trish321

Pre Trip

Well after I swore I would never go camping with friends again…I’m going camping with friends again.  Go ahead, laugh.

It didn’t start out that way.  Initially it was just going to be me, my daughter and my husband.  But my husband didn’t have such a great time on his first camping trip (ended up sleeping in the truck because he was cold) so he said he wasn’t going.  My daughter and I did a secret little happy dance because we knew it would be more relaxing without him…he is high maintenance. 

Then my daughter let it slip one day to her friend that we were going camping again.  Next thing I know I get a text from the mom asking if they can share the site.  Yes, these are the same people we brought with us the first time. 

The vegetarian.  Her 2 kids, one of which hit my daughter on the head with that plastic hammer thingy that you pound in the tent stakes with on our first day…sigh. 

But finances have been tight lately…so against my better judgment (and after she offered to pay for not only half of the site and half of the golf cart, but archery for all of the kids)…I said ok.  I can be bought.

This time there will be rules…and guidelines…and certain conditions that must be met this time.  First, she MUST buy a new tent, not the one she brought last time that was missing pieces and took 3 hours to put up and had to be tied to a tree so it would stand.  Second, she must set up all of her equipment beforehand to make sure it is all there and working and not broken.  Third, her son may NOT hit my daughter with a hammer.  Fourth, she must make a list and bring everything on it…no more forgetting the necessities.  Lastly, I will be taking pictures and posting them online this time, so if you don’t want your angels to be on the internet, keep them out of my shots!  Is any of this too much to ask?

Time goes by and my stepson calls, he is coming to visit…hooray!  Wait, he is coming while we are camping.  So I ask him, would you rather spend the time at home with your dad…or with the fun crowd (us) camping?!  He wants to camp. 

Well, my friend met the first condition I set forth and bought a new tent.  It is a Walmart version of the instant tent.  She even water-proofed it (I made her send me photographic proof).  So that means that my stepson is going to borrow her old broken tent…whoopee!  That’s ok because I am absolutely not going to forget my margaritas this time so all will be well. 

She also met my second condition and checked her equipment, which resulted in her meeting my fourth condition and the weird list below:

We will find out what happens with condition #3

Once I told my husband that his son was coming with us…he decided he would try to come too.  Oh boy…this is getting crowded.  He doesn’t get to see his son often so will compromise…he will come over after work for 1 night…it’s a big step for him.

So we went from 2 people to 7 in a matter of days.  The more the merrier?  I guess we’ll find out.  We are all packed up and ready to go (we leave on Thursday morning).  My friend is out shopping right now, hopefully she finds everything on her list (I think). 

I'm in! 

 

If it's saying the extension isn't allowed, I have a guess... You're typing in Word and copying into this window. Right click and take the blue hyperlink off. Then you should be able to post pictures. 

Thank you!  That fixed it.

Yay!  I can see your photos.

 

So that's mold/mildew inside that tent?  Gross.  Shame on Disney.  That is one of the new model rental tents. They obviously took it down and stored it when it was wet.   They should not expect a guest to stay in that.  You should have called and asked for a new tent.

 

TCD

Yes, that was mildew...pretty gross.  Glad I wasn't sleeping in there.  I guess we just figured that was how they were, didn't even think to ask for a new one.  It did stay dry, but it didn't have very good ventilation.  For the price I felt like the few extra bucks it would have costed to buy a small tent would have made things more comfortable for her. 

Just trying to get the pictures in here...

We are going back to the Fort!  You may have read about my previous trip here in my trip report titled:  Pre and Trip Report: First time tent campers 8/17 - 8/19

If you are the kind of person who likes to watch people repeat mistakes over and over and laugh at them, you might want to go ahead and read that first.

After our first tent camping experience at Fort Wilderness in August of 2012 we went back again in August of 2013 but with less people (and less drama).  Our 2013 trip was me, my daughter who was 10 and my mother (I know, I know).  My mother rented a tent from Fort Wilderness.  It was kind of gross and moldy, but she knew this would be a onetime thing for her and she didn't want to buy a tent.    

