TCD is Thankful for Thanksgiving @ The Fort 2012

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

I have to admit one of the things I like the most about TCD's trip reports is seeing the things at the Fort that I dont know are there. Since I only went for the first time last summer there are so many things I missed and so many things I havent found yet.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Basically the discussion about DVC was that the Grand Floridian renovation should be completed in the next 12-18 months and that the Poly was rumoured to be the next DVC property developed. From what I understand there are areas of the Poly that need some serious overhaul, so it would make sense to incorporate DVC elements into any major renovation or expansion of that resort. The flip side of the discussion was that it would be another monorail resort under construction after GF and BLT at the Contemporary, so who knows. It's just speculation.

And hey, I said take it with a grain of salt. I guess with these guys if you throw enough darts at something you're bound to have one stick once in a while.

You are right- anyone can speculate.

I am still surprised by the fact that in this economy there are people buying up the new DVC units.

The plans I have seen for the River Country DVC suggest that it will be a big resort. If there is a demand, I think they would go with that next, and save the Poly project for sometime down the road when demand builds for more units on the monorail line.

It is a fact that they have applied for permits for components of the River Country DVC project. They haven't progessed that far with anything at the Polynesian Resort.

I agree with the girls about the cold. Even though I'm an early riser, I didn't leave the site til at least 9:00am this trip. The nights were too cold for my taste too. Ok for hanging around but not looping.

As for the windmill, there were many times this trip that I would think the same thing. Does anyone even notice that anymore or know what it is?

I bet some newbies have no idea what's rotting behind the RC fence. (where my son learned to swim :- )

I bet some have no idea that TCD ranch was once a real petting zoo, with animals you could PET. And Minnie Moo!

I bet some don't know you could once swim in the lake.

etc...... Maybe it's my old age that's making me reminisce more.

Maybe 20 years from now some new campers will never have known the ranch, field or pavilion was there, and they'll be ok with it. :banghead:

Preach it, sister!

The sad fact is that very few people venture in to the old petting zoo and old River Country areas now. I think a majority of people who visit the Fort would not be bothered in the least if this is all leveled for a new resort. How can they miss something that they don't even know about?

Good idea!

Rebuilding our economy... one barrel at a time.

I'm telling you, if Disney doesn't cash in with those Barrels of Fun then somebody needs to.

The Wild Womenz have been saving up for a year for those Barrels.

I have to admit one of the things I like the most about TCD's trip reports is seeing the things at the Fort that I dont know are there. Since I only went for the first time last summer there are so many things I missed and so many things I havent found yet.

There's no shame in that Jason.

I'm sure that there are parts of the Fort that I haven't found yet.

But I'm trying.

TCD

[Beckers 1,136]

I agree with the girls about the cold. Even though I'm an early riser, I didn't leave the site til at least 9:00am this trip. The nights were too cold for my taste too. Ok for hanging around but not looping.

As for the windmill, there were many times this trip that I would think the same thing. Does anyone even notice that anymore or know what it is?

I bet some newbies have no idea what's rotting behind the RC fence. (where my son learned to swim :- )

I bet some have no idea that TCD ranch was once a real petting zoo, with animals you could PET. And Minnie Moo!

I bet some don't know you could once swim in the lake.

etc...... Maybe it's my old age that's making me reminisce more.

Maybe 20 years from now some new campers will never have known the ranch, field or pavilion was there, and they'll be ok with it. :banghead:

I remember Minnie Moo! She was cool! I also remember the buses being Chip and Dale and Crockett and Boone, I like that better than colors.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

You know the problem with getting several updates behind on a TCD report... by the time you get to the end you have forgotten half of what you wanted to say......

[happycampers 5]

Glad I could make your day!

We had a connection that secured us the reservation at BOG - we tried the grey stuff as well! It was funny to eat Thanksgiving Dinner in France! We did get to enjoy the dress rehearsal for the new fantasyland the previous weekend because of our annual passes as well, but then they ended up opening it up to everyone...

Ok - so, we also saw your family in line to see Peter Pan - we couldn't help but laugh, we decided to go back later so you really didn't think we were stalking! It really was funny!!

Someday maybe we will get to bring our camper to Fort Wilderness, we will have to see - until then, we will enjoy your pictures of the Fort and beyond.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I've got time for one more update today.

We left off looking at Clementine's Beach.

I headed down the road toward Crockett's Tavern from there.

I had the porch to myself:

I enjoyed a rocking chair for a song or two. The only thing wrong with this view is that the old River Country wagon is supposed to be in it:

I did a bit of looping.

