Tuffcookie
Enjoys an early hour of peace. Is a smart cookie.
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2000
- Messages
- 7,080
Rhonda and the others on the DIS camping board had made FW sound like heaven. Ever since last summer, when I broke down and got a Coleman dome tent, youngest DS had been begging me to go on a "real" camping trip-not just in the back yard! After reading much of what FW had to offer I decided this sounded like my idea of "roughing it". 
As soon as I got the 2000-01 school schedule and knew when our Spring Break was, I started researching. April is one of the dryest months in Florida. Not too hot, not too cold. At first I thought about flying down with all the camping gear and then when I realized how much gear I had, I decided to drive. I joined AAA and called CRO and plucked down 1 night's deposit for a partial hook-up camp site in the 1500 loop. Our trip would be for April 2nd-7th and was to be a total surprise to DS. As if I didn't have my hands full with all this trip planning and keeping it a secret from youngest DS, oldest DS got married on March 31st! (Guess where he and DW went for their honeymoon? ) So I also had wedding preparations going on at the same time! Okay, back to the story....I woke youngest DS up early on the morning of April 1st. DS, I said, "Wake, up! We're going to Disney World"! He sat up and said, "Now"? Within 1/2 hour we were out the door! We drove from Barberton, Ohio to Columbia, SC the first day (arriving around 6:00 PM) and stopped so DS could swim. We stayed at a Days Inn that had an indoor pool. We left Columbia, SC around 7:45 AM and arrived at FW at 3:00 PM Monday. There were 2 other RVs in front of us at the drive-thru check-in so we really didn't wait very long. I'd say about 10 minutes. Much better than the check-in at the ASMu in June. There I waited in line for about an hour! I signed up for express check out. We received our resort passes and some literature about the happenings at FW. After check-in was complete we checked out the kennels before heading to our camp site. I had wanted to see if it was possible to do Disney, FW, AND bring the family dog. Everything was very clean at the kennels but by the end of our stay I realized I would not want to bring the dog because we would be too busy to do the twice a day walking that is required. When we go back Hunter will have to go to a kennel up here.
After checking the kennels out we proceeded to our camp site. We had requested a site in the 1500 loop because Rhonda had recommended it. We arrived at the 1500 loop also known as "Cottontail Curl" We were at site 1508. Great location!!! We were just across the street from the Meadows Recreation Area but far enough in the loop we didn't get a lot of noise from the bus stop. I had barely opened up my trunk when two ducks came waddling up to the car to greet us! I had heard about these ducks!! There was all kinds of wild life around us. We saw cottontails, all kinds of pretty birds, armidillos (more on those armidillos to follow!). While DS was feeding the ducks I proceeded to set the tent up. We met a couple from Louisiana, Steve and Lisa and their two young girls. They were across from us in the 1500 loop, were so nice and friendly all week. They were camping in a used Jayco pop up that they had gotten a really good deal on. Steve offered to help me set up the tent. I really appreciated his offer but told him I had to prove to myself I could do it! (After all, I am a former girl scout!) In our tent we had a queen-sized air mattress with Coleman sleeping bags. I zipped them together to make one giant bag. On top of that I had a really bright Disney characters comforter. I had brought a chest cooler and placed a small microwave on top of that. Also in the tent was a canvas love-seat. I had a metal TV tray on legs serving as a make-shift night stand. This made a handy place for a lamp and the cell phone charger and cam cord battery charger. We were quite cozy and I tried to make everything color co-orindated! After the tent was set up we went exploring. My only complaint about our comfort station was that it didn't have an ice machine. The comfort stations are so very clean. And my worries about sending DS alone to shower were laid to rest because I really did feel perfectly safe at this camp grounds! After that we over to the Meadows pool so DS could swim a while. We also visited the Meadows Trading Post where DS got his coon-skin cap. Since this was our first day at FW we did the Campfire Program. What a fun time we had although we were so tired by the time the movie started (A kid in King Arthur's Court) we headed back for the tent! We were planning to hit the MK the next day. Stay tuned for further adventures!! TC
[This message was edited by LisaTx on 04-16-01 at 09:46 PM.]
