Brent... Just Brent

Great report so far Aaron. Looks like a great time. I hope your kids enjoyed Gettysburg. I remember hating it as a kid, but would love to go back now. Can't wait to read more.

I think you'll find a lot of opinions here. The consensus seems to be that everyone loves the Giddy ya and Go (GAG) takeout. I think the pizza is pretty much split. I did get one last summer and it was better than I expected, but not fantastic. Very thick crust. 

Enjoy the Fort!

$18.38 in 1982 is equal to $44.22 today.  I think 2nd seating HDDR prices today are higher than that....so the price increases have outpaced inflation. 

 

http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=18.38&year1=1982&year2=2013

Without a doubt... however, the most expensive park ticket was $15 that year. At $90+ currently, HDDR is looking pretty good as far as increase goes.

Welcome back! 

I started out at the Fort tent camping and definitely overdid it on the first trip. In fact, I think I told this story in my first TR elsewhere, when I pulled into a rest area in Georgia on my way down, I had so much stuff in my car that an older couple asked me where I was moving to. I discovered that, to really do the complete setup with the awning, cooking appliances, etc took most of a day. And you had to start breaking down the afternoon before you planned to leave. For me, it wasn't worth it to do that and stay less than 5 days.

I'd start as simple as you possibly can. The tent is, for me, the easy part. It usually takes 10 - 15 minutes to get it up. The awning contraptions nearly killed me a couple of times. I threw the last one out the last time I tent camped. It's nearly impossible to do alone without bending a pole, so you would need help from the kids.

As far as a mini fridge - if you have it, definitely bring it. Coolers are a pain and a good one costs almost the same as a fridge. Like Carol said, the ice also becomes an issue. I ruined food a couple of times. 

I don't think you really need a lantern. I have a lightbulb/socket that I just hang from the top of the tent. I use Christmas lights outside for low lighting. A flashlight might come in handy, but no need to get a lantern.

Air mattress, sleeping bag, fleece blanket (to put on top of the air mattress), a fan and you should be all set inside your tent. I used a plastic tote that I call my camping box as a "night stand" to charge my phone on.

Speaking of power... I usually bring two heavy duty 25' extension cords and two power strips. With that, I'm covered.

That's about all I can think of right now. Make a list, check it three times, take it camping with you to amend and you should be all set.

Good luck and enjoy the Fort!

Interesting that $18.38 was the cost in 1982. All things considered, the price doesn't seem so bad when you look at how much tickets and other things have gone up in price.

I bet they start charging for parking.

I was just about to say the same thing.

Great report, Aaron. Looks like you guys had a great time, but I think I'd need a vacation after that!

Umm. That would be an experience of a lifetime. Wow.

I've always been perplexed by these. What do people/Fiends do with them after you eat the popcorn?

That's a great camera! I use that one at work and really enjoy it. I do have to agree on the lens upgrade, though. It's an expensive hobby. The L-series lenses make all the difference.

My only other suggestion is to never use the auto mode. Shoot in RAW. I use full manual 99.5% of the time. You'll get the hang of it really quickly. Both Lightroom and Aperture doa great job managing your RAW images.

Have fun!

The current parade at DHS was far from good. And I think it only made two stops. I may or may not have a friend in it. It's predecessor was fantastic. The Toy Story something I think it was. Overall, though, I still preferred Stars and Motorcars. It just fit the park so well.

Nicki... You could always "lose" your paper pass and then just replace it with a new one at guest services.

So yeah. I've been to the festival. It wasn't quite as big of a deal as it looked like on tv, but it sure is fun. All of a sudden I want some pie...

Woohoo! Another TCD tr.

Thanks for sharing some flower and garden pics. Looks like I can't make it this year and your reports are the next best thing.

They do. It's a full-service bar there in the restaurant. It just happens to also have a takeout window. They make the frozen drinks in a blender (I've seen them, and more importantly waited on them), so like anywhere else at WDW, they shouldn't give you a hard time about taking your money.

If you're talking about these signs:

You can order them right here in the Store. With enough notice, they can be delivered to the Fort for you.

Wow. That's great work. The Mickey and Disney characters are great, but you guys did a really fantastic job inside, too.

I'm speaking from past experiences so someone may come along and let me know if something has changed. The way I've done it, and it worked, was to make sure the reservations were linked. At one time you could do it on your reservation online, but I've also called with both reservation numbers and ask that the other person's be linked to mine. They did the same and it worked.

I'd also fax a request in about 5 days prior to arrival with the reservation numbers and request that you be side by side. The fax request info can be found here: http://www.fortfiends.net/forum/topic/79-fort-wilderness-faq/ (Sorry I couldn't make it a link, but that toolbar isn't showing up for some reason)

If you get there and the sites aren't side by side, you can always request (pester) at the front desk to make it happen. I know we did that once at a value and it worked out just fine.

I'll wait for Carol to chime in. She's the expert at such things.

Oh, and welcome!

Great report. The walking tour of the Fort was fantastic. My first few trips I was cartless and did a lot of walking. It's amazing how much more detail you see when on foot.

