TCD's College Road Trip (via the Fort)

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Moving on with this report . . .

We were finished with our tour at UCF at a little after 4.

From there, we headed back to All Star Music.

We chilled in the room for a bit, and planned our evening.

The MK was closing at 9, which seemed early to me for a Friday night, but Epcot had EMH from 9 to midnight.

So, we decided that we would pop over to the MK and use our Space Mountain Fastpasses, and maybe ride some other rides, and then hop over to Epcot by monorail to finish our evening. The tentative plan was to eat at dinner at Epcot, at either the new Italian restaurant or the new Japan quick serve.

We headed out and walked all the way to our bus stop.

As I mentioned above, we were in the part of the resort furthest from the lobby and bus stops. But, the walk through the resort was very pleasant.

Here are the girls outside of our building, beneath the giant boots:

Did you notice the Hidden Mickeys on the boots?

How about now:

I am glad that Lou does not read trip reports. Because if he did, I am sure he would come along and post a comment telling me that technically, the designs on the boots are not Hidden Mickeys, but deliberate Mickeys, or intentional Mickeys, or whatever he calls them when he gets technical. But, I am calling them Hidden Mickeys.

This photo was taken from just outside the main lobby building, looking toward the feature pool. Remember how it had rained early in the morning, and how cloudy it was at the MK this morning? Well, that front had finally passed, and it was turning into a beautiful evening:

I had been carrying ponchos with us all day (which meant I was wearing my backpack on our UCF tour-which the girls said was embarrassing), but we never had to break them out. It rained a bit on our way to and from UCF, but the rain went away when we were outside, and now it was gone for good.

That scene by the pool was so pretty that I took a second photo, this one to include the beautiful flowers that were blooming on the hedge in front of me:

Be sure you don't miss the palm trees and the people actually swimming in the pool. On January 27th.

I love Florida!

One thing that the All Stars have that the Fort does not is a real bar by the pool. Here it is:

And here is the drink menu:

Those drinks all are tempting. Until I thought about the prices. Note that those prices do not include tax and tip. And tax in these parts is 12.5%. And you should always tip your bartender. Those are some expensive drinks!

If the Fort had a real bar by the pool, I know that I would leave a lot of my money there. So, I guess I should be thankful that we don't have a real bar at the Fort pool. Still, I think it would be fun to have one of those deluxe drinks to sip on once in a while.

From here, we went to the bus stop out front. A bus was along shortly. So far, we had not had any transportation issues. We made it to the MK quickly.

We had 6 Space Mountain Fastpasses to use. So that's where we headed first. But first, we rode the People Mover. Why? I don't know. But for some reason we always do.

Then it was on to Space Mountain:

Yes, that hidden camera caught us off guard again!

When we finished the first ride, I suggested that we go ahead and ride again.

But the girls had spotted some Star Wars gear in the gift shop over by Stitch when we rode past it on the People Mover. They wanted to go and look at the Star Wars gear. So that's what we did. They didn't see anything they liked.

I suggested that since we were here, and had Fastpasses, we go ahead and ride Space Mountain again.

But instead, we discussed dinner. It was a bit past 7, and we were all getting hungry. The plan called for us to take the resort monorail to the Epcot monorail and then walk back to the World Showcase to either Italy or Japan. That sounded like quite an ordeal. I suggested that we ought to eat someplace in the MK. But, we have really been wanting to try one of the new restaurants in Epcot.

Then Twin #2 came up with a genius idea.

She suggested that instead of doing the monorail thing, we hop a bus to the Yacht and Beach Club and enter Epcot through the International Gateway.

That was brilliant.

And it was quite a turning point for the TCD gang. Up until now, I had always been the designated transportation genius. But, Twin #2 had come up with a really good idea that I had not thought of. Her idea would get us to Epcot and to one of the World Showcase restaurants than my plan.

So, instead of riding Space Mountain again, we bolted.

