TCD is Thankful for Thanksgiving @ The Fort 2012

[Beckers 1,136]

How far is the 4 seasons from Disney? It makes me sad you can see it.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

How far is the 4 seasons from Disney? It makes me sad you can see it.

This project is literally adjacent to Fort Wilderness.

Disney sold the old Eagle Pines golf course and some other land to private developers. Part of the land is being developed as the Golden Oaks community- selling private homes, and the other part is being developed as a Four Seasons resort.

Here's an old thread on the subject if you want to read more: http://www.fortfiends.net/forum/topic/3497-the-forts-new-neighbor-four-seasons-resort-plans/

All of my bellyaching about this is based on the fact that the Disney corporation went to great lengths to buy enough land so that it controlled everything that happens at WDW. But, for a quick buck, current management sold out. They didn't need to put this so close to the Fort, but land this close to the MK was able to be sold at a premium.

It will be truly awful to look up from your campsite and see that hotel.

Dumb.

TCD

[kampfirekim 260]

It is pretty well established that armadillos can carry leprosy.

Here's a New York Times article on the subject: http://www.nytimes.c.../28leprosy.html

Bleeding Armadillo Cake?

What The Fort is that?

I thought you were kidding, but I googled it.

This must have shown up after I fell asleep watching that movie:

That is sweet and nasty!

TCD

More proof that a TCD TR is both entertaining and informative.

I never kid. Ok, I do kid, but when I do it is never about a bleeding armadillo cake. That is serious stuff. Sweet and nasty indeed.

Love and hate the Four Seasons construction photos. I'm pretty sure no explanation is necessary.

[SCTigerCock 171]

why does the wagon go around in the morning? I thought that was a nighttime thing?

To scare dogs of unsuspecting guests that then need to pick up kibble and refill water bowls that were knocked over.

Or something like that.

[Beckers 1,136]

All of my bellyaching about this is based on the fact that the Disney corporation went to great lengths to buy enough land so that it controlled everything that happens at WDW. But, for a quick buck, current management sold out. They didn't need to put this so close to the Fort, but land this close to the MK was able to be sold at a premium.

It will be truly awful to look up from your campsite and see that hotel.

Dumb.

TCD

That's what threw me off. I thought the whole point of how the land was bought and how much that it wouldn't turn into what happened to Disneyland. Damn the almighty dollar.

Thanks for the link for the thread.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Time for one more update. We need to get this report moving.

We left off aboard the monorail, looking across the Seven Seas Lagoon at the butt ugly Four Seasons resort project.

If you thought we were done looking at that, I am sorry to inform you that you thought wrong.

A few more photos to make sure the pot is sufficiently stirred:

Our monorail stopped for a moment near the canal where they keep the EWP boats. Which gave me a chance to snap a couple photos:

Two more looks across the Lagoon (with no zooms on the cranes) :

Looking straight down, I see where Lou someone could wade out just a bit into the canal and gain access to the EWP boats:

Just past the canal, there's another back-stage area that you can see from the monorail- I don't think Walt would approve:

Guess what?

You can see that darned Four Season project from the monorail station:

Look just above the monorial beam:

Same thing, just a bit down the ramp:

Walt would be totally against all of this.

First stop, the Fire Station on Main Street for more SOTMK cards.

This photo came out kind of blurry, so sorry, but I took it to show how the fire station has firefighting themed Christmas decorations- check out the dalmations on the bow, and the little firefighter's jacket on the right:

We then headed back to BOG.

It was around 1:30, and I hadn't been able to find anything about how late they serve lunch. I know at some point, they need to shut down to transition to the dinner menu. But, I don't know when.

Upon our arrival at the Beast's castle, we found a line of guests extending over the bridge. They don't let folks in unless there's space inside. That is good, but it also meant that we had to wait just to get inside. I asked a nearby castmember if she could give me a ballpark guess on how long we might have to wait. She said probably less than 10 minutes. Sweet.

So we waited.

