fortpartyof4

Glad you liked it, Cyndee.

 

I tried to make the letter just plausible enough that it would make the reader wonder if it was for real.  You have to admit that it sounds like how the idiots who run the Fort would handle things.

 

The spelling error- is it the use of "to" instead of "the" in the third paragraph?  If so, that was already pointed out. I did consider making some intentional errors and inserting some random apostrophes in keeping with typical Fort communications, but that was really an error.  Is there another one?

 

 

I hope it's not cinnamon roll glaze.  That would present quite a predicament for me.

 

TCD

Ahhh, well that is what I get for not staying up late and reading TR's like I used to!  I look forward to reading that one and finding out what compelled you to draft such a lengthy pretend notice from Fort management.  Along with the many others I have missed this year!

Back to the original point you were trying to make - why did they bother with that silly thing?  All of the bats are probably quite comfy in their homes over in RC where no one ever steps foot and wakes them up during the day.

Dave, I am sorry to hear about your brother.  That must have been really scary for your poor mom!

As I am woefully behind on my TR reading, I also missed that letter.  

My first reaction to it was, are you %$# kidding me right now?!?!?

Yes - let's release thousands of bats in an area where people are known to be OUTDOORS most of the time - a campground!

Then, let's caution them not to mess with the dead ones.

Oh, and if by chance you get bitten by one - get yourself to the nearest medical facility…on your own….check with the front desk, they have the info.

What if I am a cabin guest, with no car, and no golf cart?  What if I am tent camping, have no car, cart, and passed out from the trauma of being bitten by a bat?  Am I still supposed to drag my wounded butt to the front desk?

Come on.

My 2nd reaction was the spelling error…did anyone else catch it?

I know, I know TCD…why am I surprised, right?

As for the question about whether or not the bathhouse is occupied, I nominate you and DIT to get on up there and investigate.  The 2 of you shimmied up the posts of Pioneer Hall, that certainly qualifies you for this mission!

Another one who formerly spent hours trying to book, change, find discounts…..etc. etc. etc…..and now simply calls Jason.

Not only does he make your trip much easier for you, he loves Disney like the rest of us.  It's a very good thing to have the resource of a TA who knows Disney, goes to Disney, and goes the extra mile!

This all reminds me that I need to email Jason about some future travel plans…...

 

Hello and welcome!  I know what you mean about wondering what is up with the "other"place……had the same questions when I found this place a few years ago.  Had no clue, having never visited the DIS place…..this one came up before them in my Google search when prepping for a Fort trip one time.  I've seen their place since, but this has been, and probably always will be, my go-to resource for all things WDW and Fort related.

 

I don't get to spend as much time here as I used to, but still feel very welcome and have had the privilege of meeting many of these fine, crazy people in person.

 

Getting a spike is a badge of honor around here.  Mine sits in my kitchen, which is pretty much where I spend the majority of my time when I am home, so I see it often and it never fails to make me smile.

 

Here is mine.  Isn't it a beauty?  With a bonus autograph from Lou!

 

Now this is very,very cool.  I'm sure there is not an unlimited supply of spikes, so I don't expect to get one.  But I am looking forward to meeting as many of you as I can this Nov.

 

I think there are still a few floating around….and the chief "spiker" is quite fond of beers from around the world, so the lure of your German beer ought to sweeten the pot!  If he can't deliver the spike, there is someone else who swoops in and saves the day, and from what I understand, his weakness is home baked apple pie.

Hello and welcome!  I know what you mean about wondering what is up with the "other"place……had the same questions when I found this place a few years ago.  Had no clue, having never visited the DIS place…..this one came up before them in my Google search when prepping for a Fort trip one time.  I've seen their place since, but this has been, and probably always will be, my go-to resource for all things WDW and Fort related.

I don't get to spend as much time here as I used to, but still feel very welcome and have had the privilege of meeting many of these fine, crazy people in person.

Getting a spike is a badge of honor around here.  Mine sits in my kitchen, which is pretty much where I spend the majority of my time when I am home, so I see it often and it never fails to make me smile.

Here is mine.  Isn't it a beauty?  With a bonus autograph from Lou!

Just curious, I see you are from central PA, and you mention several trips per year.  Do you take your camper down each time?  how long do you stay for each visit?

We just moved to PA last year and brought our camper back this past summer.  Still trying to figure out how to get down there more often.

