TCD is proud to be an American!-July 4th at the Fort!

[rm0530]

Did Mrs. TCD and Rocky stay home? I wanted to see more cute puppy pics.

I'm glad you got pictures and video of the fireworks for the Poly. I may just save a few if that's alright with you.

Can you share the location of soft-serve at WL/Contemporary? BF requested some and was able to get plain vanilla at Aloha Isle but it'd be nice to have a location outside of a park.

I love your early morning pictures around the Fort. It'd be so nice to have a cart and travel freedom. I enjoyed seeing the sites boarding the water. It's a shame I don't like to hike to bathrooms and always request close to CS.

I'm sorry your canoeing adventure was foiled. I have no doubt you'll get into the area eventually.

 

[indimom3]

I think you'd be okay to portage. You said there were no signs telling you not to turn right down that canal? And I'm willing to bet there are no signs saying "Do not portage."



Great report!

 

[Born 2 Fish]

What a great adventure! Enjoying your "Mystery Tour"!

Magical Mystery Tour,,=

 

[anolefan]

You aren't kidding about the sludge behind the 1400 loop. That site you took the photo of looks like it might be 1418 or 1419. We have stayed at both sites and the canal looked like that each time. This picture was directly behind our site.

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Your reports SOOOOO ROCK !

Thanks, Frank!

What a great adventure! Enjoying your "Mystery Tour"!

Hey, get that hippie out of here!

Who said anything about hippies?

I am happy to report that I saw no hippies on this trip.

I was so hoping you would make it! I am so curious about this neighborhood. I mean, I can see myself buying a house in that neighborhood, if I won the lotter!y!

Great report, still reading, and still enjoying!

You know, I was thinking about buying a house there. too. That is why I am conducting my research. I am figuring that I could sell my cars, and just use Disney transportation, and a canoe, to get around. So, no car payment, car insurance, gas, etc. And, I figured I could just canoe to the Meadow Trading Post each morning to get free coffee in my refillable mug. So, that would save me some money, too. And we could just eat Giddyaps and Go's and whatever was on the grill in site 617-so our food expense would go way down.

And, what if I just buy a lot, and build campsites on it- with docks and canoes? I could rent those out, and my guests could just paddle to the Fort.

So, according to my calculations, even though the purchase price is a bit steep, I would actually make money by buying a home in Golden Oaks.

The only problem I see is that those danged Disney lawyers probably thought up a bunch of deed restrictions that will foil my plans.

Hooray! I love the canoeing pics!

I was seriously considering renting one on our upcoming Fort visit!

I do believe that I am now convinced. I only have $7.00 and about an hour to lose!

Nice reporting TCD!


ETA: Just showed DS7 the pics and he very excitedly exclaimed, "I definitely want to do that! Definitely!"

Well, there you go.

I can't wait to see the KFK canoeing pics.

And bring KFM, too.

Next time you need to come prepared with a few signs that say something like "Portage - 2 rods" and put them up on the sides of the bridges. That way you could say "What do you mean I wasn't allowed to do that. There are portage signs right there by the bridge..."

Now, there's some head's up thinking!

But, what is "2 rods?"

I LOVE your canoeing pics !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My boys NEED to canoe at FW. I'm putting it on my list.

Thanks TCD !

Yes, I agree.

Put canoeing on the to do list.

Did Mrs. TCD and Rocky stay home? I wanted to see more cute puppy pics.

Yes, unfortunately, Mrs. TCD and Rocky did not make this trip. That was not the original plan. In fact, we were going to have a big cook out on the 4th, and Mrs. TCD, my oldest DD, and Rocky were going to drive over for that.

But, it was pouring at home when I spoke to Mrs. TCD early on the 4th, and we both expected that storm to head East for the day. We decided having a crowd sit inside the camper all day would not be much fun, so the plans got scrubbed.

My oldest DD and one of her friends did drive over on the 5th and spent the day with us. But no Mrs. TCD or Rocky on this trip.

