Northerngirl--Lori

Man, I miss the good old days when you could drive your golf cart wherever you wanted. Down that path by River Country, behind Pioneer Hall, in front of Pioneer Hall, through that path into the 100 loop, down the path behind the 300 loop, through the 1400 loop and over the bridge behind the Meadow Trading Post. You used to be allowed to drive to Wilderness Lodge. 
They've restricted all of the above.
And do you know how many alternate routes they have provided?
None!
No wonder the remaining pathways are so congested. 
TCD  

Time flew for the TCD gang since Thanksgiving.
Christmas and New Year's Eve have come and gone, and here we are in a brand new year!
Wow.
A lot of times, we've managed to squeeze an overnight trip in over the Christmas break.  Sometimes we even make it to the Fort.
Not this year.
We were very busy doing other stuff.
My baby sister (age 44) got married in St. Pete the week before Christmas, and we hosted a big party at our house for all the out of town guests the night before.  That ended up taking a lot of time.  But it was great.  It's been a long time since we have had all of my siblings and nieces and nephews together, and it was great!
But getting ready for that party pretty much took up all of our time from Thanksgiving up until the party- there were long to do lists every weekend.  It was great when it was done, and then we had to shift gears and get ready for Christmas- we were having family over for Christmas Eve, and there were still wedding guests in town, which pushed our guest list to over 60 folks!
We had things under control by end of the week before Christmas, so with a hall pass from Mrs. TCD, the girls and I decided to head over to the MK for Christmas Eve Eve- December 23.  Just a quick day trip to see the Christmas entertainment which was now being performed with regular admission- the Christmas parade and the new castle show.  It's been a few years now since I upgraded our passes from seasonal passes to full passes, and we needed to take advantage of the fact that our passes were not blocked out for Christmas.
The weather in central Florida was crazy in December- we had almost no rain, and it was hot and muggy most days.  I never got to wear a single one of my Christmas sweaters this year. 
December 23 was no different.  It was sunny and in the upper 70's as we headed over.
The plan for today was to arrive in time to watch the 3:30 Christmas parade on Main Street, and then hang around to see some of the night-time stuff before bugging out.
It was sunny and 80 degrees as we entered the Magic Kingdom:

It was just a bit past 2 when we arrived, but all of the spots on the curb on the shady side of Main Street were already claimed.  For the 3:30 parade.  Savages!
There was plenty of space on the sunny side, and we knew the shade would be along soon enough on this short winter day, so we selected a spot across from the clock.  Here we are:

Don't miss the girl in the purple leggings.
Wow.
This was a good spot- we could look down Main Street and see the Christmas tree:

Or up the street and see the castle:

Hey- did you notice that the flagpole is peeking out from behind the Christmas tree?  They used to move the flagpole to the side of the street for the Christmas tree- but now they don't:

You might wonder if this was a busy day.  Well, look over there- they have a temporary hot dog stand set up.  That's a new one for me:

The menu and prices:

Yup- we are in Disney!
I never mind waiting for a parade on Main Street.  The people watching is always good.  And here are some people to watch.  Check out the lady in the blue hair:

We need to take a closer look at that tattoo on her ankle:

Who is that?
This guy on the scooter is with the girl with the blue hair:

Check out that guy's scooter!:

Aw, look- the girl with the blue hair is getting her Christmas card photo:

It's nice that everyone feels welcome at WDW.
A bonus to sitting on Main Street for the Christmas parade is that we get to see the Kringle Krew.  And here they are:

When they first show up, the elves look for a guest along the curb to guard their ball:


I guess we didn't look trustworthy, as none of us got to hold a ball.
The elves then invited kids to come out in the street to dance:

Craziness ensued:



After getting the kids riled up, the elves returned to formation, and marched down the street:





Check out the hair on that CM across the street:


That girl could play Rapunzel!
But, she didn't win the Best Hair award for today.
I'll have a photo of the winner in the next update.
Hey, here comes the parade:

Today, December 23, was the first day the Christmas parade was performed for regular day guests.  Up until now, the only time you could see it was at one of the hard ticket Mickey's Very Merry Christmas parties on select nights. 
This is a really good parade.
It starts with a good assortment of characters in scarves:



There they go:

Since this is the Christmas Parade, Mickey and Minnie are on the first float rather than the last:


So far, this year's parade looked the same as last year's.
But, this little musical ensemble was new.  And, they were good:

There's a whole lot of Anna and Elsa in this parade, and here they come now:

Those are Fort Wilderness horses right there, and I recognize this driver as a Fort CM.  I don't think I've ever seen the Christmas parade when she wasn't driving one of the horse-drawn floats:

I think she has a pretty cool job.
And, on the other end of the spectrum, we have the royal pooper scoopers:

Are you liking this so far?
Good.
I've got a bunch more parade photos to share in the next update.  We'll break this one off here so you don't get overloaded with Frozen.
TCD

I know.
I have a preexisting commitment to visit with DD#1 in Miami this weekend, Zika and Tropical Storm and all.
But if no one posts photos of the bulldozed pool, I'll get there next weekend and take care of it.
TCD

I tend to agree. Sad, terrible, awful things happen, and while I understand the reaction of wanting someone to blame, sometimes there is no one person or thing to point the finger at.