Sure enough, a Yacht and Beach Club bus was waiting for us! I am not up on my Epcot Resort buses, and I thought that maybe the Yacht and Beach Club bus would also be stopping at the Boardwalk. But it didn't. It headed right to the Yacht and Beach Club. We got off at the Beach Club stop, and walked through the lobby to the path out back.

The Yacht and Beach Club, like every other WDW hotel, now offers their guests an outdoor movie and campfire.

Here is their sign:

It was Friday night, so that meant the movie was Meet the Robinsons.

I saw that movie once.

It wasn't bad.

But, guess how many folks showed up on this very pleasant evening to enjoy the show?

This many:

Fail.

We saw the boat leaving the Yacht and Beach club dock on its way to the International Gateway so we walked briskly there.

We beat the small crowd getting off the boat, and walked right on in.

We took a right, and came to Japan first.

We decided then that Japan it would be.

The quick serve restaurant in Japan was changed in late 2011.

It used to be called Yakitori House.

We liked it when it was Yakitori House. We almost always got the chicken on a skewer. It was served with rice, and it was a nice little meal.

Now the restaurant is called Katsura Grill.

The menu has been expanded by quite a bit.

I am not sure if they had sushi on the menu when it was Yakitori House, but they do now.

We got a California roll and a spicy tuna roll. And also an order of something called Udon Noodles with Beef. They had something on the menu called Tsukemen Salad. There was a photo of it up on the menu board, but no description of it. There was a combo meal offered that included a sushi roll and the Tsukemen salad. We ordered one of those.

Well, I am happy to report that the food in the Katsura Grill is excellent! I was a little disappointed to find that the sushi was pre-packaged. I would be willing to bet that it is identical to what you can buy at the Polynesian quick serve restaurant. It looked the same to me. But, it is good, fresh, sushi. So no complaints. The Tsukemen salad was excellent. It has shredded lettuce, cold ramen noodles, and crab meat. That may sound gross to you, but it was great! We will definitely be eating here again.

By the time we were finished eating, it was getting near 9 pm. That meant Illuminations was coming. It also meant that we had a window of opportunity to jump on Soarin' with no line. That is a little secret we discovered years ago. If you hit Soarin' during Illuninations- it is usually a walk-on.

So, we headed to Soarin'. We missed Illuminations, but we got to ride Soarin' with no wait. As we exited, Illuminations had just ended, and the posted wait time was already 60 minutes!

We like to get ice cream at the ice cream shop by the fountain at Epcot, but it was closed when we stopped by. It must have closed at 9, even though the park was going to open until midnight.

So, from here, we headed over to Spaceship Earth. There was no line, and we haven't been on this in a while, so we hopped on.

Since we are a party of three, the twins got to ride together, but I was by myself. For fun, I pushed the button saying I wanted my instructions on the interactive screen to be in German. I didn't know that also meant that all of the narration in the ride would be in German. Well, now I do.

At the end, all of my instruction about choosing what kind of future I would enjoy were in German, so I had to push the buttons randomly.

Then my future was revealed:

I was pleased to learn that in the future, my big fat head will be attached to a very thin body, and I will wear clothes that look like they were picked out by Austin Powers:

I also apparently will be adopting some modern mannerisms including putting my hand sassily on my hip:

It looks like I am going to have to aks Bob to teach me how to do a Z snap.

I was excited to see that I will be taking up surfing in the future:

Boy, that all sounds great!

Here we are on the big map at the end of the ride before our photos flew off to become little spots on the map:

Do you see how lit up Florida is?

That's why we always pick someplace else to say where we are from.

This time, I was from Berlin.

The girls were from Djibouti.

Which I had never heard of. Until recently. That is where my brother in the Navy is going to be stationed later this year. It's a really, really, small country in Africa. The girls had the only two spots on the map there. I guess nobody from Djibouti had visited Spaceship Earth today.

The girls have a stange fascination with Djibouti now. They love the fact that it is pronounced Ja-Booty. Not to be confused with Star Booty.

