Helmsey......Todd 134 Posted June 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 I'm in too. Welcome! We too like Eagle's Roost as a night stop. Your youngings are young. And totally cute. Thanks! I'm fond of them as well, but might be a little partial :) I'm in. Welcome! I'm in! Great start. I'm impressed they did 10 hours. Thanks for joining! We were shocked they did 10 hours. We had planned to stop at I75 RV Park an hour or two north of Eagles Roost but they were doing good so we kept moving. I'm in and super excited to hear about the trip! :) I agree with everyone else, the girls... adorable!! Thanks for joining and the kind words! Your extremely cute girls are still a little young, but one of my road trip tactics when my boys were little was to withhold tv/videos/DVDs for a few days before the trip so they were even more ready to stare slack jawed at a screen for an extended period of time. That is a good idea, I will have to file that away for future use. Kids and chocolate milkshakes, what a way to hook someone on a TR! I am in! Thanks for joining! Meanie.... A roll of duct tape always worked for me...... Another good bit of info, I will keep that filed as a backup in case withholding toys doesn't work. Great start!Keep the photos of cute girls coming!It's always fun to read about everyone's first time to the Fort. Thanks! There will be several more of them, don't you worry :) Count me in!The girls are cute! Glad they traveled good too thats always nice!Ready for more.WBI Thanks for joining! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Helmsey......Todd 134 Posted June 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Can't wait to hear more. Agree with everyone else....your girls are adorable! Thanks for the kind words! Girls are adorable.Love DD Minnie shirt. There will be plenty of Disney shirts to be had on this trip :) In! Welcome! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Helmsey......Todd 134 Posted June 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Saturday May 3rd The plan today is to get up somewhat leisurely and get on the road no later than 9am since we have a pretty short drive today. Again today, DW and I are up about 6:45 and ready to get the show on the road. We got the girls up, had a little breakfast and moved things into the truck for a little truck ride. I was figuring we would be in the truck 4 – 5 hours from here, depending on how many stops we needed for a potty training 2 year old. The only planned stop we had was the Florida welcome center for some juice and coffee and other stops would be played by ear.We got to the rest area a few miles down the road for some free goodies, but here is what I didn’t know…. The welcome center does not open until 8:00am, and it is currently 7:40ish. We are just getting going and I’d really rather not sit for 20 minutes for some juice. So, we took a couple pictures and strapped the girls back in the truck.I just love this picture. We were trying to get that cute picture that people get here, but the girls wanted no part of it Once we got into Florida it started raining pretty stead on us, actually rained most of the way to “Where Dreams Come True” Once I saw this sign I started to get excited, like probably more than I should have And we made it, finally on the Mouse’s property The obligatory picture. Traffic isn’t too bad for a Saturday about lunch time We got to the guard shack and after waiting a bit in line, we were waived through to the check in lines, I was the only one there on a Saturday at lunch time(ish). Checking went smooth even though I didn’t end up in the loop I requested…oh well. At least we are here. This actually worked out ok for us as my wife’s parents were in a rental camper on the 1600 loop. Here we are backed in and starting the setup process This is about all the room you have left behind the camper with a 42’ 5th wheel and a long bed truck. We are now mostly setup, and I’m giddy….I’m finally at a place that we have been looking forward to visiting for a while now. I read this site on a daily basis, and finally get the chance to experience some of the things I have been seeing on here for some time now and things that inspired this trip.M&FIL flew in this afternoon and have arrived at the fort by now. They rented a car and drove over and unpacked their things into their rental camper over in the 1600 loop, picked up a couple carts and now came over to see us. This will be my hot rod for the trip We realized we were hungry since we hadn’t had any real food since breakfast. We loaded up on the carts and took off to get a takeout pizza. We put in our order and were told 15 – 20 minutes so we walked around for a few minutes. The pizzas were average, but we had been driving all day and I didn’t have to cook so it was a winner in my book. For some reason I don’t have any picture of the food. I was in the middle of getting everything setup and eating so I think I was focused on that. After eating and finishing getting setup DW and MIL took the girls grocery shopping, FIL decided he needed a nap. So I’m now alone, with a golf cart….yay! I wanted to go check out TCD’s favorite spot and I figured this was a good time to do it. I parked the cart at the back of the 300 loop, walked towards the canal and went left. A short walk later I saw this, that is in fact a BABH. The water appeared to have been up from all the hard rain recently The gate is still locked It appears that the BABH has residents now The other side of the dam I continued to walk around until I saw this At this point my pictures go missing. I know Saturday afternoon\evening we stuck around the fort. At some point around dinner time my mom came over to the campground. She drove down on Friday and is staying at our house over in Haines City. We went back to Trails End and ordered our GAG and took it back to the camper to eat. That’s a LOT of food. As we were pulling back into the camper there was a golf cart in front of us that waved us around. Since we were at our site, I didn’t need to go around and this is when we had our first Fiend meeting. It was MouseHouse and her husband out looping. We chatted briefly and took a picture or two but cut the meet short as we had a GAG to eat. It was good to meet you guys! Between all of us, we ate well. I really don’t remember what we did after that and not having pictures doesn’t help.Next post we’ll pick up with Sunday and the first day in the parks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jmaul 65 Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 HA! The Sunshine State. Not that day. Sounds like a full first day. sucks about the lost pictures. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 "Average" is a good way of describing Trails End pizza. They taste like Digiorno to me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