Here a couple of pictures of that nasty thing:

.

Like I said, there was less drama this time, but it definitely wasn't as much fun.  I didn't bother writing a trip report about this, but here is a quick summary:  My mom didn't want to participate in any of the activities we did (swimming, fishing, going to the parks, smiling) so she mostly just demanded we drive her back and forth in the golf cart between the table she took over at the pool and our site so she could cook or clean.   We had lots of food, and a VERY clean site…The end. 

So now it is 2014 and we are feeling the camping bug again.  Actually we leave in a few days.  So coming up next is my actual pre trip report…

What size hook is best?  We have only rented poles in the past and never paid much attention.  Now the kids have their own poles and want to fish with those.  Thanks!

Hi All

If we did a long weekend of camping at the Fort over the 10/5 weekend...would we be too early to see a bunch of Halloween decorations?  What about the haunted hayride thing...I hear it might be coming back?

Thanks!

I can't use a cover, because of the salt...sheesh...! There are "Rangers" there? I never saw one...I don't think.

I need a golf cart because when I try to ride my bike to the pool, my margarita spills all over me and is pretty much empty by the time I get there.

Ya I agree about the other board. But it was pretty helpful for me and I found some useful info (and pictures!) there when I was deciding if we could pull off tent camping or not...so I wanted to post it there too for the people (lurkers) like me.

Plus, this site wasn't easy to find!

Trish-

Again, great job on this report.

And thanks for posting the same report in two places, because it clearly illustrates something which I think should be important to you and anyone else new to camping at the Fort.

This site, fortfiends.net, is the authority for all things related to Fort Wilderness. And, I think it is way more friendlier than any other Disney related site.

For those reading along who don't know what I'm talking about, Trish also posted her trip report over on a site that claims to be "the internet's largest and friendliest Disney community." The exact same report posted on two different sites. It would be interesting to see what kind of response was received from each, right?

Here on FF.net, as of today, 975 people viewed the report, and there were 70 replies.

Over there, as of today, 1221 people viewed the report, but there were only 15 replies. Fifteen. One Five. And, most of those replies were from poor old Trish, who was basically talking to herself over there.

Maybe that other place is large, but it sure ain't friendly!

TCD

That's ok....I am old...just ask my kid...or my back!

TCD, did you just call Trish old? Remember we want her to come back here often and hang out with us. After all she did point out to us a very important lesson. Bacon is a vegetable!

That sounds a lttle scary! Maybe a group...but I am kind of put off by that right now. Thanks for the review!

We camped at Lion Country Safari for the weekend about a year ago when we had our TT. The waking up to the lions rumor is true. Here is my review:

Cant beat the prices.100 bucks for the weekend, and that includes two days for four guests to the park. And the park includes the drive through area, which is awesome, as well as the park and walk amusement area, which includes rides, feed the giraffes, water park, feed the birds, etc. We had a blast.

We live down here, so it was a local weekend for us. For 100 bucks, there is NOTHING better you can do. The only down side: the campsite was empty. There were two other camps there that looked temporary, the other 20 were permanent. In a bad way. There were another 100 or so sites that were empty. It was a little creepy. If you can get over that, then the pool was decent and the park was great! would I tent camp there? Prob not. We are tent campers now and I don't know that a. I would feel safe and b. that I would enjoy sitting outside. In a tent, that is kind of the point, sitting outside and only going in to sleep. Outside here is not so great. If you had a group to go with, like a couple of sites, then that might fix it. They had some koa cabins there that looked cute.

Well we are Florida natives, so I really think the heat isn't such a big deal for us sometimes. I was never uncomfortable (except for being cold in the tent at night). The temps were normal and a bit rainy so the humidity was definately up.

This is the first trip report I've read on this forum :o. Love hearing about just plain ole camping at FW. You didn't mention the heat at all! I am a whimp when it comes to heat and humidity and I wanted some justification for not camping at FW in the summer. Sounds like you were comfortable, was the weather unusual for this time of year?

