TR | Tent Camping (21 days)

[twins4disney]

Love your set up! I have been eagerly awaiting your pictures! I'm in awe of your planning, packing and organization!

 

[snowmedic]

Great TR, Your set up looks really nice. My DW told me to save your pics, that's how she wants our set up to look like next time. Glad you where able to get 1500 like you wanted. Sorry to hear about your accident, hope you get better soon. Can't wait to read more. I have a friend from work that went down around the same time you where there, so I am trying to find them in your pics, I think that would be neat to take a picture of him to work and show him.

 

[ilovedisneymm]

Thanks to all who have replied so far It is nice to read comments as these reports sure do take the time. Makes me really appreciate all those I have read in the past and I sure hope my report so far has helped those planning a future trip.

 

[ilovedisneymm]

Great TR, Your set up looks really nice. My DW told me to save your pics, that's how she wants our set up to look like next time. Glad you where able to get 1500 like you wanted. Sorry to hear about your accident, hope you get better soon. Can't wait to read more. I have a friend from work that went down around the same time you where there, so I am trying to find them in your pics, I think that would be neat to take a picture of him to work and show him.

Hey great! Any questions, just ask. I went looping in the 2000 loop and there was a pack of Boy Scouts that first weekend we were there (MLK weekend) and we had to stop the cart several times cause they were running around like crazy playing lazer tag. What fun they were having but no way I would want to be next to them. Same thing for the following two weekends, it was like a mix between Poltergeist and Twister.

 

[bama_ed]

MM,

I too am glad you got 1500 loop.

My goodness, just one of your tents looks bigger than my old college apartment.

That is a beautiful picture of the kids on Main Street - it's like they have it all to themselves.

Following along....

Bama Ed

 

[ilovedisneymm]

MM,

I too am glad you got 1500 loop.

My goodness, just one of your tents looks bigger than my old college apartment.

That is a beautiful picture of the kids on Main Street - it's like they have it all to themselves.

Following along....

Bama Ed

Well we did have more room in those tents than in our RV with our last trip. A great deal more work with a tent though.

 

[North of Mouse]

Your kiddies look so happy in all those pictures. Glad y'all had a great trip and safe journey home. Thanks for the detailed TR - am enjoying it!

 

[princessbelle2015]

Joining in. I followed you over from the TR boards. What a beautiful family you have.

 

[JETS70]

Excellent trip report and looking forward to future installments. Your kids pics are wonderful. It is amazing the effect Disney has on kids both young and old. Thanks for sharing!!

 

[Disneypeach]

"it was like a mix between Poltergeist and Twister"

Tag Fairy, calling the Tag Fairy...youhoo...

 

[Teamubr]

Adorable family, Melissa. And I can see why you're a professional photog. Great pics and fun TR.

j

 

[ilovedisneymm]

Day 5 | Monday (MLK)

So we were planning on having a Fort day but with so many of our neighbors packing up and heading home we decided to go to Animal Kingdom. Now we had planned to skip this park and ended up spending a total of two full days there.

We had never been on the rapids ride or the train or the north side of the park for that matter and had been twice in the past two years. Not sure how we missed that area but we did.

Living out of tent creates a great deal of work and by 8pm we are exhausted and then up at 6am ready to go (which is a good thing for rope drops and touring).

So since we had no FP set up I had to schedule some via the ipad (what a time drain on my life that I will never get back, I bleeping hate FP and I mean $%*(#&$*(# #&$*(#&$ #*$&#(&7, that's right! What? You wanna me to tell you how I really feel about FP+ well ok then $(#&$*#(&$*(#&$*(#^*&^!&*#$!#*$&(!#_&$*(#&$(*#&$*(#&$*(#^%&*#&_#$!(*#(*$&%*(#@^%&*#@&$%*)#*$%)(#!

I'm going to try real hard to keep my feeling towards FP out of my trip report because we had a great trip and I want to focus on the positive side of the trip and not FP+ or crowds. But I will say a few things about it and the crowds and CMs this year...

The ap is crap! It is clunky and it doesn't work well. It didn't last year and it didn't this year. No matter if I was on my ipad at the site, or on my old iphone or my hubby's newer iphone, it stinks. You can go through the mobile website instead of the ap and it stinks slightly less. I don't like to waist time messing with FP at all, EVER!

