A TCD Easter at The Fort Trip Report

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

What's this?

A new trip report!

Remember those?

I liked it back in the day when Fiends would post trip reports.

Now people go, and they come back, and nothing.

But, that's not how I roll.

So, welcome.

The TCD gang ended up spending this past Easter weekend at the Fort.

It was great.

Like most of our trips lately, this one was planned late.

Like we finally pulled the trigger just two weeks before this trip.

That's when Twin #2 told us that she had to work every day that weekend, and there was no way that she could come home for Easter.

The oldest TCD DD had to work on Friday and early Monday morning, so she wasn't so thrilled about coming home.

So, we brought the party to them.

Don't hate, but Twin #2 was able to get us a CM discount on a premium site.  Which helped a lot, since price gouging was in effect.

I also was able to line up a Kenny Cart on short notice- they had one for me because of a cancellation.

The stars were aligning.

I thought about it, but didn't bother with making a site request.  I was planning to arrive at 11 am, and I planned to work with the CM at check in to get a good site.  Normally, I plan to arrive a little later, but my appointment to pick up the cart was at noon, and I was hoping to be able to drop my trailer at my site before heading out for the cart.

Everything went great with my preparation and drive over, and I arrived just a bit past 11. Twin #1 had spent the night at Twin #2's and they met me at the Reception Outpost.  I was able to pull right up to an open check-in window, and was immediately helped by a friendly and competent CM.  The check-in went smoothly, and when we got past all of the preliminaries, the CM asked if I had a loop preference.  I asked him if there were any sites ready in the 800 or 900 loop.  He asked which one I would like him to check first, so I said 900.  He pecked a few keys on the computer, and asked me how 910 sounded.  I knew I had been in different sites along that part of the loop, but never 910, but I told him it sounded fine.  He told me I got it, and in just a few minutes I headed to the site to drop the trailer. 910 is on the inside of the loop, with a nice area for hammocks behind the site, and a lot of shade.  I loved it.  The twins were shocked, as I always don't like something about a site, but I liked everything about this site.

I was right on time for my off-site rendezvous with Kenny.  When I was just about there, I got a call.  It was Kelly from Kenny's.  She asked where I was.  I told her I was about two minutes away.  She said she was calling because they had a straggler who was supposed to return his cart at 11, and had just arrived to pick up the trailer from Kenny now.  She told her she would let Kenny know, and that they would honor my appointment and make the late guy wait for me to go and come back with the empty trailer.  When I got to the meeting place, I was surprised to see that it was Kenny himself there.  Usually, he has an employee covering this duty.  Kenny explained the situation, and the late guy stood there listening.  It was tough for him, because he was going to have to wait for me to go and come back.  But, then I had an idea.  I asked Kenny if he could let the late guy drive his truck with my cart on the trailer, with me following.  Then the guy could drop off my cart, load up his, and come back.  That would save him time, and it would also save me a drive back.  Kenny thought that was great, and so did the late guy.  Everyone was happy,  But, I got the best part of the deal because I only had to do half of the normal drive.  Kenny hooked me up with a nice, fast, cart this time.  He's truly a great guy.

This was really my day.  The weather was on the cool side, and my site was in the shade, and I got busy setting up.  The twins helped by setting up their hammocks and giving them test drives.  They also did some looping, and went to pick us up a cable kit for the old TCD TV's. 

After everything was set up, we did some looping, and then got ready to head out to Hollywood Studios.  Just a few days before the trip, Twin #2 was able to give away her Friday night shift, so she could spend the evening with us.  Mrs. TCD and big sister decided that they'd sit Friday night out, and arrive on Saturday.

They had a special event going on at Hollywood Studios on Friday night.  It was being held in conjunction with the big Star Wars Celebration that was going on at the Orange County Convention Center over several days that week.  The DHS event was called Galactic Nights.  It was a hard ticket event that official ran from 7 pm to midnight.  But, like they do with the Halloween and Christmas parties, they were letting guests with event tickets in early, only it was at 5pm instead of 4 like they do at the MK parties.  We figured that there might be some good people watching over there, so we headed over for it.   I had contemplated buying us tickets for the event, but I contemplated too long, and it sold out.  We took our cart to the Outpost and caught the bus from there.  No issues with that at all.

With that long introduction out of the way, we can finally get to some photos.  I didn't take any of me setting up at the Fort, so the photos for this TR start with our evening at DHS.  Don't worry, there will be plenty of Fort photos later on.

