New Acquaintances, Auld Lang Syne…New Year’s at the Fort!

[fortpartyof4 108]

That's very funny. I'm so far from being an English teacher that you wouldn't believe.

Being foreign born, I got a late start at learning and speaking English. Growing up, I had to work harder than the other kids and actually I still work at it. I think I'm finally getting the hang of it.

Too bad more of the people who live here but are not from here don't go to as much trouble to learn the language.

Wow.. page four and day four... all I can say is I'm in, and I apologize fortpartyof4. by the way . Love the Christmas Tree!

No apologies necessary! Thanks for reading.

I love that tree too, we may have to move soon and I will have to make sure the next house has high enough ceilings! Don't want a Griswold problem on my hands.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

RC pics never cease to make me sad. But bubble pics make me happy.

[campingdawgs 4]

Love the bubble pics! BTW, the Airstream and white truck in the background- that's us!

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

Have been reading along, but have not gotten the chance to really comment. So many thoughts, but I can't remember them. So, I will just say how much I am enjoying your pictures and thank you for taking the time to share them and your trip with us.

[dblr....Rennie 224]

We know what you mean about spending the time with your kids, ours are 17 & 21 and hardly ever want to go with mom & dad anymore, but when we told them that we have a Tree House booked for this NYE guess who has time to be with mom & dad now. I guess you take what you can get !!!!!!!!!!

[ºoºThomasclan85ºoº 8]

Lots of great pictures! River Country closed before I even got to go to Disney for the 1st time but it sure looks like it was a great place. Your boys look like they had fun following the old train track. I didn't get to see that either......

[MetalDad 33]

Alright, trying to keep up, as my TR is a day behind yours now.

We did the train track investigation with the FamilyofBears on Monday too!

It was about 2:30pm when we did it.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

A+ on the River Country photos.

I have stood on that rock your DS is standing on many times.

Nice job.

TCD

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

Very late to the party but it has been fun to read this far.

Looking forward to more Fortin around!

[fortpartyof4 108]

RC pics never cease to make me sad. But bubble pics make me happy.

You're never too old to play with bubbles!

Love the bubble pics! BTW, the Airstream and white truck in the background- that's us!

No kidding! Which loop was that? Sorry I missed you…..

Have been reading along, but have not gotten the chance to really comment. So many thoughts, but I can't remember them. So, I will just say how much I am enjoying your pictures and thank you for taking the time to share them and your trip with us.

Thank you, and you're welcome. It's slow going, but I'm chugging along with it.

We know what you mean about spending the time with your kids, ours are 17 & 21 and hardly ever want to go with mom & dad anymore, but when we told them that we have a Tree House booked for this NYE guess who has time to be with mom & dad now. I guess you take what you can get !!!!!!!!!!

That's right! I actually enjoy hanging out with my kids. They are really fun right now. I do get the occasional eye-roll, but it's not too bad, yet…..

Lots of great pictures! River Country closed before I even got to go to Disney for the 1st time but it sure looks like it was a great place. Your boys look like they had fun following the old train track. I didn't get to see that either......

Thank you! I agree, and I am bummed that neither me or my children ever got to experience RC or FWRR.

Alright, trying to keep up, as my TR is a day behind yours now.

We did the train track investigation with the FamilyofBears on Monday too!

It was about 2:30pm when we did it.

hmmm, sounds like we barely missed one another.

I hope I don't goof on any details, but with my memory, I probably already have, so feel free to make it right in your TR.

[fortpartyof4 108]

A+ on the River Country photos.

I have stood on that rock your DS is standing on many times.

Nice job.

TCD

Why thank you, kind sir.

I got up on that rock to take a couple of those shots. Almost fell over! Whoops.

Very late to the party but it has been fun to read this far.

Looking forward to more Fortin around!

Thanks! Coming up!

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Talk about spending time with your kids I was just lucky enough to spend a week skiing in Vt. with my boys, mom had to stay home and work and it was like 2 different kids,no fighting and they watched out for each other. Even the other folks from our ski club kept telling me how nice my boys are and even said they are welcome on the trip even if I do not go. I really think the group is trying to get rid of me for younger blood.

[fortpartyof4 108]

Again, my apologies for the delay in updates. This has been another single parent week. Plus, I have been lucky enough to spend time at a couple of speedweeks events in Daytona. Not promising anything, but I might just crank out a tiny TR for that over on the NASCAR thread.

Moving right along……we left off on New Year’s Day.

