Tri-Circle-D

Looks good?
 
. . . at least they tried. 
TCD

I popped by the Fort today and saw a few things. 
First, there’s a small construction project getting started in the grassy area between the Meadow pool and the Bike Barn. This is where they had that gem mining station a couple of years ago. Maybe it’s coming back?

Next, a crew of about half a dozen men was getting ready to put up a brand new sign at the dog park:


The new barn is coming along. It’s a nice building, but it really doesn’t fit with the Fort theme. I guess they didn’t want something too rustic in sight of the new Reflections Resort:

This is a peek through the fence behind the Settlement Bus Stop. You probably don’t recognize what you’re looking at. I am sorry to say that this was where Tri-Circle-D Farm was. It’s all gone. Everything:


Note all the huge piles of dirt in the second to last photo. There are dump trucks running non stop through the Fort bringing all of that in, and bulldozers busily moving piles around. It was noisy as heck in the 700 loop.  I guess we all better get used to that. 
TCD

The Food Truck was MIA on Friday morning, but was back in place on 2/8/20. 
TCD

I agree- but there were still some banner planes even after that. I recall just a few years back that there was a controversy over an organization that hired a banner plane to fly over WDW to protest Gay Days. I remember seeing that plane flying over Hollywood Studios. But since then, I haven’t seen one. I think there might have been even stricter rules implemented more recently. At least for banner planes.
TCD

I agree with both of the previous posts, but wanted to add some more thoughts. 
Considering that you’re going in June, you probably will want easy access to the pool and campfire area.  If we are talking regular premium and not Meadow premium, I’d say 500 or 1300. 
Another thing to consider this year is all of the construction in the Settlement area.  500 and 1300 will distance you from that.
TCD

Hey @OutdoorsNY
I popped by the Fort yesterday and took this photo:

There's a utility trailer parked at a cabin. There was a golf cart parked on the other side of the truck. 
Plenty of room.
This weekend, as I'm sure will be the case for the rest of this month, they were using the field next to the hitch/unhitch area for overflow parking for the overflowing overflow parking lot. I'll bet management would prefer that guests not take up parking spaces with utility trailers. 
TCD

You're remembering right- lunch used to be considerably cheaper than dinner. But Disney can't have that. And they do a great job at making it hard for guests to see the actual prices. 
TCD

Whelp, the TCD Gang rode ROTR today. 
Its amazing.
we agree that it's the best ride in a Disney park. And the TCD twins have been to Tokyo and Hong Kong. 
I stand by my statement that they opened it too soon. We had to be evacuated half way through our fiirst attempt to ride and were given paper fastpasses, which we were able to use about an hour later, and the second time was a charm. 
Disney has had to mobilize hundreds of extra CM's, and they're having guest relations CM's from other parks getting paid double time to deal with guest recovery. So stupid and wasteful. 
The kinks will get worked out, and to me this quality of this attraction saves Galaxy's Edge. 
TCD

Whelp, the TCD Gang rode ROTR today. 
Its amazing.
we agree that it's the best ride in a Disney park. And the TCD twins have been to Tokyo and Hong Kong. 
I stand by my statement that they opened it too soon. We had to be evacuated half way through our fiirst attempt to ride and were given paper fastpasses, which we were able to use about an hour later, and the second time was a charm. 
Disney has had to mobilize hundreds of extra CM's, and they're having guest relations CM's from other parks getting paid double time to deal with guest recovery. So stupid and wasteful. 
The kinks will get worked out, and to me this quality of this attraction saves Galaxy's Edge. 
TCD

