Tent camping in the heat

[Iggipolka]

We have a tent camping trip planned for next July at the Fort. We're a camping family (2 adults, 2 elementary school age kiddos) and often camp in California and are used to super oven hot dry camping days. However, tent camping in Florida is a whole different story.
I'd love tips on how to survive the heat, humidity and bugs while tent camping at the Fort. Thanks!

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We put a bowl of ice in front of the fan it cools down the tent quick.

 

[Sjm9911]

Imho, july is hot, and not californa dry hot. If you tent has a spot for an ac, I would get one. Im not a tent camper but i see tenters with acs all the time at disney. Even so far as to make a tent enclosure woth an ac for a sitting area. Your tolerance may be diffrent, but this is a place where you will need a good night sleep. Get the ac. If you dont have room, pick one up at the wallmart when you get there. Thank me later.

 

[team bradfield]

don't do it, thank me later

 

[shawthorne44]

As campers, you might know this already. Spray your clothes with Permethrin. I don't know why, but when I don't I always get bug bites around my waist. Maybe because that is the skin farthest away from bug spray.

Also, I've never camped at Disney. But, I'm on the fence about camping for our upcoming trip, so I've researched. One idea is to get a potty tent. The tents are also used as portable changing rooms for photoshoots. We bought one on Amazon for about $20. They are the pop-up kind. Minimal footprint, but you can stand up inside. You put a 5 gallon bucket inside and a toilet seat if you're fancy. Then in the wee hours you don't have to walk all the way to the bathroom. I read about it for Disney, and I used it on our camping trips last winter. It is great and I started a fashion.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

Having been to the Fort in the summer a few times I can firmly state that I wouldnt camp there in that heat without 2 air conditioners in my trailer. Of course this is from someone who used to drive his car on a lake in the winter for fun.

 

[Carol_]

So I just was released from a camping overnighter in oppressive heat. (I hate camping but I hate missing family time more…) so I tried to whine and moan minimally while I felt like I would die at any moment if not from a bear attack then from a serial killer or lightning strike… it was so hot… I hopped back in the truck for 10 minutes just to enjoy the AC. Here’s my point: Get the Arctic Air as seen on tv (at Walmart checkout among other places). It’s a fan that hangs around your neck. I stripped down to unseemliness and laid down in the tent until the sun was low enough to be tolerated, but the whole time I was dreaming of my Arctic Air that I had left at home. Bad choice. I couldn’t breathe. I dreamed of my Zyrtec, too.
Also, your partner will not pack that which you need to stay comfortable. As much of a professional scout that person might be… bring your own equipment.

 

[bama_ed]

don't do it, thank me later

Not to rain on your parade but I agree with @team bradfield.

But I'll add the caveat that if you prepare properly for summer conditions it can be done (and is done). And that's mainly to have an AC in the tent to come back to and/or use while sleeping.

The thing about Florida in summer is the humidity. Summer in central Florida means nearly daily rain showers that usually don't last long but the air remains moist 24/7. You never feel like you ever completely dry out. Towels hung on the line never dry out "enough". Leave it out to dry while at the parks? It'll get rained on. Sweat remains. It's not a shade question.

But the uncomfortable sleep is the main problem for warm weather camping with me so I don't do it. But if summer is the only time to travel and you want to do WDW, I'd consider getting a cheap off-site hotel room.

Since you asked .....

Bama Ed

PS - if you see my WDW trips listed in my signature below, you won't find a June-July-August-September trip listed. Even with a trailer/AC, I refuse to go when the weather will make the experience unpleasant.

 

[StormyCA]

I'm with the naysayers. I'd rather chew glass than tent camp . But I'd rather chew glass AND rusty nails than tent camp anywhere in high humidity. And that includes FtW, with or without an AC unit.

Bring plenty of dry clothes and extra tshirts unless you want to do laundry every day. High humidity means stinky clothes. High humidity also means that your clothes never get dry if you try to rinse out and line dry anything.

