michelb

Michelb

Are you able to share his contact information?

I'll ask him if he still has space - how big of a vehicle are you looking at storing?

We've been storing our motorhome in Florida during the winter for several years.  Rather than store it onsite or near a destination, we store it near the airport and when we fly in, we go to the motorhome and can head wherever we want to go.  The first few years we stored it near MCO, then we stored it near SFB but now we are storing it near PIE.  The first few years, I stored it at campgrounds but now we just store it at regular storage places that I found through Craigslist.

FWIW, I'm storing it in the large lot of a small garage (he stores about 1/2 dozen rvs, trailers and boats).  It's locked with 24 / 7 access.  We store our 40' mh, car and the tow dolly and pay $50 / month (he actually asked for $40/month but I offered him $50 because he receives packages for me every once in a while)  He also starts the car every couple of weeks.

I believe most dolly manufacturers say not to tow backwards but I heard of tons of people who do it.  I believe one catch is that you need to tie down your steering wheel straight.

The other option is to disconnect the driveshaft.  IMO, this sounds like a lot of work and I wouldn't want to do it but I've heard people say it only takes a few minutes.

What you have (i.e. Class A, TT, 5th wheel):  03 Tiffin Phaeton 40RH (class A diesel) usually pulling a car or minivan on tow dolly

If you're towing (so TT or 5th wheel) how heavy is it:  mh loaded for travel is probably around 26500 lbs, car and dolly adds another approx 5000 lbs

If you tow, what is your tow vehicle:

Gas mileage: avg fuel mileage since we got it in 2012/08 has been 7.7 mpg (1729 gallons to cover 13292 miles) but that includes fuel used for the generator (we usually camp without electrical hookups during the summer).  High is around 9.75 mpg, low is 2.5 mpg.  If I exclude fillups with significant gen use, I'm probably around 8.5 mpg.  Usually drive about 67 mph on interstates but will probably go as high as 72-75 mph if I want to get there by a certain time.   

Do you like it, love it or hate it (this applies to both the tow vehicle and what you're towing (or driving if Class A or C): We like the freedom travelling in a class A gives us (getting food / drinks and access to bathroom while driving, quick stop / go for food / rest / overnight breaks).  The mh is also very nice and luxerious and fully equipped.

If you'd like to make a change, change to what and why: We are 2 adults and 2 kids and 5W and bumper pulls have way better floorplans for families but we would rather not get a larger tow vehicle we'd need to tow it and have to drive that when we are parked so stay with the class A.  Towing a vehicle is kind of a pain especially with the dolly.  We could probably flat tow but we don't always use the same vehicle and neither of our cars (Toyota Sienna and Toyota Solara convertible) are flat-towable without modifications so it would be expensive to setup each of them so we make due with the dolly. 

FWI, we requested a loop when we booked (about 1 month before the trip) and got it.

As far as the internet connection, I belive AT&T has a good signal across DisneyWorld, in my experience, other providers (we have T-Mobile) do not and if you aren't with AT&T, it might be worth getting the modem and your own wireless router (I didn't bring a router this past trip but will in the future, it pretty much had no data with T-Mobile were we were in FW).

Like PureTcrazy...rita said, look at a map but I'm not sure you'll save a lot of (or even any) walking by being on a prefered site. Also as mentioned, be aware that it could be very hot in August in a tent.

Good luck

I think vehicle location has a lot to do with it.  I think cold and poor road conditions up North really beat up vehicles (e.g. I think a car / truck can easily last 200k miles in the Southern US but because of potholes, road salt, etc northern vehicles start falling apart after 100k miles).

If you don't have much experience driving large vehicles, practice in a large, empty parking lot.  Get a feel for how much room you need for taking corners (both left and right) or even turning around (you'll need to have a good idea when you get to gas stations).  When turning, pay attention to the back wheels of the trailer in your mirror so you get a feel of how deep / wide you have to take corners.

Speaking of gas stations, depending on how large of a trailer you got, find out exactly how tall you are and make sure you check for clearance at gas stations and lower bridges (a good idea is to simply write it down on a piece of tape and stick it on your dash, that way when you are driving, you don't need to think about it; if you see a sign that says " 10' 8"  " clearance, you just look down at your note rather than trying to remember how tall you are.

