Camping at Ft. Wilderness, 25-27 May

[tkd lisa]

Cast:

Me, 41, single Mom, this is something like to 10th trip to the world (I've lost count since we moved to FL).
DD, 14, one less trip than me.
DS, 12 3/4, one less trip than his sister.

When: May 25-27th
Where: Tent camping at Ft. Wilderness
Why: School's OUT!

Plans for the day: Pick up the kids at school by 11:30, set up camp (if the site's available), then go to Blizzard Beach. Back to camp to change (and set up if site wasn't available), then over to EPCOT for dinner(counter service somewhere in world showcase), Illuminations, and evening EMH.

What actually happened?

I picked the kids up and we were on the road by 10:55. DS had his lunch in his hand (they were doing bag lunches since it was the last day), but DD hadn't eaten yet. We pulled through a McDonalds drive thru just west of Lakeland, and made excellent time overall. We were checking in by 12:10 at Ft. Wilderness.

We had booked a preferred site (with the AP rate, it was cheaper than the standard site). According to my handy dandy passporter, that meant sites 100-500, 700, and 1400. I told the lady at the checkin that I'd prefer not to be in loop 1400 (near the campfire) because I'd heard that there was lots of traffic from the campfire in the comfort station there. It looked like any of the other loops were pretty close to the Settlement (where they have trails end, hoop-de-doo and the marina boat dock).

She said "Site 840 is ready. Here's your Key to the World cards. You'll need them for access to the comfort station late at night, and for EMH access." So off we went. Loop 800 is past the trading post on the orange loop. It's also a pet loop, and I'm pretty sure it's a full amenities site (i.e. like the RVs need) since it had a sewer hookup and drain right there. We pulled in and started setting up camp.

DS set up his tent by himself, and DD and I put up the big tent. I had told them once the tent frames were up, I'd finish the set up, and they could take off for a while. DS walked to the Meadows and fished behind the trading post (a hint I got from the camping board), and DD walked to the beach and spent some time drawing. Both the tents fit onto the pad, but I had to move the table down to the very edge to make room (and DS's tent was up against the grill). I had everything situated by about 1:45, and when I came back from the comfort station the kids were back and ready to go. DS hadn't caught anything, but DD had fun drawing.

We headed down to the marina to take the boat to MK then transfer to the EPCOT monorail. It was a pretty substantial walk to the marina (probably about a mile). We just missed a boat, but we could see the next one coming up.

On the boat, we sat by a mom and her three kids (ranging from about 8-13 or so). They had just checked into the cabins. The dad was apparently driving around the grounds, trying to figure out where to park? The mom said "I think we're going to find a different hotel to stay at. There's nothing here to eat, and I can't believe we have to take two different buses to get anywhere. This just isn't going to work out." I told her about Trail's End, and she said they just wanted something quick (i.e. food court). Then I said "If you have a car, why don't you just drive to the parks?" She said "Because you have to pay $9 to park." I explained that she got a parking pass at checkin and parking is free for resort guests. Hopefully, they figured it out eventually, but they really had no clue what they were doing!

We got to MK boat dock, and switched to the monorail to TTC. We waited for the next monorail so that we could ride up front. On the way, we figured out what we were doing first. We got to EPCOT about 3:00 (and we left our tent site just after 2, so this wasn't the most efficient transportation method!) Once inside the park, we went on Spaceship Earth together. DD went to test track, and was going to call me when she was done. DS went to Innoventions while I pulled Soarin fast passes (6:50-7:50). The park really wasn't too busy, considering that the last time I pulled Soarin FP at 3, they were for 9:00, and I've seen them all gone by 1 before! I met up with DS, and we did the robot race. It's in the plastics area for those who've never done it before. You design a robot on a computer screen. You've got a choice of body and leg styles, and colors. You also get to pick how flexible or rigid it is, and how resistant to heat or cold. Then you color it. There's a design contest (everyone votes for their top 3 favorites), then you race! The race is set up like a dance dance revolution, and you can move left and right, as well as jump. How fast your robot goes depends on how fast you run on the pads.

