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

[jlf 7]

We have seen the big ferry boat one time. It was for the Mickey's very Merry Christmas Party. It was there about 6:30, right before the start of the 7:00. It was our very first party. We then learned to be at MK earlier, so we use to arrive about 3:30. But the ferry took us over that one time. It was about 10 years ago.

[Stitchfan75 3]

 

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

 

Well why do they call it "Discovery Island" if I'm not allowed to discover it?! That's some dam false advertising!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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

Listen again at the :08 second mark. It sounds like a boat horn.

Either way, thanks for the video!

Looking forward to hopefully more early morning at the Fort!

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

Listen again at the :08 second mark. It sounds like a boat horn.

Either way, thanks for the video!

Looking forward to hopefully more early morning at the Fort!

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

It was such an important post, I apparently needed to make it twice.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

I have seen them training docking at the Fort. That provided one of the best photos I've ever taken

 

 

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

Awesome Carol.

I agree with your assessment.

[Big Kahuna aka John 71]

Wow Carol,  that is just totally awesome.....   and TCD thanks for the sunrise video,  I needed that temporary vacation.

[Beckers 1,136]

Wow Carol, that is just totally awesome..... and TCD thanks for the sunrise video, I needed that temporary vacation.

One month from today!!! Okay, so Gettysburg isn't the fort but its cheaper lol

[Beckers 1,136]

Carol the pics are AWESOME!! Thank you for sharing

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I had some catching up to do after this weekend, and now I don't remember what I wanted to post about.  Let's see....

 

I know I wanted to mention that we make caprese salads often and that fresh basil is a necessary ingredient.

 

And that we also buy that applesauce by the case from Sam's.  In fact, Anna was eating some just a little while ago.  

 

That Snow White topiary is horrendous.  Where's my Roundup?  

 

Love the early morning pics as always.  

 

Good call on the GAG and beer. 

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

I love your pictures but.... Wow Carol!!!

Back on subject... One of these days I'll get up that early at the Fort. So pretty! Well, I guess I have for 7 AM MK EMH, but I was on a mission for those mornings.

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

I will need to go back and catch up, but wanted to let you know that I got to stand on Bob's Dock during WWW 2014. I believe someone even got a picture.

[lklasing 16]

 

 

 

 

Love this picture!  I've taken that shot before, but yours is better with the almost-sunrise happening.

 

Listen again at the :08 second mark. It sounds like a boat horn.

 

 

Yup - I heard it there too!  I love the video - makes me homesick for the Fort!

 

I have seen them training docking at the Fort. That provided one of the best photos I've ever taken

 

 

 

Those are awesome pics, Carol!

[YENSIDCAMPER 66]

TCD, loving the early morning tour. I will make it a point to get up that early one morning and just wander the area by myself. 

 

Carol, awesome picture!

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I will need to go back and catch up, but wanted to let you know that I got to stand on Bob's Dock during WWW 2014. I believe someone even got a picture.

 

Yvonne, that was me.  Would you like me to post it?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

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.

 

Glad you liked it.

 

That's funny that you made the boat horn into your ring tone.  Thanks for offering to send it to me, but I'm not into that fancy ring tone scene.

 

We have seen the big ferry boat one time. It was for the Mickey's very Merry Christmas Party. It was there about 6:30, right before the start of the 7:00. It was our very first party. We then learned to be at MK earlier, so we use to arrive about 3:30. But the ferry took us over that one time. It was about 10 years ago.

 

Very cool.  I've never seen the ferry dock there.  I don't know why, but I'd like to.  It would be awesome to ride it from the Fort to the MK. I would love the view from the upper deck.

 

 

Well why do they call it "Discovery Island" if I'm not allowed to discover it?! That's some dam false advertising! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Very good!

 

I'll have to remember that line if I ever accidentally fall off one of those little rental boats and find myself on the island.

 

Listen again at the :08 second mark. It sounds like a boat horn.

Either way, thanks for the video!

Looking forward to hopefully more early morning at the Fort!

 

Hey, you're right.

