bama_ed
It's kind of fun to do the impossible-Walt Disney
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2004
- Messages
- 13,684
Whew! What a week at the Fort. Weather was pretty good and the Fort was pretty full. This was the first time in a long time I'd been during this time of year and I can appreciate why this is a "Peak" season.
Arrived Saturday at 2 p.m. EVERY check-in lane was open and had at least 3-4 campers in line. Never seen that before!
It's okay, no rush. Took 30 minutes to get up to the front 
. I had requested loop 900 but they couldn't work it but I got loop 1000 (site 1003) right behind the 900-1000 bathhouse just off the main road across from the Meadow Trading Post. 
Funny thing was, when I left that afternoon about 4:30 to go get some grub at Winn Dixie, only 2 lanes had single campers in it. I guess everyone like me wanted to get there on or soon after the official 1 p.m. check-in time. So I learned 
that unless you got something planned on your first night, late afternoon is the way to go.
Did the C&D campfire on Saturday and Sunday nights. Miss Julie did both of these (and I heard her doing other nights during the week too I think). Just remember, people, it's a SING-a-long and not a LISTEN-a-long
.
Weather was great for camping outdoors. We had a few cool nights early (down to 40) but by the end of the week the low was 60. A few sprinkles of rain Tuesday at the Studios and Thursday at the Fort but it didn't last long. Only Thursday afternoon's shower was heavy but very brief. I was in the pool so it didn't bother me!
As I was sitting in a rocking chair at the Meadow TP Thursday morning a CM came by picking up trash. We talked and he said this is the one month they live for weather-wise...
I dragged DW, 2 DS, and DD to two spring training baseball games, one at Winter Haven (Cleveland Indians, my childhood team) and one at Disney Sports (Atlanta Braves). I laughed because at both games lots of people, almost on cue, left after the 6th inning (to beat the traffic?
). Thanks to them leaving early en masse, there was no traffic when I left at game's end!
We went to the Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday. The Visitor's Center is nearly worth skipping. The IMAX movie was good, other than that the Bus Tour is the key draw. We did the UP CLOSE tour and the family greatly enjoyed it. It's an hour from the Fort and 3 toll booths early on (2 between the Fort and the airport, then one just past where the 417/528 come together, then about 30 miles of clear sailing. I guess that's how the locals get us tourists to pay for their roads (their perogative - I'd do the same)
.
Took the family to eat lunch at Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney Thursday. The kids greatly enjoyed it and I had the Pastalaya which was fabulous! We had checked there the previous night coming back from KSC and it was a 2.5 hr wait
. No place is worth that. So we went back the next day and just walked in for lunch no wait, no problem. Also ate breakfast at Trail's End on check-out day. Food was good, service was prompt. Nice selection of "healthy" foods (fruit, cereals, etc), breads/muffins (4-5 varieties), and plenty of scrambled eggs, omlets (scrambled with cheese, mushrooms), sausage, bacon, corned beef/hash, biscuits/gravy, and Mickey waffles. It was good and the place was full by the time we left.
We GREATLY enjoyed our down time at the Fort. In fact, we dropped Typhoon Lagoon off our itinerary to have a down day at the Fort just to hang out (Thursday). Only went "off campus" to eat lunch at Rainforest. Plus the two ball game days (both games were at 1 p.m.) left us several hours in the morning and the afternoon at the Fort so we rode bikes a lot, swam, even did a family canoe round trip around the canals (getting DW into a canoe was a major accomplishment
). We saw a little gator, lots of birds, and it was very peaceful. I even snuck my 14-year old away from his brother and sister and he drove me around Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon in a Searaycer boat (10% off that with AAA). The CM was nice and gave us 40 minutes for the price of 30. My son felt all grown up driving the boat! 
I met one of our posters here on DISBoards, Stacktester. Boy, when he says his trailer is red, he's not kidding! I thought maybe a red strip or half red/white but it is ALL red so it was easy to find him (plus he was in loop 900). It was nice to meet him and I know others of you were there! We need to get more organized
.
My only negative (soapbox time) is that the golf cart situation is almost out of control. I realize some folks need them for mobility purposes (bad knees, old age, etc) but most folks I saw needed to be walking more and riding less. But since they are willing to pay $$$$ then the Mouse will accomodate them. In fact, down at the bus loop/drop-off at Pioneer hall there was a small strip of golf cart parking but just before it was some of the last remains of the FW Railroad, some wooden ties still in the ground. They're now gone as they appear to be extending the golf cart parking area (more blacktop). Couple that with all the carts people bring with them and it's getting crowded. We went down to the beach on our last night to watch the fireworks over the MK and the light parade and the cart parking down there by the Marina was so crowded it was laughable.