DS ended up winning the race, and I came in second! Boy were my legs tired at the end! It was a lot of fun! We skipped the part where you build the robot, since DS already had one, and I didn't have a bag to carry it in. About this time, DD called and was done with TT. We met up at the exit for TT. DS wanted to go to the other Innoventions, and DD wanted to go over to China, so DS took the phone with him. I told him that he had an hour, then I'd call him to meet us for dinner.

As we were going through Mexico, DD asked for a snack. I told her they had churro's there, and she decided to try one. It had LOTS of sugar on it, and she really didn't like it. She finished the majority of it, but I don't think she'll get another one! You'll hear later why I don't have receipts for anything, so I won't be tracking my spending. They did take my Visa rewards card here (didn't find anyplace that didn't take it).

DD and I went on Maelstrom (20 minute wait), and when we got out, DS called. He said "Mom, I'm going to ride the Segway." That really surprised me because 1) I thought you had to pay to do this and he didn't have any money, and 2) I thought you had to be 16. DD and I headed over to watch him, and when we were almost there, he called back and said "I'm not old enough!" We met up at the entrance to WS, and started through the countries again! This time we headed past Canada, on our way to Japan (both kids had $20 to spend, and they were looking for ideas!). We also wanted to see the candy lady, who was set for a 6:15 show.

I stopped by the fish stand, and sent them on to Japan. I was able to get fish without the fries (we really don't eat them), and they charged me less. As I recall, the regular price is $6.99 and it was something like $5.50 without fries. We all ate one piece of fish (really good, but I like cocktail sauce with my fish, and they only had tartar sauce there). The kids were still hungry, so I got a platter at Yakitori house for them to split. I got the left over rice once they were done. By the time they finished eating, the candy lady was there. She works at a stand just outside the entrance to Mitsukoshi, so if the stand isn't there, she isn't going to be doing any more shows that day (I wished I had known that two weeks ago, when DD and I waited 45 minutes for her!!!).

Boy, what can I say about how talented this amazing lady is? She is really gifted! She made: a monkey eating a banana, a swan, a unicorn, a frog, two dragons, and a wolf. And yes, both my kids ended up getting one of her creations (a dragon and a wolf). Watching her make the wings was truly awesome! We'll definitely try to see her again! I told the kids that we'll just watch though, because other people deserve to get the creations! She worked until the drummers started. We walked on over to China to look at the stuff there (DD knew she wanted an oriental umbrella, and DS hadn't seen anything in Japan). We watched the movie in China. A friend of mine had just come back from a trip to China, and she sent me a bunch of pictures. The movie was really good (I probably hadn't seen it since 97 or 99), and the kids were impressed too! They were telling people all weekend to go see that movie. The kids browsed the shop, but I wouldn't let them buy anything that day.

We headed back to future world to use our Soarin FPs! On the way, we picked up our EMH wrist bands. And DS wanted us to go through the House of Innoventions together. That was pretty neat. We had a nice lady who did our tour. She couldn't get the slide show to work in the entertainment center. Afterwards, DS said "Mom, she didn't say the right thing. She forgot to say the name of the slide show. That's why it didn't work." I think this is the 3rd or 4th time he's been through that house. He's definitely got his eye on that hydrogen powered Hummer!

We made it to Soarin just at the end of our FP window. After Soarin, DS wanted to ride Mission Space. DD and I staked out a spot for Illuminations while he headed off to the single rider line. We were sitting in the area just behind the beauty and the beast topiary. I got DD a Mickey ice cream sandwich which she devoured! About 8:45, DS called and was finished with MS. He rode the orange side (intense), and had a blast. I sat him down with his sister, and got him some cinnamon almonds for his snack. Perfect timing as the show was ready to start. We enjoyed this a lot. We had seen the Christmas version in 2004, but the last time we saw the regular version was probably 99. This wasn't the best viewing location. There was a big post blocking most of the view of the globe, but it was still a nice show.

