RV'ing from Disneyland to Disneyworld

[jdfrye]

Oh Boy!! This is going to be fun!
Interested in anyone's ideas and experience driving this route. anything we should check out?
On this crazy journey it's going to be my sweet wife and two kids 15 and 10 (our oldest 3rd is flying in to meet us)
We live about 30 minutes from Disneyland and are annual pass holders.
We just purchased a 2005 Tioga and plan for a 8 day journey to Fort wilderness.
We have reservations for end of Jan into early Feb 2016 in a "Preferred site" hoping for loop 100.
We are very excited and scared at the same time.
This is my first post but have been here many times when planning our WDW vacation back in 2003 and stayed at wilderness lodge. many things im grateful for from you guys when it came to that trip....you all made it a very wonderful trip.

EDIT: Finished Up the trip and created a playlist for future readers to find all videos. Thanks everyone for your support and encouragement.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3nT00qnLpI457wuU7tJGIsNKBBnUybyd

 

[2goofycampers]

Welcome jdfrye to the camping board! Sounds like a wonderful trip. What routes will you be taking?

 

[5kidsmommy]

No advice, just have fun. We have travelled cross country many times but a more northern route. Have a wonderful time. We'll be at the Fort in early February, maybe we'll see you there.

 

[jdfrye]

Welcome jdfrye to the camping board! Sounds like a wonderful trip. What routes will you be taking?

Taking Interstate 10 all the way into Florida.

 

[jdfrye]

We are going to wait till we get the tickets untill we are there just incase we break down were not out the tickets/money. can I still make fastpass choices in my MYDisneyExperience
without tickets and only a reservation?

 

[5kidsmommy]

We are going to wait till we get the tickets untill we are there just incase we break down were not out the tickets/money. can I still make fastpass choices in my MYDisneyExperience
without tickets and only a reservation?

No, FP+ is tied to your tickets and reservation. Without a ticket you can't make FP+ and without a reservations you can't make them at 60 days but you can at 30 days.

 

[jdfrye]

No, FP+ is tied to your tickets and reservation. Without a ticket you can't make FP+ and without a reservations you can't make them at 60 days but you can at 30 days.

Is it important that we buy ticket early then? Will all the fast passes be gone if we buy them the day before? What would you do?

 

[5kidsmommy]

Is it important that we buy ticket early then? Will all the fast passes be gone if we buy them the day before? What would you do?

I am not a huge worrier. We buy our tickets as a package and I do book the fast passes at 60 days but we often change them at the last minute. And honestly I don't stress over them. We just use them to make sure we get on favorite rides without having to wait in a long line. I know some people swear by plans but I do like to be a little more spontaneous. My kids don't mind waiting in lines. So it's really up to you. If you don't book fast passes beforehand some of the more popular rides might not have them available but many still will. So really it's up to you. Don't worry though, even without fast passes booked in advance you will still get to ride the rides. Honestly the biggest thing for us is being at the parks at opening. You get a ton done before the crowds come in.

 

[2goofycampers]

Is it important that we buy ticket early then? Will all the fast passes be gone if we buy them the day before? What would you do?

They may be gone, but, the end of Jan Beginning of Feb is not extremely busy at WDW. We use to do the early morning opening park openings but now it seems they are the busiest park. If we have park hopper we do that park and then leave when it gets busy. If no park hopper we just do rope drop at a non magic hours park.

 

[peg110]

We just purchased a 2005 Tioga and plan for a 8 day journey to Fort wilderness.

Is the "Journey" 8 days or is the "STAY" 8 days? What is the overall length of your vacation time (from departure to return back home). I hope THAT is not 8 days.

I have not made that Trek, but I have made one from San Diego to NE PA which is similar in Distance. With both me and my older brother driving (a U-Haul of all things) and taking turns, it still took us the better part of 3 days (He drives, I sleep. I drive, he sleeps, etc....). Even if you were able to push it to 2 days travel, that only leaves about 4 days at the fort. So I am hoping the 8 days is the "Travel Time" (which would be leisurely and you could enjoy other sites).


As far as the fast passes, it really depends on when you are planning on being there. If you try to get the "Good" passes the day before and it happens to be a "Holiday" time frame (or other very popular time) then it may be difficult, but not impossible. Like 5kidsmommy, my DW changes the FP+ multiple times before we go up to including the same day. Since others are doing the same thing (plans change) it's always possible to get things, it's just better knowing in advance you have them.