Definately not allowed your own watercraft (not even non-motorized).

Just as a follow up, we were at FW in the 1400 loop last week and since we were backing onto the river / canal (where the Bike Barn canoes / kayaks go) and happened to have our inflatable paddle board, I decided to take out on the water.

In the span of about 20 minutes, I had 2 different staff members (one when I paddled by the Bike Barn and the other chased me down on a bicycle as I was getting back to my site after having turned around) tell me that I was not allowed my own canoe, kayak or paddleboard on the waterway.

They said it's for safety reasons (obviously the waterway itself isn't the problem since guests can rent canoes and kayaks on it so it must be that they are concerned about having too many canoes / kayaks on it. I guess it's a bigger safety issue than all the golf cart violation (no lights, minors driving, overloaded, faster than max speed, disobeying road rules (driving wrong way, cell phone use while driving, off roadways and kart paths, etc), unauthorized karts, etc) and for environmental reasons (they didn't seem too concerned about all the garbage in the waterway or even the open sewers within a few feet of the waterway or guests washing their vehicle at campsites but were very concerned about possible cross contamination of the water from allowing other canoes & kayaks in it).

I agree that they need to control watercrafts in the lagoon and motorized watercraft access but I don't see why guests wouldn't be allowed their own non-motorized watercrafts on the canoe/kayak waterway.

We were really disapointed to hear about the changes to GAC program (my wife actually doesn't want to go back and wants to get a refund on the multi-day passes we purchased (but haven't yet used) - I'm trying to convince her that we should wait until we see how it works out).  Our son has autism and the GAC allowed us to enjoy Disney.

I'll admit that great part of the appeal and the biggest point of contention with the GAC is that it did shorten the wait time - while regular guests might have had to wait 30-45 minutes, guests with a GAC got to go one in 10-15 minutes.  But that doesn't mean that we got to go on rides all day long - a family with typical kids can often go to Disney from 9AM to 9PM or even longer - a family with a special needs child might only be able to go for 2 or 3 hours before the child needs to leave (whether it's because they get too tired or they can't deal with the crowds, noise or over-stimulation any longer, etc).  In our case, we have to deal with a lot of anxiety over rides and it's not over rides like the rollercosters, it's for rides like the PeopleMover, WinnyThePooh, PeterPan and It'sASmallWorld.  We'll often spend 10-15 minutes just looking at the ride before he'll agree to go on it, we'll often get to the boarding point and he'll decide he can't go on it (What would you do?  Pick up your child kicking, screaming and crying and put him on the ride (even if you know that once he's on it, he'll like it) - we don't do that even if a part of us thinks we should).   Last time we were at MK, we went through the line and got to front only to have my son decide he couldn't ride it on four or five occasions for BarnStormer (we never actually did ride it) and it took 3 attempts to make it onto Dumbo.

I've seen suggestions that maybe guest assistance like GAC should be limited to the special needs guest and a guardian but we like to go to Disney as a family.  Also we like that our 'typical' son, who has to miss out on alot because he has a brother with autism for once benefits from his brother.

I agree that the GAC wasn't necessarily always fair when viewed by others but for us, it allowed us to have a good day at Disney.  We deal with so much stuff throughout the year that it was great to just have a nice day.  How many 'typical' kids cry (not of happyness) when they arrive Disney and run back to monorail because they don't want to go or they can't deal with the noise or the lights, how many of them decide they've had enough after being there for an hour and are ready to go home?  How many times have you had to leave a lineup because your child can't stop pushing people away because they are too close or won't stop trying to hug them or can't stop touching the fabric on the shirt of the person in front of them or can't stop kicking and crying and rolling on the ground maybe hitting themselves with their hands or hitting their head on the ground because another ride is too loud or because there's a fly buzzing around or because a person close by is holding a balloon or for a reason you don't even understand. 