As soon as I got the 2000-01 school schedule and knew when our Spring Break was, I started researching. April is one of the dryest months in Florida. Not too hot, not too cold. At first I thought about flying down with all the camping gear and then when I realized how much gear I had, I decided to drive. I joined AAA and called CRO and plucked down 1 night's deposit for a partial hook-up camp site in the 1500 loop. Our trip would be for April 2nd-7th and was to be a total surprise to DS. As if I didn't have my hands full with all this trip planning and keeping it a secret from youngest DS, oldest DS got married on March 31st! (Guess where he and DW went for their honeymoon? ) So I also had wedding preparations going on at the same time! Okay, back to the story....I woke youngest DS up early on the morning of April 1st. DS, I said, "Wake, up! We're going to Disney World"! He sat up and said, "Now"? Within 1/2 hour we were out the door! We drove from Barberton, Ohio to Columbia, SC the first day (arriving around 6:00 PM) and stopped so DS could swim. We stayed at a Days Inn that had an indoor pool. We left Columbia, SC around 7:45 AM and arrived at FW at 3:00 PM Monday. There were 2 other RVs in front of us at the drive-thru check-in so we really didn't wait very long. I'd say about 10 minutes. Much better than the check-in at the ASMu in June. There I waited in line for about an hour! I signed up for express check out. We received our resort passes and some literature about the happenings at FW. After check-in was complete we checked out the kennels before heading to our camp site. I had wanted to see if it was possible to do Disney, FW, AND bring the family dog. Everything was very clean at the kennels but by the end of our stay I realized I would not want to bring the dog because we would be too busy to do the twice a day walking that is required. When we go back Hunter will have to go to a kennel up here. After checking the kennels out we proceeded to our camp site. We had requested a site in the 1500 loop because Rhonda had recommended it. We arrived at the 1500 loop also known as "Cottontail Curl" We were at site 1508. Great location!!! We were just across the street from the Meadows Recreation Area but far enough in the loop we didn't get a lot of noise from the bus stop. I had barely opened up my trunk when two ducks came waddling up to the car to greet us! I had heard about these ducks!! There was all kinds of wild life around us. We saw cottontails, all kinds of pretty birds, armidillos (more on those armidillos to follow!). While DS was feeding the ducks I proceeded to set the tent up. We met a couple from Louisiana, Steve and Lisa and their two young girls. They were across from us in the 1500 loop, were so nice and friendly all week. They were camping in a used Jayco pop up that they had gotten a really good deal on. Steve offered to help me set up the tent. I really appreciated his offer but told him I had to prove to myself I could do it! (After all, I am a former girl scout!
) In our tent we had a queen-sized air mattress with Coleman sleeping bags. I zipped them together to make one giant bag. On top of that I had a really bright Disney characters comforter. I had brought a chest cooler and placed a small microwave on top of that. Also in the tent was a canvas love-seat. I had a metal TV tray on legs serving as a make-shift night stand. This made a handy place for a lamp and the cell phone charger and cam cord battery charger. We were quite cozy and I tried to make everything color co-orindated! After the tent was set up we went exploring. My only complaint about our comfort station was that it didn't have an ice machine. The comfort stations are so very clean. And my worries about sending DS alone to shower were laid to rest because I really did feel perfectly safe at this camp grounds! After that we over to the Meadows pool so DS could swim a while. We also visited the Meadows Trading Post where DS got his coon-skin cap. Since this was our first day at FW we did the Campfire Program. What a fun time we had although we were so tired by the time the movie started (A kid in King Arthur's Court) we headed back for the tent! We were planning to hit the MK the next day. Stay tuned for further adventures!! TC
[This message was edited by LisaTx on 04-16-01 at 09:46 PM.]
