MomTo3PrincessesInNJ
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2012
- Messages
- 1,191
Our trip was only 5 days total, with 3 of them being at the Fort. The sole purpose of this trip was to try out our new RV.
BACKGROUND: This was our first time camping in our new-to-us motorhome. We have a Coachmen Pathfinder (Class C). It’s older (2006 I think?). We’re the second owners. We purchased it on a whim – went in looking to buy a pop-up and walked away with a home on wheels! This trip was a learning experience to say the least. Most importantly we learned not to buy a motorhome if you can’t make sure everything works first. We purchased in December and it was winterized, so we couldn’t turn on the water. The first time we used the shower we noticed water leaking out from underneath all over the floor. We have no idea how big of an expense/ hassle it’s going to be to fix it, but we’re going to have to do it ASAP. We noticed the floor is already “soft” around the shower, so I assume it was a problem for the previous owners, too. It put a little bit of a damper on our trip, but I didn’t let it ruin it for us!
We started our journey on Friday, April 3rd at 4am. We left our house, went to the gas station, filled her up, and headed south! Our first stop was Lakewood RV Resort in Myrtle Beach, SC. It was pretty much halfway from NJ to Disney and it offered beach front camping. It ended up taking us a little over 9 hours to get there (we stopped at a Walmart to fill up on supplies about 30 mins outside of Myrtle Beach and that trip took about 45 minutes).
Are we there yet???
We got a great site – right by the beach and the indoor pool. It took H about 5 minutes to set everything up (water, sewer, electric) and then we grilled our dinner. After that we took the dog and the girls to the beach to run around. The dog has never seen the ocean and she had so much fun! Side note: We were really worried about how our pup would do on this trip. Turns out she’s a GREAT camping dog! It took about 10 minutes for her to “get” that she can’t bark and people and dogs just walking by (we brought a squirt bottle with water and shot it at her when we started acting up). She even managed to relax a little. She started out pacing all over and constantly being “on guard” so I was glad she was able to calm down and get some rest. At night all 3 girls slept in the bed over the cab and the dog got the couch --- we NEVER let her on our couches at home, but on vacation we’ll make an exception!
Here's the view from our site in Myrtle Beach:
Camping pup:
Everyone loved the ocean:
We got up early on Saturday morning to head to the Fort. We departed Myrtle Beach around 5 am. We stopped once about 7 hours in so I could make lunch and let the dog walk around outside. We didn’t get to the Fort until 4:30p, which was 2 hours later than we planned to. There was a lot of traffic on our way into Orlando. We were in the 200 loop and had a nice site. Lots of room behind us for the dog to walk around. Again, we were set up in a few minutes and everyone was hungry, so we headed over to the Contemporary to use our QS credits on dinner. Side note: We got the dining plan because we knew we were doing Easter Brunch @ Chef Mickey’s and dinner @ Cape May is my husband’s ONLY request when we go to Disney, so once we added those prices together (increased for the Holiday) we were only paying $38 for 10 QS meals, 5 snacks and 5 mugs. I did learn that the dining plan at the Fort is a huge pain in the butt. I was used to having a food court at other resorts. But, now we know for next time! Plus, I really enjoyed cooking our own food. (Time for a camping dog update: we purchased a “travel kennel” to use when we left Raven alone in the RV. She is used to being crated at home (she's only 14 months old and still a puppy). The travel crate was made of canvas. Dinner was our first trip out of the RV without her and she clawed her way out of the kennel. When we came back from dinner she was sound asleep on the couch. She didn’t touch anything in the RV… I guess she just didn’t want to be locked up, lol.)
Site:
After dinner we checked on the dog, who was fine (minus the kennel incident) and went to MK to activate our Annual Passes for a few rides we had reserved with FP+. Our wait in line at Guest Services was almost an hour and we missed a FP. When we got to the window the girls were crabby and so was hubby, but the cast member was great. She talked to the girls all about our trip in the RV and asked about our dog. While she was setting up our Magic Bands with the passes H was saying how thirsty he was and I told him to use a snack credit for a bottle of water when we go inside (we always end up with extra snacks!). When the CM was done with our bands she handed them back, told us she added on a FP for the one we missed, and gave us a "No Strings Attached" certificate for 5 free bottles of water – she said we shouldn’t waste our snack credits on water! She was really great. That was the first time we ever got some Disney Pixie Dust and it couldn’t have been at a better time!
We rode a few rides and headed back to the Fort around midnight. The boat service was GREAT – so much better than a bus!!! Even though we were close to the docks in the 200 loop I was still wishing we had a golf cart at the end of the night (though I could never make myself pay $60/day for it!).
