Quantity of electricity available to me?

[estherhead]

So, we leave in 6 weeks for our very first Ft. trip. We are veteran Disney freaks and the men in our group have been to fort as kids (my dh went every year of his childhood.) But clearly things have changed. Plus, they took campers & we're doing tents. My sis & I are veteran tenters but normally we don't have electricity at all.

So, we want this to be comfortable so our families are very happy & want to stay at the fort again. And reading on here we have a whole list of things we'd like to take. How much electricity will we have at a basic tenting site?

We'd like to plug in:
7 phone chargers overnight
a little heater in my tent
a heated mattress pad in my sister's
twinkle lights around our screen house
a refrigerated cooler for our beer/soda needs

Those will all be plugged in all the time, in use while we sleep.

In addition we will have with us:
blow dryers
flat iron
griddle for pancakes
coffee maker
toaster
ipad
4 Nintendo DS
2 laptops
blowing up our air mattresses

My plan is to have an outdoor three plug cord (my dh has it for work) and then 3 outdoor cords plugged into it. 1 to our tent, 1 to my sis tent, 1 to the kitchen/screen house.

Yeah, we like to travel light

I haven't even mentioned the NON electric things. The bikes, the guitars, the matching t-shirts. We really just want to experience the fort for cheap and have all that room for our kids to roam (vs. a cramped allstar room) but we don't want to rough it. We want it to feel like we're at a hotel with all the perks of being outdoor.

So, will we have enough electricity available to us to run all that simultaneously? In a partial?

 

[JCJRSmith]

I am trying to do this from memory: As I recall, a typical power pole at a Fort Wilderness site has a 50A circuit for the big rigs, a 30A for the standard rigs and at least two 20A, 115 volt, 60 Hertz, Single Phase AC circuits (four standard plugs).

It seems to me you plan to have a LOT of stuff plugged in at one time. It would not surprise me if you trip a breaker if you light off one of the hair dryers while you have the cooler and the heaters/heating pads plugged in. Rather than ganging the cords together, you may want to run them to their own power plugs, and check the amperage rating on the cords you will be using. You may find they are only rated for 15 amps (pretty common for outdoor extensions). Check it regularly and if the cord is feeling warm, that is a warning that you may have it overloaded. Try to balance the items between the two 20A circuits.

Be careful, and have a great time.

 

[estherhead]

Thanks! I was thinking it'd be just 2 outlets, so if it's a 4 plug that's helpful to know.

What happens if you do pop a breaker?

We may never use the blow dryer & flat iron at our site as I usually get ready in the bathhouse but I can't guarantee it. It really was the phone chargers that got me nervous as we really use our phones at WDW and when I added up those & the heaters, I got nervous.

Perhaps an ice chest is a better idea than the cooler with all our electronics. How convenient is buying ice?

 

[2goofycampers]

On this site http://www.title-3.com/FWFacts.htm about a third of the way down are pics and info of the electric service.

Ice is convenient but is $2.00 for a small bag. The Hess stations are a better deal.

 

[estherhead]

Great site. Thanks! I'll show my dh. We should be fine now that I see it.

 

[Miss Peach]

Wow, your list of stuff really made me LOL!!

I would personally give up something else before I switched over to a cooler and buying ice. Such a pain!!

And you probably wont be running your twinkle lights all night---dont forget to bring a timer. I like my lights already on when I return to my site.

If you get a chance, post a picture of your set up when you get to the Fort. I love pictures of how people organize their stuff--even if it looks like the sporting goods store vomited--it is all good!!

Cathy

 

[JCJRSmith]

Thanks! I was thinking it'd be just 2 outlets, so if it's a 4 plug that's helpful to know.

What happens if you do pop a breaker?

We may never use the blow dryer & flat iron at our site as I usually get ready in the bathhouse but I can't guarantee it. It really was the phone chargers that got me nervous as we really use our phones at WDW and when I added up those & the heaters, I got nervous.

Perhaps an ice chest is a better idea than the cooler with all our electronics. How convenient is buying ice?

If I recall correctly, it is 2 20A circuits, each with 2 outlets = 4 outlets total. Each pair of outlets is capable of delivering a total of 20 amps.

If you pop a breaker, everything on that circuit (both outlets) will be without power. Turn them all off, then go to the power box and reset the breaker. Then remove somthing from the circuit before you power it back up

 

[estherhead]

Wow, your list of stuff really made me LOL!!

I would personally give up something else before I switched over to a cooler and buying ice. Such a pain!!

And you probably wont be running your twinkle lights all night---dont forget to bring a timer. I like my lights already on when I return to my site.

If you get a chance, post a picture of your set up when you get to the Fort. I love pictures of how people organize their stuff--even if it looks like the sporting goods store vomited--it is all good!!

Cathy

Good to know about the ice being irritating. At a normal (smaller) campground I don't mind too much since it's always just a short walk away.

I'll be honest, I'm not overly familiar with twinkle lights. I have white & blue from decorating weddings but I'm not normally the person to mess with them. And I have a few icicle strands & some in the tubes.

How do I hang them on a screen house? And what kind of timer? I found one that senses light & turns off by itself during the day. It has 2 hour, 4 hour, 8 hour, dusk-dawn increments. Is that what I want? And can I hook up any of the above to it?

Sorry, I didn't realize I'd have so many questions. This is such a different camping trip for me as normally the tenting is simple(ish) but the food plan is elaborate. This time we are using Disney's food but need all our "civilized" stuff cause we're at Disney. It's confusing!

