What to do if...

[hoosiergirl]

...storms roll in and you're camping in a tent? We check in on Friday and right now there are "scattered thunderstorms" and "isolated thunderstorms" predicted for Sat. & Sun. I know, things can change and it might not even hit FW but since I actually leave tomorrow, I need your help/advice! Our tent is a 15 X 9 and our extra (if we put it up) is 10 X 10.5. Do we need tarps in addition to our rain flys? And do y'all do anything with your screenrooms during big rains? I'm gonna just pray for the best and remember that this is an adventure AND hey! I'll be at WDW! How bad can it be?!?

 

[3gr8kids]

It's been our experience while tent camping that tarps certainly wouldn't hurt. (UNLESS, like us on one of our first years camping, we failed to put the tarps up correctly {not enough slant}, and the water from the MONSOON we were camping in pooled enough to collapse the tarp onto the tent and pretty much washed our whole set up away. Rookie mistake, never happened again, ).

If you have a vehicle there that you're not using, it's not a bad idea to put anything you don't want getting wet into it until the storm passes.

As far as the screen room, we didn't do anything other than make sure it was staked down securely in case of high winds.

Good luck, stay dry, and HAVE FUN!!!

 

[fortcampers]

And I thought just worrying about the awning getting torn off in high winds was bad. The idea of putting stuff in the car/vehicle is a great idea. Don't know anything about tents, but stay dry and have fun!

 

[AuburnJen92]

The big rains don't usually show up until the middle to end of May. We are still in the dry season here. We had a couple of showers, but that is all lately.

 

[ntsammy5]

You can put tarps up but if it gets windy, they will come down. Just keep what ever you want to stay dry in the car or waterproof plastic camping boxes and you'll be OK. Then just dry everything out the next day. I've always packed clothes in plastic bags individually -- an old army habit. Stuff stays dry then. My wife was always amused when I deployed, the first thing I would do is buy a bunch of zip lock bags to put clothes and other stuff in.

 

[hoosiergirl]

Oh heck, I was just worried about the tent collapsing on us! (poles breaking, etc.) I'm planning on just keeping the clothes (suitcases) in the back of the van. We were going to do what we hear a lot of you do--pack in plastic tubs instead of suitcases--but since we'll be going to hotels before and after FW, we'd rather not have to lug tubs into hotels. I figured the sleeping stuff--air mattresses & bedding--well, if it gets wet, we'll deal with it! I seam-sealed the tent and sprayed that water-proofing stuff on the rain flys (and seam-sealed those, too) and am using plastic under and inside the tent to help with the flooring, keeping extra towels in the corners just in case... So you see, it's the collapsing I was most worried about. I'll just go and have fun! (Now you all can send pixie dust our way...that would help!)

 

[Magic Fanatic]

...storms roll in and you're camping in a tent? We check in on Friday and right now there are "scattered thunderstorms" and "isolated thunderstorms" predicted for Sat. & Sun. I know, things can change and it might not even hit FW but since I actually leave tomorrow, I need your help/advice! Our tent is a 15 X 9 and our extra (if we put it up) is 10 X 10.5. Do we need tarps in addition to our rain flys? And do y'all do anything with your screenrooms during big rains? I'm gonna just pray for the best and remember that this is an adventure AND hey! I'll be at WDW! How bad can it be?!?

Isn't rain part of the experience you tent campers crave?

 

[hoosiergirl]

Isn't rain part of the experience you tent campers crave?

NO! Especially not when this is our first time!

 

[mamaloya]

When we tented, we packed most of our clothes in bins and also in the ziploc bags so outfits stayed together. Heck, I even wrote the day on each bag so each person knew what to wear each day. (I know, I am a little OCD.)

Anyway, for the hotel stops along the way, I would pack one duffel the night and the toiletries in its own bag. The duffel would have one outfit for each person, pajamas for each person, and a couple of diapers for the babies. The toiletry bag would have toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, etc. That way, when we arrived at the hotel, we only brought in the duffel bag and toiletry bag rather than 3-4 suitcases. I also packed them last in the van so they would be most accessible.

 

[LarryJ]

...storms roll in and you're camping in a tent? We check in on Friday and right now there are "scattered thunderstorms" and "isolated thunderstorms" predicted for Sat. & Sun. I know, things can change and it might not even hit FW but since I actually leave tomorrow, I need your help/advice! Our tent is a 15 X 9 and our extra (if we put it up) is 10 X 10.5. Do we need tarps in addition to our rain flys? And do y'all do anything with your screenrooms during big rains? I'm gonna just pray for the best and remember that this is an adventure AND hey! I'll be at WDW! How bad can it be?!?

I would try and get plastic tubs with lids for everything that you don't want to get wet and air mattresses to sleep on and keep everything in those and put the bedding up on the plastic tubs when not there. A folding table would be nice too and you could even put the plastic tubs outside with a tarp anchored down if you don't want them in your tent and then just go with the flow and weather. I would also get some giant plastic bags in case you have to break camp with a wet tent just to get it back home till you can dry it out.

