Is this important enough to call back and change reservation?

[cmaee]

We are borrowing a friend's pop-up camper for our trip in April. Per one the DISer's on this camping board, they suggested we go with the cheaper sites since we will not need the sewer hookup and suggested Loop 1500 or 2000. After I looked at the map of Fort Wilderness, I decided we would rather be in Loop 1500 since it was so much closer to the pool, etc. than Loop 2000 is. We have young kids, so I didn't want to have to walk farther than we have to. I made my reservation yesterday and requested the 1500 loop. The CM asked me if the pop-up has an awning. Whenever we have been camping with our friends, they have never put on/up an awning, so I told them no. When I was telling my friend about that question, she said that they do have an awning that you have to lace on. I'm not really sure how that works, but they will give us a lesson before we leave. She said that if we were staying for a week, that she said it would be worth the time to put it on. If it were just a night or two, she wouldn't bother. Anyway, should I call Disney back and tell them that there is an awning? I didn't know if the sites were all basically the same size so it didn't matter, or if there are larger sites in which it would matter.

 

[becky1960]

I don think you will have a problem, if you had a larger RV with slideouts and awning then you might mention it, but a popup should be fine.

 

[Tri-circle-D]

I agree with you choice of the 1500 loop. I hope you get it.

And, I agree with the previous poster, the awning is a non-issue. I am not sure why they even ask those questions, as it doesn't seem to have any impact on where they put people. A pop-up camper with an awning will easily fit in any site at the Fort.

Happy camping!

TCD

 

[cmaee]

As far as if I get the 1500 loop...
I know when I wanted a certain location or building at the Disney hotels, I would call/fax my request again about 5 days out of our arrival. They said something about that is when the actual hotel will get the reservations and they will assign the room numbers then. Should I fax/call my loop preference to them around 5 days out of our arrival? I know they can never guarentee you a location/room, but asking never hurts either!

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Yes, you should definitely fax your request.

Disboard member clkelley has previously shared a form for the fax that she uses. You can find it on this thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=27871150&highlight=fax#post27871150

I use a variation of that fax, and I almost always get exactly what I request. The conventional wisdom is to describe your needs and ask for an approximate location rather than a specific site number.

Let us know if it works out for you!

TCD

 

[cmaee]

So, would it be acceptable to request a site on the 1500 loop that can accomodate a pop-up camper and be near the comfort station and bus stop? I hate the idea of walking a great distance in the middle of the night with my 3 year old's bathroom breaks.

How long are the loops? I can't tell by looking at the map how much distance it is around the loop. It looked as though the comfort station was between the 1500 loop and 1600 loop. Do they share a comfort station? Either way, do you know if there are sites that are in between the bus stop and the comfort station? Looking at the map, the area I am talking about would be at about the 7 and 8 o'clock position if the 1500 loop were a clock. If so, would that be a good spot or too loud/busy?

 

[stacktester]

1500 only has about 30 sites. You can always request a site near the cs. Have you thought about putting a porta potty at the camper to keep you from walking? They're pretty cheap.

 

[cmaee]

1500 only has about 30 sites. You can always request a site near the cs. Have you thought about putting a porta potty at the camper to keep you from walking? They're pretty cheap.

I didn't even know that was a possibilty. Are you talking about real porta potty that you would rent from a company or do they make camping ones?

 

[RDBS]

Portable potties range from the very basic seat for a bucket, called the Luggable Loo, my favorite being the Bumper Dumper, to pretty fancy models at residential height and power flush. For our pop-up, we had something similar to the Thetford Porta Potti 135 . It has a fresh water tank and a sealed holding tank. We did use chemical deodorants to mask the odors. The Porta Potti was easy to dump into a residential toilet. This was a perfect size for the kids. For three kids, I could go almost a week before having to empty it.

Hope this helps.

Joe

 

[Tri-circle-D]

So, would it be acceptable to request a site on the 1500 loop that can accomodate a pop-up camper and be near the comfort station and bus stop? I hate the idea of walking a great distance in the middle of the night with my 3 year old's bathroom breaks.

How long are the loops? I can't tell by looking at the map how much distance it is around the loop. It looked as though the comfort station was between the 1500 loop and 1600 loop. Do they share a comfort station? Either way, do you know if there are sites that are in between the bus stop and the comfort station? Looking at the map, the area I am talking about would be at about the 7 and 8 o'clock position if the 1500 loop were a clock. If so, would that be a good spot or too loud/busy?

Have you looked at the Google Earth maps created by Shan-man?

Here is a screen capture of the 1500 loop from Shan-man's map:

The bus stop is not marked on this map, but it is right across from the footbridge that you see on the left of the photo. As you can see, there are three sites at the beginning of the loop that are close to the bus stop and comfort station. But, 1501 is literally right behind the bus stop. I would take that site over a site in the 2000 loop, but I would rather be further into the loop than right behind the bus stop.

Here is a photo of 1501. That is the bus stop that you see in the background:

This is a photo of 1503. That is the comfort station that you see in the background:

The 1500 loop is small. The entire loop is less than 300 yards long. So, none of the sites is a particularly long walk to the comfort station.

When you fax your request, I would simply ask to be placed in the 1500 loop, in a site close to the walkway to the comfort station. I don't think you need to mention that you need a site to accommodate a pop-up camper, as all the sites on 1500 will meet that requirement. I'm sure that the site assigner will do the best that he or she can, but it is possible that you will still end up in the 2000 loop. That is not the end of the world. The 2000 loop is nice, too, and it has two comfort stations, so you probably can be placed close to one of them.

TCD

 

[Shan-man]

Thanks for the catch TCD, I have corrected the map to show the bus stop and updated the online file.

 

[cmaee]

When you fax your request, I would simply ask to be placed in the 1500 loop, in a site close to the walkway to the comfort station. I don't think you need to mention that you need a site to accommodate a pop-up camper, as all the sites on 1500 will meet that requirement. I'm sure that the site assigner will do the best that he or she can, but it is possible that you will still end up in the 2000 loop. That is not the end of the world. The 2000 loop is nice, too, and it has two comfort stations, so you probably can be placed close to one of them.

TCD

Thanks for all your help. I went ahead and typed up my fax and have it saved in my TO DO disney file.

 

[clkelley]

FYI, 1500 only has 21 sites