I liked this turkey with and axe. I hadn't seen that inflatable before:

I think this was another morning that I stopped by to visit with Rita and Momma. But it could have been the day before. I got to meet Chris, and Rita's friend Linda. It was funny to hear how much Momma loves Linda. Those are some good people!

The next part of my morning got complicated.

My oldest DD's BFF was going to come back some time after she got off of work today, and the two of them were going to head on home.

But, she called in the morning and told my DD that she had been able to get the day off, so she was going to head over early. She wanted to head on home. So, we got DD packed up.

In the meantime, the twins wanted to go and have some fun at a park, so I took them up front to catch a bus to Hollywood Studios.

This golf cart was in the Outpost golfcart parking lot. I had seen it down by the marina earlier- I like how they decorated it with pine cones and pine needles:

After dropping off the twins, my older DD and I did some looping.

We saw a guy with the funniest looking kid I've ever seen:

But that wasn't the weirdest thing I saw today.

Just you wait and see.

We then hung around the site waiting for the BFF to arrive.

Another wagon came by. There's my hammock. I needed to spend some time in there, and I intended to do just that after my oldest took off:

The wagon was causing a traffic jam:

So, it turned and looped around 800:

It was right around here that my DD and her friend met up and took off.

I was all alone.

But, I didn't get to relax.

I needed to take my cart back to the friend I borrowed it from. It had been promised to someone else for the rest of the week, so I became cartless. I hadn't made prior arrangements to line up another cart, and by the time I new about this, I was out of luck. None of the usual sources could help me.

But, it ended up not being a big deal.

We seem to always have a cart lately, but there were times in the past when we didn't have a cart, or would only have a cart for part of the trip.

It was shortly after I got back to the site without a cart that I got a text from the twins that they wanted to leave Hollywood Studios and meet up someplace for lunch.

They love the Polynesian, and wanted to go to the MK after, so that was their choice.

I headed down to the marina by foot.

It's really not a bad walk.

There were golf carts everywhere. I have never seen so many. But none for me:

This is supposed to be a photo of the decorations on the marina building, but I didn't account for the shadows:

For whatever reason, they were screwing with our boats all week.

Here they have the MK boat with a combo red and green flag. That stinks for us:

The captain announced that the boat would be stopping at the Lodge before continuing to the MK.

Blech.

The resort boat was there, and heading to the Contemporary.

I took it instead.

The shoe tree:

We went around the back side of Discovery Island, so we didn't get close to the castmember dock near River Country, but I noticed that there was something stacked on the dock and covered with plastic:

A closer look:

I made a mental note that I needed to go and check that out later, but I never got a chance to. Not having a cart didn't help.

What I now think that stuff was was fireworks for the big party that we now know was held on Friday night at the beach.

As we came around the island, I saw that the resort boat hadn't even made it to the Lodge yet. I had made the right choice:

There's where we are heading:

I hadn't seen anyone parasailing today, but it looks like someone had:

I rode over to the Contemporary with a really nice older couple. They were staying on the 1400 loop, and were going to Epcot to meet their children and grandchildren. They showed up at the marina thinking they could get to Epcot from there. I talked to them on the way over to the Contemporary, and then walked them up to the monorail. I don't think they would have made it on their own. I showed them where to exit at the TTC and how to get to the Epcot monorail, so I am pretty sure they made it.

Here we are at the Poly. That's Twin #1's lunch of champions- polynesian chips and a side of Dole Whip. Twin #2 and I went with the noodles:

We had a nice lunch, and then made our way to the MK. I could see the stupid Four Seasons again, but I'll spare you a zoom shot:

Here's a shot of the Grand Floridian for anyone who likes that sort of thing:

For some reason, we found our way to the Peter Pan meet and greet area again.

Now known as the Freak Zone.

The first thing I saw there was a deer hunter standing next to a dude in a skirt:

I needed to get another picture of him, so I stepped around to the side:

That one's a little blurry, but if you look, you can see the dude's beard.

That is a dude.

One more look:

I know someone is going to say maybe he's from Scotland.

To which I say: it's a dude in a skirt.

Freak Zone!

I think our plan was to try to get some Fastpasses for later use, but the times did not work for us.

So, we split.

Here we are on our way back to the Fort- riding past the rotting remains of River Country:

And the shoe tree again:

If the DVC rumors are true, someday you will see a big DVC resort sitting there where these trees are:

And probably a dude in a skirt sitting on his balcony.

Blech.

I'll stop this update here.

In the next one, you will be joining me on our pleasant stroll back to the 800 loop.

And we will take a look at some things we saw along the way.

TCD

[ftwildernessguy 778]

In Pennsylvania, if a deer hunter was standing that close to a dude in a skirt the dude would end up with a bloody nose.