Larry

 

[hoosiergirl]

When we tented, we packed most of our clothes in bins and also in the ziploc bags so outfits stayed together. Heck, I even wrote the day on each bag so each person knew what to wear each day. (I know, I am a little OCD.)

Anyway, for the hotel stops along the way, I would pack one duffel the night and the toiletries in its own bag. The duffel would have one outfit for each person, pajamas for each person, and a couple of diapers for the babies. The toiletry bag would have toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, etc. That way, when we arrived at the hotel, we only brought in the duffel bag and toiletry bag rather than 3-4 suitcases. I also packed them last in the van so they would be most accessible.

I totally understand this mentality! (And yes, I'm OCD, too!) However, I just am not that organized right now. I wish I was...but I think it's just harder and harder for me to be as organized the older I get...or maybe I just keep adding too many things to my plate and can't keep everything straight!

 

[Katie Dawn]

I'm planning on just keeping the clothes (suitcases) in the back of the van.

Hi hoosiergirl! I know this is completely OT. It's on the topic of being a kind neighbor (which, generally speaking, we campers are GREAT neighbors!) One "request" I've heard several times in the past is that those of us that use our cars as storage consider using the manual lock inside our cars instead of using the remote lock, which causes that "beep beep." Especially at night. Folks have found that hearing that "beep beep" "beep beep" "beep beep" every few minutes (imagine several campers making several runs to their car in a short time span...kind of takes away from the Ft. Wilderness magic.).

We usually car camp but there's a little bit of a walk from our car to the campsites, so this wasn't something I had much experience with... but it makes a lot of sense to me.

Okay, back to the topic and have a Fantabulous Trip!!!!

 

[hoosiergirl]

I would try and get plastic tubs with lids for everything that you don't want to get wet and air mattresses to sleep on and keep everything in those and put the bedding up on the plastic tubs when not there. A folding table would be nice too and you could even put the plastic tubs outside with a tarp anchored down if you don't want them in your tent and then just go with the flow and weather. I would also get some giant plastic bags in case you have to break camp with a wet tent just to get it back home till you can dry it out.

Larry

I'll have some plastic tubs that I'll be hauling the bedding in so I'll just have to remember to put them back in the tubs each morning. I also have a whole roll of heavy duty black trash bags as well as a folding table that will be in our screen house... The suitcases will be in our van....unless I re-pack tonight before we leave! Who knows! I sure do appreciate ALL of your advice! There is no way I'd be adventuring like this w/o all of the help on this board! MANY THANKS!!!

 

[shocker]

When we tented, we packed most of our clothes in bins and also in the ziploc bags so outfits stayed together. Heck, I even wrote the day on each bag so each person knew what to wear each day. (I know, I am a little OCD.)

Hey, I really like this idea. I get tired of laying everyones outfit out the night before (it's my vacation too). I think I'd rather do at home before we even leave. But my OCD requires that I pack similarly colored items so I can pack half the clothes and do laundry half way through the trip. Who do you suppose will put them back into the ziploc bags when they come out of the dryer??? Maybe I should write 2 days on each bag?

 

[Sinclare]

Storms are no big deal, a couple years ago we had a tropical storm roll over us and we slept like a baby. I did have to drive the tent stakes back down the next morning as it had pulled them out about half way but it was nothing major.

 

[Colson39]

Yea, chances are with all your body weight in the tent, it's not going to go anywhere. Unless it a really really serious storm, I wouldn't worry too much, just follow the advice above...

 

[mamaloya]

Hey, I really like this idea. I get tired of laying everyones outfit out the night before (it's my vacation too). I think I'd rather do at home before we even leave. But my OCD requires that I pack similarly colored items so I can pack half the clothes and do laundry half way through the trip. Who do you suppose will put them back into the ziploc bags when they come out of the dryer??? Maybe I should write 2 days on each bag?

On the longer trips where I do laundry, I write numbers instead of days. Like 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. I then just tell everyone "bag #2 today", etc. We wear matching shirts on our trip. I usually have lots of helpers in the laundry room as well. We save the baggies as they take the clothes out. Then I bring the baggies to the laundry room when it is time to get them out of the dryer and put them into the baggies as I fold them (it keeps that fresh scent sealed in as well). Also, if you accidentally dump the basket on the way bag, the clothes stay clean.

I also make sure each bag has undies and any accessories like socks, hair clips, etc. For dh, ds16 and myself, I will just pack our shirts and undies. For babies, I will throw a diaper in each bag so we have that. This also comes in handy going to the comfort station as the clothes stay dry.

Oh, one other tip that is OT, pack each person a little toiletry kit of their own so you can all shower at the same time. You don't know how many people I have overheard in the shower passing the shampoo around.