Here's the situation:

Behind us:

We did reach the front of the line in less than 10 minutes. Part of that was helped by the fact that there were several groups who left after they got to the front. It turns out that CM's were telling people that everyone in the party had to enter together. Some folks were missing people in their group, and had to get out of line. A family in front of us left when they looked at the kid's menu. You would have thought they would have looked at it before getting in line. Here we are almost ready to go in:

For lunch, you go in through the armor room:

We have seen this room several times at night, but never during lunch time. At night, the monitors in the middle of the room have French song lyrics on them. At lunchtime, they show the menu:

After walking throught that room, we entered the room where you place your order. A CM stands at the entrance and hands each party a plastic rose and directs you to an ordering kiosk. The CM asked how I would be paying for our meal. When I said cash, we were sent to a kiosk manned by a CM:

This is the rose:

I guess if you are using a credit card, you can use these self service kiosks:

After paying, we were told to go and find a place to sit in one of the dining rooms and to place our rose on the table.

We found a seat in the main ballroom near the magic window:

The magic window is more impressive at night. During the day, the lighting in the dining room is brighter, which makes it harder to see the magic window.

In a very short time, a server magically arrived at our table with our order. That plastic rose is a tracking device, and CM's have what look like ipod touches that they use to bring orders out. It worked great this time, but I can see that this system could lead to some problems in the future.

Three of us had the braised pork:

And my oldest DD had the turkey sandwich:

We also tried an order of the potato leek soup:

The verdict?

OUTSTANDING!!!

The pork dish was better than the pork dish served at dinner.

The sandwich had real carved turkey in it, and the bread was a like french bread.

Excellent.

Note the despite calling the fries Pommes Frittes, they are just the ordinary Disney Fries served all over the property.

We will be having lunch here often. It's a little more expensive than the rest of the quick serves at WDW, but the extra cost is worth it when you consider the atmosphere, food quality, and the fact that a server brings you your food. Also, the drinks are self-serve, so if you want a refill on your soft drink, or even if you want to top it off and take it with, you can do that. There aren't any other places you can do that in the MK, and few other places in any of the other parks with this amenity.

From they way things looked, I think they stop letting folks in to the restaurant for lunch at 2 pm. When we first sat down, the dining room was almost full. But, nobody came in after us, and the place was almost empty when we left.

After lunch, we looked around Fantasyland a bit, and then decided to go and find a place to watch the 3:00 parade.

TCD

[CDNCruiser 14]

Did you notice the Hidden Mickey in the armor room?

Look in the blade of the axe, I think it's the one furthest away on the right . . . it's cut into the blade.

Maybe you can zoom in on the original pic to see it.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Did you notice the Hidden Mickey in the armor room?

Look in the blade of the axe, I think it's the one furthest away on the right . . . it's cut into the blade.

Maybe you can zoom in on the original pic to see it.

Yes, we have seen the Hidden Mickey.

Here's a photo of it from our visit in October:

TCD

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Anna is not impressed by that kids' menu.

[shoreline99 137]

Darn. I just looked out my window towards WDW and i can see the cranes from my house. Walt would not approve.

Just kidding about both things. And Walt probably would approve, because I would be thinking about ways to get down there and remove the cranes.

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

Phew! Finally caught up!! You would think that a lady with a broken foot could sit all day and read TCD TR's. Not so in a house without wireless. I have to wait for a chance to sit at the computer and then I can only sit so long before I need to go back to bed to put my foot up. What a fiend will go through just to get a good TR fix. (And all TCD TR's are good ones!)

Here are some more plans. I had not noticed these before, but they tie in with something in the new Be Our Guest restaurant:

In one of the dining rooms of the new restaurant, there is a giant music box featuring Belle and the Beast dancing. These plans are for that music box. The story is that Maurice built it as a wedding gift to the couple. It's pretty cool that the plans for the music box are here in the workshop.

Shouldn't that be the un-beastly Beast? I have always been troubled that they continue to promote his beastly image after the transformation. OTOH, the unbeastly Beast was way too girly looking for my taste.

Isn't it great that we don't have to find Him? He always has a way of finding us. :)

Amen and Hallelujah!

TCD's trip reports made me go from a lurker to a member. Thank you TCD.

