BEST month for tent camping?

[kelsco99]

I've been a long time lurker (years!) on this thread dreaming of the day I could stay at the Fort and not just be a once per trip visitor. We are super budget travellers, so we always end up booking free dining in a value resort (it pains me that this is cheaper than tent camping at the Fort!)

I think we are finally going to make the switch and give the fort a try and we will be tenting. I am totally flexible with my travelling dates, so which month would you recommend for tent camping (knowing that prefer cooler rather than HOT but not COLD)?

It would be me and my kids and possibly a friend of theirs or two. We are occasional local area campers.

Thanks!

Kelly

 

[gatorfreud]

We camped in March and it was very pleasant. My folks who are local often go in early November.

Kim

 

[MandMLUVMMandDVC]

March, April, October, November

 

[SandrA9810]

I love staying Halloween weekend. And it's usually cool enough that I don't have to bring the AC, although i occasionally do just to make sure. December is actually quite pleasant. It's jan and feb you want to be careful about. I stayed there in early April one time, and happened to book the week of the last cold front of the year. Talk about being miserable at night. I think it dropped into the 40-50's the first night, and by the end of the week was very pleasant at about 60 at night. It made for wonderful daytime park fun, but being under 5 blankets and night and freezing was not fun.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

I would say that the fishing is best in March, April, May and Oct, Nov,and Dec.






oh wait, you ask'd bout tent camp'n,,
yeah, the same months.

 

[kelsco99]

Thanks all! I like the idea of late October/early November but I think I missed the boat on that for this year. There are no tent sites available and I can't bring myself to overpay for a premium or preferred site.

Maybe I will try for early/mid December timeframe so I will get to see some Christmas decorations.

 

[hematite153]

I love staying Halloween weekend. And it's usually cool enough that I don't have to bring the AC, although i occasionally do just to make sure.

You have AC for your tent???

 

[chartle]

You have AC for your tent???

There have been quite a few posts about adding AC to tent.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2502617&highlight=ac+tent

http://acboot.com/

 

[hematite153]

There have been quite a few posts about adding AC to tent.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2502617&highlight=ac+tent

http://acboot.com/

OMG! That looks like a horrific abuse of the environment. I can't even imagine losing out on the full camping experience by doing something like that.

 

[chartle]

OMG! That looks like a horrific abuse of the environment. I can't even imagine losing out on the full camping experience by doing something like that.

Well when its 100 degrees and 100 % humidity you'll do anything to survive.

Besides all of Disney's electricity is carbon neutral non polluting because its made by fairies out of pixie dust.

 

[SandrA9810]

Well when its 100 degrees and 100 % humidity you'll do anything to survive.

Besides all of Disney's electricity is carbon neutral non polluting because its made by fairies out of pixie dust.

Thank you, you just made my day.

Yes, we had two window units because the first apartment we lived in, didn't have central AC. One is significantly larger and heavier, so I only used that on long trips. The other one was smaller and more manageable. I never did cut up my tent for an AC boot, I used a tarp over the top. And it sat by the back screen, so the rain fly went around the AC top (like a window would). and there was enough slack in the tent to be able to push the buttons. And I would either use the tailgate of the truck, the old long tables, and eventually I bought a wrought iron outdoor table. The trick is tipping it back so the water drains away from the tent. And it's always best to set up the tent in the sand. We got stuck at a premium site the last time, and the water wound up underneath the tent. After a few days it soaked through and caused a horrible smell. Worse than wet dirty dog. The tent cleaned up nicely, used a little bit of lysol and left the tent on the side for the day (allowing the ground to dry up too). The worst was the mattress topper that's like 4" thick foam it took a few days of airing out.
I've never camped anywhere else, so I think my little AC is a lot better than big rigs that show up there. And my whole set up fit into the back end of the Ford Ranger. That really is a good little truck for camping with only two people. I guess I shouldn't mention that our set up also included a mini fridge, TV and PS2...


