JustDucky

1 hour ago, Starbuc71 said:

 Unfortunately a lot of us are not in the same situation as you being retired and can afford to stay at the fort for a long period of time. I wish I could be you...lol i'm glad a lot of people on here are starting to see it my way and noticing the prices are getting out of hand. I actually got my $175 a night deposit back  because we sold our camper. As some of you know, we only live an hour and a half away and would visit the fort frequently. Between having to book a reservation a year out for a weekend nowadays and the high prices, it just got to be too much.  Storing the camper for a large amount and only using it three times a year was not justifiable in my book. To some camping three times a year is over justifiable. I'm sure with people buying RVs these days there has to be a time when they will get fed up with the prices at Walt Disney also.   The Fort is a cash cow for Walt Disney World. As stated by others they do not have to give a lot of the services amenities and pay the utilities as they do at the hotels. Kind of scary to know you can stay at a  Disney hotel cheaper than renting a concrete pad at Disney. We will miss the fort a lot. We love camping there and once there, you could definitely relax. But money is tight and there are many other places in the country then Walt Disney World for vacation.    Maybe Disney will wake up one of these days and realize they need to lower their rates in the hotels like they are giving specials for tickets now. In any business, you can't be greedy all the time   It will catch up with you. 

There's a trade off.  We are also OLD!  lol.  Don't try to catch up too fast.  I did not know you live just 1.5 hours away.  I would certainly follow your line of thinking if that was us and we only used our trailer 3 times a year.  We live in Arizona.  If we are going to make a trip to The Fort and WDW,  we had better make it count.  We avoid holidays and go during times many others don't.  So we can drop our prices to $104/night in some cases.  Still pricey but not $175.  Plus we stop many places along the way and spend 3-5 months on the road.  Yes, it's great being retired but again, we are OLD.  Our feet, backs, etc. don't last the way they used to.  So do the fun things and camp other places besides Disney.  Certainly Florida has a myriad of attractions that warrant a closer look!  We have been keen on looking at many of them.  I have a particular fondness for manatees so our next visit will include a stop at Homosassa Springs.  But maybe you know of some better places being a Florida resident.  Here in Arizona we don't see the beach very often...lol.

We go to the Fort because it's the Fort.  We'll stay a couple weeks.  Then move outside the Fort for a couple or three months with our AP's.  Our kids and grandkids come to stay while we are at the Fort.  So we save them the cost of staying on property (yup, it's a tight fit...lol).  We also have two dogs.  This system works well for us (probably because we are retired) but it may not be for everyone.   A nice air bnb off property might do the same thing!  But would surely be lacking Chip and Dale, campfires,  Tri Circle D, hayrides, archery and pony rides.  Gotta go with whatever works for you!

Never had a problem.  First ever trip to WDW we stayed at the Poly.  That trip, they arranged our young son's plush differently each day.  We, and he, got a kick out of that.

We've also stayed at several of the moderate resorts, DVC Boardwalk and Old Key West, Pop Century, and once at a Cabin at The Fort  The only glitch I recall is that once in the middle of our stay at the Caribbean Beach, our room was not ready (beds not made, no fresh towels) in mid-afternoon.  We called, went to the pool, and they got right on it.

Just be cautious, folks...

I can't post the link but look up Bangor Daily News with title "EPA Issues Warning for Flea Treatment."  YIKES!

And....my bad!  A tempest in a teapot.  The article, even though published TODAY in the Bangor paper is actually six YEARS old.  sheesh.  The results of the EPA study were largely labeling recommendations due to misuse.  So I learn to look before I leap and open my big mouth!

I worked in  veterinary medicine when we lived in Michigan but that was quite a few years ago...2008.  Just trying to make sure i protect against the ticks.  I have some Frontline.  According to their literature, the darn stuff has a half life of uranium-235 so I will probably just use that up.  Thanks for the advice.

