weekender

BTW, if you are going to be towing with a short bed I highly recommend a Sidewinder pin box. I opted for the air ride sidewinder when I still had the F250. This allowed me to not worry about the hitting the cab at all. I tried the Pulrite auto slider hitch first, but it would not give enough clearance for a 102" wide body 5'er.

Yeah if you could keep the pin weight below 3k that would be good. My pin can be as heavy as 3800 lbs if I'm not hauling cargo. I tried air bags, but I just had too much tire squirm to be comfortable.

I did add a Trail Air equa flex suspension and a 5th Airborne pin box. Those two really helped with the towing ride.

Great advice.  Thanks.

They use some of the cabinets that are in the elevated bed area above the garage and also leave 2 suitcases in the garage. Our camper weighs in around 16k depending on load. I pull it with a F350 dually. I had a F250, but it wasn't nearly enough truck.

Thanks.  We are looking at ones around 12K dry weight.  I have an F250 and should be ok as long as I do not go above 15K loaded. 

Luckily we have a TT and an F250 truck so we put our 3 bikes in the bed of the truck with a storage rack (bought on Amazon) to hold them up.  This works great as we still have room to put other items around them if needed.

We had a friend buy one with the patio deck on the back and said they wouldn't do it again. They said they never used it. And if they had to back into a small site and there was a tree or other obstacle they couldn't use it. But when they bring it to the lake it's pretty cool because the sites back up to the water.

That is what I figured unless you were near the water. 

We have a 40' triple slide TH'er. I carry a golf cart, bike, dirtbikes, etc. We just returned from the Fort with it. Once we unload the back I put down a rug and chairs/bean bags. My kids use it as a separate room. We have a mini fridge back there too. It works really well.

The patio is not something that I find useful. We sit to the side under the big awning.

We like the set up. It is big and heavy, but it's nice to have the room.

That would be the goal to haul the golf cart then it would be our daughters big room. As for the patio that is what I thought.  Just curious what do you do with clothes for the kids in the back garage area?  Most TH I have seen do not have any form of closet or dresser.  Also what do you tow your TH with?  How heavy is it?

We are dreaming about our next rv and a toy hauler keeps coming to the surface on our list.  We currently have a Jayco Travel Trailer, but do not have a good way to carry paddleboards, kayaks and hopefully in the future a golf cart.  Also I am not able to carry a golf cart in the back of my 2013 F250 Crew Cab truck either since the bed is a short bed. 

Anyone have a toy hauler that they use to only carry a golf cart/bunk room and keep the length under 37' total length?  We would not fill with fuel nor do I see ourselves dry camping so would not need a generator.   Also many of the ones we have seen online such as the Heartland Cyclone and a Prime Time Spartan have the option for a patio deck.  Does anyone have experience with that option?  Is it worth it? 

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

All you folks scrambling to buy multi-day tickets are doing exactly what Disney wants you to do.

 

They don't actually expect very many guests to shell out for the one day passes- but by raising the price for one day, the multi-day deals suddenly look attractive.

 

They are the best there is in figuring out how to pick our pockets clean.

 

TCD

I know, but I would be kicking myself later on if I had the chance to buy the no expiration option ticket and did not do so.

Jayco makes a very nice camper, we have the rear set up you asked about and plan to look for a unit that has the recliners facing the tv. We make do as the wife lays on the sofa all the time and I turn a recliner to face the tv better but when friends are visiting and we are inside this does not work well.

Thanks for the advice and that is what I figured with the tv at the rear vs. facing the recliners.  I am seeing more manufacturers switch to the direct view option vs. the angle.

Have been researching these brands of 5th wheels and like several of the floor plans in the lines, but does anyone have real world experience with any of these brands?  We have 2 dealers in our area and one sells Jayco while the other sells CrossRoads and PrimeTime. 

Also does anyone have a rear Living set up where the television is located at the back of the camper while reclining chairs and a couch are on either side of the camper?  Trying to determine if this will be comfortable to view the tv versus the set up with the tv on one of the side walls and the chairs directly across from the tv.

Any input you have is greatly appreciated.

Just bought three 10 day tickets with 10 water/fun options and no expiration.  Cost me a pretty penny, but we should be set for many years to come since we do not usually go to Disney, but every other year.  Doing it this way does bring the cost down for sure and gives us the flexibility on our trips even if the weather does not cooperate.

