BuckeyeFortMama

I have no tips.  Just wanted to say it's awesome to see a post from BFM, and to wish you a great trip!
TCD

The performers were using the double decker bus as their transportation for a long time but according to my friend who is now providing horse drawn transportation for their 9:15, 10:15 and 12:15 shows on Main Street the performers hated the double decker bus.
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Saw them last night.  They are very nice and brightly colored. 
 
If you didn't know what you were watching for you would have thought they had been there all along, as most of the people in the boat with me were unaware that they were a new addition.

Packing is so sad.

I love that this thread is the ladies and Jason.

We love Evergreen RV Park in Wilmot, OH.
It's in Southern Stark county. They have nice paved roads, a playground for the kids, an indoor pool and hot tub which is awesome for NEOhio weather.

In Northeast Ohio we enjoy Evergreen RV park http://www.evergreenparkrvresort.com/
 
It is clean and well maintained.  The bath house is great and comparable to the Fort.  Good Sam ratings of 10 in every category consistently and well deserved.  They are set up for group camping trips with a great large pavilion.  They have a nice playground and full basketball court.  All paved roads for bikes and scooter riding-kid paradise!
 
Our favorite aspect of this campground is the indoor pool.  That sounds crazy but there aren't many great swimming days in an Ohio summer and this extends our use of this campground well into the shoulder camping seasons here.  And when it rains (no lightning) there is still swimming and in Ohio that can happen a lot when you are camping. 
The sites are long and have great space between, most are pull throughs but some are back in. All sites have a picnic table and a fire ring . Some have a nice swivel grate above the fire ring that turns it into a grill.  They allow tenting on your site with your camper so we can have friends tent on our site and split the site cost. They also don't charge you per child like most campgrounds and when you have as many kids as we do that's important!

Honestly I'm loving this trip report,
 
BUT if you don't drop an f-bomb or mouse turd soon we might need to petition for a name change.  

Relaxing outside my camper enjoying the view, meeting new folks as they loop, and sipping on an adult beverage while my DW is spending every waking minute in the park(s). I like to call it my "holding down the fort" while she is taking Disney by storm! LOL

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.

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.

Everyone does.  I am that cool.

The horses all work 3 days and then get time off. He showed us the paddock that they get turned out in when they are done working on a typical work day.

 
Then we talked about the barn itself.
 
They have these automatic fly spray sprayers in each stall to deal with the flies that bother the horses.

 
That’s impressive in a draft horse barn.
 
He also showed us that they are upgrading the doors on the stalls from these
 
 

 
to these.
 
 

 
We were talking about ventilation and he pointed out that ventilation has always been a problem for this barn because of the roof.
 
So, we walked out the back of the barn.
 

 
All I could think at this point is those poor schmucks at the other end of the barn on the guest side of the rope just wishing they were us right now.  Yes, Lou... this is a magical moment for me and I am relishing it!
 

 
So, anyway the barn roof. It is sealed up tight and allows no cross breeze.
 

 
But fixing the roof has been on hold for quite a long time because of other projects that would have seen this barn totally disappear.  Now that those projects are not happening the barn is finally getting this much needed repair.
 
So, now we are standing behind the barn and looking at the back of the Mickey’s Backyard BBQ.
 

 
I am certain our tour is coming to end. We learned so much from TICM. I love to learn how things are managed and handled. It’s so interesting. I am just tickled with our tour. 
 
Then TICM says, "let me grab some keys and I’ll show you the rest of the ranch."
 
 
Woooohoooo!
 

 
We drive out of the trailer parking area and go out the back way past the pastures for the horses who are on their day off.  TICM laughs as the horses who are technically off come running to the gate. He says they love to work and almost hate to be stuck in the pasture for their mandatory rest. That sounds typical for a draft horse.
 
We drive up to the front of Fort Wilderness on a road that I had no clue ever existed.
 
 
We pass the Disney Hitch trailers in the maintenance area that TCD posted pictures of in his recent walking tour trip report during his walk from the Outpost to the 4 way stop just past cabin loops.
 
