It's about time! Booked the Fort TWO YEARS AGO- finally we're camping 3/19 PTR *updated 1/2/19

[rideswithchrist]

I am terrible at PTRs but I really really enjoy planning (even though I rarely follow through with said plans)... so to pass the time, I hope to do my Best... even if no one reads it HA.

We have been eyeing the fort since our last trip and even bought a popup camper because hubs said no way to tent camping at Disney, even though we are a regular camping family.We bought our popup in 2016 so we could camp and we booked a site...but life, stuff, job loss and a new baby came our way in that span so we had to cancel reservations twice ​

DETAILS

WHO:


SAM_0944 by rideswithchrist, on Flickr

I have met the mouse twice, only twice! Seeing talking Mickey on our last trip was crazy and I think hubby and I were more freaked out by it than the kids. We wanted to plan a trip every year but- you know- money and stuff.

This is my family (minus one)
DH- 40, has been to DW like 8 times, including the 20th Anniversary! Loves Star Wars, Space Mountain, and Rope Drop, hates Tower of Terror and lines.
L-10, Loves all Disney songs, and Mission Space, hates Tower of Terror and being put on the spot.
C- 8, Loves Minnie SO MUCH, Test Track and Dole Whip, Was not a fan of Barnstormer
F- 6, Loves Donald, anything orange colored and was too little to ride anything and does not remember loving 7DMT.
G- 16m, the newbie! This will be his first trip and he will be 2. ​

IMG_3769 by rideswithchrist, on Flickr

WHERE:

We will be staying at the Fort! We are a camping family and no longer fit in Pop Century so it is a perfect choice for us.
IMG_3561 by rideswithchrist, on Flickr

We will be making a few updates on our Pup before making the 1600 mile drive.

WHEN:

March 3-10th 2019. We will be hitting the parks 6 days, with a break in between to hang at the fort and see some of the other resorts.

______

As I said, I am newish to PTRs and am working on becoming a minimalist, so for all I know, this will be a boring thread- fair warning in advance. ​

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Yay! Following! Camping sounds fun, I've never been to The Fort!

 

[yesdnil]

Following!

 

[rideswithchrist]

Yay! Following! Camping sounds fun, I've never been to The Fort!

I really wanted to go last time, but my husband only wanted to stay at Pop...and now we are too big to fit so I get my say haha. We have been watching some FW vids on Youtube so they kids are so excited- but also terrified of Alligators so no fireworks on the beach for us.

 

[rideswithchrist]

EEK! We are finally under the 9 month mark! Last time, we were counting down from 6 months (27 weeks) and it went by so much quicker than I expected. I know from 4 kids that 9 months takes foreverrrrrrrrr.

We planned a few in between camping trips for July, August, September (South Padre) and will plan a November and January so that we are counting down to the trips before we hit Fort Wilderness.
I started a planner that had a list of all the rides we missed in each park, but I am not sure what happened to it- Google ate it!

SOOOOO I gotta start it all over.

Magic Bands are customized on MDE.

So far, this is the tentative park schedule. I'll tweak it as the crowd calendars update of course.

 

[rideswithchrist]

I can't wait to go back!

 

[cinderaimee]

So fun! Camping but not in a tent is my kind of camping!

Following!

 

[disney-inspired]

I’m here for it!

 

[Kippa-Dee-Do-Dah]

Following! What a cute family you have! So glad you finally get your trip - we also had 2 trips we had to cancel and are finally getting to go!

 

[rideswithchrist]

So fun! Camping but not in a tent is my kind of camping!

Following!

It took me sending DH all the popup camper renovations I came across for him to actually be ok with "upgrading" to a popup, and now he wants a travel trailer!

I’m here for it!

Yay!

Following! What a cute family you have! So glad you finally get your trip - we also had 2 trips we had to cancel and are finally getting to go!

It was SUCH a bummer, but it makes it more exciting when you actually do get to return. It will have been 4 years since our last trip and we added a kid haha.

 

[rideswithchrist]

I was supposed to blog about our trip last but I failed miserably at it...so I have been really trying to this time.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE thrifty trips, and telling people how cheap you can take a Disney trip for...so I did a breakdown of expected costs.

http://www.anotherdavidsonday.com/2018/07/23/how-cheap-can-you-disney-as-a-family-of-6/

I posted that we were not eating at Casey's, but hubs heard they had 2 foot hotdogs so he said we must. Or he must. I hate hotdogs.

 

[rideswithchrist]

WOOOOT! 7 months to go. I have the girls talked into bounding instead of just doing Disney tees. I think we will do a little of both because I plan on bringing clothing for 4 days only, then washing them mid week.
So far, they are planning to bound as Peter Pan characters one day and maybe Toy Story another day...the days in between I plan on just color coordinating to make packing and dressing easy.

 

[rideswithchrist]

This is my tentative plan, but I need to make sure I pick low parks. I KNOW that if we MK on Monday, we hit higher crowds, but my family must see the castle on the first day so I am trying to get to the Fort early on Sunday and make that a MK day.

 

[rideswithchrist]

Looking at this, we may have a bit more swapping around to do. We LOOOOOOVE Epcot so I know we would be ok with pushing AK and HS later in the week but honestly, it may just depend on when we can get FP for those parks.

 

[Sparklysoph]

Your kids are so cute! I enjoyed your budget blog too - I LOVE reading about budgets and planning! Is that weird?!

 

[rideswithchrist]

Your kids are so cute! I enjoyed your budget blog too - I LOVE reading about budgets and planning! Is that weird?!

Thanks!
Not weird at all, I am a total budget and planner nerd too...I just rarely stick to it haha.

 

[rideswithchrist]

So, we are tossing around some ideas now.
We are STILL camping of course, but we are thinking of selling our popup, using those funds to go ahead and get the tickets before our 60 day window and then use my Dad's popup, which is is in MUCH MUCH better condition to make the trip and camp in possible rain.

We are limited in that we are saving up spending money, but this trip is going to be an income tax refund trip- which means we can't go until late Feb and that would be a last minute plan.

We did that last time and in a span of 2 weeks, we were able to get all the FP we wanted...BUT that was before all the new parks were a thing.
Choices choices choices.

 

[loislane]

Camping at Disney is so fun!!!!

We did two 12-day trips in our popup and absolutely LOVED Fort Wilderness. Absolutely my favorite place to stay - just such a different and laid back vibe there. Kids are older now and we went from being a family of 5 to a family of 3 with the "child" at home almost 19 now, so we don't camp anymore. But I think when DH and I are ready to retire and take up the mobile lifestyle, we'll be making regular stops at the Fort.

 

[mdsouth]

This is my tentative plan, but I need to make sure I pick low parks. I KNOW that if we MK on Monday, we hit higher crowds, but my family must see the castle on the first day so I am trying to get to the Fort early on Sunday and make that a MK day. View attachment 341826

Camping at WDW looks like so much fun! Like you, I always want to plan my first park to be at MK for the nostalgia.

 

[rideswithchrist]

Camping at WDW looks like so much fun! Like you, I always want to plan my first park to be at MK for the nostalgia.

If we went every year, or even ever other year we may not feel the need for that Main Street walk but yup- we gotta walk through the castle on the first day!
We are not big on Disney Springs so we are glad to be able to hang out at Fort Wilderness for that first day. It really will just depend on what time we check in.