Pre Trip Report

[WDWNerd]

Hi Friends!

I enjoy reading your reports so much, I am going to attempt one of my own! It's probably a little early to get started, but December gets SO busy, & hey, I'm just REALLY excited!

My trip will consist of DH, DD6, DD5, & me. This will be our first stay at Fort Wilderness, and we are so excited!

We purchased our Coachman 32 foot bumper pull travel trailer in the spring of this year. We LOVE it! We will be pulling out of Alabama on January 1!! Our plan is to stop for a night in Valdosta, Ga. This will be our longest trip pulling it, so fingers crossed all goes well!

We will be at the Fort Jan 2-Jan 8. We booked a full-hookup site & do not plan on renting a golf cart. I'm nervous a/b this! We have visited the fort, so I know it's huge. We'll see how it goes....

We have 5 day park tickets. We usually spend two days at the MK & one day at each of the other parks. This will be our first trip to WDW without the dining plan. I'm also nervous that I will miss it. We shall see!

I have made out our menu for the week, and am purchasing things that we will need as they go on sale. Here is our tentative menu of simple meals (My name isn't Nerd for nothing). Again, I'm used to going to Disney on the Dining Plan & not having to cook AT ALL, so I'm interested to see if it changes things!

steak, baked potato, salad
chili dogs, tater tots & fruit
cheeseburgers, pasta salad
crock-pot chicken tacos
crock-pot roast, mashed potatoes, green beans
spaghetti & meatballs, tx toast
I'm also going to attempt a dump cake in the crock pot

Bascially, we plan to have two meals in the camper each day. Breakfast will be an assortment of easy options.

We booked Hoop Dee Doo Cat 1 seating. We have never been, so I figured we might as well go all out since you all say it's wonderful. We've got a few other character meals for the girls (we like to eat!!) as well as the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. So, watch out for the glitter & slicked hair if you are there when we are!

Oh, and our girls have no idea we are going!!! I'm so excited!


Right now, I am busy making shirts for our trip (in between planning DD b'day party & decorating the house for Christmas!)

 

[ruthies12]

Sounds great so far! I'll be reading.........

 

[ruthies12]

And you said your girls don't know you are going- what's the plan for the big reveal?

 

[Teamubr]

Here's to hoping the next month goes fast.

j

 

[5stljayhawks]

You rock mom... Its never to early to start planning

Since you are spending a majority of your time in the parks, I wouldnt be to worried about the cart... Its nice/fun have, but not necessary.. Also this will get you out to walk to see FW. If you want, you can rent one for a day or so..

There is the campfire
Fireworks from the beach
Pizza at the trading post or fried chicken, Best deals


When we head down, I try to precook as much as possible at home. I freeze it then warm up. Cook time is less- more time in parks. Clean up is less - more time in parks... Still taste great... and save money for spending it in the parks...

We use to do plastic plates and real untinsels. Its all paper and plastic now. clean up easier and more time to do what ever....

BBB - make sure you bring tennis shoes for the rest of the day... you all will be happy

 

[2goofycampers]

Sounds like Dec is gonna fly by for you. Have fun with the merriment and planning/packing.

 

[jbrostek]

Plan early and FW without a cart is not that bad, but you do need to put some extra time into your budget to get from your loop to either the marina to catch the launch to MK or down to the bus terminal for all other sites. If anyting, pack your bikes and a lock so you have that as and alternate to get around. For HDDR plan on the bus, its chilly at night on the way back.

We will be there from January 4th through the 17th with the 300 loop requested. Been doing this for a few years with 2 other families under a grand gathering reservation (they link us and try to place us close to each other in the same loop.) We have never done the dinning plan, and mix our meals in an out and each family takes turns on dinner in which makes it nice not to have to always cook.

For breakfast I keep cereal, microwave breakfast sandwiches and bagles with cream cheese and sliced tomato around. If I have lunch in I have sevaral options plus leftovers. Dinners we do things like taco night, beef stroganoff, chicken enchaladas (made in the crock pot), pork loin, grilled steaks. Of course with sides and stuff.

Since its your first long pull try not to feel rushed, run at the speed your most comfortable towing at. We usually cruise along around 65 down I95, its the sweet spot for the 3 of our different RV setups and goes well with the flow of traffic, but if you feel better at 60 then do it. We don't push it either and even with experience on long tows we stop about 7 hours down the road in SC for the night which is usually about 11-12 hours "road time" for our group. (usually on the road between 8-9am and pull into the campground between (7-9pm depending on traffic/conditions/stops.)