Here we are at DHS.  We got there a bit past 5 pm, and they were set up to let party guests in:

They were actually laying brand new red carpet on Hollywood Boulevard.  They weren't quite done with it yet, though:

I should have mentioned that the twins had stalked the attendees over at the Orange County Convention Center, and had a lot of fun with these Bingo cards that some clever person posted on-line.  Read the costume descriptions- there's some funny stuff here:

That is some nice carpet they're laying down:

We found a spot on the curb near the end of Hollywood Blvd, and got ready for some people watching:

It was hard to snap photos from there, so we moved across the street:

That mom over there in the black leather miniskirt wasn't here for the Star Wars party, but she still earned a spot in this TR:

The guests who paid to be here tonight are the ones with the giant cards on lanyards:

There goes a short Stormtrooper.  I think that was one of the boxes on the Bingo card:

Over there is a group of grown men wearing Ewok hats:

Here's another photo of the Ewok hat gang:

Here's the first female we saw with this lightsaber skirt.  She wont' be the last:

The Ewok hat gang gathered in the middle of the street for a strategy conference:

It seems like most guests skipped costumes and went with Star Wars t-shirts:

I guess I took a lot of photos of those Ewok hat guys:

There goes a really old Han Solo:

This guy packed his own punchline- yes, that is a banana in his pocket:

Some guys were obviously running late, so they just came in their bathrobes:

Here's one of many BB8 dresses we saw:

There were a lot of men solo traveling:

There were ladies on the prowl:

More t-shirts:

Here's an R2D2 dress:

Twin #1 spotted a VIP in the crowd and pointed him out to me.  See that guy in the grey shirt standing on the white line?  He's a really big deal:

Do you recognize him?

How about now?:

How about now?:

Does this ring any bells?:

Yup.

It was Phil Holmes.

In the flesh.

I'd recognize those choppers anywhere.

He's in charge of Hollywood Studios now.

So, he was here to make sure the red carpet was properly laid.  And stuff like that.

I was going to go and ask if I cold take a selfie with him, but the girls asked me not to.

Shucks.

Hey, here's another one of those lightsaber skirts:

And here comes something extra special.  Check out the young lady in the center of this photo:

Look at her:

What is she supposed to be?:

Twin #1 told me that she was a Jedi Elsa.

Duh.

It's a thing.

Do a Google image search if you don't believe me.  Or, search #jedielsa on Instagram.

That's how Twin #1 found this girl's Insta page:

And all I can say, is thank the maker that she didn't wear her other costume:

I think that's enough for now.

TCD

 

[dieseldave 5]

Awesome! I'm in!

Looks like things are off to a good start. The Jedi Elsa is new to me as well.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dalspot ... Karen 21]

Yay! New trip report. I'm in. First page!

[dvccamper 32]

I'm in, page one, yay!

All I can comment on right now is the fact that JediElsa is wearing snow boots. In The Florida heat. Yuck.

 

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

I'm in. 

Is it getting close to page 2?

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

In! FPBR

[Memphis 105]

I'm in.  and now that I have read the post.   It is good to be TCD.  Great start to the report.  I think you should have stopped on the way back to the fort for a lottery ticket. JediElsa ?  That's just weird.  Won't be supprised to see Disney run with it though. 

[Beckers 1,136]

I was hoping there was going to be a trip report!!

 

and I wish I was the lady who created the Her Universe clothing. She must be rolling in the dough because that stuff isn't cheap. She's coming out with a line of attraction theme clothing too.

[Travisma 1,317]

Great so far.

 

How many days did you have to book to get a reservation?

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I'm in too!

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

I am in too. I am actually waiting to see if I made it into this report as I was at the party that night with Sil. :-)

[campingdawgs 4]

Yay! A new trip report! My 13 year old daughter guessed Jedi Elsa right away. There are some interesting costumes. I'm sure it was great people watching!

[alexwyattmommy 181]

I miss trip reports.  Looking forward to more and more from you.

[LONE-STAR 370]

I am reading along sounds like you had a great first day.

[Mrs.TN22 12]

I'm in!!  another trip report - yay!!!!

[Momoffive aka Loretta 34]

Wow, I have been gone a long time and find myself back with a trip report!  Love it!  My only complaint, my next trip is still too far away, this makes me home sick!

[dblr....Rennie 224]

14 hours ago, Katman1356...Jason said:

I am in too. I am actually waiting to see if I made it into this report as I was at the party that night with Sil. :-)

I'm in also and must confess that I was looking in your pictures for Jason and or Sil, but figured you would have caught Jason for sure

[shoreline99 137]

Nice, TCD - yes, it's great to have a new trip report!

We need more of those.

First page bragging rights!

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

Joining the crowd already here.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[kadancer 82]

I'm reading.  My 17 yo will really not like JediElsa

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

I'll hop on the TCD TR Train!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

On ‎4‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 2:03 PM, dieseldave said:

Awesome! I'm in!

Looks like things are off to a good start. The Jedi Elsa is new to me as well.

Congratulations to you!  You are the first to comment!

On ‎4‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 2:14 PM, Dalspot ... Karen said:

Yay! New trip report. I'm in. First page!

You are Number Two!  Welcome!

On ‎4‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 2:27 PM, dvccamper said:

I'm in, page one, yay!

All I can comment on right now is the fact that JediElsa is wearing snow boots. In The Florida heat. Yuck.

