southernview -- Ray

On 11/22/2016 at 10:02 AM, Starbuc71 said:

.....a few other things

i got busted by the rangers for using an unapproved fire pit. Mine has an open top with a screen. Bad S71.  I know why they are so strict (at times) due to all the stupid people who could burn the place down

also, I saw them putting notices on cars that had tires off the pads

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If they went through all of the loops, they would have had a real job on their hands.  I took the Granny Cycle looping late Tuesday and there were cars in several loops parked in all sort of fashions.  Several loops had two cars and others had three at their sites.  I had a fine neighbor in the 1700 loop that tied two dogs out on long leads, long enough to reach a few feet into my site.  The dogs did their thing on my side of the line and they never picked any up that I saw.

They also parked a car on my side that came and went for three days and stayed the nights.  They parked this car where it blocked my Tailgater satellite antenna, I guess I'm lucky that they didn't run over it.

I spent a week at Lake Louisa State Park by myself and didn't have any strange looks.  I even rode my Granny Cycle around and chatted with a few folks and no one asked any questions.  One fellow was interested in the Granny Cycle.

22 minutes ago, AldeanFan said:

My parents own a home (prefab) in Winter Haven and they received a notification from the park recommending they evacuate today.

Luckily my parents are still safe in Canada and we're not planning to head south for the winter for two more weeks.

Winter Haven is along way from the coast, it must be bad if they're recommending evacuation that far inland.

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They always err on the side of caution.  I've been told to evacuate for storms a lot less than this one and nothing happened.  That does tend to cause apathy which later can be deadly.  I've been dodging storms on the Gulf Coast for years, and I've seen this apathy result in disaster.

Having said that, the storm does show some signs of a possible shift seaward from the coast which would favor the Orlando area, but those that count on that risk their lives for no good reason. 

20 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

It's $5 per campsite per night- for all the pets at the campsite.  Not per pet.

I'm sure that the rationalization for the charge is to cover the cost of poop bags and extra clean-up,  But, let's be real- it's a money grab.  If half of the sites at the Fort have pets, that's another $2000 a night of revenue that they rake in.  That little $5 a night charge could easily bring in $700K a year in extra revenue.  They could buy designer poop bags and still laugh all the way to the bank.

Disney always wins.

TCD

 

Some others on here may have encountered another campground that charges for pets, but I have never found one that does and I have been camping for years.  Some of them furnish the poop bags, but most do not.  In the past, we have never brought our dogs along when camping at the Fort, but will probably do so this year and just had not really thought about Disney charging a fee.  Just my opinion, but it's much more convenient to use your own poop bags and we always do that, so I guess in our case the charge could be justified if we use the dog run as, after all, they have to mow the grass there. 

I'm sure this charge can be rationalized in some manner, but I think it is ridiculous.

Can someone tell me why the $5.00 charge?  Is that $5.00 per dog? 

On 8/12/2016 at 7:47 AM, Cortezcapt (Derek) said:

I don't disagree that there needs to be something done to curb the freeloaders that use the pool and abuse events such as tot and such. However as an annual pass holder there are times I may be on property that I'm not staying at a Disney resort and want to pop into a resort for lunch, dinner or even to just wonder around. That's where Disney has a problem, how do they verify that I don't just want to go to let's say Port Orleans to have a drink or a CS meal, or to the Poly for a Dole whip, or even into the Fort to buy something from one of the shops? They could beef up security for special events and holiday weekends only but then you have the problem of people at other resorts or that may actually be at a park not being able to go to a resort for a meal or just to look around without making a dining reservation. It would curb freeloaders but it would also slow down transportation and take a lot of the ease and magic out of getting around on property.

Wristbands handed out to guests at check-in would be the only thing I could see working for something like Halloween, and if word got out that they were doing that it might curb the freeloaders or at large groups. But how many campers would actually check for bands, I wouldn't turn a child away or deny them candy if they didn't have a band on, it not their fault.

I am all for a MB scanner at the pool!

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I am inclined to agree with Derek's comments on this problem as I have experienced the same thing.  I suppose that the innocent will have to abide by the regulations made to control the guilty, but it just seems that for me at least,  it will take something else out of the magic that was the original Disney.

