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ICYMI: A New TCD Trip Report April 2016 at the Fort


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I'm back. I needed to take a break from the Board.  It wasn't you.  It was me. I thought I'd stay away for a few weeks, but it ended up being a couple of months.  But, I needed to be gone fo

Great report. My 14 year old was rather upset that I was going to Disney World for WWW and would be getting a GAG one night. I did when any good fiend and mom would do. I took a picture and shared it

I am starting a new movement.  We are calling ourselves "baldies".  I'm sure you can imagine what the criterion is for joining.

18 hours ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

Thanks for the 2100 loop updates - excellent job getting the camera over, around and through things.  ;)

Will definitely be checking back for the Disney Springs update (and then have to go back and get caught up on the rest!)

Thanks- I did the best I could with getting those shots.  I hate to do it, but I made need to invite my cousin Yuri for a visit so I can turn him loose with a camera in the 2100 loop.  But, I'm going to try and hold off on that .

16 hours ago, fladogfan aka Gretchen said:

Wonder why some of your photos did not show on the report on my computer?  Some did, some didn't. 

But with your words I can "see" what you saw.

I hope whatever is going on with your computer is fixed, as I have a lot more photos to share.

16 hours ago, fladogfan aka Gretchen said:

OK it's something wrong on my end.  I just went to read WWW TR and photos I could see yesterday are not showing.:wacko:

What?  Is it working now?

16 hours ago, Travisma said:

One of those banned selfie sticks might be helpful for reaching above and thru the blockades!

The thought has crossed my mind.  But, I swore I would never own a selfie stick. 

14 hours ago, caveat lector said:

Well, I'm running behind on my TCD TR reading but I would like to submit the "ghetto sign guy" for a TCDRMOG award.

I will consider that nomination.  But, I have a hared time considering that guy to be a genius.

14 hours ago, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

Good job checking out the "new" loop. 

I'm looking forward to the rest of the updates! 

I am strangely very interested in what they're doing in that loop.  I thought for sure they'd make it a premium loop, but it doesn't look like that's what they're doing so far.

5 minutes ago, momof3kids-Yvonne said:

The flag is at half-staff for the Peace Officers Memorial Day which was on May 15th.

LOL.

You're right, of course.

But, it's funny that you thought I wasn't going to be sharing that tidbit at the appropriate time.

I wasn't sure that flag was at half-staff, or if someone had just goofed in raising it.  But, there are a lot of flags around WDW, and the next flag I saw was definitely at half-mast.  That really got me to wondering what was going on, as I hadn't heard of anyone dying.  So, I had to Google it on my phone, and found that it was, indeed, Peace Officer's Memorial Day.  Which I had never heard of.  Good for WDW for observing this sign of respect for fallen police officers- I wonder how many other American businesses did.

TCD

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38 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Thanks- I did the best I could with getting those shots.  I hate to do it, but I made need to invite my cousin Yuri for a visit so I can turn him loose with a camera in the 2100 loop.  But, I'm going to try and hold off on that .

... I swore I would never own a selfie stick.

Well if you buy one for Yuri, and he doesn't actually use it to take selfies (as that would obviously blow his cover as an International Man of Mystery) then you wouldn't be breaking your "no selfie stick" oath.  ;)

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I have another batch of bonus photos to share.

These are also from my Sunday May 15, 2016 day trip.

We were just looking at the 2100 loop.

From there, I headed in to the 1100 loop and walked around to the loop exit.  The 1100 loop seemed to be full, and they had campers in the sites that backed up to 2100.  Whatever they're doing in 2100 must not be noisy enough that they thought it would bother guests camped in 1100.

I headed down the sidewalk a bit, and crossed in the crosswalk, and then headed toward the Meadow Trading Post along this sidewalk, which is one of my favorite spots in the Fort:

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I know that I've mentioned this before, but I like the fact that this sidewalk is poured right on the old Fort Wilderness Railroad rail bed.  I'll bet most guests who use it have no idea that the train used to run in this exact spot.

