Camping at the Fort Must Haves?

[tiggerdad]

I think you will be fine with the stroller on the busses. Last time we took our large stroller for our daughter who had just turned 1y/o, and we had no issues with any of the transportation. This was in June, so crowds were up, you will hopefully not be dealing with as many folks crowding things out, so maybe you will have it even easier than we did.

 

[PEC]

I wouldn't worry about the BOB too much. The busses even to the parks generally are not that bad. Plus with a big group a nice stroller can be a place to put the light jacket (time of year could be needed a couple of mornings), snacks, water bottles etc. Good place to also put a small backpack instead of carrying it all day. Most new strollers fold pretty quick and it sounds like you are like me and that is your job. By the end of the trip you will have it down to a science and you will be able to fold it even with a lot of the junk in it. Just remember to take the child out before folding.

 

[loislane]

Here are my thoughts after our trip in August.

Things we are glad we did NOT bring:
Our big outdoor carpet. I bought a small (2x3' or so) rubber backed rug to put on the pad outside the camper door and then we have a small 1x1 heavy duty carpet square just inside the door. We had a no shoes inside policy and it worked well. For us, it was much easier to just sweep off the pad when there was debris on it than to worry about cleaning off and packing up the big rug. Also, with the rain that comes and goes, we didn't want to deal with transporting a wet rug.

Things we brought but wished we hadn't:
Our camp chairs. We put them out, set them up and NEVER sat in them. When we sat outside, we just sat at the campsite table. The chairs just ended up taking up space.
Our ladder golf game. It was already in the camper and I left it there thinking the kids might play it if they had some down time. But they were too busy at the pool to even care about it.

Things we were glad we brought:
Our little Bissell stick vacuum. Normally, we just have a broom in the camper, but I was worried with us being there for 11 nights that I'd need to clean a little better than a quick sweep. Really loved the Bissell - I ended up using it just about every day. 5 quick minutes and the camper was nice and clean.

There wasn't really anything that we wished we had with us but hadn't brought. I am a habitual overpacker - something I need to work on with camping.

Enjoy your trip - the Fort is awesome!

 

[Sur]

This will help you determine the times needed and the type of transportation you can use from the Fort. We used it extensively to plan how to get where we wanted to go. Some of the boats require you to fold up the stroller, where some let you just roll it on. The boat that travels between the Fort/ Wilderness Lodge/ Magic Kingdom requires you to fold it up, where the boats that travel around the Grand Floridian area do not. We rode the boat during nap time once, just to take a look around the area.... it's an attraction in itself. Here's the link to the website to plan: http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/aspx/twiz.aspx

p.s. I sent you a PM

 

[Junglecat]

We're just back from the fort and can speak to strollers and transportation!
We had a double BOB stroller as well as a single umbrella stroller for our four children ages 6,5, 4 and 2. We didn't have any problems getting the strollers on and off transportation.

The bigger boats that go direct from FW to MK require you to fold down a double stroller, but not a single. There were many single strollers parked inside towards the front of the boat. The smaller resort to resort boats require you to fold down all strollers. The captain told us that strollers are required to be counted as a person in the head count of boat passengers on the smaller resort boats! We rode these smaller boats the two mornings that we left early to go to MK (via the Contemporary) and folded down our strollers and loaded them on. The boats were virtually empty at 0700 so there was plenty of room and we didn't feel bad taking up the seat space.

One thing we didn't really factor in was getting our strollers and peoples down to the marina in our golf cart. We had to make two trips. The first to take the strollers down to the docks and the second to bring the family No big deal. It just took extra time early in the morning. Might not even be an issue for you though...

We only road the buses a couple of times with strollers. They were only crowded once and no one seemed to care about the folded up strollers. They just took up aisle space.

Definitely bring your BOB for your little one. They are heavy and bulky but so comfy and easy to maneuver. Our umbrella stroller was tricky to move through crowds and difficult over uneven ground in the parks. The BOB was smooth riding for both the kids and the adult pushing.

Have a wonderful time at FW and in the parks!!!

 

[jmrothermel]

Jungle cat - I never thought about getting the stroller to the transportation area on the golf cart! Thanks for the heads up, now I can plan for it! . ~13 days, but who's counting?

 

[mikron]

For us in our later years (70) a golf car has been more fun then I can say. I wish we had rented one in years past. Age and golf car are endless. Our dog enjoys it as much as we do.

 

[CampingDad]

We never leave home without our Mickey light. The first year we went to the fort I told myself I was never going down there without a Mickey light again. It seems every time we camp at the fort we take out less and less. Last year we never even took out the outside cooking equipment(Stove etc.) the few times I cooked outside was on there charcoal grill. Bring some match light charcoal and a good grill brush. For breakfast at the camper the kids wanted cereal or frozen waffles. And I brought a few of the jimmy dean breakfast bowls that go in the microwave for the wife and I. The more we go down the less I want to cook and the more I want to enjoy time at the pool or the parks or looping in the golf cart. If your a freak about your golf cart like I am I get a little worried about leaving the golf cart at the marina or bus depo all day. I know it is VERY rare that something gets stolen at the fort but it has happened and I personally witnessed some one who got there cart taken for a joy ride and a kid who got there bike taken from the marina. So I installed a battery cut off switch on my golf cart and I installed an uncommon key switch because every golf cart key will work in your golf cart. Keeps the unruly ones off your cart. And bring an extra golf cart key.

 

[jbrostek]

A good compact vacuum is a great thing for any lenth of stay. Between the crushed shell and pine needles, you will find a need to vacuum. A decent sized carpet outside the door will help as well, and shake it out every morning.

I am the opposite, I had lots of camp chairs and we used them over the table. The table was only used for meals. But really other then my mickey light, everythign I normally used for camping was used during the trip.