Lil Lisa

Hey Lisa-

Your report now has over 10,000 views!

Way to go!

TCD

I feel like a rock star!! That's what happens when you drag a report on for months!

oh.. no!

Oh yeah..

I think Mason sheds a tear when he sees Fudge too!

He probably does! Hopefully Fudge won't be such a poop this year.

For the free wired access at the campsites, would you still need to get a modem from the outpost? I can't imagine they have enough of them for that demand.

Good question. I would assume so that you would still need one. I guess I am glad I can use my phone as a hotspot just in case.

ah.... pictures.... well I guess for you guys I'll let someone catch a picture of me. I am just slightly jealous... you got to have a Krispy Kreme AND meet Anna. Did you get some hugs?

I did! She gives great hugs and she is a little sweetie pie. Everything was great until she saw Fudge. Then she got scared and started to cry. I felt so bad!!

Wired works for now. Free is always good!

aww.... love the picture with the whole crew

That's what fiends are all about, right?

Great TR!

Thanks! Sorry it took so long to finish.

Loved the report!! Other than the rain it sounds like you had a magical time. Great score on the fiend meet and greets! You have met some fiends that I haven't even had the privilege of meeting yet, even if it wasn't Bob... I wish I lived close enough to go back so quickly. Maybe we'll meet you when we are there at the end of Sept.

I'm sensing that you cynics think that photo is a fake. My feelings are hurt.

Never! I just thought it was a really cushy couch... :rofl2:

Lou, are you wearing shoes in the house?

That was my first thought.

My second thought was, man... that must be some cushy couch. Your butt is half gone! :rofl2:

Bruce loves it.

Another awesome TCD trip report! I loved loved loved it!

More great updates! It's cool that you could see all of the different fireworks from your room. Being a few stories off the ground has its advantages. I still would never trade my camper for a hotel room tho.

Do you think that Tink starts MSEP because she always started off the Disney shows and movies back when they originally did the parade?

OK- bring on the chips!

And I will save mine too and bring them to the Fort to share with Dave on Russian beer night.

Or, at least that's what I'm going to tell Dave.

TCD

Yay! Who says that bribery doesn't work! :)

Fiends, doughnuts and grilled steak chips...sounds awesome! I'm glad you got to visit with Dave and his family!

It was!!

Loved these! I have found this brand in Michigan but not the Grilled Steak.

I really enjoyed spending time with you and Bruce. I hope we can meet up again sometime soon! Great TR by the way! :heartsmiley:

I have had a hard time finding them lately. They are easier to find in summer. I can't wait to meet up with you again too!

Great report Lisa!! Extra cool that you met up with Dave & family.

Can't wait til the fall...no chips needed, just you & Bruce please! :jumpforjoy

Sounds like a deal!

Not to worry Lil one, I'll be back, Snarkier than ever, once the Pixie Dust wears off. Yup, even brain washed CMs succumb to it.

Phew!! I was starting to worry.

Just came over here from the Weathervane thread, sure looks like "MR SNARKY" made it back, over there!!

:rofl2:

That meet up was a highlight of the month for us!! Getting to meet Lisa and Bruce was priceless. I hope we get to spend some quality camping time together some day. And those chips! OH MY THOSE CHIPS!! I decided after getting home with them that they deserved a special occasion to be enjoyed. And I knew just what that occasion would be.

Thanksgiving at the Fort with the Fiends!!!! Steak chips go very well with Russian beer!!!

And apparently steak chips make me mimic Lorna faces.

And here are more Fiends that enjoyed those chips.

It's kind of amazing when you think of it. Those chips really traveled!!! From MN, to the Fort, up to TN, and back to the Fort!

The Lorna face was classic. I can't see both of your shoes. Do they match?

I'm glad you didn't say that the chips 'got around'. That would have made them feel bad. It is cool that my little gift was special enough to warrant a special occasion and pictures.

Lil' Lisa-

Great job on the trip report!!!

Dave-

The Russian beer I remember. The steak chips I do not. Maybe I got the beer to chip thing out of proportion, and that's why I don't remember. But, I think I missed the chips.

