CeciliaKy

awesome! thanks so much! when I searched this topic before posting ... I found that I had asked the exact same thing about 5 years ago. LOLOLOLOL ... I knew there had been some changes, but I wasn't sure what they were.

thanks so much! :)

Is the Meadow Snack Bar (and chuckwagon by the campfire) still the only place to use DDP plans for anything other than a snack? it's been a few years since we stayed at the fort & will likely have some leftover meal credits to use. exploring all the options :)

it's unfortunate that the state park campgrounds weren't along your path ... there are some near-ish to Ashland (Carter Caves, Greenbo Lake) but not really convenient to I-64. they're still in decent shape, unlike the lodges & cabins which border on depressing. :/ I've spent a lot of time in Bardstown ... now live in Hardin Co. I love this part of the state! :)

when can I expect the July calendar (for the Fort) to be posted? I've got a general idea of how to plan our time, but would love to see some specifics! I'm looking forward to being there for the holiday! :)

I'm leaning more and more towards July 4 over early June ... we know well enough to stay out of the parks (at least the MK) on July 3 & 4. Those would be our Fort days. We've done late June & late July before, so we remember the heat. We hate it, but we know to be prepared. One upside is that our kids are older now ... late nights are much more doable. That helps. Summer is going to be more crowded than our usual October, regardless. That's just part of the trade off to vacationing with a college kid. Thank goodness he still likes to travel with us Thanks for all the input!!

awesome! thanks, everyone! is it less crowded at the beach on July 3 to watch fireworks?

we don't intend to go to the parks on the holiday ... unless we go to Epcot. But I think hanging out at the Fort sounds much better. LOL ... wondering what the situation is with the locals? seems like I've read they like to visit on holidays.

Hello all ... need some input from the experts :) We are seasoned Disney travelers -- visited the Fort several times, at different times of the year. The majority of our trips have been taken during Fall Break in October, but now our son is in college and we have to mix it up this year. Sooooo ... tell me about July 4 at the Fort. How bad is it? We've been there on other, minor, holiday weekends like Columbus Day ... but I have a feeling that July 4 is much, much worse. We'll be in a cabin. Do not intend to do parks on Friday or Saturday. Give it to me straight. Have I completely lost

I have friends that did the Dopey, too! Congratulations!

we hadn't heard of her either, but I can certainly see why she is so popular. In addition to being entertaining, she is terribly kind and helpful. my teenage son & I wanted to catch the 3pm parade ... it was right at 3pm, so we knew our best chance to get a decent spot would be up near City Hall & the Fire Dept. There's a spot taped off, but isn't roped off until the last minute so it can be used for foot traffic. Barbara let us know of the opening & encouraged us to wait. (which we did) But before letting us fill in, she made sure the family with a wheelchair she had waiting in th

That's Barbara. Barbara is AWESOME. We met her in October ... wrote a letter singing her praises as soon as we got home. :)

I may not have mentioned it -- my complaint was about the treatment I received when I went to process a refund that was offered to me at the MK the night before. Resort guests were told to go back to their resorts, and guest services would have the information to take care of it there. What took my friend 5 minutes at Pop Century took me an hour at the Fort, but I was finally refunded the amount of our MNSSHP tickets. In my email, I specifically mentioned that we had planned to enjoy our last morning at the resort and instead, I spent it at the guest services desk instead of with my family. I

I got the full refund on the MNSSHP tickets, which was pretty significant. So I really wasn't looking for much else -- I didn't know what else to ask for, really. I'm not very good at asking for compensation when things don't go well. Maybe I should've asked here first. LOL!

probably. LOL I've already gotten the email with the FP information, so there is that :)

An update to my guest service concerns ... Disney called me this afternoon. I shared my experience and expressed my disappointment about being made to feel like they were doing me a favor by processing the refund. I was asked to give the date & time, and any names if I remembered because they planned on contacting the resort some additional guest training for their cast. so, there you go. I think they listened. she offered 2 good anywhere fast passes to use on our next trip, which I appreciate. we'll probably be going spring break to visit our son, so they'll come in handy.

we love the Swan. we have loved it since our first stay a gazillion years ago. I love it even more when it's free on SPG points our kids really enjoy the Boardwalk, walking to Epcot & the area in general. Pop Century is our favorite value resort. Our room was in a perfect spot, close to the bridge to AoA & convenient to the pool and food court at Pop. Nice lake view. Quiet. Only downside is we were 29,000 miles from the parking lot (we measured ) and that was dreadful after the Tower of Terror 10-miler. LOL

Accepted this morning. Spring 2013, custodial. I think he was hoping for merchandise, but he's thrilled to be accepted. looks like at least one trip to the Fort in my near future! :)

4+ inches of rain in just a few hours. we were prepared for rain, but not for THAT. LOL this was the scene at City Hall, around 9PM. I was at the flag pole, and the line stretched behind me onto Main Street: it was at least 10:00pm before plain clothes management CM came outside to speak with people waiting. It had been storming since 6:00pm, and rumor has it there were people in line at City Hall as early as 7:30pm. Why the management at the Magic Kingdom didn't have a better handle on things at that point, we'll never know. LOL thanks - we have our fingers crossed! :) our middl

I sent something to the wdw @ guest communications email address as soon as we got home on Friday. I filled out an online survey today for Ft. Wilderness and reiterated what I put in the email. Hopefully someone will see it! We left right after all that, so there wasn't much left to the trip. LOL! We did have a good time, overall. We love doing a few days of DDP and then hanging out at the Fort to recover. We have our fingers and toes crossed now while we wait for our oldest to find out if he got in the College Program for the Spring semester.

I'm trying to think if there was anything else especially memorable that happened in the 48 or so hours we were at the Fort ... we did see the crane & construction for the Four Seasons Resort. While we aren't fans of the hotel going up, my husband has a fascination with cranes and did enjoy checking out what they had going on. LOL There was a lot more standing water than I remember from years past. Makes sense, since it rained nearly every day last week, including the 4 inch deluge on Thursday night. Yuck. There were lots of crews spraying for what I think were mosquitoes in those areas.

good to know! I was thrilled with our cabin location ... after 3 stays, I think I've finally figured out what works best for us :)

I thought the same ... but on Wednesday, it appeared to be just regular people staying there. LOL

returned to cool & dry Kentucky after 7 nights in sunny, humid, cloudy, rainy Florida. humidity. I forgot how much I detest humidity until this week. wow. our trip was all over the place ... spending a night at the Swan (free on SPG points. can't beat that!), followed by 4 nights on the QSDP at Pop Century, ending with a vacation from the vacation: 2 nights at the Fort. I don't have much to report from our time at the Fort, but did notice one change from our visit last year: QSDP credits can now be used at the Trails to Go window. Not a clue when the change occurred, but I appreciated

good to know. I know his carts are faster than Disney's, which is worth something ... but I know it's going to be iffy on the short notice. thanks, all!