Driving a travel trailer in the winter?

[mombrontrent]

Ok so we just bought our very first travel trailer. It's a 2013 rockwood roo 19 ft hybrid. We researched a little before purchasing but kinda just bit the bullet when we saw this one for a good deal.

Now we live in Canada and would like to take our trailer down to Disney world and stay at the fort end of November beginning of December 2018. I looked into Halloween but apparently that books up real quick! I have never been to Disney at Christmas time and would love to see all the decorations so that is why I am looking into that time frame as well as costs/crowds/weather I think this time will suit us.

So my question is, is it reasonable to think we could drive down this far in the cold weather that we will have up here in Canada? I guessing we would have to winterized it before since it can get pretty cold here in November and then dewinterize in Florida and then rewinterize before heading home. Anyone do this before? Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated as I am very new to this but I know I would have to reserve my spot at the fort soon as they sites fill up quickly.

 

[PaHunter]

Well if you hurry you can get a spot for Christmas 2018.

 

[mombrontrent]

Well if you hurry you can get a spot for Christmas 2018.

Thanks but I'm not really interested in being there right for Christmas. Too many crowds, prices too high for my likes. Plus our trip won't include my 19 year old son but I'd still want to be back at home to be with him he on the actual holidays.

 

[bjschil]

We are from Wisconsin, and take our fifth wheel down every year, generally leaving the day after Christmas. We leave home winterized, stay in hotel one night, and then camp close to Disney the 2nd night, and unwinterize. After a few weeks, it is time to head back to the frozen Tundra, and like many northerners, winterize before we trudge north. Many garbage cans have rv antifreeze when people leave. It is an easy inconvenience. Have a fabulous trip.

 

[morrik5]

Interesting topic and got me wondering, if we leave Ontario, Canada around April 18th heading for the Fort, should we leave our MH winterized? We are hoping to stay in Sutton, WV the 1st night and the 2nd night in Richmond Hill, GA? Has anyone taken a chance at that time of year being de-winterized?

 

[FtW Mike]

We take our Class A in Dec/Jan time frame I de-winterize first night on the road on the way down. hint we bring lots of bottled water for day 1 . For the return we empty the fresh water tank on the road ( I keep like 10 gal. in it to flush potty while we travel ) on our last day on the road I empty and flush black tank use the water pump to empty the lines once home I use my compressor to clear out the lines and then refill with anti freeze in my driveway or at our service provider the next day

 

[2goofycampers]

Interesting topic and got me wondering, if we leave Ontario, Canada around April 18th heading for the Fort, should we leave our MH winterized? We are hoping to stay in Sutton, WV the 1st night and the 2nd night in Richmond Hill, GA? Has anyone taken a chance at that time of year being de-winterized?

We usually plant our garden here in Tennessee first of April. I think you'd be fine de-winterizing when you get to WV.

 

[peg110]

Okay, here is my 2 cents.

I live in NE Pennsylvania. We love the Late November/Early December time frame at Disney. We usually will leave the Tuesday Night before Thanksgiving after work/school to head down. Stopping somewhere in Southern Virginia for the night (Boondocking). Then get up the next day travel all day until about an hour or so outside of Disney, and again stop for the night (again, usually boondocking). Getting up early Thanksgiving day and checking into the Fort usually by 8 or 9 AM.

I typically De-Winterize (which for me is simple since my lines are "Blown Out" and I do NOT use the RV Anti-freeze) by filling up my water tank (Black water has some water in it with "Deodorizer"/treatment pack) the day of (or the day before depending on the weather). We don't typically have a lot of FREEZING nights during this time frame but it can happen. Also our under carriage of our TT is not heated (directly) but it is "Insulated". The amount of water is more than enough to NOT freeze overnight even if the temperature drops to freezing over night (as long as it doesn't go to far in the "Sub-Freezing" range). The further south we go, the less we worry about it. Also since we "Boondock", if we turn the "Furnace" on, the ducts run through the Under carriage so some heat is in that area too.

I worry more about the "Lines" inside the camper, so while my water tank is filled, we do NOT use the water until we are actually traveling (again, as we go further south, it's less of an issue).

On the return trip North, I also keep water in the tank but I do not winterize it until I get home. My return trip is usually a LONG full day and then about long about a half (so to speak) second day. Getting home in Daylight. Again, depending on weather, I will dump tanks at home (I have a place to do this for my black/grey tanks) and will blow the lines out. If it's not going to be freezing, I may wait until the next day.

Now for you going a bit further north, you may have to gauge a bit differently, but again, unless you are getting sustained sub-freezing temperatures, you may be surprised on much it takes to actually freeze things up, especially with moving "Sloshing" water.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

We usually head down late Jan/early Feb. We have done this trip many times. We usually spend the night in GA and use a couple jugs of water to flush the toilet on the trip down. The key for us is to watch the weather and adjust timelines accordingly. We had trips where we encountered snow all the way into GA and one year where the ice was still on the trailer when we woke up in Perry GA. Although I don't like the winter roads I have a lot of experience driving trucks in bad weather.
Winterizing on the way home is pretty easy, I open all my drains and pull the plug on the water heater, depending on the weather I will let the water run out during the first day heading back and then close the valves and winterize somewhere in North GA or TN.
The Walmart near WDW usually has RV antifreeze but we always bring a few gallons just in case.

 

[mombrontrent]

Thanks to everyone so far for the replies. I think I'm going to go ahead and book November 24th to December 1st 2018 before it's too late. Seems so weird to plan that far ahead! Out last trip this past January we decided less then two months before that we were going to go and booked flights, hotel, ADR with no trouble. I actually quite liked that! So much less time to worry about all the details and it all just fell into place perfectly and we had an amazing trip. Looking forward to camping at the Fort though. My Dh is a truck driver and regularly drives in bad winter conditions so driving the trailer down in winter weather will not be an issue.

 

[PaHunter]

We have left PA when it was -10 degrees out. Trailer winterized by blowing out and no water until we hit VA. Had a few gallons to use in the toilet. Upon returning home, would blow out the lines so they do not freeze.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

When traveling in the winter I always make sure we are stocked with enough food for a few days as well as having all the propane full. Worse case scenario if I have to stop for a few days we are self sufficient.