We waited for the crowd to clear out, and we saw the lady from the House of Innoventions. She was working crowd control (keeping people off the fences, etc.) for Illuminations, but she wasn't busy. DS went over and talked to her for a bit. She asked how many times he'd seen Illuminations, and he said "it's been a really long time, but I'm going to do it again soon!"

By this time, we were able to make our way back to World Showcase as long as we stayed on the right side of the path. DS wanted to ride El Rio de Tempo, so we made it over there and rode. Once we were done there, the crowds had cleared. The kids decided to ride test track, and DS wanted to ride Honey I shrunk the Audience. We did the single rider line, and were through within 10 minutes or so. The kids were worried about breaking their candy creations, but they made it through okay!

DS did the virtual reality thing at the end of TT. I passed, since I figured I'd get motion sick. DD watched all the car shows, and she thinks the new Buick is the car for her. Once we were done here, the kids decided that was enough for the night, so we headed back to Ft. Wilderness. We took the bus, which takes us to the Outpost (that's up near the checkin area). We found out then that we were on the orange line, and waited about 5 minutes for the appropriate internal bus. We were back at camp by 10:30. DS decided he really didn't want to sleep in a tent by himself, so we moved his stuff into the big tent. I sent both kids to take a shower, and then I put on a movie to help them fall asleep. DD decided she didn't want to sleep in the tent, so she moved her pillow and sleeping bag into the van. We all finally were out by 11:30.

 

[tkd lisa]

I left off with a good night's sleep on Thursday 25 May. DS was in the big tent with me, and DD was in the van. I woke up about 6:30 when DD said she needed to go to the bathroom. She went back to sleep. I made my coffee, had some cereal and had my devotional time and a quick shower. I roused the kids a little before 8, and they had a quick breakfast too. My plans were to be at MK for the rope drop, have lunch there, then take a break back at camp. After we cooked dinner at the campsite, we'd head over to MGM and watch one of the Fantasmic's. MGM was open until 10:30 that night, and MK very late EMH (12-3).

What happened really?

We were at the bus stop by about 9:00, and took the boat to MK (after a stop at WL). We made it into the park about 9:45. DD hadn't brought any hair ties. I had done my hair in bahama braids (lots of tiny braids) because it's so much more comfortable when I'm camping, so I didn't have any hair ties either. We ended up picking up a scrunchie in the emporium, then headed over to the Main Street bakery. That bowl of cereal at 7 am was wearing off by now! DS got a croissant, and I got a piece of coffee cake. DD took one bite of the coffee cake and didn't want any more. DS wasn't sharing his croissant for anything! I sent her down to the confectionary and she got a jawlipop (the jawbreaker on a stick). When she came back, we decided we'd head over toward Frontierland. DS decided he wanted to ride Jungle Cruise, and DD wanted Splash Mountain. They played in the tiki fountain while I got SM fast passes (10:50-11:50). Then we rode JC standby (we made it on the 2nd boat, so maybe a 5 minute wait). We had a GREAT skipper named Chris. He had a really dry sense of humor, and did several jokes I hadn't heard before. He did skip the Golden Girls one though. Next, we used our Splash fastpasses. Once that was done, DS said he wanted to ride Space Mountain. I knew we'd need FPs, so I sent the kids over to Tom Sawyer Island while I went for the FPs. They were good for 12:30-1:30. I took the train back around to Frontierland and called the kids. DS had the phone, because DD was going to sit in the rocking chairs. Well, DS couldn't find her, so I rode over to help him. With the help of a British family that was sitting by Aunt Polly's, I found her in the chairs that you can see BTMRR from. She was wearing her stitch ToT hat again, so she's pretty memorable!!

We took the train around to Toontown, and the kids hung out in the arcade for a bit before our ride. We probably waited 10 minutes with the FPs. The standby line was all the way out the door, and there was a big group of people trying to push their way into FP line. It's probably the first time I've seen a CM really lose their cool. She was yelling "You CAN'T do that! Come back here!" I did see about 5 people coming back down the FP line as we were heading in. I'm guessing that they were turned away where you have to give them the FP.

