DinDavie

This is excellent news.  Last years Halloween event was an expensive disappointment.

There are lots of fun things happening at the Fort..  I discovered that there are people who hide toys and other interesting things and then post them on Facebook for kids to find like a scavenger hunt. I was there yesterday and again today.  These things have a good following.  While the launches are still not running directly to the other hotels you can still get there to see the Easter eggs at the Grand Floridian but my favorite past time is to sip an adult beverage and watch someone try to back a way to big fiver or tt into  a small full hook up site.  I will then delve into a little self hypnosis by convincing myself that the bottle of cke I just spent $4.99 for tastes better some how.  Good to hear from you Grumpy and Grand ma.  I hope all is well.

They are still practicing social distancing at the pool.  I was there last week and found we could usually get in but there was a waiting line on friday so we left.  I didn't buy any drings as I brought my own but the snack bar was open.  There is no longer a cast member telling people on the golf carts to put on their masks but they do ask you to put a mask on the the trading posts and PJ's  It has  been announced that as of June 15 you will no longer be required to wear a mask in most places on property.  I should also mention that the day temperatures are now around 95-96 so the pool is important.  I hope you are not planning on camping in a tent with a large party of 6.  The park is a little crowded but doable.  There are more restaurants open but they close at 8pm.  Still no fireworks.

The same kitchen supports both the Hoop dee doo and the Trails End Restaurant.  I hope this is a very good sign for things to return back to normal. 

My predictions are that much of the plexiglass will not go away.  I hope they loose the plastic barriers in the monorail when the A/C's cant work properly.  The cast members in the shows may be the last ones back but they will be back.  There is a lot of stimulus checks out there burning holes in peoples bank accounts and new RV's waiting to be taken to the Fort.  I bet it will be difficult to get in for at least a year, even in September.  Life will be wonderful again when Trails End opens.

A family friend who was a CM that was laid off has been informed she may be called back to work in April.  I think before they open up the parks by increasing the daily reservations they may have to open more of the restaurant and show options to absorb more of the crowd.  I also think that the local vaccination rate is being closely monitored and when the new infection rate shows a steady decline we may have even more opportunities to go back.  I noticed that even with the reduced capacity the parks still seem crowded because there is less things for people to do.  I'll be happy when the trams start again and the fireworks come back.

Not sure I would try with such a large rig.  They have signs up at all the entrances stating no Trucks allowed.  They do have diesel and DEF and I did not see anyone actually enforcing any rules.  I didn't see anyone helping because it is all self serve.

OK so I got my shots, I'm retired but we still need to wear a mask out in public and we can't get into the Magic Kingdom because of it being the Easter Season.  I had to get out of the house.  You know you are bored silly when the only thing you can think of doing is going to a new gas station that's 45 miles away.  And that's how we found ourselves at Buc-ee's.  If you are traveling south to I-4 you will drive right by it.  Exit onto LPGA Blvd which is just a few miles north of the I-4 turnoff.  The place is huge.  It has 104 fueling pumps and 53,000Sq ft of retail space inside the store.  Gas is cheap by comparison.  The price for regular at the Race Track station in Winter Springs on March 24,2021 is $2.79 and at Buc-ee's its $2.56.  This is not a truck stop so you will not be competing with big rigs for space at the pumps but it you are driving a big Class A and towing a trailer you might want to rethink your visit.  I did see Class A's getting gas however.  Once you walk inside you understand where the real profits are made.  It is a very efficiently run operation with well over 200 employee's.  When I was in there at 1:00pm there were around 1000 customers looking at food, snacks, clothing, toys, and other household items.  I like to think of myself as someone with strong control over my impulses but after only 1 hour in the place I had dropped over $120 not counting gas.  In my defense I was with my wife.  Try to imagine a giant Cracker Barrel inside a Bass Pro shops with an upscale surf shop and Texas BBQ.  After sampling some of their signature sandwiches I think the BBQ Brisket sandwich will have you coming back on your return trip home. The only downside is they do not have any tables or seating so it is all take out.  Did I mention that the rest rooms are huge, clean and they sell art work in them.   

