November 2017 pre trip and trip reports

Although there is a few things to work out, this seems like it might work better for you in the end. :thumbsup2
 
So the good with the bad - - we finally purchased the new camper we have been thinking about for awhile. StarCraft Satellite 18DS - small, with a slide out. Unfortunately, we had to cancel this year's November - December trip. First I have been checking for awhile, and no full hookup sites available (we had a popup and had tent / popup sites reserved). Second, the full hookup sites cost more a night, so our 14 nights would have had to been cut shorter. Third, there were a few financial things that have come up that must be taken care of.

But I did go ahead and reserve next year same timeframe - November 28 - December 9 - 2018 (12 nights instead of 14)

So I will live through everyone else's trip reports - especially all of the Christmas activities.

We will get our Disney fix - we are coming down to stay with my parents in their timeshares for six weeks starting January 13. Plan to purchase annual passes, which means next year's Christmas trip - tickets will be already taken care of!
 
Today is the last night of our shakedown cruise of our planned Fort Wilderness setup. We're doing three nights at Prince Gallitzin SP in PA (probably near @PaHunter ?). Nice place. Some of the sites seem pretty darn small, but we got a good one. Since the weekenders left Sunday afternoon, the park is probably less than 10% full... my kind of place!

We have used both tents together before, but this is the first time for some refinements I added with the Fort in mind. This was the first time hanging the tarp anywhere, and it went fairly smoothly. Two poles with two guy lines each, one corner line wrapped around a tree and then staked to the ground to keep it taut, and one corner tied to a guy line for the bigger tent when a cooperative tree was not available. Worked great for here, but next time I need to get the one side higher in case of a Florida storm; I could tell there was a little bit of a bathtub effect going on. Also the first time for the plastic shelving we'll be using mostly for clothes, two strings of solar lights under the tarp, and a small end table that folks up like a camping chair.

The big tent is a 10' x 14' Coleman instant cabin, the sleeping tent is a 8' x 10' Wenzel, and the tarp over the table is 10' x 12'.2017-09-18 22.23.46.jpg 2017-09-18 22.24.47.jpg
 


Looks great, Cosmic! Very well thought out! Back when we tented we pretty much just set up a tent and a tarp and called it good enough! I would have loved a setup like yours!
 
I am still in for some of November, but we have had to think about changing plans a bit from coming in after thanksgiving. We just about pieced together the week of thanksgiving, right now just missing Friday after. We may have to drop our week in dec but we will manage two weeks some way. I was able to book FP and did ge t a bunch of FoP fast pass
 
Getting so close now - 6 weeks from today! It's going to go by so fast! I still have about half of our shirts to make (I make each person 4 custom t-shirts to wear during the trip so it's quite a large undertaking) and have a hamper in our bedroom for disney stuff. So far I've got a ton of glow sticks, some fun disney themed stuff from Target's dollar spot for the way down, mini m&m containers for pressed pennies, some new clothes for the kids and snacks. I finally got FOP to round out our fastpasses (thanks to a hot tip on the disboards FB page since I had given up checking), so at least those are out of mind. Magic bands will ship soon too - yay! We have one more camping trip between now and then so I can't really start packing yet, otherwise I definitely would be!
 


Getting so close now - 6 weeks from today! It's going to go by so fast! I still have about half of our shirts to make (I make each person 4 custom t-shirts to wear during the trip so it's quite a large undertaking) and have a hamper in our bedroom for disney stuff. So far I've got a ton of glow sticks, some fun disney themed stuff from Target's dollar spot for the way down, mini m&m containers for pressed pennies, some new clothes for the kids and snacks. I finally got FOP to round out our fastpasses (thanks to a hot tip on the disboards FB page since I had given up checking), so at least those are out of mind. Magic bands will ship soon too - yay! We have one more camping trip between now and then so I can't really start packing yet, otherwise I definitely would be!
Was the hot FP tip that someone was going to cancel, or is there a trick?

Edit: And I'll hopefully be all set up at the Fort exactly six weeks from now, too! Check in early on the 5th!
 