It was about ten thirty when we finished with Spaceship Earth.

And we hadn't solved our ice cream issue.

They have an ice cream shop at All Star Music, but it was going to close at midnight.

We figured we had better head there now.

So, that's what we did.

We ended up having a bit of an extended wait for our bus at the Epcot stop.

But even that wasn't too bad.

We made it back in plenty of time for our ice cream.

And, we decided to call it a night.

It had been a fun day.

We discussed getting up early for a rope drop somewhere.

But the girls chose to sleep in instead.

That was fine with me because I knew what I was going to do.

Get up early and head over to the Fort, of course.

And that is exactly what I did.

I'll have plenty of early morning Fort photos coming up in the next update.

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

1. I think we were in that section of All Star Music as well but the pictures are on the old computer.

2. I will remember to choose another place to be from on Space Ship Earth.. we've yet to ride it.

3. I really need to know where that camera is on space mountain (since my kids won't ride) i should be able to post the picture here.

4. If I am ever running from danger in WDW.. you are my first call. Twin #2 the second!

5. opps.. run out. THinking of changing from list to just regular comments...

[DaveInTN 3,247]

For fun, I pushed the button saying I wanted my instructions on the interactive screen to be in German. I didn't know that also meant that all of the narration in the ride would be in German. Well, now I do.

That happened to me once by mistake. Did you have to listen to Fraulein Judi Dench?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

1. I think we were in that section of All Star Music as well but the pictures are on the old computer.

2. I will remember to choose another place to be from on Space Ship Earth.. we've yet to ride it.

3. I really need to know where that camera is on space mountain (since my kids won't ride) i should be able to post the picture here.

4. If I am ever running from danger in WDW.. you are my first call. Twin #2 the second!

5. opps.. run out. THinking of changing from list to just regular comments...

1. I know that we have previously stayed in the Calypso and Broadway sections. I think this was our first time in the Country Fair section. But I liked it fine.

2. You should do that. After your photo is flashed on the screen, you turn into a point of light, and then fly to your spot on the map. If you pick someplace remote, you have your spot all to yourself.

3. I can't help you with where the camera is- I have no idea- it always catches me in a completely candid moment.

4. I would say skip me and call one of the twins- they are quite the masters at WDW transportation.

5. List. No list. Whatever works!

That happened to me once by mistake. Did you have to listen to Fraulein Judi Dench?

I guess I did. I thought the voice of the narrator sounded like her. But it also sounded like that person knew how to sprech some Deutsch for real, so I wasn't sure if it was her or just a German with a similar sounding voice.

TCD

[shoreline99 137]

Great Trip Report! Loved the campus photos as well.

I'd love to get a couple of those new FW mugs on the next trip. i hope they stil have them! I'm glad to see some FW merchandise making it back to the shops.

More Please!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

You know what this report needs?

Some photos from the Fort!

How about 30?

I have them right here.

So, I'll get them posted, and you can enjoy them.

Then, this will be a good old TCD trip report.

We finished with Friday night in our last post.

We got to bed around midnight.

It is nice and quiet back in the section of All Star Music where we were, and I slept like a rock.

I got up at 6 and got a quick shower and headed out the door.

I was going to get to the Fort for my favorite time of day.

Sunrise.

It had cooled off quite a bit over night.

The thermometer in my car said it was 48 degrees when I got to the Fort.

I used a Jedi mind trick on the security guard at the gate. It was easy since he was barely awake. He waved me right on through and told me to have a good day.

It was still very dark when I arrived at the Fort.

The last time I was here was over New Year's Eve weekend, and it was packed.

The parking lot was practically empty.

I parked and headed over to check out the Internet Cafe. It had been closed on my last two visits. A sign was posted saying it was being renovated, but I thought maybe it was being turned into a store room.

There were new signs posted on the doors:

I posted a close up photo of one of the signs in the first post of this report.

