New rumor!

[RocklandRVers]

I think this is a job for TCD!! I bet he is already putting together his strategic plan for snooping behind the scenes and getting the scoop on this rumor as he has so successfully in the past. You da man TCD! Help us find out if the rumor is fact or fiction.

 

[FloridaDisneyFan]

If you look to your left as you take a boat to Magic Kingdom, Contemporary or Wilderness Lodge, just before you get to River Country, there is a tree in the lake that used to have pairs of tennis shoes hanging from it, hence the name "shoe tree". The shoes are all gone now. They were still there a couple of years ago.

 

[Calway]

Someone in this thread mentioned Discovery Island. I was talking to a boat caption as I was going back to the Fort one evening last week.
He said Discovery Island now has over 1000 animals mostly birds that Disney attends too.
He said he does most of his photography near there. He mentioned a cougar elsewhere but I wasn't sure where he said it was. He said it was being monitored and it was safe and I mentioned not for the animals it gets.

As for RC he(the captain) and one other smaller boat captain mentioned not being able to regulate the water in RC and keep it clean. Sounds to me like too big of an expense since RC is only 1/4 the size of the other water parks.

Too bad RC couldn't be opened as a water area for the campers only.

My trip report if anyone is interesed...
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2320084

 

[WannaBeImagineer]

The wetland story was used by Disney when they needed an excuse for not rehabbing the Treehouse Villas area. Guess what - when they decided it would be lucrative, wetlands were no longer an issue. As it has been explained to me by more knowlegable planning people than I, all that is required to develope a wetland area is to set aside a like sized plot of land somewhere else and designate it as remaining undeveloped. Disney has used this tactic time and again to develope wetlands in desirable areas. Disney has plenty of property to do this with, and in fact has a nature preserve offsite which probably more than covers any development they may wish to do in the near future.

ftwildernessguy, as someone that works in land development in Florida, you're right in principal about the wetlands, its called offsite wetland mitiagation, but the wetlands have to qualify and it's also not always a 1 to 1 ratio, there's a lot to it but like you said Disney would find a way and they own plenty of land to make it work.

The way they got around the wetland problem at the Treehouse villas, was they made them slightly smaller, the way the permits work as long as you decrease the amount of impervious area of what was originally there, then the Water Managment District typically doesn't have a problem with it. So they made the villas a little smaller with less roof area and less pavement, simple as that. Oh and they had to figure out how to construct them with the least amount of impacts to the wetlands, but there's always a way if you have the money.

Like everyone else, I'm sure this lakeside development is just a rumor, but it's defintely possible from a permitting standpoint.

 

[KimIce]

Someone in this thread mentioned Discovery Island. I was talking to a boat caption as I was going back to the Fort one evening last week.
He said Discovery Island now has over 1000 animals mostly birds that Disney attends too.
He said he does most of his photography near there. He mentioned a cougar elsewhere but I wasn't sure where he said it was. He said it was being monitored and it was safe and I mentioned not for the animals it gets.

As for RC he(the captain) and one other smaller boat captain mentioned not being able to regulate the water in RC and keep it clean. Sounds to me like too big of an expense since RC is only 1/4 the size of the other water parks.

Too bad RC couldn't be opened as a water area for the campers only.

My trip report if anyone is interesed...
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2320084

In regards to the Cougar I saw one on one of our trips to FW this year. One morning when I was walking my dog on the Pet Loop in the 700 Loop. It was right at the entrance to the Pet loop laying down beside the drainage pipe. I froze for a moment and we just stared at one another, then I turned around and went back the way we came very slowly.

As, far as adding more campsites, I believe they need to. It is impossible any more to make a reservation unless you plan on staying for a month or so. Disney does not care for the weekend people, they hold their sites for the people who are going to stay longer. I believe they need more sites available to accomodate the short term campers.

If they do, do anything with RC, it will probably be for the Vacation Club. It seems like that is all they are interested in building now a days.

 

[MouseMadness]

I hear Ferris Bueller is dying, my sister heard from a guy at Baskin Robbins, who heard it from some gal...

 

[ftwildernessguy]

In regards to the Cougar I saw one on one of our trips to FW this year. One morning when I was walking my dog on the Pet Loop in the 700 Loop. It was right at the entrance to the Pet loop laying down beside the drainage pipe. I froze for a moment and we just stared at one another, then I turned around and went back the way we came very slowly.

As, far as adding more campsites, I believe they need to. It is impossible any more to make a reservation unless you plan on staying for a month or so. Disney does not care for the weekend people, they hold their sites for the people who are going to stay longer. I believe they need more sites available to accomodate the short term campers.

