Tow Nater Celebrates At The Fort

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Hmmm, is that what that song says? I always that it was "wrapped up like a douche...." :rofl2:

makes as much sense as "revved up like a duece".

[stefa70 205]

I blame the punch!! We will have that drink on the beach yet, I promise!!

I'm gonna hold you to that, even if I have to bring out Nate's snatch strap and drag you out of that chair! :laugh:

Loved the sunset pics.

Thanks Gwen.

I call this one "Sunset on Stef"

That'll work!

Stef,

I have to say you and TCD do the best trip reports. You guys make me feel like I'm there along with ya everytime I read one. Keep up the great work. In one way or another, I can't wait til our kids get old enough so my wife and I can enjoy the beach like you guys :)

Thanks so much. Relaxing on the beach is one of our favorite things to do, and it's free. ;D

makes as much sense as "revved up like a duece".

I agree Dave.

Funny story about that song. A few years back, Trevor and I went to Vegas. We ended up stopping for a drink at Harrah's where they were having a little show. There was a group of 4 or 5 guys, wearing 70's clothes and wigs, singing popular songs from that time, with some jokes thrown in.

They started playing that song and when they got to that line, killed the music and let the crowd fill in the blanks. Of course the whole crowd sang my version of the lyrics. :hah:

[stacktester 78]

There is a place called Flippers Pizza at Old Town that has a badass calzone. In June of 07 we had a family get together at Old Town. I had just gotten my camper so we stayed at TP and some other family at OId Town Suites. We took out bikes and rode around Old Town and got cussed out because you're not supposed to have bikes near the place when cars are on display. No signs were posted so who knew?

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

I agree. The lyrics don't make any sense, but then whoever wrote it was probably on some serious shrooms or acid at the time. I remember listening to it as a kid on the radio station my parents listened to and saying the song didn't make sense, to which my parents probably said, "It's the crap that you and your brothers listen to that doesn't make sense!"

[stefa70 205]

Ok folks, our lounge time is over. We wanted to get outta there before the fireworks/EWP crowd started moving in.

We'll call these "Saturday evening around the Fort pics"

Po-Po's!

Let's go see what's happening by the Meadows area.

There's a guy (not Bob) on Bob's dock. The nerve of some people!!

For a Saturday night, on a holiday weekend, when the Fort is completely full, it was pretty darn quiet.

That is, until we arrived at the campfire!

You can see that the golf cart parking was full.

They had a line of carts all the way down the sidewalk behind the movie screen, and were actually forming a new row.

The campfire area looked like this.

NO, we did not stick around!

We strolled over to the pool. It's 8:30 pm, surely it has died down by now.....

Nope, not really.

As we headed back over the bridge towards the trading post, I remembered Nate saying "I miss being able to drive the cart over this bridge, now you can only bike!"

I believe I've told ya'll before that my biking abilities leave a lot to be desired. I can tell you that I avoid that bridge at all costs when bike riding! You build too much speed coming down and then must make a left and then quick right, around the store. (Nascar fans don't do well with right hand turns. )

While reminiscing about crashing riding down that hill, here comes a biker now....

Thankfully he didn't crash, but upon further investigation, I don't think I'm the only one who may have brushed that wall a time or two.

It's hard to see all of the tire marks in this picture, but trust me, there's a few! Like turn 4 at Talladega.

By this time, it's 9:00pm and Trevor decides he's hungry. We go back to site 550 and let Mason out, and Karla & family pull up.

Karla tells me they drove by and Aiden saw that my Micky lamp was on and said "My princess is home!" :heart: I love that kid!!

As I'm talking, I look back and Trevor has fired up the grill.

Hot dogs & brats, after all.

I then remembered that my wallet was locked in the golf cart glove box. While rummaging through, I found something else that I didn't know was in there.

Nice beer koozie...wonder who it belongs to? Maybe I'll put it on Ebay, or Craigs list. If it belongs to any of you, let me know and I'll get it back to you....at a price. :)

That is all for Saturday! My camera battery and my phone are near dead, so I plug everything in, we enjoy a piece of Nate's birthday cake and call it a night.