Day 3

We woke up around 7:30 and really wanted to go have a relaxing breakfast at Trail’s End before packing up our site. I knew our camping buddies wouldn’t want to go there due to the prices so we tried to…be…very…quiet as we headed off to the showers.

When I got back, DH was back already and the camping buddies were awake. They decided we would be going off property to a cheaper buffet for breakfast. This was really the last straw for me and the moment that I decided we wouldn’t be sharing a site with anyone else in the future. DH felt like since we were there with them…we should do things together. I would normally agree, but I knew our camping buddies had special eating needs and also were on a different budget than we were…so I thought we had settled all of that pre-camping.

So after watching our still sleepy camping buddies wander aimlessly around the site for over an hour we all pile in DH’s truck and we found a Golden Corral. I have to admit it was pretty amusing watching 3 kids eat nothing but stuff covered in chocolate. Oh and the 5yo also had about 5lbs of bacon, I didn’t know bacon was a veggie either…but now I know and will be eating more of it.

The down-side to this thing (besides the stomachaches) was we had to rush to pack up to get out of our site by the 11:00 check-out. Our camping buddy asked what would happen if we were late…would they charge us? Well…they might charge ME…because it is MY credit card they have…so how about we just get it done? DH helped our camping buddies while DD and I took care of our stuff.

It was definitely not as much fun tearing down as it was putting up!! But I have to tell you again how awesome that tent it. It’s just as easy to take down as put up…and it just rolls up and fits right back into the bag. My one complaint about the sites is the shells/sand that they use for the tent pads. It gets everywhere…no matter what you do to try to keep it under control. We pulled out at 11:15.

It was turning into a really nice, sunny day. We implied we were heading home since we had work/school the next morning. Instead we spent some much needed family time over at the All Star Music.

All in all I thought camping was really fun, and way more comfortable than I thought it would be. I think the family agrees. We will be buying an additional tent so that next time DD can just bring a friend (or maybe grandma, since she is now interested in going after hearing about the trip). I would also like to go for a longer period of time as it seemed like we were always on the move and never really got to relax much.

Someone from work told DH about a campground by Lion Country Safari near West Palm and we are thinking about doing that soon. They say you wake up to the roars of the Lions…sounds pretty cool! Anyone been there?

Since Trish said she was short on photos, I am going to take the liberty of posting one for her.

Thanks for the picture...that's it!

I love your report! It almost makes me want to plan a tent trip. Almost. We still do it, but mostly in the winter months as a family, then my son who is a Scout has to tent so no choice there. Though I pretty much let my husband go on those. Very interesting to hear how chilly you were! Wow did you luck out there. So many of my friends squint their nose when they ask me, "you camp?" What they don't know is, I "glamp". With the a/c and all the comforts of home! But, at the fort even sleeping in a tent isn't exactly roughing it with those awesome comfort stations!

Though we've only tried TE a couple of times over the hundred times we've been to the Fort, I remember how I didn't like having to hover around and check on your order when doing take out. People give you the stink eye like you're cutting the line or something. Did the pagers work well in your opinion?

You're a saint for putting up with your vegan, ill-prepared camping pal. Sounds like you made the best of it and still had a blast.

FP4

The pager was good. I wish I knew its range though. When I got it and they said 20 minutes, I drove back tot he pool in the golf cart to get the others. I doubt it would work at that distance. We had just pulled into the little cart lot when it started going off...so I don't know if they just set it off or if I just got back into range.

Awesome Report!

A vegatarian drinker? Seriously? I didn't know those two worlds collided.

Ya, actually I think she may consider alcohol a veggie...which is pretty much the only reason we get along...well that and our kids are friends.

Loving the TR!! And I must say you are a better person than I am for letting the "buddies" tag along. Hell, there are times I don't even want my husband along on my camping trips let alone some rookie vegetarian and her offspring. LOL!

Can't wait for more!!

:lmao1:

Enquiring Lush minds want to know: What did you order to drink at the Contemporary?

Ya I know what you mean...it won't happen again...I was too chicken to say "no", but it's another lesson learned.