We were at DHS on Monday and yes the thing is still there, but is alot less than it was.  The funny thing is all the Disney Photgraphers are not allowed to take pictures facing towards the construction zone now so they take them facing back towards the entrance to the park.  We asked one fo them to take our picture and he said they were not allowed.  Very protective of Disney to make sure they do not give you "bad pictures". 

As for all the construction while it is an eye sore I am actually very glad to see it happening as it is long overdue.  Once all the updates are done they need to move on to Pirates of the Carribean.  It was down most of the first part of the week.  Also something happened with the Astor Orbiter area on Tuesday as both the Astro Orbiters and the Tommorowland Transit - aka Wedway People Mover along with the snack bar right there were down all day.

We are thinking about a trip to the Tennessee Valley Railroad in Chattanooga later this year. Besides the State campgrounds mentioned are there any private campgrounds in the area that are recommended or not?

For a private campground it is hard to beat Holiday Trav-L-Park http://www.chattacamp.com/.  They have been rated about the highest in the area several times.

For a county campground we enjoy Chester Frost Park http://www.hamiltontn.gov/parkrec/RulesFees.aspx.  The only thing with Chester Frost is that they do not take reservations so weekends and especially holidays it can be hard to find a site.  If you come mid week it is easier. 

Harrison Bay is not too far from Chester Frost and they do take reservations, but I can tell you that I do not like it there.  Even with the improvements they have made it is about impossible to get into some of the sights (due to trees, narrow roads, grade of the road and all the other vehicles around) if you have a travel trailer.  I drove through their with my F-250 and no camper attached and almost could not get through several areas. 

Hope this helps.

If you are looking around Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg we really enjoy River Plantation.  Also Anchor Down is beautiful.  It is a little bit out of the mian area, but is much easier to get into and out of vs. Pigeon Forge Traffic.  Chattanooga also has a couple nice areas - Holiday Travel park in East Ridge TN and Chester Frost Park in Hixson, TN.  They are close to downtown which has many things for the family to do and Chester Frost is right on the lake.

Hmmmm... don't think that's it. I'll have to check with Jason. There's one close to Athens that a lot of our friends use for service and repairs because they're better than most. 

 I agree that Camping World is horrible or at least I have not had good experience with them.  For brands as others have said it is somewhat a roll of the dice.  I like the Jayco brands, Thor and Forest River products.  As fo rthe one near  Athens the only one I know of near there would be Peco Campers near Stone Mtn.  Is that the one you are thinking of?

I let Jason know that he's building me one for Valentine's Day last night! Ha ha ha 

 

Will a 6 inch polyethylene globe stick to an acrylic globe? I can't find a 6 inch acrylic. 

Kelly

Gluing the ears was the hardest part for me as I could only find the polyethelyne globe in 6" like you are finding.  I did use the loctite glue as receommended in the instructions, but it does not adhere the best to polyethelyne.  What I did was glue both the outside and the inside sections to make a tighter bond.  For extra security I also took 2 wider zip ties and placed those on the inside of the 12" globe around the wide part of the 6" globes since those have the base on them.  You would repeat for the 2nd ear.  The tabs of the zip tabs act like anchors and this "locked" them in tighter and will hopefully not allow the ears to fall off. 

All the toll booths that Tim will hit coming in on the Turnpike and 429 to Western Way have attendants so he won't need extra change.

I just mentioned it in case they needed to exit early for some reason.  Otherwise without exact change or a pass you are out of luck and will get a nice souvenir picture from the State of FL with your tag #.  It only cost about $15!  Ask me how I know (2 times)!

So, we have been to the Fort 2 times now and it seems every time I drive in and then out we have wound up traveling different ways. One time I remember driving out through some of the service areas......

 

So we are traveling down I-75 and usually hit the Florida turnpike. How would the fiends recommend I go after that? I remember driving in through the Magic Kingdom gates and prefer that option. I don't drive around Disney at all once we are there so my understanding of the streets is limited.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

tim

We just did this trip over Thanksgiving from NW Georgia.  Just follow I-75 to the Fla Turnpike.  Once on the turnpike you will take exit 267A towards Tampa and merge onto FL-429.  This is another toll road, but you will only need to pay one or 2 times as I recall. Stay on FL-429 and take exit 8 and merge onto Western Way towards Disney World.  At this point just follow the signs to the Magic Kingdom and you will come in the main entrance.  Google maps likes to take you off FL-429 earlier, but it will take you through a bunch of residential areas.  I find the Western Way exit better as that side of Disney is usually not too crowded.

