Tent Camping Q's

[nkochrn]

Our family of four is taking a Disney cruise in January. DH thinks we HAVE to take the kids to Disney World for a day before we head back home, so the day we disembark we plan to head over to Orlando. I mentioned camping to DH and was surprised that he was all for it! DD will be 5 and DS will be 3, we just camped with them a couple weeks ago and they love it! We will of course be bringing along cool weather sleeping bags.

I have a few questions...
Is there camping spots fairly close to the shower houses?

What type of transportation is there to Magic Kingdom from the campgrounds, I've seen that the campgrounds border on the edge the lake, is boat transportation provided from here?

Are we completely insane to even think about camping in January???

Any other facts/tips they may be helpful?

 

[4kids4karen]

My family goes tent camping quite often at local state parks in Florida. One of the coldest times we have camped was MLK weekend which is mid-way in January. We were camping at Fort DeSoto (St. Pete, Florida) and the dads got wimpy and we ended up leaving after dinner the second night. LOL. The moms wanted to stay overnight, but the men won. It just happened to be the coldest night that year as well.

That said, I just made reservations today to tent camp at Fort Wilderness on Jan 5th. This time, we will bring a portable heater with us to break the chill inside the tent.

I do not think it's crazy to camp in January. Most like to camp when it's a little cooler anyways. Depending on where you are from, cold in Florida may not be cold to you.

I have stayed in the cabins at Fort Wilderness four times and love it. It depends on which loop and what camp site number you get on how close you are to the bathrooms.

My main question reading your post is how do you plan to bring a tent along to a cruise then camping? Are you driving to the port then Disney so you can leave everything in the vehicle while you are on the cruise? When we camp, we take a lot of time to prepare and bring our own food and such. Are you planning to eat out instead of cooking at your campsite?

 

[nkochrn]

Yes we are driving from Kansas to Florida in a mini van. We are used to having really low temps in the winter, last time we camped it was 35-40 degrees, by January around here it will probably be closer to zero degrees most the time. We will only be staying one night, so we'll basically set up a tent throw in two air mattresses and sleeping bags, crash there at night after a day at Magic Kingdom and pack up in the morning to start heading back to Kansas.

 

[mommyof3grlz]

We went on a Disney cruise April 29-May 3. We tent camped at FW May 3-5. In my opinion it was too much work setting up the tent, beds, etc. after getting off the ship and driving to Orlando. We really just wanted to head straight into the parks. I would recommend a hotel stay unless you are just sold on tent camping. Just my opinion though.

 

[Charitycase20]

Our family of four is taking a Disney cruise in January. DH thinks we HAVE to take the kids to Disney World for a day before we head back home, so the day we disembark we plan to head over to Orlando. I mentioned camping to DH and was surprised that he was all for it! DD will be 5 and DS will be 3, we just camped with them a couple weeks ago and they love it! We will of course be bringing along cool weather sleeping bags.

I have a few questions...
Is there camping spots fairly close to the shower houses? Yes, you can send in a site request about a week before you check in and ask for a site close to the CS. They are great, my DD6 is still talking about how nice the bath houses were on the 1700 loop.

What type of transportation is there to Magic Kingdom from the campgrounds, I've seen that the campgrounds border on the edge the lake, is boat transportation provided from here? The easiest way to get to MK from FW is to take an internal bus to the Settlement and hop a boat at the marina. Easy Peasy. Nice little ride over the lake too.

Are we completely insane to even think about camping in January??? I don't think so, but then again I'm from Maryland. We rented a camper for our trip this past January but really wished we had brought our gear. We hate being indoors when its so nice! The only reason we did was because my MIL & FIL can't sleep on the ground (air mattress).

Any other facts/tips they may be helpful?

You may be tired but if you "know" your tent and are just throwing in some bedding and not really "setting up" camp, I think you'll be just fine. What an experience!

Have terrific time, only YOU know whats best for you and your family so make you decision based on that.

 

[nkochrn]

Thanks for all the answers.

We have a couple different tent options. We actually have a jeep tent, it's very big and I hate it because it has to be attached to something with a liftgate which works with our van but isn't necessary. The inlaws said they have one we can use, so we'll probably set it up at home and check it out, hasn't been up in a few years. I also borrowed a friends tent a couple weeks ago and it went up super easy (even in the dark.lol) and works perfect and doesn't even take up too much room in the van

Is there always campfire shows in the evening and characters there?

 

[KristinU]

Is there always campfire shows in the evening and characters there?

Yes, and your kiddos are great ages for it! At least the singalong and campfire and Chip and Dale part. The movie can get kinda late for little guys...or tired moms that turn into pumpkins early

 

[2goofycampers]

Is there always campfire shows in the evening and characters there?

Yes, if raining the characters are on the porch of the Trading Post.

 

[nkochrn]

Yes, and your kiddos are great ages for it! At least the singalong and campfire and Chip and Dale part. The movie can get kinda late for little guys...or tired moms that turn into pumpkins early

Yay! I definitely think the kiddos will LOVE this They are pretty good at fighting bedtime when they want . They may have a little harder time staying awake after a day in the park, of course if don't limit the amount of sugar they get that day AND let them have pop for supper.... LOL, don't judge me, this is a special vacation after all!