Driving isn't our only obstacle, though…now we have one in high school and taking a few days off to wander down to Disney World isn't an option any more with his homework and extracurricular stuff.

If your going to rent a car you don't need to take it back to the airport. We rent a car all the time, I use enterprise, we pick up the car at the airport and then return it the next day to the Royal Plaza hotel on hotel plaza drive. And then take their free shuttle bus to which ever park we are going to that day. IIRC. The Swan/Dolphin has a rental car desk. Also the Hilton right next to DTD has a Alamo desk. You can drop off the car and walk across the street to DTD.

In saying all that I agree with Kelly. Have them Deliver your groceries. I've never used that company I've used gardengrocer.com. I don't know if they're more expensive or not. I was told about them years ago and have used them ever since.

Interesting.  I'll have to look into that since we will have several future visits where we will be flying in.

Although, I thought most rental car companies charged more if you don't drop off at the same place you pick up?  This has happened to me many times during business and personal travel.

If you get a cabin in the 2100 loop, there is a bath house nearby.

Carol I was going to say the same thing but didn't know the loop number.  Is this the one that "shares" a comfort station with a camping loop?  That would help with the one bathroom issue.  And the comfort stations are kept very clean, so nothing to worry about there!  Plus, if it's the one I am thinking of, the comfort station gets very little use because that loop tends to have more big rigs and most of those folks use their own facilities.

I agree with TCD, if you're planning to eat some meals in the cabin, you'd be better off renting a car for at least part of your trip to make a trip to the grocery store.  I'm assuming you're flying in, perhaps one or two of the adults could rent an economy car for a day to get you set up with food, then return it to the airport and take the DME back to the Fort, if they'd allow you to.  I once rented an economy car at MCO for one day for about 20 bucks.  That's a lot cheaper than feeding 8 mouths on Disney property!

I'm sure a lot of people have a story:

Guy in a truck complains he was cut off by a class A

Guy in a Prius claims he was cut off by a truck

Guy in a GC was cutoff by a Prius

Guy on a bike was cutoff by a GC

Guy walking was cutoff by a bike

Squirrel failed to get right if way from a guy walking

Rule enforcement and social civility is all that is needed.

EXACTLY.  But social civility sadly appears to be something a lot of people have no idea about anymore, at the Fort or elsewhere.  

I refuse to be part of it, and will stick with the simple mantra "just be nice".  

Unless you mess with one of my kids.  Then all bets are off.

Whoa, slow down. Are you talking about people taking personal responsibility?!? You are crazy!

Seriously, how stinking hard is it for people to get their heads out of their behinds and pay attention? And use some common sense and courtesy?

Heads out of their butts and their phones……...

That is one of the things that worry me most when my boys take off on their bikes…..the distracted and/or drunk cart operators riding around!

I'm sure that it is not any of the Fiends, but us people that love to ride our bicycles have, over the years, seen the carts become a nuisiance.  There are so many of them now and some of the operators are just plain rude.  On our last visit, a cart ran a lady complety off of the shared path to the marina.  Ran her off into the brushes and wrecked her, stopped, looked back and then continued on their way without even an apology.  This has happened more than once, one ran me completely off of the sidewalk path heading up to the Outpost.

 

For some reason, some of these cart operators think they have the right-of-way by default.  We have said many times that Disney, sooner or later, would have to do something about the carts as the place, at times, has become saturated with them.  It used to be a lot more fun riding there, but now it requires one to maintain a constant lookout for wayward carts, especially at night when, apparently, some of them cannot see where they are going.

 

Sorry for this rant, I'm sure that there is a minority of carts that cause the problems, but it only takes one to run over you.

We ride both our bikes and our cart while visiting the Fort.  I totally agree with this.  When biking, it is difficult to find places to do so while staying safe.  When we are driving our cart, we yield to pedestrians and bikes.  We also pull over so regular vehicles and RV's can pass us when out on the main roads.  We don't allow our teenagers to drive our cart and still make them wear bike helmets there because of all of the careless golf cart drivers.  There was a family in our old neighborhood whose child got hit by a car, no helmet - now she is living with a permanent brain injury and may never live independently.  Not worth it to us.

