3 wks away to our first fw/wdw experience in a tent!

[MICKEYLOVINMOMOF5]

I haven't had too many problems with critters, BUT those Ft. Wilderness squirrels are SMART! Last year we pulled a pop-up and had a table on the outside under the awning that had our microwave and misc. stuff. Well I had put up all of the bread/donuts BUT I left out the jar of peanut butter....I did not think that they were smart enough to unscrew the top.....WELL I have to give it to 'em, they literally knawed off the side and part of the top and when I came back, they had made a little(not really little) squirrel mess. I had squirrel tracks all over my sight...little peanut butter tracks that is!

SO, they may not be smart enough to unscrew the top, BUT they do know what's inside the jar, because they "chewed" there way inside

Smart critters....they have been learning something from that giant mouse that runs around!

shew goodness, not the peanut butter!! That happens to be my favorite food

 

[MICKEYLOVINMOMOF5]

That is what I am doing this weekend. Menu all planned out and looking good.

Depends on how much room you have, but you may want three coolers. I keep all my frozen meals in one and only check it once a day to top off ice if needed and pull that day's meal. It keeps those frozen longer. The small foods I put into its own cooler, usually smaller because it only needs to hold condiments, fruits and veggies, salads and premade items like chicken salad, tabouleh, humus, as well as eggs, bacon and sandwich meats (all which I place in either ziplocks or those glade containers to keep from leaking). This stuff gets accessed more so the need for this cooler. Third cooler is drink cooler (and is big enough to hold a small pitcher of tea, because I am southern and that is what I drink, lol).



Thanks for answering this, I was wondering if they had a bug spraying truck come through or if we could spray the Raid at our site.

Love finding answers to my own questions in other threads.
MickeylovinMom--I hope you have a great time. It is my first time too and I will be sure to give you details since you are a week or so after my visit, and we are probably going to be in the same loop.

Yea Nature MOM! I'm so excited that your doing it first I'll be anxiously awaiting your updates, if you come across any to die for recipes plesae share! I'm with you on the tea, I'm surely die with out it

 

[MICKEYLOVINMOMOF5]

No lions or tigers or bears - Oh My.

The birds, ducks, squirrels, etc. due tend to scavage.

Definately pre-cook & freeze what you can, two separate coolers is best.

In addition to Deet or Off bug spray, bring a can of Raid or something to pre-spray around your campsite before setting up, to keep those annoying bugs away, especially the ants. Disney will also come by & spray if you have problems, but that is after the little varmits have gotten into your food & stuff.

Plastic containers are great for storing opened food left outside on the table.

If your run into any problems & need help, I will be there during the same time. I carry a lot of extra stuff with me, enough to set up another complete tent campsite. I am usually in the 100 loop, just leave a note if we are not there.

Thank you so much for the offer! Becareful what you ask for cuz I may come knocking, I'm a little bit nervous/excited and I can hardley get out the door in the morning fully dressed so I'm bound to forget something, I figure as long as I remember the kids and the tent.. I can manange the rest somehow

 

[NOLA_Tink]

now the crate over the crock pot.. that's genius!!

I'd love to meet some Fort Fiends.. remember I'm traveling with all kids, a little adult conversation maybe needed after a few days

Walmarts in NOLA have large crates for about $3 right now. I bought 9 for my classroom (lime green, white, pink, & bright blue). They also have handy plastic dressers w/ 4-5 drawers for about $7. I also bought one of those to keep us organized in our tent.
Have a great trip!

 

[Nature Mom]

Yea Nature MOM! I'm so excited that your doing it first I'll be anxiously awaiting your updates, if you come across any to die for recipes plesae share! I'm with you on the tea, I'm surely die with out it

I will keep you updated, of course! I am very excited about writing my very first TR! This time next week I will be there!!! Wahoooo!!! :

And amen, sister about the tea! I don't drink sodas, and my kids prefer tea as well. I put one of those ice tea makers in my camping kit just so I will always be able to pour up a fresh pot quickly instead of boiling water on the camp stove.

I'm going to post my week's worth of menu on the recipe thread later on today or tomorrow. It is my go-to camping meals because they are tried and true and have virtually 0% failure rate. We'll try to have at least one new recipe each camping trip but so far I haven't found anything new that the kids agreed on, but I am still looking. I'll let you know. Gotta feed these kiddos good AND save some money, right?

 

[MICKEYLOVINMOMOF5]

WHOO HOO! Just got off the phone with Kenny and I'm all set... ( I think) I made the statment..."you can still deliver to FW right?".. and he said "we will work something out.." at the moment I was so excited I didnt think about it but doesn't that sound like a possible issue?? His rate was amazing for my entire week, it was $200 bucks (and some change) less thank 1/2 than what I would pay with Disney.. KEEP YOUR FINGERS AND EARS CROSSED FOR ME!!

 

[MICKEYLOVINMOMOF5]

Me, my DS 12, DD 10, DD 9 and baby boy 2 (well almost) do you think this is worth the mulah? It sounds cool but it's rather pricey for all of us, wondering if that should be our "special treat" or if i should do a dinner show or something, thoughts?

