Trip Report

[TravellingMom]

I thought I would try to increase my post count, rather than being a full-time lurker/reader, so why not a trip report.

I have some PSAs, which will be included.

Background: Mama -- 30something
Daddy -- entering the fabulous forties
Girlchild 1 -- a tween
Boychild 2 -- soon to be 9
Girlchild 3 -- 6
Girlchild 4 -- 4

We had annual passes for Disney two years and then decided to give it a break for a while and get annual passes to a different theme park. We have stayed at the Fort several times, with April 2009 being our last stay while we had annual passes. It's been a year, and even though the magic was decreasing since our first Fort stay in 2007, we decided to give it a try this April 2010.

We stayed in a preferred loop for the first time. It is supposed to be nonpet, but of course, no, no it wasn't really.

PSA -- if you must bring a pet, please designate someone who knows how to walk it. It is not necessary for your pet to run into others' sites. Please, take your pet to pee and poo in a designated walking area, then clean up the poo. Awesome pet owners, I wish you would educate nonawesome pet owners. PLEASE!

The stay was pretty quiet until our last night, when about twenty or so people converged on two sites in our loop. The rest of us happy campers were treated to a loud Spanish-music radio station all afternoon and all night. Many golf carts were rented and many alchoholic beverage containers were observed tucked beneath the shrubbery.

Guess what happens when approximately 20 people, some golf carts, and many alcoholic beverages are mixed together? Why, a golf cart horn-honking contest, of course! Yay!

Oh, another PSA. We had been away from our site when this group first arrived, and as we neared the site, I noticed a woman toss her cigarette into the grass between our site and the one next to us. Now, I've changed in my older age. I was one to keep my mouth shut when I was younger, but some stuff just . . . well, I was ready to ask her what her problem was, tossing her nasty cigarette on the ground -- a cigarette still lit, at that. My husband told me to leave it be -- he didn't want anything to happen to our property.

Fine, but PSA -- tossing a lit cigarette (any litter, really) is disgusting and not necessary

Seriously, other campers really are the main cause of decreasing magic at the Mouse House or any other camping area, for that matter.

One more PSA. Please. Please for the love of all things holy. Please tell your children that it is rude, disgusting, stupid, and idiotic to lean over the railing on the waiting deck at the pool slide so they can spit on unsuspecting people on the slide. Seriously. These punk-azz brats were really working up their weapons of mass disgusting, if you know what I mean.

So, what's a mom to do while she's waiting with her kids lower on the steps and witnessing such idiocy? She doesn't take it, that's for sure. Yes, I yelled for them to knock it off. I yelled. They look around, wide-eyed, not sure if they were the ones being reprimanded. And when it appeared they would start again, I yelled again telling them how disgusting they were.

Please, I've heard it said that it takes a village to supervise the village idiots, er raise a child. If you see this vile spitting behavior, say something. I wasn't there the day before, but my daughter said people were spitting then, too. She also said that some larger punks knocked a little boy into the slide and he cut his lip, but she was too afraid to say anything. My daughter said I would make a good lifeguard.

Next post, I cried in the Hall of Presidents. And it wasn't because of Obama.

 

[Abagpiper5]

 

[proudmomof4]

YAY! a trip report

 

[Lil' Lisa]

Doesn't sound like you found the magic...

 

[TravellingMom]

I had a nice, long post typed out and then it went poof!

Shorter this time.

Back in 2007, we went to MNSSHP and it was ruined by rain. It was so bad, they had little papers at the exits to let people know they could have one park, one day tickets to make up for it. I thought this was a nice gesture. We had a couple tickets left, so eldest daughter and I used them for the MK.

The people who operate the boats between the Fort and MK are always great. I love watching them rope the boats to the dock. When we arrived at the dock at the MK, we noticed hoardes of people moving in all directions. Inside the park, it wasn't as bad as it appeared outside. We booked it down Main Street, remarking to each other how nice it was to be without strollers, just us two. We zipped through the walkway by the Noodle Station and into Tomorrowland, briefly looking up to the Astro Orbiter. We got fastpasses for Space Mountain then went to the regular line since it wasn't too long.

We were close. We were allllllmost there and then there was a damn meteor shower. I think it was technical difficulties, myself, but the announcer kept talking about meteor showers so much, I started to believe her, I guess.