Just goes to show what a good Jersey boy can grow up to accomplish!

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

Damn the cranes.

Damn the Four Seasons. I fart in their general direction.

Damn the lazy river.

Damn Snoopy. The Red Baron should have taken care of him on Christmas instead of letting him off the hook.

[SCTigerCock 171]

Damn the Four Seasons. I fart in their general direction.

Are those seasonal Farts?

Winter Fart

Spring Fart

Summer Fart

Fall Fart

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

I wasnt thinking along those lines but now that you mention it i will fart in the Four Seasons direction during all four seasons....if given the opportunity.

[SCTigerCock 171]

I wasnt thinking along those lines but now that you mention it i will fart in the Four Seasons direction during all four seasons....if given the opportunity.

You da man, you da man.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Great updates! Sounds like your impression of BOG at lunch was on target with ours. I agree, as a CS it's the best value in the MK for what you get. And I really like the fact that you don't have to eat with styrofoam and plastic there and also get cleaned up after.

Which brings up a question -- do you tip or not tip there? We did because the server brought our food and cleaned up. But I'll bet that most people won't since it's a CS.

[Big Kahuna aka John 71]

I wasnt thinking along those lines but now that you mention it i will fart in the Four Seasons direction during all four seasons....if given the opportunity.

Someone has been watching Monty Python... :rofl2: :rofl3: .. And as a fiend I approve !

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

...That photo also has a bonus shot of a Fiend campsite.

Anybody know whose?

:wave1:

It looks pretty early in that photo. I'm guessing if you'd snooped around that window on the far right you would have heard a whole lot of snoring!

In some ways it seems like a whole more more than a mere 3 days ago that we were there (sniff)

Excellent TR as always. We did indeed transport something back from you for Nicole. It hasn't been unpacked yet (just started that oh-so-fun endeavor yesterday), but she'll get it. Promise.

We totally agree with you on lunch at BOG. Totally worth it. I had the Nicoise Salad and the tuna that it came with was cooked perfectly and DE-licious (pics to come)! We'll very definitely be back. Only took us about 15 minutes to get in also at around 1:15-ish. They told us they shut the line down at 2pm to start switching over for dinner.

Definitely did NOT love seeing the 4 Seasons every day on my walk out on the 300 canal with Brady. ...or from the Contemporary ...or from the monorail. I betcha those top few floors are going to go from considerably more $$ given they'll have a pretty darned good view of the castle and MK fireworks. Heck from up there I'm betting they'll see Epcot fireworks too!

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Definitely did NOT love seeing the 4 Seasons every day on my walk out on the 300 canal with Brady. ...or from the Contemporary ...or from the monorail. I betcha those top few floors are going to go from considerably more $$ given they'll have a pretty darned good view of the castle and MK fireworks. Heck from up there I'm betting they'll see Epcot fireworks too!

Not after I get done building a whole loop of THESE....my new DaveInTN Deluxe 4000 Loop Cabins! They are like Redneck DEELuxe Apartments in the Sky!

[ftwildernessguy 778]

Re. leprosy. It is curable, although difficult and it depends on what type of leprosy you have.

[ftwildernessguy 778]

Not after I get done building a whole loop of THESE....my new DaveInTN Deluxe 4000 Loop Cabins! They are like Redneck DEELuxe Apartments in the Sky!

Bobby says 4000 loop cabiners will not be able to share the amenities at the 3000 loop.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Great updates

[kampfirekim 260]

Re. leprosy. It is curable, although difficult and it depends on what type of leprosy you have.

I don't know why I just quoted this. It just bore repeating.

Only in a TCD TR could a subject like this make sense. :D

I do not like butt ugly construction projects. I do, however, like the BOG. At least I believe I will like it when I finally get there.

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

Hoping that page 13 is still ok for bragging rights.

You're not superstitious are you?

I honestly tried to read and post sooner, but I am trying to get my girls semester finished up before December 17th. That means very limited time to read wonderful trip reports and post.

So, of course most of what I have thought to comment about has vanished out of my mind.

I really should take notes.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Great updates. Can't wait to go to BOG! My DD is going to love it! (So am I)