Once we were back from outer space, we decided to do our cooking for lunch. The kids wanted to go back to EPCOT to spend their money, and we decided we'd eat dinner there. On the way out, we stopped by the VMK location, and the kids played there for about 15 minutes. One of DS's friends at school does this, so he wanted to try it.

We boated back. On the boat, I realized DS had lost his sunglasses. He said he thought he left them on Tom Sawyer Island. Back at camp, I cooked up the teriyaki chicken I'd brought (had mac and cheese and baked beans too). The family in the campsite next to us were there. The kids were younger than mine, but they had 2 dogs, so my kids had fun playing with them. I took down DS's tent to make more room at the site, since he wasn't going to use it. And I set DD up with a bed in the back of the van (she had slept in the seat the night before). By the time I was done with all that, and cleaned up from our meal, I was really sweaty, so I took another shower. I didn't want to come back to a hot tent, so I opened up all the screens to get some air in there. (cue the music, foreboding of doom!!!)

We caught the bus up to the outpost about 4:30, and transferred to the EPCOT bus. DS talked about Innoventions again (he wanted me to ride the Segway), but decided that money was burning a hole in his pocket. We walked around the Mexico side, and detoured into Norway. The sky was looking pretty threatening by this time, and so we rode Maelstrom. When we came out, it was pouring. I handed the kids ponchos and we suited up before heading over toward China. DD and I were arguing about that umbrella. I was sure it was paper and would melt in the rain. She swore it was a thin fabric. It turned out she was right, but I knew it still wouldn't hold up in the rain. We sloshed on around world showcase toward Japan. The "Who" was playing in the pavilion as part of the Flower Power concerts. I forgot to mention that we could hear the Rascals the night before while we were in Japan.

Anyway, we shook off a little before heading into Mitsukoshi. The kids looked around in there for a while, but decided they'd have better luck at the little store that's under Yakitori House. We sloshed through ankle deep water. DD got a pack of trading cards, and DS got a couple of cheap key chains. I packed them away in my bag under my poncho and we headed back out. By this time, I realized that this rain was probably soaking our stuff back at camp.

The kids wanted Chinese food for dinner, so we stopped there. DD got the veggie lo mein and egg rolls. DS had some kind of marinated chicken and rice bowl. Again, Mom finished up the leftovers. The rain finally stopped while we were eating. But we decided to head back to the campsite. I was really worried about what I'd find.

We were back at camp by about 7:00, and yes, the rain came in. I had left a couple of paperback books, and my passporter just inside the entry way. The books were literally dripping! And all the loose paper in the passporter was soaked too. That's where my receipts were, which is why I don't know exactly how much things cost. DS's bedding was under the other doorway, and it was also soaked. My bedding wasn't too bad (just a couple of damp spots), and obviously, DD's was fine (it was in the van). I tossed all the wet stuff out of the tent, and proceeded to mop up the inside floor. Luckily, the rain didn't get in on the power strip or the TV. That would NOT have been a good thing! DS's clothes bag was wet, but I had packed everything in zip lock bags, so the actual clothes were dry. I sent the kids to the showers while I got it all situated.

I got everything mopped up by about 8:00. I set the kids up watching a movie, and decided to go over to MK and see if DS's sunglasses were at lost and found. I took the boat over, and came into the park just as Spectro was going on. The lady brought out three sunglasses, none of which were DS's. I realized later that she brought out the kids sunglasses, and DS had adult sunglasses. But it was really just an excuse to get away from the wet campsite anyway! The kids were doing fine, playing a game with the cards DD had gotten in Japan. We were delayed on the return trip by the water parade. I got to see it 3 times! Once at the MK dock, once at WL dock, and once at FW dock. It was really cute. We landed back at FW just before 10. I started to walk back to the campsite, but couldn't find the right path, so I just waited at the bus depot. This was my LONGEST wait for a bus. It was at least 20-25 minutes. DS called 3 or 4 times while I was there, and I watched all of Wishes (blocked by the trees). When the driver got there, he said that he'd been off schedule all night, so he just pulled over and waited through a cycle so he'd be back on time. GRRRRR.

