Spring Break 2009 at the Fort with TCD!

[Tri-circle-D]

When TCD gets back online this evening he will wonder how his thread went so very horribly off topic. Then again, they usually do!

I have been around here long enough that I would be surprised to see a thread that does not wander a bit.

But, let's get this one back on track.

More pics from Friday April 3:

Here is another look at the torn up grass and such around the tennis courts:

This fellow arrived to drop off this lift. You will see it parked at the pool in some upcoming photos. Carol (clkelley) reported that she saw them using the lift for the big spot lights at the pool:

Here we can see that the landscape truck is almost empty:

The landscaping went in fast, and looks good:

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Still more photos from last Friday, April 3. Hard to believe that people will be swimming in the pool in just one more week (that is today!):

Meanwhile, over on the 700 loop, it looks like things are getting finished up. Pretty amazing considering how things looked earlier in the week:

I don’t know what this trailer was doing at the Fort, but I know some potential clients can be found right here on the Disboards:

These sunflowers were growing on the 1800 loop:

Here is one of the few campsites decorated for Easter/Spring (although they were cheating with the Winnie the Pooh):

A few more shots of the 700 loop:

Some of the pads on these sites really look kind of like patch work:

TCD

 

[BradyBz12]

more great stuff!!

 

[Doggmeat]

They also have one of these stores across from Downtown Disney. This one has pizza available for takeout and it was pretty decent and reasonable as I recall. We have their phone # magnet in the trailer so we can call ahead.

This is also where I resupply the beer. Even cheaper than the Goodings just off property.

there is also, if i remember correctly, a hess station by the studios/fantasia golf

 

[clkelley]

If you don't have a car available, the Hess at DTD is the easiest to get to. Just take a bus to DTD, Pleasure Island stop and as you get off the bus, go down the sidewalk toward the road and cross at the light. There are many folks that use that crosswalk because there is a Cast Member parking lot in behind the Hess.

Sodas, water, beer, are all real world prices, very reasonable. The only downside is no Pepsi products, only Coke products.

 

[BradyBz12]

....and IMO pretty much EVERYWHERE is cheaper than the Goodings @ Crossroads.

Quite possibly even the trading posts.

 

[3gr8kids]

I don’t know what this trailer was doing at the Fort, but I know some potential clients can be found right here on the Disboards:

TCD

Okay, let me get this straight. All I have to do is claim to have an alcohol and/or substance abuse problem, and this "mobile collection unit" will come and collect me and take me to Fort Wilderness??

I'm in - where do I sign up???

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Wow! Awesome photos as always! I almost feel like I've been there! hehe

Is it just me or is the slide painted weird? I can't figure out why some parts are painted brown and some not- or atleast I can't figure out the reason why some are and some aren't- doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason- KWIM? I can't figure it out. LOL

 

[Minnie&Mickey]

Keep it coming, TCD! I'm loving the trip report...even all 7000 pictures of the pool!

 

[Tri-circle-D]

OK- I'm back, and will get this trip report wrapped up this week (I hope!).

Back on Friday, April 3, the barricades came down on the 700 loop. We have already seen some of the photos from that day.

Here are some more, which were taken before any campers arrived.

The folks at the Fort can do wonders with pine straw. I wonder how much they used to cover everything here on the 700 loop:

Here is something interesting.

On Friday afternoon, we were doing some looping around the Fort, and saw this lady casually riding her horse on the sidewalk by the 1400 loop:

It had been a few minutes since we last checked on the progress at the pool, so it was time for us to go back for another look:

Look who's taking another smoke break there in the background of this next photo. That's right, it's our friend the slide painter. He still hasn't made much progress has he? Maybe he will pick up some speed after the nicotine kicks in?

You could tell that things were getting serious on the pool construction site, because all day, important looking people showed up with concerned looks on their faces. Like these guys:

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Moving right along . . .

I see the problem here. One guy working, and four managers watching:

Well, lookie here! The slide painter is taking another break! What is it with this guy? The pool would have been open during our visit if it wasn't for him! Sheeez!