 

 
TICM gave us the run down of how the trucks and trailers are inspected regularly to make sure they are always in good working condition. He also said we were in no-guests-allowed area.  This was a blast, let me tell you.
 
Hey look, it’s Angus (from Brave) in the paddocks up by the Trail Blaze Corral. If you ever see Merida on a horse.... this is the horse.
 

 
Here he is this week on the Disney Passholders Facebook page.
 

 
We walked into a barn that was full of carriages.
 
 

 
This garage was so cool.  I could have spent an hour looking at all the different carts and carriages but TICM wanted to show us one in particular.
 

 
Hey that’s the Pioneer Hall Players stagecoach.  TICM was amused to see we knew what it was. He told us it’s history. He said it was one of the ones purchased by Walt himself for Frontierland.  I found some internet pictures to back this up.
 

 
As a guest at Disneyland you could take a stagecoach ride at one time. They shut down the attraction because it was too dangerous. Imagine that!  This stagecoach was brown before it was orange.
 
 

 
When they were doing some promo shots for the Pioneer Hall Players they dug this out of storage and restored it and repainted it.  After the pictures they were just going to throw it back in the boneyard, so TICM asked if he could add it to the collection here and use it and well....here it is!  A true antique in its restored glory!
 
Ok, let’s go look at the Calliope. TICM had to grab keys to the trailer and when he stopped to do that he picked up some pins for the kids.
 

 
The Calliope was in the semi-trailer waiting for the truck to get back from it's weekly inspection to be taken to be fully restored.
 

 
It has just been commissioned to be in the July 4th parade and the restoration is in prep for that.
 

 
This magnificent piece of equipment has quite a history.  It’s a 108 year old 20 whistle steam calliope and was purchased by Walt along with 8 other circus wagons from Bradley & Kaye Amusement Park in Los Angeles to use in the 1955 Mickey Mouse Club parade.
 
It was also in the 1960 movie “Toby Tyler, or Ten Weeks With the Circus.”
 
It lived at Disneyland and was repainted silver and blue for the Disneyland 25th anniversary.
 
 

 
It came to Walt Disney World in 1981 for the 10th anniversary and has been here ever since.
 
TICM told us that it was originally steam powered and coal was used to heat the water.  It was then retrofitted to use propane to produce the steam and then updated to digital technology, which doesn't actually use the whistles but plays through a speaker system.  TCIM wanted to play it for us, but the USB wasn’t in it.  Crazy.  Here’s the electronic box that plays the music. 
 

 
He said the electronic switch was because of tightened security measures that followed 9/11 which kept them from being able to take large amounts of propane into some major cities (like New York) for parades. So now they plug in the USB and go.
 
The weird thing is that with every change they haven’t removed any of the old workings.  So the Calliope weighs a ton because the old steam workings and coal furnace are still in there.
 
So this refurb is going to be major.  The old systems are going to be removed, so out comes the coal and propane mechanisms.  And since every paint job since the first silver and blue one has been put right on top of the old it will be totally stripped down before it is repainted.  So they need to get started on it right away to be done by July 4th.
 
That brings our awesome awesome awesome behind the scenes tour of the TCD Ranch to an end.
 
Did I mention it was awesome?
 
It was AWESOME!
 
How do you come down off that high?
 

 
Exactly! Adult beverages and rocking chairs while the kids play.

March 28, 2013 continued
 
We have a date with a person we have tried numerous times to connect with, but now it’s finally happening.
 
Backstory-I grew up on a Clydesdale breeding farm in Ohio.  I have family friends all over the Midwest who also breed draft horses, i.e. Clydesdales, Percherons, and Belgians.  Every time I tell one of these friends that we vacation at Fort Wilderness they always insist that I need to look up ‘so-and-so.’  So I email ‘so-and-so’ and we exchange emails and it never works out, the dates never match up.  Well, this time they finally did. 
 
So, we got to spend an afternoon learning how things work at the TCD Ranch.  It was a blast and I have some great pictures which I intend to share.  I did not tell our new friend that I might put what was shared with us in a trip report, so I will refer to this person as TICMIiTCDRMDaTCBT (The Irregular Cast Member Involved in TCD Ranch Management Decisions and Therefore Can Be Trusted) from here on.  Or maybe just TICM for short.
 