We have come every January for the past three years now and never waited in line more than 15 minutes for anything. We tour smart and we tour early and or late. We know what to ride when and what to avoid. We got this! Well, this year the parks were doubled with crowds from last year. Why? Frozen, people have more money than in prior years with the economy being better, fuel prices are down, they are bringing in more foreign tour groups than ever before, the new Mine Train is finally finished, D is advertising this new FP+ out the wazoo, you name it, I think all of the above are bringing in more people and everyone now knows about the FP+. Every ride, Small World, Jungle Cruise, Buzz, you name it, it was busy! In the end of January what was suppose to be 1-4 with the exception of the MLK weekend was so not the case. We hit every park at rope drop for every ticket day, did our thing and got the heck out of there by 1 ish (almost every day). I don't wait in lines and I don't like to be around a lot of people. Funny huh? And I go to Disney and don't like lines and people? Well the past two years done me and my family pretty well I would say.

As for CMs, they use to say hello princess, hi prince, have a magical day, hello, have a great trip, you know nice magical things....Well now with this FP+ they are too busy saying scan your bands, both sides, scan your bands, both sides, scan your bands, SCAN YOUR BANDS PEOPLE! For the love of GOD, please scan your bands!

Got a little crazy there for a minute, sorry about that. I will try to stay focused on the positive here. Cause really, looking back at all the photos from our trip, I don't see any drama or FP issues or people issues, I see happy smiley children that will talk about the great times they had on this trip for the remaining of the year and so on.

So we went to AK and set up fast passes for Everest and something else, it doesn't even matter really.

We did Safari first off and I will say that riding in the middle is the best spot to ride in. We had front row a couple years ago and the guide is a little too close and distracting. We had the last row last year and you get bounced around pretty good. I would say the middle is just right

After the Safari we were starving and looking for something to eat. We went past Tuskers and the smells coming out of that restaurant were amazing. We stopped in and they had availability (YES!!!!) so we ate one fantastic unscheduled character breakfast. Plate after plate and it was really good! The kids got to join in the parade and meet Mickey, Donald, Daisy & Goofy!

The characters come down one side of the tables and one side only so you get this lovely family chowing down on their meal as a background. Is this your coworker Snow Medic?



Little Daniel wears the same John Deere t-shirt almost daily. He has two identical ones and rotates them. He wears them cause he is a farmer and that is his "work shirts" so he says. This trip he did let me dress him in something other than the John Deere t-shirt a few times. I tried to dress them a like as much as possible cause they try to run away often and I like to be able to spot them quickly, matching clothes help!

So we got some spontaneity going on in this trip and having a real good time.

So we stumble on the Wilderness Explorer's book a little later. Grace picked a book up last year and collected a few badges and had fun with it but this year she got a little OCD with it. So the next couple hours were collecting badges along the way to the rapids ride (FP, I remember now) and then the rail road and over to Everest (FP) and then Dinosaur (FP). The kids both were tall enough to ride Everest and also willingly too! So my 4 yr old & 6 yr old rode Everest and then wanted to ride it again We were all pretty tired after that but Grace had not yet collected all her badges. She had a serious melt down over the missing badges and we left with a very sad little girl.

Once back we took the golf cart down and had a nice sit down TE dinner. The chicken is wonderful! I don't know how they do it but it tastes juicy and sweet and it is just perfection

The next morning was a Fort day. HORRAY! A FORT DAY!!!!

Except, I woke up to this. Grace obsessing about her missing badges and how sad she was that she didn't finish her book. " I want to be a Senior Wilderness Explorer, Mom!" "You're my Girl Scout troop leader and know how important these badges are, Mom!" "I'm six years old and I got this, why don't you love me?"



Oh dear God, this is the moment where I know AK is now going to be a two day park. But not today, today is a going to be a FORT DAY!

And yes that is a banana on her pillow and yes she wears boy pajamas, don't judge me!

 

[ruthies12]

Greatly enjoying the trip report!

 

[ilovedisneymm]

Day 6 | Tuesday

A FORT DAY, A FORT DAY, WERE GOING TO HAVE A FORT DAY - HORRAY!

