I may sound stupid, but here goes.........

[soccermomof3]

Ok, please keep all name calling to yourself........

We are planning to return to the Fort next summer for a VERY ECONOMICAL trip!
We are planning to tent camp without DDP.
We are planning to only eat in the parks for 1 meal each day. The other 2 meals will be at our camp site.

I understand how you could cook good meals and store fresh food in an RV but an at a loss when considering this in a tent. We have a camp stove, crock pot etc....

My concern is storing perishables. PB&J will only go so far.

Any suggestions?

 

[LONE-STAR]

If you are driving I would go buy a small fridge and bring it along.

 

[soccermomof3]

If you are driving I would go buy a small fridge and bring it along.

That is a good idea! I am concerned about the rain. We were there in '07
and it rained pretty much everyday we were there. Not at night, though...Hmmmmm.
I guess I could bring our small 2 man just for the fridge and other supplies????

 

[tim5055]

I guess I could bring our small 2 man just for the fridge and other supplies????

Sounds like a great plan.

Now, if you really want to see some "prepared" tent camping folks, check out my December 2001 Camping Journal trip entry. Down near the bottom on the left side (above the picture of the A Mickey DSS dish) you will see and interesting campsite.

 

[njcamper95]

The mini frig is the best idea coolers only hold ice but so long even the best of cooler say the will hold ice for up to 3-5 days this depends on if you have them in sun or shade and how warm it is out side if you have to spend the money on one of these plus ice you may want to just invest it in the mini frig you will probably pat close to the same anyway if you have one of those tents left over that would help keep the weather off it just remember to leave it vented you know like open a window if it has one but leave the screen there plus remember the frig will make heat to so becarefull were you place it you may want to put it off the ground so air can circulate
you could also use one of those canopy things that people use over their picnic tables this would help a little but still could be out in the air but also allows for it to get wet if you get the rain and wind to blow it the wrong way just some thoughts

 

[FlaFortCampster]

Do you have a screen room or tarp for over the picnic table? An inexpensive screen room would run you a meal in the parks. Then you could set your "kitchen" up in or under the screen room or tarp. A small fridge will run you $79 for a dorm size to about $110 for a 4 cf. Of course the 4 cf will handle much more and will pay for itself quickly. Ice is available at each comfort station for ice chests which is of course is a chore and tricky for meats.
You can always make a quick run to Walmart for fresh meats, about a 15 minutes run, too. Also, the Earl of Sandwich at DD is very reasonable if someone runs over for take out or a sit down meal.
Have a great trip.

 

[Rhonda]

We have a $49 screen tent from Walmart. We set it up over our picnic table, near the electric post and water spout.

Then, we set up our cooking stove, refrigerator, crockpot, coffee maker, etc. and make a kitchen in it!

We also keep a cooler with ice for beverages (beer, sodas, etc.). Things that aren't perishable. These things just take up room in the small fridge anyway.

 

[livndisney]

Do you have a screen room or tarp for over the picnic table? An inexpensive screen room would run you a meal in the parks. Then you could set your "kitchen" up in or under the screen room or tarp. A small fridge will run you $79 for a dorm size to about $110 for a 4 cf. Of course the 4 cf will handle much more and will pay for itself quickly. Ice is available at each comfort station for ice chests which is of course is a chore and tricky for meats.
You can always make a quick run to Walmart for fresh meats, about a 15 minutes run, too. Also, the Earl of Sandwich at DD is very reasonable if someone runs over for take out or a sit down meal.
Have a great trip.

That is a great way of looking at it!!! I have been thinking about getting a screen room, considering it this way has convinced me

 

[Tigger0624]

What we did when tent camping was to have a screen tent set up as our kitchen- a folding table to hold all of our cooking stuff- grill/stove/crock pot/coffee maker etc a small 4cf fridge for food and cooler for drinks. Also- to help the food "keep" longer, I would (and still do actually) pre cook all the meats and store them in containers. Also- by having everything under a screen tent they would be more protected from the elements. We also kept a small tarp just in case of heavy rain to cover the fridge and other appliances with so they didnt get wet.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[dtum]

We have an ice chest that plugs in and it works great. Easier to carry around than a frig. DD is using it in her value room this trip.