Coming up...Sunday at Animal Kingdom, but first...I catch free loaders in the act! :bugeyes:

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Great update again. I can't believe the mobs at the pool and campfire; having only been to the fort during off-season as an adult. I remember being there in April or May when I was a kid but don't recall how busy things were. I love twilight and night time at the Fort! Glad you didn't get a Fort Wilderness stripe turning the corner!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I think I would have left the campfire too. Probably took Chip and Dale ages to get around to everyone!

Then another visit from Aiden.... but you failed on this as there is no picture!! :gaah:

[Grumpy and Grandma 739]

Finally getting caught up on my reading. That was "GREAT" Stef. Glad you guys had such a "fiendishly fun" time.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great updates, Stef.

I loved the sunset over the lounge chairs photos!

I like how Trevor paid for the same beer that he already had back in the cooler at the site. The man knows what he likes.

We all need to enjoy the Settlement and Clementine's Beach while we can. If the rumors are true, and I am afraid that they are, things will be changing drastically in this area.

TCD

[stefa70 205]

There is a place called Flippers Pizza at Old Town that has a badass calzone.

We love Flippers, and always get a pizza from there when we stay at Tropical Palms.

No they don't like you riding your bikes in the streets at Old Town, especially on Friday & Saturday nights when the car shows are happening.

If you've seen me ride my bike, you would realize that this is a good rule.

We just lock them up to a tree or pole in the main parking lot.

Great update again. I can't believe the mobs at the pool and campfire; having only been to the fort during off-season as an adult.

Now, I bet you're glad that you visit in the off season. Crazy busy...but as you will see in my next update, I'd be willing to bet they were not all WDW guests!

Then another visit from Aiden.... but you failed on this as there is no picture!! :gaah:

Sorry Nicki, it was late and my Prince was getting ready to go to bed. Even a prince needs his beauty rest.

Finally getting caught up on my reading. That was "GREAT" Stef. Glad you guys had such a "fiendishly fun" time.

Thanks for reading along Dave. I love spending time with the kids.

We all need to enjoy the Settlement and Clementine's Beach while we can. If the rumors are true, and I am afraid that they are, things will be changing drastically in this area.

TCD

:argh: I know. Every time I sit there I wonder what the changes will bring. With all the things that have already been taken away, and probably more to come, the Fort's just not the same old Fort that I used to love so much.

Only time will tell I guess......

[stefa70 205]

Sunday is here, you know what that means? I have to go home tomorrow.

But as sad as I am, it's also Race Day, which always makes me happy.

The race wasn't on until the evening, so I cleaned up camp a bit, put a roast in the crock pot, and watched the weather. Beryl was headed to Florida and they were saying it was going to rev up late Sunday, early morning Monday.

I said a little prayer that it wouldn't be too bad and we wouldn't have to pack up camp in the pouring rain.

No storm is going to ruin my last full day at the Fort, let's go to Animal Kingdom!

I bribed Amanda out of bed with donuts.

We walked Mason while the kids got ready. You can see the 500 loop is completely full by now.

Just a guess, but maybe these people are here for Star Wars Weekend?

We hopped on the cart on the way to the Outpost.

The horse riders were gearing up for a trail ride.

Horse's ass...literally.

These guys must have had the morning off.

Since an Animal Kingdom bus didn't show up for a while, we posed for some pics.

And we're still waiting.

Lou, wait for me!! :clint:

I caught just a glimpse of this bus. I've never seen it before, wish I would have gotten the WHOLE bus.

Waiting, still.

There were quite a few people at the Outpost, as evidenced by the golf cart parking.

We had had very good luck with the bus service all week. Today was the first time that we waited 30 minutes or so for a bus. To add insult to injury....I spy, with my own eye, FREELOADERS!!!

Of course, I took pics.

Here they are coming out of the overflow lot. Please notice they have coolers, throw-away pans, charcoal, beach bags....

