A Great Memorial Weekend Trip

[Travisma 1,317]

 

Well after going back and forth with Disney reservations trying to drop our extra days, we were ready for our Memorial Day/24 hour Weekend to the Fort to begin.

 

But first, the PUP needed some prep work done.  So last weekend was getting it ready to go time!

 

First, new wheels and tires, cleaned and packed the bearings and put on new seals.

 

 

 

 

 

Made some add on steps to make it easier to get in and out.  The drop down from the floor to the original step was a doozy.  This cut it down to about 2 to 3 inches.  The ground step made it easier to get down from the new added on one.

 

 

Then a good scrubbing of the roof and a general washing.

 

 

The next day I sealed the roof with some mobile home roof coating I had left over from a project.  I was concerned that the aluminum roof may be getting some of those small holes that develop over time.

 

 

 

The rest of the week was finishing organizing, packing items into the PUP and storing what was going in the truck bed in our kitchen and screen room.

 

Finally Friday arrived.  Got up early and got the truck loaded. Later got the  PUP hooked up, and we headed out from Tampa about 11:30 after getting my granddaughter out of school early.

 

 

Traffic was good, we took our time and kept a steady speed of 55 on the way over. I was getting used to towing with the new truck.  This was a 4 door with an 8 instead of my older 2 door with a 6.  Averaged almost 19 mpg using Tow Mode  

 

We had a lot of various types and sizes of campers pass us. Each time we wondered if the check-in line was getting longer and longer at the Fort.

 

Saw a lot of Trooper action in that westbound long merge lane near the Mickey Ears power line.  A lot of people don’t realize that the speed limit there is only 50/55 and they treat it like it’s a interstate 70 mph lane.  State was making a lot of $$ that morning.

 

Got to the Fort about 12:45, and had 1 car in front of us finishing up.  All the lanes were open with 1 or 2 vehicles in each lane.

 

Yea, we got our favorite site in the 1500 loop.  Things are looking up!

 

Found it odd, the only thing the CM asked us was if we had our MB’s and how many parking passes.  Nothing about payment or setting a PIN #.

 

Is this because I did an on-line check in?

 

Also, didn’t the parking passes usually have your site # either printed or written on them?

 

Got to the site, and made a couple of attempts to back the PUP in.  I need more practice that’s for sure, but since it’s a hard surface, and the PUP’s total weight was about 1100, I dropped it in the road and pushed it into place.

 

Size matters, since the total length including the hitch is only about 9 feet, we can set up sideways on the driveway, and leave the sand for the tent and everything else.

 

 

While I was setting up the PUP, my wife and granddaughter set up the tent.

 

After the housing was in order we set up the cooking area.

 

 

 

Then it was time to relax under the trees with a nice breeze blowing and enjoy an adult beverage.

 

A few minutes later we got attacked by the dreaded yellow/three cornered flies.  They would come and go.  I was able to kill a lot before getting bit.  Note to self, pack a couple of fly swatters in the PUP. They hung around all weekend.  My ankles and feet looked like a connect the dot page by the time I got home. The others got a few bites, but not like mine.

 

My wife and granddaughter headed to the pool while I put some finishing touches on the site, hanging lights on the awning and in the front trees, putting up a clothes line, etc.

 

Our 3 daughters and son were going to be joining us later in the day.

 

Two of the girls and our other granddaughter were already over at the MK.  They said it wasn’t too crowded.

 

Our other daughter and son were heading over from Tampa after work.

 

More to come…

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

First!!!  Now... let me read it :)

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Read it... excited to read more... now I'm just taking up more room on page 1 

[momof3kids-Yvonne 596]

I'm in.

Pushing the pop up into place that would be my way of doing it. Of course I would need to get some major workouts in to be able to do that first.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

First page!  What a great start to your TR!

[ependydad...Doug 176]

We were at Disney at the same time! Didn't camp or push a pop-up, though. :)

[Travisma 1,317]

I'm in.

Pushing the pop up into place that would be my way of doing it. Of course I would need to get some major workouts in to be able to do that first.

It's surprisingly easy to push.  Guess the smaller tires help.  It's like pushing a big stroller

 

Of course having a cement driveway and a hard pad at the Fort makes it real easy.

