September 2018 TR- Thunderstorm Dodging, Toy Story Land Visiting

[Teamubr]

Here's a quick morning update while we wait for the MK bus. Rope dropped AK to get on FoP. Pulled in to the Outpost lot at 8:05 and there was an AK bus waiting. Started the day off great. We arrived at AK at 8:40 (park opens at 9) and they were already letting everyone in. We headed straight to FoP (along with everyone else). Standby said 60 minutes. We were on and off in less than 45. We checked EE wait and it said 5 minutes. Here is why. There is no one here.



EE was literally a walk on. After that we jumped on Kill Safari. Again, no wait.

Now we are on our way to MK for lunch and our afternoon FPs.

j

 

[Teamubr]

We live in Orange Beach and the rain forecasts for our area are seldom correct. Hopefully this TS hasn’t done too much damage and the weather will be beautiful while you are here!

Thanks Caren. It looks like much of the TS is past. Hopefully everything came through fine. I'll check into any problems on Friday before heading out.

Back at the camper waiting for DW to arrive. MK was just as vacant this afternoon. We got to the park in plenty of time for our BTMRR FP. After that it was lunch. Neither of us wanted a quick grab and go. The Disney app showed a reservation for Liberty Tree. We grabbed it and both had bacon cheese burgers for lunch. While we were eating, I nabbed a FP for Haunted Mansion. It was getting pretty hot by then, so instead of hiking around, we sat on the wall by the riverboat dock to take in the parade. For those that haven't been following the refurb news , the riverboat is down while they repair the track. There are plastic cover dams in place and the pond by the dock is drained. Tom Sawyer Island is still open and the barge takes you back and forth. Here are a couple of pics right by the dock.





Haunted Mansion was great, as usual. DS wanted to walk the shops on Main St. before our SM FP. These never stop amazing me. Watching them being made almost got me to buy one.



After SM it was time to head back to the Fort. I love taking the big boat back. There had been clouds all afternoon but no rain. As we were approaching the Fort dock, it cut loose. Ponchos in the bag paid off. We had to jump on a Fort bus to get back to the Outpost to get our cart. We left it there when we left for AK this morning. We did some looping after that. Stopped by our last 100 loop site, 119 and saw Some Fort friends.



I grabbed some site pics for Chris. I'll post those in another post.

Drying out now. We plan on heading to DS after Donna gets here,

Tomorrow is a busy day. Ohana for breakfast. Ian is a huge Stitch fan. Then to EPCOT for Soarin FP. A late lunch at Tepan Edo and eventually back to MK to see HEA. It is the only night we can catch it due to Halloween parties.

j

 

[Teamubr]

Chris,

We checked out the 600 loop sites for you. 602 and 637 are the only ones you may fit in, possibly 618 that I'm in. Here are the sites you wanted pics.

602- probably long enough and you can push over the end some.


615 -way too short


620- this is right next to me. short. The MH is maybe 36 ft. The truck is almost in the road.


625- short and no room to push off the back.


627 and 629 are similar to 625. Too short and no room to run off the back.

634 might also work


637

This is long enough, but it is the last site and might be hard to get into, light post on one side and Stop sign and sign post on the other side of the street. You would have to back in from the main street.




j

 

[PaHunter]

Chris,

We checked out the 600 loop sites for you. 602 and 637 are the only ones you may fit in, possibly 618 that I'm in. Here are the sites you wanted pics.

602- probably long enough and you can push over the end some.
View attachment 348801

615 -way too short
View attachment 348806

620- this is right next to me. short. The MH is maybe 36 ft. The truck is almost in the road.
View attachment 348803

625- short and no room to push off the back.
View attachment 348804

627 and 629 are similar to 625. Too short and no room to run off the back.

634 might also work
View attachment 348802

637

This is long enough, but it is the last site and might be hard to get into, light post on one side and Stop sign and sign post on the other side of the street. You would have to back in from the main street.
View attachment 348799

View attachment 348800

j

Awesome, thank you so much for the pictures. Always nice to have someone who has a big rig and understands what it takes to get it in to a site.
Pictures of MK doing the riverboat refurb are nice, glad the rain held off for you. We did Liberty Tree last trip, and we were so full after, well worth it.