There was a little girl behind us who asked her dad if they were really in space, then it went to "I don't think this is really space. Is this really space, Dad. I don't think this is really space." I silently chuckled.

On to the Barnstormer.

 

[TravellingMom]

We rode Haunted Mansion, one of our faves. From there, we went to Hall of Presidents. I hadn't been to Hall of Presidents since Bush was president. The last time I went, people booed and cheered for their presidents of choice, which is idiotic, these are animatronic presidents. I just wanted to enjoy the show in silence, myself, but of course, when Bush was introduced, he received many boos and negative comments, so of course, I felt like I should clap along with a few others to offer my support of animatronic Bush.

This time, it was different. Silence. Just clapping at the end of the show. George Washington has a speaking part, now. Morgan Freeman is the narrator. I liked Morgan Freeman as the narrator for the War of the Worlds movie, and I like him in the Hall of Presidents. I did cry during the show, as I stated in my original post. The movie now has clips of modern presidents and tragedies. It went from the Kennedy assassination to Clinton speaking about loss to George Bush speaking to Americans at Ground Zero right after September 11. Well, that is where I started to cry. Not loud, heaving sobs, but enough liquid I had to swipe each eye a few times and dry the back of my hand on my pants in a discreet way, hoping no one would notice, but someone probably did because we were pretty much front and center. Heh.

 

[OK GRUMPY]

 

[TravellingMom]

I can't remember the exact order of events after Hall of Presidents, but I know we ate at Pinocchio's -- I like the Mediterranean salad and DD got a mac and cheese kid's meal. We got some fastpasses for Peter Pan, another of my faves. I got a Dole pineapple float and DD got a Minnie bar (I think) from an ice cream stand. We rode Pirates and got the front! We used our fastpasses for Space Mountain and Peter Pan. I do know that before I got the Dole Whip I called DH to see when he might be heading back to the Fort.

During our stay DH and the younger kids left for the day for DH to do work-related things and the next day we all left (you gotta do what ya gotta do, but at least we were in our home on wheels for most of it). Anyway, I called him and asked him if he had the tank filled. He had checked the propane tank on the TT and it felt empty to him, so he took it with him that day and stopped at a hardware store while he was out. This is the conversation he had with the guy there:

Guy said, "This tank isn't empty! It's half full!"

DH said, "Oh, it felt empty to me."

Guy said, "Yeah, maybe to a young, thirty-year-old, but not an old guy like me!"

I guffawed and told DH that I bet he never would have thought he'd love being called a thirty-year-old (he's now entering his forties and getting some gray hairs). When you're a kid, thirty is so ooooold, you know.

DH and younger kids are soon heading back to the Fort, so we ride Peter Pan and board the boat to the campground.

 

[TravellingMom]

Some highlights:

Biking around the Fort and seeing a Mama duck with four babies. Cute!

My youngest finally going down the slide -- she didn't want anything to do with it last year.

Low wait times for rides for DD and me at MK.

DH and the two older ones did the fireworks hayride, and even though they were eaten alive by mosquitoes, they had a good time. We have never done the hayride, so I'm glad DH and the two older ones went.

I want to mention the Hess station near the MK. The fuel prices are comparable to other stations -- shocking for being so close to Disney, but true. They also have hot pizza and chicken there. We were coming back to the Fort and decided to swing around the road adjacent to the MK parking lot back to the Hess station and saw a sign for 6.99 large cheese pizza and a free 2 liter of Fanta. Well, we got some fuel, pizza, and Fanta.

We may visit the Fort again this summer if we can get a discount offer. We definitely prefer the quiet of the week compared to the more rowdy weekend crowds.

 

[Shan-man]

Thanks for sharing your TR. There are SOOO many things I'd like say, but I'll trim to just two comments:

I'm sorry you had so many lousy experiences on your trip... I've had about as many downers, only spread over my last 5-6 trips!

And as far as the punks: it doesn't take a village, it takes parents! Kudos to you for taking them to task, but where are the parents? If they know their kid is a punk they know they have to keep a closer eye on them. If they don't know, then they need to get schooled.

{edit: I wrote a lot more but decided to trim rather than draw flames to your trip report. Rant over.}

Thanks for sharing

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Doesn't sound like you found the magic...

Kinda what I was think'n too,.






I cry too,,,but it IS because of Obama.

 

[ftwildernessrick]

Good report.

