Tent Camping - End of Sept possibly?

[kristina87]

Hey everyone!


Sorry in advance if this is redundant.

So my best friend and I are wanting to road trip from St Louis to WDW, just for a couple days, likely 2, because we're both unemployed housewives She has a 6 person tent we'll be using and we are wanting to stay at FW obviously.

I was hoping that anyone that has been tent camping there could give me some good advice/recommendations/tips. What to bring? What's available for us? Good sites? What exactly do the comfort stations entail?

We have plenty of guides (we both stayed at the Grand Floridian for 10 days last year) and this is something totally new and different for us so we wanted some "real person" insight!

Thanks in advance for any help!!

 

[Bearikens]

Lets start with the basics and go on from there:
Tent
Bedding
Mattress
Cooking? camp stove, something to cook in and food
Something to eat on and with
Cooler
Sites have electricity, so electric cooking is available
Sites have BBQ grill (need charcoal)
Lighter to light charcoal
Lighting for nighttime
Personal items (clothing, etc)
Towel and hygiene supplies
flashlight
Swimwear and towel (if you want to visit the pools)
Rain gear (depending upon time of year)
Doormat and small broom (to help keep any sand you might have on your feet from getting into the tent)

Comfort stations are really nice and very clean...fully equipped bathrooms, showers, house phone, laundry, ice machine, sink to do dishes, bulletin board, newspaper machine. They are air conditioned and heated.

Campsites are excellent. They have a blacktop driveway and the partial hookup sites (tent sites) have a large sand (finely ground up sea shells) pad.
Electricity, water, and cable tv included. Some have lots of shade and some have only some shade. The sites have some separation (varies from 20 to 50 feet) and are usually separated by small bushes. Extremely well kept.

Hope this helps

 

[Bearikens]

accidental double post

 

[perdidochas]

I'd get a few electric fans and extension cords to get air moving through the tent. You're going to learn new meanings of the word humidity.

 

[jonimce]

I'd get a few electric fans and extension cords to get air moving through the tent. You're going to learn new meanings of the word humidity.

YES, YES, YES. Take this advice. The fans will cool the tent down at night. We have tent camped in August many times. Oh, and have fun.

 

[kristina87]

Thank you all so much! These are all majorly helpful tips!

Would any of you suggest camping in January? We're thinking about going then too!

 

[2goofycampers]

We've been in Jan when it was 60ish at night 80ish during the day. We've also been when it was 26 at night and 40ish during the day. If you're prepared, I guess it's doable.

 

[retired and happy]

If you want to watch tv, you will need to bring your own and a coax cable to connect to the pedestal to receive cable.

 

[kristina87]

We'd be prepared for sure! I don't think it would bother us too much, just wondering what people's experiences have been like. Thanks for the tip!

 

[sznk]

lovebugs are present in central florida all of May and September. they typically start in late April and go to early June, then again late August till early October.
they don't bite but they swarm for much of the day. they are slimy and disgusting. insect repellant doesn't seem to deter them. google 'lovebugs in florida' for more info. yuck.
staying in a tent, as you know, makes you one-with-the-environment. that's good news if it's not lovebug or mosquito season. best months (imho) for tenting here (or visiting in general) are March thru mid-April, and mid-October thru November. December thru February can be too cold or just perfect - no way to predict it. June thru August is very hot and humid and mosquito-time.

 

[CarolineB]

I tent camped twice 5 years ago with my 3 year old (just me and him.)

The first time, I stayed in a premium site and it was very quiet. This was in August so I expected it to be hot and it was.

The second time, I stayed in a value site and I could hear the buses running. There was also a restroom door slamming (this doesn't have anything to do with value.) Since I was going to sleep early because I was with a young child, it was very annoying. This time was the last week of Oct. / 1st week of Nov. and it was still very hot even at night.

I brought battery operated fans and that was really helpful. Of course, if you have room in your car for larger, electric fans all the better.

You could even buy some cheap electric fans at wally world for $20 and just leave them or give them away.

Because I was by myself and my kid, neighbors were always kind and offered to help me put my tent up once I laid it out. I now have a much smaller and easier tent to put up.

I liked taking the boat to MK but I didn't like walking back to my camp site in the dark at night -- bring flashlights.

Pay attention to the bus system routes -- they are color coded and you need to be on the correct bus route to get where you're going. The bus stop are numbered by the loops that they serve.

Like the other poster said, the bathrooms were well maintained.

If you like biking, bring your bikes to get around.

 

[gillenkl]

If it's only for 2 days I'd just plan to eat Disney food and foregone dragging cooking items.

 

[CarolineB]

If it's only for 2 days I'd just plan to eat Disney food and foregone dragging cooking items.

That's the way I did my Ft. Wilderness camping but it was because I didn't want to cook by myself with a young child -- more of a safety issue. You can always roast hot dogs and sausages at the nightly campfire.

The a la cart prices at Trailsend are very reasonable if you don't want a buffet.