Well, we parked the golf cart and walked up this familiar path.

 
Then we turned onto the mulch path. You all know this area, but who doesn’t enjoy seeing this place?

 
It is gorgeous here.

 
Oh, look the trailer is out.

 
Just for TCD.

 
Squirrel moment-Check out this cool sweatshirt our friend made BFF for his birthday.

 
We were supposed to meet TICM at 2pm and we are just a few minutes early.

 
I found a poop scooping cast member and asked if TICM was around.  The poop scooping cast member was expecting me and told me that TICM was running a little late and would be here as soon as he could.  So we hung out.

 
We got a kick out of this sign,

 
and sadly we both thought it was good idea, as we had been the person who wished there was a spare halter around to catch a draft horse with.
 
The kids pushed the button and the Calliope music played.

 
That’s funny, that isn’t a Calliope.  That’s a bummer.
 
We walked outside and found this neat black cut out often found on breeders’ signs at horse shows.

 
Here’s a nice picture of the TCD sign.

 
There are guys actually shoeing horses in the blacksmith shop.

 

 
This is an impressive forge.  My Dad would be jealous for sure. The forge is that fireplace behind the guy giving me the stink eye.
 
You know, this guy.

 
He doesn’t look so friendly so we’ll just wait over at the barn.
 
TICM arrives and we make introductions.  He looks a little familiar.  I figured out after I was home that I had met him when I was a kid.
 
We started our tour in the blacksmith shop as there was actually something going on over there.

 

 
As I said, this is an impressive blacksmith’s shop.  My dad is a farrier and makes horseshoes, so I know what it takes to shoe a draft horse. It’s quite an undertaking in time, $, and effort (those feet weigh a ton). Even if you don’t make your own horseshoes you still need a forge to bend the shoe to fit the horse properly.  There is no fire going in the forge today however.
 
TICM drops the rope and walks us in. The blacksmiths both bristle instantly and he assures them we aren’t just guests but fellow Clydesdale people and they settle down.
 
He starts to explain that they have changed over from the old way of doing things to “barefoot shoeing.” 
 
Really?  That explains why we don’t hear the horseshoes on Main Street anymore.
 
TICM explains that they went to barefoot shoeing because it’s healthier for the horse’s foot, and it should save money on shoes, right?
 
Wrong. He said now they are spending just as much money on blacksmith fees as they were on horseshoes and blacksmith fees but at least the hooves are healthier so it is a wash economically, but better for the horses.
 
You will still see some horses with a horseshoe on because their foot isn’t healthy enough to go without one.  Think of the horseshoe as an orthotic for the horse.
 
I found that very interesting; my kids were not so impressed.
 
Well, they finished working on this Belgian and we followed it back into the barn.

 
A last look at the blacksmith shop.

 
We walked back into the barn and there was a lot of hoof traffic. First we had to wait for this Cinderella pony to go past.

 
Then we had to wait for this gray Percheron.

 
We got to go in the Calliope Display area.

 
TICM talked to us about the hitch wagon.  It is just like Budweiser’s, to give you some perspective. This is what we use to compete with our draft horses at horse shows.  You can drop a pretty penny on a nice hitch wagon. We don’t typically have anything in the back of ours but Disney has the boxes in the back to look like they are hauling a load.
 
TICM explained that the fronts of the boxes are changeable, for example they can be presents at Christmas time.  They also have the capability of putting a chair on the back for Mickey to ride on in parades and such.
 
Disney has an 8 horse hitch of Percherons that tour the country. They do parades in big cities like New York and Chicago as well as attend other big events. This is the wagon they take on the road with the hitch.
 
The Disney hitch was at our county fair when I was a teenager in 1991.  Our county fair is the largest county fair in Ohio and the 3rd largest this side of the Mississippi so don’t go thinking the hitch goes to just any county fair.
 