Trust me, Rocky is more disappointed than you are.

I'm glad you got pictures and video of the fireworks for the Poly. I may just save a few if that's alright with you.

Help yourself!

When I post a photo on the Disboards, I understand that it can end up anywhere.

And, some of my photos have ended up in some pretty obscure places.

Can you share the location of soft-serve at WL/Contemporary? BF requested some and was able to get plain vanilla at Aloha Isle but it'd be nice to have a location outside of a park.

The WL soft serve is in the Roaring Forks quick serve restaurant, and the Contemporary soft serve is in the new quick service restaurant on the main floor. I think it is called Contempo Cafe. At Roaring Forks, you make your ice cream first, and then pay. So, if you make a mountain of ice cream, you have to face the cashier. But, they don't care. The WL soft serve has vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. The strawberry is really good. At the Contemporary, you buy your bowl from the cashier, and then you go and make it. They just have chocolate and vanilla there, but they also have chocolate syrup and caramel to put on your ice cream. And, just in case you didn't know, the Poly has a Dole Whip machine, which dispenses Pineapple and Vanilla Dole Whip. This is also self serve. That is some good stuff right there.

I think you'd be okay to portage. You said there were no signs telling you not to turn right down that canal? And I'm willing to bet there are no signs saying "Do not portage."



Great report!

Now, that is my kind of logic.

It's the same reason why I drive my cart along the sidewalk next to site 617. There are plenty of "No Electric Carts' signs around the Fort, but none there. (Sorry, again, BigDisneyDaddy).

There are likewise no signs that say "Do Not Canoe to Discovery Island."

So, what am I waiting for?

Magical Mystery Tour,,=

Hey, didn't you hear what I said about no hippies?



I thought everyone knew TCD is scared of hippies!

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

You aren't kidding about the sludge behind the 1400 loop. That site you took the photo of looks like it might be 1418 or 1419. We have stayed at both sites and the canal looked like that each time. This picture was directly behind our site.

It's weird.

Sometimes the lake between the Meadow Trading Post and the Bike Barn is all green and slimy.

But, it was nice and clear on this trip.

And, sometimes that canal behind the 500 loop is clear. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, BTF (Frank) and DaveInTn have fished, with success, in that canal. But, it sure doesn't look like you could catch a fish in there now.

TCD

 

[BigDaddyRog]

I really wish I had asked for your permission to join you that morning....because I obviously was wasting my time fishing!!! And, if I had fallen out of the canoe and gotten tangled up in the cable that holds that barrier in place, Im sure my weight would have made that barrier sink enough and that the current of it sinking would have most likely sucked the canoe into its direction...in this case, your accidental missplacement could have been blamed on disneys faulty design, and you would simply have been forced to find another route back to the bike barn via the new subdivision. Things like that can really happen......really. How is a guy thats out for a simple, leisurely canoe trek supposed to forsee things like that happening????

 

[Tri-circle-D]

After the failed canoe mission, it was time to go out on patrol around the Fort to see what else was happening on the morning of July 4th.

Some cabin people actually got in the decorating spirit. This one was on the 2800 loop, it's the first cabin you see as you enter the loop:

As I continued on my patrol, I stumbled upon our next mystery.

There were a bunch of tents set up in the group camping area.

They were not there on Friday.

They must have been set up sometime on Saturday.

Tents in the group camping area are not mysterious.

But, these tents were all the same.

And rather different looking.

Take a look for yourself:

Have you ever seen tents like this?

I haven't.

And, the weird thing is that there was not a single car anywhere in the group camping parking area.

Not one.

So, who set these tents up, and where were the campers.

Are these new rental tents?

There has been a rumor that the Fort was going to get new rental tents.

Even though there were no cars around, there was stuff inside the tents.

You can kind of see some camping equipment through the front screen of this tent:

And, there were some boots outside of this tent:

Usually, when there is a group in the group camping area, they take the place over.

There will be cooking equipment, camping gear, and miscellaneous stuff everywhere. And, the parking area will be jammed with cars and trucks.