 

I'll be having some major problems if I go somewhere that has all dirt/sand sites!

[Beckers 1,136]

In!!

[diane+ not THAT monte 7]

WOO HOO !  Page one .  PUP s rule .

 

 

 

                 NTM

[diane+ not THAT monte 7]

WOO HOO !  Page one .  PUP s rule .

 

 

 

                 NTM

[diane+ not THAT monte 7]

Sorry , too many clicks .

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Page 1!!! Ready for the next installment. Hate the flies, ouch!

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

Count me in too. Mine weighs in at 1500lbs but with the tow dolly I picked up its not to bad even on the grass in the front yard. 

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Great job pushing the pup in and turning it sideways, that is one of the best things about a pop up you can always turn it for the best view!!!!!

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

In!  

 

I have resisted learning to tow, but if i ever do, I will remember how you did that.  And have my sons give that a try!

[PGHFiend 140]

Nice job with the site, looks very clean and roomy.

Maybe get this in your next truck

http://www.wired.com/2015/05/ford-makes-backing-trailer-easy-turning-knob/

[Humphrey Bear…Rob 42]

In!!

[Travisma 1,317]

Nice job with the site, looks very clean and roomy.

Maybe get this in your next truck

http://www.wired.com/2015/05/ford-makes-backing-trailer-easy-turning-knob/

Thanks.

That is an impressive option.

[Memphis 105]

I'm in.

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

Where is Dave? He isnt taken the last of page 1 yet?

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

He's almost out of chances. 

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

whoops

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

Well played, Jason. Well played.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Thanks Jason.

Way to push the rest of us on to page two.

Great start. Keep it coming.

[Travisma 1,317]

Arrival day continued…..

 

We started getting dinner ready while waiting for the rest of the family to show up.

 

Arrival day is usually something simple, so we decided to do baked sub sliders and baked beans.

 

We had just gotten a Coleman propane camp over off of Craigslist about 2 weeks ago so this is its maiden trip.  We did do a trial run at home and baked a frozen 5 pound Mac and Cheese tray.  It took a little over 2 hours and it came out as good as being baked in a full sized oven.  The camp stand it is on was new to us also.  Worked better than I thought it would.  I cut a piece of wood to make a countertop, instead of just using the 2 bars to hold the oven.

 

 

As many of you have read in other posts, we just recently got passes again after a 5 or 6 year lull.  And this is our first “real” (not cabins) camping trip where we were doing parks also. The last 18 months of camping has just been Fort visits only.

 

After dinner, and trying to get 8 people ready, we headed down to the Settlement for a boat ride around 8:30 to the MK for the 24 hour fiesta!

 

They were running the larger boats to the MK and Contemporary because of the weather, but the bows were not open so that cut down on the seating.

 

There was a line at the bag check and turnstiles but they weren’t too too bad.  My daughters said it was a lot more crowded than when they were there in the afternoon.

 

We fought our way thru the crowds trying to get to Barnstormer, our first FP.  They routed us thru the back lots to the right of Mainstreet, but instead of coming out by Plaza Ice Cream, we ended up coming thru a gate between Buzz and COP.

 

We got to Barnstormer just before our FP expired at 10 and they shut the ride down due to weather. To top it off, the ride was going to be closed for maintenance from 10 until 2:30.  The CM said to wait for a supervisor to see what she could do about our lost FP.  The supervisors first reply was to come back at 2:30.  The lady in front of me exploded at that suggestion, so the supervisor quickly started giving out paper FP good for about 6 minor rides  thru 5/31.

 

Our next FP for Dumbo got cancelled also due to the rain that had started.

 

We did some indoor rides using our cancelled Magic Band FP, Pooh, Peter Pan, and Philharmagic.

 

It was still drizzling when we got done with Pan as we headed to our next FP Buzz.

 

On the way over my wife slipped a little and twisted her bad knee that had finally feeling better.  We had been holding hands so luckily she didn’t fall.

 

We got to Buzz (my score 210,400) and since we were nearer the front, I asked my wife if she wanted to head back to camp.

 

We left the kids and grandkids and headed back to the Fort and got settled in around 12:30.  Luckily either the rain had let up, or it really never hit the Fort that bad.

