JMonroe

OK, now if we can convince them to return to the original Kodak pavilion show (with figment) and trash the lame loser that replaced it.

I've seen many posts concerning the 'new' rules against swimming in the lake, but no explaination as to why.

So, why? 

OK, it it was originally built in 1956, why does it have a 1982 chassis under it?  :rofl2:

Maybe the caboose was new in 2010, I'm certain we've stayed there a couple nights in 2009.  I'm sure their utilities are not that new.  Perhaps the current ownership has had it for just a couple years?

A couple other thoughts on the property.  One, they can handle the biggest of rigs, although the big rigs will, by necessity, be parked in the section immediately next to the freeway (pull throughs).  Their utilities are not well thought out, especially on some of the longer sites.  Sewer on one end of the site, electric on the other.  It can be a challenge to use full hookups on some sites.

We've overnighted there a number of times, I've never noticed the Caboose.  The campground is nothing special, it just happens to be at the perfect distance for us to overnight on our way south.  It is litterally right on the freeway (the northbound lanes can't be 50 yards from the property).  The 'lake' is, no doubt, a result of the hole dug for the fill needed to make the freeway overpass next to the property.  As far as we can see, there's nothing, litterally, anywhere near the campground, as far as one can see off to the horizon.

That said, the people are very nice and the campground is kept clean.  We've stayed in far worse.

Looks nice.  It would be even more helpful if you mentioned where Hillsborough River SP was, although you're not the only one that's left that information out of one of these posts.  :banana:

The road between FW and Wilderness Lodge

Bought one 3 or 4 years ago.  Had it on the front of the motorhome.  It got shattered when I ran over a deer that the car ahead of me hit first.  Dark, very heavy rain, didn't see it until it was too late.

Thought of another one.  How about the 'new' Kodak ride?  The original was light years better.  The new one - two thumbs down.  Even after they tried to perk it up a bit (rumor has it, right after Michael Isner got his first look at it).  The original version of the refurbishment did not include the now iconic Figment character.

The definition of lame.

The lamest Disney World attraction, ever?  It's now long gone -- Journey to the Moon.

Much prefered the precursor to the Stich thing (I think it was Alien Encounter), but it was apparently deemed too scary for Disney.  These are what replaced the Journey to the Moon.

I'm very new to this forum and have enjoyed reading many of the threads.  But a couple of 'seemingly' unrelated topics got me wondering and speculating.

On the one hand is the rumor of the stables being moved up near the general parking / old kennel area.  Second is the rumor of a DVC resort to be constructed in Fort Wilderness, on the lake. 

Here's my theory:  With the new DVC resort they'll need a larger transportation / transfer area near 'the action', thus the need to move the stables.

Ya think?  :shh:

Pictures?

Of the "classics", probably Pirates, although there are many that compete for a close second.  For the 'newer' generation of attractions, we like the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland.

... a good day at work!

Now that's an oxymoron, if I've ever seen one.

Wet or not, like most, I'm jealous.  At noon the temp here is 'up' to 8, and lets not even talk about how the wind makes that feel.

Can't wait for the photos.

Time and distance are big factors for us.  That is, available vacation time, and the 22 hours of drive time.  But you all are making me feel like an amatuer!  Up here coworkers and friends consider us nuts for having averaged a trip a year for the last 30 years, and some of you are there once per month!

I'm sure if we lived within a couple hours, we'd be there several times per year too.  :banana:

Great report.  Much enjoyed.

I have two we're very happy with.  The first would be King's Campers of Wausau WI http://www.kingscampers.com/  They sell everything from popups to the big Tiffin Bus.  They have such a good reputation amoung Tiffin owners that many have traveled from all over the country to do business with them.

The second is Tom Johnson's Camping Center.  They have two locations, we dealt with a very nice gentilman in the Marion NC location. http://tomjohnsoncamping.com/  This is who we bought our current rig from, a very nice 2011 American Revolution.

We've done business with others (we're now on our 7th RV), but their service levels have either been inconsistant or, in one case, they've gone out of business.

