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Let's Talk Turkey: TCD's 2016 Thanksgiving at the Fort Trip Report


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Primary alcohol by volume
Served On the rocks; poured over ice
Standard drinkware copper mug
IBA specified ingredients*
Preparation

Combine vodka and ginger beer in a highball glass filled with ice. Add lime juice. Stir gently. Garnish with a lime slice and sprig of mint on the brim of the copper mug

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Time flew for the TCD gang since Thanksgiving. Christmas and New Year's Eve have come and gone, and here we are in a brand new year! Wow. A lot of times, we've managed to squeeze an ove

The TCD gang celebrated another Thanksgiving at the Fort! We missed last year, as the TCD twins were in California and we couldn't go without them. Things worked out much better this year.

Kelly, The Mini Max nest has a band that goes around the middle with a handle on each side. This is a Mini.

On ‎12‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 10:55 AM, Travisma said:

Sounds like a great time.

Good deal with AAA.

I'll have to catch the pictures later...

It was a great time!  I hope that you got to see the pictures.

On ‎12‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 11:05 AM, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

What an awesome Thanksgiving! That makes me really want to spend our next one at the Fort. That might be the only major holiday we haven't done yet.

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Thanksgiving is a great time to be at the Fort.  The weather is usually great, and it's fun with the Christmas decorations starting to pop up all around.

I'll bet Jason would love cooking a Thanksgiving meal in the BGE.

On ‎12‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 11:27 AM, Duane said:

Either loop 1200 or 1300 is on my list to try next trip... It looks as though the sites in those 2 loops are some of the most private (at least the inside loops) with all of the vegetation.  What did you think about your site overall?

I loved my site. As has been discussed on other threads, the Fort was packed and crazy over Thanksgiving week, but it was calm and peaceful on the 1300 loop.

One thing that I never realized is the sites across from the 1300 loop comfort station are very deep, and have a nice wooded area in the back.  I always felt these sites would feel too crowded, but they're not bad at all.

On ‎12‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 0:14 PM, DaveInTN said:

That Big Easy looks great!  Whoever opened your eyes to that device is a GENIUS!  

Absolutely true.

I had never heard of an oil-less Turkey Fryer before you told us about yours.

I also give you credit for great gravy tips, although I skipped the home-made gravy this year.

On ‎12‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 0:17 PM, JMSisko said:

Even with the flat it still sounds like you had a great Thanksgiving. Glad it all worked out.

I always look forward to your TR's

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Considering it happened on Thanksgiving morning, that flat tire ended up being almost no trouble at all.

On ‎12‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 0:25 PM, Seals said:

I'm a big fan of AAA. I've been a member for years and have only used it a couple of times, but 3 times in this past year. It's nice to have someone to call for help when there's no one close by to call.  I got my son a membership as soon he got a car. Love the photos of Rocky with his tetherball. We have a crazy hyper dog and now I'm thinking a tetherball pole is just what he needs for Christmas. 

I've gotten my money out of AAA several times over.  I've only had one bad experience, but the good far outweighs the bad.  Plus, there are a lot of discounts that come with the membership.

We have always talked about getting Rocky his own tetherball pole.  I might look into that again.

On ‎12‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 1:05 PM, Helmsey......Todd said:

Great looking site for a great meal!
I'm glad Rocky got some time with the tetherball.
And that is a fine picture of 3/4 of the TCD ladies. Hopefully there will be a chance later in the trip to get all 4 of them together.

We ended up doing pretty bad with a group photo this trip.  I am not sure there is one, but I'll look.

On ‎12‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 3:07 PM, momof3kids-Yvonne said:

Sounds like a great Thanksgiving day was had by the TCD family minus the flat tire if course. Glad to hear AAA was able to get out to your daughter relatively quickly on the holiday. This just reminded me that I need to renew our AAA membership.

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Definitely renew that membership.  One emergency call is all it takes to make it worthwhile.

On ‎12‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 3:33 PM, Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie said:

We have the same mugs and greatly enjoy them. 

AAA is a must, agreed. We have only had one bad experience with using them.

Very cool that you have copper mugs too.  Make sure you pack them for your next Fort trip.  Those Moscow Mules taste extra good at the Fort.

On ‎12‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 3:38 PM, caveat lector said:

Your beer pong table is too long for one table cloth. I think that qualifies as caviar problems ;)

Pics of Rocky on the tether ball court......all is right in the world.

I've actually enjoyed a libation from a copper mug. however, it was jack Daniels based. it must be the new thing

LOL.  It is good to be TCD.

I should have taken some Rocky video.  Next time.

As Travisma says below, drinks in copper mugs is an old thing, but has been rediscovered of late.