Well, when the hitch came to Ohio it had the Calliope. It was really cool and I was bummed to see it wasn’t here. TICM assured me he would show me where the Calliope was. Hooray!
 
Then TICM took us over into the display area that has the Breyer model horses and the pictures to show us this.

 
He wanted to show us this harness display case. This is the old harness from the 8 horse hitch. They replaced it with new because the patent leather eventually just gets too old to stay nice no matter how well you take care of it.
 
They had to figure out what to do with the old harness. If they sold it they would have to take all the ‘Disney’ off of it which was going to cost a lot of money and make it worthless, so they decided instead to put the harness in display cases and give them as gifts. They gave a set to each of the managers in a nice display case.  
 
TICM and I have mutual friends who have their harness (not Disney harness) hanging on display in the off season (when they aren’t showing) in their living room and he said they were the inspiration for this idea.
 
Then he wanted to show us the current harness that they use.
We got to go behind the rope!!!!
 
We passed a lot of castmembers on our way and they all perked up as we came by and said hello to TICM.  It was obvious that guests behind the rope were rare and that made this tour so much better!
 
Disney has Shanahan harness.  For those in the business that means something.  It’s like the Cadillac or Lincoln of harness, so it’s the best money can buy.
 
The Percheron Hitch and the drafts on Main Street wear this harness.

 
It has the Mickey Mouse heads and the brass decorations, which are a pain to clean and polish, because it needs done after every time it’s worn.  That’s how it is done at Disney.  Poor guys.
 
Cinderella’s carriage is pulled by those crazy white ponies.  Yes, they are crazy!  They are ponies.  I am a draft horse person through and through and ponies scare me.
 
TICM confirmed that those ponies are ‘full of fire.’  That’s horse talk for ‘crazy but controllable.’  Horse people think that is good for a show horse because they will have a lot of ‘action.’ 
 
Ok, enough horse jargon.  The ponies also have Shanahan harness, but theirs is adorned with hearts for Cinderella, not Mickey Mouse.

 
Across from the harness room is the vet room.

 
TICM explained to us that life really changed for him at the TCD Ranch when Animal Kingdom opened.  The TCD Ranch fell under the new “Zoo” requirements. It was quite a change for TICM and the way things were done.  He said under “Zoo” requirements there are so many more rules and regulations to follow.
 
Every animal property wide undergoes a weekly vet check. A medical record, like we keep at the doctor’s office I work at, is kept on every animal and is updated every Thursday.  Exact meal records are now kept for each horse. Sometimes as a guest you see this on the signs on the doors that say timothy hay only or something similar. This comes from the “Zoo” change.  
 
It also makes buying horses a little tougher for him. Every possible purchase must pass this multi-point vet check. So buying at a big auction is no longer an option which honestly is how most draft horses change hands these days.
 
There is some good too, like unlimited vet budget. No more do you have to decide if a surgery or treatment is cost effective for a horse.  If the animal needs it, they get it. In the draft horse business that is rare. No draft horse person would be willing to spend $20,000 on surgery for a horse you may have only paid $4,000 for but now TICM doesn’t have to make those decisions anymore.
 
P.S. Draft horses are nothing like race horses. The most expensive draft horse ever sold still cost less than BuckeyeFortFamily’s F-350.
 
They have 100 horses at WDW and 35 of them are draft horses. TICM has 34 employees to care for them all. He doesn’t have any seasonal employees, which I think is crazy since there are some real draft horse people in the campground every year. He doesn’t have any part-timers either and there is no training. If you want a job, you learn it on your own and then maybe move up. Everybody works hard in his department because there is a lot to be done and not many employees to do it.
 
Worldwide there are 800-1000 animals under his care between horses, long horn cattle and bison. The non-horses are mainly at Paris. There isn't a horse operation in Paris quite yet, but that is in the works. I told him I find this odd since Percherons come from France and Belgians from Belgium and Clydes from Scotland. So, it’s not like there aren’t horses over there. TICM told us that riding horses really is an American thing and is quite popular among those International travelers wanting to experience America.  I find all of this so very interesting!

Bam!

