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<font color=peach>Throwing some love to TCD<br><fo
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2004
- Messages
- 4,937
Hello Ft. Wilderness Fans-
The TCD gang is back from a quick three night trip to the Fort. We arrived on August 3, and left on August 6th. The last time we had visited was in mid-March. So, here is my report, focusing on what is new, different, or interesting at the Fort:
We arrived around noon on Friday, and were assigned to site 1023. We stayed on the 1000 loop for the first time last Thanksgiving, and thoroughly enjoyed the location and set-up of this loop. This is a full hook-up loop, so no cable TV for the TCD kids. We were able to receive all of the major broadcast networks, and a bunch of other networks- about 20 channels in all- with a pair of rabbit ears. Truthfully, I have grown to prefer the full hook up loops over the preferred loops. The preferred loops are always crowded, and it seems like most of them are pet loops now. Not that I have anything against pets, but things are much quieter on the non pet loops.
Anyway, here is our site:
This site was the last one on the loop, and faced the main campground road: Ft Wilderness Trail. There were cars, buses, golf carts, bikers and walkers going by all day- but the noise was not bad, and it was fun to watch all of the activity at the Fort in the summer. Things go on a lot later in the summer- as it is warmer, and there are a lot more kids around.
One of the first new things that I noticed is that there has been quite a bit of clearing done on some of the loops. I noticed this most on the 1100 loop. That loop used to have a lot of brush and tree growth between the sites, giving them a lot of privacy. Granted, a lot of that vegetation was non-native, nuisance vegetation, but it still provided privacy. Take a look at these photos from the 1100 loop:
The photos above were taken from the 1100 loop toward the 2100 cabin loop. There is now nothing blocking the view of the cabins from the campsites. Not good for folks in the cabins or for folks in the campsites.
The photo above is taken from the cross walk for the path that crosses Fort Wilderness Trail, heading toward the 1100 loop. I know that you used to not be able to see the campsites as clearly as you walked toward the 1100 loop. Now, everything is more open.
Another place where the clearing was noticeable was on the 1200 and 1300 loops. This is a photo taken from the roadway that leads back to the 1600-1900 loops. The bus stop would be to the right of this photo, and we are looking straight ahead, across Big Pine Drive to the 1200-1300 loops. See the comfort station there? And all of the campsites? This all used to be shielded by various plant life.
Now everything in these areas is more opened up.
Take a look at these photos of the path that cuts through the woods next to the 1200-1300 loops, heading toward the Meadows trading post. This used to be very wooded and private. Now, you can see clear into the 1300 loop, and all the way across the water to the pool.
Here is a photo from the bridge behind the Meadows trading post, looking at the 1300 loop. It used to be that you could not see the campsites from the bridge, but now you can.
Since things grow fast in Florida, these areas will eventually fill back in. The clean-up makes everything look a lot nicer, but I dont like the loss of privacy.
The next update concerns the one of the 2000 loop comfort stations. It is being completely renovated. It is closed, and all of the adjacent sites around it were vacant all weekend. On Monday morning, I saw why. There must have been 20 cars and trucks parked in all of those sites from the crew working on the renovation. It looks like this will get done quickly, and it also looks like this will now be one of the nice, new style comfort stations.
Here is a photo of the 2000 loop comfort station:
It has already been reported on this board that the Settlement Trading Post is currently closed for renovation. We received a letter about this at check in stating that the Settlement Trading Post would be closed until mid-August. I assumed that maybe they were doing some cleaning, painting, etc. But, on Friday night, I took a peek in the window, and saw this:
What you are looking at here is a photo from the corner window closest to the dock. So, the main entrance is on the right in this photo. As you can see, the place is gutted. All of the shelves, counters, cash registers, etc., are gone. I dont think that this is just going to be a cosmetic touch up, and I also will be really surprised if they re-open by mid August, but I guess that is possible if they had everything pre-arranged.
I have more, but I will go ahead and close this post. Watch this thread for more news.