 

[Ds4angels]

As campers, you might know this already. Spray your clothes with Permethrin. I don't know why, but when I don't I always get bug bites around my waist. Maybe because that is the skin farthest away from bug spray.

Also, I've never camped at Disney. But, I'm on the fence about camping for our upcoming trip, so I've researched. One idea is to get a potty tent. The tents are also used as portable changing rooms for photoshoots. We bought one on Amazon for about $20. They are the pop-up kind. Minimal footprint, but you can stand up inside. You put a 5 gallon bucket inside and a toilet seat if you're fancy. Then in the wee hours you don't have to walk all the way to the bathroom. I read about it for Disney, and I used it on our camping trips last winter. It is great and I started a fashion.

Do you carry that bucket to the bathhouse to dump it in the toilet?

 

[Sjm9911]

Do you carry that bucket to the bathhouse to dump it in the toilet?

I think most use bags with that. Not my type of thing. So it goes in the garbage. The bags get filled with sawdust or kitty litter.

 

[shawthorne44]

Do you carry that bucket to the bathhouse to dump it in the toilet?

Well, the bucket has a sturdy trash bag on it. I guess I forgot to mention the kitty litter in the bottom is nice too. When we forgot the kitty litter, we dumped into the toilet.

I can't go back to sleep if I wake up in the middle of the night and my bladder says, "You need to get to a toilet sometime in the next few hours. Doesn't matter if I'm only an hour from when I'll wake up for good. So, I sometimes need to go twice in a night.

 

[ZJ5/9D47]

I tent camp at the Fort during the hottest times of the year because that is when the discounts are. I’m used to hot and humid summers with limited to no A/C so I’ve learned a few tricks to make my WDW trips more pleasant.

The air temps aren’t bad in the late night and early morning. I sleep with my rain fly rolled up and have an app on my watch that alerts me to incoming rain so I can crawl out and quickly deploy the fly if needed. While others are sweltering, I’m enjoying cool breezes that are so cold at times I have to put on a winter hat and sweatshirt (yes, even in early September). I have a clothesline in my tent as well so everything dries overnight. Easy to protect drying clothes from rain during the day.

I don’t bring a sleeping bag. I fly so don't have the space but I anyways prefer an air pad with a cotton fitted top sheet that can soak up any sweat. Cotton pillowcase as well. Nothing special, just old stuff. It dries fine during the day.

Rain is the biggest issue I’ve faced. A site I was assigned flooded almost completely with several inches of water and my crocs started floating away. Fortunately my tent truly is waterproof so everything inside remained dry although I did go to the bathhouse because of the lightning and water creeping so close to the electric box. You’ll want a tent rated for waterproofness or have a plan. A lot of fellow tent campers were gone the next morning and the ones who stuck it out spent a lot of time dealing with soaked sleeping bags and other belongings. I’ve kept all my gear in trash bags since that day as extra precaution when I’m not at my campsite.

The bathhouses have a cold drinking fountain in the laundry room. I fill up my water bottles with ice (there is an ice machine but it costs money and you have to buy a big bag) before leaving the park at night and top off with cold water when brushing my teeth. This lasts me through to when I’m back in the parks the next morning.

There were a few mosquitos. Nothing bug spray couldn’t fix. I put it on removable head and wristbands so I don’t smell in the parks. WDW spends a lot on pest control. They also had a CM come out around two in the morning (I had called then) with ant bait because an ant swarm was moving the colony into my electric box and using my tent as their thoroughfare. Good news was he determined they weren’t biting ants but they itched when climbing on me. I had been dealing with some ants in the days prior so never left food or anything much outside because it would end up with ants on it.

Ear plugs might be a necessity with how loud other guests are and A/C running all night in neighboring sites. Quiet hours aren’t enforced in my experience. CMs also use leaf blowers to clear unoccupied sites of debris each morning so ear plugs if you want to sleep in past 7:30 or so. Might be less of an issue when the loop is more full.