The same argument could be used for a lot of things that upset us. For example "they are just a few barges with some lights and music, not worth getting all upset over"

The same argument could be used for a lot of things that upset us. For example "they are just a few barges with some lights and music, not worth getting all upset over"

Next we got in line to see Belle and were treated to what I like to call "Wishes over Beast Castle."
 

 

 

 
Inside the mirror room:
 

 
In the wardrobe room:
 

 

 
You'll notice thee will be a Fiend guard again.
 
But you will also notice that DS has been picked to play the Beast!
 

 
DD has been tabbed to be a dancing plate:
 

 
And now its time for the show:
 

 

 

 

 

 
DS did a great (and loud) job scaring Belle with his Beast roar and then got to dance with her at the end.
 
DD thought it was pretty cool too that her big brother got to do all that.
 
They both thought it was funny that I was picked to be a guard again.
 
DW thought I was picked to be a guard again bc it was the same CM giving out parts as the last time and DW thinks he had a bit of a crush on me.
 
She thinks she is funny.
 
And she is.
 
It's good to know I have universal appeal.
 
Next we would move on to the other New Fantasyland lady.....

Your wife is a smart woman.  Those damn teacups SMB.

This is our view as we entered the Odyssey Center
 

 
 
 
Then we were ushered over to a table that had 4 people sitting behind it to help 4 different families (there were 5 or so tables set up with 4 people each).  They were ready for the crowds but there weren't crowds when we were there.
 
Here the kids are choosing their characters for their cards.
 

 
Then they ask you to try them out as you leave so that it can record your fingerprint. 
 
 

 
 
 

This is our view as we entered the Odyssey Center
 

 
 
 
Then we were ushered over to a table that had 4 people sitting behind it to help 4 different families (there were 5 or so tables set up with 4 people each).  They were ready for the crowds but there weren't crowds when we were there.
 
Here the kids are choosing their characters for their cards.
 

 
Then they ask you to try them out as you leave so that it can record your fingerprint. 
 
 

 
 
 

We totally agree. We have pulled ours out well over the "allowed" days missed to go to Disney.
I make sure I am close with the prinicpal, nurse and their teachers and let the all know that I find life experience an important part of a child's education (I believe these words came right out of the student handbook) but that I don't want them to fall behind at school. So we get homework done ahead or bring it with and I let all involved that I have consulted the academic calendar before deciding when to take them out so they don't miss any major testing or test prep.
It has worked wonderfully for us for 5 years.
We have gone to Disney during peak and off peak times and have seen the park crazy busy and wide open.
The thing about Jersey week is that the park is full of the same demographic.
MY DEMOGRAPHIC-Families with school age children.
The waits are longer for what I want to do with my kids because everyone else at Disney is wanting to do what I want to do.
I should also mention that I am a midwesterner and my first Jersey week was a bit of culture shock for me. Every queue I waited in, every bus I rode (who am I kidding I didn't ride the bus!!!), on the monorail, in the restaurant lobbies, etc I felt like I was in New Jersey. Once I got used to the Jersey accents and "way of doing things" it was time to go home.
So my recommendation if you want to take advantage of your kids days of school, split your time between a few days during Jersey week then stay longer-you know when everyone else goes home so you can have the park to yourselves again.

Kelly, I totally agree, but I say that too loud my husband will say I am only interested in the "smolder"

And just when I was adding making an apple pie for Lou to my pre-vacation to do list.....
We break out in the "great big beautiful tomorrow song" on a nearly weekly basis at some point on the drive to school or dinner or both!
Innoventions is a kid favorite in the BuckeyeFortFamily and the People Mover is what everyone has said and so much more. The views from this ride are awesome and it allows you to see the park and 'people watch' from a whole new perspective!

TCD,
I see no need for worry. The fiends are a smart bunch of thrifty people.
We will soon find a way to wring more fun and less waits out of our "non-fastpass+ 's" than those with the deep pockets staying at the fancy pants resorts can get accomplished with their "head starts."
I see it as Disney's way of leveling the playing field because we fiends are just that good at getting the most out of our Disney trips.