Back to the tent, DD was already asleep in the van. DS "wasn't tired", so he watched a little more of the video, and we finally fell asleep about 12:00.

 

[tkd lisa]

Plans for today were: Animal Kingdom for EMH (Expedition Everest particularly). Then maybe leave the kids there while I packed up the tent. Lunch at a resort food court, and Typhoon Lagoon in the afternoon and stay for the evening EMH.

What happened?

I woke up about 7:00 to a beautiful day. I decided to let the kids sleep in, since they really hadn't been too excited about AK anyway. Again, I had coffee and cereal for breakfast, and enjoyed my devotions while it was quiet. I got another shower, and started to get the kids moving about 8:30.

While they were eating, I dumped all the wet stuff into the tarp that I had and tied it up. The tent was fairly dry, but the groundcloth had water pooled all over it. I knew I'd need to set it all back up at home to get it completely dry before packing it up.

The kids decided they wanted to go over to MGM that morning, so once we had everything loaded up, we headed out. We were in the van about 10:00. As I pulled into the entrance to MGM, the traffic was really backed up. That's when I remembered it was STAR WARS weekend! Oh yeah, that's why I didn't want to go to MGM on Saturday!! We talked about it and decided that maybe the other attractions wouldn't be a bad wait, since people would be doing the Star Wars stuff. We parked in film, and took the tram to the entrance. The storm troopers were up on top, and DD was really freaked out by them. She wanted a picture. I hadn't used my camera all weekend, since I was travelling light. The only time I carried a bag was at EPCOT, the day before (thank God, since that meant I had the ponchos with me!), and I hadn't taken a single picture. DD has a camera in her cell phone, but we couldn't figure out how to make it work!

Anyway, we headed on in, and went over to pick up ToT fast passes. Standby was 40 minutes. DS said that he was going to ride this time. While we were waiting on the FPs, we walked by the star wars area, and headed back to the Muppets. DD and I went on the Muppet 3D movie while DS hung out in the Pizza Planet arcade. I had never seen the Muppet movie before. When DS was about 3, he and I had done this while DD was sick, but he got scared and we left in the middle of the movie. It really was cute, but 3D technology has come a long way since they made this one.

After the Muppets, we headed out past the HISTK playground to cut back to ToT. The power rangers were out for autographs, so it was pretty packed back there! We walked into the lobby, and they had both sides open. DS was fine until we went into the boiler room, then he decided that he wasn't going on. DD and I were in the front row again, and had a really great drop sequence!!! When we got off the ride, DS came running up. He had found a CM with a great Stitch pin, that he knew DD would like. DS did the trade, since it was a green lanyard. The pin was Stitch with a guitar under a palm tree on an island. DD pin traded a lot all weekend. DS wore his pins, but didn't trade at all.

After this, I wanted to go watch Indiana Jones. We picked up a snack for the kids in the candy shop. DS got jelly bellies, and DD got a chocolate covered marshmallow. I was going to get the sugar free dessert from the backlot restaurant. I sent DS into Indy to get seats, while DD and I went to get my snack. DS called and said that the seats were gone. The line for the backlot express was ridiculously long, and the dessert didn't look that good, so we just left.

I suggested going to Beaches and Cream, but the kids didn't want to. So we went to Pop Century's food court instead. DD got chicken fingers (surprise, surprise!!) and DS and I split the double burger. We changed into our swim stuff, and headed to Typhoon Lagoon, getting there about 2:30.

We found a place to drop our stuff, and the kids were off to the wave pool. We had seen it from an overlook, and they were amazed! They played there for about 20 minutes, then we headed to the lazy river. We all went around once, then DD and I headed out for the body slides. DS wanted to stay in the river, so I told him to stay there til we came back.

DD and I found Crushin Gusher but it was a 25 minute wait, so we went to the body slides instead. We did Humonga Cowabunga first, and it was cool! Not nearly as scary as Summit Plummit (Or as much wedgie factor either!). We did storm runners next, and then went back to get DS from the river.

