Another Tent Camper

[Violet Crayon]

I have been reading up on flying and tenting in all of the recent threads, and they have been super helpful, but I still find I have a few questions.

There will be two of us flying in January and we were pondering how to pack the things we need. Last night we were trying to fit our tent into one of our large duffle bags and it would take up too much space (we want to fit two pillows, a sleeping bag, some tarps, and extra blankets in with it). Someone previously mentioned flying their tent as a separate piece of luggage, is it recommended to leave it separate? The bag the tent comes in has handles but I am a little concerned about having more pieces of luggage, if they would get misplaced.

Which brings me to the next question, could we fly with the tent as our carry on to control our paranoia? The tent would have poles and stakes which might be iffy with airlines. We will call closer to our trip to clarify things but I was wondering if anyone here had enough experience to say "yay" or "nay?"

Also, our planned flight lands in Orlando around 10:35am but I have heard check in at FW isn't until 1pm? Is the best thing to sit around the airport, or is there a way we could catch the Magical Express and leave our baggage some place at the campground until the right time?

I look forward to any super awesome information some of you might have.

 

[rer1972]

We're flying Continental the 1st weekend in February. They (i think most other airlines have the same policy) allow 2 checked bags/boxes (max 62 linear inches) of 50lbs each, one carry on bag, and one personal item (in our case a backpack). We don't plan to take any kind of camping extras.

We each have our own tent, one twist open screen room, one twin airbed each, one large tarp, two smaller tarps, rope, extra stakes, one pillow each, one sleeping bag each, plus other smaller items. We figure this shouldn't reach 200lbs.

The plan is to pack all the camping gear in one or two large bags, Put our clothes and other items in the other bags. Like you said there are many others who have done this, and have already posted. I'm sure they'll have more information than I have. Good luck. Hope to hear how your trip goes.

 

[irishbosoxfan]

My family is the one that flew in to tent most recently
Since there are only 2 of you it may be difficult to do but here are my suggestions

Put the tent in a big duffle with the tarps and any small campsite items(lantern,tablecloth) you can fit into it and still have it be within guidelines

In your biggest suitcase(within guidelines) put your air mattress(big enough for both to sleep on)sheets and blanket(bring your pillow on the plane with you,we did,it will be a major space saver) and any other items needed for the campsite

That will leave 2 empty suitcases--I would recommend that you share a suitcase for your clothes(big one) This way you have the second suitcase for other items you may need.

As for the ME-don't hang out at the airport! Take the bus to FW and hang out there till your site is ready,it is much more interesting!Plus they may already have a site when you get there--doesn't hurt to ask!

Also what we did was put the yellow ME tags on all our luggage except the tent so when we got to Orlando we just had the one bag to grab from the carousel and let the ME people handle the rest---So when we got to FW we set up our tent then hit the park then when we got back later that night we just had to grab our luggage from the front office---but don't worry they will drive you to your campsite!

 

[irishbosoxfan]

I have to ask what size tent you have? We had a 3 room tent and we were able to get it into a duffel no problem----And if the tent is so big is it really needed if there will only be 2 of you?---

Also do you have the dining plan or do you plan to cook at the campsite? Because if you plan on cooking that will be more equipment you need.

We brought our cooler as a piece of luggage and we packed items into it for the flights-It was empty so we figured why not!

So if you plan on bringing a cooler do the same!Make it big enough to be useful but still within guidlines.
So your luggage could look like this

Cooler-in ours we packed one of the airmattress and lantern
Tent duffle
2 suitcases
OR
3 suitcases
Tent duffle


If you need any help please feel free to pm me!---We can go over your packing list and figure out ways to make sure you've got everything you need!

 

[nuke]

If you can't find a big enough duffle bag go to the Army/Navy surplus store near you and pick up a seabag. They open at the top and will hold a TON of stuff.

 

[Violet Crayon]

thank you so much for the information.

Our tent is a 4person 10'x8' dome and the tent bag is 22"x8"x8" and it fits in our duffle just fine but takes up about half of the bag, with some space left on top. If we took our pillows on the plane (as you suggested) we should be cured of spacial issues! We really wanted to fit almost everything into our two 30"x15"x18" bags with a smaller bathroom bag and backpack as carry on.

We are basically using the tent as a sleeping place so we will only need a light source, power strip/extension cord for our cell phone chargers, some bungee cords, and a hammer as extra supplies. My parents own a smaller dome tent but it can't fit us and the bags inside (no problem when we have a car).

 

[Kanda]

Hi, I'll be tent camping the first week of Feb. too. I'm driving down so I don't have the issues about flights to deal with, but I was wondering...would it be feasible to mail some items to the campground ahead of time. When my DH hikes large sections of the AT, we mail supplies to each stop along the way. It seems to be rather inexpensive. Just a thought. Hope you have a great time.

 

[rer1972]

Kanda I've heard of other people shipping items to and from WDW. I'm not sure about the cost, but it seems like it could be a good idea.

 

[irishbosoxfan]

We did mail a couple of items down that we would need for the campsite--air conditioner and extra tent poles for the tarps---They ask that the packages not arrive more than three days before you do!

You can also pay for and print out shipping labels at home and bring them with you to send packages back home when your trip is done--this is what we did to send our a/c back home but the box got ruined so we just sold the a/c to a fellow camper!

 

[Violet Crayon]

If anyone reads down here, I have another question.

We just made reservations at CRT for 8:15am, the woman on the phone said we need to catch an early ferry/bus to get there 45minutes before our time. Does anyone know off-hand what the earliest would be from Fort Wilderness?

 

[clkelley]

There are small launches that run from Ft. Wilderness/Wilderness Lodge/Contemporary. These launches start at 6:30 am. You could take that launch, then walk to Magic Kingdom from the Contemporary.

The larger boat that runs Ft. Wilderness/Wilderness Lodge/Magic Kingdom starts later, so don't wait on that boat.