Leave in 19 days; am I insane for considering this?

[twinspluscade]

We leave on the 19th to drive down to WDW, our third trip. We've currently got a package booked through WDW: 7 nights at POR, and 7 day base tickets.

WELL....I've been planning for months now to buy a tent or two this summer, so we could start taking our kids camping. I camped a lot as a kid, DH did several times, but our kids never have except for staying at a "camping cabin" last summer at Custer State Park (which they loved). It dawned on me yesterday that since we'll be buying tents anyway soon, why not buy them NOW and use them on our trip to Florida.. I checked the WDW website; Fort Wilderness still has campsites available, and I think (??) it would be easy enough to switch our reservations from POR to Ft. Wilderness. I would probably "downgrade" our park tickets from 7 days to 6 days, so we would have arrival day to set up our campsite and explore the fort rather than rushing to the parks.

Dh thinks I am absolutely insane for even considering this. It's been years since either one of us has tent camped--we were both in our early 20s the last time. We have no camping gear, and not much time to plan and/or do any practice camping runs. And--the biggy--it will be so hot (I'd bring fans). On the flip side, we do love nature/wildlife and I think the kids would really love the whole camping experience, if our stay at Custer State Park was any indication (one kid actually asked to go back there this summer instead of Disney....)

Is it ridiculous I'm thinking about switching when our trip is just weeks away?. I would welcome any opinions, as I'm really not sure yet what we'll do.

Thanks!

 

[gd3]

Thats a tough decision. Being that you guys havent been camping in a while, have you considered a hybrid trip where you would camp part of the trip and stay in a resort part of the trip? Maybe a mix of experiences? It does get pretty hot in Florida, and sometimes it is nice to have all of the modern amenities.

 

[bama_ed]

Well I would normally advice something along the lines of what gd3 said.

That would be to take a trial tent camping trip (a pleasant weekend near home) first to learn how to set up your tent, managing meals, sleeping arrangements, etc. before trying it for the first time at the Fort.

I think you would be pressing your luck to switch to camping at this point and still pull off a relaxing vacation. That's just my opinion.

As an alternative, I would suggest, being at POR, that you come by the Fort and visit for the day. No pool hopping, naturally, but come by in the afternoon, ride the bus to the Meadow area, visit the Trading Post, get a chicken dinner at Trail's End takeout (down by the boat/marina area) - it's only $24 for a 10-piece chicken dinner. You can choose 2 sides from fries, slaw, mash potatoes, and mac/cheese. They'll give you paper plates, napkins, salt/pepper, plastic forks, etc and you can eat on the picnic tables on the side porch. There are also pony rides (led by a parent) down next to Pioneer Hall which only cost a few dollars and based on the ages of your kids might be a memory for them.

Use the busses to locate loops 1500 and 2000 (Partial and perfect for tents) and walk through them. Or visit the Full Hookup loops (1600-1900) or Preferred loops (100-300). All these have sand pands for tent campers. Stay for the campire/singalong (open to any Disney resort guests). It starts at 8pm.

Then you can head back to POR for the night. And start planning your next trip to the Fort to camp (and do the at-home trial first).

Good luck!

Bama ED

 

[WDWisTheBest]

PP have given some good advice to consider.

 

[deuceswild10]

In this case I would stick with your original plan. I think it's too much to switch around now, and considering that you don't have any camping gear yet, it would be a lot of work to pull off.

 

[twinspluscade]

Thanks for all the replies!

We're going to take everyone's advice and stick with POR. We went to Fleet Farm today to look at tents and camping gear, and I realized just how much gear we'll need yet, and I'm not even 100% sure what kind of tent/s we'll buy.

So, for now I'll keep on doing my camping research, hopefully visit Fort Wilderness on our upcoming trip, and plan on doing a few trial camping runs later this summer.

 

[2goofycampers]

Thanks for all the replies!

We're going to take everyone's advice and stick with POR. We went to Fleet Farm today to look at tents and camping gear, and I realized just how much gear we'll need yet, and I'm not even 100% sure what kind of tent/s we'll buy.

So, for now I'll keep on doing my camping research, hopefully visit Fort Wilderness on our upcoming trip, and plan on doing a few trial camping runs later this summer.

 

[cookiebrito]

I ca totally relate to this post. My husband and I have been camping for years. We started in a tt and shorty upgraded to a class A. Well, now we have 3 toddlers and I am a stay at home mom. The class A has been sold but we still want to camp. Last week we were on our way to gander mountain to buy a family cabin-tent and we found a great popup for 1500.00. We bought it and love it. My advice, if you can borrow some gear and take your family to a near by park. Camping gear can be very expensive so make sure your family likes camping before you make the big investment.
FYI, we found that the family cabin style tent to be the best.

 

[gillenkl]

Thanks for all the replies!

We're going to take everyone's advice and stick with POR. We went to Fleet Farm today to look at tents and camping gear, and I realized just how much gear we'll need yet, and I'm not even 100% sure what kind of tent/s we'll buy.

So, for now I'll keep on doing my camping research, hopefully visit Fort Wilderness on our upcoming trip, and plan on doing a few trial camping runs later this summer.

I think you've gone with the perfect plan! Look forward to seeing you at the Fort in the future!

 

[Scoutn757]

Do as you see fit. We are driving through Friday night to go to Disney for a week.... We planned the trip right around a week ago.