We all went off to the family raft ride. We probably waited 30 minutes for this one. It was fun, but not worth the wait! And who's bright idea was it to make people roll that big old raft UP the stairs??? We made it though.

After that ride, we all went on Gangplank, mayday, and keelhaul falls. We finished up with Crushin Gusher, which was down to about 10 minutes wait by then. We gathered up our stuff, and headed out of the park by about 4:30. I decided to go on over to Beaches and Cream for ice cream. On the way over there, DS said "DD, are you looking for this?" and held out her gameboy. She had lost it shortly after Christmas, and we had looked EVERYWHERE! I know I personally looked under that seat two or three times, but somehow it popped out then! Probably because we had the seats out to fit the camping gear in. Woo Hoo! She was a happy girl! Especially since Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memory was in the gameboy!

Anyway, we were seated right away. DS had a Florida Sunshine (citrus smoothie), and DD had mint choc chip in a cup. I ate the leftovers! We hit the road for home at 5:45, and pulled into the driveway at 6:50. Again, we made great time!

 

[tkd lisa]

Final thoughts --

This trip was different in many ways. I tried combining a few things that we like to do as a family, and I have to say it didn't work as well as I would have liked.

We do like to camp as a family. I've done a lot of scout camping too. But the type of camping we do is a lot of work. We stay in a tent, and it's harder to set up and take down. We cook with either a propane stove or a dutch oven. Again, a fair amount of work. And we use a dishwashing station instead of paper plates. I figure I have to wash the cooking stuff anyway, so I might as well use regular dishes.

Most of the time when we camp, our activities are limited to things around the campgrounds, or short excursions into town. We get up when we wake up. But at Disney, even though I didn't go all commando this trip, I still like to do things early to avoid the crowds. That was hard to do in this situation.

And the rain didn't help. I don't mind the rain at Disney. I always plan for it, and have ponchos. I figure that we're usually hot, so a little rain helps cool us off. There was the obvious mistake of not closing up the tent that made things even worse. But when I think about it, I realize that even if I had closed off the tent, if we had a long soaking rain, that would have been miserable. We would have been stuck in that tent, with no room to move around. Going to the bathroom would have meant out in the rain, and there would be no good way to keep the wet out.

So while Ft. Wilderness is a very nice campground, I don't think it's the best way to do Disney for my family. I'm glad that we were only there a couple of days and not a full week. I might try it again in the fall (when rain isn't very likelY). If I do, I'll just take DS's smaller tent which is easier to set up. It will sleep two comfortably, and since DD seems to like sleeping in the van, DS and I can share the tent. I won't take any cooking gear (which means I'll have to get my coffee from someplace else!), and probably just stay one night.

On the good side, we did several things that we hadn't done before. We spent a lot of time in world showcase and really enjoyed it. As the kids get older, EPCOT is growing to be our favorite park. The kids also got along very well. We didn't hardly have any sniping.

Having the extra cell phone this time gave me a better sense of security when we split up. I wouldn't be comfortable splitting up if my kids didn't know the parks as well as they do, but it makes things go much smoother if you're not forcing them to do everything together.

I'm looking forward to our free dining trip in September. We're staying at Pop Century, and my mom will be joining us. We probably won't get over to WDW again before then. Our blackout starts 10 June, and the kids are going to my Mom's for the first two weeks of June because I'm travelling quite a bit. We may make a day trip in late August, depending on how busy we are. We will probably fit in a couple of water park days though.

Oh, and the final irony? I set up all the gear in the yard to dry off after church Sunday. I'm sure my neighbors loved me! The plastic ground cloth was draped over my front shrub, the sleeping bag was over the back of the van, the rain fly was over the front of the van, the tent was in the back yard, and all the chairs were out in the driveway. Can you say "HILLBILLIES???"