They could offer both styles and keep everybody happy, but why worry about doing that?

On 8/11/2016 at 8:44 AM, Travisma said:

For being the "Most Magical Place on Earth" and being the worlds largest vacation destination, WDW seems to get the short end of the stick more often than their other parks.

Guess they figure suckers  visitors will still come to WDW no matter what they throw at them. 

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That's something that I have been convinced of for years now.  I am predicting coming ticket price hikes within another year--someone has to pay for all the increases in security that have been taking place.

It's necessary to have all these security updates, but they don't come cheap. 

Look for even more price increases in the future to pay for these changes.

I'm just thinking how sad it is that our country is such a far cry from what it used to be.  In some ways, the nut- jobs and terrorists out there have won a great victory.  Never again will we have the same freedoms that we once enjoyed.

I have a camera in each of our three vehicles and I think this is one of the best investments one can make. 

Welcome to the forum, perhaps we will see you at the fort in the future.  We are there in November this year.

I've really enjoyed this thread, it's good to see how many folks that had the same experiences as myself growing up. 

On the original subject of carts, we are presently in a campground in Sevierville, TN, and the golf carts are almost completely unregulated here.  I have seen everything from minors driving to adults driving and holding an infant in their arms at the same time.  They also do not come close to observing the "strictly enforced" 5Mph speed limit for vehicles.

The only rules for golf carts are, that they have to be registered in the office and must be a licensed driver to operate one.  Fortunately, this is a very large campground with wide roads and it is not saturated with them like most I have been in.

They also do not allow bike riding after dark.  I obeyed this, although no one else seemed to care as several were biking anyway.

I expect that there was a little blame that could be attributed to the Malls', but the officer not showing up for court two times tells me that they didn't have a case and were stonewalling knowing that it would finally go away.  How could you charge someone with being intoxicated and never give any type of sobriety test?  

On 5/5/2016 at 0:46 PM, Retired and Happy (Ken) said:

A-HA!  The latest TCD list corresponds to my experience with the missing channels all having HD in their titles, and the upper channels having SD in THEIR titles.

Now, at River Plantation (Sevierville TN)  one of my TVs searches and finds all analog stations and the other finds only digital stations.  About 60 similar or equal stations in each set, except a few of the analog stations are snowy.  "Discuss among yourselves."

We stay at River Plantation when visiting Dollywood and I have never stayed at a site that has watchable cable.  I'm told that some sites have a picture that you can actually watch, but we are not that lucky, so I always bring my satellite setup and make sure my site has a view of the southern sky.  Other than that, we love the campground.

9 hours ago, keith_h said:

9 hours ago, keith_h said:

9 hours ago, keith_h said:

 

 

I doubt they are running these off of an Ethernet as they would have to install one. Most likely they are running off of the cable network which has the ability to provide phantom power or these are acting as wireless bridges (i.e. entirely wireless network) and getting their power the traditional way from the campground power system. 

It will be interesting to find out how they are accomplishing this.  I don't see how they can use that many repeaters because, somewhere along the line there would be too much bandwidth loss.  It appears that some of those would have to be bridges as it would seem that they would have to feed that system from more than one point.  It's possible that they might use the existing cable and feed the AP's. 

Well, it's fun to speculate anyway, hope it works good that's the main thing.

On 2/4/2016 at 3:08 PM, Travisma said:

So we just got 2  partial site weekday nights at the Fort (Wednesday ,Thursday) in the middle of March, way before most school spring breaks begin, and it cost us $191.  We really wanted Friday also, but guess what, it's not available.  Can't go onto MDE to try to add a day, have to call reservations, and since it's a Friday, if we even get it, it'll be over $100 on top of the $191 we already have.  We are thinking of cancelling it, and just staying in a hotel Friday which is really the day we were looking for.  $300 for a quick trip is a lot to spend. Sorry, but the Fort aint that magical.

By the middle of March, we will have this whole city taken over by breakers.  I have no idea how many of them will be further south, but most all colleges are on break before, and around the middle of the month.

College Spring break dates

On 2/1/2016 at 10:14 AM, Travisma said:

We were at Legoland 2 weekends ago, and they were wanding everyone coming in. They were skipping kids, but a lot of them wanted to be wanded so they did them also. A woman ahead of us said they weren't doing that 2 weeks earlier, it was something they just started.

