The TCD Gang Springs Forward at the Fort- A Spring Break 2014 TR

[Heidi-meetsTCD@TSM 5]

TCD,

 

I am so excited that I can solve a mystery for the all knowing TCD!!! You said, "who the heck would even mail something from that mailbox anyway?"  I am not exaggerating when I say that I have probably mailed 100's of postcards from that very box over the years!! I did stop some years back when they had a sign there that said there would be a "2 day delay" in mail service. Once that was posted, I started using either the mailbox at the Meadow Trading post or at the Outpost. I actually don't think that sign is even there anymore, but I still would be more inclined to use the outpost mailbox. Its true that with cell phones and Facebook my postcard writing has declined over the years, but I have quite a few elderly relatives/friends that I still send postcards too whenever we go away.

 

The caprese push pop looks much better than the beet lollipop from last year, BUT, it did look kinda gross!! I think presentation is everything. If the caprese salad was on a plate, I think it would look tasty. However, in a push pop, that I would associate with an ice cream treat being in, not so much!!

 

Here's a funny story! From 1990-2006 we spent two, sometimes three weeks at Disney every April during the Flower and Garden Festival. While I knew that the topiaries, butterfly garden some of the exhibits and displays were special just for the Festival, I didn't realize that so many of the flowers on display were just there for the Festival. The flowers in the floating pots and around the water there, as well as a large flower display near the Living Seas and another where you get off the buses, I thought that they were there almost year round!!! We had started to make some Thanksgiving trips in addition to the April trips back in 2002, but there were so many Christmas decorations everywhere, that I really didn't notice the absence of the flowers in Epcot. It wasn't until we went in the summer of 2004, that I noticed all of the flowers were gone!! Everything looked so barren to me! It was funny, because we were vacationing with friends of ours who had never been to Disney and I kept saying how empty Epcot looked and she was so blown away by everything, she couldn't understand what I was talking about!! We haven't been in April since 2010 and I miss seeing all of the flowers!!

 

Waiting for Monday and your next update!

 

Heidi

[jlf 7]

TCD We just returned home from the Ft after a 10 day stay. 3/2-12. Weather was all over the place. Cold, hot, rainy. Everything but snow. Already put deposit in for our usual Dec trip. Deposit for the first week of Dec is $100.41. I remember it being 45 or 50. Lower if you were lucky to get Fl AP discount. OBTW, was that you and your daughters we were waiting. On the boat for? Lol

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

The topiaries are SC for sure.

Congrats on the Caprese bragging rights. Looks good to me.

But what's even better is the shrimp and grits.... Or at least they were last year.

Did the food booths look busier this year?

[shoreline99 137]

The Caprese Push Pop.  Tomato, Mozzarella, and Balsamic.  For a dollar.  A dollar!  How could I not?

 

And, here it finally is:

 

 

Now wait a dog gone minute.

 

What's all that green stuff?  That ain't tomato, mozzarella or balsamic?  So what is it?  I don't know.  I just pushed all of that into my mouth and ate it. 

 

It wasn't half bad.

 

Kind of like taking a bite of a salad. 

 

Better than a Beet Lollipop.

 

Which, of course, isn't saying much.

 

Still, what else can you get for a buck at Epcot?

 

Or anywhere else at WDW for that matter?

 

So, TCD gets CPPBR (Caprese Push Pop Bragging Rights).

 

That's basil. We make that salad all the time, but i would never have thought to put it in a push pop, lol.

[Okieatheart 33]

Funny you should write about the caprese push pops, as I was in the Festival Center at the Impressions Café and thought about getting one of those - but I decided against it. Now I wish I had given in to my instincts.

I am loving this trip report! And thanks for stopping by!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

My guess the green stuff in the Caprese Push Pop  is basil. That usually goes hand in hand with mozzarella and tomato ensembles, but that's just a guess. 

 

We have two guesses that it was basil.  I think you might be right.  I don't know my herbs that well, but there was definitely some flavor in there that wasn't tomato, mozzarella or balsamic.  Might have been a little oregano too.

 

Note to self: Save up lots of money. Stay at the Fort for the duration of the Flower and Garden Festival. Try every single thing on every menu.

Seriously, looking at just those couple of menus I would have trouble deciding on just one or two things. Even if I didn't think I'd like them some of the combinations sound so interesting I'd like to try them and find out for sure.