Someone had posted that Disney released a whole bunch of FP times for FOP. So I went over and sure enough, not only were there more (I got to choose between about 10 different times - and I was only looking at midday/early evening) but I got a time that worked better for us than the previous FP (which was not FOP). I don't know how long they lasted and that was a couple of days ago but if you haven't checked lately it's worth it!
 
We're booked in a tent/popup site from Nov 26 - Dec 2, but I'm going to be checking in frequently to try and move to a full hook-up. Our trailer is small enough for the tent sites....but emptying the tank is a pain. We're looking forward to enjoying the parks and the fort with Christmas decorations up.
 
Someone had posted that Disney released a whole bunch of FP times for FOP. So I went over and sure enough, not only were there more (I got to choose between about 10 different times - and I was only looking at midday/early evening) but I got a time that worked better for us than the previous FP (which was not FOP). I don't know how long they lasted and that was a couple of days ago but if you haven't checked lately it's worth it!
Thank you! I was able to shuffle some things around and get better times for FoP and NRJ! There was a shocking amount of availability, considering it was booked solid at 7:01 AM 64 days out previously!
 
Thank you! I was able to shuffle some things around and get better times for FoP and NRJ! There was a shocking amount of availability, considering it was booked solid at 7:01 AM 64 days out previously!

Awesome! I’m glad it worked for you too!
 
Someone had posted that Disney released a whole bunch of FP times for FOP. So I went over and sure enough, not only were there more (I got to choose between about 10 different times - and I was only looking at midday/early evening) but I got a time that worked better for us than the previous FP (which was not FOP). I don't know how long they lasted and that was a couple of days ago but if you haven't checked lately it's worth it!
Thanks!! Was able to book FoP!!
 
HI folks, sorry I have been away from the boards for awhile. We have been very busy here in the Great White North. As a matter of fact, up until this Wednesday our November trip was in jeopardy due to staffing issues at work. I have been working lots of overtime this summer due to short staffing and any weekends off I have been helping my DH at our new Farmstand. I was finally able to switch my last shift needed on Wednesday so we are back on track. DH and I will be flying in on November 1st arriving around noon. Our DD21 will arrive later that evening. Fastpasses are booked, we are looking forward to spending more time at AK than usual to explore Pandora and hope to see the tiger cubs.
DH will be celebrating his 50th Birthday while we are there and we have invested in a small sign and T-shirts to mark the big day. Reservations have been made for Art Smith's Homecoming for the Birthday meal.
We will be in a Premium site and are looking forward to being back to our Disney home!
 
HI folks, sorry I have been away from the boards for awhile. We have been very busy here in the Great White North. As a matter of fact, up until this Wednesday our November trip was in jeopardy due to staffing issues at work. I have been working lots of overtime this summer due to short staffing and any weekends off I have been helping my DH at our new Farmstand. I was finally able to switch my last shift needed on Wednesday so we are back on track. DH and I will be flying in on November 1st arriving around noon. Our DD21 will arrive later that evening. Fastpasses are booked, we are looking forward to spending more time at AK than usual to explore Pandora and hope to see the tiger cubs.
DH will be celebrating his 50th Birthday while we are there and we have invested in a small sign and T-shirts to mark the big day. Reservations have been made for Art Smith's Homecoming for the Birthday meal.
We will be in a Premium site and are looking forward to being back to our Disney home!
Sounds like a plan! Hope everything goes great on the farm. Work has been really heating up here, too, so I know that Fort respite is going to feel extra good. The hosts on my favorite Disney podcast always rave about Homecoming, so that sounds like a really good choice for hubby's birthday. My DD8 is also hoping for tiger cubs, but people are whispering that it might not be until early next year?!?! We'll all have to keep our fingers crossed. We have 3 of our 10 days' worth of FP+ booked at AK to take advantage of Pandora.
 
