Imo ~ Disney’s Real Best Kept Little Secret & Hi

[WeDisney4]

It’s been almost 36hours since I made our reservations at FW & I think I can finally put my excitement into words.

Since our oldest DD was born we’ve been to Disney at least once a year since we fell in love with the whole family experience when she was just 6 mos. old. I am a stay at home mom & we’ve only been able to do this as we live just a 10 hour drive from the Mouse & we’ve mostly stayed at the Budgets. We are truly a family that happily chooses All Star Movies; nothing like walking out & coming home to those larger than life characters! However don’t get me wrong who wouldn’t like staying at a Mod, Dlx or even DVC (we did get to experience OKW a few times) but most of the time it just wasn’t in the budget for us.

Flash forward we now have reservations at FW!! Where for a lot less than a budget (we are also tenting it w/my sister & brother-in-laws & 2 nephews ~ 8 of us in a budget) we’ll get unbelievable 5* resort amenities!! I’m most excited about: the Campfire & movies, being able to boat it over to MK, beachfront fireworks & boat parades, children’s activities, biking all around, fishing and making new friends!

I feel like I know so many of you from your posts & some have already been gracious with their help ~ Thank You, please stop by introduce yourself & feel free to share your best tent rookie advice (hopefully we’ll be camping for the first time EVER soon ~ but that’s another story) or please share your first FW camping or camping ever experiences we’d love to hear them!

My name’s Christine & we’ll be camping at the Fort for the first time over Thanksgiving!!

 

[ftwildernessrick]

Bring a can of spray water repellant. Even new tents tend to leak in places, escpecially at the seams.

Enjoy the Fort & welcome.

 

[mnsprk]

HAPPY CAMPING

 

[rm0530]

Tip for tents and tarps:

The small metal pegs that come with tents/canopies/etc. are pretty weak. We buy a couple bags of the yellow Coleman pegs (6 pegs for like $1.77 at Walmart) and use those instead. Make sure to pack a mallet or hammer to really secure them in the ground.

For securing tarps, my DH loves to use parachute cord. Very strong and durable.

 

[WeDisney4]

Thanks Guys!

I can't wait to share all your advice w/ DH when he gets home tonight!! Although I'm a little nervous about him reading the "tend to leak in places."

"Don't worry Honey ~ we'll have a can of spray water repellent."

 

[rm0530]

We bought a new tent in January and set it up and seam sealed it before we ever used it. You can find spray or a bottle with a sponge top. Put the stuff on all of the seams (we did inside and outside) and let it dry for a couple hours. We went camping last month and it rained the entire time. No problems with leaks. We also had a tarp underneath the tent.

 

[kamik86]

We also had a tarp underneath the tent.

Make sure if you put a tarp under the tent that you make sure its either the same size as the base of the tent or folded to only be the same size as the bottom of the tent...

If the tarp is larger you will end up with MORE water in your tent since water will land on the tarp and then run to the middle of the (since the water can't go through the tarp) tent and end up soaking up into the tent. If your not careful doing this you can actually end up getting wetter then if you didn't put a tarp under the tent at all.

One other hint. If you have anything against the sides of the tent it will get wet. If its raining the canvas will feel wet from the inside. So make sure any kids know not to put there backpack right up against the side.

 

[BigDaddyRog]

Lots of great advice so far. SEAM SEALING is an absolute "must do" in my opinion...an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure. Its not expensive or really hard to do, and you'll be very proud of yourself for doing it if its starts to rain during your stay...it did rain during our tenting trip to the fort, and I got a very big head...strutting my stuff to the wife and kids making sure they KNEW that I saved the day by sealing the seams before we left for vacation!!!"Ya know...if I hadnt sealed those seams...we'd be in an awful situation right now...good thing I thought ahead....dang, Im smart! you guys are lucky to have me around!!"...Im such a jerk!!

And as mentioned above..make sure NOtHING is touching the inside walls of the tent..its not a problem when the weathers good...but if youre at the parks, and a few clouds happen to open up while youre not at the tent...and someone left their pillow against the tent wall...it will act like a wick and draw the water right in.

