Last Week at the Fort - Trip Report

[the5coops]

I am excited to report our trip to the Fort/Disney. Even though we have been many times this is my first trip report.

My family:

DH: Loves Disney because it is an easy vacation that is geared to the kids.
Me: Love the Fort. I don’t want to go to Disney unless we can stay at the Fort.
DD10: Loves all animals and bugs.
DS8: Wants to know why he has to be 16 to drive a golf cart.
DD3: Loves camping. She was 10 months old on her first trip to the Fort.
DN10: My sister is a single mom and I have taken care of her son since he was 4 weeks old while she worked. When he started falling behind in school I started homeschooling him with my kids. So now he also has an AP to Disney.

We purchased AP’s on our last trip in February so it made sense to go right back to Disney. We left after homeschool co-op on 4/25 and 1 hour into the trip traffic came to a stop. Everyone was out of their cars and hanging out. We encountered the same thing on our February trip in the same area. Both times trucks lost their loads. We were only delayed 1 hour and pulled into Denham Springs, Louisiana KOA around 9:30 pm. We love to stay there because they have a great, cheap breakfast.

Our usual plan was to stay at North Ocala RV Park however DH missed the exit. We warned the kids we would have to be very quiet getting into our campsite because it was so late. We decided to head for the KOA where 75 and the Florida Turnpike meets. When we arrived there was no worry about being quiet. The place was FILLED with bikers. I think we got the last spot. Everyone was very friendly and I commented to DH it’s funny to see older men/women with expensive motorhomes pulling their bikes. We even saw bikers with poodles! The boys and DD3 loved every minute. Here is a picture of some we spotted after we left the next morning.

We bought our first digital camera two days before we left. I am still getting the hang of it.

We arrived Sunday 4/27 at the fort. CM Fred checked us in and was very funny. When he told us we were in site 101 we couldn’t believe it. We didn’t request a loop this trip. We were VERY excited.

We set up and played all day. The kids were so dirty from playing in the sand that we had to do a load of laundry that night. We had many kids from other campsites over too. I think they liked the sand toys. It was great.

Off to my weigh in class for the Friends of the Fort thread. (I am doing a Transitions class.)

Shelley

 

[All7OfUs]

Excited to read all about it- subbing in!!

 

[BigDaddyRog]

Its sounding like a good time.
Your right...the biker folk are and have always been some of the nicest, friendliest, and most helpful people you'll ever wanna run into(just dont literally run into them). I have broken down on the side of the road and have had POLICE pass by after slowing down and looking...but wouldnt stop to help...and a group of 8 bikers stopped when noticing my pregnant wife...and helped me duct tape a busted radiator hose...thank god one of them had duct tape. Another time, I was alone and broke down on side of I-10, (flat, no spare) another large group pulled over.....tied my tire to the back of a guys bike and I jumped on the back of another...brought me to the nearest walmart...waited with me while they changed my tire...bought me a burger while we were waiting and brought me back to my vehicle and waited for me to get back on the road. Now...none of these folks knew me or that I have been riding most of my life.....I was just another regular guy on side of the road to them, but they were willing to help when even the police werent.

So those of you who get nervous when you see a bunch of them coming up behind you on an interstate, or even a back country road....dont be all silly and nervous. And if you decide to slow down to let them pass, do it out of curtesy, not fear.....most are just good ol'folks who prefer 2 wheels to 4, and their hearts are as big as anyones can be. Though...they MAY get a little loud at any given campground at any given time, but they dont mean any harm or disrespect by it...they just forget to be quiet after a few beers!

 

[wifeofjack]

OMG, I think we saw your set up. Hubby and I were at Disney from 4/26 to 5/3 and stayed at the All Star Sports. We went over to the Fort for dinner one night and decided to walk around. I am sure it was your rig that we were looking at. Hubby really liked it. He said he liked the pull out in the back, so when we got home we checked one out at a local dealership. We liked the setup, but the one we looked at had bunks which are not necessary for us. It is only the 2 of us so the bunks are a waste of space for us.

Anyway, we walked around the loop and admired some of the setups and decided to wait a few years for our next trip to the world, then we can bring our camper and stay at the Fort.

By the way, did you see the golf cart that was decorated to look like Minnie Mouse? Don't know who it belonged to, but I had to take a picture of it.

