PrincessNana

I try to pick the smaller loops....900, 1000, 1100. There seems to be less traffic and fewer children making noise which could get my dogs barking. We request to be as far away from the main road, bus stops and comfort stations. Anything that would create more foot traffic around our rv. The only problem in the 900 loop, is if you get a site that backs up to the group camping area. We also leave on the tv and a fan, only stay gone a couple of hours at a time. We also use a temperature monitor which texts us if the temperature rises above our preset temp. Works off the cell signal so we don't have to rely on wifi.

I was able to get November 30 thru December 8, but I think I booked in November.

We stayed at the Hitchin Post Corral and RV Park in Cottondale, Florida....same area as Marianna. It was easy on and off the freeway. The pull through sites were large and easy to manouver. The roads and sites are hard packed gravel and dirt. It is not a fancy rv resort, but it was very nice with walking trails, a small lake and a dog park. The owners are former full time rv'ers and are very nice and friendly. The park is only about 1 1/2 years old and so they continue to add on and improve. We would not hesitate to stay there again. We were in a 45' motorhome pulling a trailer. 

I saw a new campground we might try called Hitching Post Corral rv park. It's in that general area, but do a search to look at it. There's not a lot of options between Pensacola area and Tallahassee. We usually stop at Milton Pines Koa in Milton, Florida...but it would be nice to get a little farther down the road.

As far as free, Florida has really nice roadside parks about every fifty miles. Some have night time security, not sure if they encourage overnight parking.

Try putting him on a gluten free diet. My nephew had all the same symptoms and test results. His wife decided to try a gluten free diet and all his symptoms have cleared up. Good luck.

Evacuate early if you can, but still evacuate. If it misses you, then that will be wonderful...better to be safe than sorry. It's just a day or two out of your life to keep you and your family safe.

I am in Aransas Pass, TX which was hit by Harvey. Our entire area was devastated...our infrastructure is gone. We are just now getting a cell signal , sporadically, and finally power last night. We still don't have water or sewer but our first responders are working so hard to bring life back to normal. I wish everyone could see the miles and miles of electrical repair trucks, the staging areas where they meet every morning, all the volunteers, the food, water and ice donations. It makes me cry every time I see all the people who gave up their time to help us. The people who have come from all over the United States with their boats to rescue people from the devastating floods. Don't ever take the basics for granted...water, power and sewer. Please keep your prayers going for everyone affected by Harvey.

Not sure who you are renting from, but we rented a camper for our kids from Meachams a few years ago and he had a package that included a golf cart. Everything was set up on their site when they arrived. Welcome back and enjoy your vacation!!

I would encourage your mother to rent a cabin at the Fort. She will be much closer and able to enjoy the entire Disney experience with you and the grandkids.

Crocketts Tavern has a wonderful beer selection. Enjoy the game!

My grandkids have done the pirate cruise at the Grand Floridian twice and it was their favorite activity. It is the only extra activity that they have requested more than once.  Last summer, the parents all went to the Grand Floridian for brunch and were seated right behind Drew Bree's and his family...which was a high light for our son. Drew's grandfather was the coach with the most championship wins at our high school.

Thank you so much!! We're still "on the fence" about the dining plan, but it's time to start making dining reservations.

We are considering adding the dining plan to our upcoming visit. My question is, If I have already made some dining reservations will they carryover to the Dining Plan?

18 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Update time.

We left off with Twin #1 and I aboard a Disney Springs bus on the evening of Thursday, May 26th.

But, I have to backtrack for a moment.

There was a photo from my phone that I forgot to post.

Prior to our afternoon looping session, Twin #1 and I had popped in to the Settlement Trading Post to get a bag of those Mickey-shaped pretzels.  It's a TCD gang tradition to get a bag of those on the first day of every Fort trip for looping snacks.

While in the Trading Post, I decided to give one of the ridiculously expensive Fort Wilderness folding chairs a test drive.  I could use a couple more folding chairs, and I think I'm going to pull the trigger and purchase two if Twin #2 is still a CM come holiday discount time.  And, the Good Lord willing, she will be.  As I was enjoying my test drive, Twin #1 added a couple of props and took my portrait, which I guess I ought to share for the sake of completeness.  So, here you go:

Now here's a neat story to go with that photo.  When we went to check out, that CM you see to the left of that photo with her back to the camera waited on us.  She is really friendly and said that she recognized us from prior visits.  I told her that I recognized her too, and we chatted a bit.  She has been with WDW for over 30 years!  What an awesome person.  And that story reminds me that I forgot to mention that the CM at the guard shack recognized me and greeted me by name when I arrived that morning- before I even showed her my ID..  She has worked for Disney for 38 years, and for many years at the Fort guard shack.  I've gone to a lot of Trail's End breakfasts since the Twins first became CM's two years ago, and she's been at the shack a lot of the times I've come for breakfast.  I am not sure that you will find such longevity in the CM's at the other WDW resorts.

