Tri-Circle-D

Ed- You are off to a great start here. So, about the Club Level- was that a free upgrade, or is that what you reserved? And, when does the "Crazy as Hell" part start? It all seems pretty normal so far. TCD

Hey- Great job on this trip report! Thanks for posting it. Not only did you miss TCD, but Stacktester and Otter Spotter were also at the Fort that weekend. It was cold at night! But, nice during the day. I'm sorry that I missed you, but we were away at the parks a lot on this visit. Maybe next time. TCD

Great job on this report!!! Devores earned his TCD Junior Deputy Badge last year. And this report proves it was well deserved! Yes, the path you tried to follow by the cabin is part of the old Wilderness Swamp Trail. There used to be a path that branched off to the left, which led to the boardwalk. The path that you walked down was the alternate path that led to the other end of the boardwalk. You showed me something new in these photos: I didn't know that there was pavement installed around one of the firepits at the campfire. The last time I visited the campfire area, which was in March,

I can tell you about Vineland Station. Back in 2007, for what was then called the Haunted Hayride, WDW management decided to depart from the traditional Sleepy Hollow themed hayride, and introduced a completely different experience. Here is a little report I wrote back then: Who wants to hear about this year’s new Hayride? If you do, then please continue. Be warned, this post will contain SPOILERS! If you prefer to be surprised, then stop reading now. WARNING- SPOILERS If you want the whole story, then here we go. Note, it is dark out there on the ride. Most of these photos were taken during t

I think that you are exactly right about this. It looks like they have designed an area which will allow folks to arrive and wait to enter the pavilion. There is no doubt that there will be opportunities to purchase beverages as well as merchandise. One thing that I forgot to mention is that it looks like restrooms are incorporated in the design of this pavilion. Guests at the current pavilion must walk over to the old River Country restrooms, which means they must walk outside if it is raining. In the new pavilion, it looks like everything will be under one roof. TCD

It is now time for a few final thoughts. When this trip report began on May 5, no trip report on this site had been viewed even a thousand times. Today, just two weeks later, this report has been viewed over ten thousand times, and, more importantly, there are now five trip reports which have been viewed over a thousand times, two of which have been viewed over two thousand times. Here are the top ten most-viewed trip reports as of 5/20/11: (This site has some excellent filters that I am just figuring out how to use) I say good show Fiends! But we can do better!!! Someday, the views on the to

I'll set one aside for you. When are you going to be back at the Fort? TCD

I don't know if we are allowed to discuss religion here. So, no discussion, I'll just say preach it Brother Norm, preach it! And I'll also give you an AMEN from the congregation. TCD

Great new batch of photos! But- we need some rain here in Central Florida. Look at poor Bear Rock!: TCD

Yes, I think they would. When they did this at the Meadow pool, it just involved installing a new drain/intake at the former deep end. Then they just filled it in and resurfaced the whole thing. They don't have to do any excavating or anything-just a little plumbing and fill. If anyone is able to look into the pool now, you would be able to see if they were putting in new plumbing. This photo gives a pretty good illustration of what the new plumbing would look like: As you can see, the lights and return jets remain in place, they just raised the drains/intakes, and then filled it in. TCD

Yes, I think they would. When they did this at the Meadow pool, it just involved installing a new drain/intake at the former deep end. Then they just filled it in and resurfaced the whole thing. They don't have to do any excavating or anything-just a little plumbing and fill. If anyone is able to look into the pool now, you would be able to see if they were putting in new plumbing. This photo gives a pretty good illustration of what the new plumbing would look like: TCD

I marked the area that I think you are referring to with a red star in this screen cap. Is this island in the parking area where the lawnmower stump is?: TCD

Probably. But nothing comes to mind at the moment. TCD

For those of you who may not be familiar with all of the Halloween activities offered at Fort Wilderness, here are scans of the activity guides from 2008 and 2009. The 2010 schedule was very similar. But, there was a special surprise guest at the campfire that night: You want to know what not to miss? Don't miss any of it! TCD

