Monique's Mo'Fun, Mo'Money, Mo'Fiend, Mo'Punch, Mo'Doggy, Mo'Dole Whip Trip Report!

[SCTigerCock 171]

No, no. It is definitley

Then what exactly do I do with ....HIJACK?

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

[SCTigerCock 171]

:rofl2: :rofl2: :rofl2:

Not a chance!

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Admit I am wearing you down :rofl2:

[SCTigerCock 171]

Admit I am wearing you down :rofl2:

NEVA!!!!!

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

[SCTigerCock 171]

Update!

Update!

Update!

[stefa70 205]

Admit I am wearing you down :rofl2:

Have you been in the punch?

[SCTigerCock 171]

Have you been in the punch?

Are you worried she found another "supplier"?

:rofl2:

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

I think I'm having flashbacks. :rofl2:

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Hey you lunatics... don't make me pull this TR over and come back there!! :popo:

Ok, so this will be a quickie but anything to keep the natives from getting too restless...

So at 10:30ish a.m. on a bright, sunny, Saturday morning, we see this beautiful site ahead of us.

And better still... we see THIS!

Yep - not a single person in check-in, not one!!

I'm pretty sure I did this in my seat...

:banana:

Now I've heard a lot of people weighing in on whether or not online check-in is worth doing.

Honestly? I have no idea.

I know that we did it last year for the first time and check-in took about 5 minutes.

So I did it again this year a week before we arrived.

I've also heard a lot of people saying that not only is it pointless to send in a site request but that the CMs at the Fort just throw them out and that they've never gotten a site they've requested. I read a post by a long-time CM somewhere else within the last couple of months "confirming" that site requests are no longer taken at the Fort and will be ignored.

Now I can't account for all the variables that may play into this equation (what is requested - i.e., is it even feasible, time of year, day of the week, time of day...) and I certainly don't know nuthin' about nuthin' when it comes to how sites are assigned at the Fort. Let's face it, the only CM I know is a bus driver, and we all know how reliable THEY are! :rofl2:

But what I can tell you is this.

Last year we faxed a site request in a week before and did online check-in. Our check-in took all of 5 minutes as I mentioned, and we got one of our top 3 requested sites.

This year we faxed a site request in a week before and did online check-in. Our check-in took all of 5 minutes, we got our #1 pick for sites AND our site was ready by 11am!

In fact in the "fax in a site request" department, we are 5 for 5 in the last 5 years. Now mind you, we always include a short list of sites we'd like, but we've always gotten one of our top 3 picks.

Does it have anything to do with us checking in during relatively slow times of year?

Maybe.

Does it have anything to do with us being in 300 all of these years?

Who knows.??

I just know that next year we'll be doing online check-in and faxing in a site request 5 days before we arrive.

One thing WAS different at check-in this year.

In addition to our check-in packet being all ready to go, the CM at check-in told us we were in site 335... but that it wasn't quite ready yet.

What?!?!

We've been told very clearly in the past that CMs are not allowed to give you your site number if the site isn't ready yet. They've hinted that it was one we'd asked for, but wouldn't actually tell us for sure.

The CM must have seen the shocked (and pleased) looks on our faces and realized this and kind of did an "oops"

We thanked him VERY much for letting us know and promised not to tell (wink wink, nudge nudge). He thought it was hilarious that we'd included a whole list of backup sites in our request.

Oh almost forgot...

While we were sitting there for our very brief check-in, I snapped this pic...

Notice anything unusual?

No?

Look to the right side of the photo.

See any golf carts there?

No idea why, but there was only ONE Disney rental cart parked in this area this day. Normally there was a whole line of them and even on the busy Halloween weekend there were probably still a dozen there.

Where did all the golf carts go?

Here's a closeup...

Now if I was as good as TCD I would have immediately embarked on a mission to find out. But since I was too giddy to finally be at the Fort, I didn't give it a second thought until I looked back at the photo later.

Here's one thing I DID notice as we headed to overflow to wait for a call that our site was ready.

It was packed. I mean JAM packed. Not full of campers and trailers but of CARS! In fact only the very last row by the road had any campers at all in it, and we had to kind of squeeze into the far corner to park.