About getting onto the kids, you should not have had to, but I would do the same. And, I would hope that when my kids were little and did something like that (that I did not catch them doing), that someone would get onto them & bring it to my attention.

OK, I admit that I had my reservations about the Hall of Presidents, but like you, I thought it was well done.

 

[seals]

I tear up at the HOP too, but then I'm a true history nerd.

Thanks for the tip about the pizza and Fanta. I wish I'd known that the day we were driving in and trying to get our campsite set up before dark. We could have fueled up on pizza instead of trying to cook after it got dark and we were all tired. I'll remember for next time.

 

[kampfirekim]

Thanks for sharing your TR. There are SOOO many things I'd like say, but I'll trim to just two comments:

I'm sorry you had so many lousy experiences on your trip... I've had about as many downers, only spread over my last 5-6 trips!

And as far as the punks: it doesn't take a village, it takes parents! Kudos to you for taking them to task, but where are the parents? If they know their kid is a punk they know they have to keep a closer eye on them. If they don't know, then they need to get schooled.

{edit: I wrote a lot more but decided to trim rather than draw flames to your trip report. Rant over.}

Thanks for sharing

Holy Cow! I don't know if I've had that many bad experiences in all my years since '73 at WDW. I agree with you Shanman...bad behavior needs to be called out. I would never put up with spitting especially my children being spit on. I don't mind tracking down a parent either. Kudos to you TravelingMom for speaking up!

[COLOR="Blue"

I cry too,,,but it IS because of Obama.[/COLOR]

Maybe 2012 will look a little brighter.

 

[TravellingMom]

Thanks for sharing your TR. There are SOOO many things I'd like say, but I'll trim to just two comments:

I'm sorry you had so many lousy experiences on your trip... I've had about as many downers, only spread over my last 5-6 trips!

And as far as the punks: it doesn't take a village, it takes parents! Kudos to you for taking them to task, but where are the parents? If they know their kid is a punk they know they have to keep a closer eye on them. If they don't know, then they need to get schooled.

{edit: I wrote a lot more but decided to trim rather than draw flames to your trip report. Rant over.}

Thanks for sharing

Hey, Shan-man. Well, those were some observations, and I thought it would be more interesting to insert some PSAs into the report, rather than just a lot of pixie farts and stuff like that.

I think it's just an accumulation of similar outrageous behavior I've observed at other camping areas, too. Doesn't hurt to write about it -- maybe someone will read it and be more aware. I know before we bought our TT, I studied a popular RV forum and learned about camping etiquette, not to mention, purposefully tossing trash when one can throw it away in the can five feet away? But tossing a lit cigarette in Florida? Come on, people, you need to get in the habit of making sure that thing is out.

 

[PrincessCooper's Mom]

Subbing

 

[TravellingMom]

I cry too,,,but it IS because of Obama.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/QUOTE]



Frank, what I was getting at is while some may cry because Obama is now in the HOP and giving his "inspirational" speech, I would not be one of them. I cry more at the whole history of our great nation, and then seeing Bush at Ground Zero again in that brief blip did me in.

Maybe we can get a decent candidate who knows how to run a business, oh perhaps someone whose name rhymes with Omni? Perhaps his fellow candidates won't make cracks about his religion next time and we won't end up with a candidate whose name rhymes with Biscayne. Just sayin'.

 

[TravellingMom]

Good report.

About getting onto the kids, you should not have had to, but I would do the same. And, I would hope that when my kids were little and did something like that (that I did not catch them doing), that someone would get onto them & bring it to my attention.

OK, I admit that I had my reservations about the Hall of Presidents, but like you, I thought it was well done.

These kids were 9 to 12 years of age. I believe people just want to ignore it, or something. But I couldn't. I'm standing there, pretty much the only adult on the stairs and near the slide platform, thinking, This is unacceptable and outrageous. Am I supposed to stand by and watch as these punks work up their gems to assault other people? My kids would lose big time if they kept up with that kind of disgusting behavior.

Beyond that, the parents or guardians probably weren't even at the pool with their rowdy kids. There is no lifeguard at the top of the slide and there were some tiny kids up there, and I figured the parent is waiting to catch the child as he or she leaves the slide. I waited after my little one went down for another little girl behind her, because there were some rougher, older kids next in line. After hearing what my daughter said and seeing some of these kids, I felt sick about more timid kids being up there out of view.