[Mecha Geek 1]

Great TR so far! You really know how to find the freaks!

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

Here's my theory on the missing barrels. They are making sure they are in proper working order.

Because, let's face it no one wants to be around drunk and angry WW if the barrels are not all working properly during WWW 2013.

[alexwyattmommy 181]

I am caught up. Thank you.

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

Whew, caught up finally! It was great having you stop by to visit! Mama always enjoys meeting people and Chris and Linda were glad to put a face to the name finally! :)

I know I had a million comments come to mind, but alas my brain is mush now!

I did want to share this photo I took on November 4th with y'all though!

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Great TR.

MORE! MORE!

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

I did want to share this photo I took on November 4th with y'all though!

Now that. is. priceless!

[dvccamper 32]

That must be one confident man pushing the little dog in the stroller. Wow.

As for the man in the skirt, maybe he lost a bet?

You capture the most hysterical things. I don't know if weird things just happen to go on around you or I am just completely nonobservant of what's going on around me.

[kampfirekim 260]

I know I had a comment all ready to type out...

then you threw me curve ball with the Dude In The Skirt and I completely forgot what I was going to say.

I am never going to a Peter Pan meet and greet again. Ever. The photos alone cause memory loss. (Useable info from a TCD TR)

Ohhhh.... I remember now!!! Going cartless can be good. I was amazed at how much I'd been overlooking when I took my Bike Ride around the Fort last year. We love the carts especially b/c of the kids but every now and then I like to slow it down a bit and take it all in.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Note to self... avoid Peter Pan meet and greet... or go to people watch with camera in hand. LOL

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I remember Minnie Moo! She was cool! I also remember the buses being Chip and Dale and Crockett and Boone, I like that better than colors.

So do I. The petting zoo was still a petting zoo when the TCD girls were little. We spent a lot of time there.

I also remember the Chip, Dale, Boone and Crockett buses. I like those names better too, but the current bus system is much improved over the old one. Back in those days, there were no direct buses from the Fort to the parks- Boone and Crockett ran back and forth to the TTC. It is much better now.

You know the problem with getting several updates behind on a TCD report... by the time you get to the end you have forgotten half of what you wanted to say......

I know the feeling.

There are things that I remembered I wanted to say that I don't remember until a couple of posts have gone by, and then it's too late.

Glad I could make your day!

We had a connection that secured us the reservation at BOG - we tried the grey stuff as well! It was funny to eat Thanksgiving Dinner in France! We did get to enjoy the dress rehearsal for the new fantasyland the previous weekend because of our annual passes as well, but then they ended up opening it up to everyone...

Ok - so, we also saw your family in line to see Peter Pan - we couldn't help but laugh, we decided to go back later so you really didn't think we were stalking! It really was funny!!

Someday maybe we will get to bring our camper to Fort Wilderness, we will have to see - until then, we will enjoy your pictures of the Fort and beyond.

Wow- that is a good connection to be able to get Thanksgiving dinner reservations. Can your connection hook me up with an Ohana reservation for the end of this month?

I can't believe you saw us in the MK too. That is so strange. There have been many times when we later found out we were at WDW at the same time as folks we knew, but the place is so big, odds are you never run into each other. Maybe you really are stalkers?

In Pennsylvania, if a deer hunter was standing that close to a dude in a skirt the dude would end up with a bloody nose.

Savages!

Great TR so far! You really know how to find the freaks!

I know.

I wonder why?

Here's my theory on the missing barrels. They are making sure they are in proper working order.

Because, let's face it no one wants to be around drunk and angry WW if the barrels are not all working properly during WWW 2013.

I sure hope that you're right.

Or it ain't going to be purdy.

I am caught up. Thank you.

You are welcome.

And thanks for reading.

I'll see what I can do to get you behind again.

Whew, caught up finally! It was great having you stop by to visit! Mama always enjoys meeting people and Chris and Linda were glad to put a face to the name finally! :)

I know I had a million comments come to mind, but alas my brain is mush now!

I did want to share this photo I took on November 4th with y'all though!

Wow, that is a great photo!

Momma rocks!

Great TR.

MORE! MORE!

Don't worry.

More is on the way.

That must be one confident man pushing the little dog in the stroller. Wow.

As for the man in the skirt, maybe he lost a bet?

You capture the most hysterical things. I don't know if weird things just happen to go on around you or I am just completely nonobservant of what's going on around me.

You raise a good point.

Do I see more strange things that the normal guest? Or do most people not pay attention?

I think it's the latter.

If you stop and take a look around, you will see that Disney is a magnet for freaks.

