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AC's Fort/Bay Lake Tower February 2013 Trip Report


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I'm going to whip my iPad out in Gettysburg and block stuff just so everyone feels like they are in Disney :) I may bring Adam's stroller and ram it into people too!

Aaron, remind me when we meet in person someday to whack you over the head with an iPad.

I was going to ask the same question! LOL. Looking forward to Date Night Pood Forn. As much as I agree with you on the Boneyard...Anna says we are both wrong and that the place rocks.

What an awesome evening! 

 

Universal appeal....LOL!  :rofl3:

 

It was awesome. 

 

And I'm here all week.

 

Congratulations on serving as a guard twice.  If you keep it up, you may catch up to me some day.

 

Congratulations to your son for being the Beast- that is an awesome part.

 

Oh, and Mrs. ACinA2 had better watch her smart mouth- it appears that you have lots of options with that universal appeal of yours.

 

TCD

 

Thanks, Thanks, and she knows she has nothing to worry about so the barbs are not going to end anytime soon.

 

Aaron, please forgive me for not commenting on your TR before now.  You started it when Dad was really sick, and for the next many days I had a hard time keeping up with TRs.  Heck, I couldn't even focus on what day it was for a long time.

 

Anyway, your kids are adorable.  I'm finally caught up with your TR.  Love the pics.  You're doing a great job.  Making me homesick for the fort!

 

You are forgiven.  Nothing in this world is more important than your family.  I hope things are easing up for you Gwen.

 

I am glad you were able to catch up.  Thanks for reading along and for the kind words.

 

Is it written on stone tablets that everyone must take photos of the EWP?

 

I think we finally figured out what was truly written on Moses TCD's tablets.

 

could be worse.... could be Cop or IASW

 

Nothing wrong with COP.

 

YES, IT IS WRITTEN!!!!! :)

 

Tell him Carol!

He asked for that one

 

Yes.

 

Yes he did.

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2-13-13

 

Another Magic Kingdom excursion was in the offing this morning.

 

Upon arrival at the MK, I noticed Lou's favorite new banner:

 

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Next, I went quickly to the Princess Meet and Greet Fastpass kiosks which were decidedly not ready for my arrival:

 

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I waited for a couple minutes and a CM showed up. He said the person who closed the kiosks yesterday forgot to refill the tickets.  He was going to come back in a few minutes. 

 

Here I am waiting for it to be filled:

 

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A bit embarrassed, he returned and I was able to get FPs.  No big deal.

 

DD really wanted to head to Big Thunder Mountain first and therefore:

 

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I really enjoyed taking DD on this ride.  She loved every second and would probably just ride BTMRR all day if given the opportunity.

 

After meeting up with DW and DS at the exit, we headed toward Liberty Square for DS's first pick of the day.

 

I loved taking picks of DD running ahead a bit with virtually no one else around during the early morning:

 

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Here we are at DS's favorite show again:

 

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DS was walking around describing the pictures to DD.  It made daddy very proud.

 

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After HOP, it was time to stop for a quick morning snack:

 

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Now that we have filled our bellies with sugar, it was time to use our FPs to visit the princesses and their special True Love Week guests:

 

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continued in next post

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DD loved meeting the princesses and their main squeezes.  They also gave her Valentines:

 

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Next we head for the train station:

 

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We got off in Storybook Circus because DD wanted to ride Barnstormer:

 

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Good times!

 

Next we got to see the new Dumbo Play Area for the first time:

 

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After riding Dumbo, the kids checked out Casey Junior for a minute:

 

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We hit a Tomorrowland tri-fecta next:

 

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Continued in next post

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Buzz was covered by the black curtain again:

 

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You can't see shorty:

 

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DW and DS:

 

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and last but not least:

 

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On the way out I noticed another Main Street scrim:

 

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Outside the gate I noticed a new wait time feature on the monorail sign:

 

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After arriving back at the CR:

 

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We planned to hit the Poly this afternoon to check out the Volcano pool. We will check that out in the next update.

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Good move getting the princess FP's. 

 

We visited the MK on Friday 2/15/13, and the line to meet the Princesses was ridiculous.

 

 

Wow!  It's amazing all that you did in a morning, especially with two young children!  I'm with your DD.  Could ride BTMRR all day.

 

That is the beauty of rope drop.

 

It is worth skipping some sleep to enjoy and empty park, even if it's only for a couple of hours.  You will get more done in those couple hours than the guests who sleep in will be able to do in the rest of day.