h2odivers...Ray 952 Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Great day!Excellent TR. Keep it coming. Those are some great pix. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Excellent! I love the photo at the welcome center- that's one that you'll be laughing about for years. I think you need to stop there every time you visit Florida and recreate that same photo. Great job on the photos you took behind the 300 loop. I am surprised that there are residents in the BABH. I'm going to need to go and check on that myself. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
alexwyattmommy 181 Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Didn't someone take a photo of a Digiorno truck delivering pizza once or is that a nightmare I had? So the BABH has tenants. And you got to meet Fiends right away. And a GAG. That is a very good first day. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Great start to your TR. I'm looking forward to more. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FunFinder265....Cody 36 Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Following. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CitaPita...Carmen 59 Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 I love the picture under the sign, seems exactly like something my kids would do. Can't wait to hear more! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Big Kahuna aka John 71 Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 I'm in and enjoying this. Your cart is the same one I had last time at the Fort. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799 Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 Visiting TCD's favorite spot, a Fiend encounter, and a GAG. Perfect first day! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 It was a good day, but a perfect day would have culminated with a visit to Mickey's Backyard Massage Parlor and Casino. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AC in A2......Aaron 693 Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 Late but in!The welcome center pic is awesome.Way to go grabbing a GAG! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Helmsey......Todd 134 Posted June 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 HA! The Sunshine State. Not that day. Sounds like a full first day. sucks about the lost pictures. Luckily it cleared up for us once we got there. Ya, not sure where the pictures went, hard to keep track of all of them when rotating between 3 cameras "Average" is a good way of describing Trails End pizza. They taste like Digiorno to me. But I didnt have to cook it, so I'm good with that :) Great day!Excellent TR. Keep it coming.Those are some great pix. Thanks, more coming soon! Excellent! I love the photo at the welcome center- that's one that you'll be laughing about for years. I think you need to stop there every time you visit Florida and recreate that same photo. Great job on the photos you took behind the 300 loop. I am surprised that there are residents in the BABH. I'm going to need to go and check on that myself. TCD Thanks! We did get some average pics there, but this one was the "best" one.I wish I had my other camera with me to zoom a little more, but there is a single occupant that I could see in there. Didn't someone take a photo of a Digiorno truck delivering pizza once or is that a nightmare I had? So the BABH has tenants. And you got to meet Fiends right away. And a GAG. That is a very good first day. It was a good start! Great start to your TR. I'm looking forward to more. Thanks! Following. Welcome :) I love the picture under the sign, seems exactly like something my kids would do. Can't wait to hear more! More coming right up! I'm in and enjoying this. Your cart is the same one I had last time at the Fort. I was a fan of the cart, the hot rod served us well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Helmsey......Todd 134 Posted June 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 oops, double post... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Helmsey......Todd 134 Posted June 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 Visiting TCD's favorite spot, a Fiend encounter, and a GAG. Perfect first day! We were happy with our first day :) It was a good day, but a perfect day would have culminated with a visit to Mickey's Backyard Massage Parlor and Casino. Hmm, if I would have know that was an option I would have used a FP on it. Is that in the 3000 loop? Late but in!The welcome center pic is awesome.Way to go grabbing a GAG! Welcome! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Helmsey......Todd 134 Posted June 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 Sunday May 4th Today is the first day we will be hitting the park, it is a MK day. We have FP+ to meet Mickey, Lunch at BOG, then FP+ for Buzz and Splash MTN after lunch. Our first FP wasn’t until 1:10PM to meet Mickey so we weren’t in a hurry to get up and going….initially. But, once again we were up and ready to roll early so we went with it. We hopped in the hot rod golf cart and headed down to the boat dock. According to the picture below, this was taken at 10:45am. It’s hard to make out but the boat captain saw DD2 and told her he had something for her. He told her Cinderella saw her getting on the boat and wanted him to give her a ring Here is a better shot of the ring. Thanks Cindy, way to get her expectations set nice and high. We unloaded from the boat and were greeted by this “crowd” We made it through a quick line at bag check and that is about the time the magic stopped. We were heading through the scanners to get into the MK and everyone’s magic band worked, except mine. They looked on their little iPhone and told me that there was not a ticket associated with the band and that I need to go to guest relations to get it worked out. This is where it would have been a good idea to have my plastic ticket in my pocket, but apparently those did not make it into the backpack…crap. Ok, everyone is in the park but me, I gave my backpack to DW so I wouldn’t have to do bag check again and I’m going to hop a boat to the fort, get our tickets, hop a boat back, and then start my vacation. Everyone is going to hang out around main street while I do this….shouldn’t take that long…So I head down to the resort boats, one was about to depart as I walked up, perfect timing. I was proud of myself for remembering to get my wallet and key to the golf cart out of the backpack before sending