On Easter morning the girls woke up to see the Easter Bunny DID find us in Disney
We went to the Candy Scramble where they each got TONS of candy (I will say I was a little disappointed in the 4 & under groups candy. It was mostly hard candy that the little ones can’t have. The Wilderness Explorer badge design was really cute though). After the Scramble we checked on Raven again (who decided to up post on the passenger side front seat watching the goings on at the Fort) and went to Chef Mickey’s for brunch. We got to the Contemporary early so we let the girls do some of the Easter activities there (cookie decoration, balloon popping contest with prizes, coloring eggs and sticker scenes). The Easter Bunny was there when we arrived, but the line was already cut off. Chip and Dale were next, but my girls weren’t interested in meeting them. Brunch was pretty good and we all took a nap when we got back to the Fort.
Candy Scramble
We left the afternoon open so we could explore the Fort. We took Raven to the dog park but were only able to stay a few minutes. She’s not social so she could only go in as long as she was alone. We brought a fishing pole and went fishing next to the park. H caught a pretty big fish there and the girls enjoyed the playground. We went back to hang around the RV and get cleaned up before dinner at Cape May Café.
I have a cousin who is in Disney for the college program and we invited her to join us for dinner. She met us at the Beach Club an hour before dinner and we caught up (we saw her in November when we were in Disney). Dinner was delish – H said the crab legs were much better than last time. The girls were bummed that Cape May no longer has paper table cloths – they really loved drawing on them (and it kept them busy while H ate his weight in seafood). After dinner we went back to MK for some FP+ rides. We were walking out right as the castle clock struck midnight!
Monday was our day to start the long ride home. We packed up and drove to the Wilderness Lodge to use our last QS credits on breakfast. The kids got chocolate chip waffles and I got the bananas fosters waffles – they were AMAZING!!! I used all 10 of our snack credits on brownies, magic bars and Mickey Crispy treats. It worked out well as we had plenty of snacks for the ride home.
We stopped in Myrtle Beach again for the dog and kids to play on the beach. We got up around 4:30a to start the drive back to NJ yesterday. It took us 11 LONG hours to get home. We didn’t hit any stand still traffic, but there was a lot of volume and we had to stop twice for the dog and kids.
I wish I didn’t have to come back to work today, I could certainly use day to recover – H, too, since he did ALL of the driving. We actually leave for an adult only mini-vacation to Jamaica next weekend for our 8th wedding anniversary, so we’re powering through the next few days until we can RELAX!
Overall I think our first camping trip was a GREAT success! We decided that our next trip to the Fort will be much more FORT focused, so I’m really looking forward to that.
The one thing that we were NOT pleased with were some dog owners --- I saw a lot of dogs off leash outside the dog park. Now, at home, our dog is never on a leash. We live on a farm with no neighbors. But, I would never consider leaving her off-leash in public. I was constantly on guard while we were walking her around because I was worried about what she would do if an off-leash dog approached her. Rules are in place for a reason, I just wish everyone followed them.
BACKGROUND: This was our first time camping in our new-to-us motorhome. We have a Coachmen Pathfinder (Class C). It’s older (2006 I think?). We’re the second owners. We purchased it on a whim – went in looking to buy a pop-up and walked away with a home on wheels! This trip was a learning experience to say the least. Most importantly we learned not to buy a motorhome if you can’t make sure everything works first. We purchased in December and it was winterized, so we couldn’t turn on the water. The first time we used the shower we noticed water leaking out from underneath all over the floor. We have no idea how big of an expense/ hassle it’s going to be to fix it, but we’re going to have to do it ASAP. We noticed the floor is already “soft” around the shower, so I assume it was a problem for the previous owners, too. It put a little bit of a damper on our trip, but I didn’t let it ruin it for us!
We started our journey on Friday, April 3rd at 4am. We left our house, went to the gas station, filled her up, and headed south! Our first stop was Lakewood RV Resort in Myrtle Beach, SC. It was pretty much halfway from NJ to Disney and it offered beach front camping. It ended up taking us a little over 9 hours to get there (we stopped at a Walmart to fill up on supplies about 30 mins outside of Myrtle Beach and that trip took about 45 minutes).
Are we there yet???
We got a great site – right by the beach and the indoor pool. It took H about 5 minutes to set everything up (water, sewer, electric) and then we grilled our dinner. After that we took the dog and the girls to the beach to run around. The dog has never seen the ocean and she had so much fun! Side note: We were really worried about how our pup would do on this trip. Turns out she’s a GREAT camping dog! It took about 10 minutes for her to “get” that she can’t bark and people and dogs just walking by (we brought a squirt bottle with water and shot it at her when we started acting up). She even managed to relax a little. She started out pacing all over and constantly being “on guard” so I was glad she was able to calm down and get some rest. At night all 3 girls slept in the bed over the cab and the dog got the couch --- we NEVER let her on our couches at home, but on vacation we’ll make an exception!