No photos but I did want to pass on that Steve has been practicing with the ramp getting into our Chevy tracker and he is doing very well! Soon we will graduate to getting him into the truck and finally the trailer.  That is going to have the greatest climbing angle.  We are progressing well.

You all have been so helpful, I have another question...for all you southeast/east coast/upper midwest residents regarding flea and tick control.  When we lived in Michigan I always used Sentinel for heartworm and fleas.  Now I understand deer ticks are a major problem in many places and we are planning a trip back to the midwest and east before we hit the Fort in October.  Does anyone have a recommendation for tick control?  Want to make sure I'm killing the right tick!  We live in Arizona now and fleas and ticks aren't really much of a problem.  It's actually too hot and dry here.  Fleas especially, can't stand the dryness.  thanks for any advice!

Awesome!!  And I love that your dog's name is Steve.

 

I let DH name one of our fosters once.  He named him Dave. 

HAHA!  I suppose it could be worse, right?  Our youngest had never had the pleasure of naming the dog and reminded us of that.  He claims Steve is named after Stephen Hawking....but I think it's probably Steven Seagal.  Another of our dogs, Chuck, was named by the oldest after Chuck Norris.  And my first dog out of college was named Falk after Peter Falk.  That was a mistake.  Standing in the back yard and calling his name got some rather odd looks from neighbors who were not quite sure of what they were hearing.  Eventually, he learned to come to "here boy."

Oops...sorry.  I didn't realize I couldn't post a link!  But you can find the ramp at instructables.com.  Just look for doggie ramp. 

http://www.instructables.com/id/Inexpensive-Doggie-Ramp/.%C2'> Made this today in a couple of hours after a trip to Home Depot.  Now it is laying in our living room so Steve (that's what happens when you let the kids name the dog!) can get used to it.  Tomorrow we'll start trying to train him to use it.  If I am able to, I'll get a picture of him on it and post it.  This is super easy and very light weight.  Thanks again for the help!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Inexpensive-Doggie-Ramp/

someone had tackled it indeed!  Looks like a pretty good idea.  Will try it out soon so we have time to train our dog before we leave on July 5.  You can teach an old dog new tricks, right?

Excellent ideas!  I had not thought of Instructables...that's a great website.  And the steps might work.  Will study up and let you know what we come up with.  Thanks, fiends!

We have a nearly 13 year old standard poodle.  He is almost blind and although still quite agile, he is fearful of getting into and out of the trailer.  To be more clear, he won't do it.  We've always had a class B and perhaps he's just not used to it.  Without being able to see, I think he believes he's walking into a black hole.  His footing isn't too sure on the steps and his feet have a tendency to slide to the back of the steps and into nothing when he does try to climb in.  The alternative is lifting a 55 pound dog into the trailer.  I've been doing that and even though I'm developing some muscle, it isn't the ideal method.  Does anyone else have this issue and have you purchased steps or a ramp for your dog?  Or maybe figured out a homemade remedy?  I've researched some and it seems a ramp would need to be about 8 feet long in order to make the slope one he could handle.  So then I go back to the steps and it's back and forth and so on until I become decision paralyzed. Any suggestions appreciated!

Hoping we're not limiting to east coast/midwest.  FAR west..Arizona...just in case anyone ever takes it into their head to ramble far afield...Kartchner Caverns State Park in Benson, AZ.  Also, Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, AZ.  Kartchner has the caverns of course...and Dead Horse does not have a dead horse..luckily.  But there is water..3 lagoons (ponds by midwest standards).  No motors but there is fishing.  Yes, people do fish in Arizona!  There is a fish cleaning station, day use areas with pavilions and three campground loops with water and electric and decent comfort stations.  Some sites have views of Jerome (clinging to the side of Cleopatra Hill) and Mingus Mountain.  Many hiking trails and mountain bike trails.  Dead Horse is at 3400 feet.  We were there about two weeks ago getting the kinks out of our new Jayco.