But, these campers had no stuff.

Look:

Here's a clue . . .

There was a strange, multi-colored flag hanging in the central area:

So, this is mysterious.

Where did these campers come from?

And, what is with those tents?

And, where were they all?

Is this Michael Jackson's family's encampment?

Is this base camp for an invading army?

What, exactly, is going on here?

I solved this mystery on Tuesday morning.

So, we will have to come back to this.

In the meantime, we have more stuff to look at.

One more thing about whoever it was camping in the group camping area.

They still had no bus stop:

Here is the winner of the TCD best decorated campsite award:

Do you like how this camper printed out copies of our country's most sacred documents, and hung them on a clothesline?:

Have you ever seen such a thing?

Neither have I.

So, this guy gets the award.

Here is the second place winner in the decorating contest. From the 700 loop:

I applaud the use of a pool float as a decoration.

Why not?

It looks good, right?

If you remember the schedule of events that I posted earlier in this report, you will remember that there were all kinds of activities slated for the Meadow Recreation Area on the 4th of July. One of these was a make your own tie-die t-shirt activity. It was to take place in front of the Bike Barn. We headed over to check it out. The schedule said that there would be a charge for this activity, but it did not say how much. This was something that needed to be investigated.

Here are folks making their t-shirts:

And, here is the line of folks waiting to make shirts.

Really:

(I caught a couple of Disboarders on the left on the photo above- Hello SeaBee and KingBee!)

So, with this kind of crowd, you would figure that this must be a great deal.

Would you consider $20 a shirt to be a great deal?

Well, all of those folks did.

And, so did the TCD twins.

They wanted to make shirts, too.

I said OK. Even though I have an aversion to Hippies, I still enjoy an attractive tie die t-shirt. I am an open minded fellow, after all.

But, the line was really long.

And, this was going to go for about another 45 minutes.

So, I suggested to the girls that we have lunch at the Meadow Snack Bar, and let the line die down.

They agreed to that.

We have not eaten at the Meadow Snack Bar since it re-opened after last year's pool renovation.

It was finally time for TCD to try a Southern Smothered Hot Dog!

Here's the Meadow Snack Bar menu, in case you are not familiar with it:

There was no place to sit at the pool:

We noticed a picnic table over by the Bike Barn, so we planned to head over there.

You can get your refillable mug refilled here at the Meadow Snack Bar.

It is interesting how they do it. All you do is show your mug and tell the server what you would like. Then, they hand you a paper cup with your drink in it. They won't touch the mug. I guess it's for health reasons. Probably not a bad idea. But, I saw some people working the system. For example, this one family looked like they had two mugs, but a table full of drinks. They just kept sending someone up with those two mugs.

And, this lady successfully got a drink by showing her at least two year old blue mug:

My people watching came to an end when our food was ready.

We ordered two Southern Smothered Hot Dogs:

And a tuna sandwich:

Yes, you read that right.

A tuna sandwich.

Served outside in the July heat.

Yum!

It was actually quite good.

And no one died.

Or even got sick.

Here is one of the TCD twins attacking her Southern Smothered Hot Dog:

You can see we were at a picnic table near the lake, just off of the bridge.

Next, up . . .

Time to tie die . . .

And (can you believe it?) another mystery!

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

I really wish I had asked for your permission to join you that morning....because I obviously was wasting my time fishing!!! And, if I had fallen out of the canoe and gotten tangled up in the cable that holds that barrier in place, Im sure my weight would have made that barrier sink enough and that the current of it sinking would have most likely sucked the canoe into its direction...in this case, your accidental missplacement could have been blamed on disneys faulty design, and you would simply have been forced to find another route back to the bike barn via the new subdivision. Things like that can really happen......really. How is a guy thats out for a simple, leisurely canoe trek supposed to forsee things like that happening????

Rog-

Sounds like a plan.

Let's save this for when there are actually some houses build along the canal.

We could fish right behind them.