On ‎12‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 4:08 PM, Travisma said:

My mom and dad had a couple of Moscow Mule copper mugs with an engraved mule in a kicking pose.  They were from the late 40's or mid 50's.  I'm pretty sure they got tossed during one of her moves or when we cleaned out her mobile home when she went to the nursing home.

So they are not new, just rediscovered by the "Millenials"

Too bad those mugs got lost.  They sound cool.

As far as I can tell, the Moscow Mule has nothing to do with Moscow or Mules.

On ‎12‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 4:38 PM, DaveInTN said:

Tell me about this Moscow Mule at Territory Lounge....

Here's an excerpt from a trip report from earlier this year:

____________________________________________

We were heading to the Territory Lounge because Twin #1 had stopped in there not too long ago for the cheese fondue, and said it was awesome.  That sounded good to me.  I have popped my head in to this lounge before, but this was my first time actually being seated here.  It was bigger than I thought it was, and I loved the vibe:

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I have never had a Moscow Mule, and always intended to try one some day.  Today ended up being the day:

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That wooden arrow is a cool touch:

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Twin #1 was still two days shy of being legal, so she had to have a coke.

But our waitress was kind enough to bring her her own wooden arrow.

Twin #1 was right about the cheese fondue- it was good, and comes with a nice supply of pretzel rolls and grapes:

5%2028%2016%20030_zpsim3uflhz.jpg

_______________________________________________

I highly recommend both the Moscow Mule and the fondue at Territory Lounge!

 

On ‎12‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 4:47 PM, CCIntrigue...aka Gwen said:

Sounds like a great Thanksgiving!  

It really was.  If it were up to me, we would do it every year.

1 hour ago, YJeepgirl32 said:

What a great way to spend Thanksgiving!!! What are Moscow Mules?

Travisma posted the recipe below.

I don't use mint.

The key is the ginger beer.  I never knew that there were so many different brands offered.  I use non-alcoholic ginger beer, and there is one that I've tried that uses a bit of red pepper to spice things up.

20 minutes ago, Travisma said:
   
Primary alcohol by volume
Served On the rocks; poured over ice
Standard drinkware copper mug
IBA specified ingredients*
Preparation

Combine vodka and ginger beer in a highball glass filled with ice. Add lime juice. Stir gently. Garnish with a lime slice and sprig of mint on the brim of the copper mug

That recipe is messed up.  It mentions the copper mug, but then says to mix the drink in a highball glass.  The copper mug is key.  And, you can skip the mint.

TCD

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Update time.

We are now up to Black Friday morning.

We had a full camper on Thanksgiving night. 

I wouldn't have minded sleeping in a bit, but good old Rocky noticed that it was starting to get light out, and there were birds starting to chirp outside, so he let me know it was time to get up just before sunrise.

I put on some coffee, and Rocky and I hopped on the cart to do some early morning looping.

We began in the 2100 loop.  There was a big group in this loop with matching t-shirts and everything.  They weren't early risers.

Here's a nicely decorated electric box- I like the authentic camping feel this gives off:

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This loop is too open for my tastes:

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Hey-a fellow Coleman pop-up camper.  We are a dying breed.  Note these folks moved their picnic table somewhere.  Also note how you don't get much of a paved patio area on the 2100 loop:

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Those pop-up campers were part of the big group.  They moved their picnic tables out into the barren area in the middle of the loop.  There are no pesky trees or anything in the way, so why not?:

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Some of these sites are just awful in terms of the openness and lack of privacy.  These campers can have no secrets.  And, look at that puny patio:

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There's one of those tiny little brothers of the Tab trailers. They call these Tags.  It looks like there's just enough space for two people to sleep in there.  I think they're kind of cool:

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I had never seen the Hot Cocoa Hot Tub inflatable you can see toward the back of the display on this site before this trip.  There were a few of them scattered around the Fort.  I also don't remember seeing the inflatable Minnie and Mickey roasting marshmallows.  Cute:

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Rocky wanted to see the tee pees, and I obliged:

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The sun hadn't quite risen when we headed out this morning.  Now, I could see it just hitting the tops of the trees back here.  This is my favorite time of the day:

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I really like how this photo turned out, but it wasn't as dark as this photo makes it appear.  The time stamp tells me that it was 7:04 am when I took this photo.  This made it worth getting up so early with Rocky:

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And we were the only ones out and about enjoying this beautiful and peaceful early morning:

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Rocky and I headed back to the site after this.  I had to wake up DD1, as we were going to drop her car at the Car Care Center at 7:30.  Mrs. TCD and I had a quick cup of coffee, and she puppy-sat as we ran DD1's car out to the Car Care Center.  That all went well.  The traffic around the MK wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be on this busy park day.

After that, we hung out at the site, and I made us all a big pancake breakfast.  We did some looping and relaxing, and got in some hammock time, and the morning passed quickly.