Now, back to our story . . .

When I had last been at WDW in late April, I had caught the WL bus to Disney Springs, and we took a long, circuitous route first to Typhoon Lagoon and then back around by Old Key West and down Vacation Club Drive to arrive at the Marketplace bus stops way on one side of Disney Springs.  Well, that isn't what happened today.  As soon as we turned left from Bonnet Creek Parkway, our bus driver swerved to the left, and we entered the brand new-just opened-Bus Only lanes, and proceeded to zip right up the middle of Buena Vista Drive.  I had heard about these new bus lanes, but didn't know where they were or how they worked.  Well, I'm here to tell you that they're right in the middle of the road, and they worked great.  Here, you can see right past Twin #1 that another Disney bus is barreling right by us in the other lane.  The buses can fly down these bus only lanes:

It was awesome to be in the middle of the road and zooming past all of the traffic in the regular lanes:

Although the buses are able to move faster in the bus lanes, the bus lanes are also of benefit to those driving in the regular lanes, as the buses are now all out of the way and in the middle of the road, which makes it easier to see where you're going if you're driving.  So those lanes are a win/win for everyone.

I have to give a rare good job Disney compliment here.

And that's not the last nice thing I'm going to say about Disney in this post.

And, just like that, we arrived at the new bus stops at Disney Springs.  If you need to orient yourself, you can see the old Planet Hollywood blue round dome there on the left in this photo:

We pulled in and right up to a drop-off area.  I got my first good look at the new water tower, and smiled at myself when I saw that they have planted jasmine plants at the base:

It will be fun to keep an eye on those vines growing as the years go by.

I really like the water tower and all the new landscaping:

Here's another nice thing I'm going to say about this new bus area- the buses drop all the passengers off at a nice drop-off area before proceeding to the individual resort bus stops:

What a simple and brilliant idea.

This is great to be dropped off close to the shopping area.  And the buses then arrive at the pick-up location ready to load guests.  No waiting for guests aboard to slowly waddle off and unfold their strollers right in the way of guests waiting to board.  And if there are EVC's aboard, they can be unloaded here and not in front of guests waiting to get on the bus.  Everybody surely will be happier this way. 

Good job again, Disney.

As mentioned, I really like the water tower, but it's odd that it can't be seen when you're in the shopping area-just here from the bus and parking areas, and, of course, while driving by on Buena Vista Drive:

It's weird that the area we were now walking in was where we had stopped to use a restroom just a couple of weeks prior.  Back then, this was all blocked off, and I didn't realize that this was the major entrance for use by guests arriving via bus:

Here's a look back at the drop-off area:

That is the Lime parking garage over there to the left of where I'm standing facing the bus drop off area- it just opened, and is a nice place to park:

it's amazing how many people were streaming in to Disney Springs on this Thursday night:

We hung out here in this area for a few minutes as one of the twins' guests for the weekend was going to meet us here for a visit to Disney Springs.  This is a young man they know from back home, and who attends UF with Twin #1.  He is a huge Disney fan, and a brilliant young man who is getting his degree in Industrial Engineering.  He is back in Orlando this summer for his third Professional Internship with Disney.  He was out at Disneyland last fall for a PI when the girls were there as well.  This fellow wants to be an Imagineer, and if that is what he ultimately chooses to do, I have no doubt that is where he will end up.  The only thing I question is whether he's too smart and talented for Disney.  For now, though, he's an interesting young man to know.

Twin #1's friend arrived right on time, and we headed out to hunt down Twin #2- she was supposed to be working in Lilly- which had just opened a couple of days earlier:

We had a hard time finding Twin #2 as every girl working in that store was wearing a pastel dress and looked like Twin #2.  Plus, it was surprisingly crowded in there.  Twin #1 finally asked one of the clones working in there where Twin #2 was and we found out that she was on break.  Twin #1 said she bet that Twin #2 went to the pretzel place for her break, so we headed that way to see if we could find her.

Here's a look at the area where the Lilly store is located- this is one of my favorite parts of the new stuff they added- I really like how it looks.  Plus, there's AC piped into here and it's covered from the elements:

We headed out the other side, toward Planet Hollywood, and got a good look at the still under construction World of Coke building.  Man, it's big!:

I'm not sure when it's supposed to open, but it looks like they're close to finished with it.

I am wondering if there will be free drink samples in there?

