parrothead7368 aka Norm

Selfie sticks are great if you put a Go Pro at the end and use it while roller skating.
 
Best Regards,
Norm

I'm returning after 3 years and this is all helping me as well. Keep asking questions. LOL
 
Best Regards,
Norm

Hey, Norm.  Thanks for bringing back some memories from the 70's.  My first MH was an 18.5' Eldorado Class C with colors (and wet bath) just like your truck camper.  We went all over the country with that thing, mostly paid for by the USAF, for whom I worked back then.  Once went to Maine and worked making some electronic measurements in a blueberry field.  We loaded the fridge and freezer with blueberries to take back to Mobile.  The next year we planted five blueberry bushes at home and had a good supply for many years.  Ken

Snarky,
 
Here's hoping your birthday is sweeter than a Main Street Bakery Cinnamon Roll, but longer lived,
 
Happier than TCD in his hammock swinging away an afternoon at the Fort,
 
Full of yummy pood forn pictures from a DaveInTN trip report,
 
More fiend fans than college football,
 
More sarcasm than our friend LOU....
 
all with a drink in your hand and sweet spot in a rocking chair on the porch listening to some Fort Wilderness music.

Feliz cumpleaños, Gratulerer med dagen, zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè (祝你生日快乐), Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag,
Buon Compleanno, Happy Birthday, Tanjoubi omedetou 誕生日おめでとう, eid milad sa'eed, joyeux anniversaire
 
Best Regards,
Norm

I wish they would eventually come out with a purple MB.  I'd pay for that one.

I usually try and gauge if someone is even going to be receptive to me saying anything, and if so, look for an opening.
 
 
True, but I booked our first big WDW trip back in 2000 - way before I ever knew about message boards.  First thing I did was buy a Birnbaum book so that I had something of a clue. Actually I bought them for our next few trips until I stumbled upon the wonder that is Disney fan sites. 
 
These days the information isn't hard to find out there if you take a little time to look.  And I will say that in my completely unscientific survey, it seems the number of people showing up completely unaware does seem to be less all the time.  But that may also be a function of the fact that most people don't sneeze these days without Googling the best tissue. 
 
Disney has also stepped up their marketing efforts a ton in recent years.  Given what they send out after you book (and have been the past year or so) unless you don't open your mail, if you're staying on property at least, it would be really hard these days to show up completely clueless.
 
I can understand the "previous expectations" thing more.  At least there you *had* some baseline for your expectations.
 
The funny thing is that I've become very much a "wing it when we get there" type of person.  But that doesn't mean I'm not going to arm myself with as much info as possible before I leave the house.

Got my big $.83 check today. Big bucks, big bucks, no whammy's,
 
Best Regards,
Norm

Sounds like we need to plan a Grand Gathering just to do the bumper cars at Knobels!!!!!!

For the BEST bumper cars at any amusement park you have to go to Knoebels in Elysburg Pa we always compare other parks to theirs and no one ever comes close.

The problem is they have a unique product (campground at an attraction) and they know it.
 
Now if Universal decided to build a campground, or if KOA built a large one in the area they may start to listen more to the complaints.
 
The general consensus seems to be that the Fort management won't do anything to make the Fort better.
 
So I say step it up a notch and start complaining to Iger and the CFO.  Tell them about the issues the Fort is having and how your overall experiences have slowly been going downhill.
 
Let them know what you loved about the Fort in the past and how it made you love all things Disney.
 
Invite them to visit you when you are there.
 
Ask them if they have ever set foot in the Fort as an average visitor and not with a 40 person entourage.
 
Let them know about the over crowded sites, bad behavior, lack of overflow parking, outsiders invading on weekends etc.
 
Ask them if they feel that these things make for a magical experience, and if they do, then why don't they tolerate the same things at the hotels.
 
If they allow 10 people on a site, why not 8 or 10 people in a room.
 
If they allow loud music and drunken parties on a site until 1 a.m. why not the same at the Grand Floridian?
 
The campsites used to be treated the same way as all of the other Disney properties.
 
Poor judgement and lack of good management has allowed it to slide downhill to an anything goes type of third world property.
 
But then again, when they do decide to start enforcing the rules about the lights being off at 10 (I know I know, they don't enforce evenly) people start raising their pitchforks and storm the castle !
 
