Sleepy425
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2011
- Messages
- 1,605
For a while now my husband has been talking about building his own camper. I always laughed at him and told him to keep dreaming. In May his dad gave him some money for his birthday, and the next thing I know he comes home with this heap of junk:
The inside was falling apart, the frame was rusted, and it was infested with carpenter ants. To say I wasn't amused may be the understatement of the century. As I sat there in the driveway staring at this thing (honestly, I pulled up a chair and just stared at the disaster), I decided to see the silver lining. My husband saw the spark in my eye and instantly knew he was going to be in for it this time. I called Disney and booked us two weeks at Fort Wilderness at the end of August 2019. I told my husband he has a year to turn this heap of junk into something I can camp in.
I'm going to use this thread to post updates of the progress, and more importantly get everyone's opinion on what to do/where things should go. I used to camp tent as a teen with my parents, but never even saw the inside of a pop up until we went looking at some last summer. My parents always had a nice RV and would take us places in it (once to Fort Wilderness way back around 1993), but that was so long ago and I never had to know the ins and outs of using it.
Our idea as of now:
-The camper will be hard sided.
-No fridge, just a really good quality cooler (suggestions appreciated)
-Microwave/convection oven like in the Fort Wilderness Cabins
-Queen size bed with a hammock bed over it for a kid to sleep in (the whole family won't fit in this thing, when we all go camping we will also bring our 8 man tent that has been used a grand total of two times in the 5 years we've had it)
-Outside kitchen off the back
- No bathroom facilities
-air conditioning is a must
- If I get my way, it will look like a quaint little cabin like this, but much smaller:
I'm going to get the exact dimensions, and will update this post with them. Also, I'm going to start a running tally of how much everything costs to complete this project. My husband has more pictures on his phone, so when he gets home I will post some of the work he has done so far.
ETA: exact dimensions are 76'x106", Original gross weight according to my husband was 3500 pounds. He needs to keep it under 3000 pounds due to something about how it is registered in CT. It will be towed by a Ford Flex.
Cost of original popup: $150
Painting/rust removal supplies to date: $500
Plywood: $80
The inside was falling apart, the frame was rusted, and it was infested with carpenter ants. To say I wasn't amused may be the understatement of the century. As I sat there in the driveway staring at this thing (honestly, I pulled up a chair and just stared at the disaster), I decided to see the silver lining. My husband saw the spark in my eye and instantly knew he was going to be in for it this time. I called Disney and booked us two weeks at Fort Wilderness at the end of August 2019. I told my husband he has a year to turn this heap of junk into something I can camp in.
I'm going to use this thread to post updates of the progress, and more importantly get everyone's opinion on what to do/where things should go. I used to camp tent as a teen with my parents, but never even saw the inside of a pop up until we went looking at some last summer. My parents always had a nice RV and would take us places in it (once to Fort Wilderness way back around 1993), but that was so long ago and I never had to know the ins and outs of using it.
Our idea as of now:
-The camper will be hard sided.
-No fridge, just a really good quality cooler (suggestions appreciated)
-Microwave/convection oven like in the Fort Wilderness Cabins
-Queen size bed with a hammock bed over it for a kid to sleep in (the whole family won't fit in this thing, when we all go camping we will also bring our 8 man tent that has been used a grand total of two times in the 5 years we've had it)
-Outside kitchen off the back
- No bathroom facilities
-air conditioning is a must
- If I get my way, it will look like a quaint little cabin like this, but much smaller:
I'm going to get the exact dimensions, and will update this post with them. Also, I'm going to start a running tally of how much everything costs to complete this project. My husband has more pictures on his phone, so when he gets home I will post some of the work he has done so far.
ETA: exact dimensions are 76'x106", Original gross weight according to my husband was 3500 pounds. He needs to keep it under 3000 pounds due to something about how it is registered in CT. It will be towed by a Ford Flex.
Cost of original popup: $150
Painting/rust removal supplies to date: $500
Plywood: $80
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), so updates may not happen for a little bit. But I promise when my husband gets a chance to do more work on it I will post updates!
. Next up will be the roof and siding. We are still debating the color of the siding. I bought an Oster convection oven/air fryer/ toaster to put in the outside kitchen. 