And around the bend.

Yep, the lady is looking right at me now and I'm giving her the stink eye, all while daring her (in my head) to say something. She did not.

Not to get ahead of myself, but I found this family, along with 30 other family members set up at one of the pavilions at the pool.

They really need to start using the wristbands at the pool to avoid this from happening! I would imagine one part of this family was actually staying at the Fort and used their key to get the others in. Even though I don't normally use the pool, it chaps my ass for the families paying top dollar to stay at the Fort, only to be elbow to elbow with visitors.

Finally the bus for AK shows, actually 2 of them showed at once.

Please open the doors bus driver!!

On the bus, finally!

It wasn't long before we arrived at Animal Kingdom. We did not stay long. Why, you ask?

There was only one reason we pushed through those crowds, stay tuned to see if our persistence paid off.

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

What a great guy Nate is! Kudos for being the knight in shining armor for that stranded family!!!

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Good for you for giving the "stink eye"!! That just burns my biscuits too.

OMG on the crowd at AK, I can't even imagine what was worth pushing through that sea of humanity but it must have been something good!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

wow those crowds are scary!

give more stink eye! freeloaders... phooey!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great job on the freeloaders photo.

So, the Fort management pays the stupid Rangers to ride around the Fort and bother paying customers who may break a minor rule like having a car tire off of the pavement on the site that they are paying for, but they can't have one of these Rangers stationed in the parking lot on Memorial Day weekend to turn away freeloaders?

I wonder how far those freeloaders would get with their charcoal and cooler at Bay Lake Towers or Animal Kingdom Lodge?

TCD

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Can't wait to see what was worth traversing the Sea of Humanity!

Probably not very far at all TCD.

[Lou... 3,118]

The bus you finally got on, 5078, is one of the very newest buses. In service for only a couple of weeks.

I'm guessing the reason the driver didn't open the door right away was because when they saw the crowd waiting to board, they couldn't see if there was a wheel chair or scooter buried in there somewhere, so the driver may have walked to the back door to get a better look.

And if there was, you'd be waiting even longer.

[stefa70 205]

What a great guy Nate is! Kudos for being the knight in shining armor for that stranded family!!!

Thanks Misty! He's a good boy....I trained him well.

OMG on the crowd at AK, I can't even imagine what was worth pushing through that sea of humanity but it must have been something good!

It was packed, and HOT!! I think we were in and out within 2 hours.

give more stink eye! freeloaders... phooey!

I'll give a stink eye every time I see that. It's bad enough that the Fort pool is entirely too small for the amount of sites/guests, but then to allow anyone and their brother to drive in for the day is just unfair!!

Great job on the freeloaders photo.

So, the Fort management pays the stupid Rangers to ride around the Fort and bother paying customers who may break a minor rule like having a car tire off of the pavement on the site that they are paying for, but they can't have one of these Rangers stationed in the parking lot on Memorial Day weekend to turn away freeloaders?

I wonder how far those freeloaders would get with their charcoal and cooler at Bay Lake Towers or Animal Kingdom Lodge?

TCD

We had a whole discussion at that point about getting into the fort on a holiday weekend. They did have NOT 1, but 2 rangers parked at the far gate into the overflow, but....

I told you Amanda's mom drove down Saturday afternoon. Nate & Amanda met her at the Hess station. Nate then used his KTTW card to drive in, Amanda gave her Mom her KTTW card for her to drive in. No problems, no questions asked.

*Before anyone has a conniption fit, we only did this because Nate was driving the three of them to Old Town in his truck (which has a parking pass) so we parked Gingers truck with Nate's pass until they came home and she left, and Nate put his pass back in his window*

My point being, it's easy to work around the rangers who sit in their cart at the gate.

The only way I see them controlling the pool situation is to use the wristbands that they tried last Memorial Day (and I don't think have been used since)

No wristband on...no sitty at the pool!!!

We also have a tiny run-in with a ranger later on, which proves 90% of them are useless.

