southernview -- Ray

Thanks for letting me drop in occasionally.  This is still the best site to keep abreast of all things Disney and I have always enjoyed coming by.  It's nice to see Lou on here, I've missed him.

I wonder how many young fledglings got their start with chalk and later graduated to spray paint.  Check all of the rail cars you see going down the track and the surfaces of a thousand walls and structures.

It seems to me that there is something going on with the parking permit situation.  When we checked in this past December, we did not get a parking pass with all the other paperwork.  When we realized this the next day, the DW went back up front and obtained one.  It looks as if they are not consistent with issuing one when you check in which has been the case in the past.

1 hour ago, GB&MZ said:

Hi All,

We have reservations at the Fort for a premium site during April 2020.  Our plans were to use our trailer, as usual, however we may not be able to take it this time.  Would anyone know if you can rent a trailer to have set up at your site.  Is there a specific company to contact?  How do we work that with Disney, do we have to let them know?  Would we be able to request our site in advance as we usually do?  Any information that folks might share would be appreciated.  If not our alternative may be to try and switch the reservation to a hotel room.

Thanks.

 

Yes, you can rent a trailer and have it set up.  I'm not sure of the companies that can do that, but I am confident that there will be several people answering this post that can fill you in on the details.

We have done this before, but as time passes the names of the companies that are able to do this may have changed.

I hope you have a pleasant trip next April and be sure and check this site for all of your questions so you will receive the best quality answers available.

I'm sure that it's because I am a lifetime railfan, but every time I see videos and pictures of the train, it almost makes me sick.  I long ago gathered up all the spikes that I could see and even had a piece of rail.  I gave a lot of spikes away to other railfans.  

I hear a lot of people lamenting the fact that the train is gone and I am one of them.  I'm sure that nostalgia plays the largest part of that, but couldn't Disney make a hit if they put another train in the Fort?  

Problem is, they would have to have fencing on both sides of the track where ever it went and that probably would kill the deal.  Like Travisma, I also miss the little things that he spoke of.  That brings me to a question that I am sure was answered long ago, but what happened to the totem poles that were in front of the Trading Post?

Very interesting article.  I remember the place well, we nick-named it Bird Island which constituted most of what was on the island as I remember it.

We are among those that the price has about wiped us out.  We have been going only one time a year for the last 3 years now and this year may be our last doing that.

We have found that there are numerous places we can go for much less so we usually end up camping several times a year at those places.

The DW and I both love Disney and still consider it our favorite destination, but we find that the variety of places to go that are much less expensive just outweigh the expense of going there.

On 4/11/2018 at 6:03 PM, ftwildernessguy said:

They have a podcast which I have been listening to for a couple years.  They have a business relationship with Cabellas, Jayco and Yogi Bears Jellystone  RV parks.  I'm not sure she was intentionally referencing our group.

There is no doubt that she was referencing our group.  She calls them, "hardcore fans of the campground---a group of guests affectionately known as Fort Fiends."

All the information she gives sounds just like information that I have seen posted here on the forum and much of it seemed accurate enough to have came from this forum.  Obviously, she could have gotten it somewhere else but it just had the ring of all that I have learned right here. 

She made mention of all the animals that could be seen at the Fort and she included Peacocks.  Have the Peacocks returned recently?  I was there last October and didn't see any.

We will be returning next week and are looking forward to it.

We stay at River Country fairly often and really like the place.  They have either riverside or lakeside sites and we prefer the riverside.  Really nice pool area.

3 hours ago, SNARKALOOSHAS said:

Fixed it

Thanks for your help.

Here is something that you won't see very often. 

My home in Mt. Olive, Alabama, December 7, 2017.

The weather has been very odd this year all over the eastern half of the country.

On 12/19/2015 at 6:32 AM, fladogfan aka Gretchen said:

 

 

Note the section on boarding pets.  "$3.00 per 24 hour day".  OH man, the good ole days.

I paid particular attention to that myself. 

At least they actually did something for the money which is more than I can say for charging you now.

Well, they do furnish some doggy bags, but most other campgrounds also do that and they don't charge you for your pets.  I have also heard the one about they have to charge for being liable for pets.

I'm sure that Disney can justify the pet charge, does anyone know what their official reason is?

Along with all of the precautions mentioned in this thread, I also use an infra-red heat detecting gun on my tires when stopping for fuel or other reasons.  I know some of the TPMS devices also have heat detection built into them which is an excellent idea.  

Over time, I have built up a mental record of how hot the wheels are by remembering what the usual temperature should be when I check them.  When doing so, I also note how much hotter the wheels on the sunny side of the trailer are as compared with the shaded side while also taking into consideration the ambient air temperature.  

By careful examination, you can also get an idea if any excess heat is caused by the tire or the wheel bearings.  I also check the TV tires in the same way. 

Over the years this has worked for me and gives me a little more peace of mind.

The very best plans can be made to look bad by the reality of the situation.  I don't see how the governor could have done anything without having those that disagreed with him.  To evacuate or not to evacuate, he would probably have caught all manner of hell either way he went.  Personally, I think they should have ordered a stacked evacuation where the people in the earliest affected areas could get out first and then move on north to the next one likely to be affected.  Then again, there could be a case made to not order an evacuation in the first place. There are probably nearly as many differences as there are people that are commenting on it.

