RV Camping Family of 7

jsanders82

Mouseketeer
Joined
Nov 6, 2011
Trying to get feedback from anyone who has RV camped at Fort Wilderness. We are planning on going back in 2021 and want to stay onsite. The size of our group makes it hard to not spend a small fortunate on lodging. We have RV camped before but smaller group and short term.

I was thinking of renting a RV that sleeps 9 and staying at the campgrounds. Ages of our group are mom, dad, 21, 21, 12, 11, and 11. My concern is that it will be too tight and with only 1 bathroom for all of us. Anyone have any experience staying in a RV? I want a kitchen so multiple hotel rooms is not an option. We want to have the Disney perks so that is why I would like to stay on site.

Trying to reassure myself this is a good idea :)

Any advice?
 
Ha! Glad you made it here. I was just answering your other thread. The experts on camping are here. They might have the names of some of the RV/trailer rental companies. Once you get that you can cruise the sites and check out what's available in the way of rentals. After many years of staying in the resort hotels we won't do anything but stay in the campground now.
 
This is tiny house living.

I suggest trying it over a weekend first close to home before going to the fort. Figure out what works and doesn’t work before you get out for any length of time.
 


relax, your going to be at FW, its a Great Idea! we've did it with 6 for years, most the time the DW and I are outside under the awning relaxing if we aren't in the parks. DS always used CS for breaks and showers, I used CS during awake hours if the RV was busy. Sad now, we are down to DD #3, they grow up fast, our best memories are camping vacations, FW, Yellowstone, Tetons, Glacier, Zion. RV vacations are #1 in our book, they learn patience, sharing, compromise, if they (we) get too hot, you can take a walk outside and cool off, FW does that to you. Board games, Movies, the DD's bake cookies from frozen dough --good times
 
We are a family of 6 and we stay in our small popup often. Usually, we eat all our meals at the site. It works for us because we spend most our time outside. The bathrooms are great, much more comfortable than the bathrooms in the Rvs we used to rent. It’s so great to have our coffee outside, we sit under the awning and relax - it’s relaxing at its finest and now we feel cramped in hotels. If people know what they are getting into and expectations are managed, it can be one of the most rewarding and fun vacations you can have.
 
7 is very do'able. The comfort stations are great and an easy option for dealing with one bathroom. You can request to be close to a CS. This past September, our friends drove their MH down. DW, DS and I flew down to stay with them in their 35ft MH. In addition, our friends DS, his DW and 2 kids were also there. The son's family were in a cabin, but they were at the site with the MH unless they were sleeping. That's 9 people and it worked out fine.

It looks like you have some older kids. We spend a good portion of the day at the parks. If you do Disney the same, the campsite is just a place to sleep and get ready.

Like others have said, you might want to try it closer to home to see if that much "togetherness" is OK with everyone.

j
 


7 is very do'able. The comfort stations are great and an easy option for dealing with one bathroom. You can request to be close to a CS. This past September, our friends drove their MH down. DW, DS and I flew down to stay with them in their 35ft MH. In addition, our friends DS, his DW and 2 kids were also there. The son's family were in a cabin, but they were at the site with the MH unless they were sleeping. That's 9 people and it worked out fine.

It looks like you have some older kids. We spend a good portion of the day at the parks. If you do Disney the same, the campsite is just a place to sleep and get ready.

Like others have said, you might want to try it closer to home to see if that much "togetherness" is OK with everyone.

j
To be fair, you can’t say it worked out fine when almost half of the party weren’t sleeping there.
 
We have a 40' motorcoach and to be honest it really only sleeps 4 comfortably (we don't have bunks or a fold down dinette) We did put 5 adults in the coach for a weekend and it's snug! However, the men would use the campground bathrooms a lot. That being said, if the coach you're renting has bunks (they aren't really long - great for kids) also sleeping in a converted dinette isn't very long either if you have tall kids. But overall it's an adventure and really if everyone can deal with the sleeping business, the potty part isn't too big of a deal (just a short walk!) Besides, depending upon the time of year you're going, the great outdoors is a great big family room!
 