*Not Mark from England though, he was a sweetheart! :)

Can't wait to see what was worth traversing the Sea of Humanity!

Welcome to Memorial Day weekend! Now you can see why we planned to stay out of the parks on Saturday & Sunday...but temptation got the best of us.

I'm guessing the reason the driver didn't open the door right away was because when they saw the crowd waiting to board, they couldn't see if there was a wheel chair or scooter buried in there somewhere, so the driver may have walked to the back door to get a better look.

And if there was, you'd be waiting even longer.

Well Lou, I hate to say this but....You are correct! He walked to the back of the bus and saw two scooters in the crowd, and that was part of the hold up.

Geez Mr know-it-all, you act like you work there or something!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

We had a whole discussion at that point about getting into the fort on a holiday weekend. They did have NOT 1, but 2 rangers parked at the far gate into the overflow, but....

I told you Amanda's mom drove down Saturday afternoon. Nate & Amanda met her at the Hess station. Nate then used his KTTW card to drive in, Amanda gave her Mom her KTTW card for her to drive in. No problems, no questions asked.

*Before anyone has a conniption fit, we only did this because Nate was driving the three of them to Old Town in his truck (which has a parking pass) so we parked Gingers truck with Nate's pass until they came home and she left, and Nate put his pass back in his window*

My point being, it's easy to work around the rangers who sit in their cart at the gate.

The only way I see them controlling the pool situation is to use the wristbands that they tried last Memorial Day (and I don't think have been used since)

No wristband on...no sitty at the pool!!!

We also have a tiny run-in with a ranger later on, which proves 90% of them are useless.

*Not Mark from England though, he was a sweetheart! :)

Sorry, I know you are a sucker for a pretty face, but Mark is just as useless as the rest of them.

I'm not sure if they tried using the wristbands last Memorial Day, but they did allegedly use them over the 4th of July. That was a total joke. They showed up at the pool for about a half an hour and asked to see KTTW cards. The freeloaders wandered off for a while. Thirty minutes later, the pool was wall to wall people again. A few had wristbands, but most didn't. I went to the pool every afternoon over our 4th of July stay. I brought my KTTW card because I was expecting to have to show it. And that was a pain, because my red, white and blue speedo doesn't have pockets. But, nobody ever asked to see my card. People were camped out at all the tables all day with their own food and drinks. About 25% of the people in the pool had wristbands, but the rest, including me, didn't. The Fort made zero money off the freeloaders, and paying customers couldn't get a chair at the pool. When they do something like this, it doesn't deter the freeloaders for a minute. They probably laugh it off, and make their plans for the next holiday.

You want to stop freeloaders? Make people lugging pool crap onto the bus at the Outpost show their KTTW cards. Use one of the idiot rangers for that. Then put one by the 1500 loop bus stop and make anyone walking over the bridge show their card. Put another one over by the 900 loop bus stop. Problem solved.

TCD

[SCTigerCock 171]

You want to stop freeloaders? Make people lugging pool crap onto the bus at the Outpost show their KTTW cards. Use one of the idiot rangers for that. Then put one by the 1500 loop bus stop and make anyone walking over the bridge show their card. Put another one over by the 900 loop bus stop. Problem solved.

TCD

TCD, are you trying to bring logic into a Stef TR?

:rofl3: :heart: :rofl3:

:clint:

[stefa70 205]

Before we move on, the ex-owner of that Fort beer koozie called to stake his claim. He's kind of a shady character, so I'm not sure I believe him. I told him it would be on Ebay later today, he could be the lucky winner if he gets his bid in on time.

Back to the report. Have I told you that Animal Kingdom was crowded AND hot? It was both, to the extreme!!

Our wonderful content queen, Monique had posted that a baby rhino was born right before we started this trip. Karla had told me she had seen him the day before. They had not put him out with the others yet, so you had to ride Rafikis train back to Conservation Station and maybe catch a glimpse of him in his enclosure.

That was the only goal for this visit to the park!

The boys made a quick stop at a beer cart.

