mouseketab.....Carol

Yep, even does run of the mill hotels at other locations 🙂

I just booked site 83 Friday - Sunday.

The Fort Wilderness Bus Stop at Disney Springs is ALLLLLLLLLLLL the way around the back. As Yvonne and I were limping towards the bus stops, I saw the Wilderness Lodge/Contemporary bus stop really close. We hopped on there, got off at Wilderness Lodge, and then hopped on the Fort bus. Really nice if you are along the "Yellow" line as you can stay on at Settlement.
It's also helpful if you started your day with your cart or bicycles parked at the Marina and did some park hopping or hopped to Disney Springs

The Fort Wilderness Bus Stop at Disney Springs is ALLLLLLLLLLLL the way around the back. As Yvonne and I were limping towards the bus stops, I saw the Wilderness Lodge/Contemporary bus stop really close. We hopped on there, got off at Wilderness Lodge, and then hopped on the Fort bus. Really nice if you are along the "Yellow" line as you can stay on at Settlement.
It's also helpful if you started your day with your cart or bicycles parked at the Marina and did some park hopping or hopped to Disney Springs

Happy Birthday Snarky!!! and once again, Dave, member #1 is the first one to reply 🙂

Happy Birthday Snarky!!! and once again, Dave, member #1 is the first one to reply 🙂

So bizarre, once again, folks worrying about non issues rather than the idiots racing their golf carts around and kids driving golf carts, and the 100s of locals invading the Fort on a daily basis filling up the pool.

The area inside the gates, but outside the train station is actually a very calm, nice way to watch the fireworks. Good view too, except for the castle.

Walt Disney was born on this day in 1901!!!
Happy Birthday!!!

We are here and on 903. Perfect weather today!

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/11/12/everything-that-will-matter-to-orlando-at-this-years-iaapa-attractions-expo
 
Nothing about Disney or Universal, still an interesting but long read...
 
Wonder if the Mommy Bloggers get invited to this convention??
Everything that will matter to Orlando at this year's IAAPA Attractions Expo
The annual Attractions Expo is the flagship convention for the Orlando-based International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. 
 
The conference kicks off today with the trade floor opening tomorrow morning. Last year’s conference saw more than 38,000 attendees and the numbers this year are expected to be even higher. 

While Disney and Universal typically skip making big announcements during the event, many other industry leaders use it to make their biggest announcements of the year. 

This year looks to be no different. 
Tomorrow at 10:15 a.m., the slew of press conferences begin with SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment up first. The press conference will start in the IAAPA Central booth before heading to both the Skyline Attractions booth and the Premier Rides booth. Over the course of the press event, SeaWorld will reveal new details regarding SeaWorld Orlando’s Super Grover’s Box Car Derby (the coaster formerly known as the Shamu Express), SeaWorld San Diego’s Tidal Twister ride (produced by Skyline), SeaWorld San Antonio’s Turtle Reef mini-land, Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s Finnegan’s Flyer, and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay’s Tigris ride (built by Premier Rides) will all be revealed during the two-hour long multi-booth press event. 

Up next is Jacksonville-based Sally Corporation who is expected to announce a new Sesame Street-themed dark ride slated for a park in Spain. Early press kits include a number of hints pointing to Sesame Street. This likely isn’t the rumored dark ride that was once thought to be a part of the upcoming SeaWorld Orlando Sesame Street land. 

A mid-afternoon joint press conference with Daniels Wood Land and Madame Tussauds likely isn’t anything related to their Orlando attraction, but popular concepts tested at some Madame Tussauds museums are often repeated at other locations. 

Dynamic Attractions, who has a large design office in Orlando, is also a key vendor to watch on Tuesday. Their groundbreaking new attractions regularly win awards at the expo and are always some of the most talked about. The company is promising that tomorrow’s announcement “will forever change the company and the prominence of its high-tech rides around the world.” 
Wednesday morning begins with a major press event for Legoland Florida, where they will give new details on their upcoming LEGO Movie World and the flying theater attraction currently under construction there. As the first flying theater in the Southeast outside of Walt Disney World, all eyes on how well the new attraction is received at Legoland. If the Legoland attraction proves successful, many expect similar attractions throughout parks nationwide. Legoland is going with a vendor who has never before opened on their lower-cost flying theaters in the United States. 

Just after the Legoland event, TrioTech who will be announcing details on a new partnership with Ubisoft and will be unveiling an updated version of their highly successful coin-operated roller coaster simulator, Typhoon. 