I appreciate all your advice. We have RV’d before but less people and younger kids.

We are vacationing in a cabin in Colorado in the summer. Ft Wilderness just feels like the right fit. We like the outdoors and woods.

We will either be there Spring Break or June 2021. It’s a little early on the planning but the RV is throwing me for a loop.
 
As a tall person I laugh when any trailer or motorhome advertises how many people it can sleep. The dinette in my parents' motorhome is supposedly enough room for two people, but there's no way I could fit in it comfortably for a night just by myself.

If you can shift a couple of people to a tent for sleeping I think that would make it a lot more comfortable for everyone.
 
I appreciate all your advice. We have RV’d before but less people and younger kids.

We are vacationing in a cabin in Colorado in the summer. Ft Wilderness just feels like the right fit. We like the outdoors and woods.

We will either be there Spring Break or June 2021. It’s a little early on the planning but the RV is throwing me for a loop.

It’s far more humid in FL, so plan accordingly.
 
I don't know where you live but most places have RV shows starting in January. You could go to a couple shows and take a look at the campers, trailers, 5th wheels, etc. Aside from being fun you could go through the available units and see what they really look like inside and how it might work for you and your group. Go through the RV rental websites you might be using and pick a couple of units and try and find similar models at the show. It's always been easier for me if I can actually see in person. You never know, after all this is over you might even consider buying your own and making it a thing.......
 
It’s far more humid in FL, so plan accordingly.

True this. Spring break (March or April I assume) is far more comfortable for sleeping outdoors in Orlando versus June (first week of a June is a stretch maybe :rolleyes: but by the end of June no way Jose :sad2: - for me anyway).

Bama Ed
 
There are still people posting on your original thread trying to talk you into getting a couple of rooms. If you're on the fence I get it. When I was 17, we went to Disney with my girlfriend's parents. 1976. There was mom and dad, my girlfriend and I. Her sister and her boyfriend, and the 10 year old younger brother. We stayed at the Fort. They had a pop up camper. Mom and dad, the girls and younger brother slept in the camper and the other boyfriend and I slept in a pup tent. There was no bathroom in the camper so we all used the comfort station. I don't remember it being any big hardship for a week and it was a lot of fun. Remember that was when there was only the Magic Kingdom so not near as much to do. We weren't much younger than the kids in your group and we survived the "ordeal", LOL.
Point I'm trying to make here is you all can probably handle it for a week and you probably won't even see everybody in one place except in the mornings and during something you have planned for the group. You'll have the early risers and the late risers and groups and/or couples wanting to do their own thing. It'll be fine whatever you want to do and it will make memories to cherish. Something they also need to understand which is just a reality, if you're paying for the entire show, the "guests" (and I include your own grown children) will have to understand that's how it goes. My daughter is 25 and still think it's mom and dad's duty to pay for her entertainment. We tell her she's welcome to join us but it's our show now. I thank my mother the true Disney freak for that.
Rent yourself the biggest camper you can and have a ball!
 
If you rent a camper with a bunk room in the rear, there should be plenty of sleeping space. Our travel trailer has 4 beds in the back, three the size of a regular twin and one the size of a double bed. The front bedroom has a queen sized bed. The couch pulls out into a double bed that is plenty long enough for an adult. The only "bed" shorter than an average bed is the dinette when it's in sleeping mode. With 7 people, you would not need the dinette in the floor plan I'm describing anyway.

Comfort stations are nice and no reason to not use them. They are more comfortable than an RV bathroom anyway. Bathroom in the RV can just be used on an as-needed basis, nice in the middle of the night.
 
Comfort stations are nice and no reason to not use them. They are more comfortable than an RV bathroom anyway. Bathroom in the RV can just be used on an as-needed basis, nice in the middle of the night.

unless there are people sleeping on the floor, then the middle of the night trip well, may lead to an actual trip and waking of everyone from all the clatter.
 

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