I agree- Yuck.

23 hours ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

I'm in. 

Is it getting close to page 2?

LOL.

We don't go to a new page until we have 25 posts on this page.  It doesn't matter how long the posts are.

23 hours ago, Momof6....aka Marty said:

In! FPBR

Yup.  FPBR for you.  I'm glad to see you are still around. I've noticed a scarcity of Wild Womenz lately.

23 hours ago, Memphis said:

I'm in.  and now that I have read the post.   It is good to be TCD.  Great start to the report.  I think you should have stopped on the way back to the fort for a lottery ticket. JediElsa ?  That's just weird.  Won't be supprised to see Disney run with it though. 

Hello, Harold.

Nice to see a post from you.  You are missing a really bad dry spell here in Florida.

23 hours ago, Beckers said:

I was hoping there was going to be a trip report!!

and I wish I was the lady who created the Her Universe clothing. She must be rolling in the dough because that stuff isn't cheap. She's coming out with a line of attraction theme clothing too.

You're right.  It's amazing how much Star Wars merchandise and apparel is bought by women.  That Her Universe line is a gold mine.

23 hours ago, Travisma said:

Great so far.

How many days did you have to book to get a reservation?

Thanks.

You asked a good question, but I've decided that it is in our mutual best interest to no longer discuss reservation hacks publically.  What used to work no longer does because too many people  were doing it, and Disney put a stop to it.  I'll send you a PM.

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

I'm in too!

Welcome, Gwen.  I'm glad to have another faithful trip report writer along for this one.

22 hours ago, Katman1356...Jason said:

I am in too. I am actually waiting to see if I made it into this report as I was at the party that night with Sil. :-)

WHAT?

I wish I had known that.

What time did y'all come in to the party?

I checked the time stamps on my photos, and I was on Sunset Blvd. from 5:14 pm to 6:37 pm.  If you came in during that time, maybe I do have a photo from you.

I'd really love to hear a short report from you about the party.  It looked to me like it wasn't too crowded, and they had some cool stuff scheduled.  I still think it was pricey, but I'm sure it was worth it to some people.

21 hours ago, campingdawgs said:

Yay! A new trip report! My 13 year old daughter guessed Jedi Elsa right away. There are some interesting costumes. I'm sure it was great people watching!

It was great people watching.  But, I was really confused by a lot of costumes.  People go for the weird factor now.

20 hours ago, alexwyattmommy said:

I miss trip reports.  Looking forward to more and more from you.

I will do my best!

17 hours ago, LONE-STAR said:

I am reading along sounds like you had a great first day.

It was a great first day.  And a great second day.  And a great third day.  Just like all my visits to the Fort!

16 hours ago, Mrs.TN22 said:

I'm in!!  another trip report - yay!!!!

I'm glad that you're in!

13 hours ago, Momoffive aka Loretta said:

Wow, I have been gone a long time and find myself back with a trip report!  Love it!  My only complaint, my next trip is still too far away, this makes me home sick!

I'm glad that you're back.

Sorry that your next trip is so far off.  I hope that you enjoy this and other trip reports in the meantime.

8 hours ago, dblr....Rennie said:

I'm in also and must confess that I was looking in your pictures for Jason and or Sil, but figured you would have caught Jason for sure

Maybe I did catch Jason.  If he lets me know when he entered, I can look more closely at the photos I took around that time.

5 hours ago, shoreline99 said:

Nice, TCD - yes, it's great to have a new trip report!

We need more of those.

First page bragging rights!

Yup.  First Page Bragging Rights are still available.  Thanks for reading.  And posting!

4 hours ago, momof3kids-Yvonne said:

Joining the crowd already here.

Welcome!  Another Wild Woman.  What happened to y'all at WWW?

4 hours ago, kadancer said:

I'm reading.  My 17 yo will really not like JediElsa

Oh come on.  Who doesn't like Jedi Elsa.  She's the best.

1 hour ago, Helmsey......Todd said:

I'll hop on the TCD TR Train!

Choo. Choo.  Time to pick up some steam!

TCD

[Beckers 1,136]

If Jedi Delsa is created you are solely responsible for bringing this awful character to our attention.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

8 minutes ago, Beckers said:

If Jedi Delsa is created you are solely responsible for bringing this awful character to our attention.

The horror!

DIT hasn't shown up here yet.  Maybe I should go back and delete all references to Jedi Elsa.

I really, really, really don't want to ever see Jedi Delsa.

Yikes.

TCD

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

We may have just made issues you. I will check at home but I think we got there around 6:45. 

 

It was fun with some meet and greets and photo ops. Lines weren't too bad either. Sil and I didn't bother with rides except she rode Rockin Rollercoaster which had different lighting and Star Wars music. She said it was a lot of fun. 

 

I may write a short bit about the night with some pictures. We got to meet BB8 that night for his premiere so that was fun too.