Hi Lesli.  When are you booked to go?  We will be there next Friday for a week.  We like the sites along the canal in the 1600 and 1800 loops.  I think the sites at the entrance of the full hook up sites are usually the largest but there is a lot of traffic in front of the sites.  If you search on google maps for fort wilderness you will find Aerial views of the sites and there are complete descriptions of each site with pictures on this web site.

I was recently at the Fort over the Halloween Season and noticed the same thing.  I also noticed that many of the more permanent residents were not there as well.  Maybe they all had to leave when they closed the Fort down at the beginning of this pandemic.  I'm not sure.  I'm hoping it wasn't some new management policy that encouraged them to leave.

Thanks I'm going to do all three, call the suggested restaurants direct, and check out Disney Dining.  I'm also going to disinvite the vegans to make the party smaller and then get a birthday cake from Publix and have it at the camp site.

We are trying to get reservations for a big party (15-17) for dinner any place on property (Disney Springs or one of the hotels).  We could sit at smaller tables.  We don't need one table for everyone. We are not having any luck.  There is one more degree of difficulty, four are vegans but I can't worry about that.  We are pounding the app but are having no luck.  Anyone have any suggestions?  We will look into off site places if they are close by.

Thanks for your report.  I'll be their on August 12 for 5 days and again in the middle of October.  I've heard from others that the pool is not crowded.  That was going to be a deal breaker for us if that was closed.  I understand that the Trails End is still closed but they have take out chicken.  I hope your TT gets straightened out.  I know how frustrating those mechanical problems can be.

Does anyone know if the boat and bus schedules have been changed do to this soft reopening.  The only thing that I've heard is that someone claims to have waited an hour on the pier for a boat to the MK.  I've seen people take videos of themselves riding buses that don't seem crowded but how often to they run.  I know the Trams aren't running yet in the park parking lots.  I don't look forward to getting all my steps in before I even get to the MK or HS.

This is an important thread to follow.  I've had a reservation at the fort in August for over a year and I have not been cancelled.  My wife was able to get reservations at DW and HS while we were there but it involved many hours on hold.  Now we are thinking about cancelling because the first report we heard from the fort stated the pool was over crowded and Florida has not yet gotten the virus under control.  We could be happy with just driving the cart around and hanging at the fort if the pool was doable.  If there are people who have first hand experience at the fort it would be nice to hear from you.  We don't have to go to the parks but staying outside in August is not a vacation.  Masks can be adjusted to let more air in when no one is paying attention but sitting in your own campsite should be good enough for social distancing guidelines but if it is not I would like to know before I go.

Well it was our 49th anniversary on June 5th and our trip to the Fort had been cancelled so we decided to go to DS just because we were really missing Disney.  I just want to report on our experiences so other people can plan accordingly.  You have to park in the Orange parking garage which is the furthest garage from the older parts of Disney Springs.  There were lots of spaces on the first and second floors so parking is easy.  You are met by friendly CM's who direct you to a quick moving line for a 1 second temp check while still in the garage.  As you walk through the mall you notice that most of the small shops are still closed and there are no crowds so maintaining a social distance is not an issue.    Yes, we did wear masks as soon as we exited our cars so no one had to remind us.  We walked to the World of Disney store and entered on the west side of the building.  Its the only entrance.  All the other doors are for exit only.  Once inside we noticed they had removed a lot of the round shelving units to make more room to walk around.  Most patrons chose to wear masks.  We did see small children not wearing masks and  it did not cause any conflict with other patrons or CM's.  WE did experience difficulty walking out side with our masks but not inside.  It was a hot and humid day and once the masks got a little damp from breathing and the weather it became difficult to suck in air.  We ate inside at the Boatyard and noticed they had the tables separated at least 12 feet apart.  The food and service were great.  WE did not have to wear the masks inside but the entire staff did.  AS we walked back to the parking garage we both had to stop and rest twice because the masks made it difficult to keep enough O2 coming in.  There are CM's every where cleaning all surfaces.  One of the reasons why we like coming to Disney is because it is one of the happiest places on Earth.  With most everyone wearing a mask its difficult to see their smiles or hear their voices. So it didn't seem so happy. We left  2:00PM Wondering how we are going to go to the parks in August, our next reservation at the Fort.  We are hoping the pools are open by then.  It was good to be back if only for a few hours.  None of us know how this is all going to work itself out.  We are 70 ish so we may have to plan our trips using more rest periods or time in restaurants with A/C.  Finding ways to keep masks dry will also be an issue.