We used blow up mattresses, and brought a portable air conditioner with us. THIS caused an unexpected problem...the air in the matresses would get very warm during the day, even though we left the A/C on all day(its a tent...not exactly well insulated), and as soon as the sun would go down every evening, the A/C would REALLY get the inside of the tent very cool....and the mattresses would start sweating at the bottom. And I mean sweating alot!! And then the reverse would happen during the day, the air in the matresses was very cool from all night, and the sun would heat the rest of the tent up pretty quickly. The first morning, I thought one of the kids must have spilled a cup of water or something..then it finally hit me..if it was water seeping in, or cup spilling...it wouldnt ONLY be under the mattresses!!! So we laid towels on the floor under the matresses after that and it was fine.

We did a backyard tryout one night...did eveything we could NOT to go inside(except for potty runs) so that we could kinda of figure out what we DID need and what we could go without. You want to pack as lightly as possible as far as equipment, but god forbid you NOT have something thats ends up being neccessary. I always say its better to have and not need than need and not have...but when tenting...you have to narrow it down to make life easier.
My BIGGEST suggestion that hasnt been mentioned...bring a roll of painters plastic(like $12 from walmart for a 20' roll) and lay it out on your pad before settin up the ground tarp for under your tent and then finally, setting up your tent. This is NOT a MUST DO...but it will sure help to make the inside of your tent alot cleaner, because that coquina sand at the sites sticks to EVERYTHING, and WILL be on the inside of your tent for years to come...just cant get rid of that stuff!! So I spread the painters plastic over as much of the sand pad as I can that will get any foot traffic....and actually found it easier to just cover the entire pad with it.

You guys are going to have a blast....Im sure you'll get lots more great advice. Welcome to our world....we kinda like it here, and I bet you will too!

 

[tderonne]

One bit of general advice. Plan for ANY and ALL kinds of weather. Bring winter coats and shorts, raincoats and sunglasses, and so on. You may not use it, but boy will you be glad to have a winter coat and gloves on a cold boat ride to the Magic Kingdom!

 

[lledman]

Hello, we'll be camping at the Fort for Thanksgiving this year too.

Ir you have the means (cost & space) purchase totes and group your camping supplies & label them - towels & bathroom supplies in one, blankets in one, kitchen supplies in another, and food in a seperate (we sometimes would put the food tote back in the truck at night so not to attract animals).

Remember to bring cheap flip flops for shower shoes.

I left my thumb drive at work but I have a pretty awesome packing list from when we used to tent camp that I'd be happy to share with you if you need one.

 

[the3dems]

While Sept 2010 will be our first time in Disney (and at FW), we've been camping since our son was 2.

We use a tote (large rubbermaid bin) for our camping gear. We have our plastic plates and utensils, camping coffee pot, some dish towels, clothes line (very important), dish soap, citronella candles, heavy duty bug spray, sunscreen, first aid kit, playing cards. Its nice to know what's in it (I may get organized enough to write a list to tape to the lid) before we go, and it makes unpacking at home a breeze. And if I realize we need something else in the bin, I try to get in on the way home, because I'll never remember if I wait until the next camping trip.

Also, one thing you might want to bring is a flat sheet. Sometimes (and I don't know FL weather) it is too hot to get into the sleeping bags at night, so we sleep on top of the sleeping bags with a flat sheet on top of us.

Good luck!

 

[rm0530]

We also use Rubbermaid bins for our stuff. We have three bins and one duffel bag. 1) has tarps, tools, tent pegs, extension cords...anything that can get dirty. 2) has dishes, cooking tools, and paper products. 3) Food. We put that bin in the car each night. 4) Duffel has linens, flashlights, and sunscreen/bug spray.

They are very easy to stack and store in an outside closet when we get home. I labeled each bin on the top and side and we are always good to go.

 

[Srackangast]

We are coming in on the 17th and leaving the 23rd. So we are headed out right before Thanksgiving. We are bringing two tents this time. My teenage boys are on there own this trip. That means they have to clean up the sand or sleep in it wont matter to me So excited we love FW.