ependydad...Doug

Grand 1 Yacht, totally out of my price range. :-)Are the fireworks cruises priced per person or total for the boat?Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

For the boat (it holds 8-10 comes with soda and bagged chips). I think we paid $300ish? Let me look

That's about what they're advertising. Ok, so it's per boat. :) Thanks.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Grand 1 Yacht, totally out of my price range. :-)

Are the fireworks cruises priced per person or total for the boat?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Are your kids boys or girls?

One of each - the older is a girl, the younger is a boy.

We are not huge Epcot fans.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've got a kid with sensory issues....don't think this would work for us.  We ate at Rainforest many years ago and it was a disaster. 

It would be the same disaster (possibly worse). My son doesn't haven't sensory issues, but still needed a bit of time to warm up to the place.

We'll be staying at a resort, not the Fort when we come back. She's already told me it's a hoteling + flying trip, not a drive and camp trip (something about the 2-3 days there and back eating into our week trip). Just not sure which- though she does love traveling to the other hotels/the Fort to check them out, so a carriage ride isn't out of the question.

The fireworks cruise isn't something that I had heard of before. I'm going to look into it.

Mo, I'll look at the link.

Dave, laugh out loud funny. Truly got me chuckling. :)

My wife LOVES Disney. I'll admit- I'm a fan of it but way more of just making her happy. We did our honeymoon in 2001 at WDW and have been back a bunch of times since.

We are planning on coming back in February 2015 so that we can run the Princess 5K. It's especially important to her as it is her kickstart into getting into a healthier lifestyle.

I'm hoping to piggy back on it and re-propose to her. It unfortunately doesn't coincide with any "special" anniversary numbers (we'll have been married for just shy of 14 years at that point) - but it seems like the perfect storm: Disney and a special milestone for her.

Anyway, I've kicked around a few ideas. It's hard doing research as I work from home and she's in and out of the office periodically AND we've spent the last 3 1/2 weeks in our camper. Whatever I come up with will need to include our 2 kids (then ages 11 and almost 3). I did read that you can do a private dining event at the Grand Floridian. I was thinking of telling her that I wanted a special celebration dinner there and then re-popping the question. We stayed at the GF the last time we stayed at Disney when she was pregnant with my son. I like the idea of it being a private event, possibly overlooking fireworks, etc...

Our honeymoon was at Carribean Beach, but we aren't huge fans of it there. We have stayed at Port Orleans- French Quarter a couple of times. We visit 'Ohanas every trip, but I'm not sure that I want a big crowd for this.

Other ideas? Does Disney itself help in planning or celebrating these sorts of things? I think I read about their photography + flower services. I think my plan is to just do the proposal there but then have the ceremony + reception at home.

If your are coming from Baltimore, the other option is to go down 301. The bad sections are Bowie and Waldorf, but besides that, there is less traffic. But there is a toll on the MD to VA bridge.

The Harry P. Nice bridge... I hate that thing. :) It's neither "hairy" nor "nice"! 1 lane each way, straight up, straight down.

Generally when I'm headed somewhere, I'm focused on just getting there- I'd rather drive the super slabs than do stop and go with lights and whatnot.

Yeah, total loss. We had to full break the legs to get it to a small enough size to dispose of it. It was "cheap" in that it didn't have any way of locking the arms or securing the fabric. I have some ideas of what to look for one the next one.

And Rennie, it's funny that you got to see it. I'm not used to being caught during my mistakes! :D

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We were just there a week or so ago. The food was decent chain-restaurant quality. A bit expensive for what it is, but we expected that being at Downtown Disney and figured we were paying for the experience.

There is a play area just inside to the right. My son didn't like the feeling of the "sand"/pebbles and was overwhelmed by everything at first. Daughter enjoyed it. I made the mistake of walking in it in my sandals and picked same out from my toes for hours. Son ultimately loved the decorations and animatronic dinosaurs.

I wouldn't want to be in the blue/ice room as the lights were either always blue or red. My wife didn't want us in the ocean part as she wanted our son to see dinosaurs as he expected them (giant lizards vs. water animals).

For the beer drinkers, the difference between a small and large beer is a dollar and you get 6-more ounces (or so said our waitress).

All said, son liked it enough that we would go back.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

LOL, seems only appropriate to post the "after" pictures since I've been outed. :D

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I ended up buying an ez up type one today at our new Gander Mountain. It was on sale and came in a carrying case with screens and three solid sides (I can't think what they are called right now ). I'll put it up in the backyard tomorrow.

My dad has one from Gander Mountain that he loves going on 4-5 years. Hope yours treats you as well!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks! We opted for the "partial paint" package and it's how it came, but we really like it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My wife will drive, but only forward. She's expressed an interest in backing/parking the camper, but there was always a reason that she didn't (audience, not enough time, tricky layout, etc.). The campground that we're at (Lake Magic in Clermont/Davenport) is barren of well, pretty much everything. No people, no landscaping, no nothing.