I had something called a Pomegranate Splash, the picture looked good and it was strong. DH stuck with a Bud Light and the vegetarian ordered a Pina Colada, I think.

Day 2

Day 2 started at about 3am when I noticed DH was no longer in the tent with us. I figured either a bear ate him, he checked into a Holiday Inn Express or was in the truck. Whatever…what this meant for me was an extra blanket! I pulled DD onto the queen bed with me and now we had an extra blanket and slept well for the rest of the night.

The real morning started out around 7:30. We woke up to the sun shining and the birds chirping. Yeah! We made it through our first night of camping! We all went to shower and when we got back our camping buddies were up. DH, DD and I decided we would check out the Trail’s End take out for breakfast. I didn’t even know they did this, read it online recently…maybe it’s new? Our camping buddies ate Lunchables for breakfast. Not sure what veggie Lunchables are…but what do I know.

We got a blueberry muffin, a cinnamon roll, a bagel sandwich with no cheese (yet for some reason it had cheese on it), and potatoes. We sat at a picnic table by the playground and split everything. I thought it was all pretty decent for the price. The kids played…the kids fought…we decided it was time to move on.

We went and checked out the ponies, the girls were too big to ride and the boy was too scared so we went on and checked out the big horses. We pretended not to speak English and petted some of them…it was fun and nobody got bit. Then we rode around and checked out some of the other areas. We saw the dog park…it looks very nice…but there were no dogs playing. Our tent wrecking dog will never play there either because he is a BAD BOY!

DH got a Disney gift card for his birthday so he decided to use it to rent a golf cart…he loves those things. But he was so jealous of the private ones and all their decorations! I see one of those in our future.

The weather started getting bad so we decided to drive over to All Star Music (where we usually stay) and play in the game room, have lunch and let the kids do some of the poolside activities that they move into the food court when it rains. Our camping buddies got bored because they were too shy to play any of the games…but DD won a rubber ducky at Disney trivia so we didn’t care and they had to suffer through it with us.

Our camping buddies mentioned that they would like to check out some of the deluxe resorts so we went back to the campground then took the boat over to the Contemporary and had a nice drink at the Outer Rim bar while the kids played in the game room. The waitress took our drink order and then asked us if we’d like “something to eat”. I said, “Oh, do you have a menu, I didn’t know you served food?”. She said, “No, we don’t serve food. We have bowls of crackers and nuts.”. Ahhh…bar kibble…yes please. I just thought it was weird how she asked if we wanted something to eat.

Then we took the boat to the Wilderness Lodge where we checked out the lobby and grounds. It’s very pretty to look! We were going to take the boat back to the Fort but there was a huge line of people waiting to get to the Hoop Dee Doo, so we decided to find the walking/riding trail that I read about that goes between the Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness. The concierge gave us a little map and off we went. It wasn’t a bad walk at all…very pleasant. Would do it again.

When we got back we went to the pool again for awhile. Then we all started to get hungry. I went back to the Trail’s End take out and ordered chicken meals for my family because the camping buddies wanted to eat PB&J that they brought. They gave me a restaurant style pager and said it would be 20 minutes…I was a little surprised it would take so long, but no biggie. DD and I waited for the food and DH took the camping buddies back to the campsite to make their dinner. It took them forever…so they missed the Electric Water Pageant but DD and I got to see it. It was one of the highlights of the trip…I love that silly show and so does DD, plus a little alone time with her was nice.

They got back in time to watch the fireworks (no music…I thought they piped in the music?). Then we went driving around looking at all the other campsites. That was a lot of fun and probably DH’s favorite part…he’s a lights guy…he’s like Clark Griswold in Christmas Vacation. Look out Fort Wilderness!

Went back to the campsite for another round of showers and more dominos. This night we got brave and didn’t put the canopy over the tent. It didn’t rain and everything stayed dry. I closed 3 sides of the tent and this kept us a little warmer but we were still cold. DH made it through the night though so that was good!