 

One daughter and granddaughter came back around 1:30, the other 2 daughters and other granddaughter got back after 2:30.

 

 

Next morning was a big breakfast of eggs, bacon (pre-cooked at home) and Mickey Waffles.  We used our new to us Coleman grill.  One side is a griddle, the other is a grate, and it had the optional coiled plate that you can put pots and pans on.

 

 

My son and daughter headed back to Tampa after lunch, and a little while later my son in law came for the day and my in-laws came over from Tampa to visit.

 

We all decided it was road trip time to seek out the Holiest of Holies, Dole Whip!

 

 

My youngest daughter and son are missing from this picture.  That just means another trip to the Fort to recreate this pose! 

 

My wife and oldest granddaughter made all of our shirts and ones for my in-laws.

 

So a boat ride to the Contemporary, a Monorail to the Poly and we were there.

 

This was our first visit since the construction walls came down.  Everyone was correct, now the lobby looks like any other typical hotel lobby.  Take away the décor, and it would look just like Wilderness Lodge.

 

Had our Dole Whips,

 

 

 

 

let the grandkids burn off some sugar playing in the grass and headed back to the Fort.

 

Fired up the oven and baked some Mac and Cheese and cooked burgers on the grill.  My son in law and 1 granddaughter left since she had a birthday party to go to the next morning, and the in-laws left back to Tampa.

 

My granddaughter found a mom turkey and one of her babies in a tree next to our site.  The baby is tucked under the left side wing, the grey spot is its head.

 

 

My two daughters decided to go to HS, and we took our other granddaughter to Clementines for their Memorial Day Beach Bash.

 

We hung out there until almost 11.  She did the dance party, played tetherball, and we saw the Water Pageant and Fireworks.

 

Sunday morning was a quick change, no breakfast, and a drive to Epcot so we could make our FP for Test track.  This would be my first time on it!

 

Got thru the design console and were in line to board the cars.  The group in front of us loaded, and sat there.  Next thing you know, the CMs had them exit and stand on the platform while they ran diagnostics on the cars they had just gotten out of.  After about 5 minutes of beeping and lights flickering, the empty cars pull away, and they loaded them on the next arrivals.

 

Finally our turn.  It was a pretty impressive ride,

 

 

but when we were supposed to see our scores, the giant tablets were blank.  We did see our speed of 65.7 mph on the radar gun screen, but again the big screen with our overall results was blank.  We pulled into the station, and it was empty?  There was a line of CMs and they just kept us moving thru all of the displays, rooms, and even the gift shop!  Someone said they shut down due to weather, but someone else had heard there was a fire alarm/emergency issue which makes more sense since we got hustled out pretty quick.

 

After that, it was a quick walk back to the car, and a drive to HS so we could see the Star Wars Parade. My granddaughter took most of these while sitting on my shoulders.  I think she did a pretty good job.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have quite a few more, but I didn't want to overload the non Star Wars lovers.

 

After the parade we got our posters and visited a shop and saw some characters.

 

My daughters decided they were going to wait in line for a ½ hour to get into the special shops.  My wife and I took our granddaughter over to the Honey playground.

 

I forced myself to purchase a Tatooine drink so my granddaughter could have the Millennium Falcon light up.  The things grandparents do for the kids…

 

 

I had tried to get the non-alcoholic one (all the signs said they were available) for her, but after a 10 minute wait in line at the bar, they said they weren’t available at that location and to try somewhere out front. So that’s how I ended up with the adult version.

 

After playing we stopped back to the store and she got to make a Star Destroyer.

 

 

When we all got back together we decided it was time to leave. I got to hold my granddaughters new Mickey Vader helmet while my daughter was rummaging thru her shopping bag.

 

 

My daughter noticed that the Mickey’s of Hollywood Shop had a lot of the same merchandise that the special shop had.  It didn’t have the passholder exclusives though.

 

After a stop to get a Darth Vader popcorn bucket we grabbed a bus and headed to the Fort.  We left the car because we were coming back in the evening to see the show and fireworks.

 

The Fort bus stop at HS has been knocked down a notch.  It’s now 4A, and there isn’t a shelter, you stand outside in the sun/rain.

 

More Sunday funday to follow…