Fort Wilderness Pre-Trip report

[ruthies12]

Oh that wasn't for the trip. That was the weekend packing wine.

 

[Nan P]

Still watching your posts. Love the Mickey lamp base. Great that you can use one item for two functions.... lamp and table. Love it!

 

[mightyexplorers]

14 days and counting!!!

Not to much to report but thought I would update. Everyone is ready to go! but it still seems like we have a lot to do before we leave. been busy wrapping things up at work and preparing to hopefully not get to many calls while we are gone.

We have finished stocking most of our food. I will try to recall some of what we brought here. It feels like we are junk food-aholics when we visit the store lately but we try to get a log of grab and go items that the kids can eat when they want, or throw in a backpack to snack on in the park.

Pop tarts of various flavors,
pudding cups.
Frozen waffels,
Frozen pizzas (jacks pizzas are prefect size for an RV oven) we buy them at menards surprisingly they occasionally have them far cheaper than the grocery store. Recently they were $1.88 each so we bought a bunch for the trip.
Frozen ice pop-sickle things - the non-frozen kind freezer space is at a premium and these lets us freeze them as we go.
Bagels are a quick breakfast item and a good snack in the middle of the day
salami
hot dogs
brats
beans
corn
green beans
Lots of microwave popcorn. We have some souvenir popcorn buckets from a few trips back so nightly the kids pop popcorn fill them up, grab smore makings and head for Chip N Dales.
Smore makings, hersheys, gram crackers, marshmallows
We pre-make some dinners, like taco meat so we can just heat it easy in a pan.
ice cream treats
Hamburger patties frozen and ready for the grill
The ever popular mac-n-cheese
chips
candy
chips
cookies
And the one thing you MUST pre-pack if you want it at Disney World GUM!

We do do some counter service in the parks and eat out a few nights, we have a character meal planned at chef mickeys, but having a lot of grab and go food helps keep the kids (especially teenagers) satisfied between meals so they are not buying to many $400/lb m&m's in the parks.

I don't have a picture, I will try to take one if I remember, but in our RV we have a large sliding closet. We found a small chest freezer that fits perfectly inside the closet. We have found that if everything is frozen hard inside it, even if it is not powered while driving things stay frozen well. At night or while driving we usually run the generator for a movie or something and that allows it to re-freeze enough during our travel time to Disney. The Freezer helps us bring a TON more frozen food and meals that we would otherwise not be able to take.

 

[tiggerdad]

Great idea on the freezer. Our camper has a second refrigerator in the outdoor kitchen, but it is electric only. On our last 12 hour trip down to wdw it warmed back up, but luckily th ED only thing in it was drinks.

Thinking next time I will freeze the case of water before putting it in just prior to leaving.

 

[cjalphonso]

Hey Mighty, it looks like we will be at the Fort at the same time
We arrive May 18th and depart May 24th. We'll be spending the 16th and 17 in St. Augustine. It's my wife and I and DS10 and DS07. PM me where you will be and maybe we could meet up or something, although for some reason I don't think you will be too hard to find I think we are shooting for the 1700 loop.
Getting excited!!!!

 

[mightyexplorers]

Here is what we have setup for frozen food.
We have this nice size closet.

We found a chest freezer that fits perfectly in half of if.

then we stuffed it with as much food as we could fit.

I think we are pretty well set with frozen and nonperishable. 13 days and counting.

 

[connor2002]

Here is what we have setup for frozen food.
We have this nice size closet.

We found a chest freezer that fits perfectly in half of if.

then we stuffed it with as much food as we could fit.

I think we are pretty well set with frozen and nonperishable. 13 days and counting.

That's a great idea. I have been considering getting a chest freezer too but did not consider the closet to store it. Is there power in your closet ?

 

[jbrostek]

Smart move on the freezer with that many stomachs to feed. I would only caution to watch your amperage draw if your not a 50A coach. Those are some hungry beasts at times, and if your running seperate power cord, remember to plug it in when you overnight.

It sounds like you have a great deal going. I would say if you have the room, bring a crock pot. It is awesome for making a meal or just reheating the taco meat while you do something else. When I am on vacation, there are at least 1-2 meals that involve 90% of the work being done by prepping and starting the crock pot in the morning and returning at dinner to finish it.

 

[mightyexplorers]

Look what I just booked!!!

 

[mightyexplorers]

That's a great idea. I have been considering getting a chest freezer too but did not consider the closet to store it. Is there power in your closet ?

No power in the closet, but there is right next to it, we just discreetly run an extension cord out the corner to keep it plugged in. We hardly notice it is there.