TCD

Thanks TCD! I told you I would get it done eventually.

If you promise to come and visit me in Sept, I will bring you some steak chips.

Lisa,

Thanks for finishing up the TR. It was a good read.

Thanks Jeff! Good things come to those who wait, right?

I stand corrected!

Can anyone provide a full list?

You were report

Alright all you hooligans, I'm back and as promised, I'm not doing no stinkin TR.

I will say that the entire cruise was absolutely fantastic.

The ship was beautiful beyond any expectations. Our cabin and deck were huge, it wasn't your standard run of mill cabin. I'll post photos when I get a chance. The crew members were the best. The food was great and the activities kept us as busy as we wanted to be.

A problem may be that it probably spoiled us for any other cruises. I just can't imagine it being any better with another cruise line. It's like comparing other theme parks and campgrounds after you've been to WDW and the Fort.

A special shout out about how great a job they do keeping all the kids busy and entertained. I didn't see any situations with kids misbehaving. They were just having a great time.

So if you're planning on doing a cruise, are a Disney person, don't mind having lots of kids around and enjoy a family atmosphere, a DCL cruise is the only way to go.

However if you're the party animal type, it's not for you. You'll be very disappointed. Not that there weren't any clubs or drinking going on, there are plenty of adult only areas and clubs, but it's not their main focus. They seem to be perfectly happy to let other cruise lines have that share of the cruise market.

And because it's done the Disney way, it will cost quite a bit more, but IMO, it's well worth the difference.

Couldn't this be considered a trip report? It was short and sweet, but it is a trip report...

Glad to hear that you had a good time!

One last thing before we wrap up this report. Over the summer I had tempted our very own DaveInTN’s tummy with a picture of these:

He made me feel so guilty about not sharing that I promised to pack a bag of them in the camper and deliver them to him as we passed through Tennessee. We plotted and we schemed and after a few false starts, we came up with a plan to get together on our way home. Those of you who read my trip report last year know that Bruce and I stopped at the Krispy Kreme in Smyrna, TN to see Frank. Dave and I decided that this would be the perfect place to meet this year too. We planned the approximate time based on where we stopped the night before and then we kept in touch by texting as we got closer. Texting with Dave turned our little get together into a full days exciment!!

We arrived, had donuts and coffee and chatted for a while. Dave contemplated a new career choice – he liked the hat:

And here is the whole crew (now you know what I look like when I am asleep):

It was a great meet-up and a great end to a great vacation! I hope we can do it again when we head to the Fort this fall. I’ll bring the chips!!

I am waiting for the pictures so we can start his TR for him!

That's gonna be good!

Great TR. Makes me what to go to WDW. Oh, wait everything makes me want to go to WDW. :yaysmilesa-smiley:

I want to retire too!! Then I can plan multiple trips like you guys have!

I agree that Lisa is a special women, but I was the lucky one to have her and Bruce get on my bus. It just doesn't happen. I think the odds are about 1 in 6000. It's extremely rare to pick up a Fiend.

I did have another person that was on the other board that was staying at the Fort ride my bus, but we hadn't met previously. So Lisa is the first Fiend that I actually knew ahead of time to ever ride on one of my buses in almost four years.

What??? No snarky comments? I am hurt! No more cruises for you Mister! It made you soft. :rofl2:

Speaking of our beefcake busdriver... Shouldn't he be back from his cruise by now??

An actual Lou encounter.. on his bus! Awesome!

Barrels, new friends, my head is spinning from all of the stuff in this update! :banana:

I know! What are the odds! It was fiendishly magical!

it takes so little after the barrels

I really have to give them a try this fall...

You are a special women Lisa, you beat the odds. It has to be very unlikely that Lou would be your driver! Were you trying to make Bruce jealous after all the attention he showed Trevor?

Not only did I beat the odds, but I lived to tell about it! :rofl2:

Bruce knows that I'm a hugger. When I fell on Lou he just chalked it up as 'par for the course' for me.

Awesome trip report Lisa!!!!

Thanks Carol!