We didn't have a solid plan for today after breakfast, but we eventually decided that Mrs. TCD and Rocky would head on home.  Rocky was exhausted, and Mrs. TCD had things she wanted to get done around the house while she had it to herself.  She and Rocky left a bit after noon, and dropped DD1 off at the Car Care Center on the way.  DD1 came on back to the site, and the girls spent the afternoon taking it easy and looping.  We dug into the leftovers for lunch, and just enjoyed the Fort. 

We came up with a plan to hit up DHS that evening.  None of us had seen the new Jingle Bell Jingle Bam show yet, and Twin #1 had managed to get us some Toy Story FP+'s for the late afternoon.  DD1 decided to pass on the evening, and went home to her apartment.  She had some things to do around there, and also wanted to watch the Iron Bowl the next day at her apartment rather than at the Fort.  So, she took off in the late afternoon.

That left just me and the twins.  We headed to the Outpost and caught the DHS bus.

Once at DHS, we first went to pay our respects to the Streets of America.  The Osborne Lights are gone, and so are most of the buildings.  There was a place where I could see the sun setting over what little there was left of the Streets of America.  These photos were taken looking over the construction wall from the walkway between Star Tours and the Muppets attraction.  The part of the old Streets of America where the Writer's Stop was hasn't been torn down.  I guess they're going to keep this little piece of it?:

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We got there in time to do Toy Story, meet Moana, ride Star Tours and see the Muppets show.  Not bad for a busy day.  We wanted to see the new PizzeRizzo restaurant, but didn't plan on eating there.  Check out the sign:

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Periodically, the lights on the sign flicker, and some "burn out:"

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Isn't that clever?  It's Rat Pizza!:

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The girls wanted to go inside the restaurant to check it out, and I suggested that we go ahead an eat there.  After the pancakes and leftovers, none of us were that hungry for dinner, but we knew we needed to eat a little something.  We came up with the plan of splitting two meatball subs between the three of us.  We used to think the meatball subs were OK when this place was Pizza Planet, and from everything we've seen and heard, they serve the same exact ones in this "new" restaurant. 

The menu here is very basic:

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The usual round of bloggers have already written reviews of PizzeRizzo, and you may have read those reviews.  The general consensus is that the food here is average to below average, and not a very good value.

I was surprised at how dead the place was at 6:30 pm on a Friday night.

Since we weren't all that hungry, I decided to see if the TCD Chip TrickTM worked here at PizzeRizzo.

Do you know the  TCD Chip TrickTM  ?

Here's how it works- there are certain quick serve restaurants that serve meals with a side included.  But, there is sometimes an option to decline the side, and save some money.  Like at Min and Bill's Dockside Diner, you can order your hot dog without the small $.49 bag of chips and save $2 on your meal.

Here, I ordered our subs without the included Caesar salad.  We've had the Caesar salad here, and it's a just a small cup of wilted romaine lettuce with a couple of croutons and Caesar dressing- a notch below salad in a bag quality. 

So, we know from the menu photo I posted above, that one meatball sub with a salad goes for $9.69.

That means that two meatball subs would go for $19.38 before tax at the posted menu price.

Well, check out my receipt:

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Let's do the math . . . Two meatball subs without the salad were only $10.98 instead of $19.38.  That means that they are charging $4.20 for that small cup of Caesar salad, and I saved my self $8.40 (actually closer to $9 after adding tax on that savings) just by skipping that small cup of offensive salad.

It is good to be TCD!

The TCD Rat Pizza Salad TrickTM puts the chip trick to shame.

By the way, in case you're curious, those small cups you see stacked on the shelf there behind the counter are the $4.20 salads, made fresh sometime in the recent past, and stacked there without refrigeration for their distribution to those poor fools who do not know of the TCD Rat Pizza Salad TrickTM .:

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It was a beautiful, cool evening and we took our deeply discounted meatball subs out on the balcony seating area to enjoy.  I wouldn't want to be out here on a summer day (or night), but it was nice sitting out here tonight:

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As long as I'm sharing secrets, there's a nice little restroom up here on the second floor.  It was updated too.

Here's the big inside upstairs eating area of PizzeRizzo:

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There is all kinds of interesting Muppets paraphernalia on the walls up here:

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There is a small room off to the side which they have themed as a tacky banquet hall, complete with Disco ball:

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I had already seen multiple photos of this sign, which is posted outside the banquet room in some blogger reports about PizzeRizzo:

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When I was looking at that sign, I noticed something that I had not heard about from the bloggers.

I went back to our table on the balcony to tell the twins about it.

And we did a little googling on our phones, and discovered something cool that the professional bloggers had overlooked. I'll tell you about that in the next update.

TCD

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

 

 

____________________________________________

 

_______________________________________________

I highly recommend both the Moscow Mule and the fondue at Territory Lounge!

