fladogfan aka Gretchen

Come on fiends, as of this post only 47 fiends have voted.  I know there are more of you checking in every day.  You know you do not have to post a comment, just be a registered fortfiend.
It's free and doesn't hurt at all.
 
GO VOTE NOW!!!!!

Thanks! We love it. It's a etched metallic vinyl overlay with a adhesive background. It looks so much better than the golf cart instructions on the steering wheel. I got it from [please PM for email address]. He is great and can make almost anything you  want. He can do them for any cart. You can email him, just tell him I sent you. Charles 
 
 
NOTE: We edited your post to remove the email address and save the addressee from getting slammed with spam. Please keep email addresses in PMs.  Thanks!
 
--Your Friendly Neighborhood Admins

Don't sweat it.  Our benevolent overlords generally only step in to save us from ourselves... or in this case spam. 

Thank YOU for that post!  It reminds us all that FortFiends is a community of people and, as opposed to some places on the interwebz where it seems it's all about one person or just a few "chosen" people, FortFiends is about ALL of us together, and it's ALL of us that make it such a great place.  :top-points-smiley:

Not all dogs are scared of Thunder and they all handle it a different way.  Service dogs need to be able to handle all situations.  What would happen if a person had a service dog that was scared of thunder.  That person would not be able to do things when it thunders, when a loud bang happens, when vehicles beep or an alarm goes off.
 
The people that have service dogs rely on their dog for help.  They can not have a dog that gets scared from sounds.  Bringing the dog to the MK is a perfect way to test the dog out one of the worst case situations for the dog.

What an amazing God-incidence it was coming across the balloon.

FINISHED IT!! :)
 
So maybe I'm mistaken and it wasn't on the 4th of July but the 5th.  But still remember hearing loud, loooooong and late fireworks that weekend. 
Thanks for all the videos and photos and reports live from the scene. 
TCD good for you telling the rent-a-cop "NO" !  Loved that :rofl3:
To Mo, Jason and all the rest of you posters  big thanks.  You made me laugh out loud!!!!
I'm a fireworks junky also, even just hearing them is a treat.

We have a small hybrid 16' I think.  We use some of the ideas in the list already, good list, more ideas :) yay!
In May we took a 3 week trip camping in PA and VA.  Was interesting as the two poms camped with us as usual. But we also brought our 17 year old cat along too.  Danielle had only ever been in the car to go to the vet's before, not a happy girl then for sure.
She is so frightened to be left alone for any length of time so we thought, if she is going to be scared at least she would be with us.  She did fine after a bit of exploring of the camper.
 
And that is why I'm posting this here.  She disappeared into a hole under the back bunk ACK!  OK let DH go visit the cousins while I wait for her majesty to reappear.  After an hour or so my brain says stick your hand in the hole with a camera!  OK.  Took pic!  No cat!  Took more pics!!  Still no cat! 
The little explorer had headed to the driver's side and made a right turn towards the front of the camper.  I think she made it all the way under the refrigerator! 
Well Dani finally came out of the little hole at 5pm...need we say that is dinner time for the pets?  Opening a can of human tuna helped too.
 
So with her adventure I've found a lot of wasted space, at least I think it's wasted.  I want the DH to help me remove some of the paneling and make shelves under the bunk and behind the toilet.  The small space she first crawled in has the electric panel so wires off that and then under bathroom sink are pipes.  The wires and pipes need to be protected but really do they need that much space?

FINISHED IT!! :)
 
So maybe I'm mistaken and it wasn't on the 4th of July but the 5th.  But still remember hearing loud, loooooong and late fireworks that weekend. 
Thanks for all the videos and photos and reports live from the scene. 
TCD good for you telling the rent-a-cop "NO" !  Loved that :rofl3:
To Mo, Jason and all the rest of you posters  big thanks.  You made me laugh out loud!!!!
I'm a fireworks junky also, even just hearing them is a treat.

Ditto.  Heck, even if you drop the "K" I can entertain myself for a few days!  :rofl2:

Rita, Bojangles fast food also has country ham bisquits, and they are GOOD! Only trouble..not many of them in Florida. I've been buying from one on RT. 436 in Altamonte. There is another one being built in/near Winter Garden on RT. 535. That would be the easiest one to get to from the fort. Maybe it's finished, haven't been by that way for weeks.
LOVE the "You are not the boss of me " shirt. My mil is now living with us. I asked her if she would like to go camping, she has never been camping, did not get a 'no'...so we will try soon...might wait for some cooler days. I'm going to try to find that shirt for Annie, she is almost 90. August 27 will be the day.
I've been away for weeks and am trying to catch up...having great fun reading the TRs. Of course it's making me drool wanting to be out camping.