Since we didn't get to WDW until 12/29, I still had not seen many of the Christmas decorations at the resorts. The GF is always a must-do on my list, and I didn't want to miss the huge tree and gingerbread house before they took them down. I wasn't sure when they did that, so made sure we got over there on New Year's Day, in case they take them down the next day (learned later in our trip they don't).

So, after looping, checking out RC, and lunch we headed down to the marina to hop on a resort boat and mosey on over there.

After a bit of a wait, we were on our way. As we all know, WDW is a crazy busy place during the week between Christmas and New Year’s. This was evident by all of the transportation vessels in operation that day, as well as more little SeaRays than I have ever, ever seen out on Bay Lake.

Passing by WL:

This is an intentional shot, believe it or not. Sometimes when riding on the boats I love to look down at the water as we get up to speed:

Can’t you almost hear it?

Some parasailing going on, as well. My 10 year old took this one:

We landed at the Contemporary and grabbed a couple of shots on the metal MM sculpture. But not before some rude folks not from this land jumped the shrubs to get in front of us. Geesh. Should have taken a photo of them for the DB thread. But that was before it existed. Now, I'll be photographing all of 'em!

We used the little self-timer stand for this one. My husband barely jumped up there in time, he is sort of mid-hop here.

We made our way up to the monorail to get over to the GF. The following are photos taken by my 12 year old from the ride over. He took a LOT more, but these 2 aren’t too bad!

I’ll save my GF photos for the next update. There are a lot of them, so you’ve been warned. If you’re not into non-park TR’s you’re probably not reading, but if you’re still reading for the Fort content, I am about to veer off of that topic. I love the Grand Floridian and visit their lobby every visit whenever possible. But it is a MUST at Christmas, and Easter if we happen to be there then. We could never afford to stay there, and honestly even if we could I don’t know if I could bring myself to spend that much on a Disney hotel. But I love to spend time over there, listen to the music and take in the ambience.

[alexwyattmommy 181]

In 2011 we visited my parents in Winter Haven for Thanksgiving. We had a great time going to the different hotels to look at their Christmas decorations. I saved a gingerbread shingle from GF and finally tossed it last month. LOL

Looking forward to seeing the current decorations.

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

Love the MM structure photos. Your DB comment just reminded me of something i need to dig off another camera for my TR......so thanks for that.

Keep the updates coming and please do a TR for speedweeks!

[Lou... 3,118]

The GF is my second favorite resort. The WL being first.

I worked in the Front Desk department during the Christmas season one year and if you think it's fun to visit, it's even more fun to work there during that time.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Looking forward to your GF pics. We never got there on this last trip.

[fortpartyof4 108]

In 2011 we visited my parents in Winter Haven for Thanksgiving. We had a great time going to the different hotels to look at their Christmas decorations. I saved a gingerbread shingle from GF and finally tossed it last month. LOL

Looking forward to seeing the current decorations.

Now that is something I've never done…..tasted it. But I am not the biggest gingerbread fan.

Since we don't usually have parks in our budget, touring the resorts is a nice way to take in the WDW holiday splendor.

Love the MM structure photos. Your DB comment just reminded me of something i need to dig off another camera for my TR......so thanks for that.

Keep the updates coming and please do a TR for speedweeks!

I am going to try and catch up on your TR today!

As you already know, your wish was granted. I did the mini TR over on the NASCAR thread, but left out Monday. Turns out the photos weren't so good. Snapping away with an iPhone while driving doesn't always yield the best results. But Wednesday's were great and I shared some of those.

The GF is my second favorite resort. The WL being first.

I worked in the Front Desk department during the Christmas season one year and if you think it's fun to visit, it's even more fun to work there during that time.

Agree. I also love WL, and AKL. But I have yet to visit every resort so that list could change.

Looking forward to your GF pics. We never got there on this last trip.

Coming up!

[fortpartyof4 108]

This whole GF lobby time bit is not something the boys dig at all. My husband is good about looking out for me and reminds them that I do an awful lot of things I may not necessarily like for them, so they should tolerate things like this for me once in a while. Thank goodness for the fact that my kids still find riding the monorail cool, so they at least got something out of it.

Tough to get any shots without people in them. I suppose you’d have to be there in the wee hours of the night to do that.

I stop and admire this metal ferris wheel sculpture every time I pass it. I don’t know why, I just love that thing.

Here’s an aerial view of the gingerbread house:

And now down on the main level:

Tried to get a nice shot of the kids on the stairwell but wound up with more photo bombs.

More of the gingerbread house. There is so much detail!

Someone decided to sample a shingle!

Alright, that is enough of that. I warned you, so if you're still reading along, now you either have a tremendous sugar craving or are asleep.