I wish you a safe journey for the the new (to you) Rig. If you haven't been "Camping" before (err... I guess with a Tioga, you are bordering on "Glamping"), I suggest a "Short" trip from home first to work out all the bugs and things you might encounter. If you cannot do that, I suggest at least spend a day or 2 in the rig even at the house (staying out of the house as much as possible) so you can get a sense of what you may want or need. (Towels, Dishes, toiletries, extension cords, hoses, cables, etc...) Our first trip out (and even relatively local) cost me an "EXTRA" about $50 for an "Extension" cord. The 30 amp cable wouldn't quite reach the power. I had the TT already stabilized and set before I even checked. (Not that it would have been a simple matter to relocate it either as the sites were tight otherwise too). The campground store had light duty (VERY Light duty) extension cords (16 gauge). The next one up (which really is a better choice anyway) was a 20' 30-AMP extension cord. At home I don't have a 30-Amp outlet, but I have a 20-Amp and I have a 10 gauge (and an adapter) extension cord to power it. Works well except when it's really REALLY hot (and the A/C needs to run a lot.)

Okay, I am rambling now, so again, I hope you have an awesome time.

 

[jdfrye]

I am not a huge worrier. We buy our tickets as a package and I do book the fast passes at 60 days but we often change them at the last minute. And honestly I don't stress over them. We just use them to make sure we get on favorite rides without having to wait in a long line. I know some people swear by plans but I do like to be a little more spontaneous. My kids don't mind waiting in lines. So it's really up to you. If you don't book fast passes beforehand some of the more popular rides might not have them available but many still will. So really it's up to you. Don't worry though, even without fast passes booked in advance you will still get to ride the rides. Honestly the biggest thing for us is being at the parks at opening. You get a ton done before the crowds come in.

They may be gone, but, the end of Jan Beginning of Feb is not extremely busy at WDW. We use to do the early morning opening park openings but now it seems they are the busiest park. If we have park hopper we do that park and then leave when it gets busy. If no park hopper we just do rope drop at a non magic hours park.

Im a worrier. and its sad Im working on it.
At Disneyland you dont have this fastpass plus feature..its all same day fastpass. you must go to each ride to get a fast pass then come back when stated time. Maybe we'll just go ahead and get the tickets and pray we get there ontime with no breakdowns. Were giving ourselves 8 days travel but I also like the idea of not worrying about things, I know, for the drive out there we are not planning where we are going to stop. Its so much better to be spontaneous but its not built into my brain. I like to plan
Again the amount of valuable info we get from here is mindblowing!
So question a for you veterans:>>if we do get the tickets early and get our fastpass+ selections, do we do a rope drop park or a magic hours park for our non-park hopper passes? ((my logic says go to a rope drop park with our fastpass plus selections))

 

[jdfrye]

Is the "Journey" 8 days or is the "STAY" 8 days? What is the overall length of your vacation time (from departure to return back home). I hope THAT is not 8 days.

As far as the fast passes, it really depends on when you are planning on being there. If you try to get the "Good" passes the day before and it happens to be a "Holiday" time frame (or other very popular time) then it may be difficult, but not impossible. Like 5kidsmommy, my DW changes the FP+ multiple times before we go up to including the same day. Since others are doing the same thing (plans change) it's always possible to get things, it's just better knowing in advance you have them.

That would be a mad dash wouldnt it! Zoom over there in 2 days!!
We are planning(there's that word again) on leaving the morning of the 22nd to get there on the 29th and stay until the 4th. 8 day journey to get there
We planned coming on off season time where the crows are expected to be at a minimum, but wont stop me from thinking all day today, if I want to buy the tickets early just to get the fastpass+ and not have to worry(Ohh) about it. But...... then I will worry(dang) about not getting there in time to use our tickets

 

[jdfrye]

I wish you a safe journey for the the new (to you) Rig. If you haven't been "Camping" before (err... I guess with a Tioga, you are bordering on "Glamping"), I suggest a "Short" trip from home first to work out all the bugs and things you might encounter.

Thanks for the advise. We have used it around our home within a 50 radius about 6 times for a couple nights at a time. Did alot to it.
Checked for roof repairs and did them, replaced a leaking water pump, replaced a faulty converter, replaced a couple of failing vent cranks, bought solar suitcase for boondocking, purchased a bike rack, And to many otyher things that we purchased.
Fixing stuff is fun for me. hope im not making it sound like we bought a beater. Its mostly getting to know the ins and outs, except for the pump and converter.
Also may be doing a daily vlog to youtube with just my phone each day. if I do i will share here. I will have plenty of data to upload each night during our journey

 

[peg110]

then I will worry(dang) about not getting there in time to use our tickets

Tickets don't expire until AFTER first use. Then you have 2 weeks (I think) to use them.

 

[peg110]

hope im not making it sound like we bought a beater.

Nope! Not to me anyway. We bought a BRAND NEW one and I ended up putting a hood over the bathroom vent (so it can stay open in rain). Our new TT came with ZERO 12 volt outlets or USB ports, so I installed a couple of them. I have a Pure Sine Wave power inverter to install with an automatic transfer switch that I need to hook up. Just haven't gotten around to it yet. That will probably have to wait for Spring at this point though.