At the present, they are not expecting any difficulties to arise here in my part of the panhandle and all of the state employees and school children got to enjoy our beautiful fall-like day.  I am just waiting until the storm makes that right-hand turn and even after that, what direction it decides to go.  I don't want to have to board up, but anything can happen as most of you know.  I went to bed around midnight when Hurricane Ivan was coming and was aiming directly toward us only to awaken the next morning to find it had changed directions and actually came ashore to the west of Mobile, over a hundred miles from here.

Like some of the others, I am praying that it will take a much sharper turn and go out to sea, but one has to be prepared for anything.  At the present, it is possible that my Alabama home may get worse weather than here, but the worst part is the waiting to see what is predicted by Friday.  My philosophy is to get the best information you can and not wait for the government to tell me what to do when my life may be at stake. 

On 8/19/2017 at 8:15 AM, keith_h said:

Isn't the main issue with the full hookup loops is the roads are narrower than the newer loops are making it harder to back into a site? So while the sites are big enough it might be harder to get into them.

My TT is only 32 feet in length, but I have had trouble on some sites due to what Keith says above.  I have also been on a couple of sites in the 1900 loop where I could not park the truck directly in front of the trailer and had to jam it into the side of the site which make it very inconvenient to walk around when coming and going.

I know there are a lot of Star Wars fans these days, but I wonder if there is enough interest in something like that to cause Disney to pick up on it.  I may be in the vast minority, but I do not like Star Wars, never have, and don't plan on studying to make myself educated on all of the surrounding characters and the such.

To those who are fans, I have nothing against Star Wars, just not my cup of tea.

On 5/14/2017 at 1:44 PM, Starbuc71 said:

 

When did you all book your Thanksgiving trips. I booked mine last October and still can't get Thanksgiving and the next day. Pure blasphemy I say

 

We were there two days before Thanksgiving last year and we booked ours while there.

On 5/12/2017 at 0:16 PM, rtguy007 said:

Thats actually pretty funny. That was aboit the time I was riding over through 1900 before riding up front.  Hopefully we will meet you some time.

You won't have much trouble identifying me, just look for the man on the Granny Cycle.  We will be coming back the week of Thanksgiving, perhaps then.

1 hour ago, rtguy007 said:

Just rode the bike around some and it is starting to fill back in. Probably the weekend warriors.

Also rode back up front. Currently the lot directly beside the outpost is closed. Sign says repaving and striping but wht they have done just appears to be resealed and striped. The remaining portion of the overflow lots are open and pretty full tonight.

 

Missed you again, rode by your site right before dark and no one was there.

We rode our bikes over to Wilderness Lodge and were just coming back from there about the time you were out riding around 9:45 or so.

Sorry, we missed you, we are leaving in the morning.

3 hours ago, rtguy007 said:

Rode my bike by a few minutes ago and no one was out. I didnt want to knock and cause any worry. It is spooky back there in 1900 right now with most campers having their lights off and part of that loop is empty.

 

What site are you on?

6 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Not surprising. They clearly block off loops this time of the year so they can do maintenance things.  It seems like it is always hard to score a reservation in May, but when you go to the Fort, you will see totally empty loops.

TCD 

 

Yes, they are doing tree work in 1600.

I haven't been back by 300 yet, but they had a small excavator bucket machine in there yesterday.

16 hours ago, rtguy007 said:

Hey which site/loop are you in and how long are You here? We are here until saturday morning.

We are in 1912 until the end of the week.

Many loops are half empty some three-quarters empty and the place looks like a ghost town.

The 300 loop and 1600 loop are completely empty and it appears they might be about to do some work on 300 as there is a machine in it.

They have put almost everyone on 1700, 1800, and 1900. The 1700 and 1800 have only one empty space in each and 1900 has only 12 empty.

Probably just the time of the year, but it's been some time since we have found it this empty.  No traffic on the roads and no golf carts to dodge.

Great video, thank you for giving us all some memories.  Seeing the train almost makes me sick, although it had just been taken out of service for a short time when we first started going to the Fort, being a railfan and a Disney fan both, I just lament the fact that it was discontinued.

This is an interesting subject and one that is easily misunderstood.

Of course, the larger the metal object is, the easier it will be detected.  If you have a body full of titanium as some do, it should be detected using modern detectors.  However, this is true only if you assume that the detector being used is set at the proper sensitivity and are in good working order.  Hand- held wands are notorious for having low power levels due to batteries being either low or defective.

It's also true that non-ferrous metals such as titanium and stainless steel are more difficult to detect than ferrous metals containing a lot of iron.  Some smaller implants will go undetected unless the detector is set to a higher sensitivity and is in good working order.  I have some titanium left over from a leg injury and it goes undetected many times but will create an alarm at other times.  Those that have several implants in their bodies should be detected by the latest detectors that are properly maintained, but some older detectors may even miss people like this especially if the detectors are not properly adjusted and maintained.  Whether a particular metal detector can detect titanium depends on the sensitivity and discrimination factors of that particular metal detector.

Most of us that carry metal around in our bodies have became used to hit and miss detectors.