And on an unrelated note, was your campsite right near the VIP cabins? i thought I saw the corner of one in one photo.

 

It seems like the Flower and Garden offerings are more exotic that the Food and Wine offerings.  I think it's because they're trying to get some kind of vegetable in every dish.

 

Yes, site 114 is close to the VIP cabins. They sit on sites 118 and 120.  There's just one campsite on the outside of the loop between 114 and the VIP cabins.

 

 

Shoot!

 

I'll play along.... Go Gata.  

 

Thanks for the Go Gata.

 

That gave them just enough juice to win the SEC Tournament over the weekend, and enter the NCAA tournament as the number one overall seed!

 

Make that four people.

 

I thought the goat cheese cream and land scallops sounded good.  I would have tried it.

 

Maybe I will go back and try the land scallop.

 

I don't think I can bring myself to eat the pickled beets with goat cheese cream.  Something about that description makes me feel queasy.  And that is not easily done.

 

I will be enjoying one of my green bottles of beer this afternoon...a nice Ukrainian one to stand in solidarity with our anti Putin brothers. I'll let you know if I experience any hallucinations.

Go Gata.

 

I hope the beer was good.

 

But not so good that you missed any Gata basketball.

 

Oh sounds like a little day trippin, enjoy

 

LOL.  I wonder if Dave encountered any talking bears.

 

All your photos of the new light poles made me think how happy this guy must be:

 

 

Brown Paint Guy is going to be busy for a while getting all those new poles to match

 

Great post.

 

I was going to compliment you on your photo of BPG, but then I realized that is my photo!

 

Still, good job finding it and posting it.  And you're right- there are a lot of posts which require painting.  BPG will be busy for the rest of the year at least.

 

TCD,

 

I am so excited that I can solve a mystery for the all knowing TCD!!! You said, "who the heck would even mail something from that mailbox anyway?"  I am not exaggerating when I say that I have probably mailed 100's of postcards from that very box over the years!! I did stop some years back when they had a sign there that said there would be a "2 day delay" in mail service. Once that was posted, I started using either the mailbox at the Meadow Trading post or at the Outpost. I actually don't think that sign is even there anymore, but I still would be more inclined to use the outpost mailbox. Its true that with cell phones and Facebook my postcard writing has declined over the years, but I have quite a few elderly relatives/friends that I still send postcards too whenever we go away.

 

The caprese push pop looks much better than the beet lollipop from last year, BUT, it did look kinda gross!! I think presentation is everything. If the caprese salad was on a plate, I think it would look tasty. However, in a push pop, that I would associate with an ice cream treat being in, not so much!!

 

Here's a funny story! From 1990-2006 we spent two, sometimes three weeks at Disney every April during the Flower and Garden Festival. While I knew that the topiaries, butterfly garden some of the exhibits and displays were special just for the Festival, I didn't realize that so many of the flowers on display were just there for the Festival. The flowers in the floating pots and around the water there, as well as a large flower display near the Living Seas and another where you get off the buses, I thought that they were there almost year round!!! We had started to make some Thanksgiving trips in addition to the April trips back in 2002, but there were so many Christmas decorations everywhere, that I really didn't notice the absence of the flowers in Epcot. It wasn't until we went in the summer of 2004, that I noticed all of the flowers were gone!! Everything looked so barren to me! It was funny, because we were vacationing with friends of ours who had never been to Disney and I kept saying how empty Epcot looked and she was so blown away by everything, she couldn't understand what I was talking about!! We haven't been in April since 2010 and I miss seeing all of the flowers!!

 

Waiting for Monday and your next update!

 

Heidi

 

Wow.  That's a dam good post!

 

I am glad to know someone who actually uses the mailbox at the Settlement Trading Post.

 

You're right about all the flowers at the Flower and Garden Festival- Epcot seems kind of bare after it's over.

 

TCD We just returned home from the Ft after a 10 day stay. 3/2-12. Weather was all over the place. Cold, hot, rainy. Everything but snow. Already put deposit in for our usual Dec trip. Deposit for the first week of Dec is $100.41. I remember it being 45 or 50. Lower if you were lucky to get Fl AP discount. OBTW, was that you and your daughters we were waiting. On the boat for? Lol

 

Hey- you were there the same time I was.  How come you didn't let anyone know?  You might have received a visit and your own personal Fort Wilderness Railroad spike.

