BradyBzLyn...Mo

Everest in July 2004 during construction.

Everest from the same area after completion.

Some of my favorites

This is where all the board member live and the city of Reedy Creek.

After a fun, hot morning at the pool we make our way to the Magic Kingdom.
First stop is a quick trip down the slide then a photo op to show off our newest T-shirt creation...

Just as we enter we see the horses coming out of the barn.

Wandering down Main Street we stop to listen to the music and also encounter the Mayor and his "girlfriend"?


Then on to Adventure Land where we decided to take the Jungle Cruise.
We love all the corny jokes. This time we had an exceptionally good CM, Captain Josh.









It's now time for the afternoon parade and we get a nice spot, mostly in the shade, in Liberty Square.




A stop for lunch at the Pinocchio Haus.
Pizza for Aiden and a meatball sub for the DH and I to split.
(And if Aiden's mommy is reading this we really do try to feed him healthy...see we did get him milk instead of soda )
The food was served hot and tasted very good. Can't help but wonder why the pizza tastes better here than other places in Disney? There is also a nice condiment cart that contains 4 different kinds of salad dressing packets, parmesan cheese packets, BBQ sauce and the usual ketshup, relish, mustard.
If you're lucky you can get a place by the window and watch the Small World boats pass by.
In the outside eating area there are stairs that lead to an upper balcony with a couple small tables.


We head over to the Haunted Mansion to check out the new entrance area.
You can still take this entrance if you use a scooter or wheel chair.
The CMs will point you to the right as you enter the stretching room and you go down a short hall to the exit area, drop off your scooter and board the doom buggy at the exit area as usual.

If you touch the pictures you will hear music being played by whatever instrument you touched.
There are more instruments on the backside too.


Water leaks out of the captains monument...nice little cool off on a hot afternoon

And Madame Leota is still "watching" you at the entrance

The new doom buggy riding ghosts at the end are a nice touch.
Ours was riding on top and moving his hands and head.
We like the new changes to the Haunted Mansion.
On to Tomorrowland and the Astro Orbiter


Pilot Aiden and his trusty "Teddy" at the controls with Poppie as co-pilot

Then on to a shoot out with the Evil Emperor Zerg


We send Zerg to jail and have photographic evidence as proof

In our next installment we attempt to catch the mean Captain Hook
We also get a few pics of the Fantasyland construction from atop the Dumbo ride
Thus ends today's LIVE report from the Fort

Let me just check the toteboard for Points Distributed:
Fort Fiends : 0
Hm... Might be broken. How about the Members Banned totals?
Fort Fiends : 0
What could be the problem, I wonder?
Oh, I remember. We don't roll like that around here, that's why. :) All fiends are welcome!

Hello, all, from your friendly Fort troll.
If you've never heard of me, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Norm, aka The Troll.
Why am I called The Troll? Well, it's a long story. Let's just say that I tend to express some rather...controversial opinions. I have a tendency to say what I think, and sometimes that rankles some feathers!
Anyway, I am who I am and I want to do a little experiment. You're invited along for the ride.
This is a departure from the conventional trip report. What I'm about to do here is present a photo essay consisting of pictures I took around the Fort during the Troll family's last visit in February. I took several hundred photos, and I'd like to share them with you. But unlike the conventional trip report, there will be no running commentary. Just pictures and captions.
All the pictures I'll show you were taken around the Fort. I've added a caption to each picture, sort of like how abstract artists title their paintings. See if you can figure out where each picture was shot and the meaning of each caption.
Now a word before we begin. If you haven been reading along TCD's latest trip report and his first posted here at this site, you know that Mr. TCD has thrown down the gauntlet and challenged me to a trip report duel. I have accepted his challenge; however, this photo essay is not my entry into said duel. I am preparing a full conventional trip report for later this year that will blow TCD's entry out of the water.
Until then, I hope you enjoy this experiment!
On with the show:

S'mores Cooker

S'Mores Cooker Fuel

Home

Hammock View

Hangin' Around

One Happy Troll

Troll's Best Friend

Rusty Streak

At the Settlement

No Kenny's Allowed

Hanging Palms

Fall in Florida

Under the Blades

Nature's Noose

Where's the Closest Lowe's?

Should Be Rustier?

Lost in the Weeds

Moon Over a Forgotten Windmill

Theming

Hidden Mickey?

