August 2020 Trip Reports

[proudmomof4]

I will do my best to keep this thread updated. As mentioned on the July thread, I have issues posting pictures, they are either rotated or the boards won’t accept the size of the photo.

We plan on departing Tampa early in the morning on 8/14.

These guys will be with us:
See what I mean about the photo rotation?

I’ll have to try to remember to take all photos in landscape.

We will hang out at our site Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

We have park passes for HS on 8/17. AK on 8/18, Epcot 8/19 and MK on 8/21.

Sunday 8/23 will be check out day.

Let’s hear from anyone else who will be at FW in August.

 

[team bradfield]

you need to crop them first

 

[garneska]

@proudmomof4 omg they are so cute. the one reminds me of yeti.

 

[proudmomof4]

you need to crop them first

View attachment 515626

Thanks!

 

[proudmomof4]

@proudmomof4 omg they are so cute. the one reminds me of yeti.

Thank you!

What kind of dog was Yeti?

Duke is a full Great Pyrenees and Scout is a Great Pyrenees mix, we think with lab and shepherd.

 

[garneska]

Yeti was a great pyrenees. He was small but we dont think was a mix of anything. if he was would be lab ish. he was a rescue.

found one that would post the right direction. this is an old shot since mallory could still walk. can't be that old mallory is in a harness. so she probably could not walk. could still be 6 years old though. Yeti is no longer with us.

 

[proudmomof4]

They are beauties! I’m so sorry you lost Yeti, it seems they are never with us long enough. I’ve been following some of Mallory’s adventures, she’s a lucky girl to have such wonderful humans in her life.

Both of mine are rescues too. Duke is also small for a full bred Pyr but the vet says he’s definitely not a mix. He was found as a stray and they think he’s around 6 years old. We got Scout from our local humane society, he was an owner surrender for being too big. We are just so lucky to have them in our lives.

 

[proudmomof4]

Here’s another test doing what @team bradfield suggested.

 

[garneska]

Nice job @proudmomof4 you got it. I love rescue dogs. Yeah your dune and my yeti look very similar. Yes Mallory has some adventures. Can’t wait for you to get to Disney and put up more pics of the pups at the fort!

 

[friendofeeyore]

They do look alike. Your fur babies are precious.

 

[tiggerdad]

On the pictures, I've noted since the Dis last update that if you use your phone to take the pics, make sure you are holding phone horizontal.

Every picture taken with my phone held vertical (up and down) the Dis turns sideways. As long as im holding my phone horizontally the pics post just fine.

 

[Teamubr]

Micheal,

It seems the DIS is ignoring the "orientation" parameter in the pic metadata. I thought it was only doing it on iPhones (iOS), but my Android phone started doing it too. As TeamBradford (I think) said, editing the pic (I use an app call Photo Resizer to shrink them down) resets the orientation parameter so the DIS will show them as shot(or edited). The extra step is a pain, but does work.

j

 

[tiggerdad]

Yep Jim, I just started changing the angle of my phone in order to avoid the resizing which I was doing initially.

 

[Teamubr]

Yep Jim, I just started changing the angle of my phone in order to avoid the resizing which I was doing initially.

I shoot 90+% of my pics in landscape (preferred DIS mode), but that's because I'm old. It seems most of my young friends (under 30) (or DS' friends) do most things in portrait. I was told it is easier to hold a phone for portrait pics, but more likely is the format Instagram, TickToc, Vine (now defunct) favored. I've also been told that selfies look "much better" in portrait because you can get more of yourself in the pic.

j

 

[3kidsdad]

Hello all. We have been here since Wednesday and will be going home tomorrow. We had no park days reserved as this was just a Fort only trip to rest and recharge.

We arrived Wednesday around 3:30pm and never did receive a text assigning our cabin number. We pulled in to security at the front and told them we were checking in. They did not have our name on the books there, and the guard asked us to pull on up to check-in. Thankfully, they did have our reservation. The cast member asked if we had gotten our cabin assignment text and when we told her no she said "not surprised". She asked if we would like to pay our balance with the card on file? I told her that that account had been closed and I tried handing her a new card. Nope, she wouldn't touch it and asked me to read off the numbers to her. Not really a big deal but just felt weird. She assigned us cabin 2651 and off we went.

Little background on us. We are a family of five. Me, the misses, a 20yr old son, 18yr old daughter and a 9 year old son. We knew with Trails End not being open that we would plan to have breakfast and dinner everday at the cabin and just snacky kind of things for lunch. So after arrival at the cabin we unpacked all our clothes, stocked the fridge with all the food and drinks and packed the cabinets with the snacks.

I started by making some pasta salad and breaking out some ribs that I had smoked and vaccum packed earlier in the week to do on the grill for dinner. As we looked around the cabin we saw a few things that while not deal breakers nor would they ruin a trip, just weren't something we were used to seeing. Light bulbs out over the sink and front door. Exhaust fan in the hallway not working, icemaker not working and while it was spotlessly cleaned neither the remote in the bedroom or living area worked. We popped some new batteries in both remotes and said we would point out the bulbs when mousekeeping stopped by on Thursday. We had a great dinner and went to bed early for a big day of hanging out at the pool and cruising around on the golf cart.