 

[the5coops]

Its sounding like a good time.
Your right...the biker folk are and have always been some of the nicest, friendliest, and most helpful people you'll ever wanna run into(just dont literally run into them). I have broken down on the side of the road and have had POLICE pass by after slowing down and looking...but wouldnt stop to help...and a group of 8 bikers stopped when noticing my pregnant wife...and helped me duct tape a busted radiator hose...thank god one of them had duct tape. Another time, I was alone and broke down on side of I-10, (flat, no spare) another large group pulled over.....tied my tire to the back of a guys bike and I jumped on the back of another...brought me to the nearest walmart...waited with me while they changed my tire...bought me a burger while we were waiting and brought me back to my vehicle and waited for me to get back on the road. Now...none of these folks knew me or that I have been riding most of my life.....I was just another regular guy on side of the road to them, but they were willing to help when even the police werent.

So those of you who get nervous when you see a bunch of them coming up behind you on an interstate, or even a back country road....dont be all silly and nervous. And if you decide to slow down to let them pass, do it out of curtesy, not fear.....most are just good ol'folks who prefer 2 wheels to 4, and their hearts are as big as anyones can be. Though...they MAY get a little loud at any given campground at any given time, but they dont mean any harm or disrespect by it...they just forget to be quiet after a few beers!

I agree with you. We felt very safe that night. It was a lot of fun to see them. Our neighbor has a bike and the kids love it when he gets in his biker gear to go riding.

 

[the5coops]

OMG, I think we saw your set up. Hubby and I were at Disney from 4/26 to 5/3 and stayed at the All Star Sports. We went over to the Fort for dinner one night and decided to walk around. I am sure it was your rig that we were looking at. Hubby really liked it. He said he liked the pull out in the back, so when we got home we checked one out at a local dealership. We liked the setup, but the one we looked at had bunks which are not necessary for us. It is only the 2 of us so the bunks are a waste of space for us.

Anyway, we walked around the loop and admired some of the setups and decided to wait a few years for our next trip to the world, then we can bring our camper and stay at the Fort.

By the way, did you see the golf cart that was decorated to look like Minnie Mouse? Don't know who it belonged to, but I had to take a picture of it.

We were in the first loop off from the settlement so it probably was us. Our rig has the queen bed in the front with a single bunk over it and the queen rear slide. It is good for the 4 kids. The is the 2nd trip that we have not had the pack n play for DD3. She has been sleeping on the dinette in her "big girl bed". We see a camper upgrade in the future. I think a Class C is calling our name. You will see in the report.

I have a pic to post of the minnie golf cart. They were in the loop across from us and had a friend in the 200 loop that had a neat cart too.

Shelley

 

[the5coops]

Monday we were off to Epcot. This is our favorite park. DH, DD10 and DS8 got fast passes for Soarin. This was their first time and they loved it. I think their favorite is still SE. DS8 was picked to ask Crush a question and DD10 was asked by the Liberty Voices to spell Farm (if you haven’t seen it I don’t want to spoil it). I had put a roast in the crock-pot so we decided to save the rest of WS for another day. It rained on and off during the evening and made the rest of the week beautiful where you could not feel the humidity.

DD3 favorite ride, SE. She calls the mammoth in the first scene snuffleupagus. I guess we have been reading to many Sesame Street books.

Tuesday: We started off with breakfast/lunch (they still had breakfast out) at Trail’s End. Ken was our server. He was great! Then we were off to MK. It was my first time to ride Buzz. I have vertigo and usually can’t do rides but the last two trips have been better. I thought I did well with 58,000 but DH beat everyone with over 100,000.

DH thinks this is a new sign. I told him I would search for Tri-circle-D report to see if it is.

The kids learned new signs this trip and you will see them in every picture! By the end of the trip I was so tired of the Peace, Rock On and Hang Loose signs.

DH and DD10

DS8, DN10 and DD10 on the people mover

DD3 not happy that the people mover stopped for several minutes.

Checking their pin status. I found a great website to get cheap Disney pins and the kids earned them by doing extra jobs that were not their regular chores.

This little guy startled me coming out under the bench where I was sitting.

DN10 was very excited to ride by himself.

DS8 driving me. He did fairly well not bumping into the middle track.