I'm sorry y'all. There ain't much better than boiled peanuts! It is an exciting time when they pull those fresh green peanuts out of the ground and we have our first peanut boil! Come on, right near me in Dothan, they have the National Peanut Festival with a queen and everything! 

Mama was out of shampoo, so she looked in the cabinet and found the baby shampoo I keep for my granddaughters. She brought it out to me and said, "Wild Watermelon....giggle....for Womenz Wild Weekend!" :rofl:

Ooooh, this might be a great activity for WWW. Find a day where Lou is working, hang out at his hub and ride his bus for his entire shift!!!!!

Happy Birthday!

Onward with the Troll Tribute to Walt Disney Parks' crowning achievement, Splash Mountain!
When we last left off, we had just listened in to the boardroom discussion over building Splash Mountain, considering its theming and characters come straight from the lightning rod movie "Song of the South."
But that's not the only way Splash Mountain breaks the Disney mold; Splash Mountain, in fact, breaks every paradigm ever cooked up by the Imagineers and the Disney bean counters. How? Well let's look at Disney's typical markers for designing a "good" ride:
1. The ride should be short. The shorter, the better. That way you get people on the ride, make them happy, and then dump them quickly into a gift shop. The longer people sit on rides, the less time they have to shop and eat. Shopping and eating opportunities must be maximized.
2. Thrill rides require minimal theming because the thrill is the attraction. Detailed theming should be left for the slow dark rides like Pirates and the Haunted Mansion. Space Mountain and Rock N Rollercoaster are perfect examples of minimal theming -- you don't need any theming at all...just turn the lights off.
3. New rides should be based on new movies. Kids don't appreciate the old movies anymore.
Now, if you examine the facts closely, you'll find that Splash Mountain breaks every single one of these rules.
First, Splash Mountain is easily one of the longest rides in all the parks -- and it's a thrill ride. Don't believe me? Well, did you know that Splash Mountain is almost 11 minutes long? By comparison, Rock N Roller Coaster is only 1 minute, 22 seconds long. Tower of Terror is two and a half minutes long. And the vaunted Haunted Mansion is only four and a half minutes long! That means Splash Mountain is more than twice as long a ride as the Haunted Mansion!
Next, the rule about a thrill ride requiring minimal theming is totally smashed by Splash. Disney pulled out all the stops when they designed this ride. They spared nothing. The details are incredible. To get a good feel for how far Disney has come in ride design, compare the theming of the characters in Splash to the crappy ones in It's a Small World. They don't compare.
And last, Splash Mountain was designed in the late 80s...under Eisner! And it was themed on a movie that probably 90% of the population had never even seen. I know I hadn't. When I first rode Splash in 1994, I was like, "This was a movie?" I had heard the story of B'rer Rabbit, but just as folk tales.
Now I realize that many viewers of this trip report probably haven't seen "Song of the South," either, and may not even know the story of B'rer Rabbit. So I often wonder if first time riders even know what's going on. Well, you know how much I like the back stories of Disney attractions, and Splash is no exception, so for the benefit of people who just think Splash Mountain is just about a rabbit and a fat bear, let's go through the actual story.
B'rer Rabbit is a fun-loving, trouble-making rascal who lives in a place called the Briar Patch, which is, literally, a briar patch -- a patch of thorny vines. One day B'rer Rabbit decides he's bored and tired of hishohum, safe existence in the Briar Patch, so he decides to head out into the wide world for some fun and adventure.
Here's B'rer Rabbit now, heading out, planning never to return:

B'rer Rabbit's friends -- Mr. Blue Bird and B'rer Frog -- try to dissuade him from leaving, as they're afraid he'll get into trouble. But B'rer Rabbit pays no attention and tells them it's time for him "to be moving along."
Enter our villain, B'rer Fox:

For some unknown reason, Walt Disney did not like foxes. He always depicted them as villains in his movies. We learned that earlier in this trip report when we met Mr. J. Worthington FoulFellow. This guy:

