a whole lot of questions about tent camping

[dawnball]

I really like to camp, but we haven't been camping in about 5 years between work obligations and tent camping with a child in diapers seeming to be a bad idea. I'm currently planning a trip for my extended family (DD(3) and I, my parents, my sister and her DD(4)). The trip is scheduled for the end of October (probably Oct 20 - Nov 4).

I'd really like to camp, but I have always done pretty primitive camping. They really like staying in homes or condos off property. They're all interested in camping but they're concerned about:
insects
insufficient space in tents
no air conditioning
risk of having electronics (like laptops) stolen
walking to get everywhere
the pool being too deep for the children
spending a lot of money to eat on property/only having a cooler with no real refrigeration/difficulty dealing with cooking waste
rain, lots of rain

Insects there isn't much to do about, either they'll be really bad or they won't. A screen house to hang out in would both give us more space protected from the rain/sun and let us hide from flying insects.

We can get every group their own tent. My DD and I will already have a 8x7 that's well reviewed for shedding rain. We could get each pair of people a tent that size. But that isn't a lot of room for gear like a cooler, cooking equipment, etc. So maybe another tent for that?

So that's 4 8x7 tents, a screen house (or two - one over the picnic table and one for hanging out in?) - will that fit reasonably on a partial hookup site?

What about cooking? The kids mostly eat things like mac and cheese and hardboiled eggs. What do you do with the waste water from that? The adults will happily eat grilled meat/veg, although we'll have to find a local source for real hardwood charcoal. Since we'll have electricity - what about a microwave or electric frying pan? How do the mechanics of that work out? Keep the microwave in the gear tent so it doesn't get wet? Bring it out to cook in, or cook in the gear tent?

Is there a toddler pool? Is the main pool really 3ft deep pretty much everywhere?

I wouldn't think that there would be much of a theft issue, particularly if you kept electronics mostly stowed away in one of the tents. Is that fairly accurate? We could put the electronics in the cars, but I'm not comfortable with the heat level that builds up in a sealed car during the day.

I suspect that we're going to end up with backup reservations somewhere off property with the plan being to try one night camping and cancel the other reservations if they like it. Am I going to get hassled by Disney if we have 6 people on the campsite and after the first night 4 of our party leave to go elsewhere?

I have almost no experience with car camping. All of our camping is via bicycle, so we take a very minimal load of gear and just hang out in the great outdoors until we're tired. We eat really basic foods that can be cooked/heated on an alcohol stove, so car camping with all of the luxuries is starting to feel sort of overwhelming and like a lot of gear to haul around/set up/tear down.

 

[bama_ed]

Wow! Talk about issues Most are surmountable. I went in mid-October a few trips back and here are my suggestions to your specific questions, then a few comments:

Insects-yeah, probably will be. Weather is still nice but they aren't too bad.

Tent space-you have 3 camping pairs. If everybody's luggage/clothes can't fit in their tent, one more tent for storage.

No A/C-Daytime will be around 80 and nights around 60 that time of year. I just got back from FW and those are the averages now for this time of year. Never needed the A/C in my pop-up. If you need A/C, however, I think that would be a perfect excuse to slide over to Crockett's Tavern and linger inside over a cold adult beverage

Theft-never had it happen to me at the Fort but since you can keep 1 car at your site the laptops/iPods/etc should be locked in the car out of sight.

Walking-Request a loop close to Pioneer Hall or the Meadow Trading Post on your reservation to eliminate a lot of walking. FW buses run through the campground for longer treks. Campsites are assigned just a few days before you check in. 1500 Loop is a partial hookup loop (Water and electric, no sewer) near the Meadow TP.

Pool-the main pool is 6 feet at the deep end, maybe 3 feet at the shallow end and the baby wading pool is less than a foot (maybe 6-8 inches?).

Eating-I would suggest the screen room (plus an electric skillet and a crockpot. Big tupperware/rubbermaid tubs with lids will keep unused things dry and can take the rain. I also have and use an electric Coleman cooler to keep things cold - it acts like a small fridge. It cools to about 30 degrees less than outside air temp. Put the screen room over the picnic table and run a plug inside to cook in and run the cooler (no ice to buy-yea!). You will also need to go to the grocery store over 14 days so maybe another tub to act as your "dry" pantry. And a coffeemaker for anyone?

Rain-over 14 days, it will probably rain sometime. This is your main issue to me. Since you are an experienced camper you know about seam sealing, ground cloths, etc. I'd say buy the biggest screen room you can (I have a Coleman 10x10) to put as much stuff inside out of the rain. Mist will blow through the screen some but the heavy stuff will be kept out. Electrical things go in the tubs with lids.

General comments-I think your non-campers will have an issue with noise from their fellow campers, busses, etc. When I go tent camping with newbies, that seems to be an issue at FW. Bring the microwave if you want to and leave it at the end of your picnic table and put a tub upside down over it when not in use to keep mist/rain off. Request a partial hook-up loop (1500?) since they have bigger sand pads for tents, move your picnic table to the end of the pavement and put the screen room over it. Plus it's close to the pool/campfire/playground/Trading Post. Laundry is $2 per load to wash and $2 to dry (lots of quarters). They also sell soap or BYO. I drive to all the Disney theme parks except MK (take the boat from the FW marina). No fee as long as you have your FW parking paper on the dash. Since the condo folks are saving money by sharing the cost of the campsite, they can affort to eat out some or a few meals. I would also suggest you buy the refillable drinking mugs for FW. They are $13 but can be refilled/reused for tea/coffee/softdrinks. All 3 are at Trail's End and the main pool snack bar, coffee only at the Meadow TP I think. They will probably pay off in the long run. I also string overhead rows of clear lights (Christmas lights) icicles or the big C7 size for nighttime sitting around the campsite reading the paper (bright enough to ready buy) instead of a lantern. Bring a long clothes line to dry swimming towels, suits, etc... Take the young kids to the campfire/singalong and roast marshmellows and meet Chip and Dale.

Hey the best part is you'll be there for 2 whole weeks so relax, enjoy, have a good time

Bama ED

PS-we just got back from a week at FW and our next door neighbor had 3 tents and 8 people on their site. They set up the tents on the concrete pad and had big air mattresses (like 12 inches tall) and more extention cords than was probably safe and a micro. You can tent camp on any loop BTW

 

[dawnball]

Thanks! That helps a lot. The rest of the group likes to camp, but hasn't been camping in (10? 15?) years - so they remember a lot of the negatives. I'm hoping to slowly migrate us to going camping all together at least once a year in the national parks. I just figured that at Fort Wilderness you can always just tramp over to MK if you get tired of the woods.

 

[clkelley]

Just wanted to show you a picture of what I set up at Ft. Wilderness on a partial hookup site in Loop 2000.

This was for three of us. I was in the big tent in the back and had an air mattress a set of plastic drawers a clothes rod and a couple of plastic bins for a night stand, etc.

My son and a friend each used the smaller tents. They were there for a shorter time period than I was.

The third shelter was set up and had the mini fridge and a couple of ECV scooters parked under it. We didn't cook at Ft. Wilderness, so can't help there.

As far as locking things up. I keep a plastic footlocker with me and lock the laptop up in it inside the tent.