The signs were announcing that free wi-fi is now available at the Fort.

But what about the Internet Cafe?

The doors weren't locked.

So, I took a peek.

And saw this:

It looks like the room has been prepared for painting.

But that is all that it looks like they got done in the two months they had this closed.

Weird.

I had seen more than I cared to here, so I hopped on a bus to the Meadow Trading Post.

This time of morning, there is always a bus waiting at the Outpost bus stop. When passgers show up, they take off. Not very efficient, but it works for me.

My plan was to walk from the Meadow Trading Post, over the footbridge on the 600 loop, through the 1400 loop, down the 300 loop to the canal, and then walk the path there to the Settlement. And that is what I did. It is a nice walk, and it was great to walk in that cool morning air.

Here we are just as the sky began to lighten at the end of the footbridge from the 600 loop. We are looking across the lake to the Meadow Trading Post. You can see tht the lights are still on, and it is foggy this morning:

Now we are at the entrance to the 1400 loop, looking up the road toward the 1500 loop:

From here, I headed toward the 300 loop.

I snapped this shot as I approached the bridge over the canal. The leaves on this small cypress tree have turned and are dropping. You can see the canal in the background of this shot, and the 500 loop past that:

On the other side of the road is the large swampy area. You can see that a lot of the plant life here is turning brown because of the cool nights we have had in Florida this time of year:

Did you see the deer in that photo?

She is just to the right of the center of the photo.

Here are a couple more shots of the deer (she is just right of the center in the first photo, and you can see her pretty clearly in the second) :

It wasn't quite 7 am, but there were already some dogs enjoying the dog park this morning:

I passed the dog park, and then walked around the front of the 300 loop. I ducked out the back by the canal.

Here is the canal and a bit of fog:

As I walked over the bridge back here, I took this shot of the dam. You can see how low the water in the canal is by looking at the watermarks on the canal wall:

Now we are near one of my favorite spots at the Fort. I also like this lone cypress tree that sits here, draped in Spanish moss:

My view from my spot is obscured by fog this morning. I don't care, I still like this spot even in the fog:

This is the view from that same spot, but looking to the right:

I tried one more shot looking toward the Magic Kingdom:

From here, I walked along Bay Lake toward the marina.

That's the marina in the far back of these photos:

This would be the perfect place to put some waterfront campsites. If that ever happens, I am moving to the Fort.

Here we are near the marina. You can see the sun is aleady burning off some of the fog, and hitting the top of Bay Lake Tower there behind Discovery Island:

While I was here, I checked out the area where the new dining pavilion is supposed to go.

If it gets built, it is supposed to go right in this area behind the speaker:

I looked carefully around the area. There are no signs of anything happening. All that I saw was trees:

There was not even one golf cart parked in the golf cart parking area:

Over here, beyond this fence, is the area that is going to be expanded to become more golf cart parking. I am sorry to say that some, or maybe even all, of these trees will be taken out when that happens:

Here we are turned and looking toward Pioneer Hall. As you can see, there are no golf carts here at all:

Since I was walking right past it anyway, I decided to take a couple of shots of the poor old lawnmower tree. Who knows how long it will be here?

Here's the tree, or what is left of it, anyway:

And here's the lawnmower, or what is left of it, anyway:

Trail's End doesn't open until 7:30 am, and it was not quite 7:30 when I took this photo. I just love being here when there are no other people around. This little fenced in area looks kind of bare to me with the trees having dropped their leaves and the Christmas tree being gone:

All of the rocking chairs over there on the porch are empty and waiting for some guests to come along and sit a spell:

I had a few minutes to kill before heading over to Trail's End.

So I decided to pop over to the 100 loop to check on Fiesty.

I am at my photo limit for this post, so I will pick up our story from here in the next post.

TCD

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

I haven't read the whole TR yet, Andrew but I am going to go get Stef and we will check out the loops and sites closest to the wi-fi hotspots and see what we can find out.