I was wondering if the more permanent residents of the Fort have been asked to leave?  How are they fairing? Can they leave their 5th wheels parked

and return to their usual  spot when the crisis has passed? 

How did chalk art go from a creative thing that little girls did, to vandalizing thousands of box cars and buildings throughout America?  Is there something in the chalk that effects their brains in some way?  Does all that purple and pink chalk dust up their noses turn them into zombies?  The Fort and all the parks are closed until further notice and this is what is upsetting you?

The changes and big price increases have me concerned but it is still the best place to camp.  The big boom in RV sales over the last few years has created an increase in customers who have heard how great the Fort is.  Everyone has stayed at a so called high end resort or campground that cost almost as much as the Fort with none of the amenities of the fort.  The big price increases have reduced the number of times I can afford to go to the fort but I still go.  The problem I am now having is that there used to be certain months during the year that were quiet or not busy.  That's not the case anymore.  Its hard to get a reservation any time of the year.

If you do not get your desired time and date be flexible and  pound the app.  What I mean is break up your party into small digestible bits and chose the time first then figure out the rest of your day around your fast pass schedule.  Pounding the app means that whenever you have spare time get on the app and see if anything has opened up.  While I drive to the park my wife gets on her cellphone and constantly checks on availability.   There are always cancellations.   I got on to Flights of Passage two weeks after it opened as I was driving to the park and my wife told me to step on it,  we had fast passes in 30 minutes.  There is almost always room on most rides for single passengers if you can work that out.

OK, so I have been on smugglers run and I thought it was fun.  I expected to find myself on another planet and I was not disappointed.  It was not a plush environment however.  When I went on Smugglers Run the advertised wait time was 45 minutes. The line was mostly under shade or in an A/C space ship maintenance area with lots of tech detail and talking robots. The time it took me to get in a Pilots seat was actually 25 minutes.  You experience may be different. I like Animal Kingdom in general and expect to be back often.  When you look around you do see areas that can be used for future attractions or shows.  My favorite experience in Batuu was going to the bar.  I did not know that a friend was working there and it was like I was Norm, walking into Cheers.  Drinks are interesting, particularly the one that numbs your tongue.  That being said, my favorite ride is still Flights of Passage.  If you pressed me about trying to find my least favorite experience it would be walking from the farthest parking spot in the farthest parking lot just outside of BF Egypt and then finding the tram does not take you close to the security area.

I stayed at the KOA in Kissimmee a year ago when I was in between Fort Reservations.  It was very clean and well run.  It is not cheap but no

KOA is.  It had a clean pool and the other campers were not noisy but you do get urban noise.  There were no trees to back into.  The drive to the main entrance was just a few miles.

Where will we be able to watch the fireworks if they take away the beach?

My wife signed out of the app and then signed back in.  It all refreshed but I also understand that this is not working for some people.

When reviewing our fast passes and reservations for the next few months we found that nothing was listed in the Disney App.  Other Boards are reporting that the Disney app is down and the wait time to talk to someone at Disney was 2 hours.  We could not see our schedule but my daughter could on her phone.  We eventually found that turning off the app and then turning the app back on the restored the information.  I hope this is helpful.