  

 

TCD

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Wow!  It's amazing all that you did in a morning, especially with two young children!  I'm with your DD.  Could ride BTMRR all day.

 

We love the early mornings at the parks.  No lines equals more fun!

 

You can always lounge around or take a nap in the afternoon if you get tired.

 

Wow.  That was a lot done.  I'm exhausted.

 

We're just getting started.  It's time to go for a swim!

 

Love the HOP and especially the belgian waffle food pictures of kitties.  One of our favorite corners of the MK.

 

Priceless pictures of your little girl running the empty streets.  That should be a credit card commercial.

 

Those waffles are mouth watering good.  Very tasty.

 

Thanks Eric.  I couldn't get enough of the pics of her running/skipping ahead of us.

 

Looks like Flynn and Rapunzel are having a spat.

 

That second shot is priceless.

 

 

Did they really need a sign with the ferry wait time? You can see where the stupid things are at all times.

 

It does look like Cindy and her man are about to have a domestic incident there doesn't it.

 

Thanks Lou!

 

I don't think they need a sign.  You can usually eyeball the crowd and figure it out fairly easily.

 

Good move getting the princess FP's. 

 

We visited the MK on Friday 2/15/13, and the line to meet the Princesses was ridiculous.

 

 

 

That is the beauty of rope drop.

 

It is worth skipping some sleep to enjoy and empty park, even if it's only for a couple of hours.  You will get more done in those couple hours than the guests who sleep in will be able to do in the rest of day.

  

 

TCD

 

I am in wholehearted agreement about rope drop. 

 

The only way to see the princesses is with FPs.  The wait times are crazy during the slow early February season.  I can't imagine during one of the peak periods.

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Ok. 

 

Here we go.

 

We left MK and made it back to our room where we changed into our suits and threw some clothes over top.

 

We jumped on the monorail and lickety split we arrived at the Poly:

 

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We skipped lunch at MK and waited until we arrived here:

 

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The kids had the standard WDW nuggets:

 

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DW had a Hawaiian flatbread:

 

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I had a bite.  It was very good.

 

I ordered the Pork Nachos:

 

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Here's the thing.

 

There was some type of special sauce mixed with the sour cream.  Insert laughter here.

 

The special sauce mixed with the sour cream smelled very bad.  I could not eat any of the food that had the sauce on it, so I picked through it. 

 

In retrospect, should I have sent it back and ordered something else?

 

I don't know. 

 

I ate the parts I could handle and DW ate a bit of it but probably 1/2 the food went to waste. 

 

I will not be ordering that again.

 

After lunch we headed for the pool:

 

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I am a bit upset at myself for not heading back to Captain Cooks for a quick dole whip while at the pool.

 

When we were done, we did not have time.

 

We had more important things to do and people to see.....

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After changing our clothes back at BLT and chilling out for a minute, we headed for the boat dock at CR:

 

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We hopped the boat and soon arrived at the Fort:

 

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We stopped at the Settlement to grab a couple drinks.

 

DD decided she wanted to buy a Minnie figure with a bunch of accessories with her gift card:

 

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On the way to see the Fiends:

 

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When we got there we met Lou, Dave, Linda, and Linda's sister.

 

Shortly all the fiends would arrive and we chowed down at the First Annual Februear 13th Fiend Pizza Party:

 

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I see a Fiend that was soon to be corrupted by a bunch of WIld Womenz in that last photo.

 

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I good time was had by all.  What a great group of fiends!

 

Tomorrow (2-14-13) would be our last full day at WDW.  We planned to head north at about 0600 on the 15th.

 

So we needed to make the last day a good one.

 

I will get at least one more update done a bit later.

 

I am going to attempt to get this TR done today or tommorrow.

 

Because we have the Gettysburg GG to travel to on Friday.

 

Oh, and I have another TR to write besides all that if I can get a couple details worked out.

 

I think all the Fiends will enjoy it.

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I'm finally caught up.

 

Back to the pool DB.... wouldn't people rather life guards be safe other than sorry? I mean seriously, if in doubt, help please! 

 

There was more I wanted to say, but I forget now. Love the updates and the pictures! 

 

 

Way to pool hop, you rebel. No gate? 

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Swimming sounds so great right about now.

 

It does,doesn't it?

 

 

I'm finally caught up.

 

Back to the pool DB.... wouldn't people rather life guards be safe other than sorry? I mean seriously, if in doubt, help please! 

 

There was more I wanted to say, but I forget now. Love the updates and the pictures! 