A couple pics of the African village.

These guys put on a good show, while sweating to death.

But the group of young people they picked out of the crowd were a riot.

If you've read my other reports, you know I love monkeys, so I couldn't pass through AK without seeing the gorillas.

Nate trying to cool off.

Termite mound.

Colobus monkey trying to hide from my camera

We stopped to peek at the meerkats.

We finally speed-walked our way to the gorillas. We skipped the okapi, the bird section, the naked mole rats.....I want monkeys!!

Better than a plain ole gorilla, it was Momma and baby gorilla! :heart:

Here is Papa gorilla, napping in the corner, until baby came over.

Once baby rounded the corner, Papa turned and gave all of us the stink eye, then turned his back on us.

And pooped!!

I've always wondered what they thought about thousands of people staring at them through glass...now I know! :rofl2:

We made our way through the cave to the open air part of the gorilla exhibit, and found another pregnant Momma.

On the other side of the exhibit are the other males. We only saw one this time, and he had no interest in performing for us.

On our way to Rafiki's train, Nate took a load off. Notice the "this is the 5th day of pictures, don't you have enough?" face.

Some pics at the train station.

Here it comes!

We've boarded.

And we're off.

Does anyone like Conservation Station?

I thought it was neat the first time I rode back there. The veterinary part of it is neat, and the petting zoo is cool, but I never seem interested enough to do it again.

I must make an exception this time though, and hey, why not pet a couple of stinky goats while I'm there?

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Ah yes. The baby rhino. I hope you get to see it after braving the crowds. The gorilla pics were cool too. We haven't walked around much and looked at the animals at AK the last couple trips. Maybe we'll do some of that next time. Walk-around beers at the AK. Sounds like good times on a hot day!

[stefa70 205]

Sorry, I know you are a sucker for a pretty face, but Mark is just as useless as the rest of them.

You want to stop freeloaders? Make people lugging pool crap onto the bus at the Outpost show their KTTW cards. Use one of the idiot rangers for that. Then put one by the 1500 loop bus stop and make anyone walking over the bridge show their card. Put another one over by the 900 loop bus stop. Problem solved.

TCD

Well, Mark isn't what I would call pretty, but he was sweet, and thought some of the other rangers had a chip on their shoulder, so that puts him one-up in my book.

I do however, have a soft spot for red white & blue speedos.

I doubt even your suggestions would work.

1. Freeloaders would probably drive right in to who ever's site they were "visiting" & dump their supplies there, if they started monitoring the Outpost

2. Someone always has an extra KTTW card laying around. Hell I've used one over a year old to show at the gate.

3. I don't believe the Fort will ever deny visitors, they may make an extra $20 off of them. I don't even mind people visiting, shopping or looping. The pool is the biggest problem.

Wristbands while in the pool is the only viable solution I can see. BUT, someone must be there to monitor it. Stick a damn ranger at each end of the pool, especially the pavilion area.

Last year, Nate and Amanda went over to Wilderness Lodge and wanted to get a drink from the tiki bar. No wristband, no entry!! So to answer your question, the Fort seems to be the only place this is acceptable.

Unfortunately, I think we may both be wasting our time debating what they should do, as I doubt they'll do anything different.

:soapbox:

[Lou... 3,118]

I think we may both be wasting our time debating what they should do, as I doubt they'll do anything different.

When you're right,..........you're right.

[MetalDad 33]

Only took me a dozen or so pages to get in here! Really enjoying this!

2. Someone always has an extra KTTW card laying around. Hell I've used one over a year old to show at the gate.

I always wonder why they give me one for each of my youngest kids! I can't envision a scenario that my 5yo would leave the grounds or go to a comfort station, or charge a drink at Trail's End without my wife or I in proximity, with our own card. I know the kid's cards have no charging option, but it's inherently dangerous to issue us 7 cards at check-in, when my wife is the only one in the group with any measure of responsibility.

Mark was the one that chased me down on the Segway last year...took him half the Fort to do it too!