If they do, do anything with RC, it will probably be for the Vacation Club. It seems like that is all they are interested in building now a days.

That's funny, I was going to say the people who come in just for the weekends make it harder for those of us who want to stay longer to make reservations. Just take a look at the occupancy of the campground - packed on weekends, empties out for the week. It's not the long term campers that are taking up spaces.

 

[retired and happy]

No, but there are many threads herein advocating booking for longer than you plan to stay, then canceling the excess. Makes you look good to management, but like a short timer to other campers.

 

[ynottony99]

In regards to the Cougar I saw one on one of our trips to FW this year. One morning when I was walking my dog on the Pet Loop in the 700 Loop. It was right at the entrance to the Pet loop laying down beside the drainage pipe. I froze for a moment and we just stared at one another, then I turned around and went back the way we came very slowly.

The Cougar was photographed one morning........................................

I know. Lame. But someone had to do it.

 

[truck1]

If you look to your left as you take a boat to Magic Kingdom, Contemporary or Wilderness Lodge, just before you get to River Country, there is a tree in the lake that used to have pairs of tennis shoes hanging from it, hence the name "shoe tree". The shoes are all gone now. They were still there a couple of years ago.

Thanks. The last time I was there in RC was in 99 or 2000ish.Dont remember when off hand. For 2 years Disney Transport would throw a end of the year thank you party and they used RC for it.That pretty much was the last time I was there when it was open, until several months ago when I went into the Fort for transport map Im working on.

For anyone whos never heard of the million dollar tree, its a tree that was in the bus turnaround at the settlement depot turnaround,closest to the bus shelter. I beleive its gone now, as I didnt see it a few months ago.

The way the tree got its name, was that when we used to run the 2700 series 40 foot busses back there exclusively, if you didnt get lined up right to get into the turn around, or was unlucky enough to have a bus with a poor turn radius, the back left corner of the bus would hit the tree. They figured in the length of time that the tree was there, it did over a million dollars in damage to the busses.Between that and the shelter, it was a tight fit for a while.The shelter used to eat passenger side mirrors, and clearance lights.

 

[KimIce]

That's funny, I was going to say the people who come in just for the weekends make it harder for those of us who want to stay longer to make reservations. Just take a look at the occupancy of the campground - packed on weekends, empties out for the week. It's not the long term campers that are taking up spaces.

I agree with you on being packed on the weekends, then empties out come Sunday. (We personally stay until Mon. or Tues. to enjoy it) I'm not blaming the people who make the long term reservations or the weekender, it is the way Disney does the reservations. Back when I made a reservation for July 4th of this year, the gentleman I talked to told me Disney holds a lot of their sites (not all of them) for people who book for at least a month or close to it. As the time gets closer they will release some of those sites for people who want a week or more. Sometimes you can get in for just the weekend if you call just a few days before you want to go since they have open sites and they figure if someone has not booked them by now they won't book them, but they will have to override the computer to make the reservation for you (yes, they can override the system, you just need to find the right person to do it). They have not been competely booked in the past year or 2 when we have been there. There have always been sites available, unless it is a holiday and then that is debateable, some sites go for a few days with no one in them, but if you were to try and book it, it would say it is full. All it is is how Disney does their reservations.

 

[DisCamper]

I don't know if this means anything but there was an extensive survey (geological) going on yesterday in the River County area.

 

[Tri-circle-D]

I don't know if this means anything but there was an extensive survey (geological) going on yesterday in the River County area.

Well, that is interesting.

And, FloridaFortCampster posted some photos a couple weeks ago showing some surveying going on around the Settlement bus stop area. Maybe they are trying to figure out where to put an access road? Here's a link to her report about the surveying (with photos): FFC's October TR

So, based on this, and what the lady at the pool overheard from the lifeguard, I think this rumor has almost been confirmed! Now, someone just needs to ask a bus driver, and we can start planning on reserving those sites.

TCD

 

[DisCamper]

i was just over there and I'm waiting for the camera to recharge i will take pics of the surveying group that is there today

 

[Tri-circle-D]

i was just over there and I'm waiting for the camera to recharge i will take pics of the surveying group that is there today

Good man. If they are not Disney employees, you can usually get them to tell you exactly what they are doing. It would be most interesting to hear what they have to say.

TCD

 

[Gatordad]

I'm glad someone got that.

 

[scot@dvcstore]

DVC Members section around the lake would be great. Wishful thinking but you never know.