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Ok. mission accomplished. We went to the 100 loop first. Nothing, nada, zip. We then went to the Meadow trading post to be sure I was using my phone correctly. There is a very strong signal on the porch and right to the road. From there we went to the 600 loop. Nothing until we hit site 608, but if I even jiggled my phone in my hand I lost the signal. We got a slightly better signal at 610 and 612. I think it might be better at the back of those sites. After that nothing.We did another quick run through the 100 loop just to be sure, still nothing. I think I'll just keep my mifi it works wherever I am.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

look at that a special mission update right in the middle of your TR. goooooooo Team StefaDoodle or DoodleStefa or Stefoodle or Doost... Ok, I'll stop now!

[stefa70 205]

Yes, we did a mission! Mission fail, no wifi at sites. I think Disney knows exactly what they're doing...if you must be on the porch of the trading post, you might as well go in and buy something. Genius plan!

Andrew, great post. I love all of your future aspirations, but surfing may be dangerous at your age and there are sharks in those waters! I do love the hand on the hip pose, it suits you well.

I love your fort pics as always...that's where you belong!

[ftwildernessguy 778]

Huzzah! Another TCD TR!

I haven't heard anybody say huzzah since the big war. You know, the Revolutionary one.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Ok. mission accomplished. We went to the 100 loop first. Nothing, nada, zip. We then went to the Meadow trading post to be sure I was using my phone correctly. There is a very strong signal on the porch and right to the road. From there we went to the 600 loop. Nothing until we hit site 608, but if I even jiggled my phone in my hand I lost the signal. We got a slightly better signal at 610 and 612. I think it might be better at the back of those sites. After that nothing.We did another quick run through the 100 loop just to be sure, still nothing. I think I'll just keep my mifi it works wherever I am.

Good job, Cherie!

Thanks for checking.

Now I don't have to.

It is kind of what I expected.

It's nice that the wifi is available, but the folks who really need an internet connection are going to have to still do the cable modem thing, or arrange for it on their own.

look at that a special mission update right in the middle of your TR. goooooooo Team StefaDoodle or DoodleStefa or Stefoodle or Doost... Ok, I'll stop now!

I like StefaDoodle.

Yes, we did a mission! Mission fail, no wifi at sites. I think Disney knows exactly what they're doing...if you must be on the porch of the trading post, you might as well go in and buy something. Genius plan!

Andrew, great post. I love all of your future aspirations, but surfing may be dangerous at your age and there are sharks in those waters! I do love the hand on the hip pose, it suits you well.

I love your fort pics as always...that's where you belong!

Thanks.

You are missing the point about the future- I don't have to worry about getting hurt, because they are going to lop off my head and put it on a new body. So, if I hurt my new body I guess I just get a new one. I think this is the work of all the Disney scientists who have been trying to figure out what to do with Walt's frozen head.

So, in the future, I will have an old man's head and a young man's body.

I wish they could do something about the old man head.

It is going to be creepy when they unfreeze Walt's head and we see him walking around with one of those skinny young bodies.

But, maybe if he comes around, he will make them give us campers the free dining plan and some of the other stuff we get hosed out of.

So, I say bring on the future!

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I haven't heard anybody say huzzah since the big war. You know, the Revolutionary one.

You know, that is a very good point.

And IDWD is a young man.

I wonder if he is one of those people from the future with the old head on the young body?

And, I should have mentioned that this old head on the new body thing is good news for Melvin the Moose. He won't have to rely on Dave to carry him around anymore.

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

this old head on the new body thing is good news for Melvin the Moose. He won't have to rely on Dave to carry him around anymore.

:rofl2:

[michele j 9]

Love the report :heartsmiley:

[Lou... 3,118]

Did you notice the Hidden Mickeys on the boots?

I am glad that Lou does not read trip reports. Because if he did, I am sure he would come along and post a comment telling me that technically, the designs on the boots are not Hidden Mickeys, but deliberate Mickeys, or intentional Mickeys, or whatever he calls them when he gets technical. But, I am calling them Hidden Mickeys.