But I know we are the exception.  It's a shame that guests have been allowed to bend the rules for so long that it seems the rules have been forgotten.  It would not be that difficult to enforce them.  You comply or you get out.  Pretty sure that is written into the language in the documents we all agree to and/or sign when reserving a site/checking in.  It doesn't seem to me that it would be that difficult for Disney to enforce the rules of the road and cart paths at the Fort.  

In this case with restricting rental companies, I believe it is more of a financial issue for Disney.  They can't blame past accidents, etc. because people are careless on outside rental carts, Disney carts, and personal ones.  This is pure greed.  They will continue to allow the camper rentals because that still brings in guests who will pay the site fees and rent one of their carts.

Yes…thank you so much…..love all of these!  They're great!  You got some very rare shots of areas many of us never got to see.

I don't see how they could do that, I sure hope not.  My guess is they're going to be much more careful at the gate when folks towing carts come through.  If you're not a guest checking in, why would you have a cart in tow?  I know many of them had their own card to get in, but that can't be easy to keep up with, either.  If they know "Disney is watching", seems like they'd not want to risk being caught and get into a big mess with them.  Sneaking in with your family of 16 to use the pool is one thing, sneaking in with a cart or 2 or 3 on a trailer is another…..

out in bay lake

All of these photos are so cool!

This one made me chuckle…..see the person right in the center with the red swimsuit?  On what I used to call a "click-click" chair?

It reminds me of my friends and I when we used to contort our bodies in odd ways to get an even tan and not have weird lines.  I think this person may be doing just that.

I recall one Spring Break in Daytona, in particular.  We would "flip" every so often to get cooked evenly, hehe.  Not a drop of sunscreen on us, puffing away on Marlboro Lights, probably with a beer nearby.

Uh-oh.

 

The no golf cart thing could be the beginning of the big crack down on off-site rental companies that has been rumored to be coming.

 

TCD

Agree.  I had a different experience this summer when I rented from one of the well-known cart companies.  Don't want to go into much detail because I was asked not to.  It all worked out in our case, but I know there were some clients who were unable to rent a cart from them because of the crackdown by WDW.  This really is a shame.  I do not believe those vendors were taking that much of the cart rental revenue away from Disney.  There were always plenty of green carts flying around (as Mo said, often by 12-14 year olds), and the Disney cart rental rates are so outrageous anyway, they're making a killing.

I am trying to figure out a way to leave our cart down in FL for our Fort and Jekyll visits.  We never use it up here.  With this new info I am even more motivated to make it happen.

Decorate them yourself, make them uniquely yours!

I've seen some really cool ones.

To get the creative juices flowing…..

http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=disney%20magic%20bands

A lot of the new stuff was there when we visited in July.  I really wanted one of the new ladies' T-shirts, but couldn't justify the $29.99 price tag with the quality.  I bought one of the last ones they had (the green one), and it was stretched out and misshapen by the 2nd wash.  They are cute though.

The sweatshirts and long-sleeved things weren't out when I was there, missed out on that.  Guess they don't sell many sweatshirts in July down there!  The throw wasn't out yet, either, but I doubt I'd spend 75 clams on a throw even though I like it a lot!

I did pick up some magnets and a new mug.  My Fort coffee mugs and fridge magnets cheer me up when I am missing my happy place!

I'm anxious to see the new tire cover.  Those white ones were so boring!  Hopefully, there will be plenty of stock whenever I get back down there.

The keychains that they no longer carry were a waste of money, anyway.  I bought one and it broke.  So I bought a replacement on my next visit.  Guess what?  It also broke after only a couple of weeks.

Interesting!

 

 

I've got a huge stack of blank KTTW cards from this years Wild Womenz Weekend trip.  They originally tried giving us one card... for 8 women.

 

:rofl2:

 

They ended up giving us 2 sets for everyone.

 

Maybe I'll decoupage a table with them. 

DO IT!  And post it on the craft thread!

Or - you could make a little purse with them - kinda like those ones made from juice drink pouches?

hehehe

This was shared on a pop up facebook group I am in. 

 

 

I know this isn't a pop up but still had to share this pic my friend took. Small TT with a shed roof and she said all kind of cables were hanging on the other side

Love the window unit sticking out of the side on the little shelf.  That thing would fly right off if they were driving the horrible roads here in PA!

I would be real nervous on buying a Mako, Gulfstream only made them a short time ( I think) and a lot had water leak problems. A friend had one and within one year we were repairing the back end due to leaks, good luck.