To the OP, there's several "hints" on how to book for Halloween. Disney's really funky with their reservations over major holidays. So you have to book like 2 weeks overlapping that holiday. Then call and cancel the extra days you don't want. (don't worry, there's no charge for this). Every year it becomes a bigger and bigger pain to book Halloween, but the sites aren't always booked solid. And I always book partial hook up, sometimes full if the price is alright. Just do a search for "halloween booking" there's several topics on here that always pop up.

 

[vroomagain]

I guess I shouldn't mention that our set up also included a mini fridge, TV and PS2...

The horror!

 

[chartle]

The trick is tipping it back so the water drains away from the tent. And it's always best to set up the tent in the sand. We got stuck at a premium site the last time, and the water wound up underneath the tent. After a few days it soaked through and caused a horrible smell. Worse than wet dirty dog. The tent cleaned up nicely, used a little bit of lysol and left the tent on the side for the day (allowing the ground to dry up too). The worst was the mattress topper that's like 4" thick foam it took a few days of airing out.

My two units that I use in my house both came with drain fittings so I could attach a hose to drain away the water. If you don't have them anymore maybe you can rig something up with some barbed fittings from Home Depot.

 

[SandrA9810]

Never thought about that. There was a little hole at the back for the draining. I think one of them had the little plastic fitting for attatching a hose.

 

[allmydisneydreams]

I never did cut up my tent for an AC boot, I used a tarp over the top. And it sat by the back screen, so the rain fly went around the AC top (like a window would). and there was enough slack in the tent to be able to push the buttons. And I would either use the tailgate of the truck, the old long tables, and eventually I bought a wrought iron outdoor table.

Sandra - are you saying that you left the screen intact and just ran the a/c through it (like up against it?) or am I misunderstanding ...

I am about to buy a new tent and I am hesitant to cut a hole in it. Although I read a great idea on the boards lately about how to install the a/c using velcro around the cut out and a/c, and not needing the boot.

The tent we are looking at only has one door but it does have a back window - so I am curious if I am getting what you are saying. Any pics of your a/c? Thanks

OP - Sorry to hijack. I am tent a/c obsessed.

 

[Soladaddy]

November thru March is good. January can be cold as this year it was very cold (for Florida with two weeks below 32*).

 

[Lil' Lisa]

...Besides all of Disney's electricity is carbon neutral non polluting because its made by fairies out of pixie dust.

 

[SandrA9810]

Sandra - are you saying that you left the screen intact and just ran the a/c through it (like up against it?) or am I misunderstanding ...

I am about to buy a new tent and I am hesitant to cut a hole in it. Although I read a great idea on the boards lately about how to install the a/c using velcro around the cut out and a/c, and not needing the boot.

The tent we are looking at only has one door but it does have a back window - so I am curious if I am getting what you are saying. Any pics of your a/c? Thanks

OP - Sorry to hijack. I am tent a/c obsessed.

You are correct. The AC just blew through the screen. Since the AC is designed for a whole room (bedroom size), even though some air was lost out the side and bottom, it was more than enough to keep the tent cool. The tarp across the top also helped keep the air in. I've been with and without the tarp, and having the tarp made it a lot cooler. It did push the tent in a little bit at the base, but I kept the bed in the middle of the tent so it wasn't an issue. This is with the table, but didn't have that problem with using the tailgate on the truck.

Sorry, no pics off hand right now.

I also used one of those out door stakes with the light sensors on it. Used at christmas time for turning the lights on at dusk. I hook the AC and a string of rope lights to this stake. Since we're gone most the day, I would set it to turn on at dark and turn off 10-12hrs later. That way it turned on and cooled the tent before we got back to the site (and the rope light for seeing the tent), and turned the AC off after we left in the morning for the parks. So it wasn't running all day, and we didn't have to be hot for 20-30 minutes while the tent cooled off after getting back.

It took lots and lots of trips to get it down. But I used to take 3 or more trips a year to the fort (about 2 weeks a year). And living in Orlando, it made it easy to get back home to get anything I forgot.