Fort Wilderness Camping - January,2012

[Hapy Camper]

Hi everyone,

Forgive me in advance for my lack of computer knowledge. I have been reading the DIS boards for years and finally got up the courage to ask a question. It took me a few weeks for figure out how to register and then how to actually post a question.

My daughter (6) and myself will be camping in Fort Wilderness in January-2012 in a tent. My concern is - is the campground busy that time of year? We just got back from a midweek camping trip and two nights were so spooky because it felt like we were the only two in the whole campground. Already made reservations at campground and booked airfare. Am I totally crazy for thinking I can pull this off?

Any advice would be beyond helpful. We will be bringing our own equipment but are flying down so need to keep it to a minimum. My tent alone weights 37 pounds (so says Coleman). Please tell me someone will be there around Martin Luther King weekend. I'm really starting to freak out that I made a huge mistake.

PS: This is my daughter's 7th trip to Disney World, but I really want her to have the camping experience.

 

[FloridaTeacher]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Disboards. I (like you) lurked around for a while before posting. Now I'm a Disboards addict.

First let me say we camp in our motorhome so obviously our camping experiences are quite different. None-the-less we have been in January and there were plenty of folks around. We always camp in a preferred or full hook-up loop....that may make a difference. If you want to make sure others are around and about, you may want to stay in one of those loops.

I can imagine there's not a lot of tent campers around in January. Maybe someone who tent camps will come along and offer more information than me.

 

[SandrA9810]

At check in you can always request an upgrade to a full hookup loop, if the two partial hook ups seem to be a bit quieter. Just ask, they're really really nice there.

 

[weaverlfc]

I was originally going to be tent camping from the 9th of Jan, but have since changed my dates to Jan 29th. It's going to be my first time camping at FW, you've got me thinking as well now about how quiet the partial sites might be in Jan-Feb. I'm not sure if it being really quiet would be a good or bad thing.

 

[Nature Mom]

I'm sure it will be quieter than regular season but I doubt you will be alone. If you do find yourself with lots of sites between you and the next campers, be happy. You won't be alone like you might be in a remote camping spot somewhere midweek like you just experienced, and in the full hook-ups, there will be plenty of people. If you are going around the time of the MLK holiday, I would expect more campers.

 

[bama_ed]

January is a slow time (its Value season). But you can ask to be put in a loop where more people are. The busiest times in Jan are MLK weekend and Marathon weekend.

Bama ed

 

[Hapy Camper]

Hi again,

Thanks for all the responses. I have posted questions to the Moms Panel and only ever got one response (sent about 10 questions). I assume I was doing it correctly, but then I thought I did it correctly here too, but I posted it in the wrong place. Thank goodness for my husband.

I noticed someone said to not bring an air matress but foamy stuff. Will an air matress be okay that time of year. I just bought a new indoor/outdoor aerobed with a built in pump so that I would have one less thing to bring (meaning the pump).

Also I am very confused about the lights of outside the tent. I have never put up Christmas lights, so I am a little confused. Does this stake thing run on batteries. I know there is electricity on the site so can I run an electrical cord into my tent to use a heater or DVD player? Does anyone know how big a tent site is. My tent is a 9x17 foot and has a huge cabin room and a built in screenhouse in it.

I really am beginning to think that I have bitten off more than I can chew, but I am still not giving up. I my go crazy trying to figure this out, but with all you nice people responding, I might not have a nervous breakdown in the process. Thanks again for all the responses.

 

[SandrA9810]

Air stays colder inside the air mattress, which will make you colder at night. It also keeps cold because of the ground. You can get around this by placing blankets to separate the bed from the ground. I'm not sure if you can put an electric blanket between the layers, but you might look into that. Or at least between you and the mattress.

The outlet stake is something like this.
http://www.oogalights.com/Woods-13547-6-Outlet-Outdoor-Power-Stake-with-Mechanical-Timer.aspx

They sell them mostly during christmas time for outdoor lights. There's electrical hook ups at every site, just bring a few good heavy duty extension cords. These are all things you can get after the holidays for half off.
What I did, was hook the stake up to the electrical post and then connect the extension cords to it. Two cords went to the tent, and one socket went to the rope light. Inside the tent was usually a lamp, sometimes a mini tv, and of course our chargers for the phones.

The electrical post is a bit far from the sand pad, so having a long cord, at least 25-50 ft is a good idea. I do a lot of christmas decorations, so those are the kinds of things I have on hand. Since you're going in January, you'll have the ability to find those things this holiday season and buy them at a discount after Christmas.


You're tent size is fine for a partial hook up. You might have the screen part overlap to the concrete, but there's still plenty of space on the site. Don't worry about being alone. There's always plenty of people there, and there's no reason to feel scared about being alone with your daughter.