 

But the bird's wings are louder.  LOL.

 

If you want more early morning at the Fort, you've come to the right place.  I have another post full coming up.

 

I have seen them training docking at the Fort. That provided one of the best photos I've ever taken

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing those Carol!

 

I remember that you had seen this before.  I wish I had.

 

Those photos are great!  The next best thing to being there.

 

Wow Carol,  that is just totally awesome.....   and TCD thanks for the sunrise video,  I needed that temporary vacation.

 

Carol's photos were totally awesome!

 

You are welcome for the video.  I'm sure it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I like it too.

 

One month from today!!! Okay, so Gettysburg isn't the fort but its cheaper lol

 

Camping is camping.

 

Hope this month flies by for you!

 

I had some catching up to do after this weekend, and now I don't remember what I wanted to post about.  Let's see....

 

I know I wanted to mention that we make caprese salads often and that fresh basil is a necessary ingredient.

 

And that we also buy that applesauce by the case from Sam's.  In fact, Anna was eating some just a little while ago.  

 

That Snow White topiary is horrendous.  Where's my Roundup?  

 

Love the early morning pics as always.  

 

Good call on the GAG and beer. 

 

Glad that you're caught up.

 

And thanks for the comments.

 

I knew you would like that new face on your girlfriend.  Looks like instead of buying applesauce by the case, you'll need to be buying Round-up.

 

I love your pictures but.... Wow Carol!!!

Back on subject... One of these days I'll get up that early at the Fort. So pretty! Well, I guess I have for 7 AM MK EMH, but I was on a mission for those mornings.

 

Yeah, the mad rush to a 7 am EMH doesn't give off the same vibe.

 

It was cool to be on the dock and be the only one there.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I will need to go back and catch up, but wanted to let you know that I got to stand on Bob's Dock during WWW 2014. I believe someone even got a picture.

 

Pics or it didn't happen.

 

Love this picture!  I've taken that shot before, but yours is better with the almost-sunrise happening.

 

 

Glad you liked the photo.

 

You are one of the few who can say that you actually swam in that water once when there was an almost-sunrise happening.

 

Not even I can say that.

 

TCD, loving the early morning tour. I will make it a point to get up that early one morning and just wander the area by myself. 

 

Carol, awesome picture!

 

I hope that you do make it a point to get up early and poke around.  Wake up your boys and make them join you. That's something they'll always remember.

 

Yvonne, that was me.  Would you like me to post it?

 

I would like you to post it!

 

TCD

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

I would like the boat horn ring tone!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

We left off with that video of the resort boat approaching the dock.  I was the only guest on the dock.  I guess the boat pilot was hoping for a passenger, but I had to give him the bad news- I wasn't looking for a ride. I wanted to hang out on the dock and get a photo of the sun actually rising above the tree line, but the sun was taking its time:

 

 

The boat pilot wanted to make small talk.  We talked about the weather.  It had gotten a lot colder overnight than had been predicted.  But today was supposed to be a lot warmer than yesterday so that was good.  It was pretty cold out there on the dock that morning.  I wish I could tell you how cold, but none of my indoor/outdoor weather gadgets work properly anymore.  I have four of the stupid things, and not one of them works!  I guess I will soon own five.  All I can tell you is that it was pretty cold- I would guess around 50 degrees.

 

The boat pilot apparently wasn't going to leave until he had a passenger.  I wasn't there to make small talk with a boat pilot, so I had to go.

 

Since the sun wasn't quite up, the lights on the dock were still illuminated:

 

 

As I headed down the dock, I noticed this comfy set up by the lockers at the marina:

 

 

That wouldn't be a bad place to sit and sip a cup of coffee, would it?  Or a beer.  Your choice.  Look at that small bench.  How awesome is that?  I don't recall ever seeing one like that around here.

 

How about a couple more photos of the beach?  I have to give the Beach Raker Guy credit for his sober raking job this morning:

 

 

 

Here's a look at the Settlement playground from here.  The grassy area with all the trees you see in the foreground of this photo would become an expanded golf cart parking area if they ever go forward with the plans they made to build a new dining pavilion behind the Settlement Trading Post:

 

 

You know what they have a lot of in the Settlement?

