March 2016 Pre Trip and Trip reports

[CruisingCamper]

We've settled into site 2067 - not the greatest site but a site at the Fort is still a great thing. There was no one at the check in but we had no luck when requesting another site but the Fort is swarming with people and bikes!

We met up with a couple of our friends and are now doing the rookie move of cooking in the dark. I'm sure we will be eating burnt but raw chicken

Not sure if we will make it to the beach for fireworks but I want to!!!! I am so glad to be here. It's been a crazy, hectic, overwhelming month and this is the perfect cure.

Looking forward to meeting anyone - we've got drinks and food!

Great that you got settled in! Being at the fort is the best thing ever for stress relief! I can't wait to get there next Tuesday! Hope ya'lls chicken turned out ok! Did you make it to the fireworks! Looking forward to more updates!

 

[CruisingCamper]

We are here. First time I have received the text that our site is ready and we can skip checkin. Arrived around 3, drove through the returning guest lane and straight to our site. Very nice and fast, except I miss not getting my Welcome packet. Of course I still have mine from last trip, so no worries. Wifi is working great. Good thing, so I can go back and look at the posted March movie & activity schedule. First site was 1730, but it was directly next to the CS, so I called and asked to be moved to the empty site next door, 1728. No problem. Nice site with lots of room on both sides so we can spread out. Will post some pictures tomorrow. Sisters family is in the 1900 loop, right behind our loop. We weren't here 20 minutes and I hear AUNT TERRI!!! It my niece and nephew riding scooters over to see us and my nephew fell and hit his head right on the eyebrow bone......blood everywhere! What a way to start our trip. Cleaned him up, put some steri strips across it, called his mom and sent him back to his site. Neiko, our boxer, is adjusting well, this is his first Fort trip. TV is scanning for channels, maybe it will be done before bed. Will check in tomorrow. Good night.

Glad you made it! Sorry about your nephew! What a way to start is exactly right! Poor thing. Send us some updates!

 

[bama_ed]

Good morning from the Fort.

Not much to add to yesterday. I just threw some pictures up from my phone real-time while I was there. The early morning trip over provided some beautiful views as we left the Fort.

Here is a "moonset" (?) (sort of like a sunset only with the moon) over by the Contemp while waiting for the big boat at the Fort dock.



180 degrees around from that the mist was slowly rising off the water with the sun trying to come up.



Here comes the first boat of the day.



The sun came up behind us on the ride to the MK.



They opened the park a few minutes early and we were on Main Street at 753am.





My one comment about our park day was I realized that the wait times are ALL overstated. I guess it's Disney's way of appearing to exceed expectations ("gee honey, the wait time said 45 minutes but it only took 30"). Once I learned that, I had less fear of the wait times. ALL our stand-bys were between 33-66% of the wait time listed on the sign outside the attraction. Even Peter Pan which listed 90 minutes was only 60 (the longest we stood for). Got to ride the handful of biggies multiple times and rode everything we wanted to.

One unique picture is from the foot bridge that cuts the corner from Frontierland over toward BTRR when it was late. The castle is captures in the reflection of the water in the Rivers of America so I refer to it as my "upside-down" castle picture with Liberty Square in the foreground.



Our poster tltay2005 came by this morning on the golf cart and said hello with the family. Nice to meet them all and Terri, enjoy your stay here this weekend. Let's both do a rain dance to keep the weather pleasant.

Gonna ride bikes and check out the other loops and maybe hit the Disney Store at the Outlet Mall this afternoon.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

Update this afternoon when comming back from the Outlet Mall:

Turkeys crossing the road past the guard's shack...



And a turkey trying to cut the right hand corner in the Fort parking lot next to a delivery semi headed for the exit.



Bama Ed

 

[amcc]

It was cold last night! Turned off the air and the kids fought over the three measly blankets I had. We spent all morning at the pool and I realized that the Fort is like a summer camp for families. There were bikers, a volleyball game, tennis match, pool games, people fishing, soccer, football, all with multiple generations hanging out. It's such a good feeling.

single neighbor we had left today so it's nice and quiet while trying to get the little one down for a nap. He. Won't. Stop.

 

[bama_ed]

I'll coming looking for you tomorrow morning, amcc. Bama Ed

 

[snowmedic]

Couple of pics from our stay.
This lamp was in the 400 loop.



Bama Ed likes the A-liner, so here is one that looks exactly like his.



When he said a limited set up he was not kidding, didn't even have his Dis sign out.

 

[tltay2005]

Here's some pictures of our site, 1728.

 

[tltay2005]

Had a nice day. Went loopin this morning and met Bama Ed and his wife. It was so nice to finally meet you. Pretty warm today so we spent most of the day by the pool. Played bingo and trivia. Tomorrow we are hoping to go canoeing. Will check in later.

 

[snowmedic]

tltay2005, I like your set up. That is a big site. Camper, ez-up, screen house, love it!

 

[Teamubr]

Made it till 2am. Gonna get some sleep then get up for lunch.



Bama Ed

That is A LOT of people for 2am. I'd stayed for EMH in the summer that went that late. by 11 or 12 the place was clearing out pretty well. By 1am it was a ghost town.

Congrats on the MK Marathon. Hopefully DD enjoyed it and you're recovering.

j

 

[Teamubr]

So you race? or did race?

Everyone may be sorry you asked. But I have raced something, off and on, since I was 15. Most recently, I raced sports cars (road courses). Mustangs and a Miata. Here's my car. I'm the one (winning) on the right. And one of me and my car owner/team mate. I just to show I'm pretty humble, the last pick is our team Spec Miata. We run it in Enduros, long distance, timed races where you have to do driver changes and pit stops. This pic is me on my first lap out on greasy tires and cold reflexes. This was 2 hours into a 6 hour race. We recovered and finished 2nd in class.