 

[mightyexplorers]

Well we have finally reached the point where we can say "we are going to Disney World NEXT WEEK!!!"
As exciting as that is, it also makes me a bit anxious because it seems like there is still a lot I need to get done.
We did get quite a bit of packing done over the weekend. Strollers are all loaded. Bike trailer is loaded, I did a tune up on all our bikes this weekend because they have been in winter storage the last 6 months.
For strollers we have a baby trend, sit and stand. This will be our fist trip with it but I think it will work well. it has the ability to hold an infant car seat on the front or the back, the back also allows us to have it be either a regular seat, or allow the option to have a kid hope on and off. That might be nice for our 4 year old who will want to walk but I am betting will end up needing to ride quite a bit.
We also have two umbrella strollers that we will use as needed. Since the baby and our two year old will likely be in the double stroller, we may use one of the umbrellas in the park for our 4 year old. We will see what works best when we get there.
The other thing I really like about the sit and stand is that I can collapse it with one hand from the handle. This is nice when getting on a bus, or smaller boat, the kids can stay in the stroller until the bus is pulling up. Then we go to work like a nascar pit crew; two of the older kids swoop in and grab the little ones out of the stroller, the younger kids grab all the bags, cups and whatever else we have hung on the stroller throughout the day, I collapse it and we all walk smoothly onto the bus. (I am sure it will work just like that)

 

[disneytriplets]

Love the pit crew plan!! I'm sure it will work out perfectly!! ;-)

 

[bsjs0708]

Totally loving your report..WELL DONE on the lamp...looks great!!!

 

[bama_ed]

Well we have finally reached the point where we can say "we are going to Disney World NEXT WEEK!!!"

 

[mightyexplorers]

Here is the plan for getting to Disney World from central MN in a little less than 48 hours of travel time.

Our plan is to leave NEXT Wednesday the 14th. I have to work that day and our 17 yo son has the last of his college finals that day too, so the plan is to leave at around 3:00pm or whatever time I get get clear of work.
Actually all the kids believe we are leaving the following Saturday morning, so when I get home on Wednesday we are going to say, "Heck with this, you guys want to hit the road?" and surprise them. Shhh don't tell.

Anyway, if I am off work at 3:00 realistically we will hit the road at 4:00. That will put us in Minneapolis, coming down 94 at about 6:30. Hopefully that will be late enough to clear most of the rush hour.

Day 1 -Goal Iowa City
The plan is to try to make it as far as Iowa City on for the first night. In the past we have always shot for Mt. Pleasant but it seems like we always fall a little short of that. Iowa City will be about 7 hours from home so we hope to make it there by 11:00 pm or so.
We boondock at Walmarts all the way to Disney, we usually call the store and clear it with a manager when we arrive but have never had a problem. They are well lit, usually have people around and are covered by security cameras. There are almost always at least a couple other RV's as well so we feel more secure there than at a truck stop or gas station.

Day 2 - Goal Dalton, GA
The second day has always been a bit of a challenge for us. Not because of the distance but because of the Cities, between St. Louis, Nashville, and Chattanooga we always seem to catch one of them in rush hour. Here is what I am kind of thinking.
If we leave Iowa City between 5:30 and 6:00AM that should give us this.
St. Louis - 10:00am
Nashville - 3:00pm
Chattanooga - RIGHT at RUSHHOUR we will probably stop just after nashville and have dinner or something for an hour or two. It will be a nice point for a break anyway. Try to target Chattanooga at or after 6:30 PM
Dalton, GA - between 7-8 pm.
Somewhere in here we hit that giant hill in TN. That is always fun (not really so much) we start out about 15Mph and try to not ride the breaks all the way down.

Day 3 - Goal FORT WILDERNESS
I will preface this day with this. The whole beginning of this trip, and the goal of stopping in Dalton, is to be able to target Atlanta in the very early morning. I have no desire to drive our motorhome through Atlanta traffic anytime ever. The South is nice but you can keep Atlanta.
So, depart, Dalton. 3:00AM
Atlanta - God willing, 4:30 -5 with minimal traffic.
Then it is clear sailing.
Fort Wilderness !!! hopefully rolling in by about Noon on Friday the 16th.
We are booked in a preferred site. Which in theory means 100 or 200 loop, since we have no pets. We have requested 100, but really would be happy in 100, 200 or 300. Really, I will be happy wherever they stick us. I am happy to roll the dice on a new loop if they upgrade us or something, but we do like being close to the Settlement.

soon to see

 

[cjalphonso]

Wow, that's quite the trip. My drive won't be nearly as long. Another overnight friendly place is Cracker Barrel. Make sure you keep the trans in low gear down the big hill!
Counting the days

 

[Chief Powhatan]

Don't judge Atlanta by our traffic, but yes, our traffic is horrific. That definitely is a good call to get through there before rush hour.

 

[mightyexplorers]

Don't judge Atlanta by our traffic, but yes, our traffic is horrific. That definitely is a good call to get through there before rush hour.

well, not just your traffic. Your housewives seem a bit snarky too.

 

[dadof2boys]

Following along. This report is awesome!

 

[loislane]

Just catching up on posts here - and have to say I love your lamp. Looks great!

Safe travel wishes. Hope you have a great trip. And how awesome on the Mine Train FP! You'll have to tell us how it is!