Some tips if I may.  I am not sure where you are coming from or your gas mileage, but we always stop in Macon GA and Valdosta to fill up with fuel.  As soon as you cross into FL the price of fuel goes up.  If you are low once in FL another good stop is Ocala.  Alot of easy in and easy out options.  Also be sure to bring plenty of quarters as some of the toll plazas on FL-429 are not staffed and you must have exact change should you exit early for some reason.  Another option is to buy a Sun Pass or a Peach Pass (Georgia) as they accept both and you can just drive right through the toll plazas. 

Safe Travels.

Exactly. Why bother writing a letter?

Jose doesn't give a rip about any of the things listed in this thread.

He only cares about achieving the occupancy levels that generate the most profit. As long as that is happening nothing will change. At least not for the better. In fact, the more stuff he can cut out, the better for his bottom line.

I believe that is very short-sighted, but Jose will have moved on to bigger and better things before those chickens come home to roost.

And you think anyone up the chain will care? The object of this game is to make money, not to please the customer. As long as the bottom line is pretty, none of them care about what is actually happening at the Fort.

TCD

Sad but true. See it all too often in business these days.

What you have (i.e. Class A, TT, 5th wheel): TT  - Jayco 29QBH (Measures about 34' from tongue to spare tire)

If you're towing (so TT or 5th wheel) how heavy is it: 7000 dry weight, 7800 lbs fully loaded

If you tow, what is your tow vehicle: 2013 F250 Lariat, 6.7 Diesel

Gas mileage:  10.5 - 11 mpg towing (just towed to about 1000 miles round trip from NW GA to the Fort, 14 - 16 not towing depending on city or hwy)

Do you like it, love it or hate it: like it due to bunk house for daughter and slide out for couch/u dinette.

If you'd like to make a change, change to what and why: We'll make a change in the future when we do not need the bunk house, but that will be a while.  Will definetely consider a mid profile 5th wheel due to space and towability.  Class A would be nice, but not as much room and still would need to tow something so you can drive somewhere once you get to the campsite.

 

If you look over there near the trashcan, you can see that someone is tossing a wrecked EZ up awning frame. The storm must have done a number on their awning:

 

 

 

Thought for a minute that you got a shot of my quick shade canopy frame.  Mine was the same way since the rain collapsed it.  Needless to say I did not attempt to fix it this time.

 

 

 

 

 

The same camper was in the first site on the outside of the 1800 loop as was here when we were here at the beginning of November:

 

 

He has a cool hot rod with a license plate that says "E Ticket" :

 

 

 

I was across from them 2 Thanksgiving's ago.  They come every year from California and stay a month.  Very nice folks.

 

 

 

Great trip report.  

We were at the Fort from Saturday, Nov 22 - Saturday, Nov 29 and had the pleasure of experiencing the rain.  You are very lucky to have missed it as we had over 6" that Tuesday.  As you saw it flooded many areas of the Fort and washed out alot of the mulch.  The picture of the flooded inflateables was in the 1600 loop and we were in the 1700 loop so we got to see the carnage first hand. My sister and her husband's site was right by the bathhouse path and they had water front property starting that Tuesday.  You also missed the tornado warning that was issue Tuesday morning. We were in Epcot and were in the Land building, but my sister was in their camper.  I guess you would go the bath house if one were to hit, but hope that never happens.

As for the check in and "rules" that goes to what you said on my post earlier.  It is the consistency of which Disney chooses to enforce or not enforce most of them.    

Hope the weather is great for the rest of your trip and have fun.

That's it, exactly.

 

Based on what I've seen, the problem is that there are guests using the Fort as a place to congregate and party- not to camp.  Over Thanksgiving weekend, there were a couple of large groups on the 2000 loop.  One of these groups had about ten sites.  Every one of those sites had a small U-Haul trailer on it in addition to multiple cars.  One site had two U-Haul trailers.  Why the Fort does anyone need a U-Haul trailer to tent camp?  These folks weren't there to camp.  They were there to party, and the tents were just there for them to sleep it off.

