TCD's Kickin' Off Summer 2011 @ The Fort Trip Report

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

While we're hijacking: I hope everyone had a most pleasant Veterans of Domestic Wars Day yesterday... what's that, you've never heard of that holiday? Maybe I'm the only one who refers to their wedding anniversary that way! The Mrs and I hit the 16 year mark yesterday and we'd both agree that it’s a miracle of God's grace that two so very different and difficult people should be so thoroughly knit together.

Well Happy Anniversary Shanta. !6 years pretty awesome. This coming August my dh and I hit the big 30. We haven't killed each other yet, so we may just try for another 30 :rofl2:

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

I hope y'all had a Happy Anniversary, Shanta! I think I have spent more time on here the last 2 days than I have in a while. I must be trying to make up for not being at the Fort for the Fourth like we had planned.

TCD, Hurry Back!

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

JACK Russell Terrier

[BouncingTiggers 98]

TCD more great pics! Being one of the Yankees you spoke of. I may have jumped out of my skin seeing that gator so close.

I'm always amazed at your pics of the place looking deserted. How early do you usually get out there in the morning?

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

While we're hijacking: I hope everyone had a most pleasant Veterans of Domestic Wars Day yesterday... what's that, you've never heard of that holiday? Maybe I'm the only one who refers to their wedding anniversary that way! The Mrs and I hit the 16 year mark yesterday and we'd both agree that it’s a miracle of God's grace that two so very different and difficult people should be so thoroughly knit together.

Congrats!! DH and I are working on year 12.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Well Happy Anniversary Shanta. !6 years pretty awesome. This coming August my dh and I hit the big 30. We haven't killed each other yet, so we may just try for another 30 :rofl2:

surely your medals of sainthood should be arriving soon!

[Just Whipperwhirl 24]

Did someone say Duct Tape?

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

Did someone say Duct Tape?

[The Troll 67]

Andrew, these are some of the greatest shots you've taken in a while. I particularly like the ones down by Bay Lake, where you shot the beach and the moss hanging from the trees. Great stuff.

It's refreshing to see the foliage so full. As I don't go to FW in the summertime, I wasn't aware how green everything gets. It doesn't look nearly as bare as it does in the Fall & Winter.

I took the liberty of turning one of your shots into a panoramic:

I really like this shot.

[Just Whipperwhirl 24]

We need a panoramic thread - I love, love, love looking at what you have done Troll.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

C'mon Andrew, you must be back home by now. :popo:

:popcorn:

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

OK, I'm back.

That wasn't so bad.

And the good news is that there will be another Trip Report immediately following this one.

For those of you who participated in the hijacking, good work.

I love the Jack and duct tape photos.

Before resuming, I have a few comments on some of the posts made in my absence:

Don't go around messing with this. It's a sewer lift station...think pressurized poop pipe.

A pressurized poop pipe!!!

Makes sense that they fixed, I mean repaired it with duct tape.

Ha ha! Yes! Data had to seal the temporal rift caused by the Mannheim effect using antimatter, the Star Trek equivalent of duct tape! Well patched! Welcome to the geekdom!

Wow.

Just wow.

I feel like I landed on a planet far far away :rofl2: :rofl2:

Me too.

While we're hijacking: I hope everyone had a most pleasant Veterans of Domestic Wars Day yesterday... what's that, you've never heard of that holiday? Maybe I'm the only one who refers to their wedding anniversary that way! The Mrs and I hit the 16 year mark yesterday and we'd both agree that it’s a miracle of God's grace that two so very different and difficult people should be so thoroughly knit together.

Congratulations, Shanta.

Veterans of Domestic Wars Day?

You are truly one of a kind.

TCD more great pics! Being one of the Yankees you spoke of. I may have jumped out of my skin seeing that gator so close.

I'm always amazed at your pics of the place looking deserted. How early do you usually get out there in the morning?

For whatever reason, most folks don't jump out of bed early at the Fort. It is very laid back in the morning.

The Settlement area is usually pretty deserted before 7:30 am. I am usually out and about by 6:30.

Andrew, these are some of the greatest shots you've taken in a while. I particularly like the ones down by Bay Lake, where you shot the beach and the moss hanging from the trees. Great stuff.

It's refreshing to see the foliage so full. As I don't go to FW in the summertime, I wasn't aware how green everything gets. It doesn't look nearly as bare as it does in the Fall & Winter.

I took the liberty of turning one of your shots into a panoramic:

I really like this shot.

