Tent camping with a car and going to MK

[shawthorne44]

Assume you are tent camping (so not centrally located), have a car and want to go to MK and be one of the first ones in. Is it better to drive the car and deal with the TTC, etc.? Or, is it better to deal with the internal bus, then boat, etc.?

For everywhere but MK we will be taking our car. A golf cart isn't an option.

 

[Teamubr]

MK is the one park we always take Disney transportation. Almost always the boat. Parking at the TTC and then taking the ferry/monorail is a pain, both coming and going.

j

 

[shawthorne44]

MK is the one park we always take Disney transportation. Almost always the boat. Parking at the TTC and then taking the ferry/monorail is a pain, both coming and going.

j

Is that while camping? The internal bus sounds like a drag.

 

[FtW Mike]

Bus to Boat is best route for MK

 

[Sjm9911]

From the fort to MK the boat is the way to go. Or was before covid. If you park at mk , you still need to get to the gates right?

 

[Teamubr]

Is that while camping? The internal bus sounds like a drag.

Yes, while staying at the Fort. The internal buses aren't bad. Depending on what loop you end up in, the Settlement and marina may not be very far. When we stayed in Preferred loops, 100 and 200 were a quick walk to the boat dock. 400 and 700 are also close.

j

 

[team bradfield]

we walk from 700 if going to MK, marina is usually pretty full of GC's by the time we wander over

 

[tinkerjo]

Tent camping in loops 2000 or 1500 I would take the internal bus to the boat to go over to MK. Only downfall is you will not get there super early. First boat doesn’t run quite as early as we would like it to but it’s to much of a pain to drive to TTC and ferry over. We drive to all the other parks to rope drop. The buses are fine, we just prefer to drive. If not rope dropping we take the buses

 

[himandher818]

For MK internal bus to marina, and from there the boat. They may still be running the bus from the marina to MK. If they are and the boat line is long, take the bus to MK.

 

[Chicachick]

Can also bike to marina. Not a bad run from the tent loop.

 

[shawthorne44]

The bikes were expensive too. We are driving, so bringing bikes isn't an option.

 

[rideswithchrist]

It is also only really a 10-15 minute walk to the doc from the 2000 loop, and probably the same from the 1500 loop too as they are about halfway between the front and back of the fort. (Tent camping IS centrally located)
We never walked, just took internal busses (with 4 kids) and still made RD for all but Animal Kingdom.

Most of us are driving (towing campers and such) would you be able to use a bike rack? We have 6 bikes so it is a bit of a hassle, thus the bus use! You could also just rent the cart for your MK day (if the $60 is worth that to you).

 

[shawthorne44]

It is also only really a 10-15 minute walk to the doc from the 2000 loop, and probably the same from the 1500 loop too as they are about halfway between the front and back of the fort. (Tent camping IS centrally located)
We never walked, just took internal busses (with 4 kids) and still made RD for all but Animal Kingdom.

Most of us are driving (towing campers and such) would you be able to use a bike rack? We have 6 bikes so it is a bit of a hassle, thus the bus use! You could also just rent the cart for your MK day (if the $60 is worth that to you).

It is also only really a 10-15 minute walk to the doc from the 2000 loop, and probably the same from the 1500 loop too as they are about halfway between the front and back of the fort. (Tent camping IS centrally located)
We never walked, just took internal busses (with 4 kids) and still made RD for all but Animal Kingdom.

Most of us are driving (towing campers and such) would you be able to use a bike rack? We have 6 bikes so it is a bit of a hassle, thus the bus use! You could also just rent the cart for your MK day (if the $60 is worth that to you).

Well, the tent equipment actually takes up a lot of room. The Tent, the many pads and blankets to put on the floor, the potty tent, the 5-gallon bucket for a potty, the camp chairs, .... When we leave to go camping, we used to place everything on the driveway behind the car. Then DH would fit stuff in like a 3D puzzle. Then we bought one of those luggage-hitch things. It is a platform for luggage that attaches to the hitch. But, that leaves no room for bikes.

There is a small chance that we might be able to get a small travel trailer for really cheap by that time. We bought the house next to us as a rental house. (And so that we could make sure we had good neighbors) The owner's daughter left a small travel trailer in the back and it is still there years later. I've told her a couple of times that she really really needs to move it someplace else. Before the lockdown on my to-do list was to contact her and ask for the title in exchange for a small bit of money. But, then the prices of those went through the roof. So, now I am waiting until all those that bought their first travel trailer for the lockdown decide that they prefer hotels, and prices drop. Note, in my state I can't just claim it. The state will take it away and auction it off.