:rofl2:

What a fun day Lisa! Lou and margaritas? I would say that's almost near perfect.

Tess curled up with Mickey is too cute. :heart: Is she getting any better dealing with people?

Can't wait to see you guys again!

If I had drank the margarita prior to the bus ride, that may have been a good excuse for falling.

Our little TB loooooves her Mickey! Of course he is quite a bit worse for wear now. He no longer has a tail, his pants look like the ones that the incredible hulk wears and he has lost half of his left ear, but she loves him. She is a bit better with people, but still very shy.

Cool update!! I've sometimes wondered whether we ever rode on Lou's bus before we knew who Lou was. It's possible, but probably unlikely. In any case, looking forward to your next update. Looks like you may just finish this one before your next trip afterall!!

Hmmmmmm... I wonder why??? Could it be the funny paper hat??

There is always a first for everything.

I had already let him chauffer me around once on this trip and lived to tell about it. I wasn't worried at all. Well... maybe just a little.

Your wish is my command... :rofl2:

Awesome! Is it just me, or is anyone else reminded of old Biff from Back to the Future? :rofl2:

A picture of Lou in his work gear! I didn't know he hugged.. his street cred says otherwise!

I guess you could say that I 'threw myself at him'

Don't go away though... There is just a bit more to come...

Well, I hate to break up the food party, but I think it’s time to move this report from brisket to busdriver beefcake…

But first! (Where is that needle scratching across a record sound when you need it?)…

We started the day with a little bit of looping.

Nobody was getting hitched today, or unhitched for that matter.

Anybody recognize this site? Yep! It’s TCD’s favorite site – 617. Such a shame that a primo site like that was sitting empty.

What the sites in the 600 loop are lacking in shade, they definitely make up for in scenery. I wouldn’t mind staying in this loop as long as we weren’t assigned to site 617.

Once we were done looping we packed the pups in the camper and headed off to the bus stop. We decided that we would spend our last Disney day at Epcot.

The view from the bus stop:

The view of the bus arriving – notice the bus driver waving frantically:

Now why would the bus driver wave so frantically? Was it because Bruce was standing in the road taking his picture and he wanted him to get out of his way? Nope! It was because this was no ordinary bus driver. It was the one… the only… the best bus driver in the whole darn Disney World… Lou!! We had the bus to ourselves…

And he got us safely to our destination.

It was so great to be one of the few who have been fortunate enough to have Lou as their bus driver. We had said our goodbyes a few nights ago, but here we were and I had the chance for one last hug. As we were heading to the door, I went in for the kill and promptly tripped on the step up to the driver’s seat and ... You guessed it! I fell! But Lou came to my rescue and caught me. Only my pride was hurt.

I got one last shot before we skedaddled off to the park.

On the way in we saw these guys. I’m not sure how they got so far away from the Fort.

A bit later we saw these guys:

We saw Gary and Marilyn a few times that day as a matter of fact. It seemed like every place that we were coming out of, they were going in or vice versa. I’m not sure who was stalking who, but each time we saw each other, we stopped and chatted for a bit. We are going to be at the Fort the same time as they are again next year and we have plans to spend more quality time together.

We did Spaceship Earth just because it was there.

And Test Track because it is cool.

Whenever I see these signs, I always think about Lili von Schtup in Blazing Saddles. Do you think that is what they had in mind?

Then we headed off around world showcase. We finally rode Maelstrom without having to walk off the ride and then we went to visit my favorite troll. You’ve got to watch out for that guy… He likes to pinch butts.

Then we went to Mexico and saw the three caballeros (we sing and we samba…) and got a margarita.

We decided to call it a day and we went back to the campground. Bruce took Tessy to the dog park.

And then we took the pups for some late night looping.

Then we took the pups back to the camper and headed down to the Settlement one last time.

I wish I would have known that these took quarters!

And then we watched the fireworks. I know it is a terrible fireworks picture, but sadly it is the best one I have.

And that was it… Our last day was over. We all got ready for bed and we had sweet dreams about all that we had done on our Fun Filled Foray Into Fantabulous Fort Festivities!