YENSIDCAMPER

We are booked!

Me too.  Looking forward to seeing you again!

Welcome!  You will love reading about the Fort here. 

Sounds good.  I will let you know what site I get booked.

Just not Labor Day, but that might work as well.  We can be very flexible.

We are in!

Already in the dog house, roof not needed.  
 
Just kidding.

That is great!  Love those jugs.

Back on topic, we have been at the Fort for Thanksgiving 3 times.  We have made the Hollywood Brown Derby our Thanksgiving tradition.  We typically got a late dinner time and then were able to go to the Osborne family lights with almost no crowds.  Our Bellies were full and the streets were empty and we got to enjoy Thanksgiving and look forward to Christmas.  Not a home cooked meal but it is one of our favorite memories.  Below is a picture we took in 2012 after eating at Brown Derby on Thanksgiving.  Notice there is no one else in the shot.
 
If you aren't resolved to a home cooked meal I highly recommend this strategy.
 

We have spent a combined two months in a pop up at Fort Wilderness.  We love it and hopefully will be there again soon.  
 
1.  Bring a small home dehumidifier.  Plan on emptying it twice a day.  I can't tell you how much nicer this makes the inside of your pop up.  
2.  I hope you have AC in your pop up, although ours broke on the last trip and we made it just fine.
3.  Oscillating fans are good too to keep air moving to the bunks but not necessary unless you don't have AC.
4.  Tilt your awning al least 12 inches.  We got a down pour and it ripped our awning off the camper back in 2006.  We had tilted ours about 3 inches and that wasn't enough for the Florida deluge.  Works great in TN but not so good in the "Sunshine" state.
5.  The 2000 loop isn't that bad it is more like camping than the 1500 loop.  I prefer it, especially if you have a bike or golf cart to get to the Meadows and beach.
6.  The campground has a lot to do, don't plan everyday at the parks.  You will miss a lot that the Fort has to offer, like relaxing.
7.  Take lots of quarters for Laundry if you are there long term.
8.  Don't buy the refillable mugs because the places aren't open during coffee times and if you don't adhere to #6 then you won't be able to use them enough anyway.
9.  Screen room or Add-a-room is a nice way to have extra space that stays dry during rainy times.  We set up a whole kitchen under ours and it is awesome, especially when we stayed for 14 days.
10.  TAKE a dehumidifier!  Did I say that already?

We have spent a combined two months in a pop up at Fort Wilderness.  We love it and hopefully will be there again soon.  
 
1.  Bring a small home dehumidifier.  Plan on emptying it twice a day.  I can't tell you how much nicer this makes the inside of your pop up.  
2.  I hope you have AC in your pop up, although ours broke on the last trip and we made it just fine.
3.  Oscillating fans are good too to keep air moving to the bunks but not necessary unless you don't have AC.
4.  Tilt your awning al least 12 inches.  We got a down pour and it ripped our awning off the camper back in 2006.  We had tilted ours about 3 inches and that wasn't enough for the Florida deluge.  Works great in TN but not so good in the "Sunshine" state.
5.  The 2000 loop isn't that bad it is more like camping than the 1500 loop.  I prefer it, especially if you have a bike or golf cart to get to the Meadows and beach.
6.  The campground has a lot to do, don't plan everyday at the parks.  You will miss a lot that the Fort has to offer, like relaxing.
7.  Take lots of quarters for Laundry if you are there long term.
8.  Don't buy the refillable mugs because the places aren't open during coffee times and if you don't adhere to #6 then you won't be able to use them enough anyway.
9.  Screen room or Add-a-room is a nice way to have extra space that stays dry during rainy times.  We set up a whole kitchen under ours and it is awesome, especially when we stayed for 14 days.
10.  TAKE a dehumidifier!  Did I say that already?

We like Fort Pickens in Pensacola.  Unfortunately there aren't many shaded sites due to hurricane Ivan, but it is still a great place for a beach trip.

I could not have imagined I would meet so many people from this board it has been awesome, simply awesome!  I am glad I saw those signs and decided to check it out.
 
 
I agree!
 
 
It was a real pleasure to meet you, the twins, and Ray and his family this summer.  I have always enjoyed your wit and writing on this board but your two girls are the real deal.  They are some of the nicest and most well spoken young ladies I have met in a long time.  They are special.  I know you are proud of them and you should be.
 
I could have stood and talked with you all for a long time that day.
 
 
Beth and I are lucky to have such a special family of Fiends living so close.  Your family is amazing! It usually doesn't take long to realize that I out kicked my coverage when I married Beth.  I look forward to some more camping with you guys soon.
 
What can I say about Lou?  We got to have Lou by our site twice now.  Unfortunately I missed you this past June.  I hope to see you again soon.  You will be glad to know your engineering stories inspired me and my kids are now enjoying robotics. 
 
I never knew joining this board would have blessed me and my family with the friendships we now enjoy!  I encourage anyone reading to get involved and make some GG.  You will not regret it.

Sorry, I had a weak moment…
Too much Rattle and Hum this afternoon watching the football game.