The bridge behind the Meadow Trading Post is right over there, and the Meadow Pool, Bike Barn and campfire area are all right on the other side of it.  I think that makes the 1300 loop, which is to the right of the sidewalk a great location for guests who want to be close to those amenities:

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You can't really see them in this photo, but I could see the backs of some of the site slabs in the 1300 loop from this spot, which makes those sites a great location for convenience to the Meadow Trading Post and all the stuff in the area:

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The rocking chair supply on the Meadow Trading Post porch was good this morning:

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I had a bottle of water with me, and grabbed one of the rockers for a quick break.  No sooner had a sat and began to enjoy the music that an older male CM came out of the Trading Post and stood there on the porch.  I said good morning to him, and he returned the greeting.  That led to the inevitable "where are you visiting from?" question, and then a long conversation about his career with Disney and our mutual love of the Fort.  He was a very nice fellow, but he made no signs of needing to get back inside and to work, even though a bunch of guests came by and went into the Trading Post as he stood there talking to me.  I didn't really want to sit there all morning shooting the bull with him, so I excused myself.  He was a nice guy though,  and shared with me that he had just purchased a new motorhome and would soon be retiring so he and his wife could full-time for a while.  Who knows- he may be reading this report.  If so, it was nice to meet you.

After my chat session, I headed around back- boy I love the back porch of the Meadow Trading Post:

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Bob's dock was looking fine:

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The water level in the Fishin' Hole is as high as I have seen it- Bear Rock's snout was submerged:

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Bob's dock was nice and clean:

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One of my favorite views in the Fort is best enjoyed from Bob's Dock:

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The fish feeder was out there, and the bubbler was bubbling:

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A look back at the porch from here:

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All of the landscaping behind the "new" sites on the 600 loop has really grown in, but I could see through the shrubs enough to see that it looked like there were a bunch of open sites on the 600 loop:

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Of course, I had to investigate that.  Which meant that I skipped my plans to go in to the Trading Post for a look around.  Instead, I headed right through the back of one of the empty sites and on in to the 600 loop, and saw that the entrance was coned off:

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Clearly, the loop road had recently been repaved:

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This big empty 600 loop premium site is huge compared to the sites that we had just looked at over on the 2100 loop:

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Rather than go back the way I came, I decided to head in to the loop and cross over to the campfire area by the footbridge.  Which gave me a chance to take a couple of shots of my favorite site- 617:

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The canal between the 600 loop and the 1400 loop is still slime-free, as seen from this shot taken from the bridge:

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Now we are looking back at Bob's Dock and the Trading Post from across the pond- I love the tree reflections in this shot:

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Since I was in the area, I figured I'd take a look at the campfire area-there's one of the high top tables I mentioned earlier in this report, and it looks like some of the small fire-pit benches are missing:

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The benches for the audience look like they're new.  Which is weird, because I don't think it was that long ago that they installed the ones that I think were replaced by these:

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I'm going to research this bench issue in the TCD archives, and will report back on my findings- this update is going to be long enough without sidetracking on that issue.

I noticed this when I was here in April, but didn't get a photo, but something weird is going on with the Chuckwagon's wheels:

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Over here at the other fire ring, it looks like some benches are missing too:

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Now we are walking over to the pool, past the golf cart parking area. If you look carefully, right next to the ignition on this golf cart, a squirrel is raiding a bag of snacks this camper left in his cart:

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The landscaping they installed around the pool around the time of its renovation has really filled-in nicely:

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I had originally planned to walk all the way down to the Settlement, but it was getting warm, and I decided instead to head over to the 1500 loop bus stop, as my next destination this morning was the Wilderness Lodge, and I knew I could catch a ride on a Yellow Bus from there.  So, I walked through the pool deck.  I noticed some new signs stating that guests should not reserve chairs with their personal items, and noticed a bunch of chairs that had been saved with personal items.  Some things never change.

I recall some questions being asked not too long ago about the rules for the kid's splash area at the pool  Here's the posted rules:

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A closer look:

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Seems pretty clear to me- there is no age restriction- just a maximum height restriction.

This sign states the rules for the little kiddie pool which has always been at the Meadow Pool.  The TCD kids logged a lot of time in that little square back in the good old days.  It didn't seem so gross then, but reading the sign now, I'm not sure I'd have let them in there:

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When I left the Fort on April 25th, a crew had just shown up and was beginning to tear the roof off of the Meadow Pool Dining Pavilion.  They got that new roof on fast, and the freeloaders undoubtedly are happy about that:

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Wow, it wasn't going to be a busy day at the Fort today- there are two tables over there that haven't been saved with guests' personal items:

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I headed across the other footbridge to the 1500 loop bus stop to await my carriage.