 

It really was.  If it were up to me, we would do it every year.

Travisma posted the recipe below.

I don't use mint.

The key is the ginger beer.  I never knew that there were so many different brands offered.  I use non-alcoholic ginger beer, and there is one that I've tried that uses a bit of red pepper to spice things up.

That recipe is messed up.  It mentions the copper mug, but then says to mix the drink in a highball glass.  The copper mug is key.  And, you can skip the mint.

TCD

Maybe using the highball glass to mix, then straining it into the mug?

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1 hour ago, Travisma said:

Maybe using the highball glass to mix, then straining it into the mug?

Could be.  But that seems unnecessary.  Just poor it all into the mug and stir.  Works for me.

26 minutes ago, shoreline99 said:

Pa Otter! Gotta be an Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas reference.

You know of this?

I had never heard of it before!

TCD

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Too bad I didn't have Shorline99 along with me on this trip, because I sure hadn't heard about this Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas show before.

But, I could see that there were some faded letters on the sign.  They were hard to see and read because of the glare on the glass cover.  But, this was a brand new sign, and I figured Disney might have some kind of little surprise hidden here:

11%2020%2016%20191_zpssbep6gbc.jpg

As I mentioned, I had already read a couple of professional blogger reviews of PizzeRizzo, and no one had mentioned anything about this sign.  As a matter of fact, one of the self-professed Disney experts specifically complained of the lack of imagination relating to this very sign:

_____________________________________

I hesitate to blame this on a lack of budget (but that likely does play a role). More junk ‘n’ stuff for visual gags obviously would’ve cost money, and would be nice, but actual props are not necessary.

pizzerizzo-muppets-pizza-restaurant-disneys-hollywood-studios-wdw-019

A lot could’ve been done by a clever writer and graphic designer. (The display case outside the ballroom is a good example.)

__________________________________

http://www.disneytouristblog.com/pizzerizzo-review/

LOL. This dude was so busy trying to be witty and sardonic that he missed something very clever that was literally staring him in the face!

Look at my close up photos of this sign:

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As I said, it was hard to read the faded letters, so I brought the twins over to see this sign, and between the three of us, we were able to make out that the faded letters say:

Pa Otter Memorial Service

With Tribute Performance

by the Frogtown Hollow

Jubille Jug Band

But, none of us had ever heard of the Emmett Otter Christmas show.

Twin #1 mentioned that she had heard that the character Emmitt Otterton from Zootopia was a reference to an old Muppets character.

Right there on the spot, I googled Pa Otter, and found a reference to the old Christmas show.  On the day we were there- Friday night November 25, there was nothing on the Internet making note of this discovery.  We found it and figured it out on our own.  Since then, the Muppets Wikipedia page confirmed this find: http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/PizzeRizzo

But we found it first!

And I think it's pretty cool.

TCD

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28 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Too bad I didn't have Shorline99 along with me on this trip, because I sure hadn't heard about this Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas show before.

But, I could see that there were some faded letters on the sign.  They were hard to see and read because of the glare on the glass cover.  But, this was a brand new sign, and I figured Disney might have some kind of little surprise hidden here:

11%2020%2016%20191_zpssbep6gbc.jpg

As I mentioned, I had already read a couple of professional blogger reviews of PizzeRizzo, and no one had mentioned anything about this sign.  As a matter of fact, one of the self-professed Disney experts specifically complained of the lack of imagination relating to this very sign:

_____________________________________

I hesitate to blame this on a lack of budget (but that likely does play a role). More junk ‘n’ stuff for visual gags obviously would’ve cost money, and would be nice, but actual props are not necessary.

pizzerizzo-muppets-pizza-restaurant-disneys-hollywood-studios-wdw-019

A lot could’ve been done by a clever writer and graphic designer. (The display case outside the ballroom is a good example.)

__________________________________

http://www.disneytouristblog.com/pizzerizzo-review/

LOL. This dude was so busy trying to be witty and sardonic that he missed something very clever that was literally staring him in the face!

Look at my close up photos of this sign:

11%2020%2016%20192_zps1cet6vnm.jpg

11%2020%2016%20193_zpsl5b33ib9.jpg

As I said, it was hard to read the faded letters, so I brought the twins over to see this sign, and between the three of us, we were able to make out that the faded letters say:

Pa Otter Memorial Service

With Tribute Performance

by the Frogtown Hollow

Jubille Jug Band

But, none of us had ever heard of the Emmett Otter Christmas show.

Twin #1 mentioned that she had heard that the character Emmitt Otterton from Zootopia was a reference to an old Muppets character.

Right there on the spot, I googled Pa Otter, and found a reference to the old Christmas show.  On the day we were there- Friday night November 25, there was nothing on the Internet making note of this discovery.  We found it and figured it out on our own.  Since then, the Muppets Wikipedia page confirmed this find: http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/PizzeRizzo

But we found it first!