Thanks all for the warm welcome.  Don't know Paula, at least that's what I'm telling my wife, Peggy.  :rofl:

Will try to sell the house this summer.  If we do, I won't have to come back after our Fort Wilderness visit in December.  I'll just find somewhere to roost down there for the winter.  Unfortunately, Peggy will still be working another 6 months past our visit (I retired this past summer).

Later... 

Our first Disney trip was Disneyland, back in 1975.  We'd grown up watching Disneyland on Sunday nights, and the Mickey Mouse Club after school.  This was the trip of a lifetime!  I think our book of tickets was about $15.  Back then we traveled on a shoe string budget.  We were tent camping in the mountains and day tripped down to Anahiem.  Our entire trip budget, from WI to CA and back, was about $400.  Gas prices were rising at the time (the first gas crisis) and ranged from the upper 30 cents to mid 40 cents most places, although we saw 75 cents on the CA coast, someplace between LA and San Francisco.  We 'blew' $50, between the two of us, that day at Disney, and were using a credit card for gas to get us home.  We, of course, had to buy a few more ride tickets and we enjoyed meals and snacks at on site venues.  I remember one meal was at the Mexican cantina, don't remember the others.  We thought the Pirates ride was worth a second E ticket, but most rides we did once due to both time and budget restraints.  Our travel companions were ready to leave at 5 PM but we quickly put them straight on that.  We planned to, and did, close the place down!

That was the first of about half a dozen Disneyland trips over the years.  Far fewer than the 30 plus trips to Disney World, the distance and expense of getting there being much of the issue.  We've combined most of our return trips with short stays in Las Vegas.  Airfare to Las Vegas has historically been much less than going directly to CA, car rental was often much less too, and it is only a 4 hour car trip between the two, unless you detour through Big Bear, which we've done.  One of our best trips happened to be on my wife's 50th birthday.  She was treated like royalty by all the Disney staff all day long, was even pulled out of the crowd at a musical performance in the French Quarter area.  One of our favorite Disney rides is the Indiana Jones ride, exclusive to Disneyland. 

Those of you that know both parks (Disneyland and The Magic Kingdom) know there are a lot of other differences, many of them subtle, that make the Disneyland trip worth while.

Hi!  Jay here, I was excited to see the posting on RV.net about this new forum.  Peggy and I have been to Fort Wilderness many times, although it's been all too long since our last visit.  We've been to Disney World at least 30 times since about 1980 (Disneyland 5 or 6 times since 1975).  We've stayed at a number of the resorts but our favorite, by far - there's no contest, is Fort Wilderness.

Our first trip to the Fort we were still travelling with a tent and a cooler.  I remember the flock of colorfull ducks (or are they geese?) that greeted us at our site at seemingly supervised our set up process.  Over the years we've progressed from the tent to our first ancient travel trailer, a succession of trailers and are now our third motor home.  We've seen changes over the years.  For example, we much preferred the old trams to the city busses now used for internal transport.  We feel the busses just give too much of an urban touch.  We're not a fan of the golf carts, with exceptions made for the handicapped.  We were distressed to HEAR the racetrack, built much too close.  These changes have not, however, knocked our ranking of the Fort down from number one among all the Disney resorts.

For many of our earlier trips our last night at the Fort was spent at Trails end, enjoying pizza and listening to the gentilman that used to sing and play the guitar during the dinner hours.  It had become our 'good bye' ritual.  We had the pleasure of having experienced River Country on our first trip, although we risked hypothermia to do so (we had a blast, in spite of the cold water!).  Of course back then water parks were more of a novelty, but we had always wished they'd make access to it available to Ft guests, like any other pool complex.  We love the Hoopty Doo, although I think I like it more than Peggy, and riding our bikes is our main form of transportation within the Ft.  We love the evening campfire and Disney movies shown, although these were much more of a treat back before the days when everyone had a VCR (or now a DVD) and these classics became available at the local WalMart.  We regret we missed the campground train, although my grandparents, having stayed at the Ft in it's inaugral year, shared photos of it with us, it was gone before our first trip.

As I said, it's been way too long since our last visit.  There were years when we visited Disney twice, in the same year.  It's now been three years since our last visit.  But...  We have reservations for this next December.  Yuppie!!  :o

I look forward to vicariously enjoying the Fort through the posts of my fellow enthusiasts.