I was treated to a Gator Dad trying to get his kid's remote control boat to work in the canal:

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Spoiler alert- the boat didn't work, and the kid wasn't impressed.  Fail.

This bench in the 1500 loop bus stop has seen better days.  Still, I like it better than the new benches we just saw at the campfire area.  I wish they would just refinish these rather than replace them.  I also wish that I could buy one of these if they're just getting rid of them:

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There's the Meadow Recreation Complex as seen from the 1500 loop bus stop:

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I only had to wait a few minutes for the bus, and was happy to get into some air conditioning.

We zipped down toward the settlement, only stopping at the 300 loop bus stop to let a guest off.

As that guest was exiting, I saw a golf cart approaching from the other direction being driven by a kid who could not have been older than 7-8 years old.  His dad was siting next to him in the passenger seat.  I thought for sure the dad would tell the kid to stop while the bus unloaded, but nope, his not stopping messed up my timing, so I missed getting a photo of the kid driving.  Fail:

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This is another photo fail- the 100 loop was also coned off, and it looks like it had been paved- I was late taking that photo, but I think you can see that it is empty:

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There were a couple of Roto-Rooter trucks at the three way:

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Stuff happens.

We stopped at the Settlement Bus Stop, but I stayed on.

Everyone got off, and no one got on.  So, I had the bus to myself.

As we pulled away, I wished I had gotten off when I saw that the jasmine on the old windmill was now in full bloom:

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But it was too late for me to stop and smell the jasmine.

I enjoyed my private ride:

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Here's those mine-car things that were the talk of the town while I was taking my break.  I don't know what they are or what they're doing there, but it is interesting to me, and I will find out one day:

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At the Lodge, I headed into the DVC Villas and up to the 5th floor so I could get some photos showing the progress of the big construction project going on there along Bay Lake.  Here you go:

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That's the big building we saw from across the lake earlier in this report.  The only rumor I've heard about it that makes sense is that it's going to be a new restaurant.  Other than that, it looks like they've spent a lot of time on site work here.  There are no signs of the bungalows yet, but I think they'll be showing up soon.

I forgot to mention that when I arrived at the Lodge, I checked their transportation monitor and saw that I had about 10 minutes until the Disney Springs bus would arrive.  That gave me just enough time to come in here and snap those photos and hurry back to the bus stop.  I couldn't have done that without the monitor.  So, I really like those monitors!

Next, we will be catching a bus to Disney Springs.  Visiting there was the primary purpose of this visit, and I'll be meeting up with TCD Twin #1 there.

TCD

 

 

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Wow - looks like they waited for the Wild Womenz to clear out before they started in on a bunch of maintenance-type work.  Probably wise.  ;)

re: train cars - at least the "what are they" part -  I think this was posted by Gretchen while you were on sabbatical --

On 4/1/2016 at 0:54 PM, fladogfan aka Gretchen said:

DH says they were at Thunder Mountain as show pieces when he was working on maintenance control systems and Thunder Mountain was their test site.  The reason they are where they are now is. "I have no idea"  direct from the person who wrote the system to control maintenance of the rides.  They were never on the TM track and were not part of FW RR either.

Side note, DH was one of the first people to ride TM when WDW started testing it, right after the sand bags. :lol:

But the mystery of why they are where they are is still....a mystery :unsure:

No one yet has come up with an answer to the "why."

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1 hour ago, Cortezcapt (Derek) said:

They don't seem to be making them wide enough for premium loops unless they are already a little wider to start. They also have those posts/timbers on the sides of the premium sites to keep the shell around the water, sewer, and electric hook-ups.

Good points- and you're right about the timbers being used around the premium sites.  I jumped to the conclusion that they are planning to add coquina pads to the backs of these sites, but that may not be the case.

