It's A BuckeyeFortFamily Spring Break 'EGG'stravaganza!!

[Big Kahuna aka John 71]

What a great Lou Day !

[Lou... 3,118]

I thanked her sincerely, but didn't write her name down or send her a thank you or give her a gift or take her picture.

Being in a family's photo is always a nice touch. And I bet your reaction to what she did and the sincere thank you meant more to her than some silly card off of someone's home computer. 

 

 

Now I love my children and would do anything for them to a point. I will not wear a tutu to the MK for them on the day before Easter.

Hey, if Donnie can pull it off, and he does, I say, go for it.

 

I tell you, I was looking forward to meeting Lou...

Not as much as I do to meeting Fiend families. I never get tired of photos like these.

 

 

Thanks for looking us up Lou... and we'll catch you on the next trip.

You're very welcome, and we'll definitely see you next time.

 

Hopefully with Buddy too.

He feels the same way.

 

 

 

So is it wrong when I wear a tutu?

A Lou pic! Seems magical to me!

There's absolutely nothing wrong with a grown man wearing a tutu at WDW.

As you're a newbie, you're probably not aware that it's a custom for all new male Fiends to wear a tutu at the Fort on their first day. It's expected and everyone else has done it. Now that would be a magical photo.

 

[CoachClough 12]

So is it wrong when I wear a tutu?

A Lou pic! Seems magical to me!

There's absolutely nothing wrong with a grown man wearing a tutu at WDW.

As you're a newbie, you're probably not aware that it's a custom for all new male Fiends to wear a tutu at the Fort on their first day. It's expected and everyone else has done it. Now that would be a magical photo.

 

 

Be careful what you ask for.  I have the legs to pull it off!

[BuckeyeFortMama 43]

So is it wrong when I wear a tutu?

A Lou pic! Seems magical to me!

 

No, Coach "wrong" is not what I call wearing a tutu to the Magic Kingdom.

 

We'll just leave it at that.

 

And my Lou...pic was magical, can you see the pixie dust?

 

 

 

That Buddy is one good looking dog. :D

 

And a totat sweatheart.

 

I like how Buddy just made himself at home on the rug. :)

 

He really did.  My youngest and Buddy warmed up to each other right away. 

 

What a great Lou Day !

 

 It's not over....

 

 

Thanks for looking us up Lou... and we'll catch you on the next trip.

You're very welcome, and we'll definitely see you next time.

 

Hopefully with Buddy too.

He feels the same way.

 

 

 Thanks for the kind words, schmuck face.

 

Be careful what you ask for.  I have the legs to pull it off!

 

Whoa, where is this going? ? ?

[BuckeyeFortMama 43]

Well, we looped a little while our dinner was cooking in the crock pot.

  

We found only a few Easter decorations.

 

We miss Halloween and Christmas.

 

I found this wild turkey in someone's campsite.

 

 

Seriously, that is YUCK!!! and would scare the daylights out of me if I found that upon exiting my tent.

 

Cute Mickey and Minnie light poles.

 

 

It's always good to loop with BuckeyeFortFan because it usually involves a stop for a Mickey Bar.  He always says as we pull off property at the end of the vacation that he didn't have enough Mickey Bars.

 

 

We came back to our loop to find this raccoon lurking.

 

 

It was quite scrawny and really lurking close. It was freaking me out, if you know what I mean.

 

My kids on the other hand thought it must be a "toddler" raccoon because they sometimes come out during the day and it was so "little."

 

I saw more wildlife at the fort on this trip than I have ever seen.

 

Normally, it's squirrels, birds, and deer. This trip had those plus turkeys, raccoons, and a panther.

 

Maybe it was the River Country Panther.

 

But seriously, as we were on our awesome tour of the barns I saw a mountain lion or something along the lines of a wild big cat in the brush behind the riding stables.  At first I thought it was just a cat until I realized how big it was compared to the pile of wood it was walking on, but by the time I got my camera out it was gone.

 

Enough about wild animals.

 

Let's get to the pool.

 

There were plenty of wild animals here too, and two of them were mine.

 

 

Actually it wasn't too bad.

 

Except for the people with their whole houses with them at the pool.

 

I couldn't get over how many people were at the pool with massive amounts of things in tow. You would have thought they came to the beach for the week with all the wagons and coolers and radios and toys and pool toys and well, you get the picture. They brought more stuff than someone with a camper a loop or two away would ever care to drag to the pool.

 

Is that even enjoyable?

 

Oh well! Fuego.

 

We went back and had our Chicken Cordon Blue crock pot meal and it was delicious, but ugly. No pictures.

 

 

What are we doing back on the dock?

