Labor day trip report

[AuburnJen92]

Great report, im getting the itch for a fort trip.

good, because my snarky sister needs a reunion with her florida sista!

 

[DaveInTN]

Loving the report. The fall decorations are definitely cool...I've never seen them in person. Keep it coming.

 

[VACAMPER]

good, because my snarky sister needs a reunion with her florida sista!

Yes, i miss you! Can't believe its been almost 2 years. Im going to plan something soon i hope.

 

[CANEDOGS06]

cool set up. my wife and i were in site 2049 from 9-4 to 9-11

 

[allmydisneydreams]

Great report - I LOVE your pics !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think we'll have to try the mini golf our next trip. My DS11 and DS8 love mini golf and I am looking for fun (and cheap!) stuff to do because we are only doing one park day.

I always admire how you guys manage to eat so many meals "at home". Thats one of my camping golas in planning for our Fort trip.

Does anyone know if the fall decos will still be at the MK on 11/3?

 

[rm0530]

Great report!

Funny about the bagpipes guy in the 2000 bus stop - he was in the exact same bus stop last year on the triathlon day!

Loving the report. The fall decorations are definitely cool...I've never seen them in person. Keep it coming.

I hope to see a new TR from both of you soon! I enjoyed reading your reports and seeing pictures of your families.

It is funny how fast Disney can change their Decorations. Last year we saw Disney go from fall decorations (Thanksgiving) to Christmas decorations over night for all WDW. I was out running around in my golf cart until 3:00am all of the Thanksgiving decorations were still up at the fort when I got up at 7:30am and went to TE for coffee all the thanksgiving decorations were change to Christmas decorations.

Do you know how long Christmas decorations stay around? I'm assuming through New Years?

Sweet -- I was craving another TR! Thanks for posting. Good stuff!

Love all the 'Fall' photos! Thanks for sharing!

Great report, im getting the itch for a fort trip.

I've been during the Christmas festivities, but never when the MK is decked out in its Halloween finery. Love it!!! Especially the Jack-O-Lanterns that spell "See Ya Real Soon". Great TR!

Thanks for reading along! I'll be finishing soon.

Great TR! Pics are wonderful!

We just got back today and had never been this time of the year before. The Fall decorations are great. You did a good job showing them!

But boy was it hot and humid! I didnt expect it to be quite that bad! Sure dont know how ya'll tent campers do it!

We have an A/C unit for the tent. You can't see it from the pictures on this report but some of my others have pictures.

cool set up. my wife and i were in site 2049 from 9-4 to 9-11

Hi neighbor! I hope you enjoyed your stay. I'm going to look at your pictures soon.

Great report - I LOVE your pics !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think we'll have to try the mini golf our next trip. My DS11 and DS8 love mini golf and I am looking for fun (and cheap!) stuff to do because we are only doing one park day.

I always admire how you guys manage to eat so many meals "at home". Thats one of my camping golas in planning for our Fort trip.

Does anyone know if the fall decos will still be at the MK on 11/3?

It's relaxing to come back to the site and eat and it saves money. The less we spend on trips, the more we can take. Win win

Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure the fall decorations will still be around then.

 

[rm0530]

Here's the rest of my pictures of the Fall decorations. I'll focus on more details in October.

 

[rm0530]

Day 4- September 6:

We were up again at 7:30am. We had more eggs, bacon, cereal, and pancakes. Our plan for the day was Epcot. We were only interested in World Showcase and had no reason to rush to leave the Fort. We took our time packing up and showering and as we were headed out, we had to stop and wait in the exit line.

We were in Epcot around 11:30. Our first country was Mexico. We looked through all the merchandise and enjoyed the atmosphere. Mexico is my favorite pavilion mood-wise. We took the boat tour and then headed to Norway. Maelstrom was a walk-on and we had our own boat. Next was Reflections of China movie, Impressions de France movie, and Canada.

We went to The Land to eat at our favorite counter service location. I finally noticed how each section of the dining area is themed to match each balloon overhead. We ate our Mongolian beef in the quiet ‘Winter’ section. After lunch it was time to go home. We left the parking lot at 3pm and had a 5.5 hour drive away from the magic.

That’s all I have for this trip. We will be back October 8-12 with my parents. They haven’t visited WDW in 7 years and haven’t seen the Fort in 10 years. We will be in a full hook-up site and I’m looking forward to that…2000 loop feels so isolated from the rest of the Fort. We also have category 1 reservations for HDDR, a first for all of us!

Thanks to everyone who read and commented. I hope to see you back for October’s report.

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Anyone have any knowledge on what the netting was for? The entire 2600 loop was empty, from what we saw.

We had 2 cabin in 2600 loop plus our site in Dec. The people in the cabins hear thing in the night around the roof area. So we had the Duty Manager come over and we start talking. The Fort's cabin are having a big big big problem with BATS. The netting is there to keep them out. It looks like the 2600 loop is closed now just like the 2500 loop was closed then

Thanks for the reply! I remember a TCD report talking about bats at a bus stop but multiple cabins is pretty intense.