46 minutes ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

Well if you buy one for Yuri, and he doesn't actually use it to take selfies (as that would obviously blow his cover as an International Man of Mystery) then you wouldn't be breaking your "no selfie stick" oath.  ;)

Not a bad idea.  But I highly doubt that Yuri would be able to operate a selfie stick. He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

8 minutes ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

 

Wow - looks like they waited for the Wild Womenz to clear out before they started in on a bunch of maintenance-type work.  Probably wise.  ;)

re: train cars - at least the "what are they" part -  I think this was posted by Gretchen while you were on sabbatical --

No one yet has come up with an answer to the "why."

Oh- cool.

I wonder if they are going to be props used in the new additions to the resort?  Something that they need to get in place before other stuff is built?

TCD

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The thought has crossed my mind.  But, I swore I would never own a selfie stick. 

But if you point it away from you and just use it as an extension of your reach, would it still count as a selfie stick?

Or get a Go-Pro, strap it to your head, take one of those mini exercise trampolines and bounce up and down outside of the fence while recording video as you bounce above the fences!

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28 minutes ago, Travisma said:

...get a Go-Pro, strap it to your head, take one of those mini exercise trampolines and bounce up and down outside of the fence while recording video as you bounce above the fences!

I will pay good money to the Fiend that takes a video of this happening.  ;)

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I had a particularly rough time once with a GAG and had an emergency visit to the men's room at the settlement trading post.  The next morning it was closed up, out of order signs and the rotorooter guy was there.  My kids blame me for breaking the bathroom.  I am innocent, I tell ya.

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21 hours ago, CCIntrigue...aka Gwen said:

Thanks for all the bonus pics!  They are brightening up the dreary day we're having here.

Glad you like them, Gwen.  I have another batch of photos showing bright blue skies coming right up.

21 hours ago, Travisma said:

The thought has crossed my mind.  But, I swore I would never own a selfie stick. 

But if you point it away from you and just use it as an extension of your reach, would it still count as a selfie stick?

Or get a Go-Pro, strap it to your head, take one of those mini exercise trampolines and bounce up and down outside of the fence while recording video as you bounce above the fences!

Wow.  That's quite a plan.

21 hours ago, djsamuel said:

Our last day at the Fort was the day after Mother's Day.  They sprayed the sealant on the 100 loop that day and had the 600 loop empty and ready to go.  Glad to see they got that done. 

So, the 100 and 600 loops have been empty for two weeks.  No wonder it's impossible to get a campsite reservation.

21 hours ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

I will pay good money to the Fiend that takes a video of this happening.  ;)

It's not going to happen.

19 hours ago, Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie said:

Good to see Disney keeping Roto Rooter in business lol. They seem to show up in most TR.

No kidding.

They should open a satellite office there.

17 hours ago, ftwildernessguy said:

I had a particularly rough time once with a GAG and had an emergency visit to the men's room at the settlement trading post.  The next morning it was closed up, out of order signs and the rotorooter guy was there.  My kids blame me for breaking the bathroom.  I am innocent, I tell ya.

LOL.  This is the exact type of humor that is popular in the TCD home.  But, Mrs. TCD frowns on it.

12 hours ago, LONE-STAR said:

It seems RotoRooter hydro jets the fort once a week. I really wish  I had that contract. 

I think someone should buy a van and whatever equipment Roto Rooter uses, and offer to provide the service in exchange for a permanent campsite at the Fort. That would be a win/win.

TCD

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I think someone should buy a van and whatever equipment Roto Rooter uses, and offer to provide the service in exchange for a permanent campsite at the Fort. That would be a win/win.

If they are there as much as it seems, why doesn't Disney have their own crew and equipment to handle it?  Seem like it would be a lot less expensive than paying for a service call every few days.  And if the lines are becoming clogged that often, I wonder if the infrastructure is failing?

The brown paint guy could do it in his spare time and he would have plenty of brown material to keep on painting forever.

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How about some more bonus content?

We left off with me at the Lodge.  I had about 7-8 minutes to snap some photos of the new DVC construction and get back to the bus stop.

I made it with time to spare.

The Disney Springs/Typhone Lagone bus pulled up right on schedule.

And it was pretty full.

And nobody got off.

It had stopped at the Contemporary first.

It's always interesting to me to size up the people who stay in deluxe resorts.

The family sitting right across from me was a dad and a boy and girl teen.

