So frustrated!!!

[seguinfamily]

This is not our first time to Disney, but it is our first time to Fort Wilderness. I have to say - this is the worst trip ever!

I checked ahead about bringing a fire pit so we could cook over it. My kids don't like to eat out very much and it made so much sense. We were so excited to learn we could camp and just bring our own firepit. Well, tonight I get a CM at my site in the middle of preparing dinner and they tell me I can't have it. I have one with a full mesh screen, not a covered lid. I checked beforehand and this was fine as long as we didn't back to a creek. Well, nope. They told me I can't use it. I have some food that I just can't cook on a coleman stove or the little grill they give. So now I have about 300 dollars in organic meat that I will have to throw out and spend who knows how much on food in the parks. I wouldn't be so frustrated if I hadn't called ahead to make sure!!!

Not to mention waiting an hour for our Epcot bus to bring us to homeschool days ... making us walk into homeschool days late, which they then told us they had run out of seats.

I'm so done with this place, I'd just like to pack up and go home but I'm stuck here till Saturday.

 

[cruising spud]

Maybe I'm wrong, but don't the sites have grills that you could use for cooking? I'd hate to see all that meat go to waste.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

There was a couple times in the past we have left Disney before our ressie was over,,,they refunded our money for the xtra days each time.

If I were that upset, I'd leave. No sense in making yourself miserable over this.

 

[tim5055]

If I were that upset, I'd leave. No sense in making your miserable over this.

Agreed

 

[Disney Bunny]

This is not our first time to Disney, but it is our first time to Fort Wilderness. I have to say - this is the worst trip ever!

I checked ahead about bringing a fire pit so we could cook over it. My kids don't like to eat out very much and it made so much sense. We were so excited to learn we could camp and just bring our own firepit. Well, tonight I get a CM at my site in the middle of preparing dinner and they tell me I can't have it. I have one with a full mesh screen, not a covered lid. I checked beforehand and this was fine as long as we didn't back to a creek. Well, nope. They told me I can't use it. I have some food that I just can't cook on a coleman stove or the little grill they give. So now I have about 300 dollars in organic meat that I will have to throw out and spend who knows how much on food in the parks. I wouldn't be so frustrated if I hadn't called ahead to make sure!!!

Not to mention waiting an hour for our Epcot bus to bring us to homeschool days ... making us walk into homeschool days late, which they then told us they had run out of seats.

I'm so done with this place, I'd just like to pack up and go home but I'm stuck here till Saturday.

Sorry, not trying to slam you, but when I called Disney about our firepit, I was told we could use it as long as it has a cover.....which means that it has to stay covered while in use. Not knowing what kind of firepit you have, I find it hard to understand how you could keep it covered while in use and still cook. Also how it would be so much larger to cook on than the grills provided.

 

[angelmom27]

Dont throw the meat away. It might take a bit longer but just use the grill provided. I have a large family and I know how time consuming it can be to use a small grill but I would never throw away that much meat.

And like another post mentioned see if you can get a refund and leave early.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

This is not our first time to Disney, but it is our first time to Fort Wilderness. I have to say - this is the worst trip ever!

I checked ahead about bringing a fire pit so we could cook over it. My kids don't like to eat out very much and it made so much sense. We were so excited to learn we could camp and just bring our own firepit. Well, tonight I get a CM at my site in the middle of preparing dinner and they tell me I can't have it. I have one with a full mesh screen, not a covered lid. I checked beforehand and this was fine as long as we didn't back to a creek. Well, nope. They told me I can't use it. I have some food that I just can't cook on a coleman stove or the little grill they give. So now I have about 300 dollars in organic meat that I will have to throw out and spend who knows how much on food in the parks. I wouldn't be so frustrated if I hadn't called ahead to make sure!!!

Not to mention waiting an hour for our Epcot bus to bring us to homeschool days ... making us walk into homeschool days late, which they then told us they had run out of seats.

I'm so done with this place, I'd just like to pack up and go home but I'm stuck here till Saturday.

Seems there are many gas/ charcoal grills that are cheap and you can cook anything on them! Limiting yourself to a firepit does just that.limit you!

But I agree with the other posters...........no sense making yourself upset and mad over this little thing....get your money back..........Go home!

AKK

 

[seguinfamily]

Yes, it has a cover. We kept it covered while in use, and had a tripod over it. It was low enough to the ground that it worked perfectly. I slow cooked ribs the other night for 3 hours with the lid on. mmm, that was good.