It was really hot, and I laid down to take a quick nap while everything dried out. I woke up to DD yelling "Mom, it's raining!" I said "You've got to be kidding!!!" She said "No, Mom. It's really raining hard!!" So I drug everything into the garage for the night, and put it back out again Monday morning! It's finally dried out and put away now. But boy, I'm beginning to really NOT like rain!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it.

 

[OhMari]

I like reading when people camp at WDW. When you described laying everything out to dry at home, I knew it was going to rain. Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

 

[babytrees]

Thanks for sharing your camping experience!! I loved reading it!!

 

[SandraVB79]

I loved reading your trippie! No way on earth I'll ever go camping, but I liked the way you described everything!!

 

[jordansmomma]

Being a single mom myself, i loved your story. My kids have been hounding me to go camping when we go in August. I would love to but for 1) we live in WA. state and that would be too much stuff to pack, 2) I have no clue about camping whatsoever, how to put up a tent (not really the camping girl). So as close to camping as my kiddos get is when my oldest son has a soccer tourn. somewhere and we are staying in a hotel. Yes, sad i know, but i have not the first clue about camping. When i was reading your final thoughts and i was at the point where your daughter woke you up, i knew it had to be raining. What your neighbors would have thought had me rolling, it reminded me of when i was a kid and my uncle put up the tent in my grandmas back yard, and all of us grandkids camped all summer in the backyard, and my grandma's neighbor, was well I am better than you type of person. Would always give looks and comments and stuff. But hey ya gotta do what ya gotta do, even if it is hillbillyish.

 

[MommyPoppins]

I enjoyed your report. Thanks for sharing! We were there at the same time...though NOT camping. We stayed at the WL the 26th and 27th. We also went to TL on Saturday afternoon! That rain was crazy wasn't it? How'd to stand the heat?????? I always said if we ever went camping there(probably never will since I'm more of a inside ac, bed type person...but with 4 boys you never know.) it would be in the winter. I hope you write another report in Sept. Thanks

 

[3princesses+aprince]

We LOVE camping, we go every year for a week in July at a resort in connecticut! Strawberry Park. very nice resort! I am in RI so it would be much too hard to pack a week's worth of camping supplies and drive 22 hours. But the thought had crossed my mind because it's much cheaper Great Report!!

 

[lindalinda]

Thanks for the report. I cant imagine camping, tho I have often wondered if I would like to stay in the cabins. I am a single mom as well and have done the trip several times and really enjoy it even tho its a lot of work to plan it all out.

 

[terri01p]

I have really enjoyed your trip report, you see so few reports of people staying at the campground. Yea, that rain will get ya every time.

 

[tammygodmother]

I was so happy to read your trip report on camping at the World. I also am venturing to WDW in Oct and have ressies at Ft Wilderness. We are planning on tent camping for 5 days. It will just be myself and 4 kids(3-13) and we all are novices at the whole camping thing. We are practicing in the backyard this summer to prepare for our journey. Nice to know another single mom managed to do the impossible. Congrats!

 

[tiki23]

Thanks for your TR! I've read very few camping TR's.

If we lived closer I know we'd probably camp at WDW, but being in WA state, there's no way we could haul all of our gear.

We love to camp though and we spend at least one full week camping every year, as well as several weekends. Our favorite place to camp is at the beach but the Pacific Northwest + beach = rain! For all of you novice campers out there, the secret is plastic; lots and lots of plastic! Visit the hardware store and pick up several of those cheap plastic drop cloths in the painting section.

A "gazebo" or inexpensive picnic dining canopy set up over the picnic table makes all the difference in the world on rainy camp days.

 

[Thinktinknpixiedust]

We were supposed to be camping this year, however free dining changed all of that. The money that we had for the dining plan (I wasn't going to cook, even if I was in a tent) went towards upgrading us to POR! Whew.. lucked out this year!! however.... next year I do believe we will be tentin it because it's within our price range. Thanks for the TR... very much appreciated

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your reports ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[TLinden16]

Great report. I don't think I could sleep in a tent though. I really have to see that candy lady sometime. Everyone raves about her talent, but I've never gone to see her.

Thanks for posting.