And, back to the tree:

A CM posted nearby to help take photos saw my husband taking that last one and offered to take one of the whole family. That was so nice of her!

Perhaps her talents lie in other areas. Thank goodness I wasn't counting on that being "card-worthy".

More decorations.

This is the level they play live band music from, they weren’t there when we were visiting:

I love this stairwell:

This shows another reason why we are not suited for this resort. Can you say Clampetts?

Now we are making our way back to that highway in the sky to head back to the Fort.

More kid-cam shots:

He tried to get the huge ears on the Contemporary but got the reflection of some guy as a bonus. Still, a cool shot:

On to the resort boat:

Almost there!

The skywriter was buzzing around above us:

Closer….

Ahhhh….here we are.

Tetherball time-out!

We hung around the marina for a while then headed back to our camper for dinner.

Afterward, I was once again indulged by my 3 handsome men, they accompanied me on yet another WDW activity that is not on their list of favorite things to do there.

It involves water, lights and a very distinct tune.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great update!

Thanks for the GF photos. I did not personally make it over there to see the Christmas decorations this year. The twins went on a monorail tour one day and stopped there.

Your DH and sons have excellent taste in clothing (referring to the Gator shirts).

Love the Clampett reference.

Looking forward to the EWP photos.

TCD

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

Very cool pics of the GF!!!! Love the lobby at Christmas time!!

[MetalDad 33]

I saw a hunk taken out of the gingerbread over at the Contemporary that week too!

Gross.

I don't even like gingerbread.

I can't imagine eating industrial 'model' gingerbread not intended for human consumption, after it's been touched by thousands of international tourists.

I'll have a Clampett story to finish my TR.

We either had to laugh it off, or drop luggage and throw fists!

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

Great update. My wife likes the interior of the GF also.

I think we will be making a stop there in December. Thanks for sharing the pics!

Looking forward to every bus driver's favorite water pageant.

[fortpartyof4 108]

Great update!

Thanks for the GF photos. I did not personally make it over there to see the Christmas decorations this year. The twins went on a monorail tour one day and stopped there.

Your DH and sons have excellent taste in clothing (referring to the Gator shirts).

Love the Clampett reference.

Looking forward to the EWP photos.

TCD

Thanks! We're definitely not classy enough for that place. Thank goodness my husband didn't try to wear his awful shirt there!

Very cool pics of the GF!!!! Love the lobby at Christmas time!!

Thanks! Me too……and Easter.

I saw a hunk taken out of the gingerbread over at the Contemporary that week too!

Gross.

I don't even like gingerbread.

I can't imagine eating industrial 'model' gingerbread not intended for human consumption, after it's been touched by thousands of international tourists.

I'll have a Clampett story to finish my TR.

We either had to laugh it off, or drop luggage and throw fists!

I don't like gingerbread, either.

But I do like hunks.

Great update. My wife likes the interior of the GF also.

I think we will be making a stop there in December. Thanks for sharing the pics!

Looking forward to every bus driver's favorite water pageant.

It's so beautiful. Great place to get holiday pictures of the kiddos, or for your card or whatever.

[fortpartyof4 108]

WARNING: this update contains material that is not appropriate for anti-EWP people. Viewer discretion is advised.

In other words, it's a boring update to finish off New Year's Day and if you don't like the EWP, don't waste your time reading this one. I promise you won't miss a thing.

While we were across the lake this afternoon, we also popped into the Poly for a look at their holiday décor, but I didn’t take any photos.

After we returned from our resort tour and played on the beach for a bit, we had dinner in the camper and hung out there for a while.

Then, we got bundled up to go out looping and back down to the beach.

As a couple of you have already concluded, we were headed for the EWP. I had been wanting to go, and we were running out of nights. My husband and sons do not like the EWP any more than many of you. I am one of the rare people who enjoys it, even after seeing it and hearing it so many times.

We were there for 6 nights, and only went this one time, I don’t think that is too much to ask? They probably wouldn’t agree, but went along with it anyway.

Here I am wrapped up in my blankie waiting for the show to start.

Can’t you just sense the excitement here:

It looks like the boys once again took over the camera.

Here they come!

You know the tune….hum along with me……

Everybody do the di-no-saur…….

It’s a grand old flag!

No idea why I took so many photos of that. I guess that is what happens when you don’t go to the parks. Instead of 50 photos of a ride queue, I take 50 of a tired old boat show.

But hey, even thought that was a total snooze, you were thinking about being at the Fort, hearing that silly music, weren’t you?

So it was worth it? Maybe just a little?

After the show, the boys played even more tetherball on the beach, we looped a little bit more, then called it a night.