Thanks, Norm.

I like that shot, too.

And, you should consider a Summer visit.

Yes it is hot.

But not unbearably hot.

And the Fort does look great with everything green and in bloom.

C'mon Andrew, you must be back home by now. :popo:

:popcorn:

Yes, I'm back.

Please remain seated.

This trip report will be resuming momentarily.

TCD

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

:suspense:

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Crud.

I just wrote an update, and went to post it, and it disappeared.

I was just talking to TnBob about this at the Fort.

The same thing happened to him recently.

I told him that it had never happened to me.

I should have kept my mouth shut.

Oh well.

Let's try this again.

We left off with me enjoying the view from this picnic table across from the Bike Barn:

We are under a big live oak, and it is shady and breezy, and just a delightful place to be. Even though it is already a hot morning, it is nice and cool here in the shade. There is resurrection fern growing here on this tree:

I love the view from this spot. . .

The Bike Barn is directly across the lake:

This is the view to the right:

and to the left (notice how low the water level is):

The water level in the Fort's waterways was quite low on this trip. And the lake water looked brown. That pumping and lack of rain has really dried things out quite a bit.

Did you notice the Jesus Jet is still up there doing the skywriting thing in that last photo? Here's another look:

The pilot/skywriter was a bit slow this morning. That, coupled with the wind, was causing the beginning of the messages to be erased before they were complete.

I have seen this skywriting before around WDW.

I have never heard who is behind it, or whether anyone has followed up to see if it is an effective way to evangelize.

It seems like a lot of expense and effort goes into this, and my suspicion is that it probably bothers more people than it does anything else.

I turned my attention back to across the lake:

Do you see that there are two bobbers stuck up in the same place in this tree?:

I thought about awarding a TCD Real Man of Genius Award to the fisherman who lost two bobbers in the same tree. But, I wasn't sure if these were both from the same guy. It looked like it, but maybe not. And, it is also possible that it was a woman. Plus, it was still early in the trip, and you never know what I might come across. So, no TCDRMOGA to twin bobber guy. So close.

I waited around a while to see if the Jesus Jet would ever finish today's message:

Unfortunately, I had to leave before finding out what Jesus Loves.

This rocking chair on the side of the trading post sure looked inviting. But, it was time to move along:

Here's a shot of the front sign on the trading post:

The water fountain was all put back together by now:

There are more rocking chairs here in the front of the trading post than there used to be. That is a good thing:

As I was leaving the trading post area, a dad walked up with his two kids. As they were about to enter the trading post, the little girl pulled on her dad's hand and said she wanted to show him something. She brought him back out in front of the trading post, and pointed up at the skywriting. She asked her dad what it was. So, I guess that was the answer to my questioning the efficacy of this form of evangelism. This dad had a discussion with his kids about Jesus. I didn't stick around to listen, but I guess that's the point of the skywriting.

From here, I hopped on my cart and headed out.

It turns out that I was right to withhold the TCDRMOG award, because I looped around the 1000 loop after leaving the Meadow Trading Post, and came across this pop-up camper:

Let's take a closer look at this:

I have seen a lot of portable air conditioner units, but nothing like this. This thing reminded me of the robot from Lost in Space. Awesome.

And, to top things off, for no apparent reason, these campers had this fantastic tiki god on display at the front of their site:

So, they get the TCDRMOGA. Congratulations!

Next, we are on the 1100 loop. I snapped a couple of shots of the set-up on 1101:

Why, you ask?

Because these folks have been on this site since before Thanksgiving.

And, I don't know a thing about them.

There are some long-time guests on the 700 loop and the 400 loop. I know about them.

But what about these campers?

Does anyone know them?

From here, I cut out the sidewalk by the 1100 loop comfort station, and went to check on the cabin pool:

If you recall, on Friday afternoon, it looked like they were doing the final touches, and maybe it would be opening today.

There was a castmember cleaning the pool, and the chairs have been put back out:

There was still some painting going on:

(extra points if you notice the crepe moytel blooming on the left of the photo)

It looks like there was still some painting to be done on the restrooms/laundry room building:

The construction fence and other items from the work were still piled up over on the cabin basketball court:

I spoke to the castmember and asked him when the pool would be opening. He said possibly that day or the next.

We will be back later to check.

For now, though, we will be moving on to the 2000 loop.

TCD

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

Next, we are on the 1100 loop. I snapped a couple of shots of the set-up on 1101:

Why, you ask?

