Tent Camping in July??

[minnieandmickey]

Have been reading about summer tent camping and how with the rain that alot of campsites get flooded. Will this be a problem if we are planning on tent camping? Also with the heat and humidity should we get a small air conditioner for the tent, we just purchased one for our pop up. We are West "Dry Heat" Coasters and would like to be somewhat comfortable while we are there. Unfortunately July 2005 is looking like the only time to go with school schedules. Any suggestions on what to bring would be great, also.

 

[Memph1s]

An A/C for the tent is the only way I would camp down here in July. The overnight lows can sometimes be in the mid 80s with 90% + humidity.

The camp sites are set up to handle the heavy rains. The pads drain well and most are above surrounding grade level. You will see a lot of standing water around the campground but the actual camping pad drains fast. I have seen a couple of sites that do flood. However, they have always been empty so I think the staff knows the problem sites and leave them empty.

 

[my3princes]

I wouldn't set up a tent in the 100 loop. We were there last Aug (there was a hurricane off shore) and it rained hard everyday. We had about an inch of water on our site. It would drain when it stopped raining, but would come back when the rain started again. We had notes on our car stating that they might have to evacuate the campgroud due to flooding. I think that it was an unusual occurance, however I would request a different loop just in case.

 

[clkelley]

In December 2002, I was in Loop 1500 during some very hard rains and my site stayed very dry and everything in my tent was dry as a bone.

A friend of mine was in Loop 2000 and did have some flooding problems and some problems with poles buckling on his tarp.

A lot of it just depends on your site.

The CMs at Ft. Wilderness drive around the loops quite frequently and I'm sure make notes on which sites are having flooding problems and adjust the drainage as necessary, or move guests accordingly.

Carol

 

[fsufandis]

I live here in Orlando (life long Floridian), and I would not camp in a tent in July if Eisner himself were handing out $100 bills at the camp site.

You will be miserable at night while everyone in their campers are sleeping soundly with their A/C running.

If you are used to dry heat, you will absolutely melt with our very high humidity.

I hate to sound so pessimistic, but July/Aug/Sept are scorching and when you add the humidity, there is no relief. A fan (or several fans) will offer little help.

 

[CarolynNC]

My son and I tent camped at Ft Wilderness for 10 nights in August several years ago. We had a great time and were very comfortable. Of course we camp at the beach frequently and since our dog is not heat tolerant we already have all necessary equipment. We have a small air conditioner which we use for camping.

We have a large tent and a large screen room. The openings are configured so we can set them up in a T configuration. Heck, we brought our small camping refrigerator & microwave. All of this is topped with huge tarps for extra water protection. We didn't have any problems with heat or with rainwater flooding our tent.

Carolyn

 

[mushck]

OK. I have to agree with fsufandis. I would not tent camp in July. It is beastly hot. I would try to go for a value resort. It's not camping but you will be a bit more comfortable. After a long day at the parks in the heat, you need a cool spot to rest. Jumping in the pool does not help. This only cools you off for about 2 minutes after you get out of the pool! Sorry, I am just being honest. I also live in O-town!

Good luck!

 

[1018scr]

I agree. Camping in central Florida in July is insane. We stayed at FW for 2 weeks last July. I said "never again". I can take the heat. I've lived in Florida all of my life. But the rain, crowds in the parks, mosquitoes and biting flies were terrible. Now we camp during spring, winter and fall and stay at the beach in the summer.