planning for may2006

[lovin'Mickey]

We are trying to put together a trip for May 2006.....we have a TT and also 3 kids 1 dog. Any advice before we take this first "driving trip". We usually fly but have decided the dog needs to experience Disney too!!!! Plus we are planning on about a 2 week trip. 2 days down 9 days there 2 days home 1 day to rest up before work..lol. Has anyone done such a trip? We would love advice. Did you go to Sea world as well?? Thanks for any imput! Also is camping in May nice?

 

[LMC]

First of all if you are thinking about going, go ahead and make your ressies! We always go right when our schools let out (Around May 23rd) and beat the crowds coming in after the first week of June. I think Gay Days is the first part of June so if that is an issue for your family then you need to consider that.

We camped in our tt and it did get warm during the day but we were at the parks anyway. At night it was ok, my sister slept in a tent at our site and used a small fan to keep the air circulating. She even turned it off some when she got cold. Now we two are cold natured people; my dh would never make it outside in a tent unless it was winter!!

You will have to kennel your dogs the entire time you are away from the campsite if you are not in a hard-sided travel trailer. You can not keep them at tents when you are not there. Taking pets is alot of work! If you can get a pet sitter at home or kennel them at home I would recommend it. We have 3 kids ages 10 and under and just the logistics of getting from a park to take the dogs for a walk would be a nightmare. FW kennels request that you return 2x per day to walk the dogs or I think you can pay them extra to do it for you.

I will tell you my kids love FW. We stayed at the Allstars in January and they hated it and kept asking to go to FW. So we will always go to FW now and just pay the extra $$$ for gas to tow the tt. They like being able to ride their bikes or scooters during down time as opposed to sitting on a bed and watching tv (allstars alternative)

I have not been to Sea World in a while but did enjoy it when we took our first child and he was about 2yrs. We did go to Universal last year with a 9, 5, and 3 yo and they all had fun.

 

[Befferk]

Hi there! We are going for our very first trip in May 2006, so no advice, but we are in the same boat (minus the pets). I made our reservations back in February already, gosh maybe even before that, lol! Our son will be 4 when we go. We have a 27' travel trailer that we will be taking down. We are at FW for 8 nights, and then going down to the Keys for 3 more. We will be driving from Wisconsin, so about a 24 hour drive for us to FW. Probably split it up and spend one night somewhere each way. I made our reservations through Magical Journeys, and they will watch for and apply any discounts that may come up for us (we will join AAA before leaving if nothing else to get that discount). One less headache for me to not have to watch for the discounts. We will be arriving on Mother's Day. I have heard that May is an excellent time to visit. The weather is very warm but not too hot, and it is not during hurricane season. Great for camping

Beth

 

[LMC]

They usually issue the new AAA rates before year end for the next year so be watching mousesavers for those in November or December. I am not familiar w/ Magical Journeys so I assume that if you told them you have AAA they will watch for and get your discount for you? I would still watch for the notice about the discounts being avail and call MJs to see if they have applied it; since they only give x number of discounted sites you don't want to miss your window of opportunity. We got a AAA value season rate of $35 on a preferred site once.

May is a great time to go! We love going in early May but with dd in school now she can't miss. If I ever decide to homeschool her with oldest ds then I guess I won't have that problem!

I made our reservations through Magical Journeys, and they will watch for and apply any discounts that may come up for us (we will join AAA before leaving if nothing else to get that discount). One less headache for me to not have to watch for the discounts. We will be arriving on Mother's Day. I have heard that May is an excellent time to visit. The weather is very warm but not too hot, and it is not during hurricane season. Great for camping

Beth

 

[tim5055]

We are trying to put together a trip for May 2006.....we have a TT and also 3 kids 1 dog. Any advice before we take this first "driving trip". We usually fly but have decided the dog needs to experience Disney too!!!! Plus we are planning on about a 2 week trip. 2 days down 9 days there 2 days home 1 day to rest up before work..lol. Has anyone done such a trip? We would love advice. Did you go to Sea world as well?? Thanks for any imput! Also is camping in May nice?