 

[tinkerjo]

the potty tent, the 5-gallon bucket for a potty,

You really don’t need this. The comfort stations are awesome and not that long of a walk no matter where your site is. I feel the fort is more a flaming experience, even in a tent. We never took bikes and only rented a golf cart for 1 day and did just fine. The kids walked the short cut from 2000 loop to the pool and between internal buses, boats and our own car. Honestly, you can stay all week and never use your car and be absolutely fine

 

[shawthorne44]

You really don’t need this. The comfort stations are awesome and not that long of a walk no matter where your site is. I feel the fort is more a flaming experience, even in a tent. We never took bikes and only rented a golf cart for 1 day and did just fine. The kids walked the short cut from 2000 loop to the pool and between internal buses, boats and our own car. Honestly, you can stay all week and never use your car and be absolutely fine

It is for me. We camp regularly at places with really nice comfort stations. But, I wake up once or twice a night to pee. I just don't want to walk that far, and if I do, I come back wide awake. It had actually been while researching Disney camping that I first heard of the concept of potty tent. We used one since and I love it. In fact, on our second trip with it, someone else in our group had got one. The tent itself is one of those tall skinny ones sometimes used as photoshoot changing rooms. It pops up and folds down like windshield sunscreens.

 

[tinkerjo]

Gotcha!! We were lucky to be directly across the street from the comfort station. DH uses the bucket potty on hunting trips. Just not sure I would want to deal with it in the morning.

 

[Bjkandma]

Well, the tent equipment actually takes up a lot of room. The Tent, the many pads and blankets to put on the floor, the potty tent, the 5-gallon bucket for a potty, the camp chairs, .... When we leave to go camping, we used to place everything on the driveway behind the car. Then DH would fit stuff in like a 3D puzzle. Then we bought one of those luggage-hitch things. It is a platform for luggage that attaches to the hitch. But, that leaves no room for bikes.

There is a small chance that we might be able to get a small travel trailer for really cheap by that time. We bought the house next to us as a rental house. (And so that we could make sure we had good neighbors) The owner's daughter left a small travel trailer in the back and it is still there years later. I've told her a couple of times that she really really needs to move it someplace else. Before the lockdown on my to-do list was to contact her and ask for the title in exchange for a small bit of money. But, then the prices of those went through the roof. So, now I am waiting until all those that bought their first travel trailer for the lockdown decide that they prefer hotels, and prices drop. Note, in my state I can't just claim it. The state will take it away and auction it off.

I would contact the owner's daughter and ask her to sign over the title for "x" price. She may think it has already been moved (taken care of).

 

[shawthorne44]

I would contact the owner's daughter and ask her to sign over the title for "x" price. She may think it has already been moved (taken care of).

That is the plan. I want to wait until she can't sell it to someone else at an inflated price. The market went bonkers on RV's and trailers.
Also, thinking about this, I'm not sure I'd want our first use to be for Disney. If we took a travel trailer that would mean driving for 18 hours in a pickup with a bench seat. Or not taking the trailer and driving the touring Cadillac.

 

[rideswithchrist]

You might also think of renting a popup through Outdoorsy! Then you can stay on your same site and have a potty! (And yep, I understand the night time breaks, that is why we ended up with a camper haha). And there are also people that set up for you if you decide you don't want to tow/pick up. (BUT your price would probably increase about the same as renting a golf cart from one of the off-site vendors...ours is just at $300 for a whole week. )

We only have room for bikes now if we stuff them in the camper- but we don't want to bike ride back at night either. The internal busses were fun for us (But I assume we will drive to HS for some of the rides and to come back mid-day).


Keep in mind- there is no dump station, so if you are doing a wet camping loo, you have to dump in an empty site...if you are using the kitty litter version, you know what to do there
One thing about taking the TT- that means 18 hours hauling your own toilet so you don't have to stop at so many stores- but when you do (for gas) you have your OWN clean space. Plus ours keeps the fridge on, so we also have cold food on the go... (trying to be positive haha, the caddy sounds like a much more comfortable trip! )

And yes, if that camper has been sitting for a few years, you would need to camp in it first to make sure it is all in working order, it likely at least needs tires.

 

[shawthorne44]

That is an interesting idea. A camper for $300/wk? I'd looked into RV's and they were super-expensive.

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I think I'm running into the same cost escalation with buying RV's. Literally the cheapest camper with a toilet is $1251 for two weeks. Then you tack on the tent site cost and it is more expensive than a large house with pool.

One problem with us is that I want to do this as cheaply as possible, but there is only three of us. I also don't want to stay in hotel room in which "Motel-6" comparisons often come up in reviews. I don't really care about the whole 'staying in the bubble' idea. But, then by Jan 2022 there might be some worthwhile benefits to staying onsite.