 

[Teamubr]

Chris,

I took another look at 620 right next to me. The MH is actually a good size one. Probably 42, maybe 44. Tandem axle pusher. He has a few feet before he is even with back of the pad and there is another 6 feet you could hang off the back. My site is similar. If you don't mind the tail of the trailer hanging out beyond the pad, I think you could make it in 618 or 620 and get the truck on the site.

Here's a pic behind my camper and one showing how much off the road I am. You should fit.





j

 

[2goofycampers]

Jim, try the 500 loop. There is a super long site there. It may be 525 but not sure. I do know it's on the inside of the loop.

 

[rideswithchrist]

Yay! Glad y'all made it there, even if it was delayed Enjoy and keep the pics coming!

 

[mickeyfan0805]

Love the pics! I miss going at this time of year. When the kids were little we found that, while hot and sweaty at times, there was simply no better time of year for low crowd levels - I think that is still the case. With the kids getting older, missed school is no longer an option and we are tied to school vacations. Nine years from now the wife and I will be all about the off-season travels again!

 

[PaHunter]

Chris,

I took another look at 620 right next to me. The MH is actually a good size one. Probably 42, maybe 44. Tandem axle pusher. He has a few feet before he is even with back of the pad and there is another 6 feet you could hang off the back. My site is similar. If you don't mind the tail of the trailer hanging out beyond the pad, I think you could make it in 618 or 620 and get the truck on the site.

Here's a pic behind my camper and one showing how much off the road I am. You should fit.

View attachment 348859

View attachment 348860

j

Oh is that sweet, with our rear bedroom having the canal there. I would have to remeasure, but we have quite a bit I can hang off the back, if I don't mind the kitchen being off the pad. I know from the wheels to the bumper is about 12 feet. I try to keep the rear jacks on the pad, which still leaves about 6 to 8 feet of overhang.

 

[Teamubr]

Thursday's update:

Busy day. Started with breakfast at Ohana. It's always fun to see Mickey, Lilo and Stitch up close. Ian is a huge Stitch fan. He has over 20 plushes. Here's a few pics of us at breakfast.





After breakfast, we were off to EPCOT for Donna to ride Soarin. We got there about 20 minutes before our FP window and the standby was 20 minutes, so what else was there to do? Ride Soarin twice, of course. We were in the new theater both times. Once we had our Soarin fix, DS wanted to check out Figment. I hadn't been in since Figment came back. I was disapointed since I remember what he was when the park opened. At least he has a place again. We walked over to the Disney Shorts in the old Captain Eo building. The shorts are really cute and the 3D is very good.

By now, it was getting closer to our 1:30 ADR at Tepan Edo. We had a very good chef and the food was as good as any other Japanese steakhouse. It rained while we were in lunch, but had quit when we came out. Cooled things off a bit. We wandered around World Showcase.towards the front. Shopped a little and then headed to the monorail for MK. I still can't get over how low the crowds are. Not complaining, but I don't ever remember it being this slow.

At MK, we didn't have any specific plans except to hang out to see HEA. With low crowds, we snagged a FP to Buzz. I beat Ian again and even beat Donna. She's pretty good at the shooter games. We walked over towards PotC. It was a 15 minute wait. Donna wanted to sit with the walking, so the People mover was just the ticket. It was a walk on, but when isn't it? We did some more shopping and then it was time to scout a good view spot for the show. We found a nice spot in the front of the hub, along a rail. This was the only time the park felt crowded. By 8:30 things had filled in pretty well. Not as bad as last Fall, but still pretty full. We stayed put after HEA for Once Upon a Time (another projection show on the castle). I had just read about the "Good night kiss" that is only done at MK to close the park. We started heading towards Main Street and the exit, when I heard the narration I had just read the other night. Pretty fun.

The park had cleared out well, by now. We had less than 10 minutes for the boat and there only about 10 people on the boat back to the Fort. Long, very nice day. It didn't feel as hot or humid today. Once the sun went down it was really nice. Here's one last pic from HEA.



j

 

[ilovedisneymm]

Nice trip report, Jim.