Thursday started like every other Fort visit with me rising before dawn, making coffee and hanging out on the porch watching daybreak while everyone else slept in. I decided they had all slept long enough and started making bacon, biscuits, gravy and hashbrowns. Soon the smell of the bacon had them all coming out of the bedroom. I popped the biscuits in the microwave/convection oven and the power flashed to the whole cabin. It came right back on but then a minute later all the lights in the kitchen started flashing and power to the stove top and oven was intermittent. Then slowly but surely there was no power to the kitchen and worst of all the air died.

 

[3kidsdad]

Luckily enough there was a mousekeeper cleaning the cabin across from us so I asked her to notify maintenance that we were having power problems at our cabin. She radioed it in and within 15 minutes an electrician arrived. He checked all the outlets in the kitchen with a multi meter and couldn't find any issues. He then checked the panel outside and informed us he thought there was a bad breaker and that he would have to shut power off to the whole cabin for about 20 minutes as Disney will not let them take the panel off without power being shut down to the whole unit. Since we hadn't picked up our golf cart yet we figured this would be the perfect time to do that while they made repairs.

As we pulled up to check in I received a phone call from a Disney telephone number. I answered and was informed by the cast member on the phone that the problem at our cabin could not be fixed today and that we would have to move cabins. She informed us that we would be moving to the 2500 loop into a handicapped accessible cabin. We didn't need that but cool, now we have a ramp to roll coolers and suitcases up. She also informed me that for the inconvenience they would refund us one night on our stay. We picked up our cart and were asked by the cast member to keep it plugged in at all times as they were having issues with batteries losing charge quickly due to sitting for months.

We came back to our original cabin and began re-packing all the clothes, food, drinks and the electrician who was still there told us the problem was a breaker in the LEG????????? (long story short, where power comes in to the loop, splits and provides power to about 10 cabins). They dont keep those breakers stocked and would have to order. We were offered assistance in getting everything moved, but we declined and moved on over to the 2500 loop.

 

[3kidsdad]

We get to the new cabin and again not a deal breaker or trip ruiner but, the exhaust fan cover in the hallway is about to fall off (it does work though), the top shelf in the bathroom is about to fall off the wall and the light is out by the bedroom entrance door outside. For the second time we unpacked our clothes, loaded up the fridge and stocked the snacks. We still hadn't ate due to the issue before so we quickly had some ham sandwiches and chips and jumped on the golf cart to cruise around for a while.

First observation while cruising around is about 90% of people are wearing masks but maybe 20% of them are wearing them correctly. They are pulled down under their noses, pulled down under their chins and I thought they were not approved but lots of people wearing gaiters. I have only seen one cast member ask someone to put on a mask and that was a really young boy on a golf cart and the cast memeber who was driving in the opposite direction pointed to her face and yelled "you have to have a mask on". I have seen people with no masks walking dogs, riding bikes and in their golf carts. I have even seen a bus driver stopped at a stop sign with his mask under his nose. The pool however is a different story as I am guessing the lifeguards are a little more authoritative. Plenty of social distancing and people correctly wearing their masks and getting called out to social distance when not in the pool. Now I will say, the people not wearing their masks correctly are social distancing so I really dont have an issue with it. Any trip in to the Meadows or Settlement trading posts where social distancing is harder, people are 100% wearing masks and wearing them correctly.

Lots of loops are still "temporarily closed" and from what we have seen occupancy of the open loops seems to be about 60 to 70 percent. P&J's is open as well as the walk up window at Crockett's. Settlement trading post while open, closes at 5:00pm. So if you want something from there get there early.

Thankfully no more cabin issues and it has been a great trip with one more day to go. If anyone has any specific questions, just let me know.

 

[bama_ed]

Thankfully no more cabin issues and it has been a great trip with one more day to go. If anyone has any specific questions, just let me know.

Good report, 3kidsdad. I'm sorry to hear about the power problems and the inconvenience of moving cabins.

One question I had was regarding the Settlement Bus Depot area down by Trails End. They built the new Tri Circle D ranch on the left side of the relocated road but I wondered if they still had that road area blocked off due to the Reflections construction area that has apparently been put into hibernation. Specifically I was wondering if the Exercise Trail was accessible yet from the Settlement Bus Depot area down towards Wilderness Lodge. That's a favorite walking/biking path for us and we're coming in October.

The Exercise Trail was blocked off during the TCD and Reflections buildout but since one was finished and the other paused, I was hoping maybe the Trail had been opened up.

Also on the Fort Wilderness dock, are they just running the big boat on the left side to the Magic Kingdom or are they also running the smaller boat off the right side of the dock that goes WL-CR-FW.

Thanks, Bama Ed

 

[3kidsdad]

Just toured the new barn and facilities. Man is it nice. Sorry Ed, but two different cast members informed me that the exercise trail is not open and they are only running the boat to Magic Kingdom. They do have a special bus that transports to the lodge now.

 

[3kidsdad]