And I think it's pretty cool.

TCD

well played!

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On November 30, 2016 at 10:58 AM, Tri-Circle-D said:

The craziest part was the pick-up afterwards.  They had tables set up with alphabet letters on display, and you were required to go to the table matching the first letter of your last name.  The CM's had sorted and organized the electronics by last name.  The ziplock bags were lined up on the tables, and you could see the names on the bags as you walked up.  My oldest daughter was ahead of me, and when she gave her last name, they handed her my bag without asking if I was there.  A bad guy could have walked up to any table, read a name on a bag, and said that to a CM, and walked away with someone's phone.  Wow.  So incredibly careless.

This bothered me more then I can say.  I've never been at an event before where we had to do this.  As you said, usually it's the honour system.  In our case we put three of ours in one bag so we thought we'd at least be sure of getting them all back together but it was bizzare - no one asked for any identification when you picked up your phone, there was no kind of security around the tables.  And there were a lot of expensive phones lying there.  

Very unprofessional of Disney but sadly what we're coming to expect more and more.

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Another shout out to AAA. They have a dead battery service that a coworker told my husband about. Lucky he did because just a couple of weeks later I had a dead battery at home and went online to get AAA to bring me a new battery. Awesome within an hour (they said it was going to be 90 min) I had a  new battery installed in my car while I sat at home enjoying my coffee. Price wasn't bad either, comparable to getting a new one at a dealership. We made sure our dd has the app on her phone so if she ever has any problems she can take care of it herself.

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21 hours ago, shoreline99 said:

More well done TCD crew sleuthing! EOJBC bragging rights!

Cool.  Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would have EOJBC bragging rights.

21 hours ago, PGHFiend said:

I have the Emmet Otter Christmas on DVD- it's one of my sister and I's good childhood memories, I could recite almost every line.  Was there a show or ride at WDW years ago, like Poo and Mr. Toad, or was that just a fun Muppet reference?

No, there was never anything in the parks relating to Emmett Otter.  The only Muppets content in the parks was the Muppets show and gift shop in DHS.

21 hours ago, Travisma said:

well played!

Thanks.  It's fun to find new things at Disney, and I appreciate it when an Imagineer puts in some extra effort.

18 hours ago, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

That new Mickey and Minnie inflatable will be on our site. too. Ha ha! It's even bigger than I thought.

I don't know how you get up so early on your trips. Hats off to you. 

Love the detail in that sign. Good detective work! 

I hope that you have a lot of inflatables and that a certain inflatable hating former bus driver stops by your site for a visit.

Yes, I get up early and stay up late when I'm at the Fort. I can't help it.  There is nothing like the peace and quiet that you can enjoy early in the morning around the Fort.  I always go home exhausted.  And I'm fine with that.

15 hours ago, lightbikes said:

This bothered me more then I can say.  I've never been at an event before where we had to do this.  As you said, usually it's the honour system.  In our case we put three of ours in one bag so we thought we'd at least be sure of getting them all back together but it was bizzare - no one asked for any identification when you picked up your phone, there was no kind of security around the tables.  And there were a lot of expensive phones lying there.  

Very unprofessional of Disney but sadly what we're coming to expect more and more.

Were you there through the DVC?  I was wondering if they took away your phones too.  There was also a large contingent of "Social Media Moms" who had a separate check-in in the Polynesian lobby.  I saw that they got gift bags, and I don't think they had to go through the long line that we did upon arrival.  There were also people with gold wristbands (we got red), and they had reserved seating for them.  I don't know who they were.

37 minutes ago, we3peas said:

Another shout out to AAA. They have a dead battery service that a coworker told my husband about. Lucky he did because just a couple of weeks later I had a dead battery at home and went online to get AAA to bring me a new battery. Awesome within an hour (they said it was going to be 90 min) I had a  new battery installed in my car while I sat at home enjoying my coffee. Price wasn't bad either, comparable to getting a new one at a dealership. We made sure our dd has the app on her phone so if she ever has any problems she can take care of it herself.

I've purchased a couple of batteries through the AAA service over the years.  The prices are a bit higher than what you'd pay buying one and installing it yourself, but cheaper than what you would pay Pep Boys or a similar place to put a new battery in your car.  It's a great service- especially if you've got a dead battery after hours or on a Sunday.

TCD

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I am going to sneak a little update in here to wrap up our Friday night at DHS, and then start with a fresh post for Saturday morning.  Saturday morning will feature a lot of Fort photos, including photos of the campsites of some of the large groups who really push the limit of camping etiquette at Thanksgiving time.

But for now, it's still Friday night.  We had a leisurely meal on the outdoor balcony of the Rat Pizza place. I like it there. On a cool November night, anyway. 