In hindsight I wonder if the lack of golf carts and plethora of cars were linked or just a coincidence.

The world may never know.

But here's the good news...

We'd barely shut off the truck and called our moms to let us know we'd arrived safe and sound (I'll be doing this when I'm 80, I just know it) when we got the call that our site was ready - at 11am on a Saturday!

:jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy

Ooh - an aside that I forgot to mention.

My dogs apparently adore the Fort as much as we do. How do I know this?

Well first you have to know that Brady has been to the Fort 5 times before this year, Bz 4 and Lyn 2. That's it and always about a year apart.

As I mentioned before, none of them made a peep the entire 1300+ miles we'd traveled until....

Lyn popped up and started whining and carrying on excitedly about halfway through Orlando.

Brady popped up and started barking and whining excitedly when we went through the MK toll plaza and turned right towards the Fort.

They all went MENTAL when we pulled into check-in.

I'm not making this up.

My dogs are clearly furry Fiends!

Anywho... check-in packet in hand, we head towards good ol' site 335 - the same site we were in last year!

Site 335 is a pretty roomy site. We like 300 in general because of the proximity to the dog walk AND dog park (more on that later) and because we found some sites a few years ago along the outside back of the loop that are well spaced from your neighbors and backed up by bushes, so they feel pretty private. If you reread that statement you'll realize that all of those things have more to do with what works for the DOGS than us! :rofl2:

The 300 loop in general tends to be one of those "love it or hate it" loops.

Love it because of the location - close to Settlement/Marina (although that may be a bad thing when the new pavillion goes up).

Hate it because a lot of people have a really hard time getting big rigs into the sites on this loop - not because they're particularly small (some are, but not all) but because as an older loop, the roads are tightly curved and some of the sites are at weird angles. That plus the sites having more close, big trees than a lot of the premium or newer loops can make this one a challenge and we've seen many people try and fail on this loop. We've also seen some "pros" back in 40+ foot MH on the first try like it was nothing.

We have a 33' TT with a Fort Excursion. Last year we had the same TT (in length anyway) and a Lincoln Navigator. Needless to say we were a bit longer this year! Last year we had to position the TT precisely between the old utility stump and the new one, and far enough from the trees so that we could put out the big slide and the awning. We knew we could do that again this year, but would we be able to still fit in a bigger truck AND a golf cart?

The answer is.....

sort of

Ok so we're kinda barricaded in and it was a trick to park the truck, but luckily we barely used the truck!

Oh and for those of you that have heard that Fort management is cracking down on parking off the site pad, umm... yeah, not so much. We only broke the law as much as a couple of GC tires on the pine needles, but no one ever said anything and we saw PLENTY of examples of cars, golf carts, tents, etc. all over the place.

Here's a look at how much room we have at the back of the site - enough for a 9x12 mat for the dogs' x-pen and then some.

You'll also see the bushes that border the entire back area here. On the other side of them is the 300 canal/dog walk and we've seen deer come just strolling through here many times on their way to/from the canal.

The view to our neighbors on the right...

to the left/back...

That is actually the 200 loop there and there are about 50 yards of Cypress knees between us and them (give or take)

and directly beside us on the left...

A bit closer on this side but there's a decent hedge of bushes and because of how the sites are staggered on the curve of the road we really only saw the back of the TT of these neighbors.

This site is definitely a little tight width-wise, but with plenty of room out back it didn't really effect our hanging out space.

So now that we're all parked and leveled, just one more thing to do before we're officially settled...

THE BAR IS OPEN!!

Next up... our first Fiend encounter!

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

Lola goes nuts at the check in too! I would never make it in the 300 loop! Heck, I can barely back into the premiums in the 500!

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

We were the only ones checking in on October 27th, they told us our site wasn't ready too but before we even pulled away from check in I got the call. I'm really glad we didn't have to try and find a spot in over flow.

Great pictures, Mo. I may request this site when I am there in January!

Oh my dogs perk right up when we pull into the Fort too. :)

[stefa70 205]

Nice update Monique!

We've been very lucky with our site requests also. We've gotten 550 the last three visits, which is number 1 on my requests. Maybe "another board" has some misinformation about the request process?