Is this one of those scans where you have to empty your pockets and take off your watch and stuff like that? 

11 hours ago, Grumpy and Grandma said:

I know we.missed some since they are well hidden and vegetation does appear to be part of the placement.

So far 42 poles, some wired some not. Also I don't think they are done with poles. Didn't find any in 100 or 1700. I am wondering if they will also utilize CS roofs, but of course that would be a logical decision.

 

That's a lot of access sites and it looks like they are having to put in extra because of the foliage which, no doubt, was necessary.  Have the poles got wiring going down to the ground--I'm wondering where they are drawing power from? 

18 hours ago, Grumpy and Grandma said:

Whenever I talked to the communications people( working on a cable or internet problem) they said when they found the best way to cover the FORT it would go in. Haven't counted poles. Maybe this weekend.

With all of the trees and vegetation, it would seem that there would have to be several.  In an average scenario the spacing would normally be about 600 feet, but there is not much line of sight area there.  Then again, it depends upon exactly what equipment they are using, my guess could be wrong.

4 hours ago, Grumpy and Grandma said:

Antennas are being installed and wired. They are different from most, antennas on top and bottom.

Looks like an access point using MIMO technology to me.  Maybe Disney is doing this job right, that kind of equipment doesn't come cheap.  Wonder how many nodes this system will have to cover the whole Fort?

11 hours ago, Travisma said:

My wife was trying for a week the beginning of March (Spring Break for Hillsborough County) and it's booked solid, and she's been trying since Christmas.

 

None of the counties around Disney are off that week, and it's way to early for the Northerners Spring Break, so what gives?

 

The Northerners start hitting the beach here in Panama City Beach starting around the 12th to 15th of March.  They also may be going somewhere else this year since the city has put several new rules in place in an attempt to regain control of them. 

Wait.  It gets worse.

 

There are threads on that site and others where cheaters brag about cancelling their reservations after their MB's have been mailed to them.

 

They get to keep those FP+ reservations they made 60 days out and the MB's.  And Disney refunds their deposit. In the end, they get all of the benefits supposedly reserved for on-site guests, but pay nothing for them.

 

How stupid can Disney be?

 

TCD

My guess is, that if Disney ever wants to do anything about this, It's going to make it harder on the rest of us that try to do things right.

Just thinking about these people pulling this makes me sick.

Looks like Disney is finally having to join the 21st century concerning security.

Has anyone had on the spot experience with these new procedures?

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/os-disney-metal-detectors-security-20151217-story.html

Like I said- they need to do a better job communicating what's allowed and what's not.

 

Like my badass Army Ranger dad used to say, almost anything can be a weapon.  I once entered the park with some FWRR spikes in my backpack, which I had intended to leave in my car.  The bag searcher didn't even open the plastic bag they were in. Those could be used as a weapon, and inflict a lot more damage than a pocket knife.

 

TCD

I don't know how many will agree, but I find the security at Disney a joke.  These people are just going through the motions and it gives me the impression that they are doing this only for looks or for CYA reasons.  I would never do it, but I can't help but wonder how many pistols have came and went through their gates that they knew nothing about.

I'm not primarily knocking the dishwasher guys.  It's the selective enforcement, once again, that bothers me.  I don't know how many times over the years I've read of folks in popups that have to take their grey water to an unoccupied site with sewer or lug it to a comfort station to dispose of it.  Why doesn't Fort management simply advise them to dig a hole behind their site and dump it in?  They obviously don't have a problem with it.  

 

And furthermore, the typical popup camper generates little grey water, with basic dish soap and some food scraps.  An electric household dishwasher using a standard automatic dishwasher detergent such as Cascade dump many gallons of waste water per cycle including hazardous materials such as Sodium Hypochlorite, which is extremely toxic to aquatic environments (such as canals...).  So....I really don't understand why the Fort allows this year after year.  But I guarantee if I have one wheel of my vehicle off the concrete pad I'd get a nasty gram because I'm destroying the precious Fort environment.  

I'm totally surprised they allow such an operation, drain or not.  Maybe someone in the group knows the right people.