

 

[tiggerdad]

Yeah, now that there is a good wrap-up

 

[bama_ed]

Sounds like there wasn't as much rain...

 

[Maligator]

Holy cow T-20hrs before we leave!

All groceries for the trip down the coast are done and packed. Mickey Rope light packed! I *think* everything is packed including enough tools to repair the space shuttle if needed All maintenance and mechanical checks done, test ride done. For everything being "done" DW is still buzzing around like a angry bee

Only driving like six hours tomorrow and hope to get into our first stop early to relax. If all goes well, there will be no rushing or exhaustion on the trip down!

 

[Teamubr]

Have a great trip and post as you can!

j

 

[amcc]

We've made it to the spring north of Orlando and are settled in for a few days. My bunk end was wet again when we opened it up and after much head scratching and during a windy, thunderous downpour, we figured out that the a/c bolts needed tightening. Problem solved (we think, we hope). Rain has threatened a couple of times but it has been generally beautiful, HOT days.

Tomorrow we hope to bike the portion of the spring to spring trail that runs by this park and then cool off at the spring.

 

[JETS70]

Glad you made it home Randy. Thanks for bringing us along. All in all, would you go back in the summer to the Fort? (I mean, now you can make an informed decision). I have stayed away from summer trips but wonder if they are "bearable".

Bama Ed

Thanks Randy.

See, even Mother Nature doesn't like Chevy's judging by the tree.

It's looking more and more like we may have to set our sites on Thanksgiving or a summer run. We've done the first week in June which was hot, but not unbearable for us. I just say this because Randy can do a comparison of July. We had low 90s then so not smothering heat.

If you plan your days where your not in a park standing in a line during the middle of the day, July is doable. We would return in July, it's not our preferred time of year, but if it's the only time we could get away and go we'd go. I just have to remember to be patient, everyone else is hot and some people are ill. We tried to do indoor, short line rides during the day at MK. Carousel of Progress, Mickey's PhilharMagic, Hall of Presidents are a few of the indoor air condition rides we try to do during the hottest time of the day. We had some days where the heat index was over 100 and we could get over how my people we seen in long pants and long sleeve shirts, only thing I could figure is that they were from the surface of the sun and was at Disney on vacation!

Another thing you have to real with are the summertime afternoon thunderstorms, there was a thunderstorm in the area every afternoon, and if there is lightning close to the park, (7 miles I believe) they close the outdoor rides, (Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain etc). They still will honor your FP anytime after the ride opens of it was closed during your FP hour, but this may cause a log j of folks in the FP line, we seen way more people in the FP line for Seven Dwarf Mine Train compared to the stand by line and it was 90 mins.
Just my $0.02

Randy is spot on for the July / August WDW trips. Patience is key. We have gone several times and we enjoyed the trips without question. I believe that staying at the Fort makes summertime visits even better. Middle of the day heat........ head back to the camper for a short siesta under the awning with a cold drink without the usual resort hotel crowds invading your space or a quick swim in the pool. Most of our park time is early in the morning or later in the evening. The later summertime hours allows more time in the parks when the temps are more bearable. Again like Randy said....... you can bet the bank that you will get an evening gully washer for about 30 minutes. Ponchos are a good idea. We will be at the Fort July 30th through August 7th for our annual family vacation.

 

[amcc]

We are in our way in to the Fort now. If anyone ever has a chance to visit a Florida state park, I recommend Blue Spring. The spring is a few minute walk from the campground, new camp bathrooms, and nice flat private sites. A bear did break into our screen tent and dimped our kitchen box. He ripped open the coffee I had forgotten was there and left a nice mess.

 

[tiggerdad]

Thanks for the suggestion, but hopefully minus the bear.

 

[amcc]

A fence has come to the Fort pool. It's almost done as it seems all it needs are the magic band reader entrances.
It makes the pool area feel more cramped but I guess it was inevitable. I'm trying to figure out what they are doing with the kiddie pool area. They also have the soda refill station closed because of bees and you need to go to the counter to refill. At 11:30 the pool is maybe half full and it's a gorgeous, hot day.

We have a big, private site in 2000 a bit far from the bathrooms, not a good thing for my 4 year old that is still just as happy to forego a bathroom. My kids have found lots of Pokemon

 

[amcc]

The kiddie pool Is officially no more. The area was filled in and converted to pool deck. Walls have come down.

 

[amcc]

It seems to be a day for completions...the construction fences for Loop 2100 also came down. Beautiful, fresh sites. Picture later as we only saw them biking by under a torrential downpour.

 

[tiggerdad]

Huh, no more kiddie pool? Wonder where that came from?

Thanks for the completion updates.

 

[mtnminnie]

yeah, kiddie pools are nice =). Perhaps they will replace it with something else super duper toddler awesome?

 

[Teamubr]

A fence has come to the Fort pool... At 11:30 the pool is maybe half full and it's a gorgeous, hot day.

Hmmm. Coincidence?

I guess the big test will be a holiday weekend... Or any weekend.

j

 

[amcc]

More construction updates...the Pioneer Hall playground that is walled off is only getting new mulch.

 

[amcc]

Looking around online, I saw that for $32 I could add 4 days of water park and more to my Florida resident tickets. It's been two exhausting days of water parks for us.

Blizzard Beach has more shady seating but other than that, my kids called it a draw. We had never been to either of them and everyone age 4-44 loved them. However, it's an ordeal to get there on the buses - really dislike the buses- so recommend driving if possible.

It looks like they are putting a fence along the canal behind loop 300.


I wonder if they will do this to all the canals or just this one since its kind of isolated.

Here's the new loop. They are landscaping and still need to install the barbecue. There should be a bunch of sites opening up for Halloween thanksgiving and Christmas soon.


I've also noticed kudzu vines creeping in here and there.



Great trip so far although the humidity has been out. Of. Control. Looking forward to a fort day tomorrow with maybe a monorail tour.