I too must call my Mother when we get there safe and sound, and I'm only traveling about 80 miles! Gotta love Mama's. :heart:

Best picture so far.....the open bar!

[Lou... 3,118]

Let's face it, the only CM I know is a bus driver, and we all know how reliable THEY are!

Don't believe a word they say, they're clueless, really.

[SCTigerCock 171]

We are pro call our moms.

1. LOVED the way the last updated ended.

2. Are you trying to string this along to "attempt" to get on the top 5 viewed reports?

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

Y'all know it's funny how ingrained "calling our Mama" is, when my friend Chaille's Mama died she realized she didn't have anyone to call. She calls me now to let me know when they get somewhere safely! Ed and I still have to call our Mama too, of course it's seldom that we actually get away without her!

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Lola goes nuts at the check in too! I would never make it in the 300 loop! Heck, I can barely back into the premiums in the 500!

Well *I* could never do it. I'm only in charge of driving forward and getting the TT there. Brian handles all backing in duties like a pro.

But we had neighbors in 334 to our right at one point that completely wiped out a trash can across the street in an attempt to back in.

Great pictures, Mo. I may request this site when I am there in January!

We love it. We've also stayed in 334 (equally big) and 333 - all 3 good sites but 333 is a bit shorter. 337 to the left wouldn't be bad either - it's a huge site - except it backs up to the open area of cypress knees and 200, so not as private feeling.

Maybe "another board" has some misinformation about the request process?

You mean there are pompous know-it-alls out there spewing MISinformation?

Say it ain't so!!

:rofl2:

Don't believe a word they say, they're clueless, really.

So I've heard, but I heard it from a bus driver, so really.....

1. LOVED the way the last updated ended.

2. Are you trying to string this along to "attempt" to get on the top 5 viewed reports?

Hey, whatever it takes!!

Ed and I still have to call our Mama too, of course it's seldom that we actually get away without her!

LOL! Mom has always been a "call when you get there" woman - no matter where we were going.

One time I was on my way back to school in upstate NY and forgot (ok, I forgot a lot).

To my eternal embarrassment, my mom called the fraternities of 3 of my friends looking for me.

Oh she found me all right! :rofl3:

Another time my sister was backpacking around Europe for a month by herself. My mom had said to call every week, but couldn't last that long. She knew my sister was headed to Paris but my sister didn't know for sure where she'd be staying. My sister finally checked into a youth hostel and the person at the desk said, "oh, call your mother!"

:bugeyes:

Mom had snagged an international operator, and thanks to the fact that she speaks fluent French, called and left messages for my sister at every youth hostel in the city!

Gotta love her!

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

I love that your Mama called all over Paris! That is awesome! I know your sister wanted to call under a rock, like you did when she called the fraternities! :rofl2:

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Yeah, and when we were teens and started driving and mom said "if you do anything wrong I'll know about it" - we believed her!

That woman had a spy network to rival the Russians during the cold war!

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

Yeah, and when we were teens and started driving and mom said "if you do anything wrong I'll know about it" - we believed her!

That woman had a spy network to rival the Russians during the cold war!

Sara - is that you? (ask Rita about this one).

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

Sara - is that you? (ask Rita about this one).

One of my in-law's, Sara Catherine, had a network. She lives on the corner at our only redlight. If any vehicle went by with a siren, especially the ambulance, she was on top of it! I lived 15 miles from her and she had people all the way down the way to my house and beyond! She would start calling to ask if the ambulance had gone by or had it stopped near us! The same thing in every direction! If someone's Ohaaaanaaa was a little loud, she knew it!

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

One of my in-law's, Sara Catherine, had a network. She lives on the corner at our only redlight. If any vehicle went by with a siren, especially the ambulance, she was on top of it! I lived 15 miles from her and she had people all the way down the way to my house and beyond! She would start calling to ask if the ambulance had gone by or had it stopped near us! The same thing in every direction! If someone's Ohaaaanaaa was a little loud, she knew it!

That's just the tip of the Sara Network ...

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

LOVE the update!!! Your a lot more organized than I am, at least you took pictures at checkin and backin in!!! Once I got past the checkin lane, all thoughts of pictures leave me till I'm set up!!!