 

What boat are you asking about?  The only boat I remember us rushing to catch was one from Epcot to DHS.  We took that MK boat a lot too, but I don't remember it having to wait for us.

 

The topiaries are SC for sure.

Congrats on the Caprese bragging rights. Looks good to me.

But what's even better is the shrimp and grits.... Or at least they were last year.

Did the food booths look busier this year?

 

I didn't get the SC reference for a while. Then I did.  The old DIT scale?  And, yes, you're correct.

 

While you and I do not agree on our college sports affiliations, we do agree on the shrimp and grits.  Stay tuned for that.

 

The food booths were not busy this year.  We visited on Friday and again on Sunday.  No lines at all.  Nothing at all like the Food and Wine crowds.  I was actually surprised that they brought back the booths this year, since they didn't seem to catch on last year.  They really haven't promoted the food booths.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

That's basil. We make that salad all the time, but i would never have thought to put it in a push pop, lol.

 

You're the second one to say basil.  That must be it.

 

I don't think anyone has ever thought to put those ingredients into a push pop.  This is something that they created to get kids to try vegetables.  I think they're going to have a lot of these left over at the end of the festival.

 

Funny you should write about the caprese push pops, as I was in the Festival Center at the Impressions Café and thought about getting one of those - but I decided against it. Now I wish I had given in to my instincts.

I am loving this trip report! And thanks for stopping by!

 

If you get a chance, go back and try one.  It's the best dollar you'll spend at WDW.

 

I'm sorry that I missed y'all.  We weren't at our site very much during the day this trip.

 

TCD

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

 

I didn't get the SC reference for a while. Then I did.  The old DIT scale?  And, yes, you're correct.

 

While you and I do not agree on our college sports affiliations, we do agree on the shrimp and grits.  Stay tuned for that.

 

The food booths were not busy this year.  We visited on Friday and again on Sunday.  No lines at all.  Nothing at all like the Food and Wine crowds.  I was actually surprised that they brought back the booths this year, since they didn't seem to catch on last year.  They really haven't promoted the food booths.

 

TCD

 

Yes, the DIT scale! We should bring that back for new folks. Maybe it needs its own sticky.

 

Why isn't Disney advertising the booths?!?! I think they could be a huge hit. And yeah, some of the food is weird, but some of the F&W food is too.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Yes, the DIT scale! We should bring that back for new folks. Maybe it needs its own sticky.

 

Why isn't Disney advertising the booths?!?! I think they could be a huge hit. And yeah, some of the food is weird, but some of the F&W food is too.

 

Here is the DIT scale.  Version 2.0:

Seems pretty good to me still.

 

I don't know what Disney is thinking re the Flower and Garden food booths.   They clearly aren't expecting crowds, as they don't even have registers set up outside most of the booths, like they do for the Food and Wine Festival.  Instead, you pay and pick up your food at the same window.  And, they don't have enough food prepared.  I'll be discussing a disappointing incident that we had at the BBQ booth on Friday afternoon.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Time to crank this thing back up!

 

First, we need to revisit the Goofy playing soccer topiary.  I mentioned that this topiary gets around.  When looking for the DIT scale, I found a photo of the Goofy topiary, as well as a photo that BFM posted.

 

So, here you go.  This is Goofy this year:

 

 

Last year, he was holding a basket of Flowers outside of the Wonders of Life pavilion:

 

 

Earlier that same year, he was ice skating at the entrance (photo credit to BFM) :

 

 

You can see that the same Donald topiary is in that photo as well.

 

Disney gets its money's worth out if its topiaries.

 

Now, let's continue our journey around the World Showcase.

 

We headed past Mexico, Norway and China.  Nothing worth stopping for along that way.

 

Our next stop was the Florida Fresh booth, which sits where the Germany booth sat last year.

 

Here, they do have separate registers set up, and some tables set up where you can stand and enjoy your purchases.

 

There's a garden set up here too:

 

 

We purchased two orders of the shrimp and grits here, and got a free gift with purchase:

 

 

Wow, Wocka Wocka Watermelon seeds!  It must have been our lucky day!

 

They have a lot of educational displays around the Flower and Garden Festival, like this one:

 

 

That's a banana plant.

 

You could learn something here if you're not careful.

 

Here's the shrimp and grits.  This is still my favorite booth offering from the Flower and Garden Festival.  The tilapia is a very close second:

 

 

Another new thing at this year's festival is that they slapped a face on Dave's girlfriend:

 

 

That's one of the strangest things I've ever seen.  What is that face supposed to express?  I think it looks ridiculous.