DisneyLand is proposing to get rid of Guest Assistance Cards for Special Needs Families in the near future.  If you are impacted negatively by this, I urge you to sign the petition at:

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/disneyland-discontinues?mailing_id=15444&source=s.icn.em.cr&r_by=8806270'>http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/disneyland-discontinues?mailing_id=15444&source=s.icn.em.cr&r_by=8806270

Spread the word.  Thanks,
Mike

We travelled from Orlando to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada when our youngest was about 8 weeks old (who doesn't travel particularly well) so it can be done. 

As long as you don't mind working around their schedule it's do-able but as everyone else has mentioned, it depends a lot on the child.  Also depends on when you want to drive - if you don't mind driving at night and the 7 month old (and all your other kids) sleep well, you can get alot of mileage done then.  I'm guessing that by '1-2 stops' you mean 'overnight stops'.  We do about that travelling from Canada but we also usually stop every few hours for snacks / meals / bathroom breaks / stretching our and their legs / etc with our now 8 and 3 yr old.  We also make heavy use of electronics - it used to be that we'd have the odd movie playing once in a while - now it seems that as soon as we leave for a long drive we put something on and don't turn it off until we arrive at our destination.  Also probably depends on what you are travelling in.

With a toddler, I'd plan on stopping every hour or two and I think you'd be doing well if you can do 400 mile / day so plan for at least 2 nights (unless you want to drive a lot at night).  Another factor is if you are breastfeeding - if you are, I believe you probably will have to stop more often than if bottle fed (I believe breastfed children often drink a bit less each time but more often).  If bottlefeeding you can probably feed your toddler in their car seat while driving but you will still have to stop to change them.

If it says R-Vision,,,, RUN!!!

 

They aren't in business any more, for a reason.

I agree that they aren't (weren't) the greatest manufacturer but I wouldn't be that harsh.  If you're spending $3-4k on an older unit, I don't think the brand name matters as as much as the condition of the actual unit.

Country Coach, Wanderlodge and Western Alpine are all also out of business and they all made very good quality products (Country Coach Corp is in business but it's not the same company as Country Coach Ltd (or whatever it was called).  It's a new company with a very similar name as the old one, that bought the assets of the old company and is run by the one of the founders of the old one)

Late coming in to this thread but thought I'd share my limited knowledge.

First, as you've seen and has been discussed in a lot of detail, unfortunately, all minivans are not very good tow vehicles because: 1) manufacturers don't really publish the numbers (just try to find the GCWR on them), 2) they have low tow ratings (I don't think any will tow more than 3500 - why they can't build a minivan that can tow 5000lbs or more is beyond me ...), and 3) there's tons of room so it's really easy to overload them without even considering the trailer.  We have a Sienna so are in the same boat; while I'd like to have a trailer, I can't tow the ones I like.  I don't want to trade it in for a SUV because 95% of the year, the minivan is a better option for us so if I really wanted a trailer (we have a class A in part because I can't get a trailer of the size I want and tow it with our minivan so instead we tow the minivan!), I'd consider just borrowing / renting a truck when I need to tow.

Second, based on how we use our motorhome, I don't think I'd be happy with a pop-up and I'd look at hybrids instead.  Tons of people own PUPs and I'm sure some people like them but they're not for me and I know several people that have moved from PUPs to larger trailers.

You're probably right that the timing of Easter makes a difference.  This year it's at the end of March so that might be busy.

We went to MK on Easter Day in 2011 (April 24th so pretty late for Spring Breaks) and I didn't find it all that busy.  In comparaison, we were also at MK on XMas day in 2012 and just walking through the park was hard. When we left for lunch / break around 2PM, the park was at capacity and we wouldn't have been able to come back in right away (didn't bother us since we were planning on going to the camper and pool for a few hours anyway - we ended up only returning around 6PM I think and were able to re-enter then).

We were there on Easter two years ago and I really didn't think it was that bad - nothing like XMas.

Not sure how easy / hard it is to get one of the Fort's modem.  We were last there in January and couldn't get one during the 3-4 days of our stay.

I can't see them being able to use any of what remains behind that fence- it is literally rotting away and disintegrating.  It would be cheaper to tear it all out and start over.