Arrival and Day 1

DD and I cut school and work on Friday so we could get an early start. DH was going to come after work with everyone’s bikes. The plan was for DD and I to set up our site, and be chilling by the pool with a cold one waiting for DH when he got there around 4:00. Ahhh…what is the saying…”the best laid plans…”…ya unfortunately that was us.

We were packed up and left the house at 10:30, we stopped by our camping buddies house since they had never been there and wanted to follow us.

Now DD and I are totally new to camping but we had practiced, plus the family that came with us has been camping tons of times (so we were lead to believe), so we felt pretty good. We checked in with no line by 11:30. I did the online check in and requested something close to a comfort station, thinking it would be good with the 3 kids. It only took a couple of minutes and we were off to site 64 in the 2000 loop. It was located directly across the street from the comfort station. I started to have second thoughts about that location…but really it was perfect. There wasn’t too much noise or too much foot traffic.

The comfort station itself was impressive. Very clean. DD loved the acoustics (sorry for any of you who had to endure her shower singing!). The ice machine was out of order so I called the front desk and demanded an upgrade to the Grand Floridian…that wasn’t happening so instead I made it up to myself and parked 2 cars instead of the allowed 1 at our site. I felt better.

We all started unloading and setting up. Things were going as planned! DD set up our tent, fixed it all up inside, set up the easy up canopy…then started making a small list of all the things we forgot. We do this no matter what. Luckily DH always comes later so we can text our list to him and he can bring all the stuff we forgot. Let’s see…forgot pillows, forgot DD’s stuffed animal, forgot the 2^nd fan, forgot DD’s Disney gift card, and most importantly forgot the container of margaritas that I made up before we left!

So we have all of our stuff set and I turn around and our camping buddies have what appears to be a large sheet of yellow tarp splayed all over and various flimsy sticks they are trying to feed through guides…”trying” is the key word. They tell me that this is their tent. DD look at each other and laugh. Turns out that they REALLY have only been camping once with this tent and she didn’t even put it up herself, someone else did. So much for my grand plan. There were no instructions and it was it was around 2:30 when we realized she was missing parts of that tent. Then she pulled out the air mattress she brought for her kids and there was a gaping hole in it. I guess she didn't think to try this stuff out before we left...sigh. So she borrowed my duct tape (she forgot that too) and tried to patch it...and using my extension cord (oops, forgot that too) it semi-inflated.

Now don't get me wrong, I know I forgot a bunch of stuff too...but I have DH to fall back on...I can count on him...every time! Right?

I was pretty annoyed and sat down to take a break and to text DH the “forgotten list” when his truck pulls up in front of our camp site. What?! He NEVER gets there early! My margaritas! The horror! After being revived, I realized it was good he was there because he is really good at jury rigging and he would be able to get her dumb tent up…while I went to the liquor store. Two crises averted.

The kids learned the lay of the land on their bikes while the adults did the important stuff (tent building and liquor buying). All the kids really loved being able to ride everywhere…apparently they found one of the stores as was apparent by the Mickey bar ring around the 5yo’s mouth.

We were ready to hit the pool. We didn’t plan on going to any of the parks this weekend, just wanted to hang out at the campground. The kids showed us a nifty little shortcut between the 2000 loop and the 900 loop that came out pretty close to the main pool. We were able to walk or ride to the pool in just a few minutes. Wow is that a crowded pool! It was even sort of a rainy day and still the pool was packed. I’ve heard that the locals like to crash this pool and apparently it’s true…but I don’t get why…it’s a hassle to get to the pool, they’d have to take a bus and all that.

Tonight is the night we planned to cook at the campsite so when I heard thunder rumbling in the distance I decided I better go ahead and get the grill going before the deluge. The grill was pretty clean but I had brought some disposable grill liners so our meat wouldn’t touch our camping buddies’ veggies since the mom is a vegetarian. Thoughtful, huh? Anyway the grill was just right for what we needed and the food was good. I set up the easy up canopy over the picnic table and we sat there and ate while it poured rain…hoping the new tent wouldn’t flood like some of the reviews said it would.

The rain stopped and I checked the tent. Dry as a bone…whoopee!