Well, you asked for input..

Driving:
With three kids and a pet I would think about extending the drive a little. At the very least stop two nights on the way down and drive into FW on the third morning. Not knowing where you are in PA I will assume an 18 hour total trip. Go about 8 hours day one, 8 hours day two and that leaves you a couple of hours day three. If you left your campround at 8am on day three you would be arriving at around 10 day three. With a little luck your site will be ready and you will be fresh to set up camp and play around.

Plan Your Days
Eight or nine days is plenty of time to enjoy a Disney vacation. Figure 2 days at MK, 1 day at AK, 1 at MGM and 1 at Epcot. That leaves you spare days to relax at FW (that can be a day or two in itself) or enjoy a water park. Don't try to see everything at once. If you have been to Disney before a side trip to Universal or Sea World may be in order but I am happy staying on Disney property.

Relax
Remember, this is a vacation. Look for the little things. How about a campfire and movie at FW or a wagon ride around the campground, stopping to watch the fireworks over the water. (both are offered every night).

Adult Time
I know this is a family vacation, but remember to figure in some adult time if possible. Check out the Disney Kids Programs to see if you can work out some mom/dad time alone

Rover
What are you going to do with rover? Fort Wilderness has an on site kennel but the kennel does NOT accept reservations at all, so don't bother trying. Current 2004 rates are $6 for a day stay and $9 for overnight. If you check in for the week you will pay the overnight rate. They do have 8 or 10 large outside runs that do not have A/C, but do have a full roof and ceiling fans over them. Inside there is A/C, but the kennels are the stacking type, but center dividers can be removed to create more space for larger dogs.

If you plan on bringing your pet to the site, they must be kept in a designated pet loop, which includes the full hook up 800, 1600, 1700, 1800, & 1900 loops or the 300 or 700 "preferred" loops. The 500 loop is an overflow preferred pet loop when additional pet sites are needed. Three "pet walk" areas include a canal pet walk off the 1800 loop, a canal pet walk off the 300 loop and a nice wooded walk behind the 700 & 800 loops.Canal Pet Walk Area You must drive them to the kennel, you can NOT walk them to the kennel, nor can you walk you pets out of the pet loops themselves.

The FW kennel asks that you stop by to walk them twice a day yourself, but you can pay an additional $2.50 (each walk) for the FW employees to take them out.

For the safety of your pet and others, it is required that dogs be current on their required vaccinations which include:


* Rabies
* Parvovirus
* Distemper
* Hepatitis
* Parainfluenza
* Bordetella (kennel cough)



Many vets list some of these on their records as DHP (Distemper, Hepatitis, Parainfluenza) or DHPP (Distemper, Hepatitis, Parainfluenza, Parvovirus)

For other questions, you can call the kennel directly at 407-824-2735

Well, that's about it for now; check out my Fort Wilderness web page below for more information.....

Have fun!

 

[Befferk]

They usually issue the new AAA rates before year end for the next year so be watching mousesavers for those in November or December. I am not familiar w/ Magical Journeys so I assume that if you told them you have AAA they will watch for and get your discount for you? I would still watch for the notice about the discounts being avail and call MJs to see if they have applied it; since they only give x number of discounted sites you don't want to miss your window of opportunity. We got a AAA value season rate of $35 on a preferred site once.

Thanks, actually it worked out very well. I was gone all weekend but our lady from MJ called and said she had it all taken for us on Friday, the AAA discount was automatically applied to our reservations for $61/night. Didn't have to do a thing

 

[QT Pooh]

Lovin'Mickey,

I drive all the time from NH - when I was a single mother it was just me and the two kids. Now, I have help driving! There are some tips I've picked up over the years:

Make sure you plan your driving route and have an alternate just in case. All states have a highway department and many have a website where you can check lane closures/construction on the roads you'll be traveling. I was stuck in traffic for an hour at 3 a.m. on the Capital Beltway because there was construction. Everyone got out of their cars and started talking to each other...it was kind of neat in a sadistic kind of way.