I'll bet those millionaires would love that!

TCD

 

[DaveInTN]

Great update TCD!

First off, my theory on the red and yellow tents ties into my theory on the blue tanks at RC. I'm guessing Iranian nuclear scientists are taking up camp there. This will all come to a head soon.

Secondly, I LOVE ME some southern smothered hot dog!!

 

[Lil' Lisa]

...But, what is "2 rods?"...

You need to turn in your merit badge!

A rod is equal to 16.5 feet. All portages are measured in rods. My hippie husband spent a lot of his vacation time in his younger days in the BWCA (Boundary Waters Canoe Area). Don't worry. He isn't scary. He gave up the accordion years ago and the only thing left of his "hippiness" is the pony tail. He's even a conservative if you can believe that!

 

[DisCamper]

Rog-

Sounds like a plan.

Let's save this for when there are actually some houses build along the canal.

We could fish right behind them.

I'll bet those millionaires would love that!

TCD

I can’t wait I know a lot of our fellow Dis’er at will give those millionaires an nice warm welcome

 

[TrueLove's1stKiss]

Awesome TR TCD! I'm in the beginning stages of planning our first FW camping trip, so this TR came at the perfect time!

 

[owensmama2007]

I've been trying find the time to sit down and read your TR for a few days and finally I made it all the way to end (so far!)...

Keep going...

I learn a lot about the Fort from these reports! And it has me missing our camper,which is still in repair at the factory in Elkhart, IN...sniff,sniff

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Great update TCD!

First off, my theory on the red and yellow tents ties into my theory on the blue tanks at RC. I'm guessing Iranian nuclear scientists are taking up camp there. This will all come to a head soon.

Secondly, I LOVE ME some southern smothered hot dog!!

Dave- Good guess, but it wasn't the Iranians this time.

I think the Southern Smothered Hot Dog is good, too, but I can't get past the price. And, since I have a good pulled pork recipe, it would be easy enough for me to make my own.

You need to turn in your merit badge!

A rod is equal to 16.5 feet. All portages are measured in rods. My hippie husband spent a lot of his vacation time in his younger days in the BWCA (Boundary Waters Canoe Area). Don't worry. He isn't scary. He gave up the accordion years ago and the only thing left of his "hippiness" is the pony tail. He's even a conservative if you can believe that!

Who am I to argue with a lady from the land of 10,000 lakes, but I never heard the term "rod" used as a unit of measurement for portaging. Anyway, at most, this portage would have been half a rod. I'd rather just say 8 feet, thanks.

Doesn't sound like your DH is much of a hippie, and if he doesn't have an accordion, then he is OK with me.

I can’t wait I know a lot of our fellow Dis’er at will give those millionaires an nice warm welcome

I thought you were going to be one of the charter owners in there?

Awesome TR TCD! I'm in the beginning stages of planning our first FW camping trip, so this TR came at the perfect time!

Well, this is more of an advanced report, but hopefully you can pick up a tip or two.

I've been trying find the time to sit down and read your TR for a few days and finally I made it all the way to end (so far!)...

Keep going...

I learn a lot about the Fort from these reports!

Well, I'm glad to know you finally got caught up.

What took you so long?

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Well I would say that we have reached that point.

You know, the point that is eventually reached in every TCD trip report.

Where we start to ask:

Is this stupid trip report ever going to end?

The answer, to reassure you, is yes.

They always do.

But sometimes it sure seems like it is taking forever.

Doesn't it?

Anyway, we were eating our lunch on the 4th.

When we saw this momma duck and her ducklings swim by:

You gotta admit that they're cute.

I meant to mention that the relatively new golf cart parking area was full.

So, people had to park wherever they could.

See?:

I mentioned another mystery.

This is a small one.

But they are all important.

At least to TCD, anyway.

And this one remains unsolved.

Remember this photo?:

Did you notice these things in the background that I circled in red?:

What are those things?

I have noticed them before.

But what are they, and why are they there?