We came back early to watch American Idol. Jason Castro is from our town and his cousins are in our homeschool co-op. Luckily he was on first and we went looping after we got his phone number to vote. We watched Wishes from the beach and the parade from the golf cart.

The cute Minnie Golf cart.

DD10 can spot wildlife and bugs anyway!

 

[djblu883]

Its sounding like a good time.
Your right...the biker folk are and have always been some of the nicest, friendliest, and most helpful people you'll ever wanna run into(just dont literally run into them). I have broken down on the side of the road and have had POLICE pass by after slowing down and looking...but wouldnt stop to help...and a group of 8 bikers stopped when noticing my pregnant wife...and helped me duct tape a busted radiator hose...thank god one of them had duct tape. Another time, I was alone and broke down on side of I-10, (flat, no spare) another large group pulled over.....tied my tire to the back of a guys bike and I jumped on the back of another...brought me to the nearest walmart...waited with me while they changed my tire...bought me a burger while we were waiting and brought me back to my vehicle and waited for me to get back on the road. Now...none of these folks knew me or that I have been riding most of my life.....I was just another regular guy on side of the road to them, but they were willing to help when even the police werent.

So those of you who get nervous when you see a bunch of them coming up behind you on an interstate, or even a back country road....dont be all silly and nervous. And if you decide to slow down to let them pass, do it out of curtesy, not fear.....most are just good ol'folks who prefer 2 wheels to 4, and their hearts are as big as anyones can be. Though...they MAY get a little loud at any given campground at any given time, but they dont mean any harm or disrespect by it...they just forget to be quiet after a few beers!

I was VP of CMA f(local chapter)for a time...for those of you who don't know that is Christian Motorcyclists Assoc. They are a great group of bikers who work with bikers all over the world. I can truthfully say I have SELDOM met a biker I didn't like...even those from the clubs with the bad reps have never been less than VERY helpful to me when I've run into trouble on or off my bike...
Keep going with the trip report...I'm missing the Fort and this helps!!! Janet

 

[Teresa Pitman]

Great photos!!! Your 3-year-old looks a lot like my granddaughter!

Teresa

 

[the5coops]

Wednesday: DD10 had wanted some Mom time. We decided it should be a Mom/DD10 day at Epcot. We all went to Epcot but in WS we split up. The boys and DD3 decided to eat their way around the world. DD10 and I did Kidcot and shopped around the world. DH and I had a wonderful day with our groups.

We saw this from the road on the way to the Outpost. I was so excited I made DH turn around and we went the wrong way in the loop to get a picture for Carol. Tri-Circle-D posted this on his thread too. Who knew he was on a spy mission while we were there!

The Flower and Garden Show was at Epcot. They had flower beds in the shape of flags around one of the lakes. DD10 and I figured it out and it said "Fun in the Sun".

DD10 LOVES birds.

On the way back to the camper we discovered this fold up golf cart. We thought it was great for people like us that can’t get a regular golf cart there.

I made spaghetti sauce in the crock-pot and we ate a quick dinner and headed for MK to see Wishes. It was very crowded this evening. There was such a line for the boat to the Fort when Wishes was over that we did our trick of walking to the Contemporary, getting a snack from the Grab ‘N Go and taking the blue flag boat to the Fort with no wait.

Thursday: We hung out at the Fort. Stopped for ice cream at the Meadows and watched them repair the roof. We were going to play tennis but forgot the tennis balls. We looped and looped and looped. DH discovered a Winnebago View. We have to do a lot of saving to purchase that one! We went to Trail’s End for an early dinner. We then headed for MK. We played while everyone watched Spectro. We watched Wishes near the Dumbo ride. They are very loud back there! We had fast passes for Winnie the Pooh after Wishes and rode that while the park cleared out. We then strolled out and the boat to the Fort was right there with no line!