We too love Buzz Lightyear. It typically is a traditional first ride (if not coming to MK at rope drop).

Now with all the new light shows and updated technology pumped into the new attractions, Buzz is really showing some wear and tear and age. With the new Toy Story Land, I see Disney either shutting down Buzz temporarily and giving it a fresh facelift or doing away with it all together with another attraction in its place.

Then again, maybe not. There are several aged attractions within Tomorrowland.

 

[tltay2005]

Thursday's update:

Busy day. Started with breakfast at Ohana. It's always fun to see Mickey, Lilo and Stitch up close. Ian is a huge Stitch fan. He has over 20 plushes. Here's a few pics of us at breakfast.

View attachment 349067

View attachment 349068

After breakfast, we were off to EPCOT for Donna to ride Soarin. We got there about 20 minutes before our FP window and the standby was 20 minutes, so what else was there to do? Ride Soarin twice, of course. We were in the new theater both times. Once we had our Soarin fix, DS wanted to check out Figment. I hadn't been in since Figment came back. I was disapointed since I remember what he was when the park opened. At least he has a place again. We walked over to the Disney Shorts in the old Captain Eo building. The shorts are really cute and the 3D is very good.

By now, it was getting closer to our 1:30 ADR at Tepan Edo. We had a very good chef and the food was as good as any other Japanese steakhouse. It rained while we were in lunch, but had quit when we came out. Cooled things off a bit. We wandered around World Showcase.towards the front. Shopped a little and then headed to the monorail for MK. I still can't get over how low the crowds are. Not complaining, but I don't ever remember it being this slow.

At MK, we didn't have any specific plans except to hang out to see HEA. With low crowds, we snagged a FP to Buzz. I beat Ian again and even beat Donna. She's pretty good at the shooter games. We walked over towards PotC. It was a 15 minute wait. Donna wanted to sit with the walking, so the People mover was just the ticket. It was a walk on, but when isn't it? We did some more shopping and then it was time to scout a good view spot for the show. We found a nice spot in the front of the hub, along a rail. This was the only time the park felt crowded. By 8:30 things had filled in pretty well. Not as bad as last Fall, but still pretty full. We stayed put after HEA for Once Upon a Time (another projection show on the castle). I had just read about the "Good night kiss" that is only done at MK to close the park. We started heading towards Main Street and the exit, when I heard the narration I had just read the other night. Pretty fun.

The park had cleared out well, by now. We had less than 10 minutes for the boat and there only about 10 people on the boat back to the Fort. Long, very nice day. It didn't feel as hot or humid today. Once the sun went down it was really nice. Here's one last pic from HEA.

View attachment 349077

j

Great review. Good to hear Epcot has low crowds, usually during Food and Wine it is packed. We are headed over there tomorrow. Thanks for the info.

 

[Teamubr]

We are headed over there tomorrow. Thanks for the info.

Terri,

As you know, weekends at F&W are usually pretty busy. I wouldn't base my week on tomorrow.

j

 

[Atlanta WDW Fan]

Getting really pumped now! Thanks for the trip reports. We check in two weeks from Sunday. We are tent camping and really want to try the 1500 loop. We did the 2000 last time. We are ready!

 

[friendofeeyore]

Glad you & Ian made it to the Fort with no problems after leaving Atlanta area. Tks. for letting us ride along on your Fort adventures! Good photo of U 2 & what is GoG ?

 

[SCSA9898]

Hey everyone, if I could be directed to a more appropriate thread that’d be great but I’m asking here because everyone seems to be very knowledgeable, does anyone know specific site numbers that can be requested that are as close as possible to the CS in the tent loops? Although, another poster in a different thread said that they heard the CS door slamming shut all night and couldn’t sleep so that worries me? Also, how long of a walk would it be from the tent loops to Pioneer Hall? Thanks for the help in advance.

 

[proudmomof4]

Hey everyone, if I could be directed to a more appropriate thread that’d be great but I’m asking here because everyone seems to be very knowledgeable, does anyone know specific site numbers that can be requested that are as close as possible to the CS in the tent loops? Although, another poster in a different thread said that they heard the CS door slamming shut all night and couldn’t sleep so that worries me? Also, how long of a walk would it be from the tent loops to Pioneer Hall? Thanks for the help in advance.