 

You guessed it, a rare BuckeyeFortFamily trip to the MK at dark. We wanted to catch the MSEP. 

 

Normally we get in at  rope drop and when the crowd gets annoying we beat feet and we don't come back until the next morning.

 

 

But tonight we played portals until it was parade time because we don't wait for attractions and at this time of day you wait.

 

Our only goal coming back this early was to get this.

 

 

Please notice the advantage the trash can gives us. It is at a nice turn in the rope so no one blocking the view of the oncoming floats/lights and we know that the trash can is off Disney limits.

 

 

BuckeyeFortKid4 didn't make it.
 

 

One more view of this primo spot.

 

 

      

Here's what I mean about being off Disney limits.  This lady stuck her kid on the trash can and I very nicely said to the lady that the cast member wasn't going to let her leave him there and she'd be smart to find a space on the rope now while there were still places to be found.

 

 

She didn't believe me and right before the parade the castmember made her move. She stomped off and I didn't say "I told you so" like I wanted to.

 

But I wasn't bothered for long because it was parade time.

 

Warning----This is hard parade to take pictures of.

 

 

 

 

    

Oh, here comes our favorite Disney float.

 

 

 

 

We love Pete's Dragon and it was a childhood favorite of BuckeyeFortFan's. We do pass on our passion's to our children.

 

 

There goes Elliot (a previous avatar for my beloved BuckeyeFortFan).

 

What do you do when you find yourself in Frontierland following the MSEP and you have time to kill before the castle projection show.

 

If you are DaveInTn you already know what the next picture is going to be.

 

 

Hey kids let me get a picture of those funnel cakes.

 

 

Too late.

 

We headed over to the hub and it was EMPTY!

 

Totally empty for the castle projection show. We watched it with all of 3 of people.
 

Ok, so I might be stretching the truth a bit but we are here on SPRING BREAK and the weather is nice. There is no reason that the castle projection show shouldn't have a large crowd.

 

Here we are on the dock waiting for  a boat home.
 

 

It's almost a 11 o'clock but you can see the kids are still awake except for the youngest.

 

Here they are asleep only 15 minutes later. You can see BuckeyeFortKid1 on my shoulder and BuckeyeFortKid2 is on the other side and they are both fast asleep.

 

 

Here's my second shot so you can see that BuckeyeFortKid3 is also out.

 

 

Another reason why we don't usually do the late night trip into the parks.

 

We woke them all up and got them down the dock to the golf cart.

 

Tomorrow is EASTER!

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I've taken pictures of empty plates before too.  Sometimes everyone dives in before you snap the pic. 

[CoachClough 12]

You found Wild Turkey? Was the bottle full???

[BuckeyeFortMama 43]

I've taken pictures of empty plates before too.  Sometimes everyone dives in before you snap the pic. 

 

I've never seen them eat a funnel cake that fast before.

 

You found Wild Turkey? Was the bottle full???

 

It must have been. The turkey walked right off the bottle.

[BuckeyeFortMama 43]

 Easter Day 2013

 

Well, on our last trip we discovered that Santa knows where the Fort is and today we found the Easter Bunny does too.

 

(check out my first ever trip report First Christnas Trip to Disney for the Buckeye Fort Family  http://www.fortfiends.net/forum/topic/8725-first-christmas-trip-to-disney-for-the-buckeye-fort-family/)

 

 

 

Happy kids.

 

 

These were the hit out of the baskets.

 

 

 

We had learned from Kelly the GaDawgFan that it was best to be early for the candy scramble. 

 

We were early for sure. They were putting stuff out and setting up still.

 

 

The candy scramble was almost complete.  I recognized Michelle in the yellow in the middle of this picture.  She is the host of most of the pool activities we have participated in recently. BuckeyeFortKid1 had won the Disney "name that tune" just the afternoon before.

 

 

 

I went to check out the theme of the scramble while the kids did a craft. 

 

 

3 bears and a key.  It must be a Brave theme.

 

Here's a bear close up.

 

 

That's a lot of candy.

 

A close up of the key.

 

 

Merida's bow and the target.

 

 

A different angle.

 

 

Finally Merida.

 

 I turned around and had a really nice view of the target.

 

 

 

There was even a nice nest of eggs. Those eggs win you big prizes, we found out later.

 

 

 

See the nest is out here in no man's land when it comes to getting candy. You can also see in this picture the Easter Egg with the ages on it. The bow and target were for 5-8 year olds.  The bears were for the under 4 set and the 9 and up had Merida.

 

 

 

You gotta have a mickey head, right?

 

 

Who wouldn't love one made out of smarties.

 

 

 I mentioned Michelle earlier because I asked her (when she was done placing candy) about this scramble. I asked how they know what they are going to do and how much candy to use. I assumed they get some kind of 'corporate' schematic for the prep for this.  