Ding, ding, ding!

We have a winner.

That netting is definitely there to remove bats.

What they do is wait for the bats to leaver their roosts at night, then put up the nets, so they can't re-enter. Then, they seal up the entry points.

The problem with this method is that it just caused the bats to find another place to go.

The bats are good because they eat mosquitoes.

But, if a whole cabin loop is affected, maybe they need to re-think this.

Here's the post that rm0530 was thinking of (from 2008):

I always worry that I will visit the Fort and not have something interesting to report back to my Disboard friends. Fortunately, it hasn't happened yet, and it did not happen on this trip . . .

On Monday morning, October 6, I was out for my morning patrol, and I came across a crew doing something to the 900/1000 loop bus stop.

Here is what I saw:

A closer look:

It was early in the morning. I would say about 7:15. It wasn't quite as dark out as these photos make it look, but the sun was barely up. What are these guys doing to the bus stop so early in the morning?

Here are some photos taken just a little later, when the sun was a bit higher in the sky:

What is this all about?

Are they decorating for Halloween?

Are they making the bus stops into screen rooms?

Wouldn't you like to know?

Well, have I ever left you hanging?

These guys were installing netting around this bus stop as a part of a pest control effort. This bus stop is infested with bats! These bats are an endangered species, so this exclusion technique is used to allow the bats to leave at night, but not return. They will have to find another place to live, but they are not harmed. I got this info from a castmember who was there supervising the whole operation.

Angry homeless bats roaming the Fort looking for a place to roost!

Just in time for Halloween!

TCD

DH and I went to Typhoon Lagoon while the others went to Epcot. We went to Blizzard Beach during our May visit and were looking forward to comparing. For us, there is no comparison…TL wins hands down! We felt crowded and trapped in a sea of people during our BB trip. TL was spread out and we liked the tropical atmosphere (we honeymooned in the Caribbean). We did 5 slides and spent the rest of our time in the lazy river, wave pool (we loved surfing the huge waves), or relaxing in a shaded sand chair. I think we are planning on going back during our October visit.

I totally agree with you about TL! In fact, the theming of TL reminds me of DCL's private island, Castaway Cay. My family enjoys TL much more than BB.

Great job on this report!

I'm looking forward to more!

TCD

 

[CooperPrincesses]

great trip report, thanks for the photos of the Fall decorations. I have never seen WDW decorated like that and am excited to go in October.

The bats are an interesting problem to be sure. Do you think they have tried Bat Boxes on the property? My dad works for the Florida Department of Natural Resources and I know that they use them pretty heavily. I am sure they have tried this solution, but I just can't imagine having a bat infestation. Good timing for Halloween though. LOL!!

Thanks again for your report and your great pictures.

 

[rm0530]

I totally agree with you about TL! In fact, the theming of TL reminds me of DCL's private island, Castaway Cay. My family enjoys TL much more than BB.

Great job on this report!

I'm looking forward to more!

TCD

I hope I can take a Disney cruise eventually, I enjoyed your DCL reports.

I'm looking forward to being able to write more reports.

And by the way, where are yours? It seems you're slacking on your Fort visits this year. I might just beat you after all.

great trip report, thanks for the photos of the Fall decorations. I have never seen WDW decorated like that and am excited to go in October.

The bats are an interesting problem to be sure. Do you think they have tried Bat Boxes on the property? My dad works for the Florida Department of Natural Resources and I know that they use them pretty heavily. I am sure they have tried this solution, but I just can't imagine having a bat infestation. Good timing for Halloween though. LOL!!

Thanks again for your report and your great pictures.

Thanks for reading along. Sometimes I feel my reports are lame and boring but quantity is better than quality I hope you'll write us a report from your trip.

TCD will have the answer about the bat boxes. I'm sure he even knows the personal name for each bat!

 

[TOGA]

Great trip report. Thanks for all the great Fall pictures.

 

[clkelley]

The mini-golf is very fun! It's a nice thing to do that still has the Disney touch but not the crowd level of the parks. Regular price is $12 though for adults. We get 50% discount with our passes. I don't know we'd do it very often without the passes.

We've done both courses and prefer Fantasia Gardens. Winter SummerLand was themed very well but it felt cramped to us.



It's all DH I stand around and wait for directions.

I'm the opposite. I prefer Winter Summerland. Especially with a large group. There is lots more at WS for "silly" photo ops

 

[Tri-circle-D]

And by the way, where are yours? It seems you're slacking on your Fort visits this year. I might just beat you after all.

Yes, I only have three Fort visits to date so far for 2010.

But, I was boycotting for the first quarter.

I'm going to have to make a strong showing for the fourth quarter, or you may beat me.

Don't count me out yet.

TCD will have the answer about the bat boxes. I'm sure he even knows the personal name for each bat!

Bat houses?

You want bat houses?

I know of a few.

How do you like these?:

(all of these were taken at the Fort)

But, even with these, it seems like the bats prefer the cabins.

Who can blame them?

TCD