h2odivers...Ray

From FOX 35
Great news for college students who love Disney!
Disney has announced that the Disney College Program is returning in June.
Those students whose programs ended early or were suspended last year due to COVID-19 are being asked to reapply.
Disney said it has simplified its application process and modified its eligibility requirement so many who have already graduated can still apply
 
https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/disney-world-to-bring-back-disney-college-program-starting-in-june

Now this could be really exciting for us.  Assuming Canadians will finally be allowed to cross the border my daughter has booked a campsite for eight of us to actually go to the Fort in January 2022.  We have a new family member who has never been to WDW!   And we (hubby and I) haven't stayed at the Fort in over 4 years.  At this point all our fingers are crossed!!!  

As a long time AP holder I paid for unlimited, unrestricted access to all 4 parks.  With the ability to park hop as I please.  Because of the pandemic those items, which I paid for, were taken away. I get it. Things had to change to accommodate as many guests as possible.   But why is it the AP seems to be hurt the most?

disney choose to sell new tickets to the parks. (Regular tickets.). Therefore limiting the access to people like myself that had already paid for tickets.   
 
What would you tell someone who bought a 7 day pass last month but when they arrived at WDW were told they could only go 4 times to the parks?  

Effectively that’s what they did to AP holders. 
 
If I was in charge I would have let AP holders but their AP on hold until they (the AP holder) were ready to return to the park or until the park Reservation system was removed and things went back to normal. 
And/or offer AP holders a big discount on their renewal to make up for the LOSS they (the AP holders) suffered due to the pandemic. 
 
 

Also a big Wawa fan, when I drove tractor trailer for UPS it was at least twice a night stop for coffee. On a side note I am even a bigger fan of Wawa as my dad was a delivery driver back in the VERY early days to houses when I was born so I tell everyone I am the milkman's baby 

There is already a page on Facebook for Fort Fiends. If you have not already liked the page here is the link. 
https://m.facebook.com/fortfiends/
Also, it is imperative that we “like” the posts and comment on them. I have been slacking in this area. 

But apparently they are already "relaxing" the rules.   You can take it off for a photo.. the rumor is out that the rule is being relaxed at the FORT in certain areas. We were at DS Thursday and many people were sitting, no food or drink, with their masks off, no CM commented.   We will see....

From WESH 2
Mask mandate in Orange County could be relaxed, mayor says
https://www.wesh.com › article › orange-county-mask-..

Buc-ees is a tradition for all us okies heading south into texas.  
No matter what else you get there you have to try their homemade potato chips. 
thick cut with just the right amount of salt. 

I know that camping gatherings are on hold until all this junk is behind us, but I still wanted to thank each and every one of you for sticking around and keeping the "dream" alive of one day getting together again.  On this day, 10 years ago, a couple of minutes after midnight, this forum began.  (I then, 10 minutes later, was unceremoniously banned from Voldemort, lol)
We recently had our Wild Womenz Weekend 2021, with COVID restrictions of course, and it was one of the best evah!  Some of our regulars couldn't make it at the last minute, but we knew they were there in spirit.  
COVID has been especially hard on teachers and being one, I have never, ever, been so swamped in my life.  We all know that life gets in the way for all of us and for anyone who is still really hurting from COVID, you are in my prayers.  
As I enter the twilight years of my education career, I am stepping up our focus on social media for FortFiends and beyond.  We will be moving forward with an Instagram and Ticktok page for FortFiends and this year renewing our trademark and applying for a logo mark (I think that is how you say it?  TCD?  help me out here) for Snarky, our mascot.   You may see in the coming weeks a tiny change to the bottom of the website.  Chris and I are merging the three businesses into one LLC.  FortFiends will be a DBA of Snarky Enterprises, along with the other two companies.  Nothing that you are used to will change, except names.  This will make things much easier come each tax season.  I will be updating the store to include our logo for the year and take out old and dated things and freshen up the look, with SuperGeek's help of course.  
Chris and I appreciate each of you and treasure the people who help behind the scenes.  They help in ways most of you will never know, but count on to keep things moving along.   Over the years, we have had many ups and downs, but all in all, I would say that my most treasured friends are fiends.  Fiends are the type of friends that just pick up where they left off, now matter how long of a time apart.  I look forward so much to WWW each year that if I dare say I am too busy to go, Chris will physically push me out of the door.  Even the girls know I am a squirrel and get distracted and call to make sure I am on the road.  You just can't find people like that in the normal universe.  They are friends you hold dear to your heart.
I challenge each of you, myself included, to make yourself get out of the house and go camping this year if you have been in hiatus. If you haven't, I challenge you to go more.   I also challenge you to invite people to this forum to discuss and share the love of camping.  We have regulars, yes.  We always need more regulars!  I plan on going camping more to just get out of the house.  We keep going virtual school then in person, then virtual and so on.  It is nice for a change and I know if I need it, so do you.  
If and when the world gets back to some kind of normal, we will be planning a 10th anniversary grand gathering.  I have no clue where or when because...COVID.  I do however seem to think it needs to be somewhere a little more affordable than the current rates at Disney.  Some of the WWW womenz have suggested a couple of new RV parks that will be opening soon around the area.  I will be checking them out for upcoming events.  I do know that WWW is expanding (hopefully) to a twice a year event.  Honestly, that makes me giddy!  Maybe the men can start to have a weekend without the women????
Please give a shout out to Monique, who is our trusted and love logo makers of all things Snarky, who designed our anniversary logo again.  We could not survive without her.
Until we meet again in person
Jen (and Chris, aka SuperGeek)