OK, you've seen the videos and heard the reviews of the Pixie Dust pumpers, but here's the truth: the TCD gang likes the Skyliner. The twins and I got to ride it during a castmember preview last night. 
For the previews, they have you park in the DHS lot and head to the station. Our arrival time was 7 pm, so the sun was setting, and it was in the high 80s with low humidity when we arrived. That helped a lot. 
The first thing we noticed was the queue isn't very big. Guests were overflowing out of the queue, so we wondered if they goofed on that. But the next thing we noticed is how fast the line moved. As advertised, the Skyliner cars never stopped, and the line moved steadily right up until we boarded. That was good. 
The next thing we noticed is the Skyliner cars are much bigger than they look from the ground. When I heard the capacity was 10 guests per car, I figured that would be with half the guests standing.  But, there's plenty of room for 10 with two facing benches that can easily seat 5 guests each. Signs in the cabin suggest that guests should remain seated. 
Another observation- there are a lot of the decorated wrapped cars- I thought there would be more unwrapped, but that was not the case. It is easier to get a wrapped car than not. 
For our first ride, we took off immediately, and what they say is true- there's great air circulation when the car is moving. As I said, the sun was going down, and it was a pleasant evening, so we were comfortable. But as others have noted, I don't think that would have been the case if the sun was beating down or the temperature and humidity were higher. As I have suspected all along, the term "passive cooling" is a lie. Passive cooling is no different than rolling down the windows in a car without air conditioning. It feels cooler when the car is moving, but the temperature and humidity inside the car is never going to be lower than outside. 
On our very first ride, we stopped for about 45 seconds over Buena Vista Blvd, and the cabin instantly became stuffy.  Also, we were so high at that point that I can't see how they would be able to evacuate guests from the cars there if there was ever a need.
One thing that I hadn't understood up until our ride was how the different routes for the Skyliner work.  It's actually simple, but not very convenient.  The Skyliner only goes to one place from DHS-the Caribbean Beach Resort station.  When you get there, you have to get off.  From that station, you can get in a new line to take the Pop Century/ Art of Animation route, or the Riveria Resort/Epcot route.  The lines move fast, but you do have to exit and change cars.  The Pop/AoA line is a straight shot and takes you to the bridge in Hourglass Lake. That's a great location for guests.  Same deal there- you can't stay in the car- everyone has to get out and get in line to reboard to ride back to the CBR station.
i didn't realize that the Riveria Resort has its own stop, but it does.  They let guests stay in the cars there for the previews, but I wonder if that will still be true when the resort opens. From there, you head to Epcot, with a turn at Boardwalk, and then arriving at the International Gateway station.  Same deal there- no round trips- get out and reboard.
All the line segments mean this is not the most efficient way to park hop, but it's great do the Riveria guests who have a straight shot to and from Epcot, and the CBR guests who get a straight shot to DHS.  Not so great for anyone else.
Bottom line, the Skyliner is nice and fun, but probably not during the day in the summer.
TCD

OK, you've seen the videos and heard the reviews of the Pixie Dust pumpers, but here's the truth: the TCD gang likes the Skyliner. The twins and I got to ride it during a castmember preview last night. 
For the previews, they have you park in the DHS lot and head to the station. Our arrival time was 7 pm, so the sun was setting, and it was in the high 80s with low humidity when we arrived. That helped a lot. 
The first thing we noticed was the queue isn't very big. Guests were overflowing out of the queue, so we wondered if they goofed on that. But the next thing we noticed is how fast the line moved. As advertised, the Skyliner cars never stopped, and the line moved steadily right up until we boarded. That was good. 
The next thing we noticed is the Skyliner cars are much bigger than they look from the ground. When I heard the capacity was 10 guests per car, I figured that would be with half the guests standing.  But, there's plenty of room for 10 with two facing benches that can easily seat 5 guests each. Signs in the cabin suggest that guests should remain seated. 
Another observation- there are a lot of the decorated wrapped cars- I thought there would be more unwrapped, but that was not the case. It is easier to get a wrapped car than not. 
For our first ride, we took off immediately, and what they say is true- there's great air circulation when the car is moving. As I said, the sun was going down, and it was a pleasant evening, so we were comfortable. But as others have noted, I don't think that would have been the case if the sun was beating down or the temperature and humidity were higher. As I have suspected all along, the term "passive cooling" is a lie. Passive cooling is no different than rolling down the windows in a car without air conditioning. It feels cooler when the car is moving, but the temperature and humidity inside the car is never going to be lower than outside. 
On our very first ride, we stopped for about 45 seconds over Buena Vista Blvd, and the cabin instantly became stuffy.  Also, we were so high at that point that I can't see how they would be able to evacuate guests from the cars there if there was ever a need.
One thing that I hadn't understood up until our ride was how the different routes for the Skyliner work.  It's actually simple, but not very convenient.  The Skyliner only goes to one place from DHS-the Caribbean Beach Resort station.  When you get there, you have to get off.  From that station, you can get in a new line to take the Pop Century/ Art of Animation route, or the Riveria Resort/Epcot route.  The lines move fast, but you do have to exit and change cars.  The Pop/AoA line is a straight shot and takes you to the bridge in Hourglass Lake. That's a great location for guests.  Same deal there- you can't stay in the car- everyone has to get out and get in line to reboard to ride back to the CBR station.
i didn't realize that the Riveria Resort has its own stop, but it does.  They let guests stay in the cars there for the previews, but I wonder if that will still be true when the resort opens. From there, you head to Epcot, with a turn at Boardwalk, and then arriving at the International Gateway station.  Same deal there- no round trips- get out and reboard.
All the line segments mean this is not the most efficient way to park hop, but it's great do the Riveria guests who have a straight shot to and from Epcot, and the CBR guests who get a straight shot to DHS.  Not so great for anyone else.
Bottom line, the Skyliner is nice and fun, but probably not during the day in the summer.
TCD

Thanks for the tip about free snacks. I'll be looking for those in about 4 hours from now. 
TCD