 

I was surprised to hear the Entertainment staff for each resort that holds a Candy Scramble is completely in charge of what they do. They design it and implement it themselves.  And then they take pictures and somewhere they are displayed to be voted on.  So it's in essence a contest between the resort's Entertainment staffs. 

 

Michelle was proud to say the Brave theme was her idea.  I thought it was implemented beautifully.  She said they just free hand it when they do it.  Wow. 

 

I better go find my kids.

 

 

This is what they play at the school carnival.

 

Oh well.

 

Here comes Thumper! Happy Easter!

 

 

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

I heart Easter at the Fort.... How do I talk Jason into 3 in a row?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Let's see:

 

1.  I have never seen a raccoon at the Fort.  The closest I've come is the caps they sell in the trading posts.

 

2.  I can't believe the amount of candy they give away at the candy scramble.  Especially since they have cut back on a lot of the other holiday stuff.

 

TCD

[alexwyattmommy 181]

They did a great job winging those candy figures.  Thank you for taking photos of them.  My kids are too old for it, so we would never plan a trip around Easter and would never see that in person.

[BuckeyeFortMama 43]

 I'm sorry this is dragging on. I know I keep blaming work, but it really is to blame. It has thrown us a curveball this past month. 

 

I can't let ImDownWithDisney finish his report before I do.

 

I heart Easter at the Fort.... How do I talk Jason into 3 in a row?

 

Remind him that he will be totally recovered by next year and you want him to have the full Disney Easter experience.

 

Let's see:

 

1.  I have never seen a raccoon at the Fort.  The closest I've come is the caps they sell in the trading posts.

 

2.  I can't believe the amount of candy they give away at the candy scramble.  Especially since they have cut back on a lot of the other holiday stuff.

 

TCD

 

1.This raccoon was not right and lurking. I don't like lurking animals.

 

2. Just wait for the pictures of how much we walked away with. WHOA!

 

They did a great job winging those candy figures.  Thank you for taking photos of them.  My kids are too old for it, so we would never plan a trip around Easter and would never see that in person.

 

Long after it was over, they kept making announcements that adults should pick up the candy that was left. So I don't think there is "too old" at Disney.

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

The candy scramble designs and your pics were awesome.

 

I am hoping your kids were able to get some of the big prize eggs.

[BuckeyeFortMama 43]

Easter Day continued

 

So what do you do with Thumper on Easter Day at the Fort.

 

You have a dance party of course.

 

 

My kids all danced of course.

 

 

Then on GaDawgFan's cue we stratigically placed ourselves for the candy scramble.

 

 

I took this one with me.

 

 

BuckeyeFortFan took BuckeyeFortKids 2&3 with him so they could line up next to BFK1's section.

 

 

Here's a sun made entirely of DOTS boxes.

 

 

There aren't many people here yet, but each bus that pulls up is packed full!

 

 

Here's the markers to tell you what section your kid is going to pick up candy in.  You can see the castmember holding the 13-16 year old sign.

 

 

Here's the BFK 2&3 section sign.

 

 

So it is safe to assume that BuckeyFortKid1 is hunting with 9-12 year olds.

 

They announced that anyone over 16 should hunt with the oldest age group.

 

And there's the Georgia Dawg Family waiting on the other side of the 0-4 group. Coffee and candy bucket at the ready, but Grandpa's missing. 

 

 

5 minutes and 2 buses later and look at this crowd.

 

 

Z's Grandpa made it. Honestly what's with this family? Always wearing red and black?

 

 

Five minutes later and this crowd just keeps growing!

 

 

They blow the whistle and my little man takes off.

 

 

Oh yes, he is wearing a superhero cape so he can 'fly' to get the candy.

 

I remind him on a daily basis that the cape will be his undoing and try to show him the scenes from the Incredibles but he doesn't care.

 

Do you see how this little guy is wisely chosing his candy? This is the third pile we have come to and he hasn't even covered the bottom of his basket.

 

 

I snap a quick picture of my middle children.

 

 

Then BFK4 decides he's had enough and we walk around the 5-8 year olds group and I pass these boys running away with their loot.

 

 

 

Yes, the scramble had been going on for under 3 minutes and that boy had a bucket full.

 

This is what the kids doing the scramble look like.

 

 

 

I found my kids and had to take a picture of the difference of what BFK4 thought was enough candy and what the school age children did.

 

 

BuckeyeFortKid2 found two eggs with a prizes in them so she turned them in for an Easter basket of goodies and foam bow and arrow set. How appropriate.

 

 

The kids and their loot. BuckeyeFortKid4 already has a chocolate face.