Hey, y'all!  I'm back!  And my little finger is working better now, as you can tell. I have about 4" of incisions on my elbow,   I had a severe case of ulnar nerve entrapment in my elbow that was corrected.  Basically I had the same thing as carpal tunnel syndrome, only it was in my elbow. I ignored it too long, and it was to the point that it was either surgery or lose the use of my hand.  
I'm 10 days post surgery, and you wouldn't believe how well I'm healing.  I was unbelievably blessed with a wonderful surgeon, no pain, not even having to take pain pills after surgery, just everything went so well.  
Anyway, in 10 more days, if everything goes as planned, we're scheduled to make another quick trip to WDW, thanks to a wonderful friend you all know, but there are some circumstances that make this next trip iffy.  Anyway, I want to get this TR wrapped up before the next trip starts. 
So over the weekend I'm gonna try to make a huge dent in finishing it.  

A while back I asked if anyone had an old Fort Wilderness pennant that they would want to part with. While I didn't have any luck here I was able to snag one after a very long and exhaustive search. Now one may ask why I wanted a pennant from the 70s but I had my reasons. I am doing a redesign of my den since I am pretty much working from home for the foreseeable future.
We built and moved into our new house in 2015. Since then the den has been the go to crap catcher room and it was a mess. After banishing the wife and kids from the tables we had setup for them to do their work, I redesigned my den. And redesign I did. While I am not ready to post pictures of the entire room, I am ready to share one of my most prized possessions.
After some crafting work with a shadowbox, here is my daily reminder of the Fort....

For those wondering, I was able to locate both the pennant and an unopened bolo tie of musket mickey that was used as part of the cast costumes around the Fort. While those displayed nicely the crown jewel is the red Fort Wilderness sign. I was lucky enough to find it in an online sale of items that were removed from service at Disney. This particular red sign was used on the bus directional billboard at Hollywood Studios right outside of the gate. I snagged it as soon as it hit the sale listing.
Needless to say I am very happy with the turnout. Now to find my railroad spike that I was gifted from TCD a few years back. It's in another part of my collection and I need to add to this display. At that point it will be complete.

No. Only those with an opening date. 

I’ll say it again… Instead of cutting entertainment, employees, etc.
cut the prices of their tickets. They’re giving us a subpar product and still charging the same price. 
 
It will bring more people to the parks and those people will spend money on meals and merchandise

Funny even with all the cut backs I just got a email for the bargain of the year (Ha Ha) to add onto my DVC...heck right now I would prefer to get rid of it NOT ADD ON!!!!

Depending when you go (holidays or over a weekend) the 2000 loop can be party central.
Large groups come in and take over multiple sites.  They will use one site just for a kitchen set up with 3 or 4 EZ Ups and multiple tables.
They let the kids run wild.
But saying that, last time we were in 1500, a scout group took over 3 sites across the street from us.  Multiple cars and utility trailers on the sites along with a camp kitchen.
They set up maybe 10 - 15 tents along the canal behind the sites.  Must've been about 50 people, but they were pretty quiet and well behaved.

Wonder what a wrap does to a cars finish?
if i was the dealer, and I could sell them with the wrap I would.   I bet there a bunch of people that would that would top dollar for a Disney park’s original!

1500 Loop is small, has a comfort station close, and a bus stop right there. To get to Epcot from 1500, take the Yellow Outpost bus to the front parking lot, then the Epcot bus.
To return to your campsite, take the Yellow Settlement from the front parking lot.
If you get Loop 2000, then you'll take the Orange/Purple bus from your loop.. Outpost to get to the bus stop/settlement to get back to your campsite.
The fort will take you and your stuff to your site in a Van.
The luggage service on Magical Express is no longer in service.
I haven't used the luggage transfer to another resort in a long time, don't know if that service is still available, but if it is, the Fort does participate.

I’ll say it again… Instead of cutting entertainment, employees, etc.
cut the prices of their tickets. They’re giving us a subpar product and still charging the same price. 
 
It will bring more people to the parks and those people will spend money on meals and merchandise

I’ll say it again… Instead of cutting entertainment, employees, etc.
cut the prices of their tickets. They’re giving us a subpar product and still charging the same price. 
 
It will bring more people to the parks and those people will spend money on meals and merchandise

I am sure he earned his pay just in the amount of drinks sold during his show.

I’ll say it again… Instead of cutting entertainment, employees, etc.
cut the prices of their tickets. They’re giving us a subpar product and still charging the same price. 
 
It will bring more people to the parks and those people will spend money on meals and merchandise

I got my 5K walk in this morning. No, before you ask it is not my normal routine. I signed up to participate in the St. Jude Walk/Run to end childhood cancer. Originally the event was supposed to be last Saturday in Huntsville. They changed it to being a “Virtual Walk/Run” today. That way everyone could participate wherever they were. My walk was enjoyable, but I did have to resist the temptation to stop at various campers along the way. Especially when I could smell 🥓

A few pictures from the weekend