 

 

Way to pool hop, you rebel. No gate? 

 

We can hop when staying on points.......to some places.

 

I think I am going to try to be a rebel at some point though and "hop" on over to AoA.

 

Wow!  Don't your kids ever get tired?  What a full day you had!  It looks like so much fun.

 

They crash as soon as they hit the covers sometime between 8 and 9 normally and sleep until 7am.  Then they are chomping at the bit.

 

I was going to call Aaron out for pool hopping too.

 

But, then I remembered that he is a DVC owner.

 

They're allowed to legally pool hop.

 

TCD

 

We can hop but DVC owners can not hop to BLT, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Stormalong Bay, or Art of Animation.  I am going to look at that as more of a guideline than a rule.  Like I said before, if non-paying WDW guests can hop on over to WDW pools than paying guests should be afforded the same luxury.

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I was going to call Aaron out for pool hopping too.

 

But, then I remembered that he is a DVC owner.

 

They're allowed to legally pool hop.

 

TCD

 

 

It does,doesn't it?

 

 

 

We can hop when staying on points.......to some places.

 

I think I am going to try to be a rebel at some point though and "hop" on over to AoA.

 

 

They crash as soon as they hit the covers sometime between 8 and 9 normally and sleep until 7am.  Then they are chomping at the bit.

 

 

We can hop but DVC owners can not hop to BLT, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Stormalong Bay, or Art of Animation.  I am going to look at that as more of a guideline than a rule.  Like I said before, if non-paying WDW guests can hop on over to WDW pools than paying guests should be afforded the same luxury.

 

See, I learned something! How do you identify yourselves as DVC owners? And why exclude those pools?

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See, I learned something! How do you identify yourselves as DVC owners? And why exclude those pools?

 

DVC owners are issued ID cards that they are supposed to show at the pools (which I don't think are ever really checked).

 

The BLT pool is off limits to everyone, even Contemporary Resort Guests.  I think they did this simply as a marketing ploy to help them sell DVC weeks at BLT.

 

Same thing at AKL Villas.  They have a really nice pool there at the villas.  Making the pool exclusive was a sales tool.

 

The Stormalong Bay pool is like a waterpark, and was the first Disney hotel to have their pool fenced off and to require all who enter to show KTTW cards.  If they didn't do this, the pool would be overrun with pool hoppers.

 

I guess they are not allowing pool hopping to AoA because it is the newest pool and is very nice.  They have a fence around it, showing that they anticipated possible problems with pool hopping.  I wouldn't be surprised if the restriction on DVC owners pool hopping is dropped from that pool.

 

I find the whole thing unfair.  Why should a DVC owner be allowed to pool hop?  Disney doesn't care- this perk doesn't cost them a penny.  And most paying guests at the resorts being invaded by DVC owners have no idea that it's going on.

 

TCD

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Can't wait finally caught up

 

Glad you're caught up and still following along!

 

See, I learned something! How do you identify yourselves as DVC owners? And why exclude those pools?

 

The KTTW cards are imprinted to identify you are staying in a DVC room.

 

I did not have to show anyone a thing in order to swim at the Poly though.

 

Like I said, it seems more of a guideline than a rule.

 

DVC owners are issued ID cards that they are supposed to show at the pools (which I don't think are ever really checked).

 

The BLT pool is off limits to everyone, even Contemporary Resort Guests.  I think they did this simply as a marketing ploy to help them sell DVC weeks at BLT.

 

Same thing at AKL Villas.  They have a really nice pool there at the villas.  Making the pool exclusive was a sales tool.

 

The Stormalong Bay pool is like a waterpark, and was the first Disney hotel to have their pool fenced off and to require all who enter to show KTTW cards.  If they didn't do this, the pool would be overrun with pool hoppers.

 

I guess they are not allowing pool hopping to AoA because it is the newest pool and is very nice.  They have a fence around it, showing that they anticipated possible problems with pool hopping.  I wouldn't be surprised if the restriction on DVC owners pool hopping is dropped from that pool.

 

I find the whole thing unfair.  Why should a DVC owner be allowed to pool hop?  Disney doesn't care- this perk doesn't cost them a penny.  And most paying guests at the resorts being invaded by DVC owners have no idea that it's going on.

 

TCD

 

I agree.  Everyone should be able to pool hop, especially during non-peak periods.

 

When we stayed at the Fort when I was a kid, we pool hopped all the time in January through March time period and they were never pover-crowded.

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