 

The dwarfs all have faces too:

 

 

I knew that there was a new Muppets topiary this year, but I didn't know where it was.  It's over there:

 

 

We had noticed that we were a bit pressed for time, so I couldn't wait for those hooligans to clear out to take a photo.

 

Our next stop was the Smokehouse booth at the America pavilion.  This was one of our favorites last year.  There was a bit of a line here too, but nothing like a Food and Wine Festival line.  When it was our turn to order,  the helpful CM informed us that they had run out of the smoked beef brisket and the turkey "rib," and that it would be ten minutes before they would have more.  We really liked the beef last year, and the turkey rib sounded intriguing, so we ordered a pulled pork slider as well as the beef and turkey, and told the CM we would wait the ten minutes.  Since I had to wait, I also order a Magic Hat #9.  We got our pork, and I got the beer, and we took a seat on a planter right across from where the orders were being served.  The CM on duty assured us that she would let us know when our beef and turkey were ready.

 

Here's the pork slider:

 

 

That's a really nice sandwich.  Not what I would call a slider-it's like a full sized sandwich.  It's good, but it's just a pulled pork sandwich.  Nothing special.  We shared that while waiting for our beef and turkey to come up.  A bit past ten minutes, we noticed that guests were walking away with the beef dish.  Our CM friend had forgotten about us.  No big deal, I went up and got our beef.  I asked about the turkey.  She said soon.  So we shared the beef.  After another five minutes, my beer was gone, and so was the beef.  Still no turkey.  I had to go and ask again.  The CM called back to the chef who was working the smoker.  He said he needed ten more minutes on the turkey.  We had already been waiting for 20.  Not cool.  The CM asked if we wanted our money back, or we could have another beef instead.  We took the beef.  Ha!  We got over.  The beef cost $2 more than the turkey!  But, aside from that windfall, this wasn't cool.  Why don't they have enough food prepared?  Still, both the pork and beef dish here are excellent, and I suspect the turkey "rib" would be too.  I wish we had gotten a chance to try it.  I really want to know why rib is in quotation marks. 

 

After our delay in America, we needed to move quickly to Hollywood Studios so we wouldn't miss out on our FP+ reservations.  Since I had been able to schedule both Toy Story and Rock-N-Rollercoaster when there was a glitch, I did not want to risk trying to change the times, as I was afraid I would lose one of the rides.

 

Our transportation luck held out, as there was a boat preparing to depart from the International Gateway right as we got there.  And we made it.  Here we go:

 

 

On our way out of Epcot, we passed a playground area that had been set up outside of the France pavilion.  There was a guy there passing out free samples of some kind of squeezable apple sauce, and we each got one:

 

 

I slurped mine down as we motored along.  Tasted just like applesauce.

 

Does anyone remember an old TCD TR where we discussed the American flags flown on the boats at the Fort?  I do.  I think this flag is different from the flags used on the Fort boats:

 

 

Friday ended up being cool and cloudy.  You can see the clouds over the Yacht and Beach Club:

 

 

 

We made it to DHS in plenty of time.

 

I am sad to report that the DHS tip board has been removed.  They have some FP+ kiosks set up there now:

 

 

This makes me sad.  I always liked that tip board.  I think we would always stop there upon our arrival at DHS just to see how things were.  At a glance, you could see how busy each attraction was, and all the show times.  Much more useful than a paper map, and even the app.  Now, it's gone.

 

Boo!

 

Our first FP+ was for Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, so we headed there first.  We were on and off in no time flat.

 

Which actually left us with some time to kill before our 3:20 Toy Story return time.

 

So, we ducked into that store whose name I can never remember where you can buy carrot cake cookies, and got a snack.  There were some street performers putting on a show right outside, and we enjoyed them while we ate the snacks:

 

 

One of the female performers in the street show had performed in the Comedy Warehouse Holiday show that we saw over our NYE trip.