39 days!!! We are 8 days away from having to finalize paid decisions. DH is an IT Contractor and in between projects. Three jobs in the burners, not sure which one he will get. Praying we know really soon! If everything goes perfectly, we will be driving the 11 hours, crashing at a condo, then hauling ourselves to The Fort first thing in the morning and hoping to get a 1500 loop campsite.
Day One plans include Disney Character Warehouse, Animal Kingdom, Setting up Camp.
Day Two is EPCOT (last day of F&W), then Magic Kingdom
Day Three is morning off (Bon Voyage breakfast with just me and my birthday girl), then maybe an afternoon at Hollywood Studios
Day Four is Magic Kingdom all day! Happily Ever After!
Day Five is a day off. Maybe Typhoon Lagoon and/or Fantasia mini golf, Raglan Riad at night
Day six is AK in the morning, Epcot at night
Day Seven is check out day, relocating to a condo after breaking camp
Day Eight is Wizarding World
Day Nine, drive home.
Unless DH doesn't get work. Then it's all scrapped except two park hopper days and all the lodging
 
29 days until I catch my flight to meet my family in Virginia; plans feel like they are solidifying. Unfortunately, I think we're going to skip our planned one-night stopover at Anastasia SP in St. Augustine. I was trying to do a simple unpack (basically the small tent + sleeping bags) to make things easier, but I don't think there will be such a thing as a simple unpack with the way our poor Hyundai Elantra is going to be stuffed to the gills. Meeting the family in VA means it's only 12 hours to the Fort, which made the stopover more expendable. I'm sure it would have been fun, but maybe another time. The neat thing is that our final drive will on the night of 11/4 and morning of 11/5, so we will get an extra hour due to the clocks "falling back" that night. Google says 11.5 hours, so we can probably make it in 12.5-13 hours with gas and potty breaks. We actually enjoy driving at night, because the kids are sleeping and nobody else is on the roads. With the time change, if we leave at 7 PM, we could arrive at the Fort at 6-6:30 AM. If there's actually a site ready for us, we could be mostly set up by breakfast time... that's like a whole extra day! The burning question going through my mind lately is what I'm willing to take at 6 AM versus what sites I'm willing to wait until the afternoon for.

Here's the itinerary:
Friday 11/3 - Run my butt off at work, catch a flight to Richmond, VA to meet my family.
11/4 - Rest up and leave for the Fort after dinner
11/5 - Arrive at the Fort 6-7 AM
11/6 - MK
11/7 - Epcot; cousins and grandma arrive
11/8 - DHS
11/9 - AK fastpasses at night, including Rivers of Light, night Safari, and Pandora
11/10 - Fort Day
11/11 - Fort Day; T-Rex for lunch
11/12 - DHS
11/13 - Fort Day; friends arrive
11/14 - AK
11/15 - MK; cousins and grandma leave
11/16 - AK
11/17 - Epcot
11/18 - DS's 11th birthday! He gets to pick the park for the morning, and then fastpasses are for MK at night. Birthday dinner at Trail's End.
11/19 - Pack up and start to head home. I don't have to be back at work until the 24th, though, so we'll see how long the trip back takes us.
 
Last edited:
If there's actually a site ready for us, we could be mostly set up by breakfast time... that's like a whole extra day! The burning question going through my mind lately is what I'm willing to take at 6 AM versus what sites I'm willing to wait until the afternoon for.
If there's not a site available (or not one you want), you can always park in the overflow lot and take the bus to the marina. Then hop on the boat over and take the morning to walk around the GF/Poly/WL or hop on the monorail for a bit. Even if we're not heading to MK that day, it's always exciting to see the boat pull into the park! We haven't ever had a problem checking in early (one year it was a whole day early and they not only accommodated us but gave us the night for free since they didn't have our first choice available) so I doubt you'll have a problem. But if you do it's nice that there's so much to do at Disney that you can go anywhere! Disney Springs would be fun too!
 
24 days for us! It's going to be busy between now and then too. We have a weekend camping trip to a fiber festival, then 2 birthdays, a baptism and 3 shoots (we do portrait and drone photography and video). I have a niece being born in mid Nov, so I have to finish her quilt and our youngest son (5 years old) broke his elbow 2 weeks ago so he has surgery to remove the pins and a pre-surgery consult between now and then too. I'm hoping they can switch his cast to a waterproof one for the trip. Right now he has a giant cast that had to accommodate swelling so hopefully the new one will at least be a little lighter/smaller. I have a feeling the next 3 weeks will fly by! Or at least I hope they will!
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!






Top