I don't know what happened with Planet Hollywood.  It's going to be converted into something called the Observatory, which looks cool in the concept art, but I don't understand why they aren't further along with that project- it looks like they have a very long way to go with this, and it looks pretty sad:

I don't know where the pretzel place is that Twin #1 was taking us to, but right there in front of Planet Hollywood, we ran right in to Twin #2 on her way back from break.  Here she is wearing her paycheck:

Twin #2 asked us to give her a couple of minutes before we came to visit her at the store.  So we did.  Then we popped in.

I really liked this hammock they had on display in the front window.  It turns out that you can get one for free!:

Yup, all of the things you see there in that display, including the hammock, are promotional gifts that are awarded with different levels of purchase.  You need to spend $3000 to get the hammock.  That's not a typo.  I thought that was outrageous and impossible, but then I saw some of the prices.  So, I think you get a free hammock if you buy like 3 dresses.  J/K, it's not quite that bad.  But, still, it looks like I'll be sticking with the old TCD hammock for a while longer.

After we were done harassing Twin #2, it was off to the next place Twin #1 told us we had to visit.  I was really not looking forward to this.  It was Sprinkles- the outrageously overpriced cupcake place.  But, Twin #1 registered for a free birthday cupcake, and she also showed me and her friend how we could register to get a free cupcake too.  So, we all did that, and headed over for a free cupcake. That made me feel better about that.

We arrived at Sprinkles to find a longish line outside.  Twin #1 said it wasn't that bad, and would move fast.  She and her friend got in line, and I asked if it would be OK to go and snap a few photos of the adjacent water feature, which I had not seen on my prior visit last month.

Here we have the Springs from which Disney Springs takes its name:

I have visited quite a few of the natural springs that are around central Florida, and looking down into this fake one, I have to say they did a pretty good job replicating the look on the limestone that is typically seen in natural Florida springs:

I think that building across the way on the left is the new D-Luxe Burger place. The early reports from there are that it's good, but that the prices are too high, even for Disney.  Twin #1's friend told us that he had eaten there that week and spent $20 just for a burger, fries and a drink:

Close to where I was standing- this building is not finished yet. I think it's going to be a pizza place:

They are missing some landscaping there on the bank of the spring, but It looks very natural:

Here's another look at the D-Luxe burger place.  If one meal is really $20 there, this may be as close as I get to it for a while:

I haven't been to Disney Springs at night yet, but I hear these lights on the water are really pretty after it gets dark:

Morimoto Asia is right over there.  I don't know what the deal is with the big Springs Bottling Co. sign.  I think it's just a prop:

It's weird to see Raglan Road sitting over there.  I know it hasn't moved, but nothing around it is familiar to me anymore, and it seems like it also is new:

I wonder how all of the new restaurants here are going to affect Raglan Road's business? They sure had a good thing going here for a long time when there were very few other choices of places to eat.

After my brief look around, I rejoined the kids in the Sprinkles line.  This is the outside seating area:

This is the walkway that I was just standing on to look at the springs:

Twin #1 was right about the line moving fast, and soon we were inside looking at hundreds of dollars worth of cupcakes:

We each placed our orders- and all of us scored a free cupcake.  From what I could tell from looking around, it seemed like a majority of the guests here were also getting free cupcakes.  I wonder if anyone is actually paying for any, and if this place is making any money yet.

After you order, you have to wait for your number to be called so you can go an pick-up your cupcake. I am not sure why that is, as they had plenty of cupcakes on display.  I guess it would make too much sense for the employee who takes your order to go and grab your cupcake and hand it to you?

The area where you wait for your cupcake has a window where you can watch the Cupcake Engineers Artists Technicians Decorators ice the cupcakes.  They're pretty good at it:

It didn't take long for us to get our free cupcakes, and we headed outside to eat them.  This cool Imagineering touch was outside:

I guess this prop is something that was used by the fictitious ice company:

Here's my cupcake, and Twin #1's birthday bag:

I surprised everyone, including myself, by ordering a coconut cupcake.  But, it looked good, and it was.  So that was a good choice.  And there isn't much that tastes better than a free cupcake!

After cupcake time, we noticed that the crowds were building.  We decided to head out.  On the way out, we stopped in to the Trophy Room which is a sneaker store owned by Michael Jordan's son.  Wow:

When I first heard of this place I thought it was a stupid idea for a business, but there sure were a lot of guests in there buying $200+ pairs of sneakers.