I guess if you called every single Mickey head you see on something a Hidden Mickey, you'd eventually get one right. Well, you finally reached that point. That is a Hidden Mickey on the boot.

Yes, we did a mission! Mission fail, no wifi at sites.

If you read threads other than the ones you're mentioned in Stef, you would have read that wifi at the sites is in the works.

Patience, it's coming, it's coming.

As Disney did with the resorts that already have it, they will announce it when it happens.

[wdwbound 0]

Great job on this trip report as always, we go weekly for a quick pop in to give Hilda her mail as we are renting her Mount Olive Shores Lot and have an excuse to pop over to the Fort. We leave in April and will look forward to future TRs, but in the meantime, keep trucking....

Nancy

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

OMG!! I use "LOL" alot, but your post about doing Spaceship Earth in German and putting your hand "sassily" on your hip made me really laugh out loud!! Great report!!

[Grumpy and Grandma 739]

Yes, we did a mission! Mission fail, no wifi at sites.

All the CM's we've talked to have said it is a work in progress and will eventually be at all the sites and cabins.

[Lou... 3,118]

All the CM's we've talked to have said it is a work in progress and will eventually be at all the sites and cabins.

Don't believe anything a CM tells you, they're clueless.

[shoreline99 137]

Love the Avatar, Lou.

[Lou... 3,118]

Love the Avatar, Lou.

You do?

Hmm, Tri-State area, where's that?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Love the report :heartsmiley:

Thanks for reading along!

I guess if you called every single Mickey head you see on something a Hidden Mickey, you'd eventually get one right. Well, you finally reached that point. That is a Hidden Mickey on the boot.

Are you kidding me right now?

Under your definition, how is that not a deliberate Mickey?

Someone intentionally incorporated that Mickey head shape into the design of the boot. So that was deliberate.

Just like all the rest of the HIdden Mickeys.

Great job on this trip report as always, we go weekly for a quick pop in to give Hilda her mail as we are renting her Mount Olive Shores Lot and have an excuse to pop over to the Fort. We leave in April and will look forward to future TRs, but in the meantime, keep trucking....

Nancy

Hey Nancy- Any friend of Hilda's is a friend of mine! The next time you see her, tell her TCD says hello.

OMG!! I use "LOL" alot, but your post about doing Spaceship Earth in German and putting your hand "sassily" on your hip made me really laugh out loud!! Great report!!

Well, we have now established that you are easily amused.

Either that, or you must have been drinking before you read that post.

All the CM's we've talked to have said it is a work in progress and will eventually be at all the sites and cabins.

Thanks for the info Dave.

This still surprises me. I never thought that they would cave in and give campers free wifi. Making it available throughout the whole campground is a big undertaking. I guess the plan is that we will all pay for it with higher rates.

Don't believe anything a CM tells you, they're clueless.

Nice one, Lou!

Love the Avatar, Lou.

You do?

Hmm, Tri-State area, where's that?

Hey, would you chowds please take your love fest elsewhere?

I'm trying to write a trip report here.

TCD

[shoreline99 137]

{threadjack}

You do?

Hmm, Tri-State area, where's that?

I live in CT, about a half hour from NYC. I had season tickets for the Pats for years, until munchkin #3 arrived. Hard to give up 8-10 sundays a fall after that point.

Make way for Gronklings!

[/threadjack]

Sorry, Andrew.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

{threadjack}

I live in CT, about a half hour from NYC. I had season tickets for the Pats for years, until munchkin #3 arrived. Hard to give up 8-10 sundays a fall after that point.

Make way for Gronklings!

[/threadjack]

Sorry, Andrew.

Oy!

Thread-jack is right.

Darned chowds.

You can't help yourselves.

Actually, since there are a few Gators on your team, I secretly am pulling for the Pat's on Sunday.

But I'm not going to admit that.

TCD