If this is true, that is probably why it is a great deal.  We learned that the hard way when we thought we got a great deal on our first TT, turned out it leaked.  Bad.  We had the roof repaired, but I knew there was still some damage When Metal Dad bought it from us and began repairing it I was shocked to see how bad it really was.  Like black mold, rotted in places you couldn't see or feel bad.  Looking back I feel sure the couple who sold it to us knew it had been leaking and didn't want to make the repairs.

OOH and I just saw this….intended for indoor use I am sure but it seems like, with the LED lights it could make a cool site or cart decoration!  It's out of stock right now though.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Disney-Frozen-LED-Canvas-Wall-Art/36351239?action=product_interest&action_type=image&placement_id=irs_top&strategy=PWVUB&visitor_id=7555851421&category=0%3A4044%3A1225301%3A1154295%3A1156114%3A1156133&client_guid=415ac78f-08b2-4794-b4f5-350e10f847f8&customer_id_enc=9cc32e1e1dc5d4dea5a2da6589f99839&config_id=2&parent_item_id=38231852&guid=d4d15803-8796-4aa0-b3af-a3e76fc182a3&bucket_id=irsbucketdefault&findingMethod=p13n

Cool idea! We get poop gas mileage when we are towing the 5th wheel...as in maybe 10 miles to the gallon. We get 16-17 with out the tow. If you don't mind me asking, how much was it to store? If you do mind me asking, just ignore the question completely! Hahahahaha! (Insert laughing emoji here...I can't do it on my phone.)

Not at all!  I think it was 65 a month for our 34' TT.  First Security Self Storage in Davenport, FL.  Month to month, gated.  Curt from Fort Camper Rental keeps his pop ups there and that is how I found out about it.  Very convenient off of I-4.

From slick deals dot net……Walmart clearance deal

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Disney-Frozen-Elsa-Palace-40-x-50-Silk-Touch-Throw/38231852?affillinktype=10&dest=9999999997&oid=100143.1&sourceid=17217808522019519631&u1=6e7d3dd9b67b4bbc9db1043e6193ce02&veh=aff&wmlspartner=lw9MynSeamY

Oh, and Carol - the traffic around Cherry Hill IS really bad.  Avoid going anywhere near Silver Spring if you do try it out.

Wow, I agree…..he sounds like quite a remarkable young man!  I hope you get to camp for fun again soon.

And, I am late to this thread - and obviously you no longer need a CG recommendation for the Baltimore area - but I have stayed at both Cherry Hill and Ramblin' Pines.  (I think I posted photos of Ramblin' on the "Photos of other campgrounds" thread).

Anyway - my two cents on those places is:  Cherry Hill - great place to camp if visiting DC and/or Baltimore.  Tight sites, but as Dave said, good amenities and it is well run.  Ramblin' Pines - I will never return.  Very rude staff/management, extra fees for all of the stuff they have for kids (putt putt, jumping pillow), no cable, no wifi (they say they have it but it's non-existent), and no cell coverage - it's the middle of nowhere.  Roads leading into it are a nightmare with any substantial sized RV.  No stores or gas for many miles.  It is very beautiful countryside, and is good if you want to escape and unplug.  But that's about it.

:rofl2:  Try the roof perhaps? That's my back-up plan. The turn 45-degree turn on the staircase is tricky. And the baby pool at the base of the stairs makes a big mess.

 

Might try the travel agent thing...i've used a AAA agent in the past, but it seems like discounts are coming few and far between. :banghead:

 

We would be coming in an RV. I'll have to check the cancellation window of the other resorts near by. TBH, I have not convinces Hubs that this is a good idea. We are going for a week in November, so i'm not sure he is really going to go for another trip so soon - - - and if we do, it'll have to be done on the cheap...which really let's out the FORT anyway. The catch-22? Will be WAY easier to convince him that this is a good idea IF we are staying at the Fort. He's not a fan of "staying off site".

Class A?  Or towable?  If it's not a class A, you could leave it in FL.  We did both Thanksgiving and Christmas last year.  We are in PA, so it made no sense to bring it back up here.  Put it in storage near the Fort (which I found thanks to fellow fiend Curt!) after the Nov. visit, got it back out for the Christmas trip.  We actually ended up leaving it down there after that too!  Worked out very well.  The storage place is very reasonable and secure.  Given the price of fuel, there wasn't much added expense to do this.