Saying Cheese

Chowing

Long Branches

River Country Remnant
So...how do you like it so far? There's plenty more to come.
Stay tuned...
This post has been promoted to an article

I continue to be astounded at the decisions being made "over there." Speaking for myself, I have no desire to be hostile to anyone. The success of our site is entirely independent of the success of theirs, so I do not need to feel any sort of hostility to people who post links to their site.
But if they want to continue driving people our way while also reducing their own population, well, I certainly can't complain about that. In fact, I thank them for the extra traffic. It's like it says in my sig:

Once again TCD you have out did your self, in your trip report and your story telling abilities.
Awesome.
On a side note I am now banned forever for "Linking to a hostile site":popo:. I was just trying to tell ever one that TCD is alive and will, their loss.
Great find on the rails.:dance:

I want to print this on canvas and hang it on my wall! :waycool:

Saturday: Nice weather; more photos
our creek is turning green!


Up the polluted tributary - but they still have a paddle :rofl2:

Rita's chicken & biscuit breakfast. I put my chicken meat on my biscuit
Guess where we're headed :banana:







Exclusive Use by Guests at The Fort ...Really?




The Meadows Arcade






Onward ...

And here's some more from around the Fort. Notice the strange golf cart with a cow design...they had 10 people/kids packed on there!

The afternoon was filled with Animal Kingdom. Here are some pics....

We ended up spending most of the Friday afternoon at the Fort despite our best intentions to go to Epcot. Good thing because after our swimming expedition we came back to find MagicBus at our doorstep. It was a really nice Fiend visit and we hope Lou comes back again. In fact, we were so excited about a Fiend visit that we forgot to take pictures! So, here are some other pictures of what we saw throughout the day...

WOW!
Just, Wow.
I said when I started this trip report that I wanted to see it have at least a thousand views.
We are now closing in on two thousand, and we are not even close to the half-way point in this report.
Awesome!
As is my practice, I will be responding to your comments, but before I do that, I wanted to say that while some of you may have missed me, I didn't realize how much I missed all of you until I started reading your comments.
What a great group of folk this is!
And think about it for a minute.
We have a guy reading along in Russia.
And another in Texas.
And a lady in Minnesota.
And another couple in South Carolina.
And, then there's a lady in New Hampshire.
Plus a bunch of Florida folks.
And, folks everywhere.
All sharing a couple of laughs and enjoying a story about some guy's trip to Fort Wilderness.
What a great site this is.
To those lurkers reading along.
Welcome!
Why don't you join and let us know you are reading along.
You will not find a funner or friendlier group anywhere!
So sign up!
It's free!
And, you can join in the fun!
Now, back to the report . . .
TCD

I'm back >:D
Drop back a little bit ...
At The Fort, waiting on our buses to EPCOT, I had time for a few photos ...



No hay on a "hay ride" - because of allergies. Imagine that


After a quick trip to EPCOT; luggage check; full body scan and an anal probe - oops, that's TSA ... we're at Disney. :rofl2:
Quick bag check and we're off to American Showcase (with the Kaki Gori pit stop)



and here come's Davy Jones!
The Concert was good; he was very amusing; everyone wished he had sang more of the 'old stuff'.





Gratuitous tambourine shot :rofl2:



TCD had Turkey Butts ... I think mines a little more appealing ...
Mo' Rockin

A future Belly Dancer getting an early start :rofl2:
Watched Illuminations. It seemed as if it had been cut back since the last time we saw it
Back to the Fort and a nights sleep.

So, where were we? That's right - The Contemporary. PureTCrazy has a Crazy thought (imagine that :rofl2: ) Why don't we take the monorail, it's faster. You have to understand that she HATES the monorail, but ... Up the escalators and "whoosh" we are at the TTC, where we debark to catch a bus to The Studios. A short wait, and off to the Studios. Two stops down and we are at the stop for Pop. Bingo - that was quick. At Pop right by our stop is
Looks good.
And we wait; and we wait; and we wait. :argh: Three buses to Typhoon Lagoon; 2 each for EPCOT and The Studios later ... It's about damn time.
Packet Pickup takes all of 10 minutes - after 2 1/2 hours of dealing with Disney Transport.
We get back out and what do we find - the bus only runs on the hour and half hour :argh: If we had knew that, we would have had time to get something cold to drink while waiting at Pop :siren: :banghead:
Bus to Pop and then catch the bus to MK; Boat to The Fort. Along the way, some photo time ...





Interesting 'Weather Vane' :facepalm:

Still waiting ...



Good stuff. The brand I use ...