We toyed with the idea of trying to see Fantasmic, and then rushing to find a spot for the Jingle Bell Jingle Bam show, but since our main objective was the Jingle Bam show, we decided that we'd find a nice spot and wait it out peacefully.

We were about an hour before show time, and had plenty of space to choose from in the area immediately in front of the Great Movie Ride.  We knew from the Star Wars projection show that being too close to the Faux Chinese Theater was not good, as you can't see the projections on the side buildings very well, if at all from too close up.  So, we picked a spot in the center, a few feet in front of the two new permanent projection buildings that were erected in the last year.

It's nice when you're early like this, because most guests holding spots this early choose to sit on the ground, and give each other space.  That makes it easy to wander off one at a time if you like without fear of someone rushing up to pounce on your spot.  Once we had secured our territory, I did wander down the street to see what kind of crowd was forming in back of us. For some reason, there are people that like to claim spots behind the projection buildings.  I really think that these folks are expecting a fireworks-intense show, and those spots would be good for that.  But, they're not for these shows that are mostly projections shows.

Anyway, here's a lady who had her spot claimed:

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Do you like her little folding chairs?  I do too.  It would be sweet to have one of those to sit and watch a parade.  Or to wait for a projection show.

I wonder why we don't see more of these.

Perhaps it's because folding chairs are on the restricted personal property list:

Q. What types of personal items are not permitted inside the theme parks?
A. You may not bring the following types of items into the theme parks:
  • Wagons
  • Skateboards
  • Scooters
  • Drones
  • Remote control toys
  • Inline skates
  • Shoes with built-in wheels
  • Strollers larger than 36" x 52" (92 x 132 cm)
  • Suitcases, coolers or backpacks with or without wheels larger than 24" (61 cm) long x 15" (38 cm) wide x 18" (46 cm) high. Coolers required for medication may be stored in a locker or at Guest Relations.
  • Any trailer-like object that is pushed or towed by an ECV, wheelchair or stroller
  • Wheeled mobility devices with less than 3 wheels and devices that cannot maintain stability and balance when stopped, unpowered or unoccupied. Training wheels or similar modifications are not permitted.
  • Alcoholic beverages
  • Weapons of any kind or object that appear to be weapons (toy guns, toy blasters, squirt guns, etc.)
  • Folding chairs
  • Glass containers (excluding baby food jars and perfume bottles)
  • Pets (unless they are service animals, defined as any dog or miniature horse trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability)
  • Balloons and straws are not permitted in Disney's Animal Kingdom Park for the safety of our animals
  • Tripod stands or monopod stands that cannot fit inside a standard backpack
  • Wrapped gifts (all gifts must be able to be unwrapped for inspection)
  • Selfie sticks (hand-held extension poles for cameras and mobile devices)

Additional items may also not be permitted inside the theme parks. Please use your best judgment and do not bring anything that may be potentially harmful or disruptive.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/parks/restricted-personal-items/

I know what you're going to say-  that's not a folding chair.

I say it is.

Whatever.  That lady got in the park with it.

There were a lot of people further down the street waiting for the show.  Dummies:

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They are going to leave disappointed that they couldn't see the projections, and will complain about the lack of fireworks in this show.

But that's not my problem.

I got back to my spot, and we had a peaceful wait until show time.  I think they blocked off access to this area and directed guests elsewhere, as we didn't get the usual throngs of late arriving guests shoving their way in.

The reason you want to be where we were to see this show is that they use a big screen they built in between the Little Mermaid building and the One Man's Dream exhibit to show projections, and you can't see that from further down the street:

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We got lucky for this show- we had no KOS (kids on shoulders) blocking our view in front:

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The projections are made on the Chinese Theater building, and to the right and left of it as well:

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This is mostly a projection show, with some lasers, and a few fireworks. The fireworks are shot off to the side of the show, and not directly above the theater, which is probably what most guests are used to from past fireworks shows:

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The show is kind of short, which is fine with me, because it would be boring if it was any longer.

There isn't a big "wow" moment, and everyone turned and left at the same time when it was over:

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Personally, I think the show is OK for what it is- a temporary show for he holidays. It relies way too much on the elves Prep and Landing, who I guess are from a Disney Channel TV show from several years ago.  None of us are really familiar with the show, and we didn't understand why Disney chose to showcase them in this show.  Other than the fact that they're elves, of course.

DHS was having EMH's that night, which helped with the leaving the park situation, as not everyone was leaving at the same time.  That can get really bad at this park.

There was still a pretty big crowd of people leaving, and we headed out with them.  We headed to the Fort Wilderness bus stop.  You know- the "new" one located in between two other bus stops and out in the open.  We got there and found no sign and no one waiting.  What the Fort?  We went back to the directional sign, and found that the Fort has a new bus stop here at DHS.  It's number 28.  Where's that?  Way out where the charter and park-to-park buses pick up.  Yet another subtle indignity from Disney for us lowly campers.