 

On our way to Toy Story, I snapped a couple of photos of the sycamore trees in the courtyard near the Great Movie Ride.  I bet the next time I see these trees, they'll be covered with leaves:

 

 

 

We found the typical long line for FP+ outside of Toy Story:

 

 

I hold out hope that one day in the future there won't be FP+ lines outside of attractions.  But, for now, that's the way things are at the popular ones.  The problem is that guests try to enter without valid FP+ reservations.  There are a large number of folks who just don't understand, and think that the Magic Band allows they magic access to the rides.  They somehow miss all of the information published everywhere, and show up at a FP+ return line thinking that they're going to walk right in.  Then, there's still all the idiots who show up early and block the entrance while they wait for their return times to come.  I guess that's always going to be a problem.  The other phenomenon that happens with these lines is guests who do have valid reservations walk past the line and try to enter.  I guess they figure all of us in the line are standing here for our health.  All of this combines to make a huge mess.  But, it's still better than waiting in a stand-by line, and I think at some point people will catch on and understand what's going on.   It will be better some day.

 

Even though this wasn't a particularly busy day, the standby line was a 75 minute wait.  So, I didn't mind waiting a few minutes in the FP+ line for the idiots to be cleared out of the way:

 

 

I've posted photos before of the giant Etch-A-Sketch that's kind of new in the FP return queue.  I think all of my previous photos of it have been close-ups that didn't really show the size of it.  Here's one that shows the size:

 

 

I rode with Twin #1 and she whipped me.  Again.  This time.  But, this isn't the only time we will be riding this ride this trip. Stay tuned:

 

 

If you ever want to know what movies Disney will be releasing next, the billboards between Toy Story and the Little Mermaid show are always a good source.

 

I think this Maleficent movie is going to be a big success:

 

 

There's also a new Muppets movie coming out  (which I knew from my Wacka Wacka Watermelon seeds) :

 

 

Our next FP+ reservation was for Tower of Terror starting at 5:05.  Which meant we had more time to kill. 

 

We all decided at that point that we didn't want to wait.  So we forfeited that last FP+ and headed out.

 

We took the bus back to the Fort.  I had been seeing these pink flowering trees all around on this trip, and decided to get a photo of the ones around the DHS bus stops:

 

 

On our way to the Fort, I snapped this photo from the bus- there's some weird thing set up on a post along the side of the road on the way to the Fort:

 

 

I noticed it on our last visit.  I didn't get a photo then.  I wonder what it is.  Does anyone know?

 

Believe it or not, that's the last photo I have from Friday.

 

What happened next is that we got back to our campsite, and the girls informed me that they wanted to go and meet a friend for dinner.  Actually, they had informed me of that earlier.  They have a friend who is working in the Disney College Program.  The twins are very interested in that, so they all decided to meet up and talk about it.  I was half-heartedly invited to tag along.  But I passed.  We had left over GAG at the camper, and I had beer to drink.  So why would I want to go meet their friend?

 

So, the girls left me with my chicken and beer.  They were gone a while.  They got back around 9:30.  The plan before dinner was that we would hit the MK again that night, since it would be open until 1.

 

But, the girls instead wanted to go and make some s'mores at the campfire.   So, we did.  The movie was just getting near the end, but the fires were still going.  No crowds either.

 

Then it was time for night looping.

 

Then back to the camper.

 

It was around 10:30.

 

And it had gotten quite cold.

 

Which meant the MK probably wouldn't be busy.  The cold keeps folks away.

 

Tonight it kept us away.

 

We had a very big day planned for Saturday.

 

So we decided to call it a night.

 

And that was it for Friday.

 

Next up, our big Saturday.

 

And we will be doing the next of the big four things we had never done at WDW.

 

TCD

[Starbuc71 162]

We are heading to Epcot today. Did you see any progress on the playground they were building on the shortcut sidewalk from TT to the main walkway to world showcase? Last month we saw them building it. I thought it was quite strange to build a playground at Epcot, but what do I know

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

We are heading to Epcot today. Did you see any progress on the playground they were building on the shortcut sidewalk from TT to the main walkway to world showcase? Last month we saw them building it. I thought it was quite strange to build a playground at Epcot, but what do I know

 

They build a playground there every year for the Flower and Garden Festival.  Last year it was an Oz theme. This year it's Monsters Inc. theme.  It is open for business, and very popular. There are some comfortable chairs there for the grownups.  Not a bad place to enjoy a beer.   There's also a Cars themed playground outside of the big gift shop (Mouseworks) on the Test Track side.  I know it feels dumb to take your kids into Epcot and have them play on a playground, but if they're having fun, who cares?