Here's the view from our site in Myrtle Beach:
Camping pup:
Everyone loved the ocean:
We got up early on Saturday morning to head to the Fort. We departed Myrtle Beach around 5 am. We stopped once about 7 hours in so I could make lunch and let the dog walk around outside. We didn’t get to the Fort until 4:30p, which was 2 hours later than we planned to. There was a lot of traffic on our way into Orlando. We were in the 200 loop and had a nice site. Lots of room behind us for the dog to walk around. Again, we were set up in a few minutes and everyone was hungry, so we headed over to the Contemporary to use our QS credits on dinner. Side note: We got the dining plan because we knew we were doing Easter Brunch @ Chef Mickey’s and dinner @ Cape May is my husband’s ONLY request when we go to Disney, so once we added those prices together (increased for the Holiday) we were only paying $38 for 10 QS meals, 5 snacks and 5 mugs. I did learn that the dining plan at the Fort is a huge pain in the butt. I was used to having a food court at other resorts. But, now we know for next time! Plus, I really enjoyed cooking our own food. (Time for a camping dog update: we purchased a “travel kennel” to use when we left Raven alone in the RV. She is used to being crated at home (she's only 14 months old and still a puppy). The travel crate was made of canvas. Dinner was our first trip out of the RV without her and she clawed her way out of the kennel. When we came back from dinner she was sound asleep on the couch. She didn’t touch anything in the RV… I guess she just didn’t want to be locked up, lol.)
Site:
After dinner we checked on the dog, who was fine (minus the kennel incident) and went to MK to activate our Annual Passes for a few rides we had reserved with FP+. Our wait in line at Guest Services was almost an hour and we missed a FP. When we got to the window the girls were crabby and so was hubby, but the cast member was great. She talked to the girls all about our trip in the RV and asked about our dog. While she was setting up our Magic Bands with the passes H was saying how thirsty he was and I told him to use a snack credit for a bottle of water when we go inside (we always end up with extra snacks!). When the CM was done with our bands she handed them back, told us she added on a FP for the one we missed, and gave us a "No Strings Attached" certificate for 5 free bottles of water – she said we shouldn’t waste our snack credits on water! She was really great. That was the first time we ever got some Disney Pixie Dust and it couldn’t have been at a better time!
We rode a few rides and headed back to the Fort around midnight. The boat service was GREAT – so much better than a bus!!! Even though we were close to the docks in the 200 loop I was still wishing we had a golf cart at the end of the night (though I could never make myself pay $60/day for it!).
On Easter morning the girls woke up to see the Easter Bunny DID find us in Disney
We went to the Candy Scramble where they each got TONS of candy (I will say I was a little disappointed in the 4 & under groups candy. It was mostly hard candy that the little ones can’t have. The Wilderness Explorer badge design was really cute though). After the Scramble we checked on Raven again (who decided to up post on the passenger side front seat watching the goings on at the Fort) and went to Chef Mickey’s for brunch. We got to the Contemporary early so we let the girls do some of the Easter activities there (cookie decoration, balloon popping contest with prizes, coloring eggs and sticker scenes). The Easter Bunny was there when we arrived, but the line was already cut off. Chip and Dale were next, but my girls weren’t interested in meeting them. Brunch was pretty good and we all took a nap when we got back to the Fort.Candy Scramble
We left the afternoon open so we could explore the Fort. We took Raven to the dog park but were only able to stay a few minutes. She’s not social so she could only go in as long as she was alone. We brought a fishing pole and went fishing next to the park. H caught a pretty big fish there and the girls enjoyed the playground. We went back to hang around the RV and get cleaned up before dinner at Cape May Café.
I have a cousin who is in Disney for the college program and we invited her to join us for dinner. She met us at the Beach Club an hour before dinner and we caught up (we saw her in November when we were in Disney). Dinner was delish – H said the crab legs were much better than last time. The girls were bummed that Cape May no longer has paper table cloths – they really loved drawing on them (and it kept them busy while H ate his weight in seafood). After dinner we went back to MK for some FP+ rides. We were walking out right as the castle clock struck midnight!
Monday was our day to start the long ride home. We packed up and drove to the Wilderness Lodge to use our last QS credits on breakfast. The kids got chocolate chip waffles and I got the bananas fosters waffles – they were AMAZING!!! I used all 10 of our snack credits on brownies, magic bars and Mickey Crispy treats. It worked out well as we had plenty of snacks for the ride home.
We stopped in Myrtle Beach again for the dog and kids to play on the beach. We got up around 4:30a to start the drive back to NJ yesterday. It took us 11 LONG hours to get home. We didn’t hit any stand still traffic, but there was a lot of volume and we had to stop twice for the dog and kids.
I wish I didn’t have to come back to work today, I could certainly use day to recover – H, too, since he did ALL of the driving. We actually leave for an adult only mini-vacation to Jamaica next weekend for our 8th wedding anniversary, so we’re powering through the next few days until we can RELAX!
Overall I think our first camping trip was a GREAT success! We decided that our next trip to the Fort will be much more FORT focused, so I’m really looking forward to that.
The one thing that we were NOT pleased with were some dog owners --- I saw a lot of dogs off leash outside the dog park. Now, at home, our dog is never on a leash. We live on a farm with no neighbors. But, I would never consider leaving her off-leash in public. I was constantly on guard while we were walking her around because I was worried about what she would do if an off-leash dog approached her. Rules are in place for a reason, I just wish everyone followed them.
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