Because these folks have been on this site since before Thanksgiving.

And, I don't know a thing about them.

There are some long-time guests on the 700 loop and the 400 loop. I know about them.

But what about these campers?

Does anyone know them?

I don't know anything about them but I did see them before Thanksgiving last year. I remember looking at their site a few times because they weren't there the whole trip. It had been a while since someone had cleaned off the motor home and site cause it was covered in pine needles and leaves, to the point that it was very noticeable. I thought that was strange that someone would pay for a site and not be there for a few days. I can't believe they are still there now!

WBI

[stefa70 205]

I waited around a while to see if the Jesus Jet would ever finish today's message:

Unfortunately, I had to leave before finding out what Jesus Loves.

TCD

I know, I know!! :jumpforjoy

Jesus loves ME........this I know, for the bible tells me so!

Sorry couldn't help myself! That song popped right into my head.

The disappearing post happened to me yesterday. See what happens when our techie goes away to the fort? :banghead:

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I don't know anything about them but I did see them before Thanksgiving last year. I remember looking at their site a few times because they weren't there the whole trip. It had been a while since someone had cleaned off the motor home and site cause it was covered in pine needles and leaves, to the point that it was very noticeable. I thought that was strange that someone would pay for a site and not be there for a few days. I can't believe they are still there now!

WBI

You made a good point there. I have been to the Fort multiple times over the past six months that these folks have been on this site, and I have yet to see anyone outside on this site. Note that they have a movie screen set up. I would imagine that they might occasionally use it.

Anyone got the 411 on these folks?

I know, I know!! :jumpforjoy

Jesus loves ME........this I know, for the bible tells me so!

Sorry couldn't help myself! That song popped right into my head.

The disappearing post happened to me yesterday. See what happens when our techie goes away to the fort? :banghead:

Jesus loves stefa70?

I don't remember reading that in the Bible.

TCD

[Discamper 394]

Crud.

I just wrote an update, and went to post it, and it disappeared.

I was just talking to TnBob about this at the Fort.

The same thing happened to him recently.

I told him that it had never happened to me.

I should have kept my mouth shut.

TCD

I miss this can you give me an update?

Are you going to be there for Halloween?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

The saga continues . . .

From the cabin pool, I headed over to the 2000 loop for a look-see.

I always enjoy looking at the tent camper set ups.

Some people keep it simple.

Some people go crazy.

And some folks are just ingenious.

Like these folks . . .

They took some EZ-up gazebos and blue tarps and made themselves what looks like a pretty nice set up. They must have had AC in there, as thing was shut up tight, and there are no windows:

It must have been pretty cave-like in there.

But, I'll bet they were nice and cool and dry.

On the way back from the 2000 loop, I had the pleasure of riding behind this hippie who was hitching a ride on a golf cart:

I guess this was OK, as I think the cart driver knew that the hippie was there. I think.

Here is a photo of one of the expanded sites on the 100 loop. Just a couple of sites got this treatment. They just re-did the front entries of some of the sites. The sand pads were not touched:

This is another site on the 100 loop. I took this photo to show that nothing was changed here:

Here we are back at the TCD site on 1500.

There's the TCD hammock:

I love the interior sites on the 1500 loop. There is plenty of wilderness here.

This is what was in back of my site, beyond the hammock:

I noticed something new on this trip.

This sign was screwed on to our picnic table:

And the same sign was screwed on to every other picnic table in the Fort.

Even the premium tables:

That's a lot of signs.

I wish I owned the company which sold them to the Fort.

Of all the things to worry about, they had to put a sign on every picnic table?

And, do you really think this is going to stop anyone from feeding a squirrel or duck?

Back at the site, I got the TCD girls up and we had some breakfast.

Then it was time for more looping.

I liked this set-up on the 1400 loop (double Mickey lights!):

At another site on the 1400 loop, someone had written a paraphrase of Philippians 4:13. Tim Tebow used that verse a lot on his eye black. I thought maybe he was camping here for the weekend. What with the NFL strike and all, why not?::

But, we didn't see any signs of Timmy on this campsite.

Maybe we were wrong about that.

This tractor was set up on a site in the 300 loop. I don't know why:

This penny machine at Pioneer Hall is relatively new. It will smash a Fort themed penny for you. I thought some of you might be curious of the design selection, so I attempted to snap a photo. Because of the lighting, that didn't work. But, I got some cool reflections of Pioneer Hall:

One photo did come out clear enough to show the design. It's the fishing one:

This penny design makes me think of some old friends from another place: Frank and Denise. If y'all happen to be reading along- HI!