We also stopped in the Under Armor store, and I liked the Marvel line of wifebeaters:

From here, we headed out to the Lime garage, which is where Twin #1's friend parked.  He gave us a ride back to the Fort, and we hung out there until Twin #2 got back from work.  The friend left for now, and then the girls and I headed out to Wal-Mart for some provisions.  I had wanted to go to Publix, but it was past 10 pm, and it was closed.  Wal-Mart is open 24 hours.  The girls took me to the one that I have marked here on this map, which is the one they visited back when they were doing their CP's and living in CP housing, which is nearby.  Is this the one that the rest of you go to?:

The other one I circled seems closer.

I was shocked by how busy that Wal-Mart was, as it was near midnight when we were there.

The twins said it's always like that- a combination of local theme park employees and off-site guests stocking up for their condos and timeshares.

We made our way back to the Fort, and that was the end of our first day.

Since I would be up first, I scored the new sleeper sofa, and the girls took the beds in the back.

I'll let you know how that went in the next update.

TCD

 

We go to the Walmart the twins use, mainly because we were able to find our way over there and back without getting lost!

Happy Birthday to the twins, great choice for a birthday celebration location and the coconut cupcake looks yummy!

This is a micro trip report . I just want to give TCD a high five for recommending Park Vue Inn. We are here now, the location is fantastic and the rooms are great. We are in a room with 3 queens, the only thing available, and it would be great for a family. Two queens in one room, and the other queen in a separate room. Thanks for the recommendation!

Enjoying your report since we're also  following TCD's recommendation and staying at ParkVue Inn June 1 - 3 for a quick trip to Disneyland.

I use Heart Guard for heart worms and Comfortis for fleas and ticks.  We travel a lot so we want to keep our pets protected. Last summer, we did find a few ticks at Fort Wilderness, but on my sons dogs who only use a topical.

The 900 loop is usually quieter than the other loops too. It's a small loop, so not as many as people. Ask for a site in the back of the loop.

But the one at the Mississippi La. border is still there right?

It's still there and it's very nice.

I would call and have your reservations linked together and have them put a specific loop request on your reservation. I would follow up with a fax request about 5 days out, again noting the linked reservations and the loop request. I've had excellent luck with this process and even got four sites, not only in the same loop, but also next to and across from each other. Good luck and enjoy Christmas at the fort.

I bought the Memory Maker for our 4th of July trip, but only because we had a group of 15. I know that if it had been just our immediate family, we would not have used it enough to get our money's worth.

What time of night was that?  We went by that parking area both on the night of the 3rd (around 7:45) and the 4th (around 8:45), and there was the same mean CM standing right in the middle of the path in not letting anyone in the lot, and it was practically empty.  As will soon be told, Twin #1 made a GAG run for us on the 3rd, and was also denied access to that parking lot at around 6:30 pm.

 

I think we got down there about 5:30 or 6:00. Our reservation was for 7:00 pm at Artist Point and we were trying to beat the rain. When we finished dinner, they had all the boats closed down for the fireworks so we took the bus back to the fort. It was great....it went directly from the lodge, down that back road to pioneer hall. Sorry, I don't know how to navigate through multiple quotes.

 

I was wondering if maybe Prince Philip was added some time after the parade debuted, but I dug into the TCD archives, and found my photos from the very first performance of FOF back in March, 2014, and Philip was there.  But the fairies didn't have their fancy floating dresses yet:

 

 

 

 

I prefer to simply call it exploring.  As my official Fort Wilderness t-shirt says, the Fort is a "Great Place to Get Lost."

 

 

You've never seen the Festival of Fantasy parade?  You need to fix that.

 

 

That's just an abbreviated statement of the truth. The complete statement is: "Guests wearing wedding dresses in the parks create a danger to our bottom line and may cut into the obscene profits we rake in from our Fairy Tale Wedding^TM division."

 

 

Yup, it's always about the money.

 

 

The story I've heard is that WDW boat captains who retire tie their shoes together and throw them in the tree. That doesn't explain the tetherball that's up there in the high branches.  That is probably from that prankster Walt.

 

About 10 years ago, some idiot manager ordered all of the shoes removed, and for a few years the shoe tree was shoeless.  But the shoes slowly came back.

 

TCD

we used it. we may have been the only ones ... but we used it! 

When we went to dinner on July 4th, that was the only place they let us park. Everything else was blocked off with cones and they had cm' s directing traffic into the new parking area.

It never fails to amaze me that when some people go on vacation they forget all social conventions and obviously leave good manners and common sense at home.

You and the girls were the best neighbors we've ever had at Ft. wilderness.., we felt like we were camping next to a Fort Fiend legend. Sorry we had to leave before meeting the whole family. And, Your setup is what I noticed first and then realized we were camped next to you. Hope all the kids and dogs didn't bother you too much. As usual, I'm loving your trip report.