TCD
The TCD gang is back from a quick three night trip to the Fort. We arrived on August 3, and left on August 6th. The last time we had visited was in mid-March. So, here is my report, focusing on what is new, different, or interesting at the Fort:
We arrived around noon on Friday, and were assigned to site 1023. We stayed on the 1000 loop for the first time last Thanksgiving, and thoroughly enjoyed the location and set-up of this loop. This is a full hook-up loop, so no cable TV for the TCD kids. We were able to receive all of the major broadcast networks, and a bunch of other networks- about 20 channels in all- with a pair of rabbit ears. Truthfully, I have grown to prefer the full hook up loops over the preferred loops. The preferred loops are always crowded, and it seems like most of them are pet loops now. Not that I have anything against pets, but things are much quieter on the non pet loops.
Anyway, here is our site:
This site was the last one on the loop, and faced the main campground road: Ft Wilderness Trail. There were cars, buses, golf carts, bikers and walkers going by all day- but the noise was not bad, and it was fun to watch all of the activity at the Fort in the summer. Things go on a lot later in the summer- as it is warmer, and there are a lot more kids around.
One of the first new things that I noticed is that there has been quite a bit of clearing done on some of the loops. I noticed this most on the 1100 loop. That loop used to have a lot of brush and tree growth between the sites, giving them a lot of privacy. Granted, a lot of that vegetation was non-native, nuisance vegetation, but it still provided privacy. Take a look at these photos from the 1100 loop:
The photos above were taken from the 1100 loop toward the 2100 cabin loop. There is now nothing blocking the view of the cabins from the campsites. Not good for folks in the cabins or for folks in the campsites.
The photo above is taken from the cross walk for the path that crosses Fort Wilderness Trail, heading toward the 1100 loop. I know that you used to not be able to see the campsites as clearly as you walked toward the 1100 loop. Now, everything is more open.
Another place where the clearing was noticeable was on the 1200 and 1300 loops. This is a photo taken from the roadway that leads back to the 1600-1900 loops. The bus stop would be to the right of this photo, and we are looking straight ahead, across Big Pine Drive to the 1200-1300 loops. See the comfort station there? And all of the campsites? This all used to be shielded by various plant life.
Now everything in these areas is more opened up.
Take a look at these photos of the path that cuts through the woods next to the 1200-1300 loops, heading toward the Meadows trading post. This used to be very wooded and private. Now, you can see clear into the 1300 loop, and all the way across the water to the pool.
Here is a photo from the bridge behind the Meadows trading post, looking at the 1300 loop. It used to be that you could not see the campsites from the bridge, but now you can.
Since things grow fast in Florida, these areas will eventually fill back in. The clean-up makes everything look a lot nicer, but I dont like the loss of privacy.
The next update concerns the one of the 2000 loop comfort stations. It is being completely renovated. It is closed, and all of the adjacent sites around it were vacant all weekend. On Monday morning, I saw why. There must have been 20 cars and trucks parked in all of those sites from the crew working on the renovation. It looks like this will get done quickly, and it also looks like this will now be one of the nice, new style comfort stations.
Here is a photo of the 2000 loop comfort station:
It has already been reported on this board that the Settlement Trading Post is currently closed for renovation. We received a letter about this at check in stating that the Settlement Trading Post would be closed until mid-August. I assumed that maybe they were doing some cleaning, painting, etc. But, on Friday night, I took a peek in the window, and saw this:
What you are looking at here is a photo from the corner window closest to the dock. So, the main entrance is on the right in this photo. As you can see, the place is gutted. All of the shelves, counters, cash registers, etc., are gone. I dont think that this is just going to be a cosmetic touch up, and I also will be really surprised if they re-open by mid August, but I guess that is possible if they had everything pre-arranged.
I have more, but I will go ahead and close this post. Watch this thread for more news.
TCD
(you had to be there- some of you regulars will remember what I am talking about).