I'm not sure what that says about me.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I know I had a comment all ready to type out...

then you threw me curve ball with the Dude In The Skirt and I completely forgot what I was going to say.

I am never going to a Peter Pan meet and greet again. Ever. The photos alone cause memory loss. (Useable info from a TCD TR)

Ohhhh.... I remember now!!! Going cartless can be good. I was amazed at how much I'd been overlooking when I took my Bike Ride around the Fort last year. We love the carts especially b/c of the kids but every now and then I like to slow it down a bit and take it all in.

I remember that bike ride well!

I will have some more comments about being cartless.

I agree with you- it can be a good thing.

Note to self... avoid Peter Pan meet and greet... or go to people watch with camera in hand. LOL

Go with the second choice.

I have a feeling we will be back there the next time we're at the MK.

Who doesn't like a freak show?

TCD

[shoreline99 137]

If you stop and take a look around, you will see that Disney is a magnet for freaks.

Does that mean we'll see a new 'People of Disney' web site, much like the 'People of Walmart' site?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Does that mean we'll see a new 'People of Disney' web site, much like the 'People of Walmart' site?

I would be surprised if there wasn't already that kind of a website.

I have seen enough photos here on ff.net to provide plenty of content for such a site.

TCD

[devores 382]

http://www.peopleofdisneyparks.com/

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Let's move this report along.

We left off with our return from lunch and a quick visit to the MK.

We decided to just walk back to our site.

That gave us a chance to walk along the sidewalk behind the 100 loop.

This is a photo of the decorations behind the site next to Judy's. They had an inflatable Mater there, which I had not seen before. There were several of these around the Fort. And, I have since seen them for sale at Home Depot, if anyone is interested:

This sign is new:

And it's odd. There hasn't been a Hay Ride at the Fort in years. They are just wagon rides- no hay.

Here's another shot of the sign showing how low the sun was in the sky- and it was only 3:50 pm. The days sure are short this time of year:

We strolled past the VIP cabins:

Then we headed up Fort Wilderness Trail to the 800 loop.

These folks were busy squeezing a tent behind their site on the 400 loop:

It still amazes me that the Fort management lets people set tents up anywhere they want, even if they are way off the pad for the site. These folks were closer to the sidewalk than they were their actual site.

Back at good old 807, the TCD hammock was calling my name:

And, I decided to answer the call and enjoy some hammock time.

My view from there:

That was great.

I even caught a few winks.

The TCD hammock has magic powers. A quick nap in the hammock is like getting a night's sleep. I was rested and ready to go.

I prepared dinner at the site.

We had Beef Stroganoff.

Hamburger Helper style.

We never have that at home. Mrs. TCD does not approve. But, I'm in charge at the Fort. So we had Hamburger Helper. And we loved it.

Then it was time for our evening activiites.

If you remember, the TCD twins had been to Hollywood Studios that morning. And, they had wisely grabbed some Rock N Roller Coaster Fastpasses on their way out.

Those were good from 6:40 to 7:40, and if Disney transportation cooperated, we still had time to use them.

So we headed out.

No cart, so we had to take the Orange bus like animals. But, luckily, a bus pulled right up as we got to the bus stop.

They were hauling a bunch of guests back to the parking lot from the HDDR, and the bus was pretty full. We had to stand in the back near a guy who got his money's worth on the free sangria. He was engaged in a loud conversation with another member of his party about how the world was going to end on 12/12/12. The other person told him that wasn't the right date, and they debated that all the way to the Outpost. It was a good debate. Neither one of them questioned that the world was going to end, just the correct date. I guess we will find out soon enough who was right.

No sooner had we escaped from the Orange bus, than the Hollywood Studios bus pulled up. I pointed out to the girls, that we probably were going to get to Hollywood Studios faster than if we had a golf cart. They weren't impressed. In case I didn't mention it, they weren't very happy with me for not planning the golf cart thing better.

We made it to RNR with just a few minutes to spare. It's a good thing, too, because stand-by was 90 minutes.

A few photos from the ride:

Our ride photo. One thing you can be sure of on busy nights is that they fill up the empty spots with single riders. So I got to ride next to the dude with a beard and skin tight black tank top. The plan was to show no emotion for the photo, but I chose to point and make a face:

At least it was just a skin tight tank top and not a skirt. And he didn't have a Peter Pan doll. At least not that I could see.

Next up, we decided to check on Tower of Terror. It often has a long wait time shown, but if you look at the line, it isn't that bad.

On the way there, I slipped on my Gator sweatshirt, as it was getting cool.

The wait time was listed at 70 minutes.

We walked up to the gate at the queue entrance to take a look at the actual line.