it in the park with DW. The one fairly important thing I did forget was the camper keys. Crud. I’m watching the boat to see if they are close to leaving and calling DW over and over on her cell phone trying to reach her but never did. Turns out she had taken the girls to the bathroom and her phone was not near her. I called MIL, FIL, and my mom who met us there and could not get an answer from anyone. About this time the boat was about to depart so I jumped on, I would figure something out. So back to the fort I go. I don’t have any pictures from the ride back to the fort, after all we were just here, and we don’t need more.I get back to the fort, hop in hot rod golf cart and head back to the camper. I have some keys stashed in strategic locations but none of them are accessible without opening at least one compartment. Luckily that compartment has a lock on it that uses a key that 98% of all other campers use so I felt confident I could find someone with that key and get in. Here’s a hint. Take a look at your key that opens any storage door(s) on the outside of the camper and chances are it is marked with CH751. If you ever lose this key and need into your camper, ask another person with a camper, they will have one.Ok, I was able to get into the camper by getting to my stashed keys and found the plastic tickets. Fired up the hot rod golf cart and headed back to the boat dock and this is what I see. Time stamp on this picture shows exactly noon, not terrible time.Pay no attention to Heavy D coming back up the dock. Please notice the little yellow boat that has just departed for the MK. Shoot, I will have to hang out and wait on the next one.After a few minute wait another boat finally showed up and I boarded. I got to do a little people watching as I boarded since I was first on. I believe these folks were speaking another language I noticed these hatches on the roof of the boat. Anybody know what they are for? They are hinged on the outsides so it appears they should swing open towards the inside of the boat. We floated back over to the MK. As I was headed in I saw someone showing their Disney side The time stamp on that picture shows 12:42PM so all in all it was about a 2 hour setback to go back and get my stupid ticket that should have been associated to my magic band, and was associated according to the MDE app. Luckily that was the only issue we had with the magic bands, everything else worked flawlessly. I get back and the CM has to scan my ticket to get me in. They let me know I can go inside to town hall and a CM will help me link my ticket to my band. I headed over there and got things straightened out, took about 10 minutes and I’m now ready to go. . As I’m walking out I hear music, a parade is coming, and I need to get to the entrance to the emporium where my family has been patiently waiting for me all this time. I race over just in time to see the parade. The fella stopped and yelled “CHEESE” for me The mouse himself After a brief wait we got to use our FP+ to see the talking Mickey, DD2 saw him and her eyes lit up, ran to him and hugged him. Then asked where Minnie was… Even DD1 got in on the action, she made her way over and hung out with him for a minute. Then it was time for a family picture And finally an entire group shot At this point we needed to run over to BOG for FP+ lunch. We gather the troops and get headed out the door and run into this Fine, one more picture J Ok, now to run over to BOG. Headed up Main Street I like this guys backpack We checked in at BOG and were at the register to order in no time. Thanks FP+, and Kelly for posting the link to schedule it. We sat and watched these folks dance while we ate. I didn’t do the best with pood forn on this trip…. The girls at a grilled cheese, my mother, MIL, and I had the turkey sammich, FIL had the braised pork and we were all pleased. And here is where I question someones choice of attire…. What was she thinking?On second thought, I’m not going to post the picture. If your rear end cheeks are hanging out of your shorts, they are probably a little too short At this point we still had a couple things scheduled for this afternoon, but it was HOT. So we decided to bail on the parks and take the boat back to the camper for a bit. We could cool off there (and I could drink a beer) and maybe relax a little (and I can drink a beer). On the way out, I saw this contraption at the monorail station. Anyone know what this is? At this point we hopped on a waiting boat and floated back to our camper. Relaxing was done (beer was consumed) and the girls got themselves a little nap. Coming up next, we head back to the MK and ride some rides. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AC in A2......Aaron 693 Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 Another great update.Tech problems SMB.Good tip on the RV compartments. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 What a great morning at MK! Love your family pics with Talking Mickey. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lou... 3,118 Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 On the way out, I saw this contraption at the monorail station. Anyone know what this is? Yes Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 Great update. Man, that stunk that you had to go all the way back to get your pass. But lesson learned, right? We have had enough problems with our MB's that I know that when we visit a park, I bring: 1. My actual plastic pass.2. My Magic Band3. A smart phone with screen grabs of the FP+'s we pre-selected so we can argue with the CM's when they tell us that one or all of us don't have a FP+ for a certain attraction.4. A photo ID so I can prove who I am when there is a technology breakdown; and5.. My blank KTTW card in case we need to make an after hours pit stop at the Fort on the way back to the site. See how much better and simpler Disney has made things by introducing the My Disney Experience program? That Billion dollars they spent and will be passing off to us with price hikes is truly magical. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jmaul 65 Posted June 26, 2014 Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 Sucks about the ticket debacle, but man, it seems you made up for it. Oh, and yes, Lou knows what that monorail contraption is.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted June 26, 2014 Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 I think that's the contraption that chases squirrels off the beams. And that really sucks about the MB issue. So freakin magical. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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