Here's the Fort's new bus stop- it doesn't have a cover, or even a clearly marked pick-up space:

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We got to witness a sad situation.

There were four guests in wheelchairs waiting for the bus.  Actually, I think two were wheelchairs and the other two were scooters.

Apparently, one bus can only take three guests in wheelchairs at a time.  The front person had just one other person traveling with her.  The back three were all part of one family.  The bus pulls up, and loads the first lady in the wheelchair. Hers was one of the folding ones- and she had what looked like a soft cast on her ankle.  I heard the remaining guests ask if the bus driver could ask that lady to transfer out of her wheelchair so they could all get on the bus.  He said he wasn't allowed to ask.  Apparently, if that lady had transferred out of the wheelchair and folded it up, the other three could have all gotten on this bus.  But, the bus driver wasn't allowed to ask, and it apparently never crossed the mind of the lady with the sprained ankle to make room for the other guests needing a ride.  So, they all had to wait for the next bus.

Sad.

But, I guess you can't be surprised by that inconvenience when one family is rolling with 3 ECV's in their party.

When we got back to the Fort, I whipped us up some hot cocoa, and we dug into the leftover pies from Thanksgiving.

Then there was looping.

And that was our Friday night.

I was really looking forward to Saturday.  The last time we were at the Fort for Thanksgiving, I drove all the way to Tallahassee and back on Saturday to watch a disappointing football game. This year, we all agreed that I would not do that.  So, I had a whole day to enjoy the Fort and the parks.  And that's just what I did.

TCD

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I'm reading at work, and actually LOL'd at this one... It actually took a few seconds to register "rope drop" and comfort station" LOL

On 11/30/2016 at 0:47 PM, Tri-Circle-D said:

Of course, I was up just before dawn so I could make it to rope drop at the Comfort Station.  I was the first one there, and got my shower in peace and quiet before the rest of the campers showed up . 

 

 

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1 hour ago, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

The inflatable hating former bus driver knows my dates and has been invited.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good.  I hope that he stops by for a visit.  If he does, make sure and tell him that he is missed here.

1 hour ago, Dalspot ... Karen said:

I'm reading at work, and actually LOL'd at this one... It actually took a few seconds to register "rope drop" and comfort station" LOL

 

My reference was purely a euphemism for getting there early before it gets busy.  No further comment.  LOL

TCD

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Let's see if I can get a proper update posted today.

We are now up to Saturday morning, November 26th.  The trip would finally slow down for me today.  No turkey to cook.  No pancakes to flip.  No tires to buy.  Just me and the twins and the Fort.

Even if I wanted to sleep in, I don't think I could.  I was already showered and on my way to go and see what I could see before 7:30 am.

I noticed a guy walking two big dogs over by the 1200/1300 loop comfort station, and decided to take a photo to show that dogs are indeed everywhere around the Fort:

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I wanted a better photo than that, but I also didn't want the dog walker to think I was a stalker, so I pretended to take a photo looking the other way.  Only, I apparently did more than pretend:

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There's the guy with the dogs again.  He was letting them do their business right there in the grassy area next to the comfort station.  I hope he cleaned up after them:

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We will never know, because it was time for me to go.  These folks were camped just around the corner from us.  I like their wooden cutouts.  Old school:

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Some of the campers on our loop went a bit crazy with the inflatables:

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I have a problem with this site- why so many Mickeys?  How is it possible?:

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I had looped around the 1200 loop a couple of times since Thanksgiving.  That guy with the long trailer and nice tow vehicle was in his normal spot, but he didn't have his Christmas tree lot set up yet.  I kept thought he would get it put up while we were there, but he never did.  Oh well, he has a nice set-up, doesn't he?:

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Now we are heading to the four way:

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Over the weekend, I had driven past the Overacheivers on 1600 a few times, but never stopped for photos.  Again, I thought they were still adding to their decorations, and they were, but I figured I should get some photos while I had the chance, so I stopped there this morning.  Here we go:

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One initial comment I have about these decorations is that I was here at the site at 7:32 am, and all the inflatables and some of the lights were all still on, and had been up all night. When I checked in on Wednesday, I was given parking passes and other documents by the cast member, along with a little document telling me about mosquitos and a fee can of insect repellant.  What I did not get was any handout that had the published decorating rules that they tried to implement a few years ago.  It looks like these folks were observing some kind of set-back rule, but they clearly were not shutting down the decorations at night.  Did that rule change?   I think it did, because there were a lot of decorations and lights that were left up and on all night over the time we were visiting.

