FW family TENT CAMPING Qs/HELP!!!

[Tinkerbellah]

I have always wanted to camp @ FW but I'm nervous about Florida's wildlife. I am from the North & have only camped about 3 times. [not counting the many times camping in my friend's backyard woods lol!] If we do this it will be in a tent w/ a 2 year old. Is this a bad idea w/ a little one? I was thinking 5 days in a tent & 5 days @ POP, POR or CBR. I love the location of FW & always go to FW for a show or something anyway.

So, is there Gators? Bugs, Bears or does WDW keep them away?
Is this a good idea w/ a 2 year old?
Any tent suggestions we could buy?
Is mid Nov a good time to camp?

Oh I forgot to mention my DH is not sold on camping in WDW...@ all. Should he consider it?

 

[Running_Bell]

I can only base my advice from my personal experience... others may differ and in the end... you will have to be the one to decide if this is right for you, no one can decide that for you.

- camping is a commitment... and everyone should "love" it. If not, you will have miserable campers.... and that means miserable trip.
- if you have never camped with your 2 year old... try a close overnight trip (or even your back yard)... that will give you some idea.
- our family tent camped for 10 days at FW in mid Nov... it got chilly most nights... be prepared for that. What bedding are you using? air mattresses are not warm... you will need lots of blankets to put on top since the air in the mattresses will be colder than you think.
- depending on your type of camping....camping usually requires a bit of equipment (to be comfortable)... is it worth the cost to you?
- tent type is a personal preference... I would research a lot.
- as far as wildlife... yes, there are bugs. At FW, I've seen deer, a gator (in the lake) and armadillo. Never had a problem.
- I can't imagine NOT camping... but we camp almost every weekend spring - fall ... so we do love it. however, we have experienced camping with another family who didn't love it... it was quite miserable for them. You'll never know until you try... but start with a small trip.

 

[bama_ed]

Tinkerbellah,

I'm going to reinforce part of what RunningBell said. You ought to try a weekend campout close to home. You don't have to do all the cooking/stove stuff but just see if you like the "lifestyle". Borrow what you can before committing to buy any equipment.

As far as your proposed time, early November is a nice time weather wise usually speaking. It's busy at Halloween and it's busy at Thanksgiving week but in between there is nice. You don't have to worry about gators nipping at your heals. The nearest bear I've seen is in Frontierland strumming a guitar. And the Fort sprays for mosquitos although it misses a few.

If you get through a practice campout and still want to do it, a vendor called http://www.campatthefort.com offers a tent package where they provide everything in their list, set it up for you, and take it down for you when you leave. The current cost is $45 (the campsite is a separate cost). But if you are looking for 4 nights/five days that would only cost about $200 versus the cost of buying tents, sleeping bags, stoves, etc.

But to RunningBell's point, if DH doesn't enjoy the practice campout there near the house, he probably won't enjoy camping at the Fort. But everybody starts somewhere. We tent camped for years (my wife's first time was with me at the Fort) then moved up to a trailer (up off the ground). You never know if he might be bitten by the camping bug!

Good luck!

Bama ED

 

[Tinkerbellah]

Thank you so much for the info!!! But I think the closest we'll get to camping is if we can swing a cabin. He doesn't want take all the time to setup camp..ect ect.... maybe I'll gethim to try anight here @ home in the summer time. Thanks again you 2!!!!! Can't wait to check out that link.

 

[speniner]

TB,

I reserached this a lot last year, and may try to pull it off this year.

One suggestion that might ease the pain is to use a service to rent the camping equipment. The below link (I don't have enough posts to acutally make it a link, so you will have to cut and paste) is the one I researched. I have never used the service, so can NOT vouch for quality. However, I did ask a lot of questions and they were VERY responsive.

This group will do ALL of the set up and tear down of the tents. It will be there and ready before you arrive.

Look at the Tent Camping Package on the Unit list. You will likely realize like I did, that this list of equipment will support a small army platoon. So I asked if I wanted to rent, but only use half of the equipment, could they help on price. They indicated they would work with me on price depending on the number of nights rented.

campatthefort.com/terv/index.asp

It isn't super cheap, but to save the set up time and packing space, I think it will be worth it. And for a tent you will want to stay in more than a night or two, you going to drop hundreds of dollars.

Let me know if you try it...

 

[WicketsMom]

I did tent camping many years ago at Fort Wilderness with a group of Girl Scouts. We were in the group camping area and were very close to the water. There were several aligators in the swamp, some of the girls were hand feeding the smaller ones (I would NOT advise this!). There were also tons of mosquitos, I had bites all over my legs. We went in June and it was quite hot and humid as well.

I love tent camping, but would not do it again at FW. We had fun, but were much younger then.

You can also look into renting an RV to use there, but I believe that is fairly expensive. I have been in a camper there a couple of times and you get the best of both worlds. You're in the campground, but have air conditioning and a comfortable bed!

 

[Pstecker]

We tent camped at the fort last December, We loved it! The weather was great for the week we were there, my son (4yrs old) loved finding other kids to play with nearby, which was helpful when we were setting up and taking down camp. Bugs really weren't a problem for us, and the only wild life we encountered were squirrels who kept a tight watch on our camp anytime we cooked.

I back the others up with camping somewhere close to home to see how the 2yr old will do with sleeping out of their environment. I wouldn't do a split trip of camping and hotel, seems like a ton of work, not to mention all the gear you would be lugging around for the remainder of your trip.

 

[gillenkl]

I don't think I'd practice tent camping at Disney. That being said when we bought our popup camper our maiden voyage as a family camping together was at the fort. Dh had never towed a camper before, but we made that 18 drive and learned campsite setup at the fort.

 

[lee m]

Delete double post

 

[lee m]

My wife grew up camping. My family always went to the beach or wdw and stayed in allstar/pop. My camping experience growing up was also on friends' land. She always wanted to go camping and i wanted to go to wdw but she said no to our 3rd trip in 4yrs of marriage to wdw. Until i talked her into tent camping at the fort. It was by far our favorite trip and the fort is the only way we see going from here on. We are expecting our first child in a couple of weeks but I'm already wanting to go next year. We will practice before we try to make that long of a trip with a baby.

We saw deer and my wife got more mosquito bites then I did.

 

[angelmom27]

Just wanted to add a little tip about the wildlife. They wont bother you if you dont bother them. I live in FL and just down the road there is a gator that lives in a drainage ditch. People are always there taking pics but as long as they stay up on the bank and he is in the water he dont care. We will be doing our first tent camping trip this winter at Christmas time.

 

[Tinkerbellah]

Thank you all for the great comments & tips.