I am glad you aren't going to try and do the entire trip in 8 days.... That would definitely be stressful. I hope you have a wonderful trip.

 

[bama_ed]

So question a for you veterans:>>if we do get the tickets early and get our fastpass+ selections, do we do a rope drop park or a magic hours park for our non-park hopper passes? ((my logic says go to a rope drop park with our fastpass plus selections))

to the DIS Camping Board. Glad you joined up.

The conventional wisdom with regard to EMH (Extra Magic Hours) is that it creates a bigger crowd in that park. Folks who have park hoppers can make use of the morning EMH to take advantage of the lower crowds but then hop out to the park they want to be at that day. Evening EMH entices hoppers to come over and extend their park day a little longer. The websites and books that recommend what park to go to on what day to avoid the relative crowds, if you notice, usually don't recommend an EMH park on any given day. Then there are the people who are going that day regardless that don't have hoppers (that's my family). My kids are college age and they don't want to be kicked out of a theme park when it closes at 7pm or 9pm in the non-busy part of the year. They want to be in the latest open park (I've been at the MK until 2am during busy times ). So I am usually stuck going to the park with the evening EMH. But it's not the best choice for low crowds/lots of rides/shows.

During the time of the year you will be there, the crowds will be low so I think whatever you do, it will be okay. But conventional wisdom is to NOT do the EMH park on any given day. But my advice is always, ALWAYS, be there at rope drop to get the lightest crowds, the most walk-ons, and the shortest lines.

Our FP+ strategy is to schedule them beginning early afternoon (you get an hour window for each one and they can't overlap). So we use the morning in the park to take advantage of the lower crowds and do the walk-ons and short waits until lunchtime. Use the FP+ along with less popular/high capacity attractions (in MK think Country Bears, Tiki Room, Hall of Presidents, Carousel of Progress) in the afternoon. Then you can decide to get an extra FP+ (only one at a time after your first 3 are all used up) or do walk-up/waits. In your case, the weekends late January to early February will be the more crowded days in the parks but weekdays should be more of a breeze.

Bama Ed

 

[5kidsmommy]

I am an EMH gal but I am also a rope dropper. I like the perk of EMH. We tend to go at slower times of the year so park hours are already limited. I love WDW late at night and I do enjoy getting up and getting in early.

And don't get me wrong, I like to plan. I have our entire trip planned out, heck I scheduled it a year ago and we don't leave for a couple more months. But I know that plans change. And since we go during slower times there is built in flexibility.

 

[tiggerdad]

Glad to have you posting with us.

In regards to FPs I set ours in the evening, preferably after dinner. We usually get to the parks around 9 and as we make our way around I use MDE to check wait times and if a nearby ride isn't that long we'll go ahead and hit it. If it was one I had a FP to later in the day I'll change it or keep it if the ride is a fun one.

Personally I hate all the advance planning that Disney now requires but I have found I have little choice if I want to get to do some things.

As far as the ride along I-10, you'll pass briefly through my home state of MS which is without a doubt your last opportunity for cheaper fuel. The price progressively goes up in AL and especially in FL so top off.

On your way through Mobile, AL you literally drive right by Battleship Park where the USS Alabama and USS Drum are located. There is also an aviation museum and countless tanks and artillery. They have oversized parking as well so check it out if you need a stop off. It's easy to get to. When you enter the tunnel in Mobile look for the exit right as soon as you come out of the tunnel. There are some fine eateries along that Battleship parkway as well including Felix's and The Original Oyster House.

Safe travels

 

[jdfrye]

After reading your replies, we think we are the Rope droppers. We are early risers and early to bed. Over here at Disneyland they do early mornings for resort guests.
We might set our FP+ for late afternoon good rides

As far as the ride along I-10, you'll pass briefly through my home state of MS which is without a doubt your last opportunity for cheaper fuel. The price progressively goes up in AL and especially in FL so top off.

On your way through Mobile, AL you literally drive right by Battleship Park where the USS Alabama and USS Drum are located. They have oversized parking as well so check it out if you need a stop off. It's easy to get to. When you enter the tunnel in Mobile look for the exit right as soon as you come out of the tunnel.

Thanks about the tip for the gas in MS. We will be using the Gas buddy app but we might have missed that top off opportunity by just looking a few hundred miles ahead.
Battleship park may go on the "stop and see" list THANKS!

Tickets don't expire until AFTER first use. Then you have 2 weeks (I think) to use them.

Again thanks for this info. This makes the worry alot less worryful

 

[4077]

Again thanks for this info. This makes the worry alot less worryful

This sounds very "Pooh-ish"