Trip Report

[colamom]

We got home late Friday evening from our time at the Fort. We loved the Fort.

06/14/09
Check-in day we arrived around 11:30 as we were tent camping over in Titusville to see the shuttle launch that didn't happen. We did not get an assignment then so we just looped around called back at 1:00 and got our assignment went to check it out--totally disappointed with the site (#329) so went back to front desk and was given some others to choose from. Found another site that worked better and parked in it while phoning front desk to tell them what we wanted (#212). We couldn't unload because DD was on the road from Alabama with the trailer and it needed to be in first before everything else was set up. So we hopped on the launch to Contempary to ride the monorail. Kept checking with DD for arrival time and gave up on him getting in early and went to McDonalds for dinner. DD arrived as we were leaving McDonalds. So back to camp and set it all up. As there were 11 of us in our party we had a second site to set up #2010.
End of day one.
06/15/09
Magic Kingdom Day--it was great but very crowded. We waited in long lines in alot of heat. We did use fastpass for splash mountain and walked right on it at our time. We carried in water bottles and snacks and spent zero extra money in the park!! Took late lunch break during worst part of the day and hung out at camp. Went back in the evening hoping some of the crowd had thinned out but found the park to still be crowded. Stayed for fireworks show and saw Tinkerbell fly!!
06/16/09
This was our scheduled down day to recoup from day one in MK. Made a supply trip to Wal-mart and spent time at the pool. It is amazing how quickly a day slips by when on vacation. Wanted to see Chip and Dale at campfire but a heavy bad storm cancelled the campfire and drenched our secondary campsite--tent left open--everything was soaked. Did some clean up and crammed 10 people into travel trailer. One man braved slightly wet tent for the night.
06/17/09
Opted to return to MK for last day of parks since we really only saw one section on the first day. Found the crowds to be much better but was even hotter than the first day. As on the first day lots of bottled water and snacks saved the day. Everyone did what they wanted and we met Mickey and Minnie (only character meeting other than chip and dale) On this day we saw everything else we wanted to see and used fastpass when we could. Again stayed for fireworks and saw Tinkerbell fly again!!
06/18/09
This was another down day and we had free passes for everyone in our group to play putt-putt. We headed that way and got caught in a horrible thunderstorm so we turned around and went back to camp. Really wanted to do the campfire but it kept raining and thundering so we called the front desk at 7 to see if all was still a go--was told it would go on but that Chip and Dale would not make an appearance due to the wet conditions. We went anyway because what else was I to do with three bags of marshmellows and 5 kids that wanted to burn them!! We were pleasantly surprised to find out that Chip and Dale would be on the back porch just not out in the crowd. Roasted marshmellows in the rain, sang some campfire songs and watched some of the movie. We decided to head down to the marina from movie to watch water parade and catch the fireworks show. This was a great way to view it without the crunch of crowds.
06/19/09
Check out day. Breaking camp went smoothly and the trip home was quick and easy.

Thanks for reading.
Colamom

 

[OK GRUMPY]

Alright so are you planning another trip?

 

[colamom]

No not right now. There are so many other places we want to see. It will be a few years at least before we go back. We are already tallking about ways to make our next tent camping trip better. The things we will have to have and things we wish to have.

The Fort was fantastic.....we all enjoyed it so much. We would go there again easily.

The MK park was only so-so to us. The rides were fun but we are not Disney fanatics and the crowds were big. We went mainly for our kids to get to say they went.

 

[Skyw]

The experience is much better when you aren't fighting the heat and lines. DS is going to school next year and I will still take him out so we can go when it is slow.

Thanks for the TR

 

[Shan-man]

Just wondering what you disliked about 329? Did you know the the path right next to it is a shortcut to the beach and trading post? I'd love to hear your feedback.

 

[colamom]

We had small children with us and the sides dropped off and we needed to put a 27ft TT and a tent on the site. There seemed to not be enough room to do this and move around at that site. We were a group of 11 all together and needed room to move around. The pad was appeared smaller than other sites. Five of our party were sleeping in a tent on 2010 but spent days at our site eating and hanging out in the TT with the a/c. We had a total of 6 kids ages 13,8,7,5 and 5 adults. We just needed to be able to spread out a little.
The site we picked #212 was still close to the marina we didn't mind the walk. We actually cut through the 100 loop and were there. What seemed like the longest walk was the MANY trips to the comfort station with kids as soon as you got back with one the next one would need to go even though you had just begged them to go with the other one. It was way to far to send even the older ones alone--could not see them. We try to only use the TT bathroom for emergencies to due to its age.

We had a great trip, the Fort was everything I had hoped it would be and this board was invaluable to me in preparing for the trip. Shan-man your maps were great thanks for such a service....we just have limited funds and time each year that we want to do some time in the mountains and other places rather than go to the same place every year. I guess I am one of those people who never go the same way to get some where, never reread books and don't usually watch a movie after the first time. I do realize that we only saw the tip of the iceberg on this trip but for our family we will wait awhile before looking at going back.

Shan-man you seem to travel alot any other camping places that compare to the Fort in amenities offered??? We camped in Chatnooga last year on our cheesy vacation (Ruby Falls, Rock City and Lookout Mtn.).

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Didja fish ?

 

[Shan-man]

Thanks for the feedback on 329. If you don't mind, I'm going to add this note to my GoogleEarth Site Map:

"As reported by Colamom: Smaller than average site which drops off to the sides."

I will be staying in 300 at Christmas, so I am particularly interested in which sites folks don't find acceptable and why... so thanks!

As for recommendations, we really don't stay in a lot of 'resort' type parks with much in the way of amenities. Usually, we are traveling to enjoy the destination, not the RV park. We stay in a lot of state and national parks that don't even have electric. We also often do freeform touring with no plan for where we'll stay and will do an overnight at an unknown park, rest area or Wal*Mart. Disney is our big-budget trip, and I just hope we can do that once each year.