bdm

http://www.insidethemagic.net/2016/05/walt-disney-world-to-overhaul-parking-at-the-magic-kingdom-possible-new-entrance-for-hollywood-studios/

This is the story i read about this.  seems possible. 

1 hour ago, Mrs.TN22 said:

We disliked 600 - 

I've never heard of anyone that liked the 600 loop due to lack of shade i think.

1st, welcome aboard.   Lots of good people with good advice here.

2nd Congratulation on making the move to a camper and out of a tent.  Having a real roof, hot and cold running water make "roughing it" more tolerable.

My wife and I have a 2 year old that we take camping 50+ nights a year.  I've camped at the fort long before the wife came around but haven't been to the fort with the family, that happens this fall.

There are indeed size differences with moving to a more expensive site, also you get concrete instead of a sand surface.  All full hookup sights provide power, water, sewage, Cable TV, and Internet.  

We travel in a 38' fifth wheel so size is one of our contributing factors in choosing the sites we choose.  The other, is location of the loop.  We spend most of our days at the Magic Kingdom so we want to be close to the boat docks so we have a shorter walk, bike, bus ride.

Meal plan...

This is 100% personal preference.  When we stay at a resort we tend to always get a meal plan.  I like it because when I get home I dont get a credit card bill with hundreds of dollars of food purchases.  So i'm left with only great memories from the trip.  With our upcoming trip we talked long and hard about the meal plan and opted to get it this time too.  Our thought was if we want to get in the park early we could do a snack in the park for breakfast then a full sit down lunch.  Then on the way back to the camper get some chicken dinners to take back to the camper so no one has to cook.  We do plan on doing some cooking, but its vacation so we don't want to cook every day.  

I will say having a bike with a child's bike seat, or trailer is a MUST.  Getting from loop to locations can be a hassle via bus but an adventure on the bike.  Our son turned 2 in October and we camp a lot with him and hes always excited for a ride.  I'll be excited once hes old enough to keep up on his own bike.

I-75 North from the Ohio River for about 20 miles.  They are currently ripping the road out completely and replacing the road bed and road surface.  Until thats done its old rough road with large potholes and quick lane changes.  Its gotten so bad they have reduced the speed limit to 45 through the whole stretch.

Last time at Disney my son was 14 months old. We use a very small messenger style bag (not a diaper bag) it held a change of cloths, a few diapers, snacks and the all important Binky.   

It was really easy to carry and wasn't in the way at all.  For a stroller we used our Bob stroller.  

Our every day diaper bag is a backpack style that is made by Columbia and i really like it too.

For me the most important thing is not to over pack for a day in the park.  Most 2 year olds cant do 8 or 10 hours so plan for 4 or 6 hours of need because at some point they are going to crash and need downtime. 

I just read about Disney moving the rope drop show to the castle stage.  This is terrible.  I will say it was getting a bit crowed waiting for the show and people would get a bit pushy going through the tunnel, but if you had to move it just move it to the other side of the train station where its still on main street..

Oh Disney, do traditions mean nothing to you!!

Camping, to me, seem very unique in that there are no real class boundaries.  My wife and I are considered middle class, maybe upper middle class but in now way Rich.  We've camped at some very very nice RV resorts where our Fifthwheel was by far the skid row of the park and everyone seemed very friendly.  We've also camped at some state parks that most trailers and campers were 15+ years old and everyone was friendly.

That not to say that we've never run across someone who just isn't social, and if they happen to be in a six figure class A its easy to chalk it up to them being Stuck up, but you just never know whats going on and its easy for me to assume they are stuck up.  

Take what you have, pack it up and have a great time.  You'll fit in just fine UNLESS you wear something anti Disney... 

2 hours ago, 3/5th Wheel said:

I have looked at the Pullright & the B&W hitches. I am convinced I need one that slides - automatically. Now, to just convince the wife that I need to spend the extra. ha!

My 2500 Ram has a 6' 4" bed and our Keystone has the corners cut back and I've never had to slide my hitch.  In and out of fuel stops its never an issue, the only time it becomes an issue is when you are trying to back into a tight camping spot that goes up hill. and have to get the trailer near 90* to the truck, and I try really hard not to do that because I don't wanna damage the trailer axles or tires. 

My B&W is setup to be as far forward as possible, the uprights are flipped on mine moving the pin about 2 inches closer to the cab, and still never been close to hitting the cab.  Most of the pictures and videos of people popping windows with a 5er are the older box type ones.  Most modern 5ers are designed for short bed trucks and give enough clearance for normal driving conditions.  

The 3 years we've owned our camper i've slid the hitch back maybe 4 or 5 times because i was concerned with the parking angle.  Its always been in a campground or trying to park it in the storage facility, never when driving or in parking lots or gas stations.

On 12/30/2016 at 8:23 PM, keith_h said:

Doesn't seem to make a difference one way or the other.

That is the thing that gets me and I bring it up every time they call me. Since they are looking at locations where I use my card you would think they could write an algorithm that recognizes my gas purchases on the way down and they fact that I have lodging charges for that same night in Florida. It should be pretty straight forward to code as the mapping stuff as it already exists for stuff like GPS, MapQuest/Google maps and the auto company tracking stuff (i.e. Onstar, etc). 