Back at Trail's End to FINALLY pick up a GAG! :yay:
While taking this one I heard, "They say we have to have reservations." DUH!
This are now set up next to those Porta-Potties
and more of them. Hmm
Been there; done that; got the shirt
So ends the DTSDFH. On to the Flower Power Concert - in the next post :toiletreading:

Friday morning started out gloomy and drizzling rain. This turned into a HOT and Humid day. The goals for the day were:
1. Packet Pickup for the Expedition Everest Challenge run - aka The Disney Transportation System Day From Hell
2. Go to EPCOT for the Davy Jones (Hey Hey We're The Monkees) Flower Power Concert.
We decide we will eat lunch and go to ESPN Sports after lunch. Since we didn't get the GAG for dinner on Thursday due to our delayed arrival at The Fort, we headed down to get one today.
There were photos requested, so I took some on the way

Hmm, Why are these in the field next to Pioneer Hall?
Not on the list, but OldeKoot (The Momma) loves blooming Magnolias - suck it up!






Banana Nut; Chocolate; Blueberry

OH HELL! They don't serve Dinner Take out until 4:30 pm! So much for the GAG for lunch
Back to the camper. OldeKoot says she will graze on what we have, and PureTCrazy & I can go on.
Thus begins the Disney Transportation Day From Hell.
1. The only buses to ESPN Sports depart from Pop; All Stars or Caribbean Beach :argh:
2. Rita & I need to eat lunch somewhere;
3. You can't get there from here
We decide we will
1. Boat to Contemporary and eat at The Contempo Cafe;
2. Go to MK and catch a bus to Pop
3. Catch the Bus to ESPN Sports
So we head back to the Settlement - and more photo requests


RCFD at The Fort?







Finally on the Boat to the Contemporary :parrot:



Mine; Mine; mine mine ...!
Roasted Curry Vegetable Salad. eh! The roasted veggies were over roasted and almost mush - and didn't really have much curry flavor. The Bulgar Wheat was supposed to be the main ingredient - not an after thought. A bowl of salad greens with a small topping of yada yada.
Rita got the Smoked Turkey. I'll let her review it. It was ok to my taste, but not something I'd order.
Since I'm almost at the photo limit, the DTSDFH will continue ...

Last week we had roast beef and decided to have yorkshire pudding. When i took the out of the oven i started laughing. So i sent my son to get a couple of his lego people and put them in a row. My version of Disney's Haunted Mansion Doom Buggies.

Snarky & Family rearranged a little
Gently caressing bugs
Our 'stream':rofl2:
and more
Some kids across the creek in the 1400 loop informed us, "If you feed him crackers, he will love you!"
Another visitor
:rofl2:

The MK was open until midnight last night. Our grandson is with us again and we had a wonderful time. Watching the fireworks from Fantasyland is interesting. Most of the fireworks are still behind MK but the rockets that stream straight up seem to come from right on top of the castle…you just keep turning back to front trying to watch everything. And it is really LOUD!
We got notice this morning that the 2011 Danskin Women’s Triathlon is being hosted here on Sunday with 1600 athletes competing. There is a ½ mile swim, a 12 mile bike ride and a 3.1 mile run. The notice reminds everybody that even though there will be delays and possibly some roads closed that checkout time is still 11AM including race participants. However, campers in loops 100, 200, 300 and 1500-1900 loops get a complimentary 1PM check out.
Interesting tidbit....We were told by CMs at check in that loops 300 and 400 will be shut down for maintenance starting today for an unspecified amount of time. There was no specific on what they will be doing…maybe fixing the old water pipe system? And judging by how many people are still there today it will probably be after the weekend before they empty out.
Today we have errands to run and then to the Studios for Toy Story riding and Fantasmic. They are two of our grandson’s favorites (besides Buzz Lightyear, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Aladdin, etc. etc.) :)
BradyBzLyn12 – The Kenny cart is wonderful…I’m not an expert on golf carts but it does seem to go faster than the last one. Sure is easy to find in the cart corral too!
MagicBus – Don’t know if we will be here this afternoon. But, don’t give up on us...we will be here a while.
Stefa70 - Maybe I can talk the DH into extending a couple more days (hee..hee!)...I can always take a few more days at the Fort.

Thanks everybody!
Here's some more construction stuff for you. Its the project boundary shown on an aerial. I'm going to upload another print shortly and point out some interesting stuff. But just to get you going here's a couple:
1. I'm pretty sure the lawnmower stump will be history with this project. They are putting in a golf cart parking lot in that area with pervious pavement type bricks.
2. Notice the area all the way to the right by itself, thats where they have to scrape out the canal to add compensating flood plain since they are filling some low places for construction. It will bring the canal closer to the path in that one spot. I wish they would scrap the whole canal so it would hold water all the time!

I'm having a hard time uploading PDF's because of there size and the 500k max, is there a better way to do it?

Hopefully ya'll can zoom in and read this:

Sorry for the image but I guess I can't upload large pdfs so this as good as I can get. If anyone knows a better way just let me know.
WBI