That's pretty light to be anything but the dry weight. There was a sticker inside the frame of the drivers side door of my silverado that had the towing capacities on it. Since that's well within my Dodge's capability, I feel certain it's within yours... Assuming you have the towing package.

I think I've got all of the comments out of the way, so, on with the show!

I didn't really talk too much about why this trip was happening before. Short story - RELAXATION. I had no park tickets and didn't really have the desire to go to a park. I always try to do a trip around this time just to get away from the craziness that is college football season. I needed it more than ever this year.

Wednesday

So we made it through Tuesday and now it's Wednesday. It was definitely going to be a Fort Day. In retrospect, this was a bad idea. We should have gotten the "go and do" out of the way today so we could relax on the back end. Boy that didn't happen.

Carol was arriving today. I got a message from Stef that she and Trevor were coming in on Friday (I think) AND some friends from Atlanta commented on my Facebook post that they were towing their camper down for a week and were coming a day early so we could overlap. The week was filling up fast.

So, today all we did we have some coffee:

(I must have bought that mug somewhere along the way)

Then we went exploring. Justin had seen my spike when he was in my office one day and was really curious about the FWRR. So, I thought I knew it all and tried to show off. Well, that didn't go exactly as planned, but eventually we found tracks and more tracks and wandered into the woods. It was actually a great experience and I'm glad I got to see some of the old tracks.

Then, back to the site I grilled up dinner and called it a night.

Thursday

This morning, while Justin was showering, I set off on a mission. A mission to find Mouse-ke-T@b Carol! Well, I found the camper in the 1700 loop, but no Carol. I'm guessing she was still sound asleep. So, coffee, breakfast, coffee, lunch... I was entering into danger zone away from the gym all week. So, we did some daytime looping - also known as "You only need three layers to loop when the sun is out" and decided to do some resort touring it looks like.

We took the boat to the Contemporary and monorailed over to the Poly.

I always like seeing the Poly during the holidays, but next it was off to the Grand Floridian. They somehow let the riffraff in...

The big tree.

The Gingerbread House was the reason I assume I drug us over there. There were lots of photos and whatnot, but I'll spare you. I will say, though, that it really felt like Christmas there in the GF lobby.

After leaving the Grand, we monorailed over the MK and hopped the Lodge boat.

The Lodge is so nice at Christmas. And the fireplace was awesome this particular week. We definitely hung out there for a while.

So after that, more food and then we got to meet Carol! It was so great to finally meet her and she was so nice! I think we've mentioned on here before that we've probably met in years past at RADP/Mousefest events, but if so we don't remember. It really felt like I was in the company of FF royalty! We chatted a little and then I think she stopped by later that evening, but I don't have notes.

It was an early night to bed (for me at least) with the heat cranking in the camper because on Friday I was going to meet the Punch Lady herself!

More to come soon!

I'm in! Looking forward to more!

The lights and decorations look good.

I was thinking of buying some battery operated LED lights for our December trip.

Sucks about the morning wakeup but ants would definitely SMMB.

About the lights... they really were a lot of fun. I saw some at Target and almost bought them, but ended up passing. A few days later I was in Big Lots (discount store) and they had them for, I think, $4. Was kind of a no-brainer. I already had rechargeable AA's. They ended out working great.

The ants SMB for Nancy the Bird Lady WAY more than the gas powered tree trimmer did for me!

Count me in!!

Welcome, Jason!

I'm here !

Welcome, John!

Great start.

Patiently waiting for more.

You don't have to wait much longer. Another update on the way!

More! More! Not sure when my next trip will be so I'm living vicariously through trip reports!

I'm the same way this time of year. It's almost painful to read them because you just know you won't get to go back for a while.

I'm here! Great start!

Thanks, Dave.

Awesome start Brent!!! Can't wait to read more!

Thanks Carol! I'm about to get to the part where you arrive!

Great start to your TR. The site and cart look nice. :)

Thanks. I never said that I went into it wanting to go over the top. Unfortunately, we would have needed a breaker box to add any more lights. That's probably 30 strands and barely makes a dent in the site as far as decorating goes.

I'm in. Good looking cart and site. I'm ready for more.

Thanks!

Your site looks great.

Thanks!

I'm in.

It's great to see a TR from you, Brent.

Good job on the lights at the site ( I guess Justin gets credit for those).

Looking forward to more.

TCD

Thanks! No giant gator inflatables, but I think we did ok.

Great start. I like the lights. Can't wait for more.

Thanks, Bo.

It's NEVER too late to write a TR!

It's a good thing I jotted some notes or it wouldn't be much of one!

i'm in

Glad a WW made it!

I'm in too!

Welcome, Brenda!

I'm in too. :pc:

Welcome, Amy!

Glad to hear there are so many coming... now if I can just figure out a way to ship gas to Bob...

The stuff gets EVERYWHERE, and turns into this sticky mess when wet.

When I was in the 2000 loop last June and it rained everyday, that stuff got on EVERYTHING. You couldn't get from the comfort station back into the popup without it being all the way up to your knees. It was in my bed, my car, my luggage. That stuff is terrible.