Here is a shot of something that I saw all the time on this visit. Pool watchers on the picnic tables on the Meadow swimming pool porch:

The splash zone continues to look like a hopeless mess:

On Friday afternoon, we were visiting the Settlement trading post, when this guy came cruising by:

What nerve!! These bikers pulled right up to the fence by the Settlement playground, hopped off their hog, and started heading into Crockett's for a cold one! Not on my watch! I marched right over there. I was going to ask them if they could read. You can't ride a motorcycle down here! Who do they think they are? Back in the day, you couldn't ride a motorcycle anywhere on Fort property. So, I confronted them. Yikes! Tattoos, muscles bulging from a tight t-shirt with cut off sleeves, a big, bushy mustache. A real biker . . . very scary and intimidating . . .

. . .and that was the biker chick.

[insert rim shot sound effect here]

Seriously, though, I have never seen anyone ride a motorcycle down here.

After the fun with the bikers, we headed back toward the 900 loop, and got to witness the very first campers arriving in the "new" 700 loop. Here they are:

The first campers were assigned to site 701. As the evening progressed, each successive camper was assigned to the next site. Slowly, the loop filled about 3/4 of the way around.

Interesting, I know, but you know what this report needs?

Some more pool pictures!

So, here is the pool, viewed from the bridge behind the Meadow trading post.

From this angle, it looks like the splash zone is coming together. I think we can say that whatever it is, it is going to have something oval:

A couple more pool pics. You can never have too many pool pics:

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Early Friday evening, April 3, we saw this character walking down the main FW drag, and using the new sidewalk next to site 617:

I believe that this is the fellow who replaced Miss Sundee as the main performer at the nightly campfire. I think he goes by the name of “Chuckwagon Bob” or something along those lines. So, there would be another advantage to staying in 617- you get big time entertainers walking by close enough to touch!
On Friday, we got new neighbors in the 900 loop. It is amazing how people come and go all the time. The new folks had an extended family, with what looked like three generations of the family sharing the site. They had both a 5th wheel and a tent. No problem fitting that on their site. They were cooking their dinner inside and outside of the trailer, and all got together to eat. Then everyone took off, leaving poor granny back at the site to clean up. Well, it wasn’t long before granny parked it, and caught some shut eye:

This granny reminded me of another granny that we had on our loop on our Spring Break 2008 trip. Here she is:

So, I am thinking of starting a new Picture of the Day thread-pictures of grannies snoozing at the Fort. I have two photos now. This leaving your granny unattended at your site has started to become a regular epidemic around the Fort. They really need to do something about this.
Our plan for Friday night was to hit the MK late, maybe an hour or so before closing, and get in a last ride at Space Mountain before it closes for the summer . MK was open until 11. We headed down to the dock at about 9:20, just as the boat was pulling away. And then we waited. And we waited. For another boat to come. Finally, at about 9:40, two of the big boats arrived at the same time. I don’t know what this was about. But, by the boat unloaded, and we got ready to board, the boats for the EWP pulled up, and the boat captain said that we would have to wait for that to clear before we could head out. That meant in would be after 10 before we could head out, and probably past 10:15 before we even got to the MK. So, we didn’t go.
We hung out around camp. And at about 11:30 pm, headed down to the pool. We were going to be the first ones in.
One neat thing about the slide is that they have wired it for lights. At other WDW resorts, the slides close before the pools close. If I recall correctly, a lot close at dusk. I wonder with all these lights whether the Fort slide will stay open later.

Here is a shot of the pool at night:

And, I have already posted some of these next photos elsewhere on the Disboards, but for sake of completeness of this report, I am posting them again. They confirm that the TCD gang was the first in the pool and hot tub:

You can see from the above photos that our buddy the slide painter made about zero progress on painting the dang slide on Friday evening, even though the man was there smoking until dark!
I next visited the pool on Saturday morning, April 4. There was just a small crew there pressure washing the deck. Some of the gates were open, and old TCD accidentally wandered into the area. Here is what I saw:

TCD

 

[BradyBz12]

Granny #2 has one seriously comfy looking chair!