Also on Wednesday, expect a press conferences by roller coaster design company The Gravity Group, Tampa Bay-based arena event company Feld Entertainment, and ticketing/queue technology company accesso. 

Feld is rumored to be announcing a new partnership with Cedar Fair parks for a Monster Jam-branded roller coaster attraction. New details on the recently opened Trolls experience and the upcoming Jurassic World arena show may also be mentioned during their press event. 

Orlando-based Falcon’s Creative Group close out Wednesday with a late afternoon press event where they will give details on a major new partnership. Falcon’s will also be showcasing their recently launched custom designed augmented reality headsets that are designed to meet the grueling demands of theme park settings. 

Thursday and Friday see far fewer locally related press events though the Arihant Water Park Equipment event Thursday afternoon will likely generate some buzz as they’re slated to announce multiple unique water slide attraction concepts. 

Beyond the specific press conferences, this year’s Attractions Expo looks to be yet another year dominated by virtual and augment reality. Numerous press releases already point to many competing VR and AR concepts with battery life, multiple player options, and hyper-real graphics being the main focus. Zip lines and other lower budget thrill options also seem to be as popular as ever. ZipFlyer, Walltopia, and Extreme Engineering are all planning to unveil new zip line products at this year’s expo. 

An increasing presence at the expo are companies designed to track and process guest data in useful ways. Australian-based Luboo will be showcased at the expo for the very first time. The company specializes in smart wristbands that can be used to find missing children and can viewed as a possible competitor to accesso, who has seen less than stellar reviews from their Tapu Tapu system at Universal’s Volcano Bay. 

Over the next three years significant additions are headed to nearly every single theme park in the U.S. so there are plenty of new projects and details of previously announced projects that could be shared at this year’s event, but with many Orlando projects already well underway this looks to be a year with few Orlando-related surprise announcements. 

However, that doesn’t mean the press events for Dynamic Attractions, SeaWorld, Legoland, and Falcon’s Creative should be overlooked. These and the others mentioned here point to a healthy future for Central Florida’s biggest industry even before we know all the specifics of what the week will bring. 
 

Yes they were, and on the back it said Hot Diggity Dog, and they were playing the song. Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog!!

I took some pics of the golf cart parade this year. Some very creative carts out there!!




















 
 
 

Look again!
TCD

Thank you to my father, US Navy, my uncle US Army Vietnam, and my grandfather, US Army, WWII

Every year in late winter, early Spring, the Womenz of Fort Fiends gather together at the Fort to have a weekend of bonding, frivolity, and a break from our families. (No husbands, no kids, no drama, no plans!!) (Womenz, if you want to join us, check out the WWW 2019 thread in Grand Gatherings) 
This year, the gathering is President's day weekend. To continue the community of Fort Fiends, we would like to host a Potluck for ALL Fiends that are at the Fort, local to the area, or just visiting WDW in general. 
The date will be Saturday, February 16th in the Full Hookup Loops starting around 4:30ish. Bring a chair, your favorite dish to share, a beverage, and enjoy an evening of fellowship and fun.
(There might even be a giveaway or two from the Fort Fiends store stockpile).
We will post the site number when we check in.
Let us know if you think you are coming, so we can plan for paper plates, stuff, etc.

It's been 6 years ago, but we really enjoyed that particular parade one evening in early December. I don't recall any h**l raising, just lots of pretty carts and fun.

I think I've seen pictures on the interwebz of some of the fixtures in a display in Branson at Silver Dollar City.
Conflicting information. This article says the lights are from the Osborne's
http://www.amusementinsider.com/2017/11/silver-dollar-citys-light-display.html
Another article quotes Silver Dollar City as saying the additional lights are NOT from the Osborne display.
So who knows?

NICE!

Nice decorations!
Thanks for sharing the photos!

Just bumping!! Hoping to see folks. As "mama" used to say, it's time for a "Fort Feast"!!!

Just bumping!! Hoping to see folks. As "mama" used to say, it's time for a "Fort Feast"!!!

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DoPhPDuCV76E&ved=2ahUKEwiJx8-G6e_dAhWjHDQIHROWDLQQjjgwAXoECAcQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2uAV77mxQNrscZ_JfNoD2p

Back in the 60's when Walt was secretly buying up the land for WDW, if someone from the future had told him that someday they'd be serving booze for breakfast in the Magic Kingdom, he'd have replanted the orange trees, put the land back up for sale, and headed back to California.  

Just bumping!! Hoping to see folks. As "mama" used to say, it's time for a "Fort Feast"!!!