Agree they should be able to find a simple fix.  

But shop owners in Florida know its an ongoing problem and are very laid back about it

We have a short bed Ram 2500 with the B&W companion slider 5er hitch and I love it.  I'm sure just about any hitch will do but when I messed up the B&W hitch I called them explained what happened and they shipped me a replacement lower part of the hitch for free, no questions asked.

If you ever have to call for support you get a real person on the phone and when they transfer you to a tech is someone that knows the product and probably designs or builds it because they know it inside and out and are not reading from a script.

2 hours ago, keith_h said:

Mine gets shut down on the first attempt to use it in Florida. It has just become part of the ritual of being blocked, waiting for the call from the credit union and getting it reset.

Every time I travel to Fl my amx gets shutdown after the 2nd or 3rd charge.  They call, ask if I'm making purchases in Fl.  It even happens if i call them and tell them I'm traveling to Fl.  

They tell me Florida is the #1 location for credit card fraud.  They say this, but then never question a $3500 charge for Disney....

This year wasnt and epic year for me and my lights, I got them out, tested them and never got a single strand hung out   these pictures make me feel like such a slacker.

On 12/13/2016 at 0:54 PM, Tri-Circle-D said:

 

Uh, you can't walk to the MK from the GF.

The canal they park the EWP boats in is in the way.

TCD

The wife just corrected me we walked to the Polly from Gf, and walked to MK from contemp.  

A mind is a terrible thing to waste

On 12/13/2016 at 0:54 PM, Tri-Circle-D said:

 

Uh, you can't walk to the MK from the GF.

The canal they park the EWP boats in is in the way.

TCD

There is a side walk that goes from gf to mk.  It crosses the canal at Florida Ave then heads back to bay lake.  I've made the walk several times.  It has pathway lights for evening walks

an hour.. dang..

Thats why I always liked the GF it has a nice walk way to the MK..

How long do you estimate it takes to get from the MK gate back to the fort?

In past trips with the youngster we stayed at monorail resorts and would leave MK around 11 go to the resort for lunch and nap time.  

The backstage park to park transport is silly.  Disney would be much better to create something like an uber for resort guests IMHO

We tow a 12,000lbs fifth through Tenn all the time.  Our 2012 Ram with a diesel will slow our truck and trailer down to about 45mph on the steepest hills along I-75 and I-40 with no break input.  

Going I-40 from Ten to NC that is some of the twistiest-est highway and steep i've ever driven.  Twice i got the feeling of tail wagging the dog, and just gave a little manual trailer break to help keep everything aligned.   

I think you'll find that with the engine break, and the trucks controle of the gears will keep you at a very safe and reasonable speed.  Like it was mentioned before, follow the big rigs and make sure to give them some room.  There's not need to overtake going up or down a mountain, the extra 2 or 3 minutes arnt worth the effort. 

My son is 2 now and our last trip was to Bay Tower, for a week.  We always plan on 3 days in, 1 day out.  Our days in the park are early in then back to resort for lunch, followed by a 2 hour nap then back into the park for the evening until dinner.  

I think the best bet is to plan for some down time.  Your kids are much older and may not need a break in the middle of the day and 8 or 10 hours at a theme park is a lot for anyone to do 3 days in a row with out time to recover. 

4 minutes ago, LONE-STAR said:

Well to be honest I started buying diesel trucks before they became stupid expensive. But it let me build  equity in my truck and it has continued to carry from one truck to the next. So my truck note isn't that bad.

This is very true, i was just giving an example of cashing out that equity.

23 hours ago, LONE-STAR said:

But when you trade your truck in that $9,000.00 option is the main thing still giving it value.

True, but if you trade it for a new diesel your paying a super premium.

Thats super cool, thumbsup

It pains me to read threads like this.  I wonder do these same people go to the GF or Polly and shout in the lobbies?  Do they run up and down the halls at 12:00?  Why is it Ok to act the fool at a campground, but not a hotel resort? 

I've been very lucky in my camping experience to never be in a uncomfortable situation with a neighboring site.  My family isn't a loud family we don't play music outside hardly watch any TV while camping and don't have an outside TV.  I never really have a problem with people being "loud" before 10pm, after 10 is quite time in my book, mostly because I've been sleeping for 2 hours. 

On 11/28/2016 at 2:25 PM, twiceblessed....nacole said:

Thanks for the input.  I entered the wrong mileage above... it's actually around 154k,   After having a diesel to pull, I'm not sure that we'd ever consider a gas truck.  The power of the diesel is just too nice.   Yes, the maintenance is more no question.  However, the ability to pull and not feel it is priceless; especially with as many trips as we run.  Now... we haven't tried towing with a 1 ton gas truck, so maybe it's a fair comparison however...not sure how we can even try to compare without actually buying the truck (don't imagine a dealership is going to let us hook up our rig and tow it a few hours into the mountains, but who know..maybe I'm wrong on that?). 

I agree if you can afford the purchase price and maintenance the diesel is the best option for stable reliable power.  We are in a similar boat, my wife wants a larger 5er and would need to upgrade to a 1 ton to have enough payload to tow it and looking new its a $9,000 upgrade for the diesel option