 

I can't imagine any of the current geniuses in charge approving a Fort expansion.  There's no way to work the numbers to justify using that prime piece of land for more campsites.

 

TCD

Wow, I had looked at some pictures a while back and had noticed lots of growth but hadn't realized it was in that sort of disrepair ... such a shame ...

You are probably right about Disney never using that land for a campground.  I wonder if they'll ever do any sort of expansion at the Fort (they certainly have the numbers to justify it but there might not be that much reason to actually doing it (by limiting the number of sites, it's probably much easier to justify premium prices they charge and pressuring people into early booking)).  Looking at an airial map of the area, looks like they have quite a bit of room to expand if they wanted to and could easily add some loops on either side of Frontier Way, in the land East of Big Pine Trail and maybe add another loop or two connecting to 1800/1900.

Thanks for the update.  Part of me is happy that the haven't torn it down since I'm always hoping deep down that they'll re-open it someday since it would be so convenient to bike from the Fort.

Realistically, I know that will never happen but it's such a shame to just let it sit and rot.  I wonder if there's any chance they'll ever expand the Fort in that direction and re-use some of it as another Fort pool.

Yeah, I really don't know how previous generations travelled without electronics !!!

We use to fight it and try to limit their video watching while travelling but now we've accepted that riding on the highway (particulary from the backseat)

for hours and hours really isn't all that interesting to kids and if it keeps them calm and happy to watch movies, we let them.  I figure the calmer they are, the less they'll distract me and I'll be safer on the road too.

We do try to change it up a bit: force them to get out at rest areas, play games like 'I spy ...' for a while, etc but eventually the movies will go back on.

Unfortunately, with rvs, there's a lot of compromises so you'll have see what works best for you.

IMO, the most important thing is the floorplan.  Granted a lot of floorplans are pretty much the same but, especially for families, there are differences.  For families, I think TT and FW have by far the most and best options.  As far as sleeping capacity, 'C's will probably be 2nd and 'A's last.  There are more and more options for 'A's with bunks but they are still pretty limited - the vast majority of 'A's are designed to accomodate 2.  There's always the option of sleeping on sofas and dinettes but to me that's not a good option if you need it all the time.  In comparaison, there are tons of TTs and FWs with 2 bedrooms and 2 or even 4 bunks so you can sleep 6 all in actual beds.  In addition to sleeping, you also need to be able to live in it - some floorplans will sleep 6 well but you can't sit 6 at the dinette or you don't have room to sit 6 to watch TV. 

Desire to have a vehicle to travel in the rest of the time is also something you need to think about.  We have an 'A' because we don't have a big enough vehicle to tow a decent trailer but that means that we often pull our car behind us or we have to limit where we go when we don't have the car.  Pulling the car is kind of a pain in the a**.  It's a hassle to hook up / disconnect, we have to deal with the dolly (because we don't flat-tow) and you can't back up.  Finding gas stations can be a challenge. 

Thanks for the headsup.  We decided to go ahead on order our multiple-day no expiry tickets from Undercover Tourist since their prices haven't gone up yet. 

For 10-day, no expiry, hopper and water park, the increase is still pretty significant (+ $21 on the days, + $5 on the Hopper & water park and + $50 on the no expiry for a $76 increase)

Sadly, campground has increased a bit as well.

I'm pretty sure my wife asked last time we were there and she was told we were allowed to use the pool at any of the other Disney Hotels / Resorts.

When we were last there in January, we had reserved full hookup but they were overbooked in that section so 'upgraded' us for free to premium.  We ended up in 1400 (which is my favorite loop). 

The ironic part is that I had checked on multiple times to see if I could reserve premium but I never got any availability so kept my full hookup reservatiosn and when we got in 1400 it was almost empty ...

One thing we noticed about the overflow is that there isn't that much room in it. We were there in mid-January (not particularly busy at the Fort) and there was not much free space in the overflow. We probably had to wait at least 30 minutes for someone to leave before we were able to find a spot.

This was around check-out time so it's very possible that it's not as busy in the morning since they don't allow overnight but they do allow leaving trailers so it might not be that much better (it might actually be worse).