Getting in late - tent camping

[KalamityJane]

The flights I could get into MCO have us either coming in at 9pm or 11:15 pm. I do have the Fort booked for that night, but not really wanting to set up in the dark (have done that before and it's meh).

Oh, and we get in late on 10/30. I can't get in earlier or get a site for earlier. Obviously next day is Halloween, and all the fun activities going on then.

Should I drop the night of the 30th and find a hotel for that night or keep the site so we can set up first thing in the morning?

 

[ORLCampers]

I would keep it as is for a couple of reasons: 1) You can get there early the next day and get setup like you said versus waiting until the 1pm check in. 2) Just dropping the first night from the reservation isn't that simple. They will want to cancel your reservation and then make an new one and your dates won't be available in most cases. I know that sounds strange, but the reservation system for the Fort uses different formulas to show what is available which discourages many shorter "weekend" stays. To get around this in the past, people would book a week or 2, and then just call and cancel the days they didn't want and end up with just Friday-Sunday.

Lastly, I would suggest calling the front desk on your check-in day to let them know you arrived late and won't be checking in until the morning. It is possible they will give your site away for the first night to someone as a walk up as it appears to them as a no-show. We had some folks camping next to us that did just that and even though they were only supposed to stay for the 1 night, they stayed 2 nights. I know this because the site they were on assigned to our friends to camp next to us. Security came by but they aren't going to bring in a tow truck and take their camper away so they went up front and paid for the extra night.

 

[PaHunter]

I would recommend keeping for all the reasons above, especially since Official check in time is now 3pm, your site might not be ready on the 31st until late, and you would miss all the fun events.

 

[KalamityJane]

Just dropping the first night from the reservation isn't that simple. They will want to cancel your reservation and then make an new one and your dates won't be available in most cases. I know that sounds strange, but the reservation system for the Fort uses different formulas to show what is available which discourages many shorter "weekend" stays. To get around this in the past, people would book a week or 2, and then just call and cancel the days they didn't want and end up with just Friday-Sunday.

:O Man, I'd be pissed if I was your friends, showing up to a reserved camp site and they gave it away... What did Disney do for your friends to make it up to them?


On the quoted note - I added in the 30/31 as a separate reservation but I have another reservation from 11/1-11/12. If I call up Disney, can they merge these so I can keep the same site?

 

[KalamityJane]

I would recommend keeping for all the reasons above, especially since Official check in time is now 3pm, your site might not be ready on the 31st until late, and you would miss all the fun events.

Dang, 3pm? Yikes. Definitely keeping it.

 

[FortForever]

Just curious, do you fly with a tent?

I completely agree with all the others to keep the site!

We will be arriving on the 30th, as well. Will be on a tent site in a pop up. Can't wait!

 

[KalamityJane]

Just curious, do you fly with a tent?

I completely agree with all the others to keep the site!

We will be arriving on the 30th, as well. Will be on a tent site in a pop up. Can't wait!

Yes, we fly with tents and sleeping pads, my family is in Boy Scouts in Orlando, and they set us up with the coolers/gas stove, etc. and camp with us.

ETA: we fly Southwest so it's not a big deal to bring extra bags, etc.

 

[FortForever]

Yes, we fly with tents and sleeping pads, my family is in Boy Scouts in Orlando, and they set us up with the coolers/gas stove, etc. and camp with us.

ETA: we fly Southwest so it's not a big deal to bring extra bags, etc.

That's awesome! Great that you can bring your own tent, and so cool about the Boy Scouts helping with camping loans!