And trust me, it'll be it's own village! We'll have 10 camping chairs, 2 clothes lines (2 family's towels & bathing suits, anyone?), a bunch of bikes, possible 4 tents (mine & my sis & our screen house & now she's pondering a small one for her teenage son), 2-3 strollers, etc. Perhaps to some we sound crazy but we love having new experiences at Disney. And we have a bunch a kids. Those are just the facts of our life. And truth be told, everywhere we go it's a bit of chaos. So why not at the Fort?

I will post pictures on here so you guys can laugh at us, but will have a blow by blow of our trip on my year of Disney trip report.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

I hope that ya'll get all the juice you need.

You do realize that with all that recreational stuff ya'll are bring'n, a couple fish'n poles and tackle box ain't gonna take up that much more room,,don't forget to pack them too !
Fish'n should start up pretty good bout the time ya'll hit the Fort,

hava awesome time and please post a trip report when ya'll get back !
(don't forget the camera)

 

[estherhead]

I hope that ya'll get all the juice you need.

You do realize that with all that recreational stuff ya'll are bring'n, a couple fish'n poles and tackle box ain't gonna take up that much more room,,don't forget to pack them too !
Fish'n should start up pretty good bout the time ya'll hit the Fort,

hava awesome time and please post a trip report when ya'll get back !
(don't forget the camera)

I'll add them to the list I've got going. Do you have to have a license or it doesn't matter cause we just would throw them all back?

 

[estherhead]

And can you buy nightcrawlers at the Fort?

 

[Tigger1966]

With a little work you could make up a 30 amp power cord to supply your campsite. I am sure the people at Home Depo could help you with the materals. It wouldn't be cheap but you would have it forever.

 

[Teamubr]

You should be fine on power. My 5th wheel has 30 amp service. I can run the A/C, microwave, TV's, clocks, chargers, the 12 volt converter and other stuff and never pop a breaker. Withe the A/C and microwave running, I have had a blow dryer trip the breaker once.

Your phone chargers take almost no power. Probably around 1 amp for all of them. The small refrigerator doesn't pull very much power either. We had a dorm sized one we used to take with us and set outside the camper for beer and soda.

I would get a heavy duty 20 amp outdoor cord. You may already have one but Home Depot or Lowes sells them. Then go to an RV store and get one of these.

It is a 30amp RV outlet to 15 amp adapter. It will let you plug in an other cord on a completely different breaker. The adapters are cheap. That would give you 30+ amps on 2 breakers.

j

 

[Tigger1966]

You should be fine on power. My 5th wheel has 30 amp service. I can run the A/C, microwave, TV's, clocks, chargers, the 12 volt converter and other stuff and never pop a breaker. Withe the A/C and microwave running, I have had a blow dryer trip the breaker once.

Your phone chargers take almost no power. Probably around 1 amp for all of them. The small refrigerator doesn't pull very much power either. We had a dorm sized one we used to take with us and set outside the camper for beer and soda.

I would get a heavy duty 20 amp outdoor cord. You may already have one but Home Depot or Lowes sells them. Then go to an RV store and get one of these.

It is a 30amp RV outlet to 15 amp adapter. It will let you plug in an other cord on a completely different breaker. The adapters are cheap. That would give you 30+ amps on 2 breakers.

j

The adaptor in itself would give you the option of using the 30A/120V outlet but it would also raise the potential for injury or damage to equipment. I don't think it would be a good idea to do this without a load center on the other end(smaller breakers)where you are connecting your stuff.
Something shorting out while connected to a 30 amp source and a 100' cord may not trip the breaker.
Your RV has a load center to keep this from happening.

This information comes from 25 years of being an Electrician and 5 years as an RV Tech.

Not trying to sound like a know it all just be safe don't want to read about the fire in a tent at FW

 

[Born 2 Fish]

I'll add them to the list I've got going. Do you have to have a license or it doesn't matter cause we just would throw them all back?

On Disney property you do not need a license (it's private property).
Yes, you can buy worms at the Bike Barn for BIG $$,,but trust me when I say , Disneys worms are Magical.
It would save you several dollars to stop a a Wally Weird and buy some worms before you come to the Fort.

Oh, and everything at Disney is strictly "catch and release"

 

[LarryJ]

On this site http://www.title-3.com/FWFacts.htm about a third of the way down are pics and info of the electric service.

Ice is convenient but is $2.00 for a small bag. The Hess stations are a better deal.

That link looks like you have two separate 15A circuits and depending on how the outlets are wired you might consider picking up something like THIS which will adapt the 30A RV ckt to a 15A and then you would have 3 independent 15A feeds.

Even with two you just have to remember what is one what and not run two of the really high draw items on the same feed at the same time. You might want to make up a cheat sheet of what everything draws to help.

Larry

 

[Tigger1966]

You could buy or build something like this to protect your appliances from overload.

 

[LarryJ]

The adaptor in itself would give you the option of using the 30A/120V outlet but it would also raise the potential for injury or damage to equipment. I don't think it would be a good idea to do this without a load center on the other end(smaller breakers)where you are connecting your stuff.
Something shorting out while connected to a 30 amp source and a 100' cord may not trip the breaker.
Your RV has a load center to keep this from happening.

This information comes from 25 years of being an Electrician and 5 years as an RV Tech.

Not trying to sound like a know it all just be safe don't want to read about the fire in a tent at FW

Excellent point so if you do use a 30A to 15A adapter just make sure it is for things that you will use when there like the electric cooking stuff, blow dryers, etc. and not the stuff like the refer, etc. that will be on when you're gone or asleep or even something inside your tent.

Larry

 

[Teamubr]

Larry- Something like great minds... should be inserted in here.

Tigger 1966- Thanks for keeping this all safe.

j

 

[estherhead]

Thanks guys. I live in a little town no where near an RV store but obviously I need to check out the hardward store and look at specs of things that plug in that other things plug into.

And I'll post here with whatever I buy if I have more questions.