On our way out of here, I noticed a WL surrey heading up the path:

Those folks had pedaled that thing all the way over from the Lodge.

They didn't look like they were looking forward to the ride back.

I have never seen anyone make a Mickey display out of tires and Christmas lights, but I did on the 300 loop:

Here is something interesting that I saw on the 500 loop. This guy has a gas grill and what appears to be a gas smoker. But, what is that cylinder on the tripod? Does anyone know what that is? I'm stumped:

Here's a zoom as close as I can get on the thing:

My guess is a portable nuclear reactor.

But, I am no expert in such things.

Can someone tell me what it is?

From here, I brought the girls back to the site, and we chilled for a while. Then the girls went off for showers, and I got a text from one of my favorite Fiends.

Lou/Magicbus was heading to Trail's End for lunch.

I headed on down to Trail's End.

On the way there, I saw this little fellow:

Lou and Gail were just walking up as I arrived.

I sat and chatted with them for just a bit.

I witnessed a humorous exchange between Lou and a favorite Trail's End server regarding the Giddyap and Go chicken dinner. Lou asked his server if he could order a Giddyap and Go for lunch. The server, who was new, told Lou she didn't know what that was, but she would check. Next thing we know, the famous Ken is over at the table offering his assistance. Lou asks about the Giddyap and Go. Ken says he has never heard of it. We were astonished. This fellow has worked at Trail's End for years. He knew nothing about the take-out offerings. I guess it's not his job, but you would think he might have heard something about it along the way.

My visit with Lou and Gail was short and sweet. The girls and I planned on heading out someplace for lunch, so I had to head back to check on them.

Next up, we hop a boat.

And do some exploring around Wilderness Lodge.

TCD

[PoorGABoy 4]

[

Here's a zoom as close as I can get on the thing:

My guess is a portable nuclear reactor.

But, I am no expert in such things.

Can someone tell me what it is?

From here, I brought the girls back to the site, and we chilled for a while. Then the girls went off for showers, and I got a text from one of my favorite Fiends.

Lou/Magicbus was heading to Trail's End for lunch.

I headed on down to Trail's End.

Hello TCD.....love your reports- The red cylinder unit is a work light. You pull up on the clear top and it telescopes up to expose the lights. The light turn on automatically when fully extended and turn off when lowered back into tube.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Hello TCD.....love your reports- The red cylinder unit is a work light. You pull up on the clear top and it telescopes up to expose the lights. The light turn on automatically when fully extended and turn off when lowered back into tube.

That's a work light?

Really?

All that and it's just a work light?

Boring!

Thanks for clearing that up, though.

I would never have guessed that it was a work light.

Looks like it's kind of a fancy thing to bring camping.

TCD

[PoorGABoy 4]

That's a work light?

Really?

All that and it's just a work light?

Boring!

Thanks for clearing that up, though.

I would never have guessed that it was a work light.

Looks like it's kind of a fancy thing to bring camping.

TCD

Ok....let's try this-----Actually, it is a super secret self generating, plasma emitting, proton inducing, 1.21 gigawatt data collecting, RONCO new fangled, perpetual Fort Fiend detector/ dessert topping dispenser. Whew....glad to get that off my chest.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I am making up for my brief absence by posting another batch of 30 photos.

Right in this post.

And there are still more to come.

But, at least it's Saturday afternoon.

And this is just a two night trip.

So, we are going home tomorrow.

Which means that we are now past the half-way point.

And we can get this report wrapped-up.

As mentioned, we planned to leave the Fort a bit in the afternoon.

Although I love site 1512, it gets direct sunlight for a couple of hours in the afternoon.

And, that June sun is hot.

Too hot for the TCD pop-up's AC unit.

So, we turned off the AC and went on an adventure.

We hopped the resort boat at the marina.

And, we are on our way to Wilderness Lodge!:

It's not far:

Because of an oncoming boat, we drove very close to the shoe tree:

Our captain pulled to the port side, and let the oncoming boat pass us on the starboard side. I think he broke some navigation rules by doing that.

Here we are practically under the shoe tree. See if you can spot any shoes:

How about in these photos?:

Here's a zoom on that last photo:

I could practically smell those dirty sneakers!