And if SIL is bringing home "big" trophies, he's probably doing OK. I hung up the helmet last season. I had a magical season. I won 11 of 13 races. We win "little" trophies, but the checks from contingency sponsors and Ford racing were better.

Now, back to on topic. Looks like it's going to be a warm one at the Fort the next few days. Mid 80's for March.

j

 

[amcc]

Its pouring!!!! I'm trying to find an app that will warn me if we get a tornado watch. Our friends came for dinner tonight but we were able to get 15 people fed before the skies broke open.

Tltay - I love the 1700 loop. Shady, nice size sites, and great location. I hope the weather allows for looping tomorrow.

 

[4077]

You all stay safe down there...batten down the hatches...looks like an icky line to come through there a bit later...awnings in!

 

[peg110]

I'm trying to find an app that will warn me if we get a tornado watch.

I believe The Weather Channel has an app for that. (Ugh... Did I just say that )

Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.weather.Weather&hl=en
iPhone https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weather-channel-local-forecasts/id295646461?mt=8
Windows Phone https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/apps/the-weather-channel/9wzdncrfhwsd

Info from Weather channel WebSite. https://weather.com/apps

 

[bjschil]

titaly, I love your set-up at the Fort. Looks so roomy with the easy-up and screen room. Have a wonderful trip. Hope your weather stays nice.

 

[bama_ed]

And the voice of God said, "Noah, release the animals. The flood is over".

Wow that was a lot of rain last night and early this morning. In my A-liner it sounded like being on the inside of a popcorn popper.

Let's start with the bike ride yesterday afternoon. It was a warm, cloudy day and me and DD rode through 400, 700, 600, 900, 1000, and 1100 looking for interesting stuff. But first we passed the horse drawn carriage making early rounds - this rookie horse was in training and had not yet pulled paying passengers.



I've always loved the classic look of an Airstream. But I can't afford one.



There are several Cruise America rental Class C's around.



Then there was this site with this cute little flag out front with the cute little camper on the flag.



Do you think there was a cute little camper set up on the site? Depends on your definition of "little".



That trailer was almost as big as SouthAlabama5er's fifth wheel! Honestly, I don't know how that little white sedan managed to back that thing in.

Finally now that the WIFI is up, I'm noticing the antennas more.



I saw this mention of a new revenue-producing event called "Disney After Hours" (and there is a morning equivalent). DAH is described as follows:

Disney After Hours - May 5, 8, 12, 19, 2016

This event will give guests the opportunity to stay in the park three hours after closing time. Select attractions and character meet and greets will be available, as well as ice cream novelties and bottled beverages. Guests with tickets to this event can enter the parks anytime after 7:00pm each night and the event is held from 11:00pm-2:00am.

Tickets for these events will go on sale April 6th and will cost $149 (plus tax) for all ages. Purchase tickets by calling 407-827-7185.

[Ed steps up on his soapbox] Are they kidding me? I just got done with EMH till 2am in the MK 2 days ago. Now they are essentially going to charge separate for that? Oh I am sure the ice cream novelties and bottled beverages are worth $149 alone. And they want to charge for the WIFI and things we just got (here) that were previously "free of charge"? Boy I didn't realize the tremendous value I was receiving for my $155 a night for a Preferred site.

[Ed steps down off his soap box]. Back to the bike ride. There was something I noticed in 2100.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

Picking up where I left off...

During the bike ride DD and I coasted out of 1100 along the Comfort Station sidewalk and into 2100 to check out the cabin loop there. There is a thread going that it will be converted [back] to a camping loop rather than receive the cabin upgrades.

I will admit that the cabins there do look a little shabby on the exterior. Mainly the decks are worn, faded, warping, and/or scuffed up. But one cabin (site 2107) was missing so it was just a concrete slab. And that's when it hit me.



Anybody else see it? On the right hand side of the slab? It's the trusty old utility log. I opened up the flap and it has been emptied out except for the 50A and 30A plugs.



Here is the cabin next to it, 2109. There is the utility log with a hose right there.



Do the other cabin loops have utility logs too? The answer was a short bike ride over in 2200. And the answer is no, they don't. They have a wooden post for the hose but not a log.



So the presence of the utility log means that these were camping sites at one time in 2100. Heck they could be refitted and serve the new camping 2100 loop (as a Full loop, mind you).

Closing out the bike ride, the archery lesson behind the bike barn was wrapping up.



Finally last night we made it over to the Braves game at WWOS.



However the rain came in the 4th inning. After waiting between squall lines and making our dash to the car, we were passing Port Orleans FQ when the first bottom fell out. I'll have to check if I am due a rained out refund. But the sun is coming up now, the ground is damp, the air is cool, but the boat whistles remind me where I am as do the bus brakes releasing their air pressure.

I'm here for a while this morning then off to Plant City for some strawberry shortcake and then up to Lakeland for a lunchtime Detroit Tigers game.

Bama Ed

 

[amcc]

Busiest spot in the tent loop today - the laundry room.

 

[tiggerdad]

2107 doesn't look like a very deep site but I guess if you added the "sandpad" at the rear, a grill, straightened up the utility log, added some breakers and plugs, a sewage hookup, and filled in the concrete gap there on the left it would service smaller rigs and tents just fine. Was that the only cabin (mobilehome) missing?

Regarding the oversized rig, obviously the driver of the Camry is a pro since he was able to use his hood to back the camper in.