Years ago you were told the rules and obeyed them, and if you didn't you were asked to comply or leave.
 
 Now management either lets things slide, or the rule breaker just ignores them because they know nothing is going to happen to them.
 
Start enforcing rules, drop back to 1 vehicle per site, clean up the overflow (it wouldn't be hard to give a dated, site numbered parking permit to place on the vehicle out there at check in).  If they park half-assed make them come out and move it.  If it's there after their check out date have it towed to an impound lot.  
 
Enforce the golf cart, skateboard, ripstick etc. rules.
 
Make quiet time quiet time.  You can still sit around your site visiting after 10, but I shouldn't have to hear every word and belch 3 sites away.
 
Crack down on the tweens and teens running wild around the loops
 
Eject outsiders from the pools.
 
Again, none of these things are tolerated at any of the other Disney hotels so why at the Fort?
 
Just my 2 cents....

I had the trifecta....

I had the trifecta....

I don't know either, but its only going to get worse when the Broadway play opens. I actually liked Tangled better, but to each his/her own.
 
Best Regards,
Norm

Very cute, Norm ... but it doesn't change my opinion of the movie.

We went and got our ears, and a couple of shirts since they were on sale, and now this is on the NYC's Disney Store Spectacular Billboard in Times Square.

Best Regards,
Norm

Best Regards,
Norm

For TJ

With the ages of your kids, I would get rid of the park hopper and water parks and change to a 5 day ticket. As said above, if you want to add them on after you get there you can. My trip was 5 days and I wanted 7, but couldn't work it, and personally I would have used the two days to just sit around and rest and let the kids use the pool and explore the fort and other resorts more. We never got to do the campfire with Chip and Dale, or really use any amenities that come with the campground itself. Just a siuggestion.
Best Regards,
Norm

Well, here is my first trip report. It's going to be a little slow, since I have to watch the girls at night and be forewarned that there aren't a lot of pictures of the Fort, since it was girls first trip to Disney. The cast of characters included myself at the age of 43, my wife Anne who is 34, my 70 year old mother who also name is Anne, and my darling daughters Cadence and Claire who are 4 & 3 respectively.
First off, I would like to say, that I had a lot of help from people on this board directly and indirectly. I took in much information over the last few months from this board and put it together with my stuff and POOF!! a trip came out of it. So with that said, thanks to everyone.
As some of you may or may not know, we decided not to tell the girls we were going and make it a surprise trip. Of course we had to tell them we were going somewhere, so we told them we were going to a race track that I had gone to and since they have been to Watkins Glen before this was nothing new, so off we went.....
We left at 11PM on Friday and this was a stop off in South Carolina at the welcome center on Saturday morning.

Cadence loves pine cones and SC has some big ones, so she was excited to find these.

We finally got into Florida and headed to the race track.

Thanks for the tip to go around Jacksonville on 9A, it was simple and a nice quiet ride. Going to Daytona, we always headed down 95, now we have solved that nightmare.


We than proceeded to tell them, that we had about an hour to get to the campground we were staying at. We jumped on I-4 and headed West.


Made good time to Orlando and started seeing the signs.....


Down 192 we went and headed for THE SIGN where we were going to tell them.

Here is the video of the magical moment.
http://youtu.be/Zyptn5wQikI
That's it for this segment, hopefully the pics came out, I think I did it correctly. I will try and do the next segment tomorrow.
Best Regards,
Norm

Well, here is my first trip report. It's going to be a little slow, since I have to watch the girls at night and be forewarned that there aren't a lot of pictures of the Fort, since it was girls first trip to Disney. The cast of characters included myself at the age of 43, my wife Anne who is 34, my 70 year old mother who also name is Anne, and my darling daughters Cadence and Claire who are 4 & 3 respectively.
First off, I would like to say, that I had a lot of help from people on this board directly and indirectly. I took in much information over the last few months from this board and put it together with my stuff and POOF!! a trip came out of it. So with that said, thanks to everyone.
As some of you may or may not know, we decided not to tell the girls we were going and make it a surprise trip. Of course we had to tell them we were going somewhere, so we told them we were going to a race track that I had gone to and since they have been to Watkins Glen before this was nothing new, so off we went.....
We left at 11PM on Friday and this was a stop off in South Carolina at the welcome center on Saturday morning.