I am the first to point the finger at the Disney corporation when it does something wrong, but I don't think it's fair to point the finger here.
Look at what Disney did when the thought there was a threat of bears at Fort Wilderness.  They spent a lot of $$$ to install bear-proof trash cans.
If a hurricane is heading toward the Fort, they will evacuate the entire campground and pay for guests to stay in hotels at no additional charge.
Someone drowned in one of the quiet pools at Pop Century Resort, and ever since, they have been installing fences around their pools, and have lifeguards on duty where they never have before.
Before that, they filled in the deep ends of all the pools property wide.
All the playground equipment at the Fort was replaced with modern, safer versions.
They installed doors on all of the parking lot trams to protect careless guests from themselves.
I can't think of many companies that put such an effort into safety.
There is no way that they would knowingly expose any guest to an alligator attack.
This was an unforeseeable and tragic accident.
TCD

Let's move on. . .
We left off on the morning of Friday, May 27th.  Breakfast had been prepared, eaten, and clean-up completed.
Now it was time to check in to the campsite.
On the way out to the Reception Outpost, we checked the 1500 loop, and saw that there were three sites open, and a few with guests packing up to leave.  I made a mental note of the sites, so I knew which I would pick if given a choice.  And, just in case, we surveyed the 2000 loop- there were tons of sites open there.  Good.  They could stick obnoxious groups there where they belong and let me have a site on 1500.
At check-in, we got the same CM that we had the day before.  She remembered that we would be back today, and she got the necessary information, and tapped on her computer.  She said we had a few options for campsites, and she reached for the super secret notebook and opened it up, and placed it before me.  She began pointing to the open sites on the page she opened to.  I wasn't listening.  I stopped her.  The book was opened to the dreaded 2000 loop.  I told her that I had requested the 1500 loop, and that I would like to see the choices I had in that loop.  She told me there were no choices in the 1500 loop- it was booked solid.  I've done this dance before, and I was getting ready to again, when Twin #2 asked me not to.  They don't like me to confront CM's.  I know that this CM was only doing what she was told, and I really am more sensitive to the difficult positions CM's are put in by cowardly managers who hide in the back.  I told Twin #2 that I wanted to push just a little, and then I would let it go.  I asked the CM if she could please check and make sure nothing was open on 1500.  She picked up the phone and called someone.  I know that never works.  And it didn't.  Her answer was the same.  I let it go.  In the past, my strategy here would be to ask for a manager and point out that there were several open sites on the 1500 loop and that if they could hold those for other guests, then why wouldn't they honor the request that I made?  The last time it came to that, the manager never even came out to speak to me- he just told the CM to upgrade me to something other than 2000, and there was no confrontation.
Today, though, I let it go.  There were sites open and ready to go on 2000, and there was one that I've always looked at and thought I would like- 2024.  So, I took that site, and everyone was happy.  Except for me.
I kid.
I really appreciated that the original CM had come through with one of the 100 loop cabins, and it would only be Mrs. TCD, our oldest daughter, and me on the campsite.  So, for this trip, it wasn't that big of a deal.  Plus, I got to try a site that I had always wanted to try.
From here, I hitched up and headed to the 2000 loop, and the twins enjoyed their luxurious cabin accommodations.  We did have tentative plans to go to Epcot in the afternoon to visit Soarin', which was re-opening that day, but we decided not to bother, as the twins were planning to go back to Epcot with friends on Saturday, and I figured I'd catch Soarin' another time before the new film starts.
I don't have photos from Friday afternoon.  I spent it setting up my campsite just so.  I liked this site a lot, because it had a lot of privacy and space.  More than what we had the previous month on a premium site.  My only objection was that it was a long way to the 100 loop.  But, that problem was self-inflicted, as I asked for the 100 loop cabin, and I was close to the regular cabin loops.
While I was setting up camp, the twins looped by a couple of times to bring me water and to check on my progress.  They were enjoying a nice Fort day before their birthday celebration began in earnest.
After my campsite was set-up to my satisfaction, I got a shower, and headed back to the cabin.  I am not sure if I mentioned this, but the AC in that cabin was awesome.  It was so nice and cool in there.  The AC in the TCD pop-up is adequate, but not as good as central air.
At the cabin, we got busy with doing some decorating.  We hung up some banners and paper lanterns outside:

(those are our two Kenny carts BTW)

And we had some lanterns left over for the inside too:

We had just snacked during the afternoon and didn't have a proper lunch, so the plan for tonight was to have a Giddyap And Go chicken dinner from Trail's End takeout.
I walked over there.
That's sweet.
I ordered the chicken, and got my buzzer, and hoped that there would be an empty rocking chair on the porch for me.
There wasn't.
But, there was a space on the bench.  And that would have to do.
It wasn't real busy around there considering it was 5:30 on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend:


Remember when they took away some of the rocking chairs and picnic tables so they could add those crappy high top tables and chairs on the porch?  Well, the crappy tables and chairs are now all gone, but the rocking chairs are still just the reduced numbers:

And while I am raising questions about management decisions, do you remember how the old ring carving kiosk was replaced with a beer cart?  Has anyone ever seen the beer cart open?  If they don't open it on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, do they ever?:

I've noticed that crepe myrtle trees around where I live have started to bloom already, but the crepe myrtles there in the middle of the Settlement haven't yet:


Also missing from the porch are the little checker tables and stools:

My chicken was done quickly, and I fetched it and brought it back to the cabin:

The chicken doesn't come in a bucket anymore- it comes in a box:

We dug into our GAG, and enjoyed it like we always do.
It's still the best deal on property.
After dinner, there was time for looping.
I checked on the 1500 loop and saw who got all the sites there.
Check out this site- five or six? large tents on one site:


An adjacent site had three large tents on it:

On another site, they had a big cooking area set up, with a big blue tarp, and 10 or so picnic tables:


There were two more sites with multiple tents:


So, what we have here is a group of about 60 or so guests on 5 campsites.
The next day, while looping, I saw that they were middle school aged kids- boys and girls.  My guess was a church youth group, not scouts.  When I looped through on the cart, the kids were in the loop road blocking it, with no intention of moving until one of the few adults present told them to.  Rude bunch of snots.  I feel sorry for the rest of the guests on the 1500 loop, and was glad that I was banished to 2000.
I don't know why I have no photos of my campsite from Friday except this one- I took it from across the canal behind my site.  There's the good old TCD camper and hammock:

I really liked the site- look how much privacy I had on either side- and so much space for hammocks!
My neighbors on each side were tent camping families.
Nice, quiet, and respectful.
Friday night is when things started to get crazy.
The twins had one of the Disneyland College Program roommates flying in to spend the weekend in the cabin, and the oldest TCD DD was also flying in.
There was some discussion about me picking up both girls, but the twins wanted to pick up their friend, who was arriving an hour earlier, so they could get on with their planned evening activities.
So, we made separate trips out to the airport.
After I picked up the oldest TCD DD, we converged on the cabin, and the twins and their friends were preparing to go out for the evening.
It's a thing these days when kids turn 21 to go to a bar and have a drink at midnight on your birthday.  And that's what the twins were going to do.
While this was going on, I kept my camera stowed.  The twins don't like a creepy old man taking pics of them and their friends.
So, I had to swipe these next photos from various social media sites.
Here are the twins and some of their friends getting ready to leave the cabin to head to the bar:

Here are some of their cabin photos:


The only rule that I insisted on for the Friday night festivities is that there would be no drinking and driving.
So, I ran all the kids out to Disney Springs in the Big Blue Excursion.
I told them I'd pick them up whenever they were ready, and then I headed back to the cabin, and the oldest DD and I hung out there.  A bit later, one of the twins texted that a friend with a car had joined them, and he would not be drinking.  So, I was free to head back to the campsite and call it a night.
Here are a few photos from after midnight, showing the TCD twins drinking alcohol for the very first time:



The kids ended up hanging out at the Hangar Bar, and liked it very much.  They also hit up the Sprinkles cupcake ATM.
Poor Twin #2 had to work on the morning of her birthday, and asked me if I could stop by the cabin early to give her a ride out to her car.  I told her sure.  I was worried that she might oversleep after her late night, so I thought that was a good idea.
That wraps up Friday.
Saturday was the 28th and the twins' actual birthday.
Mrs. TCD would be arriving, and we would be hitting the Hoop Dee Doo.
Make sure you check back to hear about that!
TCD

Look a few post up.  He's back!!!!!!

Last fall my wife and I decided to take a trip to Disney and because we had just bought our motor home and discovered this forum we thought the Fort would be a good idea!  We shared our plans with our families and welcomed them to plan the trip with us and go as a group.  The only taker was my Mom so she just hitched a ride with us. 
So our dates were set and we knew who was going (My wife and I, our four kids and my Mom).  We made plans to drive April 1st and 2nd.  April 3rd - 10th at the fort and drive home the 11th and 12th.  We were going to be at the fort for 8 days and got 7 day park hoppers.  On our off day (Thursday) we scheduled Chef Mickey for 7:30.
I will be trying to put each day into a post but adding pictures seems to be giving me trouble so I will start tomorrow with the daily reports for each day!

Wow, that storm sounded scary. Glad everyone was alright. We spent a summer in a pop up when we were renovating our house. there were times I thought for sure that we were tipping over from the wind.
Thank you for sharing your trip report. I enjoy reading all of them.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Starbuck posted last week that he met up with TCD and he said that he had been very busy with the twins and had not had time to post.  He will be back.  Life sometimes gets in the way.  I do hate that he missed the hub bub with the train cars.  He would have loved to be in on that for sure.  Oh well.

True 

We miss you.

This isn't a trip report, if you don't feel it belongs here take it off. I just wanted to say, TCD if your out there reading this, we miss your posts!
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Best update ever!!

Wow! The fireworks look wonderful. What a good shot. Wish I was there , but reading about all the fun is the next best thing! Thanks to everyone that has posted.

Thank You for writing your trip report. I don't post very often but I enjoy reading each and every report!