A CM there at the gate said she liked my shirt. I looked at her name tag, and it showed she was in the College Program from UF. I said thanks, and that we were planning to be at the game Saturday. Twin #1 also told her she was hoping to go to UF. The CM asked what we were doing and I told her we were just eyeballing the line. She asked how many were in our party, and I told her three. She said too bad. I asked her why. She showed me she had two Fastpasses in her hand. I told her, we would take them- I would let the girls go and wait for them at the exit. That would be fine with me. Just as she was about to hand them over, a guest walked by and asked if anyone wanted a Fastpass-she had one extra. Boom. We Fastpassed TOT! It was a good thing, too, as the line really was long.

So, here we are at DHS on a night that it was packed, and we got to do two of the major attractions right away.

I asked the girls what's next, and they said let's go to the animation class. We always have fun there. So we went. We timed that right too, as we squeezed in to line just before a big crowd showed up.

We got to draw Chip. Not the teacup, the chipmunk. We had never drawn Chip or Dale before, so that was fun.

My drawing is OK, but doesn't look like Chip too much:

The twins, like always, did much better.

Here's Twin #1's:

And Twin #2's:

This is the teacher's. The twins did just as good:

Next up was Star Tours. On the way there, we walked past Toy Story. The wait was 120 minutes!

And people were lined up outside to wait!

Who would wait 2 hours for a 10 minute ride?

Star Tours has become one of our must do's. One thing that's great about it, is they can really move the guests through this attraction. It was basically a walk on for us.

Next, we decided to head back to the Osborne Lights. We hadn't had enough. I don't think we have ever had enough. There is something magical about being able to stand there and have your senses assualted by lights and music. It is a real spectacle. Just like the title says.

There was a group in there all wearing matching turkey hats:

I think these animated windows are new. The twins said they were here last year:

You can tell it was a cool night if you notice how everyone has on jackets and sweatshirts:

The cool weather was nice. I remember last year that it was warm if not hot every time we saw the Osborne Lights. The fake snow seems more real if it's at least a little cool out.

Here's a couple photos of the spectacle:

And here's one of the twins:

Since photos can't capture the spectacle, I recorded a short video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nyv1RRoZrs&feature=youtu.be

We then moved down to the side street where they have a huge canopy of lights covering the street.

The twins posed for a candid shot:

I love looking at all of the details included in the decorations:

But, I really love that canopy:

I decided to video the canopy too.

I don't know why the video came out sideways, and I don't know how to fix it. So, hold your head to your left when you look at this, or turn your monitor to the right:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGL4UUeQ0kU&feature=youtu.be

By the time we got done with all of this, it was almost 10 pm.

I suggested to the girls that we go and see how bad the wait was for Toy Story.

Maybe we could squeeze in a quick ride at the end of the night?

No dice.

The wait time was 90 minutes.

And the line was out the door.

Something was fishy about that, though.

How could that many people want to ride that late and be willing to be stuck in the park that late?

We have seen this many times before, and I have always been suspicious.

I said to the girls, let's get on line and see what happens.

So, at 9:59 we lined up.

And walked in to the main queue room.

And saw that it was almost empty.

They were manipulating the line to make it look like it was much busier than it was.

They were holding guests back until 10 pm hit.

Then the line flew.

We were on the ride in less than 10 minutes.

And the wait time was posted at 90 minutes.

Sneaky.

I took this photo at 10:27 pm, after we had completed our ride. That's Twin #1's score. She almost got the high score for the hour:

Our trip to Hollywood Studios had been a success.

We made it on to four major attractions with no wait.

We bused it back to the Fort.

Then had to catch the Orange bus back to the 800 loop.

The bus driver asked us where we were heading when we got on the bus. When I told him the 800 loop, he looked at my Gators sweatshirt and asked if we were the ones with the Gator and Nole inflatables. I told him yes. He said he enjoys seeing them every year, and told us where we had camped the last two years. The guy always drives the night shift at the Fort.

With that, we made it back to 807, and that completes our Wednesday.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, and we have a crazy schedule.

TCD

[alexwyattmommy 181]

Awesome night with four rides and no wait. The lights are so pretty. Wish we lived closer so we could do a quick trip during the holiday decorations.

[TurkeyPants...Nicole 92]

So bummed that we didn't do Toy Story at all during our November visit because the wait was always well over 90 minutes. I guess that gives us a reason to go back next year!

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

Loved both the videos! Thank you for posting them!

BTW, if you are going to be there in Feb. with barrels for the WW, are you going to let us corrupt the Twins - or are you going to try to explain to Mrs. TCD why you want to go to FW solo during WWW?