 

TCD

[Starbuc71 162]

They build a playground there every year for the Flower and Garden Festival.  Last year it was an Oz theme. This year it's Monsters Inc. theme.  It is open for business, and very popular. There are some comfortable chairs there for the grownups.  Not a bad place to enjoy a beer.   There's also a Cars themed playground outside of the big gift shop (Mouseworks) on the Test Track side.  I know it feels dumb to take your kids into Epcot and have them play on a playground, but if they're having fun, who cares?

 

TCD

See, I learned something new today being a new AP holder. A playground, a bench and beer is exactly what I would love to see more of with a 5 and 7 year old

[caveat lector 181]

Wait a minute....after your Ninja like score on Buzz, I was expecting bigger things from you on TS. Are you trying to tell me that those skilld don't extrapolate???

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

The applesauce is a big hit with our kids for snacks on trips.

We buy it buy the case at costco.

I have never taken the boat from Epcot to DHS....something i may need to remedy.

Good call on the GAG and beer.

[caveat lector 181]

Wait a minute....after your Ninja like score on Buzz, I was expecting bigger things from you on TS. Are you trying to tell me that those skilld don't extrapolate???

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

That food looks good!

 

Snow's face is scary.

 

That flagpole looks odd.  Don't most of them have a gold ball finial on the end?  I'll have to go through my pictures.

 

Looking forward to hearing about your next big first.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

See, I learned something new today being a new AP holder. A playground, a bench and beer is exactly what I would love to see more of with a 5 and 7 year old

 

There you go.  Enjoy.  And look for the comfortable chairs.  You don't need to sit on a bench.

 

Another thing my kids used to like was the Kidstop stations in each country.  Back in my day, they gave the kids a mask on a stick, and they would stop in each country to color it and something would be added at each stop.  Plus, the stick would be stamped with the name of each country.  Now, the kids get a Duffy or Perry on a stick, and I think they just color them with markers.  Still, it gives the kids something to do in each country.  If you're not in a rush, you can grab a beer and sit and watch.  There are worse things you could be doing.

 

Wait a minute....after your Ninja like score on Buzz, I was expecting bigger things from you on TS. Are you trying to tell me that those skilld don't extrapolate???

 

Patience.  As I stated in the post, I'll be back.

 

You might be surprised how much my score improved.

 

The applesauce is a big hit with our kids for snacks on trips.

We buy it buy the case at costco.

I have never taken the boat from Epcot to DHS....something i may need to remedy.

Good call on the GAG and beer.

 

Oh-so that stuff is already on the market. The dude passing it out gave us a spiel about how it's new and the best thing since sliced bread.

 

That boat to DHS is sweet.  It takes about 45 minutes.  But, it's scenic.

 

Wait a minute....after your Ninja like score on Buzz, I was expecting bigger things from you on TS. Are you trying to tell me that those skilld don't extrapolate???

 

I heard you the first time.

 

See my response above.

 

That food looks good!

 

Snow's face is scary.

 

That flagpole looks odd.  Don't most of them have a gold ball finial on the end?  I'll have to go through my pictures.

 

Looking forward to hearing about your next big first.

 

I think you're right about the flagpole.  I didn't notice it at the time, but it looks like something is missing.

 

KFK's ghost

 

If nothing else, that ghost is persistent.

 

TCD

[Beckers 1,136]

The applesauce is a big hit with our kids for snacks on trips.

We buy it buy the case at costco.

I have never taken the boat from Epcot to DHS....something i may need to remedy.

Good call on the GAG and beer.

What he said. Except replace Costco with Sam's club. Wish I came up with Go Go squeeze.

[Beckers 1,136]

It's too hard for me to select just your text on my phone but that guy is full of it. It's been around for 2+ years. Long enough for other companies to have jumped on the bandwagon and make their own.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

What he said. Except replace Costco with Sam's club. Wish I came up with Go Go squeeze.

 

 

It's too hard for me to select just your text on my phone but that guy is full of it. It's been around for 2+ years. Long enough for other companies to have jumped on the bandwagon and make their own.

 

Well, he fooled me.

 

I used to know all the hip kids' snack food items.  But nobody at my house watches the Disney channel or Nickelodeon anymore, so I am out of touch.

 

I would have bought that applesauce by the case too if it had been available back in the day.

 

TCD

[YENSIDCAMPER 66]

A quiet night, left over fried chicken, and a beer at the Fort.  It is good to be TCD for sure.  Even if you got whipped at TSM.  What happened to never taking it easy on the kids.  I guess pay back has been coming.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

A quiet night, left over fried chicken, and a beer at the Fort.  It is good to be TCD for sure.  Even if you got whipped at TSM.  What happened to never taking it easy on the kids.  I guess pay back has been coming.