Now when it comes to Mr. Foulfellow, it's a pretty open-and-shut case -- he's an evil rapscallion, for sure. I mean, after all, he did kidnap Pinocchio and sell him into child slavery. I think that qualifies as evil.
But in the case of one B'rer Fox, what crime did he commit that qualifies him as a villain? Being hungry?
After all, isn't it a fox's job to eat rabbits to keep their population under control? And wasn't it God who decided this arrangement?
So why does poor B'rer Fox get such a bad rap?
Now, in the sake of full disclosure, I must admit that I am biased. Ever since I was a very small troll, I have always rooted for the bad guy. When I was nine-years-old, all the other kids in the neighborhood dressed up as Superman, Batman, and the Bionic Man for Halloween. Me? I was Darth Vader.
Yeah, yeah -- I know. Lot's of kids do that nowadays. But not back then. Not back in 1978. I was evil when evil wasn't cool. I am a troll, after all.
So I must admit straight away that B'rer Fox happens to be my favorite Disney character of all time. So with that disclosed, let's get on with the story.
Anyhow, B'rer Rabbit is hopping along, being annoying, when he is spotted by B'rer Fox, who recruits the dimwitted B'rer Bear in an effort to capture B'rer Rabbit and eat him. Sounds perfectly reasonable to me.
Now there's an interesting relationship between B'rer Fox and B'rer Bear in the movie that isn't really defined in the ride. In the movie, B'rer Fox is superior to B'rer Bear in wit, but even so, is still afraid of B'rer Bear. In the ride, however, B'rer Bear is depicted just as B'rer Fox's flunky, which isn't quite accurate.
These plot nuances are very important.
According to the movie -- and much of this is skipped in the ride -- B'rer Fox and B'rer Bear manage to catch B'rer Rabbit very early on. They tie him up and plan to roast him:

But then B'rer Rabbit tells them it's a shame that he won't be able to show them his Laughing Place if they eat him. B'rer Fox is not fooled by this, but the dimwitted B'rer Bear is. Wanting desperately to see this Laughing Place, B'rer Bear roughs up B'rer Fox and insists he let B'rer Rabbit loose.
Remember, B'rer Bear is no mere flunky:

So B'rer Rabbit leads B'rer Fox and B'rer Bear to a bush and tells B'rer Bear that the Laughing Place is inside the bush. So B'rer Bear sticks his snout in the bush, only to find a beehive. He starts getting stung like mad and yells at B'rer Rabbit, "You said that was a Laughing Place! There ain't nothin' in there but bees!"

To which B'rer Rabbit says, "I didn't say it was YOUR Laughing Place, B'rer Bear...I said it was MY Laughing Place!"
Now if you don't know this part of the story, the whole Laughing Place segment of the ride is just, well, weird. Like some sort of acid trip. See:

Why is everybody laughing? You don't know unless you've seen "Song of the South," which is locked up in a vault! I guess folks who've never seen the movie just dismiss this part this way: "Why is everyone laughing? And how did the bear get that bee hive stuck on his head? Who knows! I guess it's just funny."
So B'rer Rabbit is on the loose again. But he will soon be recaptured by that brilliant tactician, B'rer Fox. This time he assembles a baby made out of tar:

B'rer Rabbit hops on by the tar baby and wishes him a good morning. But when the tar baby doesn't return the greeting, B'rer Rabbit decides to punch him in the face.
Which is assault, isn't it?
And you say B'rer Fox is the villain?!?
Well now B'rer Rabbit's fist is stuck in the tar, so he punches the tar baby again. Now both fists are stuck. B'rer Rabbit proceeds to struggle to extricate himself, but the more he struggles the more stuck he gets.
This part of the story is, understandably, conspicuously absent from the ride. In the ride, we see B'rer Fox has captured B'rer Rabbit, but we have no idea how.
So, at last, B'rer Fox is going to have his Hasenpfeffer dinner...but then, inexplicably, he falls for one last B'rer Rabbit trick. B'rer Rabbit tells B'rer Fox he can hang him, roast him, skin him, or knock his block off...any of that is fine so long as B'rer Fox doesn't throw him the Briar Patch.
Now every time I go on the ride I tell B'rer Fox not to fall for this stupid trick and to just hurry up and eat B'rer Rabbit, but for some confounded reason he never listens to me! Every time he falls for it and throws that stupid rabbit in the Briar Patch!
So down we go in our log, down to the Briar Patch, where we're greeted by all the happy critters singing Zip-a-Dee-Do-Da:

We then catch up with B'rer Rabbit, who's sitting out in front of his house, singing, "Home sweet home is the lesson today."