This is the pool located in the area of the cabins. Between the 2500 and 2700 loops. TCD

No. That was a long time ago. Before I started snapping behind-the-scene photos. This little accident inspired me to "accidentally" wander in to other areas. But, I never returned to this break room. There really wasn't anything much in there to see. TCD

Carol- Great update! I am always fascinated when I see campsite with multiple levels. I have never towed my camper out of Florida, and wouldn't know how to level it if I ever had to. The photos of y'all caravanning is great. I would have loved to see a line of T@bs coming down the road. I also enjoyed the photo of Olivia and her children. Looking forward to more. TCD

In case anyone cares, here's another photo of the slow painter man from a previous trip. You can see here that this man is not limited to painting trash cans and barrels. He also has his own cart and trailer. On this day, her delivered two chairs to the Trail's End porch: I really want to have this guy's job. TCD

That is some great photo journalism there! I would love to see a shot of the pool bottom. I have this suspicion that they are going to make the pool a uniform depth-like they did at the Meadow pool- no more deep end. This is a much bigger renovation than I suspected. Since they just put in the hot tub less than two years ago, I figured they were going to leave this pool alone for a while. I figured wrong. TCD

Well done! If anyone has not done so already, click on BayLake Camper's photo so it will enlarge to full size. The drawing is clearly very accurate. I still can't quite tell whether the Lawnmower Tree is going to be preserved or not. The golf cart parking area is huge! The whole look of the waterfront area will be changed. But, they did a good job fitting this big building into this area. I still am surprised by this. I always viewed the Backyard BBQ as "filler-" as just a way to make a few bucks from an otherwise unused pavilion. Well, the fact that they are going to spend quite a bi

What's this? Zoe can play checkers? She is the checkers queen? Well, I have news for her, TCD is the Checkers King!: I hereby challenge Zoe to a checkers match. At the Meadow(s) Trading Post. We will settle this once and for all. Loser has to buy The Troll a Pina Colada (Oy!). TCD

While that is very funny, I must decline that idea. I try not to judge, but there is something about pregnant men that is a bit creepy to me. Fortunately for me this is the first pregnant man I have ever seen. And, hopefully he/she will be the last. I don't know. Maybe the next one will be cranking up in a couple of days or so. The photo review and organization and fact checking for the next one is currently in progress. No way do the photos that I accidentally took trump the Snickering Rabbit Room photos. That was a classic! Too bad for Shadow. Maybe you could borrow him again for your Ha

Thanks, Norm. As I already have said, I am glad that you have officially joined the party. Yes, 10,000 views is a lot.. But, I know that you or I can do better. This TR got there first, but I suspect it won't be long before another one comes along and has more viewers. Probably one from you. You will have to work hard to catch me, but I know you can do it. Well, I have to admit he did paint them barrels pretty good. I will always smile when I see them from now on. This is funny. But, I don't think it is far from the truth. It never ceases to amaze me that some things at the Fort have been

I suspect you are right. But it is strange to me that the tags are from the Department of Homeland Security, and say "For Official Government Use." Thanks for reading this bloated monster of a trip report. And for posting! Man, where did you go to college? We didn't have any Flaming O Gals at UF. And I thought I went to a party school. Well, I am glad to be here too. And I am also glad that there are so many familiar "faces" here. TCD

If you would like, send me a PM with the exact dates that your brother will be at the Fort, and I will see if I can convince the Spike Fairy to make a delivery. Figaro Fries? I never heard of them! But, I would totally eat Figaro Fries. The only thing is that I would not have been able to get past the sauerkraut stench. Your experience is a perfect illustration of why I am no fan of the Dining Plan. There are no more unique menu choices like this. Every place you go now the choice is limited to a couple of sandwiches and a flat bread. Blech. Thanks. And, BTW, I love the photo of your D