Ahhh.... I aspire to BE that granny someday... lounging at the Fort as much as I like. I even have the fuzzy pink bathrobe to complete the look!

This leaving your granny unattended at your site has started to become a regular epidemic around the Fort. They really need to do something about this.

This may be far worse than even leaving your dog unattended.... although grannies rarely bark.

I wonder with all these lights whether the Fort slide will stay open later.

Ooh - fingers crossed here!!

 

[Donna]

I hate to say it, but I think the slide painting is done! i think it will stay light beige on the pool side to blend in with the slide surface and brown on the back side to blend in with the deck. Just a guess!

 

[Minnie&Mickey]

I hate to say it, but I think the slide painting is done! i think it will stay light beige on the pool side to blend in with the slide surface and brown on the back side to blend in with the deck. Just a guess!

Oh wow, I didn't think of that, Donna. I think you may be right!

 

[Shan-man]

No, the whole underside of the shell got painted, and the slide surface remained beige.

 

[Tri-circle-D]

No, the whole underside of the shell got painted, and the slide surface remained beige.

Yes, that is correct. There are photos posted on the "Something is Happening Near the Pool" thread that show the completed paint job.

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

I'll bet that if you are still following along, you would be happy to never see another photo of the pool.

But, this is a historic time at the Fort, and I wanted to make sure that I did not miss any detail.

So, here are yet more photos of the pool, taken on Saturday morning, April 4th.

You can take comfort in knowing two things: (1) I left the Fort a little after 11 am on April 4th so at some point these pool photos will stop; and (2) We now know that the pool has been completed and opened, so this is not going to happen again (at least with respect to the pool).

But, onward we go . . .

The pool looks pretty done here. But, our friend the speedy painter still hasn't finished his job.

Also, the restrooms look like they need some work . . .

The splash zone is still getting worked on (by one man- perhaps a relative of the painter?)

I think I took these photos to illustrate that the incorrect depth measurements have not been fixed:

The new landscaping looks nice. Consistent with the other landscaping done at the Fort lately, they are going for a native, natural look. No palm trees here. Which is fine with me!:

Guess what is up next?

Did you guess more pool pics?

I wouldn't, would I?

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Did you guess that more pool pictures were coming?

Well if you did, you are right!

Don't worry, we are almost finished.

But, here they are:

Here is what happened to those tiles that we saw stacked up on the side of the pool yesterday:

Well, I have some good news and some bad news.

What do you want to hear first.

The good news?

OK

On this Saturday morning, this is when I left the pool because I wanted some pics of the 700 loop with the new arrivals in it. So, coming up next will be some photos of something other than the pool.

The bad news?

I visited the pool again before I left.

But, until then, from the pool I headed over to the 600 loop first.

Here are a couple of shots of one of the new lakefront sites. Pretty nice. But too open for my liking:

Here is a look at the sites looking back into the loop from just about the end of the new sites. Looks like not enough trees:

Here is a look in the other direction:

Here is a look at site 617 with an motor-home in it. You can see that there are definitely poop bags here on the 600 loop. You can also see that the barricade has been taken down from around the 800 loop bus stop. I was hoping that the campers in 617 would use their grill some time during my visit, but they never did:

Here we are in the original part of the 600 loop, looking back at the new part:

One thing that I have always enjoyed is the fact that the entrance to the 700 loop is right across from the exit from the 600 loop. So, if you are looping on your cart, you just cross the road, and keep on with the fun.

So, here we are at the entrance to the 700 loop. Hard to believe that just four days earlier, when we arrived for this visit, the 700 loop was a mess:

Here we are looking back toward the 700 loop entrance:

Some general shots of the 700 loop. Looks pretty good:

Here are the first tent campers on the 700 loop. I saw these poor folks setting up in the dark on Friday night:

Next up- I meet some golf cart scofflaws!

TCD

 

[Me&3]

Great TR