Newbie Advice on Several things

[Yellowstonetim]

I am a newbie to this forum. I'm 54 and my wife and I just bought our first TT, a 14 foot Jayco shoebox. It is humongous compared with the tiny Fleetwook Neon extra small Pop-up we traded in. Wife has allergies and some difficulty with her feet, so hard sided with facilities is the way for us to go. I'll be pulling my shoebox with a 2008 Ford Escape from PA and may stay a few nights late November and then will stay 10 or more nights Fall 2015.

A few questions:

What is the deal with cars? I read a lot about people renting golf carts. You are allowed to have your vehicle at the campsite, correct? Are you not allowed to use it in the campground? This place looks huge and my wife is not going to be able to walk a long distance.

Do they rent bikes, tandems, or tricycles long term, for your stay? Are they expensive?

Do people rent the electric scooters like at a resort? This would work for my wife.

How is Verizon coverage across the campground?

What are campfires like? I assume they will be heavily used throughout most of the year. Some campgrounds seem to be smoke filled all the time, others seem to be spread out enough to not be a problem. Can you bring in firewood?

Thanks for all your help!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

What is the deal with cars? I read a lot about people renting golf carts. You are allowed to have your vehicle at the campsite, correct?
. . . you may ONE auto/vehicle at your site
. . . you cannot drive/park it within The Fort, except betweenm the campsite and the exit/entrance
. . . example: you cannot drive to dinner inside the The Fort and park
. . . thus, people rent carts-ECVs-bikes to get around

Are you not allowed to use it in the campground? This place looks huge and my wife is not going to be able to walk a long distance.
. . . no place to park your vehicle at events/buildings

Do they rent bikes, tandems, or tricycles long term, for your stay? Are they expensive?
. . . yes, they rent them on first-come-first-serve basis
. . . golf carts can be rented well in advance
. . . and, yes, like all Disney, they are pricey

Do people rent the electric scooters like at a resort? This would work for my wife.
. . . scooters are not available outside of the parks
. . . but, you can rent from an outside vendor and have them delivered

How is Verizon coverage across the campground?
. . . OK

What are campfires like?
. . . NO OPEN FLAMES are allowed at The Fort
. . . any "fires" must be in approved vessels: sold-metal top, solid metal bottom, mesh sides, totally encapsulated
. . . and, yes, you can smell them throughout the park

Can you bring in firewood?
. . . yes, you can bring in firework for your small, approved fire pit

 

[tiggerdad]

. . . yes, you can bring in firework for your small, approved fire pit

Wait whoa really!?

I'm going by Bob's Big Barn of Booming Fireworks on the way to the Fort! Bottlerockets should be a good way to control the squirrels.

 

[Yellowstonetim]

What is the deal with cars? I read a lot about people renting golf carts. You are allowed to have your vehicle at the campsite, correct?
. . . you may ONE auto/vehicle at your site
. . . you cannot drive/park it within The Fort, except betweenm the campsite and the exit/entrance
. . . example: you cannot drive to dinner inside the The Fort and park
. . . thus, people rent carts-ECVs-bikes to get around

Are you not allowed to use it in the campground? This place looks huge and my wife is not going to be able to walk a long distance.
. . . no place to park your vehicle at events/buildings

Do they rent bikes, tandems, or tricycles long term, for your stay? Are they expensive?
. . . yes, they rent them on first-come-first-serve basis
. . . golf carts can be rented well in advance
. . . and, yes, like all Disney, they are pricey

Do people rent the electric scooters like at a resort? This would work for my wife.
. . . scooters are not available outside of the parks
. . . but, you can rent from an outside vendor and have them delivered

How is Verizon coverage across the campground?
. . . OK

What are campfires like?
. . . NO OPEN FLAMES are allowed at The Fort
. . . any "fires" must be in approved vessels: sold-metal top, solid metal bottom, mesh sides, totally encapsulated
. . . and, yes, you can smell them throughout the park

Can you bring in firewood?
. . . yes, you can bring in firework for your small, approved fire pit

Thanks so much for the detailed answers! Now I understand about the cars. I will have to rent something or figure out someway to get her around. I many just rent a scooter from outside like I did the last time. Good to know about the campfires. Thanks again!

 

[mrzrich]

From your post, I can't tell if you realize that there are internal buses that will take you all over the fort..

 

[Yellowstonetim]

From your post, I can't tell if you realize that there are internal buses that will take you all over the fort..

Do they cover the entire campground and take you from your campsite to anywhere else in the campground? How often do they run? Are they large?

I saw them on the map and didn't put two-and-two together.

 

[VBelle68]

There are two sets of buses that run. They will take you anywhere you want to be (swimming pools, trading post, marina). Just make sure your read the color coded maps at the bus stops, and you will be fine. However, I highly recommend the golf carts. You will get where you want to be much quicker, and get to see places you can't get with a car or a bus. My husband, who is 50, with severe arthritis, wouldn't try to use his scooter in the campground.
Have fun!

 

[Yellowstonetim]

There are two sets of buses that run. They will take you anywhere you want to be (swimming pools, trading post, marina). Just make sure your read the color coded maps at the bus stops, and you will be fine. However, I highly recommend the golf carts. You will get where you want to be much quicker, and get to see places you can't get with a car or a bus. My husband, who is 50, with severe arthritis, wouldn't try to use his scooter in the campground.
Have fun!

Thanks so much for the info! Why wouldn't he use the scooter? Too far and too much trouble for a small vehicle?

 

[goofyisinphilly]

Good questions. I just want to clarify. It is not a problem to drive your vehicle out of FW to the parks every day, right? We prefer to drive to using the buses.

 

[VBelle68]

He doesn't use the scooter because it goes very slowly, and can only hold him. We would have to walk (and it's a very long way!) And the golf cart is just more fun!

And yes, you can certainly drive to the parks every day. I find the buses from the fort take a loooooong time due to the multiple stops while still in the campground.

 

[VBelle68]

One other thing I might mention. If you are bringing a scooter from home (or renting one offsite), loading and unloading from the buses takes quite a bit of time.
That's another reason we drive to the parks. Much easier to load the scooter in the back of the truck!

 

[Yellowstonetim]

Thanks again, VBelle, and everyone else. Our last trip - pre-RV - we stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and rented a scooter for my wife from offsite. She had just had foot surgery less than 6 weeks before. We intended to use the buses some, but never did. We did not have or want a handicapped placard and Disney was very nice about it. We would tell them when driving up to each park that we had a scooter. Sometimes they would send us to handicapped parking, if there was plenty of room, otherwise they would put us very close in regular parking. It was nice and easy. It went so well and everyone at Disney was so nice and accommodating! They never communicated anything negative. (The last time we had used our own car was in the 90's!) We will probably use the car most of the time now, especially if Patty needs a scooter.

I am very excited to try the campground. Think I will probably go with a golf cart unless Patty is well enough to use a bike.