His friend Mr. Bluebird chimes in, "The Briar Patch is where you were born, and the Briar Patch is where you're going to stay!"
So the moral of the story for all of your angst-ridden teenagers riding along with you in your log is this -- never take a risk in life and NEVER leave home!
OK, so now you newbies to the world of B'rerdom, I hope you better understand the story of my favorite ride. Like I said, when I first rode it back in the 90s, I had to study up on it myself. Makes perfect sense to me now.
Now I've been asked by a few readers why I like this ride so much. I grade rides on four criteria:
1. Back story
2. Theming
3. Fun of the actual ride
4. Re-ridability
I give each ride a score between 1 and 10. So for a control, let's grade a few Disney attractions. Let's start with the "classic" (i.e., old and taking up valuable park space) It's a Small World:
Back story: There is none. Score = 0.
Theming: Terrible. Many of the props look homemade. You can see pencil guidelines on others. Score = 1.
Fun of the actual ride: Slow and boring. No drop, no nothing. Score = 1.
Re-ridability: I would never ride that thing again even if my life depended on it. Score = 1.
So Walt's beloved It's a Small World scores a whopping 3 out of a possible 40.
Getting the hang of it? Let's do another. Let's score the Haunted Mansion:
Back story: Excellent...10.
Theming: Excellent...10.
Fun of the actual ride...well not very. It's kind of thrilling when you go downhill backwards, so 4.
Re-ridability: Considering the excellent theming, 7.
So the Haunted Mansion gets a 31 out of 40. Not bad!
Now let's do my beloved Splash Mountain:
Back story: Off the charts...10.
Theming: Outstanding...10.
Fun of the actual ride: It's an awesome log flume! What else do I have to say?! 10!
Re-ridability: Awesome theming + fun log flume = 10!
So Splash Mountain gets a stunning 40 out of 40.
So there you have it, Fiends. Incontrovertible proof that Splash Mountain is easily the best attraction of all Disney Parks.
The only problem we had with this visit with B'rer Fox was the fact that we got splashed, er, well, SOAKED!
Here's our pirated ride photo:

Notice that Mrs. Troll is duckfacing!
Also notice that I appear to be very angry. Evidently I'm not very happy with B'rer Fox's decision to throw us into the Briar Patch. Furthermore, look how wet my shirt is!
And now here's Mrs. Troll, very soaked:

Now no Troll Tribute to Splash Mountain would be complete without mentioning these two guys:

I LOVE these two guys! Love them! Aside from B'rer Fox, these two guys are my favorite characters in the ride. I think the ride designers were very clever and creative in adding them. They give the riders something funny and yet ominous to hold their attention as their log is being hoisted to the top of the flume.
I think these two guys should be in parades, like Mr. Foulfellow is.
So there you have it, folks, perhaps the longest and most annoyingly detailed Internet forum post about Splash Mountain in all time.
So if I don't get my 10,000 views, at least I have that.

shawndb... I do appreciate you coming back to apologize to Tee Time (although they do not read here) and to let people know that you indeed did jump the gun with your complaint.
As for being ganged up on and bashed...
Look at it from this side of things. Someone that no one knows logs into our board and in their very first post bashes a business that many of us are very loyal to and have known for many years. They pose the information they post as fact and then essentially say "They screwed me, I'm never recommending them, goodbye" log off, and then don't come back to respond to any of the legitimate questions posed about the situation.
What are we supposed to think?
Instead, 2 of the people here actually contacted Kenny and got his side of the story to share because it wasn't fair to leave your accusations just hanging out there.
TCD raises an excellent question. If your intent wasn't to cause a stir, what was it? Because if you go back and read your own post, and you know anything at all about this board (which if you've been lurking enough to know Kenny is recommended here you should), then you had to expect that post could do nothing BUT cause a stir. Kenny is not on this board and had no way to defend himself here, so why lodge your complaint with us instead of him?
I guess I'm not sure what kind of reaction you thought you might get, but one thing is clear to me. Whatever your motives may have been, the motives of those people here that responded were to defend someone we know well and who has always provided excellent service - in some cases above and beyond as has been said.
As others have also suggested, as a travel agent you should know better than most how important service and word of mouth recommendations are. How would you feel if someone anonymously logged onto a board a lot of your potential customers frequented and made a similar post slamming you without getting all the facts, and left it hanging out there for a few days before bothering to come back and say "oops, my bad"?
I'd venture a guess that you'd want your loyal customers to come to your defense too and question the motives of such a post, especially if you weren't there to tell your side of the story and defend yourself.

