awning question

[magicforever]

While staying at the Fort, do you put your awning up while at the parks. We have stayed in our camper there 2 times now and have never done it before. I have become increasingly paranoid about it being ripped of during a storm. What do ya'll do and what do ya'll recommend?

Okay, I have a couple of other questions.
I am taking a load of peeps with me. 8 to be exact. We are going to be in full hookup. My camper is 32 feet. Will I have room for a screen room for an out door kitchen? I am planning on requesting the largest site possible the week before we leave. Any suggestions or comments?

Last, nothing to do with Fort. I can not find where I can redeem my Disney gift cards on property. I know they can not be redeemed just anywhere. Does anyone know where I can find this info.

You guys are a great help always. Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Dizney_Luver]

I'll try the first one, there was talk and pics on one thread about awnings getting ripped off during afternoon storms. Probably best to put it up.

 

[redrosesix]

We spend our summers in a park trailer, and even though we have tie downs attached to our deck (not the ground, as they would be in a temporary site) I always put the awning in if we're going away for more than an hour or if I can't head back to the campground if the weather changes. I usually put it in if it's getting pretty windy at night.

I have seen an awning crash from a sudden rainstorm -- just happened to be watching the downpour and heard the creaking sounds as it started to go -- not pretty, and have seen several torn off by wind (the stakes anchoring the straps pulled out of the ground).

Many people at our campground leave their awnings out all summer, but put them down all the way when they're away from their trailer or if it's windy -- again, they are able to securely strap them down, so I think that makes a difference. I always think that the few minutes that it takes to put the awning in and take it out again is worth the $1000 I'm saving by not having to replace it, but also worth the peace of mind that I have from knowing it's not going to crash.

 

[disney4dan]

Ours is partially damaged by being left out while at the beach and everyone was away from the trailer when the storm came in. I was at work, my oldest son and two other guys scrambled back quick and saved it from being destroyed, but there are a few areas where the fabric was frayed in the wind before they got it secured. I owe them BIG TIME for putting it away in the middle of a downpour with lightning all around. Nothing says fun like standing in a puddle holding onto aluminum during an electrical storm.

We did leave the awning out once while at the Fort this past August and it did OK through an afternoon downpour, had a good pitch to the awning for drainage and had the type of anchor that has a strap go over the top. Just got lazy and should have put it in.

 

[barbm3214]

I think a lot depends on what you're using the awning for....awnings can be great to keep chairs, bikes, etc. dry during a rainstorm. We have had pretty good luck by keeping the awning attached to the trailer (not on the post, because that won't hold at all) and in the full 'down' position. That keeps the wind from getting under it and lifting it. As an added measure, you can attach a rope to each end and stake it. This will be pretty secure unless there's an outright hurricaine. If you're only using it for shade and don't keep much under it, it's probably the easiest to put it up.

As far as site size, the full hookup sites are really wide(can't remember the loop #, but they're the sites when you first come into the campground) and so are the new premium sites. The only sites that are tight are the 100, 200, and 300 loop sites....and even some of them are larger than others.

Hope this helps....

 

[BradyBz12]

Re: Gift Cards...

Found THIS on the Disney site.

One place I know doesn't take them is the Joffey (sp?) coffee carts. Which is a shame, since they're one of the few places in the World to get really good coffee!

 

[BradyBz12]

The only sites that are tight are the 100, 200, and 300 loop sites....and even some of them are larger than others.

And actually not all the sites in those Preferred loops are particularly tight. We stayed in 333 in December, which sits right on the curve of the road, so ends up being pie shaped and pretty darned big.

What ends up being tough for bigger rigs in the 300 loop is the weird angles of the entrances to some of the sites, which make them extremely hard to back into for all but the most seasoned, skilled RV-er.... or veteran over-the-road trucker!

 

[kc5grw]

Roll the awning up when you're not at camp. You may come back to find this if a sudden downpour comes through. http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19325347&postcount=10
Even with the awning sloped quite a bit the water was coming down faster than it could run off and the awning collapsed.

 

[retired and happy]

We have a screen room (the kind that makes a room on the side of the MH). We therefore leave our awning up all the time. I set it up with some slope toward the rear...Maybe a foot or so. So far we haven't had a problem, but maybe the weight of the room with its anchors helps hold the awning, or the sidewalls prevent uplifting winds from attacking the awning.