I love tent camping at the Fort but it is very important to be prepared and helpful tobe experienced and have a good attitude.

 

[North of Mouse]

Don't!! No way to start to compare the FL summer heat with extra high humidity, to CA hot with very low humidity!
We won't go in the summer anymore, but from experience we were worn out miserable during the day and desperately needed the AC for rejuvenation at night for sleeping. We're from Louisiana so definitely know the combination heat/humidity - (and no, you do not get 'used' to it - ever). Double AC blasting to keep up with the heat (one unit doesn't cut it) is the only way we'd think of going. The best of luck to you -

 

[OhDannyBoy]

Don't!! No way to start to compare the FL summer heat with extra high humidity, to CA hot with very low humidity!
We won't go in the summer anymore, but from experience we were worn out miserable during the day and desperately needed the AC for rejuvenation at night for sleeping. We're from Louisiana so definitely know the combination heat/humidity - (and no, you do not get 'used' to it - ever). Double AC blasting to keep up with the heat (one unit doesn't cut it) is the only way we'd think of going. The best of luck to you -

^^This.

I've posted numerous times on here you couldn't pay me enough to go to WDW between late May and late September. The closest thing to camping I'd do in those months is stay at a bad hotel.

I live in Florida though so I have that luxury.

 

[leeniewdw]

I've been camping (tents) since I was a baby and I'd love to camp at FW. I, however, would never attempt this. I live in NC now and I still wouldn't camp in the summer unless I was up at elevation in our mountains. Being damp is gross. Being hot and damp is worse.

 

[StormyCA]

Don't!! No way to start to compare the FL summer heat with extra high humidity, to CA hot with very low humidity!
We won't go in the summer anymore, but from experience we were worn out miserable during the day and desperately needed the AC for rejuvenation at night for sleeping. We're from Louisiana so definitely know the combination heat/humidity - (and no, you do not get 'used' to it - ever). Double AC blasting to keep up with the heat (one unit doesn't cut it) is the only way we'd think of going. The best of luck to you -

We're moving our next (trailer camping) trip to Jan-Mar because of the heat we experienced this past early May. It was just miserable in the parks and it wasn't even high summer! Our first two trips around the same time of the year (late Apr-early May) were pretty good weather-wise.

I don't know if it's climate change or just me getting older. But I'd rather deal with cold weather than hot weather. You can always bundle up, but you can only take off so much!!

 

[FortWildernessLoopy]

Well, I can speak with practical expertise on this one as we are tent campers and stay frequently at the Fort. Our tent has 2 a/c ports (see my avatar) but we really just need the one. Try to check in very early, like before 10 if there is a site available. Wear your grimiest clothes for set up then head over to the comfort station and take a nice, cold shower. Let your a/c do it's thing while you go to the pool, trading post, resort hop, whatever. We always have our air bed as opposed to sleeping bags and having the air under you can keep you cooler as well, but frankly, I usually get chilly when we sleep. I know it sounds nuts, but trust me on this one, that window a/c unit can really cool it down in there, especially if you have a fan.

Also, my bladder is the size of a hummingbird so we bring a camp toilet for nighttime tinkle attacks, lol. Nothing worse than basically having to get dressed to walk over to the comfort station in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning. Besides which, no way my bladder would make it.

We keep a lot of things in the car like our pillows, linens and clothes for when we will be out for the day just in case the tent leaks during an afternoon thunderstorm.

As far as non-practical advice, bring decorations and lights for your campsite. Fort campers tend to like to personalize their sites and we all love to see what people come up with.

FYI, we just went last week and we're booked again for early September.

 

[Blondie58]

I would watch deals and stay at Pop for not much more than you pay for a tent spot since it will be HOT!!

 

[castways]

We tent camped in August one year and even with fans in the tent, it was brutal at night. By the fourth day, we were ready to go home because we never recuperated during the night to be 100% the next day. But many others were tent camping so I guess some can handle it better than others.