Let's take a closer look:

This one has a small piece of hardware on it. It is one of those fasteners that a grommet fits over, and then you turn it to hold the grommet in place. Like on a boat cover or something. But, why is it on this post?:

Maybe these things are barriers to protect whatever that plastic cover is covering there on the ground:

But, why?

And, what would be attached to the post by the fastener?

A sign?

I reviewed all the clues I had:

. . .the possessed duck,

. . .the switched boat docks,

. . .the yellow and red tents,

. . .the blue tanks,

. . .and still I came up with nothing!

I am stumped.

Does anyone know what the heck these things are and why they're here?

Anyway, when we finished our lunch, the tie die activity was still supposed to be going on for another 15 or 20 minutes. And, the line was much better:

So, we headed over to the Bike Barn to fork over our twenty bucks and make a shirt.

But guess what?

A divine intervention occurred!

They ran out of shirts!

I'll bet someone is going to get fired over this.

They had more suckers errrrr- I mean customers- there ready to hand over money, but they ran out of supplies!

So, I saved 40 bucks.

It is good to be TCD.

As we headed out of the Meadow Recreation Complex, we saw some people looking over by the canal to the left as you exit.

They were looking at this:

It used to be a rare thing to see a deer at the Fort.

But, these guys were out grazing in the middle of the day.

On the 4th of July!

We did some more looping that afternoon.

In some of the cabin loops.

Here are some more decorated cabins:

Did you notice this guy has a screen room on his porch?

And a tent right there at the base of the stairs?

This kind of thing used to be strictly prohibited.

But there they are.

This guy had a canopy on his deck, too:

And, these folks had an umbrella (along with some nice decorations):

And, here's another canopy!:

They used to be pretty vigilant about enforcing the one car per cabin rule, but here's four cars parked at a cabin:

And, look - DisCamper had his car parked in front of somebody's cabin:

We also did some swimming that afternoon in the Fort pool.

And, when I stopped by Trail's End late in the afternoon on a soda run, I came across a staff meeting:

Who has a staff meeting on the 4th of July?

I tried to eavesdrop, but they were talking kind of quiet.

And most of them weren't paying attention, so they were looking right at me.

This is the Four Square challenge behind the Bike Barn:

This is a random photo of site 1507. I think I took it to show that there was water in the ditch:

What do you think Born2Fish- could you catch a swimmer in there?

And, that pretty much covered the afternoon.

Coming up . . .

We hit the beach for some fun activities!

TCD

 

[owensmama2007]

Well, I'm glad to know you finally got caught up.

What took you so long?

TCD

My 2 year old...LOL! Keeps me on my toes!

 

[owensmama2007]

As we headed out of the Meadow Recreation Complex, we saw some people looking over by the canal to the left as you exit.

They were looking at this:

It used to be a rare thing to see a deer at the Fort.

But, these guys were out grazing in the middle of the day.

TCD

When we were camping in the 700 loop over Memorial Day, we were in site 704. Right behind our camper, there was evidence that the Old Disney Railroad ran thru there once since you could see the railroad ties. As we were packing up to leave the following Sunday, I heard this weird sound...turned around and about 6 deer ran run behind me, on the old railroad! We had ran into deer a few years ago on our way back from the boat dock, but that was kind of freaky.

 

[Figment Chick]

TCD, DH really wishes that I hadn't read about your canoe excursion. Every Summer, my family and I camp at the Coldwater Recreation Area near Milton. We've spent plenty of time canoeing and tubing the Coldwater Creek while there, so my canoe skills are pretty sharp. DH realizes this, and now he's totally freaked out that I'm going to try and continue your quest for Golden Oak. Knowing my luck, I'd try it, get caught, then get banned for life from DW. Sure does sound like an exciting challenge, but let's face it, I'm too chicken!

BTW, I have two Boxer's, one of which is a pup named Rocky. Just thought that was kinda neat! So, continue............

 

[kazlac4]

TCD keep the TR coming... Who needs cable?