I just want to add, that Bush has plenty of X chromosomes.
I bet in perspective it now looks like the fake palm on Castaway Cay compared to its neighbors.
And glad there were no standouts by the PoPo that night.
HI KARLA!!!!!!!

I just want to add, that Bush has plenty of X chromosomes.
I bet in perspective it now looks like the fake palm on Castaway Cay compared to its neighbors.
And glad there were no standouts by the PoPo that night.
HI KARLA!!!!!!!

:lmao1: Where does the ticket line form?
I'm curious to see if they do a better job of blocking that path from the camping riff-raff.
If the Fort freeloaders can blatantly walk to the outpost bus stop with coolers, towels and charcoal to invade the Fort pool, I'm all for trying the same thing there.

You wouldn't be breaking the" open container law" and he would have to let you on, unless you were visibly intoxicated.
For those of you with the Red Solo Cups, unless you have a cover on it, you're not getting on my bus anyway.
And if it's past morning, if you do have a covered RSC and I suspect it's alcohol and you tell me it is, you'll have to get rid of it.
Unless you're prepared to give me an equal job after I get fired for violating the "open container law", I'm going by the book.
The law is, no open containers with an alcoholic beverage in it, camouflaged or otherwise, can be in the vehicle.
And yes, I'm a realist and know that all drivers are different, and that they may not enforce the rules, but I do. All good drivers will. So you'll have to wait until one of those other drivers comes along to give you a ride with your adult beverage in the Red Solo cup.

Ed and I are not that great! We are a family and are fortunate to live right here in this little town near each other. If y'all think my Mama is taken care of, you should have met my Grandma Rita Mae! I guess we learned from our parents how to treat our elders. Mama's memory is starting to slip pretty bad and sometimes it's not easy answering the same question a million times. Ed is with her 24/7 pretty much and I'm gonna give him a lot of credit for his patience and how good he is to her. He takes her to the doctor and grocery shopping and all the day to day stuff. It's really not always fun and games. When she misplaces things she will get very upset and most the time she gets mad and blames him. We are going to enjoy every minute we have with our Mama. She deserves every minute of fun and happiness! Sorry for the downer, but the reality is we are just a normal family with an aging parent doing the best we can! Ok, maybe not so normal! :rofl3:

Way to go, Discamper! This thread is not only informative and amusing, but has gotten lots of newbies involved!
Here is my helpful advice: When traveling with many young campers, it is very helpful to dress them all in the same color shirt each day. It makes spotting the one who is wandering off much easier. If you dress in the same color as well, helpful stranger will point out the wanderer to you.
Before we leave, I decide what color shirt we will wear each day. I then coordinate each persons outfits for the whole trip. (Yes, annoying, but it saves time later and also avoids red shorts with an orange shirt. LOL) Then I put all the clothes for each person for each day in separate plastic bags (I save the ones from the grocery store), remembering to add underwear, socks, etc. Then I pack each persons bags in their individual suitcase, with the top bag containing their pjs. The first night, they take off their travel clothes, put on their pjs, and put the dirty clothes in the empty bag. The next morning, i tell them the color ofthe day, they find that bag, get dressed, and put their pj's in that bag for that night. Quick and easy, which makes my vacation more relaxed.
Also, before you head out for the park each day, take individual pictures of each child. If for some reason the child needs to be found, you have a picture of how the child was dressed that day.

Last I heard, he was framed.
TCD

Thanks Cindy for the info.
I use my mother's dutch oven( from the 1930's) for lots of in-house cooking. It's like 2 frying pans, a deep one and a shallow one that is also used as the lid. The bottoms are flat so it's not made for camp cooking. But I bet I could figure out a way to use it for pies. Tho, might not want to get all that charcoal on something used in the house, but sure sounds tasty. Do the pies have a baked on charcoal flavor? I do know the type of dutch oven you use.
Thanks for the easy to do receipe too.