 

Looking at the bigger picture, the problem with a lack of consideration for others isn't confined to the Fort.  It is engrained in our society now.  One of the reasons that the comfort stations aren't as clean as they used to be is that people have become inconsiderate slobs who make messes and leave them for someone else.  It's not just at the Fort.  You can see it in the restrooms throughout Disney World or at your local mall or movie theater.  Also, have you noticed how there's more trash on the ground at the parks?  Disney used to be much more vigilant about picking it up.  And guests used to be much more considerate about making sure trash was properly thrown away.

 

If we lived in a society where people were considerate of others, none of the new rules the Fort has implemented would be necessary.  If the idiots in charge would enforce the rules, then maybe some of the inconsiderate guests would take their U-Hauls elsewhere.

 

TCD

Amen!!!

For the bath house Carol hit it on the head for the reasons we sometimes use them. Our hot water heater just cannot keep up with 3 showers.

Overall I am very happy with the Fort and will return, but it just wish Disney would enforce the rules they have in place. If not the good campers will not return and the bad campers will take over. In the end it really is the responsibility of the campers to be considerate of others. I know most of us are, but there will always be those that are not and is probably why the rules were put in place.

I agree there seemed to be a lot of cars at sites and tons of trailers and vehicles in the overflow lot. I assumed it was because it was a busy week, but I'm also not used to the new rule allowing two cars at the site.

They even setup another parking lot near the unhook area, complete with a big sign saying parking for the dinner show, I thought that was strange.

I was surprised to see a few campers sitting in the overflow lot for a days at a time, unhooked with no tow vehicle. Are they letting people leave them there and go on cruises? That would be awesome.

WBI

If the Redwood 5th wheel is still parked in the corner it will have been there over 1 weeks now! Of course it is a free for all parking style.

How often do you visit the Fort? The standard slid a long time ago.

The problem is that Disney makes no effort to enforce the rules, and everyone knows it.

Skateboards are not allowed in the Fort. But, I see them all over the place every time I'm there.

Only licensed drivers are allowed to drive golf carts. But you see kids driving them all the time.

Fires are only allowed in approved fire pits. The main rule is that the fire pit must have a solid cover on top. But, you can drive around every night and see campfires in all kinds of fire pits, including ones with no cover at all.

Supposedly, you can't keep a utility trailer at your site unless it fits on the pad, but you can go to the Fort right now and see trailers sitting off to the side or behind sites.

The latest is this stupid rule saying that holiday decorations need to be shut of by 10 pm. Some guests comply, but many don't, and have their lights and decorations up all night long.

Oh and quiet hours. What are those? Apparently they don't apply in the 2000 loop, where you will feel like you're at a Miami Sound Machine concert if you loop around there at 11 pm on a Saturday night.

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this, but the problem is that the managers in charge are a bunch of idiots. What's the use of having rules if they are really just suggestions?

TCD

We are usually at the Fort every couple of years. I agree with what you said as I witnessed all of what you mentioned. That is unfortunate. I still love camping there, but hate to see this.

We just got home from our trip to the Fort and had a great time, but wanted to share a few observations that concern me. I know there are many others who are at the Fort more often than us and can provide more input, but I was somewhat surprised at some of the stuff the Fort is allowing to happen.

We have always had good experiences, but on this trip over Thanksgiving I was surprised at the amount of sites with multiple tents, more than 2 cars, cleanliness of the bath houses and lack of any Disney patrols. It started when we pulled into the 1700 loop and could barely find our way through with all the cars parked right on the road. We only have a Jayco 29qbh travel trailer, but a couple of times I almost could not get by. The worst one happened to be our neighbors who had 3 cars parked on their site and a cart across the street right next to the road. They were all standing outside and saw me coming, but no one offered to move any vehicle. I actually had to drive off the road a little so I could angle my trailer to get by them. Once parked all was good with the site. As we walked around during the week I found many sites with more than 2 cars on the site and many had so many people on the site. Wish Disney would limit the total # of people on a site as 10 is way too many especially in the 1600 - 1900 loops.

On the first night a few sites down from us was having a "party" and had the music blaring and a wide open campfire going. Finally someone from Disney did drive by and shut them down, but it took a while! They were not the only ones who had open campfires! The rest of the trip was a little more quiet, but I found the bathhouses not as we'll maintained as I recall. Is this a cost savings measure? I know the rain did not help, but usually Disney keeps these these very clean. Also I never saw anyone patrolling the loops until the end of our trip. I know the Fort was packed for the Holidays, but I think Disney turned a blind eye especially due tot the parking lot being packed as well.

As I said we love the Fort, but am curious if Disney has let the standard slide.