 

[2goofycampers]

Me, my DS 12, DD 10, DD 9 and baby boy 2 (well almost) do you think this is worth the mulah? It sounds cool but it's rather pricey for all of us, wondering if that should be our "special treat" or if i should do a dinner show or something, thoughts?

I think the kids would enjoy the MNSSHP over a dinner show.

 

[Bearikens]

2. I have alot of ideas on what to cook, do you think a cooler will be able to keep my food frozen/cool to a safe temp? Do people bring seperate coolers for drinks and such, in my mind if the kids are always in there.. gonna be a issue so should I have a drink cooler and then a "food" cooler?

Two coolers is a good idea. Freeze and pre-chill whatever you can in the food cooler. Keeping the drinks in a separate cooler will cut down on the times the food cooler has to be opened. You will have to periodically check and add ice. Plan for it. No big deal. Ice is available at the comfort stations. It costs $2 a bag. Put the bag under the dispenser before you push the coins in. While it sounds expensive, it isn't. Probably a bag or less of ice a day will take care of things.

I also freeze water in 1 gallon plastic jugs as the ice in the jugs will melt MUCH slower than ice cubes. Just make sure that you leave an air space of 1 1/2 to 2 inches to allow the ice to expand as it is freezing.


4 Is there any issues with animals getting into your food? Do I need to keep bread and like items in a plastic container or will they be ok in a mesh cabinet of sorts?

I'm not sure what a mesh cabinet is. I would keep the food in closed and latched coolers, or in the car. There are squirrels at the Fort who have been known to snitch food, but no raccoons. So, animals are not a major problem.

Sorry, but there ARE raccoons at Fort Wilderness. Here is a photo that I took of our visitor at site 219 in 2003

 

[kaguilbeau]

I'm truely convinced that cooking everything ahead of time will make my life some what easier, and to hear you confirm that just makes me even more motivated to do that. Do you freeze your items in plastic containers or baggies? I'm thinking I could just throw the bag away, but I'm one of those women that has the "CANTTHROWAWAYAPLASTICCONTAINER-itus"

What we do is put the cooked food in a freezer ziplock bag and freeze it flat. Once frozen, wrap and tape it with newspaper. On a two-day road trip we took, the food that was not wrapped with the newspaper was defrosted upon arrival. However the food that was wrapped was still frozen. It could've stayed in the cooler another couple of days before eating.

 

[duffy]

What we do is put the cooked food in a freezer ziplock bag and freeze it flat. Once frozen, wrap and tape it with newspaper. On a two-day road trip we took, the food that was not wrapped with the newspaper was defrosted upon arrival. However the food that was wrapped was still frozen. It could've stayed in the cooler another couple of days before eating.

Really? This is great! I need a few more details, please?

So, your dinner is frozen, flat in a ziplock baggie. Then you wrap it in newspaper? How much newspaper? How many layers?

Thanks.

 

[kaguilbeau]

Really? This is great! I need a few more details, please?

So, your dinner is frozen, flat in a ziplock baggie. Then you wrap it in newspaper? How much newspaper? How many layers?

Thanks.

The items we froze were "sauce" type (like chili, etoufee, gumbo, etc). After cooling, I poured into a 1 gal freezer bag and laid it on a cookie sheet in the freezer so it would freeze flat.

Once frozen, I placed the ziplock bag in the middle of one section of paper (opened up). So this might be six or eight pages depending on the day of the week Wrap it up good as if it were a Christmas present.

Because they were frozen flat, we could easily stack several bags on top of each other. The frozen food was in a smaller ice chest-so it was filled full, leaving little space. Sometimes we even lay newspaper on top of the layers of frozen food. The ice chest isn't opened until arrival at destination.

 

[Cindy F]

We do the same thing- freezing food flat in a ziplock bag. It really helps things stay cold in the cooler. The fridge in the pop up was so small and we were afraid to use it (propane only), so we always filled the camper van fridge with drinks and then a large cooler with flat frozen food, etc.

I also made lots of sweet tea at home, filled cleaned Gatorade jugs 3/4 full of tea then froze them. Three of four of those big frozen jugs of tea in your cooler REALLY helps the ice last.

We went to MNSSHP last year and loved it, everyone is still talking about it. Well worth the money IMO.

Good luck and have a fantastic time!

 

[retired and happy]

I never though about it, but can you use a propane fridge in a pup while traveling? Surely you could use it after you get to your destination.

 

[MICKEYLOVINMOMOF5]

We do the same thing- freezing food flat in a ziplock bag. It really helps things stay cold in the cooler. The fridge in the pop up was so small and we were afraid to use it (propane only), so we always filled the camper van fridge with drinks and then a large cooler with flat frozen food, etc.

I also made lots of sweet tea at home, filled cleaned Gatorade jugs 3/4 full of tea then froze them. Three of four of those big frozen jugs of tea in your cooler REALLY helps the ice last.

We went to MNSSHP last year and loved it, everyone is still talking about it. Well worth the money IMO.


Good luck and have a fantastic time!

I have discovered how wonderful freezer paper is! I have actually stopped using my foodsaver and switched back to freezer paper and ziplocked bags!

MNSSHP it is! Now just gotta figure out which day and what to wear! I'm trying to convince my kids to be dalmations so I can be Cruella De Vil .. My older ones think I'm nut but my little will wear whatever I put on him so I will have at least one "poopy"