 

Fences:

 

 

Are all of those fences necessary?

 

Did the Fort get a good deal on fence posts and rails or something?

 

Here's that solo abandoned bicycle we saw earlier.  Why do you think this is here?  What happened to the kid who parked it there?:

 

 

Since no one's around, let's go and take a look around the outside of the Settlement Trading Post:

 

 

The azaleas around here are still blooming, but are past their peak:

 

 

Having lived in Florida for so long now, it's hard for me to remember going a whole winter without seeing a flower.  It's something that I try not to take for granted.

 

I've taken a lot of photos of this wagon wheel.   And here's another:

 

 

There are a lot of assorted decorations on the outside of the trading post:

 

 

Here's my personal washroom.  Our blank KTTW cards gave us access to these restrooms during the night.  As you might imagine, nobody else ever used them late in the night:

 

 

Here's something else that is hanging on the outside of the trading post:

 

 

The first time I noticed it, I thought someone had thrown a dirty dish towel up there on the decoration.  Then I looked closer.  That is some kind of antique bag holder, and that's the bag that goes with it.  I wonder how many hundreds of guests have walked by there and never noticed that detail?

 

This is the spot where that covered wagon behind the trading post is supposed to be:

 

 

Now we're looking at the path that leads in to the 100 loop.  That's site 114 on the left.  This whole area that we've been exploring was my backyard on this trip.  That was cool:

 

 

This was my view as I walked out the back of my campsite.  Not bad:

 

 

Finally, from the back of my site, I spotted the sun:

 

 

My neighbor had a set of park model stairs set up next to her trailer, and lots of storage bins out back:

 

 

Since the sun was finally showing itself, I walked all the way back down and out on the dock to get a photo of the sun blazing above the trees.  But, at 7:04 am, it still was not cooperating:

 

 

 

And, the same boat pilot was still sitting there, 20 minutes later, waiting for his first passenger.  Nobody had shown up.

 

Again, I didn't feel like hanging around there, so I set off to see some more things.

 

Like this view, from my favorite spot:

 

 

Did you notice that there's a big MK ferry there to the right in that photo?

 

Let's take a closer look:

 

 

There's the ferry boat:

 

 

BABH at sunrise:

 

 

I can't get over how nice this former slime-filled ditch which runs next to the 100-300 loops looks:

 

 

Remember how I said it was cold this morning?  Look, there's steam rising off the canal.  And that canal water probably isn't too warm right about now.  But, it's warmer than the air:

 

 

Hey, there's another guest.  I'm not the only one awake!  I call this photo "Silhouette of Dog Squatting at Sunrise:"

 

 

I was about to say something judgmental about how someone left their cookie package sitting here, but there was a trashcan that had been rummaged on the 300 loop which I saw right after I took this photo.  So, it must have been a raccoon:

 

 

But, I still judge the raccoon.  Very rude.

 

Since I was near the path that leads to the 300 loop, I headed out that way, and here we are at the 300 loop exit-where the sun is finally making its ascent:

 

 

That's it for this post.

 

Next up, there will be a few more early morning Fort photos.

 

And then, we will move on to the events of Saturday.

 

One of which is one of the four first time things we did at WDW on this trip.

 

And, I'll finally tell you what the big Disney secret is about.  I can't tell you anything secret yet, but I will at least let you know the topic-which isn't a secret.

 

TCD

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

The early morning pics are awesome.

I actually do like the fences at the Settlement but i wish the lawnmower tree and wagons were still there.

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

I absolutely love the early morning pictures! It's amazing that in such a busy, hectic place you can still get the feeling of being alone there.

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

Yvonne, that was me. Would you like me to post it?

Go ahead.

[shoreline99 137]

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.

I'd love it! Thanks!

[jlf 7]

I too like the fencing. We like it so much we did the same type of fencing on our RV lot in Ocala. Believe it or not the name park is called Wilderness RV. lol. Amazing photos.