checking in EARLY morning

[Ellen aka Snow White]

OK - say we pay for Friday night, we head down to Florida but don't arrive until 3 or 4 in the morning (AM). Can we check in and set up at that time?? (we would be really quiet and just set up the basics until daylight ) Thanks!
Ellen

 

[clkelley]

I havn't arrived quite that late, but I have arrived as late as 2:00 am. As long as you have the site paid for, it is no problem. As you say, just set up the minimums before daylight.

Carol

 

[tim5055]

OK, I'm going to throw a little twist into this. Why wast the money???

Stop in Ocala (Silver River State Par is my favorite) and spend the night. Get up early and you have a two hour drive into the world. You can save quite a few dollars this way and still be at FW early.

 

[trlrboy]

I don't think there is any way to set up a camper at 3/4 in the morning and be "quiet". Why start a vacation with neighbors that think you are obnoxious?

 

[Ellen aka Snow White]

We have thought about stopping somewhere else - but not a campground because we have a pop-up so not real easy to set up then take back down next day. I also have thought about being that obnoxious neighbor . It's just a thought, is there any way to pay for early check in?? say by 9:00 am??

 

[VAN]

I've never heard of "early check-in" ... you would have to pay for the night before, I would think.

Sometimes you do get lucky and the site they have assigned will be empty when you arrive and you will be able to set up early. We have not had this kind of "luck" in several years though. We have had to wait until 1:00 before they will give us our site number. Because you park at the front after check-in and before you have your site number (if you arrive early), you can still enjoy the amenities. We have walked around and seen the sites that were empty but not "cleaned" ... our's was usually empty but not released by housekeeping !!! Grrr!! In fact, last year it never did get cleaned ... they got tired of me pestering them and then at 1:00 when they were required to release it, it still wasn't clean so they acted like it was suddenly cleaned/available. I knew better from the way it looked but was just glad to have it available for set-up.

I don't know what their system is for site cleaning, but I don't think they have as much staff as they used to and so the sites aren't getting cleaned up prior to 1:00 like they used to.

 

[John VN]

We go to FW for weekend stays, check-in Fri. and check-out Sun. To get maximum vacation time we plan on arriving 7:00AM to 7:45AM Fri. morning. This is about as early as you can arrive and receive a site if it is available (have asked about the timing) and also not to be too much of a noise maker to neighbors as you set-up. If a site is not ready for you then you will be instructed to park in the big lot and start your stay and just keep on checking back.

In the past 3 years we have been lucky enough to visit the Fort once a month and we have about a 60% early site set-up success. Earlier this month we arrived at 7:20AM and got our site and next week we will be arriving about 7:10AM and we shall see. Since we have a small MH we do not have the set-up that pop-ups or tenters have so we are able to park in the big lot if the site is not ready and then sit and have something to eat and then start using the bus system to begin the fun.

Try to plan on a 7:00AM to 8:00AM arrival time and hope for the best.

John