Friday: We had a not so pleasant encounter at the Bike Barn. We had to get a credit for one day because I told DH to rent the cart until Saturday forgetting we were leaving Friday this trip. I took our golf cart back and DH was to meet me with the camper in front of the Meadows. I received my return slip and went around to turn it into the office. It was 10:45 and there was a short line on the return side but not a big deal. On the rental side there were several people waiting too. When it was my turn they said I had to wait in the rental line because of the credit. I explained I was returning the cart and the CM behind the Bike Barn told me to wait here in this line. The young man, Adrian, said no I had to wait in the rental line! You all know how long it takes to rent a cart! I called DH and told him not to leave the site yet and I would call when I was done. It was not a pleasant way to leave the Fort. All we wanted was get on the road and I didn’t think it was right to make me wait behind everyone renting a cart when I waited behind those returning a cart too. Additionally on our November 2007 trip we had to leave early because the kids got sick and I returned the cart at the return window and they issued a credit to me at that window. Okay vent over.

Sad sign to see...

On the way home we had a bit of a problem with a tire. We were in Pensacola and we hear a gun shot noise. Yep, it’s our tire on the camper that is less than a year old. We pulled off into a La Quinta and I spend 30 minutes on hold waiting for Good Sam. DH got tired of waiting and went into the La Quinta to borrow a phone book. He called a tire store that had road service and they were there in 25 minutes. Needless to say I hung up on Good Sam. This was a great excuse for DH to go buy more tools so he can do the job himself. While they changed the tire I hit the Denny’s next to the La Quinta and ordered everyone a Grand Slam for dinner. We were starving and everything tasted wonderful!

We made it to Denham Springs KOA at 12:45 am and got settled in before a thunderstorm hit. A couple of lightening strikes were VERY loud.

The rest of the trip home went well. Our only exception would be the dreaded Love Bugs!

Back to reality. The kids schooling (see a Class C or Class A would be better for school work!) and DH catching up with clients.

We are starting to plan our next trip for this October.

Thanks for reading!

Shelley

 

[the5coops]

I was VP of CMA f(local chapter)for a time...for those of you who don't know that is Christian Motorcyclists Assoc. They are a great group of bikers who work with bikers all over the world. I can truthfully say I have SELDOM met a biker I didn't like...even those from the clubs with the bad reps have never been less than VERY helpful to me when I've run into trouble on or off my bike...
Keep going with the trip report...I'm missing the Fort and this helps!!! Janet/QUOTE]

Glad to help ease the pain! I don't know if we can make it until October. We may have to squeeze another quick trip in. I am using a new spelling curriculum and one of their teacher seminars is in June in Orlando! I mentioned it to DH so we will see.

Great photos!!! Your 3-year-old looks a lot like my granddaughter!

Teresa

We have really had fun with this new camera. Why we waited to come into the digital age I will never know. It took me all last evening to figure out how to get the pics off the camera and into photobucket to put on the disboards. I would love to see a picture of your granddaughter.

 

[nessz79]

Sounds like you had fun! I love reading these FW trip reports!

 

[lindsey]

I really enjoyed your trip report with pics. Thanks for posting

 

[TheFlame]

Thanks for the TR. I enjoyed reading about your fun! I too homeschool and LOVE the ability to not have to work around "real" school and just work when and where we want, preferably at WDW and FW!

 

[AuburnJen92]

Great TR! An answer to a question you had on the TR, yes those are new signs at Crocketts. They took all the musket mickeys down!

 

[Colson39]

Wow, great trip report, loved the pictures!!!

And yea, I've been seeing more and more love bugs flying around here, looks like it's becoming that "time of the year"

 

[Tri-circle-D]

DH thinks this is a new sign. I told him I would search for Tri-circle-D report to see if it is.

First of all, let me congratulate you on a very well done first trip report!

Secondly, you are correct- that is a new sign- and I did not notice it!

You punked TCD!

I did notice that the sign that hangs from the porch itself is in a new location. It used to be right in front of the hostess stand, now it is a little further down the porch-toward the lake. Here is where it used to be:

I don't have a photo of the new location.

My DD took a photo of that little golf cart- I have never seen anything like it. I was behind it one day- and one thing for sure is that it moves very slowly.

TCD

 

[beccaewert]

question....why are they changing musket mickey? I've seen alot of people saying he's disappearing, but I didn't know why...is it b/c they don't want the kids to see mickey holding a gun? because if thats true I would be ticked!

 

[Colson39]

Yep, that is exactly it, they don't want Mickey being portrayed with a gun. They actually started making the changes quite a few years ago, there hasn't been a musket Mickey for quite a while now

 

[AuburnJen92]

It is a darned shame too. I am just not all for political correctness. It is for the birds!