For the 1500 loop, it's going to be the lower numbered sites which are closest to the CS. 2000 loop has 2 CS, I have stayed in the sites right across from one of the CS...2062,2063, 2064.

Here is a link to a FW map which allows you to click on the loops and see which sites are closest to the CS. The CS are represented by squares which are bigger than the sites, by hovering your mouse over the sites you can see the site numbers. You can also click on the site numbers and it will give you a view of what's across from the site, but not a view of the site itself.

https://touringplans.com/hotel_maps/fort-wilderness-resort-cabins

This map can also give you an idea of how far the tent loops are from Pioneer Hall. There is a small bridge/shortcut from the 2000 loop through Creekside Meadow into the back of the 900 loop which would shorten the distance.

 

[Teamubr]

Glad you & Ian made it to the Fort with no problems after leaving Atlanta area. Tks. for letting us ride along on your Fort adventures! Good photo of U 2 & what is GoG ?

We are glad we made it too! If I typed GoG, it was probably supposed to be GotG. Guardians of the Galaxy, new ride going into EPCOT.

Today we had rope drop at DHS planned so we could ride Slinky Dog. All went as planned. We arrived about 8:40 for a 9am park opening. As everything else this week, the park was open and there were hundreds (or thousands) already in. We made a bee line to Toy Story Land. It is really impressive. The colors are so vivid.



Slinky said there was a 60 minute standby, but it was moving pretty quick. About 30 minutes in, we were 3 or 4 trains away from riding when they announced an indefinite down. Everybody filtered out of the queue and it was down until mid-afternoon. We had a FP for Toy Story Mania and we did standby for ToT. We hit all the shops. Slinky was still broken so we headed back to the Fort. It looked like rain, so we drove over to DS for lunch. Went to Blaze for pizza. It was pretty good, but I thought It was a sit down restaurant instead of a counter service type place. The rain held off and after shopping half of the stores, we made our way back to the Fort. Still no rain, so we went looping. Saw 2 things in the 100 loop I had never seen. A 40 ft toy hauler wedged in a site and right next door, a small tent.





The truck for the toy hauler was mostly in the grass. If he moved the cart into the grass the truck may have fit. I did look at a lot of the sites in 100. There are a few that would accommodate all 65 ft of me, but the loop road with vehicles sticking into the road, would make it hard to get around. The road seems narrower with more poles, lights, trash cans, etc. than a Premium loop. There are a couple of sites I could get into without problems, but not many.

For dinner, we took the little boat over to the Contemporary. We had never been to the Wave, but it had a reservation available. The food was good and much cheaper than Cali Grill. I got some nice pics of the Fort dock from the little boat.



Here are a couple of pics from DHS. While shopping, we saw a CM working cashier. Nothing unusual with that except she had a tail.... and didn't try to hide it.



One other random observation. Star Wars land is quite visible from Toy Story Land, at least right now. The theming on the show buildings is starting to take shape. This pic is from the walk way in Toy Story Land.



We are doing breakfast in the morning at TE before heading out to Gulf State Park. It will be a little sad knowing we won't be back for 2 years. Next year we will be heading to somewhere in the Caribbean. Two years should be enough time for Star Wars Land to settle down and maybe give us a chance for a FP or 2.

Thank you everyone for following along. We had a great, but short, trip.

j

 

[tigger92662]

Jim, how is the new flyover looking and how is the new exit to Vista to The Fort

 

[mickeyfan0805]

Nice trip report, Jim.

We too love Buzz Lightyear. It typically is a traditional first ride (if not coming to MK at rope drop).

Now with all the new light shows and updated technology pumped into the new attractions, Buzz is really showing some wear and tear and age. With the new Toy Story Land, I see Disney either shutting down Buzz temporarily and giving it a fresh facelift or doing away with it all together with another attraction in its place.

Then again, maybe not. There are several aged attractions within Tomorrowland.

We love Buzz too - and would love to see a more significant refurb happen. Not only the issues with overall, but it seems nearly impossible, anymore, to be able to ride without a major disruption.