The dad had a brand-new looking Castaway Cay beach bag, and I heard him telling the daughter that it was OK for her to take her patch off now.

Those dirty dogs had just gotten back from a Disney Cruise, and now were staying in the Contemporary.

Must be nice.

On the other side of me was a family with a toddler and a baby, and a stroller.  And they were also staying in the Contemporary and now were heading to Typhone Lagone with a baby in a stroller.  They were in for a full day of eggsightment.

Our bus driver seemed like he knew what he was doing, so I don't think he was lost- but we took a very circuitous route to Typhone Lagone- instead of turning left on the way out of Wilderness Lodge and heading to Vista Drive and then Bonnet Creek Parkway, he went straight, and we took Seven Seas Lagoon Drive to World Drive, and then exited on Epcot Center Drive, and proceeded to Typhone Lagone.  It took forever, but I guess buses are being routed that way to ease up on the congestion caused by the ongoing roadway construction. 

Once we unloaded at Typhone Lagone, then we turned left instead of right, and headed all the way to Vacation Club Drive and came to Disney Springs that way.

Wow, it was a long bus ride!

But, we made it.

I'm guessing that's the last time I'm ever going to be dropped off by a Disney bus at the Marketplace bus stop.

Which is a good thing.

Because the new bus stops are in a much better location.

Anyway, here we are at Disney Springs.

This part of it is the same as it had been before all the new construction, and that's not a bad thing:

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The TCD girls all logged a lot of time in that fountain.

But, it seems like it used to be a lot bigger.

This is probably one of the last photos you'll ever see of buses in this area of Disney Springs:

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I'm sure that you're aware that there is a new bridge that crosses the lake from near the Rainforest Café, over toward the Lego Store.  I had not yet walked across it, so I headed there.  Here, we are at the base of the bridge near the Rainforest Café, looking across toward the World of Disney store- I am not sure what the barricades are doing here- but they weren't blocking the bridge today:

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All of this is new- the bridge- the  light fixtures- the signage- all of it:

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One of the new food kiosks that will be opening is called Aristo-Crepes.  It is located right here on the bridge near the Rainforest Café, but as you can see, it's not quite done yet- it's behind that green wall:

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I guess this waterside bar at the Rainforest Café called the Lava Lounge has always been there, but I didn't know about it.  It looks like it could be a fun place:

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Across the water, you can see Fulton's and to the right of that is the new Boathouse restaurant that opened last year:

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The bridge is nice- there are a lot of cool details:

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You probably heard the announcement that Fulton's is now closed and is being re-themed into a restaurant called Paddle Fish.  There's already scaffolding up there around the top, but no one was working on it today:

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Across the water the other way, you can see the big stage and seating area that has been in place for a while, and World of Disney behind that.  It looks like that might be a fountain in the lake, but it wasn't working today:

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I had heard about the new BB Wolf's Sausage Factory that was coming to Disney Springs, but I thought it was in the new Town Center area.  So, I was surprised when I found it at the other end of the bridge.  It was just past 11 am, and they apparently had just opened- here's their menu:

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I wasn't planning on having a sausage at that particular moment, but I was here, and there was no line, so I went ahead and ordered a Portuguese sausage, and here it is:

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One complaint about BB Wolf's- there is no place to get out of the sun and eat a sausage.  I carried mine over to a low wall near the T-Rex restaurant and sat there in the shade:

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I'm not sure what time T-Rex opens, but they were already really busy, and people were waiting outside for tables.

I really liked the Portuguese sausage.

Then I headed on.

I was going to meet Twin #1 at the coffee shop near the Orange parking garage, then we were going to tour the new marketplace area together.  So,  was heading that way, taking the path along the water.

Here's another new kiosk- the Savannah Bee Company.  It isn't too big of a place, but it is in a busy location:

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For the last year or so, this pathway here was the only way to get from one side of Disney Springs to the other, and as more things opened, it has been really busy.  Today, with the new Town Center area open, the congestion wasn't so bad.  That's the new Boathouse restaurant straight ahead:

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Right next to the Boathouse is the ramp they use for the Amphicars.  That circular area you see in the center of the photo is a turntable that they use to turn the cars around- when things are in full swing, there's always a crowd watching:

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About a month or so ago, Twin #2 and I met up for Gelato at that Gelato shop over there, which is right across from the Amphicar ramp.  It's good if you like Gelato, but I prefer ice cream or frozen yogurt personally:

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As we continue along in this Landings area of Disney Springs, we come to the construction site of the new Edison restaurant- they just have some of the framework up at this point, and the sign tells up that there's still a year to go before this place opens:

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It's really big!