The point is that I called first, to make sure this was fine. There is no way I can manage cooking on that little bbq they have here or the small portable stove I brought for other items. My nice relaxing vacation has now had it's work doubled. Imagine the ribs on that thing, I'd have had to cook them in batches which would have taken 6-9 hours total. Maybe it's fine if you enjoy hamburgers every day.


{{sigh}}

I'm going to call around to other campgrounds and see if I can get in anywhere. If I can't then I'll have no choice but to throw this food out, or see if I can donate it to a food bank or shelter or something. We've been using dry ice but it's not all frozen solid. I'd leave and go home but the kids have another Disney Homeschool class on Friday. My 10 yr old is very much looking forward to it, especially after missing out on Monday. I have learned to not take the Disney transportation again at least. We'll drive from now on. The kids say next vacation is somewhere else though, so that makes that easy.

 

[seguinfamily]

And, sorry for venting last night. I'm sure I'll get over this. I do find it very frustrating when I call to get rules and then they change them up on me when I'm here. We're "rule followers" so it's not like I was trying to get away with something.

 

[luckycharm19335]

There could easily have just been a misunderstanding about the type of firepit you have.
I myself know nothing about them. I have never traveled with one. It just seems that there are always warnings and I don't bother.
I would hate to see you have to throw away all of your food.
Could you possibly, maybe, borrow a crockpot from a neighbor?
I'm sure someone would be willing to lend you one.

 

[Running_Bell]

We tent camp quite a bit and have cooked over a fire with a tripod many times. We have never cooked over one, however, with a mesh over it as the fire is usually much too substantial for the mesh. With that type of burning... I know FW would not allow it. Not saying that it didn't work for you though...through the mesh and all. When we have camped at FW there was always a burning ban, so we didn't bring a firepit at all. But, we were able to cook quite a large variety of meats, veggies, at the same time on the grill... and not hamburgers. For longer cooking items... we have used a crock pot. I know it may be inconvenient for you.... but I'm sure taking advantage of the grill would be better than ruining your vacation. Perhaps you could go and purchase a cheap charcoal grill to use in addition to the one provided... maybe that would be sufficient. There are many stores close by... like Wal-Mart.

I hope it works out for you and hopefully you'll find another campground that fits your needs.

 

[seguinfamily]

Perhaps there could have been misunderstanding. I researched on here and some other boards, so was pretty clear in talking about what I had - mesh cover. Not a solid cover. So, I don't see how that can be. The man that came said they just changed the rules and now no mesh covers at all, only if the top is solid. We actually waited until we talked to FW to buy the firepit because we wanted to make sure it was the right one and we didn't have one. All other campsites we have gone to have had firepits. The FW worker told me to put a 4inch circle of aluminum foil on the top of the mesh cover to get around the rule. One, I don't like "getting around rules" and two - we did that to finish cooking our dinner last night and it melted the aluminum foil ... so it is ineffective. It would seem that the rules have changed, He brought me a print out of the new rules ... if there is a way to post a pdf I am happy to post it so that others can have it.

 

[seguinfamily]

We tent camp quite a bit and have cooked over a fire with a tripod many times. We have never cooked over one, however, with a mess over it as the fire is usually much too substantial for the mesh. Not saying that it didn't work for you though. When we have camped at FW there was always a burning ban, so we didn't bring a firepit at all. But, we were able to cook quite a large variety of meats, veggies, at the same time on the grill... and not hamburgers. For longer cooking items... we have used a crock pot. I know it may be inconvenient for you.... but I'm sure taking advantage of the grill would be better than ruining your vacation. I guess for us FW is not your typical camping experience.... there is so much to do that the day is usually spent doing so many other things other than cooking. Unlike some camping places where cooking is all you have to do. I hope it works out for you and hopefully you'll find another campground that fits your needs.

Yeah, I like cooking and my kids don't like eating out... We're kind of a weird family. The mesh did ok, I was worried about that too so we tested it at home. The shape of this particular firepit made it work. When we tried the "fix" that the FW worker had come up with it immediately melted the aluminum foil. Maybe that would work with a different shaped firepit. But then, like you said - the tripod might not work on that shaped firepit.

My sleepyhead husband is still asleep ... so waiting for him to get up to look at the other campsite websites... then get my money back from here hopefully.