So the Fort was nearly full the whole week and we had fun. Time to regroup and plan the next trip - a short one (4 nights) just before Christmas. Get in before the big crowds show up to see the decorations, do MK, and try our hand at decorating our campsite
.
Bama ED
Arrived Saturday at 2 p.m. EVERY check-in lane was open and had at least 3-4 campers in line. Never seen that before!
It's okay, no rush. Took 30 minutes to get up to the front . I had requested loop 900 but they couldn't work it but I got loop 1000 (site 1003) right behind the 900-1000 bathhouse just off the main road across from the Meadow Trading Post. Funny thing was, when I left that afternoon about 4:30 to go get some grub at Winn Dixie, only 2 lanes had single campers in it. I guess everyone like me wanted to get there on or soon after the official 1 p.m. check-in time. So I learned that unless you got something planned on your first night, late afternoon is the way to go.Did the C&D campfire on Saturday and Sunday nights. Miss Julie did both of these (and I heard her doing other nights during the week too I think). Just remember, people, it's a SING-a-long and not a LISTEN-a-long
.Weather was great for camping outdoors. We had a few cool nights early (down to 40) but by the end of the week the low was 60. A few sprinkles of rain Tuesday at the Studios and Thursday at the Fort but it didn't last long. Only Thursday afternoon's shower was heavy but very brief. I was in the pool so it didn't bother me!
As I was sitting in a rocking chair at the Meadow TP Thursday morning a CM came by picking up trash. We talked and he said this is the one month they live for weather-wise...I dragged DW, 2 DS, and DD to two spring training baseball games, one at Winter Haven (Cleveland Indians, my childhood team) and one at Disney Sports (Atlanta Braves). I laughed because at both games lots of people, almost on cue, left after the 6th inning (to beat the traffic?
). Thanks to them leaving early en masse, there was no traffic when I left at game's end! We went to the Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday. The Visitor's Center is nearly worth skipping. The IMAX movie was good, other than that the Bus Tour is the key draw. We did the UP CLOSE tour and the family greatly enjoyed it. It's an hour from the Fort and 3 toll booths early on (2 between the Fort and the airport, then one just past where the 417/528 come together, then about 30 miles of clear sailing. I guess that's how the locals get us tourists to pay for their roads (their perogative - I'd do the same)
.Took the family to eat lunch at Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney Thursday. The kids greatly enjoyed it and I had the Pastalaya which was fabulous! We had checked there the previous night coming back from KSC and it was a 2.5 hr wait
. No place is worth that. So we went back the next day and just walked in for lunch no wait, no problem. Also ate breakfast at Trail's End on check-out day. Food was good, service was prompt. Nice selection of "healthy" foods (fruit, cereals, etc), breads/muffins (4-5 varieties), and plenty of scrambled eggs, omlets (scrambled with cheese, mushrooms), sausage, bacon, corned beef/hash, biscuits/gravy, and Mickey waffles. It was good and the place was full by the time we left.We GREATLY enjoyed our down time at the Fort. In fact, we dropped Typhoon Lagoon off our itinerary to have a down day at the Fort just to hang out (Thursday). Only went "off campus" to eat lunch at Rainforest. Plus the two ball game days (both games were at 1 p.m.) left us several hours in the morning and the afternoon at the Fort so we rode bikes a lot, swam, even did a family canoe round trip around the canals (getting DW into a canoe was a major accomplishment
). We saw a little gator, lots of birds, and it was very peaceful. I even snuck my 14-year old away from his brother and sister and he drove me around Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon in a Searaycer boat (10% off that with AAA). The CM was nice and gave us 40 minutes for the price of 30. My son felt all grown up driving the boat! I met one of our posters here on DISBoards, Stacktester. Boy, when he says his trailer is red, he's not kidding! I thought maybe a red strip or half red/white but it is ALL red so it was easy to find him (plus he was in loop 900). It was nice to meet him and I know others of you were there! We need to get more organized
.My only negative (soapbox time) is that the golf cart situation is almost out of control. I realize some folks need them for mobility purposes (bad knees, old age, etc) but most folks I saw needed to be walking more and riding less. But since they are willing to pay $$$$ then the Mouse will accomodate them. In fact, down at the bus loop/drop-off at Pioneer hall there was a small strip of golf cart parking but just before it was some of the last remains of the FW Railroad, some wooden ties still in the ground. They're now gone as they appear to be extending the golf cart parking area (more blacktop). Couple that with all the carts people bring with them and it's getting crowded. We went down to the beach on our last night to watch the fireworks over the MK and the light parade and the cart parking down there by the Marina was so crowded it was laughable.
So the Fort was nearly full the whole week and we had fun. Time to regroup and plan the next trip - a short one (4 nights) just before Christmas. Get in before the big crowds show up to see the decorations, do MK, and try our hand at decorating our campsite
.Bama ED
No offense, Dolphins fan here...lol