The coffee shop is just past there, and I got a drink and waited for Twin #1. That is one busy little coffee shop!

Twin #1 arrived as planned, and it was finally time for us to venture out into the new Town Center!

We headed in this way- by the old Planet Hollywood, which is still behind the construction walls you see on the left- the big brick building straight ahead is new, as are all those nice palm trees:

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I was surprised to see that there was no signage telling us that this was the Town Center- I am not sure if that is yet to come, or if they aren't going to put up signs to let guests know where they are:

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To be honest, I haven't really followed the news about the new stuff coming to Disney Springs very carefully.  I was never a big fan of Downtown Disney, and tried to stay away from there.  As we approached this big new brick building, I was thinking that this was the new Town Center, and that was it. 

The inside of the brick building is a big courtyard with places to sit in the middle, kind of like a typical mall- this is looking to the left as we came in.  I am not familiar with Johnson and Murphy.  To the left of that was a Tommy Bahama store, and you can see on the right that there was a Lucky Brand store.  The nice thing in here is that we were out of the sun, and it was air conditioned, even though there are big openings on each end of the building:

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Over there is an Ugg store.  You know, boots?  Are they going to sell a lot of those in Florida?:

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There were a few store fronts in this area that were not yet open.  I have it on good authority that this Lilly Pulitzer store will be open next week, but it wasn't on Sunday, May 15:

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ICYMI- did you notice that the lady in that last photo has a service dog?  It has to be a service dog, right?

As we walked out of that new building, which I thought was the Town Center, I was surprised to see this big open walkway lined with big Mediterranean style buildings:

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All of this is new, and I was surprised by the size of it all- I had no idea that this much space was being added to Disney Springs:

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The walkways are nice and wide- and there are restroom signs everywhere:

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Look at the architectural detail on these buildings:

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This is a good place for us to stop.  Next up- we will take a look around all the new stuff in this area.

TCD

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1 hour ago, Travisma said:

If they are there as much as it seems, why doesn't Disney have their own crew and equipment to handle it?  Seem like it would be a lot less expensive than paying for a service call every few days.  And if the lines are becoming clogged that often, I wonder if the infrastructure is failing?

Those are good questions.  It seems like they ought to have their own equipment and/or fix the problem rather than having to keep fixing clogs.

1 hour ago, Travisma said:

The brown paint guy could do it in his spare time and he would have plenty of brown material to keep on painting forever.

Now that is just nasty.

Funny, but nasty.

TCD

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1 hour ago, CCIntrigue...aka Gwen said:

I've never been a big Downtown Disney fan either.  We didn't even go there on our last trip.  But I think we'll have to check it out this fall!

More sunny pictures for another gloomy, chilly day here.  Thank you.

I used to hate Downtown Disney- the parking situation especially.  But, now it's easy, and the bus situation is going to be much improved too.

I still am not a mall person, so I don't think I'll be going a lot, but I won't mind it when I do.

Oh, and I'm fixing to post some more photos of sunny skies, so check back in a bit.

TCD

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33 minutes ago, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

I like gelato, so I might just check that out. 

You went to Starbucks again? Of all places to meet? 

The Ugg store is selling Disney specific boots. Maybe they'll sell. I'm not a fan, personally. 

The new area looks even bigger than I thought. 

If you like gelato, then that's the place for you.  The prices weren't too bad, either.

Yes, I went to Starbucks.  The store there are two there in Disney Springs, and the one by the Orange Garage has a huge air conditioned seating area, and a seating deck in the back too.  You can get a big glass of filtered ice water for free-with or without a purchase, which makes it a great place to sit and wait for someone.

My girls went through the Ugg craze a few years back.  I don't think they're a thing around here anymore.

The new area was way, way bigger than I was expecting it to be- I have some more photos of it to share- you'll see.

TCD

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