Don't worry, I have appeased the Grace. I get that she has a goal in mind and wanted to finish it out. What kind of mom would I be if I said "oh don't worry about it, it's just stickers". So like the good momma I am, I told her that if completing her Wilderness Explorer book meant that much to her, we would go back to AK in just a few days and support her with her goal. Isn't that what family is for really? Supporting each other and helping each other reach our life goals? So we are now back to two happy kids!

So we slept in until 6:10 (yes) a little later this morning Tent camping is work! No doubt about it. I knew we would have to allow more time in each day to keep up on things. Making four beds in a tent is no easy process but it must be done. Or I should say, I need it done. When the beds are made and the two twin beds are double stacked it makes it easy to walk around and for the kids to snack, watch a little tv and play with their toys. The kids were so happy to lay around the tent. Grace picked up a few princess dolls from MK and Daniel some pirate toys. Do you want to know how many loads of laundry a family of four accumulates in week (about 8 loads).

So here is how I do dishes and tips for those future tent campers.

Three plastic tubs, the Boy Scout method! There is a hose at each campsite but I'm a little OCD (you now know where the Grace gets it from, don't you?). I brought my own water hose, they are white and any large hardware chain store sells them as RV safe water hose. They sell them as a "safe to drink from" hose. Now when I was a kid I drank from the dirty old garden hose all the time. I'm not buying that this special hose is safer to drink from than the generic green hose, I'm buying and bringing my own hose cause I don't know where that campsite hose end has been.

So back to three plastic tubs (walmart sells them for about $2 each).

I take the dishes and a damp paper towel and wipe them off as much as possible. The first tub is a mix of soap and hot water. The second is a rinse tub. The third is the boiling water tub to sanitize. Tongs are really helpful here!!!



The question is not why, but how could you not make mud pies after dishes?



The kids love to load the quarters into the laundry machine at the comfort station and everyone comes and helps fold the laundry once it is done. The kids fold the towels and socks and big Daniel handles the pants and hangs shirts, I do the rest. It is amazing how much laundry you can get done when everyone pitches in.

Now lets go to the Meadows and get some pictures!

 

[ilovedisneymm]

The Meadows...



I want it all! But I'll settle on the cute little Fort Mickey Xmas ornament for $19 and the sheet magnets. I have the bumper sticker, large circle magnet and metal keychain from last year. This year they have a new keychain but its plastic and I don't care for it as much. I really like the new coffee cups too but passed. I purchased two chip in dale red cups last year and ran them through the dish washer by mistake and it removed the decal I knew if I got more I would just end up doing the same.





Better bring your own mix.



Cute kitchen stuff.



This lady had a feeder and about 10 wild turkeys at her site.



So we looped, had lunch back at the site, went swimming, TE to go for dinner (this is the third time we have had TE to go and it has been wrong 2 of the 3 times and they no longer warm the apple cobbler - you have to ask now) and went to bed early again. At this point we have only seen the fireworks that first night and it was a bit overcast so not a very good showing and still have yet to make it to the water parade. Someday we will see it live in person, but for now we settle on listening to it from our cozy warm tent.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

At this time we have reservations to tent camp at the end of December this year and I am coveting your living arrangements!!! Can I borrow you???

Actually, we are not planning to "camp" as much as you...I don't want to cook. We will be most likely be on a dining plan but you have one awesome set up and are so organized!

My biggest fear is the weather at night but you seem to have made me relax a bit. I know January this past year was colder than December generally and you guys seem to have fared well. I am planning electric blankets and space heaters.

I love reading a trip report that sounds a lot like the trip I am planning...you don't see much about tent camping...

 

[Teamubr]

And yes that is a banana on her pillow and yes she wears boy pajamas, don't judge me!

Your whole TR is hysterical, but this one made me spit coffee. My staff thought I was dying.

And I see you are a fan of the new FP+. Curious though, was it the last minute, having to use the app that was the issue or the whole system? In concept, it seems like it should be great. I know others on here have said it was pretty good, but I think many of them did their planning and selection before arrival and only used the app to maker a change here or there.

The 3 dish pans were a flashback to Boy Scout days and Grace's sticker book was very reminiscent of my DS losing his autograph book at DHS when he was about the same age. Some how (a lot of Pixie dust, I think) someone turned it in to Lost and Found and I remembered enough of the specifics to make it identifiable from the other 10,000 lost autograph books. We had it back the next morning. Also after much drama and tears.