Well I was banned and it was the best thing that could have happened.  I stumbled on to Fort Fiends in Nov. 2011 on a trip to the Fort.  I was looping in my car and saw FF signs with familiar screen names. I hadn't been reading on the other board when the flush occurred so I was very confused.  I logged on and posted on FF and before I knew it there was a spike on our table.  Really confused at that point because I did not know where it came from. (TCD it turned out)  When we finished our trip, I made a post referencing the spike on the other board, not knowing what was going on mind you, and I was banned immediately!  I realized by reading on FF what was going on and never looked back.  One group was trying to welcome me and the other group was driving people away.  Long Live the Fiends!
 
The Fiends are great folks and although I come and go it is always like meeting up with an old school friend, you just pick up where you left off!  I have really enjoyed getting to meet about 20-30 different Fiends over the years, and it is always a blast.
 
So welcome Mikeypro, enjoy and I hope I get to meet you sometime soon.  We share a taste for German beer and I too have a Bayside as well as a beer guard dog!  Wish we were coming to the Fort this November.

Best, the hundreds of Fiends I've met and become real friends with.
Worst, They always end up leaving.

We had another great time with Fiends.  Defeated Creek is a beautiful campground and Dave always delivers awesome weather! As Dave said this is his fourth year and it was our third.  I love getting to meet new Fiends.  It was great to have Grumpy and Grandma return as well YellowXterra.  Yvonne and Carol are regulars and it was great to meet new faces in lklasing and hubby.  We missed Bob, Judy, and Jen this year… hopefullly next year!  What I enjoy the most is seeing the young Fiends get along so well.  I think Leslie said it best when we were talking, "..how lucky are these kids to have parents that love going to Disney World."  I can't help but think how lucky they are to see their parents making new friends and learning to make friends of their own.  I only hope our kids enjoy Disney with their kids the way we have.
 
Here is the only picture I took all weekend and I think it shows what a great group of "Little Fiends" we have.  Where else can you see kids of such varied ages playing int he dirt together?
 

 
Thanks to all of the Fiends that made this a Magical Weekend!

We were shopping here Monday night. It was still boarded up on an earlier visit... We liked the stores. There were items we hadn't seen anywhere else. My DS found a replica of an old Mickey Bar sign. He didn't buy it then but decided he really wanted it. We made a special trip there as we are heading home so he can buy it... They were all out and wouldn't sell the display ones (there were 2)! He was bummed.
DW saw lots of Vera Bradley designs not in any other stores. Also some nice jewelry. The design your own phone cases looked popular. We were glad to get to see it open.

Gate has worked only once with the MB so far. Just got back from Kona cafe did not work this morning on the gate coming back. BTW the Poly is a wreck with the construction.

Pretty sure I saw this today. I will be on the lookout for you while we are here this week.

Pretty sure I saw this today. I will be on the lookout for you while we are here this week.

I saw where they had changed that, it makes sense that they closed that loop hole.

Okay for once I may have some fresh news.  One of the CMs on the ride is the child of a friend of mine.  I have not watched the video and I won't until I ride the thing in June.  I also have not read anything about the parade.  I like to be surprised by the real things.
 
The word is the ride is pretty cool and the scenery/story is awesome, but it is not a coaster and anyone wanting anything with a coaster appeal is not going to like it.
 
Not hard to put that together but this is from an actual person who rode it.

Have a great time!  Make sure to get by and visit Marilyn and Gary.  They are fun folks!

I love the perspective in this picture!
 
As Anna does to all the Fiends, she has captured the YC clan's hearts.  I would chase after her all day.  We had a great time on this day when Anna wanted to continue to walk with us as we were going to our site after breakfast.  We were able to snap a few good pixs.
 

 

 
Anna was so fun playing with her glow necklace in the hammock.  We had to be on our toes to keep her safe in the hammock but she loved it.
 
We had a great visit with Carol as we were leaving.  When we left we wished we had just stayed another night and skipped work and school the next day.
 
I was so happy to see the little Fiends getting along so well.  My oldest is a little reserved and it was great to have Judy, Yvonne  and Dave's kids working hard to have him and his little brother included in what they were doing.   
 
The story behind the Gorilla goes like this... I went over to the playground to put an end to the flashlights shinning on the kids and across the campground.  No sooner than I stepped foot on the playground the kids in a site close by shined the light in my eyes.  So I walked over and asked them if they were ever told how you shouldn't shine lights in people's eyes.  They were scared to death so I shined my light quickly across where they were sitting and I told them I didn't want to see those lights shinning again in the direction of the playground.  It worked  great.  I have no idea where their parents were as I was expecting to see some adults somewhere.  Well there was a larger group of adults in another site across the field and I caught site of the gorilla going in one of the campers.  They had appeared to be enjoying some libations of their own.  According to my kids the group of adults came over with one of them in the suit and sat and played on the playground being silly.  They weren't being mean spirited just silly and trying to be funny.  They just thought it was weird for an adult to be doing this as they clearly wanted to get the kids attention at the playground.  It seemed odd for them to do this but it wasn't in a mean way.  Our kids were tired of the flashlights and the weird person in the gorilla suit made them decide to leave.
 
I can't wait till next year!
 
Go Braves.