Thanks for the tip about free snacks. I'll be looking for those in about 4 hours from now. 
TCD

Thanks for the tip about free snacks. I'll be looking for those in about 4 hours from now. 
TCD

What would be super funny is if they have all of those old beds in storage and used them in the DVC rooms. 
TCD

About those fountains. . .  What do you see in this artwork?:

Of course he and the other "influencers" will stay there for free. 
SPOILER ALERT:  they will all say it's amazing and such a good value. 
TCD

Hey your dog can apparently go to the campfire singalong now:
 
TCD

For those of you pumped about a visit to Oga's Cantina, I suggest that you lower your expectations. A lot. 
I had my second visit there last night for s passholder preview. It was a lot more crowded than for the CM preview I attended. That is probably how it will be when it's open to the public.  
In case you don't already know, there is very little seating in the Cantina. It's mostly standing room. No stools at the bar, and the bar is circled by large high top tables with no stools. There are large booths on the exterior walls which do have seating. For the previews, a host assigns your seating. Parties are expected to share the tables, and are grouped together at the tables. 
The mixed drink menu is fixed because all of the drinks are pre-made. The glasses are very small. Even for the beer. The prices are outrageous, even for Disney. The mixed drinks go for $15-17 a pop, and beers $13-14. For very small portions. 
The animatronic DJ is fun. But not at these prices.  
I think comparing this bar to Tradet Sam's is fair.  The drinks are bigger and cheaper at Trader Sam's, and the atmosphere is more fun. And Trader Sam's has barstools.  This place, like the rest of Galaxy's Edge is a blatant money grab that could have and should have been better. 
Yall have fun. I'm not going back. 
TCD

For those of you pumped about a visit to Oga's Cantina, I suggest that you lower your expectations. A lot. 
I had my second visit there last night for s passholder preview. It was a lot more crowded than for the CM preview I attended. That is probably how it will be when it's open to the public.  
In case you don't already know, there is very little seating in the Cantina. It's mostly standing room. No stools at the bar, and the bar is circled by large high top tables with no stools. There are large booths on the exterior walls which do have seating. For the previews, a host assigns your seating. Parties are expected to share the tables, and are grouped together at the tables. 
The mixed drink menu is fixed because all of the drinks are pre-made. The glasses are very small. Even for the beer. The prices are outrageous, even for Disney. The mixed drinks go for $15-17 a pop, and beers $13-14. For very small portions. 
The animatronic DJ is fun. But not at these prices.  
I think comparing this bar to Tradet Sam's is fair.  The drinks are bigger and cheaper at Trader Sam's, and the atmosphere is more fun. And Trader Sam's has barstools.  This place, like the rest of Galaxy's Edge is a blatant money grab that could have and should have been better. 
Yall have fun. I'm not going back. 
TCD

I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed but WDWNT has been posting some artist renderings of the new Reflections resort.  They have been rolling them out a little at a time, like they do everything else to get more clicks, but that got me to thinking, where are they getting this info.  So I did a little digging and the first thing I found was this:
Permit Plans
I'll let you click through and look at the details in that post, but some highlights are a new dock next to the existing one at the Fort, parking right next to Pioneer Hall, I mean that literally, look at the handicap spots, and their appears to be more cabins than we first thought that are not right on Bay Lake.
Oh and if you want to see what the inside of the rooms and new building look like check out WDWNT.
WBI

Whoa! (pun totally intended) that is one fancypants new barn!
But yeah, not much notice.  Basically if you're not there this weekend you're out of luck.

The Disney Parks Blog officially announced the new barn:
https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2019/08/whoa-horses-at-disneys-fort-wilderness-resort-campground-to-receive-beautiful-new-barn/
this part was a surprise to me:
Starting August 19, the Draft Horse Barn and Pony Farm will temporarily be inaccessible to guests until the new barn debuts in Spring 2020. Guests can still enjoy Pony rides at the Trail Blaze Corral near the campground’s entrance, and the resort’s trail rides and carriage rides will continue to operate as normal.
Wow. That's not much notice for anyone hoping for a final visit to the old barn. 
TCD

It's official:
https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2019/08/mickeys-not-so-scary-halloween-party-returns-today-and-were-celebrating-with-an-all-new-spook-tacular-season-pass/
Unless I'm missing something, this is an amazing deal. If I didn't have a pass, I might buy this and go to a dozen or so parties. 
TCD

I'm all for enhancements and looking forward to the official D23 announcements (call me cynical, but I take all info that comes from Jim Hill with a HUGE grain of salt)
I'd rather see them bring Paint the Night as a nighttime parade, but honestly I'd be A-OK with bringing back Main St. Electrical.
Overhauling EWP isn't a terrible idea - it's been updated over the years although not in a long time. Certainly better than getting rid of it.