Here's a look at one of the side paths on the Overachievers' site:

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If you like inflatables, these are your people right here:

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I personally think that there should be a rule banning Minion decorations from the Fort.  They are not Disney. GTFO Minions:

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This is the path on the of the Overachievers' site, looking the other way:

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Here's a look toward the front of the site:

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This is the path on the other side of the site- it goes the full length of the site:

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Yes, those are too many decorations.  But, I'm glad to see that the Overachievers are still at it.  There aren't as many impressive decorators as there used to be.

The next stop on my rounds was the 1500 loop.  I had already looped around 1500 a few times, but the Dishwasher Gang had taken over the loop, and those people love to stare at anyone who comes around "their" loop, so I hadn't been around as often.  I like to have as much fun as the next guy, but these folks have really crossed the etiquette line, in my opinion.  The crap they pull would never fly in as state park or in any other private campground, and it truly irks be that the Fort allows this.

First, almost every site on 1500 had two cars parked on it, and a lot had three.  Just like the first site you see coming in to the loop:

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Just like every year, the kids of the Dishwasher Gang broke the tetherball off the rope.  I'm glad we Rocky wasn't around to see that:

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Just as we begin to go around the loop, here's another site with three cars parked on it, and they definitely do not have all of their wheels on the pavement:

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The Dishwasher Gang was up early today.  Well, some of them were.  This guy was heading off somewhere with a trailer full of Dishwasher Gang stuff, or maybe he had just delivered another full-sized kitchen appliance to their HQ site:

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Speaking of which here's the Dishwasher Gang's HQ site:

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I never got a chance to get good photos of everything that was going on there, because there was always someone sitting on that site, and most of the time, several people were there hanging out.

I pulled the cart over by the gate access to the canal and took this photo of the Dishwasher Gang HQ tent:

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The canal that runs along the back of 1500, 1600 and 1800 remains fence-free.  Disney apparently is OK with alligators eating guests who don't pay for preferred or premium sites:

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So, if you want an alligator-free site, you need to cough up the extra money.

While I like to walk along the canal, I wasn't back here for my health.  I wanted to see if I could get a view of what was going on behind the Dishwasher Gang's HQ tent.  I could:

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It looks like they were showing movies back here. 

I also think that they had some of their gang members over on the 1600 loop:

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Do you remember when they made a rule that limited the number of tents that you could have on your site, and that they had to be set up on your pad?  Forget about that.  You can do whatever you want.  No one cares.  Set up all the tents you want, and put them wherever they will fit. 

There was a lot going on behind the Dishwasher Gang's HQ tent:

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Let's take a closer look.  How many propane tanks do you count?:

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Why do they have so many propane tanks?

I don't know.

I needed to get out of there.

One last look at the canal, and I was gone:

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From here, I headed toward the Settlement.

I'll pick it up from there in the next update.

TCD

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It relies way too much on the elves Prep and Landing, who I guess are from a Disney Channel TV show from several years ago.  None of us are really familiar with the show, and we didn't understand why Disney chose to showcase them in this show.  Other than the fact that they're elves, of course.

I need you to go out and watch Disney's Prep and Landing.   Seriously, it is the best new Christmas animated story I have seen in YEARS.   It ranks right up there with Rudolph and " How the Grinch Stole Christmas"  (the animated classic).     It comes out every year, now,  (this year, ABC - Thursday Dec 15th at 8:00 pm EST).  It's funny, cute, a great story and has the coolest reindeer in existence....

However,  looking at the air date again,  you'll need to record it,  since that night is the night of the Rogue One premier. 

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I was laughing out loud about the Dishwasher Gang. I mean, it's not funny; it's disrespectful and rude, but your commentary was spot on. I think I also spied an unapproved fire pit. Why don't we have intel on these people? I want to know who they are. 

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8 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Were you there through the DVC?  I was wondering if they took away your phones too.  There was also a large contingent of "Social Media Moms" who had a separate check-in in the Polynesian lobby.  I saw that they got gift bags, and I don't think they had to go through the long line that we did upon arrival.  There were also people with gold wristbands (we got red), and they had reserved seating for them.  I don't know who they were.

Yes we were there through DVC and they were nasty about taking the phones.

I saw those folks with the gift bags and wondered who they were - "social media moms"  - I don't know the term?  Help?

Don't know who the ones with the reserved were either.  

What really made us think the whole business  about the phones was silly was because all those balconys behind us in the Poly had a wonderful view of the screen and anyone could have been sitting there in the dark with a camera and no security would have noticed them.  THe security was too busy watching all of us.

 

By the way the "Dishwasher Gang" is one of the many reasons we aren't at the Fort this year.  THe 1500 loop just got overrun with them every weekend.  And you're right - the rules don't apply to them.  And Disney management either doesn't care or can't be bothered.

 

 

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