 

[YellowXterra]

I always leave it out. I tilt it really steep incase of a sudden flood.

 

[Shan-man]

A week ago while staying at our second-favorite campground we experienced a pretty heavy shower, including small hail, and these were two casualties just on our row of the CG!

Can you imagine going out for an afternoon of touring and return home to this?

 

[magicforever]

Thanks for all the replies. Yes, I am going to take down the awning while at the parks. Like I said, there will be plenty of bodies with me, so I think a lesson in taking it down and putting up will be one of the first things I do. This way if someone is there while others are out it can be taken down at a moments notice. The last think I want is the pics from the previous post.

I hope those sites are big enough. The group I am taking are first timers to the World and I want them to enjoy the experience and not feel crowded or overwhelmed. Ya'll have any suggestions of must not miss for my first timers. They consist of 3 adults and 2 children (4 and 2). I have been so many times I think I have it down, but am fairly new to the Fort.

 

[Live4FW]

Just want to preface this with "your mileage may vary".

We traditionally leave ours out all week. I just make sure it is tilted well and watch during the first good rains to ensure that it is draining properly. It is a pain with the lights out and also keeping everything dry underneath. We would have to put all our chairs/tables/lights, etc away each time with put it up.

One thing that may influence this is that my roller tube already has a bit of a bow to it from an unsuspected overnight rain. Because of that, I am a little less concenrned of more damage. I would not like to see the damage that Shan posted but feel that is pretty rare.

We keep it out the whole time at the fort during the last week of May when the rains were torrential and it did just fine.

 

[Shan-man]

I have a technique that so far has worked well for us, but it is a bit unorthodox, so use at your own discretion. If I need to leave the awning up (i.e. it is loaded with Christmas lights) I will leave the down-slope arm's locking nut loose. This way, if water begins to collect the arm will slide in and the fabric will droop creating a sluice to drain the water. So far it has worked like a charm. The only thing that concerns me is a strong wind flailing the loose arm around, but the roller tube is pretty heavy and I have yet to see this occur.

 

[scot@dvcstore]

magicforever,
As a Florida resident and camper, I am very aware that summer storms can develop quickly and be very intense. When camping, we generally do not take the awning down. Since the campsites are somewhat "protected" from the wind, my major concern is the water build-up if the pitch of the awning does not allow proper drainage. I have seen more damage from water build-up bending the awning frame than wind causing damage.

Scot

 

[freshlybarked]

We have always left ours in the up position when we go away. We always have a good tilt for water drainage and we usually don't detach the arms from the RV to put them in a straight up and down. We did lose a Quick Shade during our Memorial Day(week) trip due to the rain pooling. Collapsed the who thing into bent pieces. Didn't have any trouble with the awning though. Wind would be the worse enemy and at FW most sites are pretty sheltered. Our luck may run out one day. We have a vendor business and have had wind problems with our EZ Up tents. I hate wind more than rain with awnings.

 

[mdoc]

I would never leave my awning out while at the parks. I don't like to leave it out if we're leaving the site for any length of time. We've had trips to the Fort where our awning was never put out, because we spent so much time away from the siite that it wasn't worth it. I have never had a site at FW that was big enough for our camper and a screen tent. We've always had at least 35 feet of camper plus a vehicle, though. If we had a popup, we would have had room on the coquina pad for a smaller screenhouse on most of the sites we've had over the years.

 

[magicforever]

Last year we camped in the 300 loop. There was no way we could have fit a screen room on the pad with our camper. I still will request the largest site they can get us on. I am planning on faxing a request exactly 7 days prior to our arrival. Who knows? Maybe we will luck out.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

June 07 at the Fort we saw 5 awnings taken down by a quick storm, in fact, proudmomof4 was delivering free beer to me (different story) when the storm blew in. In a matter of 5 minutes we had very strong winds and torrential rain. It was sad to see the amount of damage.
Our new awning is a power unit that goes in and out in seconds. Unfortunately it came on the trailer and we bought it off the lot, I would not have paid extra for it were it not already there. I liked our plain old manual one better since we could stake it and tilt it and leave it out in some pretty bad weather, just not a summer FL storm.

 

[kc5grw]

Yup, June 07, remember it well. We were in 200 loop when ours collapsed because of the rain.