We passed the tree quickly. i took this photo as we passed. Make note of that striped pole, we will be looking at it again. And, take a look up toward the right branches in this photo- there's a second pair of shoes up there:

Can't see the second set?

How about now?:

As soon as we passed the Shoe Tree, we came upon the remains of River Country. I felt obligated to take a few shots as we passed:

And, in what seemed like just minutes (because that was all it took), we were docking at the Lodge:

I hoped to watch the geyser erupt. I think it was time, and there were people gathered to watch, but it kind of just fizzled. I hadn't seen that happen before:

I love Wilderness Lodge.

We ate lunch at the quick serve restaurant. This is a nice little quick serve location.

Then we looked around the hotel for a bit.

Here's the lobby:

I went up to the second floor via the stairs by the Whispering Canyon restaurant. There is a huge public observation deck here. Here we are looking from the deck over toward the WL bus stop area. The area in the background of this photo is Fort Wilderness:

Here's another shot from the deck:

I thought that there used to be rocking chairs out here. But, they had this area closed off earlier in the year, and it looks like they did some work on the deck surface. This also serves as the roof for the area below, and maybe the chairs were causing damage. So, for now, there are just a few benches up here:

On each floor leading up to the 7th floor, there are public seating areas available. There are seldom people using these. This would be a great place to sit and enjoy a book on a bad weather day:

Here's a look down at the lobby from here:

The 7th floor of the main building is the Club Level (concierge). This is accessible only by room key. Unless someone leaves the gate on the stairs open.

Here's a look at the 7th floor:

Here's the lobby from up here. Notice the fireplace. There is a sign down there on the floor level explaining how the layers of the rock used on this fireplace are based on the layers of the Grand Canyon. That's pretty impressive attention to detail on Disney's part:

Here we are looking across and down. That totem pole is also impressive. You can see the tables of Whispering Canyon down there on the ground floor:

As i walked around the top floor, I came to the Old Faithful Lounge, which is where they keep all the complimentary snacks for the Club Level guests. It looks like they put out a pretty nice spread here. We have not stayed Club Level here before, but we have at the Contemporary and Animal Kingdom Lodge. While there is a big bump in price to stay on the Club Level, one thing to consider is that you could eat breakfast and lunch here, and save the cost of those meals. Also, in the afternoons, at least at AKL, they break out complimentary beer and wine, and what I would call heavy hors d'oeuvres. You could maybe even eat that for your evening meal.

Here's a look at the WL pool from the 7th floor:

And, in these photos, we are looking past the pool, toward Fort Wilderness:

Let me point out something cool that you may have missed in those last two photos.

If you look off towards the back of each photo, you can see a tree standing by itself out in Bay Lake.

That's the Shoe Tree!

I realized something here that I had not realized before. Most of you have heard the rumors about a possible new DVC resort being built in the area of where River Country was located. That entire resort will be visible from the Lodge. In fact, the Lodge seems to be oriented toward that part of Bay Lake. To me, anything built there will diminish the wilderness feel of Wilderness Lodge. I guess that almost requires whatever gets built there to have a wilderness theme. This new construction will not just impact Fort Wilderness- it will also impact the Lodge.

On the other side of the 7th floor, there are more seating areas, and flat screen TV's:

The Old Faithful Lounge, for Club Level guests only, is across the atrium from here:

I took the stairs down from the other side.

From the 4th floor, I admired some of the carvings of the Lobby support poles:

And, that concludes our tour of Wilderness Lodge.

Next up, we catch a boat back to the Fort.

Look for some photos of the Contemporary Resort and Discovery Island.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Ok....let's try this-----Actually, it is a super secret self generating, plasma emitting, proton inducing, 1.21 gigawatt data collecting, RONCO new fangled, perpetual Fort Fiend detector/ dessert topping dispenser. Whew....glad to get that off my chest.

Well, now.

That's more like it!

Good job on that!

I notice that you're new here.

Are you new to Fort Wilderness discussion boards, or were you a member on another one before joining here?

Either way, welcome. and thanks for joining in!

TCD

[stefa70 205]

Jesus loves stefa70?

I don't remember reading that in the Bible.

TCD

Boy you are slow on the uptake today! I was singing! Please don't tell me that you don't know that song. Here, maybe this will help:

Jesus loves me, This I know,

For the Bible tells me so;

Little ones to Him belong,

They are weak but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me!

Yes, Jesus loves me!

Yes, Jesus loves me!

The Bible tells me so.

There's much more, but hopefully that snippet will ring a bell!