Keep up the TR. It makes my day.

j

 

[parrothead64]

My youngest wears boy pajamas too, because we couldn't find any with Mike and Sulley that were girls.

 

[ilovedisneymm]

Day 7 | Wednesday

Epcot Day!

We were able to change our FP for MK to Epcot and made rope drop!

FP selected for Soarin, Space Ship Earth and Meet n Greet Mickey & Pals.

We did Soarin first off with no wait and then over the Test Track and no wait too, yes! We then go over to Mission Space as we have never done that before and it was something new Our kids are tough, I mean cool cats! They have road Everest what could be more intense than that right? So we choose the orange mission cause we are all cool like that and can handle it. You can choose orange for more intense or green (i think its green) for less intense.

We did the orange mission and I almost died. I'm not sure how I did not vomit. Never ever again in my life will I do that ride. I wasn't quite right after that ride for a good hour or so. I'm getting old...The kids loved it!

Over to a nice relaxing Nemo ride (no wait) then Turtle Talk with Crush (no wait) then over to the Coral Reef. After that we used our FP for Soarin & Space Ship Earth (didn't need it for Earth). Then meet n greet with Mickey and Pals.

Another thing I loathe about Disney is their photo pass. I mean they cram it down your throat practically. Listen big D! I did your photo pass my first year and your photogs need some training. Yes, you can give someone a fancy pants camera but unless they understand how to use that camera and use it in manual then you might as well just give that camera to a monkey! White Balance, ISO, shutter speed, aperture are foreign concepts to these "professional photographers" their photos are one step above my crappy iphone 4. So please, just let me take my iphone photo and please just step out of the way. I can't stand that they stand right in the middle and don't move. The princess photogs are HORRIFIC at moving. But I'm not leaving this character until that photog moves!!! I ask and most the time they do move. Sometimes I have to ask again (nicely) and by the third time, I'm moving them Just let me get the darn photo PHOTOG PEOPLE!!!! Most the times, I just get the photo with the kids in it and only a few I wanted all of us in it, like Mickey Mouse. I handed my phone to the girl (asking nicely to please take our photo) who raised up the phone and moved when she took it and didnt even hold the LCD screen up to her face to see what she was taking a picture of. Then when I looked at the photo I asked to step back in and have her please take another photo and try not to move so it wouldn't blur, she didn't care and did the same thing again. So this time we are stepping back in to get a third photo with Mickey and our family and this time I handed my phone to a stranger behind me. He happily took our photo and you know what? It came out just fine. WHY oh WHY do the character handlers have to be an as$ about this? I mean D gets enough of my money in my resort stay/tickets/food/trinkets and what not! Come on now, I just want to take my photos and not be hassled and squeezed for another $200 in a photo pass. Now there are exceptions here, I did find a very nice BBB photographer and a very nice Tinker Bell photographer but for the most part I am very disappointed in their behavior.

Went and walked the World Showcase and snacked our way through it. Another new thing for us was the boat ride in Mexico, so cute!!! It is really nice and relaxing to walk around World Showcase at dusk! We also watched the fireworks for the first time in Epoct! We watched these starting from the center of World Showcase and walked at a brisk speed as they were going off to the front of the park. A large mass of people at dusk all headed to one central place scares me. I have two small children and people are not very smart and rude these days. So I wanted to be at the entrance to Epcot when they finished and get on that first bus and be safe about it. We did and that was that for our Epoct day!!!

 

[ilovedisneymm]

Well thanks! I'm glad my report is helpful!

Get a good tent - that will keep you dry when the rain comes in and it will come in!

The weather is warmer in December than January, but if I recall there was more rain in Dec than Jan this year & there was a week in December that was pretty darn cool.

Electric blankets and space heaters are a must in my book! It got down to low 40s a few nights and I was really worried but with the combo we had no one ever woke up cold

At this time we have reservations to tent camp at the end of December this year and I am coveting your living arrangements!!! Can I borrow you???

Actually, we are not planning to "camp" as much as you...I don't want to cook. We will be most likely be on a dining plan but you have one awesome set up and are so organized!

My biggest fear is the weather at night but you seem to have made me relax a bit. I know January this past year was colder than December generally and you guys seem to have fared well. I am planning electric blankets and space heaters.

I love reading a trip report that sounds a lot like the trip I am planning...you don't see much about tent camping...