 

Yeah, that fried chicken may have tasted better the second night.

 

For the record, I did whip Twin #1 on Buzz.

 

My moment of glory at Toy Story is yet to come.  The twins routinely beat me there.  But not always. Stay tuned.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Since you had to go all weekend with no updates, here's another one for today.

 

It's now Saturday morning.  There will be big doings today.  Just you wait and see.

 

But things will start of quietly.  That's how I roll.

 

I purposely got up extra early today- 6:00 am.  I had the whole comfort station to myself while I got my shower, and then here I am in my backyard at 6:33 am:

 

 

So why did I get up at 6 am?

 

I wanted to see the sun rise.

 

According to what I could find, sunrise would be at 6:43 am.  The next day, Sunday, it wouldn't rise until 7:42.  Daylight Savings Time.

 

The early sunrise meant that I could poke around the Settlement and maybe have it all to myself.

 

And, it looked like that would be the case this morning:

 

 

Wouldn't you like to be the only person up and in the Settlement?

 

There are no golf carts in the golf cart parking area today:

 

 

 

 

Here's a look back at the Settlement Trading Post from the walkway to the marina:

 

 

I love this little building.  It's just right for this space:

 

 

I also love this sign- it's been here for as long as I've been visiting the Fort:

 

 

I am the only one up and out this morning.  I have the whole place to myself:

 

 

I have never once sat in this little seating area to the right of the marina building.  But, I wouldn't mind sitting there and having a drink some time:

 

 

Here's a rare sight around here- a tetherball pole with an intact ball.  And you see that beach over there?  The TCD girls and I swam there many, many years ago, when swimming was still allowed in Bay Lake:

 

 

These chairs and tables are nice:

 

 

And there's more on the other side of the building too:

 

 

You see those strange looking things there on the ground?  Those are speakers.  They play the fireworks soundtrack on them when there are fireworks at the MK.

 

Looks like the Beach Raker Guy was sober this morning and that the beach has been properly raked.  Also note that the tetherball pole is missing a ball.  Yesterday, an idiot parent was videoing her idiot bratty child sitting on the tetherball.  Gee, I wonder what went wrong?:

 

 

There is a kid's bike left here at the bike rack, unlocked.  And there also is one golf cart parked there by where the lawnmower tree used to be.  I wonder what happened?:

 

 

Since no one was around, I decided to take a walk out on to the dock. The sky was getting pink:

 

 

This sign was posted yesterday, when it was accurate, but it was left up all weekend too:

 

 

This is the fleet of rental boats for the Fort:

 

 

There beyond the rental boats is the dock used by the fishing guides- I visited there on Friday morning and you've already seen those photos.  There are guides on the dock getting ready to head out:

 

 

This is the fleet of Lake Patrol boats that makes sure guests don't disembark from the rental boats onto Discovery Island:

 

 

The times that the transportation boats run from this dock are clearly posted:

 

 

 

Hey- it was 6:41 am when I took those photos- that meant the resort boat should be heading here soon.  Let's see if it shows up.

 

Looking down the dock.  If I came out here at this same time on Sunday, it would still be totally dark as sunrise would be an hour away:

 

 

Discovery Island at dawn:

 

 

Looking east at 6:43 am.  Here comes the sun!:

 

 

Do you know this dock can accommodate one of the big MK ferry boats?  They've docked here before.  I've never seen it happen, but I've seen photos.  They pull up right here:

 

 

A look back to the marina building:

 

 

Well, it's 6:44 now.  Where's the resort boat?  Wait, what's that?:

 

 

A resort boat is on the way.

 

A fishing boat was heading out:

 

 

Right after I took that photo, I switched over to video to film the resort boat approaching.  I hoped that it would sound its horn, but it didn't.  Still, here's the video if you would like to enjoy a peaceful couple of minutes at the Fort:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSHEG4yj2tA&feature=youtu.be

 

That seems like a good place to stop.

 

Next post will be some more early morning around the Fort shots.

 

Then things will pick up considerably.

 

TCD

 

 

 

 

 

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Early morning at the fort ... love it!

 

I took a video of the boat including the horn a few years ago. And I even made a phone ring out of it.   Let me know if you'd like me to send it to you.