Things were good. We went to the campfire and movie, watched a little of “Finding Nemo” and the kids were on a smores sugar high. Went back to the campsite and played some dominos before going to bed.

Now you have to remember, this is the first time DH or me have ever slept in a tent. We had a queen air mattress for us and a twin for DD. We used sheets and blankets from home and the pillows I bought at Wal-mart when I made my liquor run. I was afraid that it would rain and I wanted to leave the tent windows open for air so we moved the canopy over the tent and it fit just right. There was a light rain that night but everything stayed dry. It was pretty humid, and we were COLD. I ended up turning the oscillation off on the fan and aiming it at the ceiling…that made it tolerable for me and DD, but DH was still cold so he went and slept in the truck!

I read on one of the boards that someone suggested a portable heater for a tent…in Florida…in August. People thought that poster was nuts. But now I can totally see how it could cut down on the humidity a little and also keep people like us warm. I’m just wondering if we will ever be able to comfortably camp in other seasons and be warm.

Thanks for the welcome everyone!

I wish I had more pictures but most of them have all the kids in them and our camping buddies don't want to be on the internet (or maybe they don't want to be seen on the internet with US...who knows).

This whole experiment started in June when my DD(9) told us she is the only kid in her class that has never been camping. The conversation went like this:

Me: “Of course you’ve been camping, remember when you had a sleepover on the air mattresses out in the screen room? Oh! And we stayed in the cabins at Fort Wilderness a few times. Rented a golf cart, ate marshmallows…”

DD: “That is NOT camping! You have to rough it (you’ll see that “roughing it” is a little different in our family)…in a tent. And ride bikes. And cook on the grill.”

Me: “Oh, well, your father’s not going to like that."

Well she is an only child and daddy’s little girl, so he’ll endure whatever for her. Neither of us have ever been camping either, so I talked to some friends and read all the message boards I could, to see what it was all about. Hmmm…sounds like fun…AND we can do it at Disney! We live about 45 minutes away so if things get really bad, we could go home.

Of course we have no equipment so we had to start there. I thought of renting stuff, but I was really thinking that we might like this. We go quite often over to Disney for weekend trips and usually stay at a value resort…this camping thing could save me money (haha!). So I did some research and decided on this (the tent on the right, more about the tent on the left later):

It’s a Coleman Instant tent (for a VERY close group of 6). I seriously had my doubts about DH liking the whole camping experience so I wanted to get something that I could put up by myself. I’ve heard horror stories of it taking HOURS to put up a regular tent…and it scared me! This tent is awesome, I could go and on about it but won’t unless anyone has any questions.

I also got one of those easy up canopies and some large Rubbermaid containers for our stuff. Oh and a Coleman Extreme cooler, highly recommended…man stuff stays frozen in there…I was shocked. Plus I bought all the other miscellaneous stuff you need over the months of June and July.

DD and her friends took the tent out to the backyard for test run a couple of times. I sprayed it with a hose. I tried to scare them by making bear noises. They still thought it was great. DD was ready to camp. Reservations were made and we were READY!

Or so we thought. One night the girls were sleeping in the tent and our dog decided he missed DD. He jumped on the tent and clawed his way through the mesh window in the door and jumped in with them. So now I have to figure out how to fix this mess. You can see in the photo that the screen on the door is a different color than the other other screen...that's my repair. A nice old lady at our local fabric store sold me some mesh and told me what to do. It took me 2 weeks and much cursing...I'm NOT crafty.

Somehow along the way a friend asked is she could share our site with her 2 kids (9 and 5). She said she has been camping many times and it'll be great! Errr...ok...I guess that would be alright. The sites are certainly big enough for 2 tents, right? And the kids get along great...right? Well...we'll see I guess.

August rolled around and we now have everything we need, plus it's DH’s birthday…time to go camping! But wait…it’s mid-August…and Florida. I’ve read the all the boards, it would be completely insane to go camping now.

But we are 3 Floridians…we like HOT…we're used to the heat...and we have a fan…and there’s a pool to cool down in…no sweat, right? <--- Pun intended!