Can you get your propane refilled at site?

[Tricializ]

I have a 40ft Motorhome with a big propane tank bolted in. I am going down to Disney for 22 nights and will have heat on coming, going etc. as well as possibly at night. I would imagine that a couple of space heaters would do the trick and not have to use the propane. But if I had to and ran out (also for hot water heater) does Disney offer refills at the site? Thanks.
Tricia

 

[clkelley]

Unfortunately no, you'll have to unbolt it and carry it to the Bike Barn to get it refilled, or disconnect and drive the RV over to Camping World or some other gas place to get it filled.

 

[LarryJ]

I have a 40ft Motorhome with a big propane tank bolted in. I am going down to Disney for 22 nights and will have heat on coming, going etc. as well as possibly at night. I would imagine that a couple of space heaters would do the trick and not have to use the propane. But if I had to and ran out (also for hot water heater) does Disney offer refills at the site? Thanks.
Tricia

Your best bet is to top off at like the St. Augustine FJ and then check once you get to FW. Generally for the removable cylinders you have to take them up to the Meadows and then pick them up. However, for MH they just might have a service that will fill them at your site, but you need to check. If they can't then you will have to leave and go somewhere like CW to get the tank refilled.

I don't know how they might charge for an onboard propane tank, but both DW and CW charge you for the full tank capacity regardless of what you have remaining. I'm pretty sure most FJs use the meter to charge you.

Larry

 

[Born 2 Fish]

We use our local U-Haul to top off since they charge by what you get.

 

[Tricializ]

Thanks all. I am wondering how long my propane will hold out??? I cook very little in terms of something other than microwave or BBQ or toaster grill etc. So, I will use very little propane with the stove. ANd I can use my space heaters if need be to warm up a little chill. But for the hot water, wondering how long that would last for 3 people taking showers daily??? I suppose if I run out I could use the comfort stations. Or if I just need a LONG shower. LOL Thoughts? I have I think a 25 or 30 gallon LP tank. (or 116. something pound for the conversion) Thanks.
Tricia

 

[Shan-man]

Something else you might consider, bring a small LP tank (like you might use with a grill) and get a piggyback kit like this. This way you have an easily portable tank to haul up the the bike barn for refilling, and added capacity. Of course, you will want to draw from the internal tank while on the road, switch to the portable tank at camp, and switch back to internal while waiting for the portable to be refilled. Just a thought, hope it helps.

 

[Wistful_Thinking]

We have stayed at the Fort for as long as 17 days in December and didn't use all that much propane, maybe less than 1/3 tank. We used the propane furnaces and water heaters, didn't do too much cooking tho. We are conservative with the hot water heater, it only comes on first thing in the morning and is off when we leave for the parks. We might turn it on again it the evening for a short while but it is definately off by 8 or 9 PM. Another solution would be something like a Hott Rod...http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv-water-heaters/hott-rod-water-heater.htm which uses the existing annode fitting for a new electric heater.

That said, if you motorhome is relatively new I would be very suprised if it was not already equipped with both gas and electric water heater elements, almost all motorhome made in the last few years come that way.

 

[LarryJ]

Thanks all. I am wondering how long my propane will hold out??? I cook very little in terms of something other than microwave or BBQ or toaster grill etc. So, I will use very little propane with the stove. ANd I can use my space heaters if need be to warm up a little chill. But for the hot water, wondering how long that would last for 3 people taking showers daily??? I suppose if I run out I could use the comfort stations. Or if I just need a LONG shower. LOL Thoughts? I have I think a 25 or 30 gallon LP tank. (or 116. something pound for the conversion) Thanks.
Tricia

We left home 12/14/07 and were at FW from 12/16/07 to 1/24/08 and returned home 1/28/08. I left home with two full 30lb (7.5gal) cylinders with the OPD that should have given me around 12gal of propane. I can't remember when it was but I did have to have one cylinder refilled at the Fort and barely used the full one from home. Now I did run the frig, HW heater on electric and used one ceramic space heater only running the furnace generally in the A.M. to get things warmer.

If you're tank is 25 or 30 gal, and you're carefully you might me O.K. Two big users are the HW heater and the furnace. Also, I don't know if onboard propane systems fall under the newer OPD rules for removable cylinders.

Larry

 

[U.P. North]

But for the hot water, wondering how long that would last for 3 people taking showers daily???

Does your Water Heater run on electric also? I made that mistake when we got our travel trailer. I would always run the Water Heater off LP and between the water heater and the furnace (on cold nights camping in northern Michigan), we would go thru the LP quick. Then one camping trip it hit me, Why am I paying to heat the water using my LP, when I am plugged in to electric and my water heater also runs on electric? We have 2 adults and 2 kids and when it is shower time, I do switch on the LP (yes, while the electric is still on - my manual says it heats the water quicker and it does!!) during shower time only and then turn off when done. For every day dishes cleaning and that kind of stuff, the electric does the job.

A couple ceramic space heaters and we hardly run the furnace. But we are not as big as your motorhome, but we do have an expandable camper so we have canvas on both ends and we still don't run the furnace that much. We have camped when the outside temp dropped to 29 and the furnace does run a lot then, but those temps have been rare...lots of 40's though.

Anyway, I suggest you try running the water heater with electric only and turn on the LP if needed to quick warm the water.

Dan

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

I try to keep track of how long I have used a cylinder so I have some sense of when it will need filling. Having a dual water heater and using an electric space heater instead of the furnace means that I dont have to fill the tanks very often. W ehave had our trailer for a year now and I am probably towards the end of the first 30# cylinder.

I do know that Flying J has a minimum that they will fill, I topped one off on the way into FL a couple of years ago and was just below the minimum. Off hand I am going to say that it was around 6 or 7 gallons, either way its much cheaper than filling them locally and although I have never used Disneys service, I would bet its not a bargain. Propane is just another reason that I like Flying J when traveling, my truck actually gets better mileage on Pilots fuel but I think the J is nicer and has more to offer than most of the Pilots.

 

[LarryJ]

I try to keep track of how long I have used a cylinder so I have some sense of when it will need filling. Having a dual water heater and using an electric space heater instead of the furnace means that I dont have to fill the tanks very often. W ehave had our trailer for a year now and I am probably towards the end of the first 30# cylinder.

I do know that Flying J has a minimum that they will fill, I topped one off on the way into FL a couple of years ago and was just below the minimum. Off hand I am going to say that it was around 6 or 7 gallons, either way its much cheaper than filling them locally and although I have never used Disneys service, I would bet its not a bargain. Propane is just another reason that I like Flying J when traveling, my truck actually gets better mileage on Pilots fuel but I think the J is nicer and has more to offer than most of the Pilots.

Last December I had a 30 lb OPD cylinder filled at the Meadows and it was a flat rate of $21 so guessing I probably only got like 6 gal of actual propane that's about $3.50/gal not cheap, but I priced checked getting it filled at CW and their flat rate for a 30lb cylinder was $26 so FW was still cheaper than CW.

Larry