 

[pjhootch]

We have an rv now but tent camped for years and you could not pay me enough to drag a little fridge around with all the other junk that is necessary when you tent camp. I'm probably in the minority, but I think throwing fresh ice in a cooler every day is easier than dealing with a mini fridge.

Gallon ziplock freezer bags work great for perishable foods. Make sure you get the cooler cold before you put any food in, and freeze all the food you can prior to packing the cooler. We always used (still do, even with the rv) two coolers. One for drinks (that gets opened and closed repeatedly and the second one for perishable food. Use one of those cheap plastic baskets to hold butter and condiments so they don't slop around in the ice/water.

 

[bama_ed]

I have a Coleman cooler that plugs in to both a 12V (cigarette lighter) and a 120VAC with the included adaptor. It drops the inside temp to about 40 degrees below the outside air temp. Like other coolers, keep it out of the sun to help it do its job.

I just took it to the beach this past week and my Suburban has a 12V plug in the back so I loaded it with condiments (mustard, ketchup, relish, mayo, and of course hot sauce) so I wouldn't have to buy those at the beach. While at the campground it serves to pre-chill bottled water, cokes, and "adult beverages".

Having said that, the 40F differential meant the "adult beverages" weren't always as cold as I would like them, but the cooler would keep your food cold enough to keep it safe and edible. Also, you can plug up your cooler before you leave to "pre-chill" it so it's cold when you stock it and leave the house.

It's the most versatile option out there. But, if you insist on having your "adult beverages" at 35F then go with the huge 5-day cooler of ice and pay the Disney price for 2 bags of ice every day.

Good luck! When your OP said "economical" I thought that's the only way I KNOW how to travel.

Bama ED

 

[lorac4disney]

I vote for the mini-fridge also. I've done the ice chest routine and it is a bit of a hassle as far as perishables are concerned. It's great for drinks though.

And there's nothing at all wrong with a super economical trip to Disney World. BTDT.

 

[soccermomof3]

Sounds like a great plan.

Now, if you really want to see some "prepared" tent camping folks, check out my December 2001 Camping Journal trip entry. Down near the bottom on the left side (above the picture of the A Mickey DSS dish) you will see and interesting campsite.

I Love this!!!!
Thank you so much!!!
I can actually imagine how to do this.

 

[magicforever]

The Coleman Electric Cooler is great. I bought mine off ebay 3 years ago and it still keeps things very cold. I have even seen it turn milk into ice milk. Of course, this is when it was 70 outside and it was sitting in the shade. But they work well and can be packed full of stuff. Also, pre-chilling is a must.

 

[terri01p]

Well how about some dry ice in a large cooler, shouldn't that freeze anything that you want??? That might be the way to go if you don't want to buy a fridge. Or you can just eat a lot of of can stuff too...chilli, soups etc.

 

[Christine9125]

When we go camping, we have a regular cooler with ice for drinks and a plug in cooler (no ice) for food. It seems to work for us and we will be at the Fort in Jan/Feb 2010 to try it out then

 

[webbmom]

Pre cook your meats so all you have to do is re heat. A good quality cooler. If you salt the ice, you cant use it for drinks but its Great for keeping the ice cooler longer.

 

[Memph1s]

When we tent camped we went the 2 cooler route. One for drinks and condiments and one for frozen food. The food cooler would start out with only frozen items. I would package everything for single meal use. I froze everything in our deep freezer at home including a couple of 35-40 pound blocks of ice. I would move the frozen items into the drink cooler the day before we needed them so they could thaw to cook or reheat and at the same time extend the ice in the drink cooler. It took a little planning but worked for us a week at a time with only having to by a couple of bags of ice at the end of the trip.

If you salt the ice, you cant use it for drinks but its Great for keeping the ice cooler longer

Salting your ice will make it melt at a lower temp. and make the contents colder even freeze but it will melt the ice much faster. I use that trick for fast/super chilling beer or drinks but only in a small separate cooler.

 

[motherwild]

When I was much younger my family did a lot of tent camping. I remember my mother would freeze a meal and would put it in the cooler chest. We would have that meal the second or third day when it thawed. Pasta with jarred sauce. Pancake mix that you just add water to. A seprate cooler with dry ice might work too. I don't know much about dry ice.