Being experinced with leaving right after the holidays, I found the best thing I can do is make a list. I make a food shopping list, an RV supplies list, and a packing list which includes reminding myself to pack everything I just bought!!! I start shopping in mid november on the lists and follow the sales (why not save money if I can.) And usually when the RV is back from our thanksgiving trip I start to load up all the dry and canned goods and keep all the meats in the freezer at home. Since the RV is at the dealer getting the last of its warentee work done, its just currently being put in boxes to be taken there later. I dont buy the perishables until a few days before I leave for the trip and by then the RV fridge is running and I have everything from the freezer transferred. The last few days is the flurry is packing and loading up, but I always seem to be ready minus a small "go bag" of stuff I need until I hit the road.

Most of all remember, its a vacation!!! Have a magical time!! While Disney is expensive, enjoy a little as long as it won't over extend your wallet!!

 

[WDWNerd]

ruthies, our plan is to just tell them we are going camping! They won't have a clue until the morning we drive into Florida. I'm interested to see when they will actually realize we are going to WDW. They have been quite a few times, but they are so young! I can't wait to see their reaction when we get there!!

jayhawks, I'm glad that the cart won't be a big deal. We do plan to do nothing but set up & enjoy the fort on the day we arrive! I am definitely going to get disposable plates & utensils. We usually use real ones when we camp, but you are right. I won't want to be spending time with the dishes in WDW!!

jbrostek, I hope we'll get to say hello to each other! Thanks for all the advice about the drive! We definitely plan to take it slow!

I'm trying to post some pics of the shirts I'm making for the trip. If photobucket will cooperate!!!!

 

[WDWNerd]

Here are some of the shirts I have made so far!

 

[Disneypeach]

cute shirts!

 

[ilovedisneymm]

Welcome! You will love at Fort Wilderness. I think the Fort is the happiest place on earth

Great job on your shirts too!

 

[Flametamr]

Hope it works out for you. We tried the same thing on our first Fort trip. We are mostly park people so we found eating two meals a day at the camper was hard. It takes over two hours minimum to go back and eat. We were loosing so much time we got frustrated. On our last trip we would eat a quick breakfast at the camper. We would pack snacks and sandwiches to carry to the parks and then eat a good counter meal in the park at some point for dinner. When we got in from the park everyone would have a snack and then relax before bed. Sometimes if we got in early we would cook something easy.
I highly recommend crock pot meals for dinner. It's great to get home and have the food ready.

 

[WDWNerd]

December is flying by! I've been so busy that I haven't been able to update.

DH got the oil changed in our tow vehicle last week. He also took the camper to get the tires checked. We took it to our local state park for the weekend. We got it this spring & we were wondering if we would be cold in it. Um, no! It was so nice & cozy! We had a great time & I have a list a mile long of things we need in it for our trip.

I brought all the sheets in & am washing those. I had forgotten to put all our dish towels back in the camper after washing those after our last trip, so I'm so glad we stayed in it bf we left. We didn't even have a coozie in there! How did THAT happen?!!!

I forgot to put our inflatables in, so I did that before we took it back to the barn. We will be pulling it back out on the 28th to get ready to roll out on the first. I'm so excited!

Here's us getting set up this past weekend.

 

[Chief Powhatan]

It sounds like you will have a great time. An evening at the Fort is such a great way to balance out a morning and afternoon spent in the parks.

 

[WDWNerd]

Well, we couldn't wait, so we left home around 1pm yesterday. We had a nice drive down.

We are in Tifton, GA enjoying all the football.

The kids think we are heading home in the morning.

I'm so excited!!!!

 

[tiggerdad]

Been reading along and it all looks as though it is falling into place nicely. I understand the leaving earlier than expected, we do it everytime.

You guys be careful on the trip down...

 

[kcp1377]

Good thinking about leaving early! Safe travels the rest of the way! Do you think your kids will freak out when they find out you're going or will they take the news calmly?

 

[bama_ed]

Nerd, I hope the "reveal" moment is special for you.

Bama Ed

 

[WDWNerd]

Kcp, I have no idea how they will react! My DD6 always tries to be in control of her emotions, & my DD5 shows every emotion she has (& some she thinks she might have!) I hope to capture it all on video. If they are boring, I'll just video myself bc I'm so excited, I can't stand it!!

We are going to try to leave early in the morning. Depends on how tired we are from cheering on the tide!

 

[WDWNerd]

We've been on the road for an hour. We are cruising around 60-65 mph. We wanted to leave earlier, but I just couldn't peel myself out of the bed this morning while it was still dark. Tough game last night for my tide. Can't wait to watch the Ducks & OSU play. That will be a great game.

Thanks to the DVD player, the girls aren't paying attention to all the cheap WDW & Sea World signs that we are passing. However, we just passed over the state line & my oldest says, "Welcome to Florida!" We told her we just have to pass through to make it home. So fun! They will figure it out before we arrive, I'm sure. But, this actually makes it more fun for DH & me!

I'm giddy with excitement & can't wait to explore the fort! Our plans for today are to set up & hang around. We want to ride ponies & do the campfire tonight. We'll see!