 

[Disney Bunny]

So let me see if I have a clear vision of this.....You have a mesh covered firepit which you set on the ground and then hung a tripod over the top of that with a grill on which you put your meat to cook? Is that correct? Are you using wood in the firepit or charcoal?

 

[seguinfamily]

So let me see if I have a clear vision of this.....You have a mesh covered firepit which you set on the ground and then hung a tripod over the top of that with a grill on which you put your meat to cook? Is that correct? Are you using wood in the firepit or charcoal?

Exactly. Wood. When I called they told me that mesh was fine, as long as I was in certain campsites only - so I requested one of those. Now they tell me that mesh is not allowed in ANY site.

 

[Disney Bunny]

Exactly. Wood. When I called they told me that mesh was fine, as long as I was in certain campsites only - so I requested one of those. Now they tell me that mesh is not allowed in ANY site.

Okay.....just a thought and check with Main desk to make sure that this would be acceptable. See how far down you can drop the tripod grill plate over the uncovered firepit and subtitute the wood with charcoal. That way it works the same way as the charcoal grill that is provided at the site, but gives you a larger cooking space to work with. You might need to re-think how you prepare some of the items you have with you. You might also be able to "tent" the meat to help with keeping more heat in if you are using charcoal instead of the wood. Walmart is close by. Go there and buy charcoal in bulk instead of at the Fort store. And if you can't drop the tripod down far enough over the firepit, look around and see what you can find to improvise and be able to set the tripod grill plate on so that it works directly over the top of the charcoal like a regular grill.

Oh....and are you thinking about going to another campground so you can use the firepit? Chances are that if there is a burn ban in the Disney World area of Florida right now that you are going to run up against the same problem no matter what campground you might move to. Make sure you accurately explain your firepit before you pack up and go somewhere else only to find out that you are still in the same predicament.

 

[seguinfamily]

Okay.....just a thought and check with Main desk to make sure that this would be acceptable. See how far down you can drop the tripod grill plate over the uncovered firepit and subtitute the wood with charcoal. That way it works the same way as the charcoal grill that is provided at the site, but gives you a larger cooking space to work with. You might need to re-think how you prepare some of the items you have with you. You might also be able to "tent" the meat to help with keeping more heat in if you are using charcoal instead of the wood. Walmart is close by. Go there and buy charcoal in bulk instead of at the Fort store. And if you can't drop the tripod down far enough over the firepit, look around and see what you can find to improvise and be able to set the tripod grill plate on so that it works directly over the top of the charcoal like a regular grill.

Oooh ... that is good thinking. My tripod can go up and down easily low enough. I will check at the desk. Especially since these grills are so unlevel that I couldn't use a pan on them. I just did with breakfast, and the pan was all lopsided. Thanks!!!

 

[Disney Bunny]

Oooh ... that is good thinking. My tripod can go up and down easily low enough. I will check at the desk. Especially since these grills are so unlevel that I couldn't use a pan on them. I just did with breakfast, and the pan was all lopsided. Thanks!!!

Come back and let us know how this works for you. If the Main desk is still concerned about the firepit on the ground, see if it would be acceptable if you put it on a higher surface and again check Walmart for a small metal table that would be large/sturdy enough to set it on. Can probably pick one up for about $20. Much cheaper than having to throw out all of that meat.

 

[bigredbill]

While I am sorry that you are running into difficulties, you are still in WDW while the rest of us are at home. You are staying at FW and are a boat ride away from the Magic Kingdom. For crying out loud - HAVE A GOOD TIME!!! Don't let this ruin you and your family's trip. I would weigh the cost of adding a second grill or crock-pot against the cost of food, hassle of moving, disappointment of your children, etc. This could be a good learning opportunity for your children on adapting to the circumstances.

I hope you and your family enjoy the rest of your trip!

 

[seguinfamily]

So, the man who empties the trash just came, and we asked him if he'd get us a metal bucket to properly dispose of the charcoal ... since it's unsafe to just hose off coals and throw them in the trash ... and he couldn't believe that our little fire with a lid caused a problem. He was very calming ... LOL. He called into maintenance and asked for a metal bucket and I requested the grill be leveled and he called that in as well. He said if nobody comes to look for him and he'd try again. But the inconsistency is crazy! Nobody seems to know the rules and they are applied differently depending on who is there.