Common sense - plan your route so that you avoid major cities at rush hours. I'm not sure which way you're planning on traveling, but if you're coming down 95 - Baltimore and DC and to a lesser extent Richmond and Jacksonville are potential hot spots.

If you don't have an EZ Pass installed, bring lots of change for tolls. Exact change saves time.

Never let your gas tank get below 1/4 tank. My Dad was notorious for taking risks with gas. One year 30+ years ago we were below 1/8 tank. We hit a major snowstorm on the way back to NH and CRAWLED until we reached an exit that had a gas station. We made it, but Dad learned his lesson and Mom's icy glare is forever imprinted on the side of his head.

Give your kids some responsibilities - figuring out your miles per gallon, tracking where you are on the map, being official navigator in the front passenger seat, figuring out the exact change for tolls, etc., trying to identify license plates and finding those states on an atlas. Also, don't forget to bring games, puzzles and lots of plastic grocery bags for storing snack trash until you can dispose of it when you stop.

Always bring toilet paper in case of those sudden emergencies (Mom, I mean it - I have to go RIGHT NOW!) Also bring moist wipes for sticky snack fingers.

Make sure to make several stops just for breaks - kids have waaaaay more energy than we do - just keep that in mind.

Some people like to start at night and drive through the night so that the kids will sleep a majority of the way and also because the traffic is lighter. I've done that once and wound up driving straight through (dumb thing, I know) because I didn't want to stop in the middle of the day at a hotel.

Make sure you are comfortable with truck traffic (many of which are tandem)!! If you are driving 95, be aware that it is 2 lanes for a majority of the south and the speed limit is 70 but they travel much faster than that. The road has very narrow shoulders. I have not seen any serious incidences but just be aware!

Beware of road traps! I found SC and GA to have areas of highway that reduce speeds from 70 to 55 and usually an unmarked vehicle parked in that vicinity. More often than not, I see people pulled over a mile or so down the highway by another officer.

To increase gas mileage, drive at a constant rate and do your best not to speed.

If you do not wear your seat belt, make sure you do...not only is it safer, but in many states it is illegal not to for all ages.

That's all I can think of for now. My kids actually look forward to the trip and will say things like "wake me up when we get to the tunnel" or "there's the first South of the Border sign". Of course, there's always the "are we almost there?" which I respond, "I'm not sure...why don't you figure that out for me?"...that usually keeps them quiet for a little while.

Hope you have a great trip!!

 

[Ellen aka Snow White]

"Plan Your Days
Eight or nine days is plenty of time to enjoy a Disney vacation. Figure 2 days at MK, 1 day at AK, 1 at MGM and 1 at Epcot. That leaves you spare days to relax at FW (that can be a day or two in itself) or enjoy a water park. Don't try to see everything at once. If you have been to Disney before a side trip to Universal or Sea World may be in order but I am happy staying on Disney property."


I'm not sure of the ages of your children, but I think you would need more than one day at Epcot and MGM.

 

[VAN]

We have driven from SW Michigan with our pop-up many times. Usually late March/early April.

The AAA rates are now out for 2006. I was able to save $94 for the 12 nights we will be there next year.

Given the option, I would recommend leaving the pet at home. 9 nights at WDW will be nice . If you haven't done Sea World before, I think you will like it. If you have older kids, I would recommend a day trip to Cocoa Beach with the stop in Christmas, FL -- Old Fashioned AirBoat Rides (on the internet). For about $35 each, you will get a 2-3 hr ride on an airboat over the St. John's River. You'll see lots of wildlife including hundreds of aligators in their natural habitat. I cannot recommend it enough, especially for those that have kids in their teens!!

Find out what nites Bob Jackson is at the River Roost Lounge (POR) ... he does a great (and free) family show.

Have fun.