 

 

I must say that as far as Disney free events go this is really well done. There is so much candy that even an hour after it was over they were still announcing there was candy on the grass and anyone could pick it up and have it---not just children.

 

My kids were very happy with the experience. I don't think that any kid walked away wanting something they didn't get. I saw no hissy fits. So it was a win/win.

 

I did some research and discovered very few resorts hold a candy scramble, but it is widely publicized so guests from other resorts are encouraged to go to a resort with a candy scramble. So that is why the buses where running so quickly and dropping off more people than I have ever seen come out of an internal bus!

 

After the scramble you could meet Mickey and Minnie, but we do that all the time so we walked over to the Trail's End to see if we could get a reservation. I was certain there would be nothing avaliable this morning, but this was the scene when we got to the hostess stand. When you have a family of 6, it is hard to squeeze into any restaurant. So no waiting made me hopeful.

 

 

SCORE! 15 to 20 minute wait.

 

I ran the baskets back to the camper.

 

They barely fit on the golf cart.

 

 

This coffee cup is one of my favorite parts of a Fort trip. We got them on our very first trip to the Fort with the girls as babies.

 

 

You can see the white and pink Easter craft bunny at the very bottom edge of the last photo. It is how we passed the time when we first got up to Pioneer Hall.

 

When I got back from the camper there was serious game of checkers going on.

 

 

The 'Egg'stravaganza continues in the next post.

 

 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Congratulations to the Buckeye Fort Family on a successful candy scramble!

 

I cannot believe how much candy they give away.  This does not happen at any other holiday.

 

Nice slam on IDWD.

 

That last photo is not the porch at Trail's End.  So, was your crew waiting way over at the Settlement Trading Post?  That checkerboard is usually inside there.

 

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

The candy scramble looks like so much fun!  Congrats to your kids!

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

The candy scramble looks like fun.

 

If I would have heard them saying anyone could take it.......I would have been in there filling up pillow cases.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

That's a lot of candy. 

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Love our picture! I think it's funny that we're all in red and black. It just happens.

Jason and I just shuttered at the idea of 4x the candy. Scary!!!!

[alexwyattmommy 181]

Hmmm, they actually have a section for up to 16.  I may have to rethink the Easter tradition. :D

Nice job with the littlest have the smallest selection in his bucket but still having the chocolate face first.

[BuckeyeFortMama 43]

The candy scramble designs and your pics were awesome.

 

I am hoping your kids were able to get some of the big prize eggs.

 

She picked up eggs and didn't know there were prizes attached.

 

Next time they already plan to go after eggs first.

 

They assume there will be a next time.

 

They are darn lucky kids.

Congratulations to the Buckeye Fort Family on a successful candy scramble!

 

I cannot believe how much candy they give away.  This does not happen at any other holiday.

 

Nice slam on IDWD.

 

That last photo is not the porch at Trail's End.  So, was your crew waiting way over at the Settlement Trading Post?  That checkerboard is usually inside there.

 

TCD

 

 You are so totally right!!!

 

I should say right now how pleased I am with the Auto save feature on this board. I was kicked off 5 times this morning trying to get this post on.  The autosave feature was a God send in bringing back all that I had lost.

 

But in my haste to get the post on and not be super late taking the kids to the Zoo to celebrate summer break I failed to look at the time on the last photo. They did play checkers before breakfast, but that last picture was after we played on the Marina playground for a while after breakfast (which was good by the way sorry no DIT pics). 

 

The candy scramble looks like so much fun!  Congrats to your kids!

 

It was nice and then they had lots of Oriental Trading company games and crafts too set up outside of Pioneer Hall.

 

The candy scramble looks like fun.

 

If I would have heard them saying anyone could take it.......I would have been in there filling up pillow cases.

 

Funny you say that. I didn't see any pillow cases. Hmmmm

 

That's a lot of candy. 

 

More than you can ever imagine! LITERALLY!

 

Love our picture! I think it's funny that we're all in red and black. It just happens.

Jason and I just shuttered at the idea of 4x the candy. Scary!!!!

 

Honestly, if you had a gray or white shirt on, I would have thought you were Buckeye's, but then even your Dad wore black.

 

I would say 95% of that candy is still in my basement on the canning shelves. I need to find something to do with it.

[CoachClough 12]

So.....would eating as you scrambled be frowned upon?

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

So.....would eating as you scrambled be frowned upon?

 

 

I really just read this as "So...would eating you as scrambled be frowned upon?" Oh dyslexia you do make ordinary life fun sometimes. 

[CoachClough 12]

I really just read this as "So...would eating you as scrambled be frowned upon?" Oh dyslexia you do make ordinary life fun sometimes. 

Mwuhahaha...I may go back and edit it to that...