Cadence loves pine cones and SC has some big ones, so she was excited to find these.

We finally got into Florida and headed to the race track.

Thanks for the tip to go around Jacksonville on 9A, it was simple and a nice quiet ride. Going to Daytona, we always headed down 95, now we have solved that nightmare.


We than proceeded to tell them, that we had about an hour to get to the campground we were staying at. We jumped on I-4 and headed West.


Made good time to Orlando and started seeing the signs.....


Down 192 we went and headed for THE SIGN where we were going to tell them.

Here is the video of the magical moment.
http://youtu.be/Zyptn5wQikI
That's it for this segment, hopefully the pics came out, I think I did it correctly. I will try and do the next segment tomorrow.
Best Regards,
Norm

Well, here is my first trip report. It's going to be a little slow, since I have to watch the girls at night and be forewarned that there aren't a lot of pictures of the Fort, since it was girls first trip to Disney. The cast of characters included myself at the age of 43, my wife Anne who is 34, my 70 year old mother who also name is Anne, and my darling daughters Cadence and Claire who are 4 & 3 respectively.
First off, I would like to say, that I had a lot of help from people on this board directly and indirectly. I took in much information over the last few months from this board and put it together with my stuff and POOF!! a trip came out of it. So with that said, thanks to everyone.
As some of you may or may not know, we decided not to tell the girls we were going and make it a surprise trip. Of course we had to tell them we were going somewhere, so we told them we were going to a race track that I had gone to and since they have been to Watkins Glen before this was nothing new, so off we went.....
We left at 11PM on Friday and this was a stop off in South Carolina at the welcome center on Saturday morning.

Cadence loves pine cones and SC has some big ones, so she was excited to find these.

We finally got into Florida and headed to the race track.

Thanks for the tip to go around Jacksonville on 9A, it was simple and a nice quiet ride. Going to Daytona, we always headed down 95, now we have solved that nightmare.


We than proceeded to tell them, that we had about an hour to get to the campground we were staying at. We jumped on I-4 and headed West.


Made good time to Orlando and started seeing the signs.....


Down 192 we went and headed for THE SIGN where we were going to tell them.

Here is the video of the magical moment.
http://youtu.be/Zyptn5wQikI
That's it for this segment, hopefully the pics came out, I think I did it correctly. I will try and do the next segment tomorrow.
Best Regards,
Norm

Well, here is my first trip report. It's going to be a little slow, since I have to watch the girls at night and be forewarned that there aren't a lot of pictures of the Fort, since it was girls first trip to Disney. The cast of characters included myself at the age of 43, my wife Anne who is 34, my 70 year old mother who also name is Anne, and my darling daughters Cadence and Claire who are 4 & 3 respectively.
First off, I would like to say, that I had a lot of help from people on this board directly and indirectly. I took in much information over the last few months from this board and put it together with my stuff and POOF!! a trip came out of it. So with that said, thanks to everyone.
As some of you may or may not know, we decided not to tell the girls we were going and make it a surprise trip. Of course we had to tell them we were going somewhere, so we told them we were going to a race track that I had gone to and since they have been to Watkins Glen before this was nothing new, so off we went.....
We left at 11PM on Friday and this was a stop off in South Carolina at the welcome center on Saturday morning.

Cadence loves pine cones and SC has some big ones, so she was excited to find these.

We finally got into Florida and headed to the race track.

Thanks for the tip to go around Jacksonville on 9A, it was simple and a nice quiet ride. Going to Daytona, we always headed down 95, now we have solved that nightmare.


We than proceeded to tell them, that we had about an hour to get to the campground we were staying at. We jumped on I-4 and headed West.


Made good time to Orlando and started seeing the signs.....


Down 192 we went and headed for THE SIGN where we were going to tell them.

Here is the video of the magical moment.
http://youtu.be/Zyptn5wQikI
That's it for this segment, hopefully the pics came out, I think I did it correctly. I will try and do the next segment tomorrow.
Best Regards,
Norm

We will be there the week of Tgiving, so if they are there, just pm me and I will pick up what you would like.

Fry some fish up, that will definitely get the bacon odor out, but you may have a new problem.
Best Regards,
Norm