As I expected- she parked this dang thing better than I ever have! AND- I suck as a spotter. :)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think it's one of the nicer TT parks that we've been to, but we have only been to 1/2-dozen or so. Other than the D-loop, it's not wooded at all. There are some spacious sites and some snug sites- one area is dedicated to 50 amp sites and the rest are sporadically spread thru out the park.

Here is our most recent site:

And here is back in the D-loop (it's the only pic I have on my phone).

I have a write up of our Christmas 2012 trip with more pictures on my blog (www.learntorv.com).

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm too cheap, we have never rented a cart. We've brought bikes but mostly we walk or take the buses. I'd rather use that money to extend my stay. 

Same here - way too cheap but also no way of transporting it with a bunkhouse fifth wheel.

I did see a pretty ridiculous (read: über jealous) rooftop rack on a truck a bunch of years back.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The valet option is only $20 and they had no problem with my dually. :)

We also parked earlier (like 5pm) near the T-Rex place without problems- had all sorts of spots to choose from and got one that backed over a grassy median before a bus lane.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm trying hard to remember the brand that we bought. It was a 12'x12' straight legged design. We bought separate screen walls for it. Just last week, it collected water and destroyed the thing. My father-in-law also managed to break a few teeth off of the zipper for the entry to the screened in area and it would allow the zipper to pop off.

I'm pretty certain it was this one:

http://www.quikshade.com/products/244-w144-forest-green.html

I knew it collected water, in previous trips- I would drop the fabric so that it hung down when we were away.

This trip, I tried adding tarp clips - 2 per side to pull the fabric more taut. It helped somewhat, but apparently not enough.

13-14 hours was definitely our max. I was pooped by the end of it.

For Christmas 2012, we drove Baltimore to Orlando. Left about 11pm and met up with my in-laws in SC to caravan the rest of the way around 8am for a long breakfast. We did some switching around, my wife drove and I went to the in-laws car to rest for a while. We went to a Marriott in north-east Orlando somewhere by about 6:30pm. We stayed there a night because we were staying at the Thousand Trails park in Clermont and it's first come/first served and I didn't want to be wandering around a dark park trying to pick a site while I was fatigued. We drove over to the campground leisurely the next morning.

This doesn't help you, but we opted for hard plastic totes with drawers in them. We just set them on a countertop (that housed our furnace and converter). They just made a re-appearance in our fifth wheel for a long trip and having my in-laws along for a couple of weeks.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We're actually checked out and are enjoying the pool before heading to Clermont.

Fortunately the DC beltway and driving slow doesn't bother me. I worked around the beltway for 8 or 9 years. You just settle into a groove and wait. 135 miles in 3 1/2 hours. Longer than I hoped, shorter than I prepared myself mentally for!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We made 2 stops before getting to the fort:

1) Kosmos Village in Glen Allen, VA. Very small (14-site park) in front of a mobile home park. Fairly level sites (possibly enough that we could have went without 1 1/2 layers of Lynx blocks but we're "particular"). Their sites are all long pull thrus. I called earlier in the day to reserve as we were punishing ourselves with starting our drive around DC on a Friday afternoon. They put a cone on our spot to hold it. Site #5 was a little narrow and a bit muddy in the grass. The real problem was the electric hookup very far forward in the spot- in fact, my 50 amp cord wouldn't reach and I had to park the truck behind of the camper. Not awful as I ran across the street for diesel.

They had a crappy broke down playground and no facilities (bathroom/showers/or pool). I'd still stop here again as it is a good starting point for trips south for us. I think the price was $35 for the night.

2) Pecan Park in Jacksonville, FL. This was a little expensive for us (even with a 10% GoodSam discount)- I think about $45/night. We got in at 11pm and left at 9:30am. But, it was close to the Fort for our 3rd day of drive. All concrete pull thrus that are around 60-ish feet long. We were able to stay hitched up with no leveling blocks. The night check-in procedure is pick a site and pay in the morning. Friendly folks at the desk.

The planes were loud overhead but we don't hear anything once we're inside the camper with the a/c on.

We thought this was neat. There was a guy in a motorhome pulling a trailer that had bird cages in it. We didn't hear then the night before.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sounds like you squeezed in ok and I think your experience is pretty typical of many of the sites in 100, 200 & 300.  Depending on the angle to the road (some are really wacky) and the placement of trees, trash cans, utilities, etc., the Preferred loops can be a challenge for bigger rigs.

Seems like it. At first glance, I thought we would be big for the site and truthfully, given where our wheels are and that we have to stay hitched up for the truck not to poke out into the road, I'll know more to ask/request for my reservation.

This was literally a last minute decision because the kids were doing great in the truck for the drive down from Maryland. We got to Orlando a day early before our reservations at Thousand Trails Orlando.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That is a beautiful rig ependydad!

Thanks!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here you go, it's something that I out together:

http://www.towingplanner.com/TripPlanner/FuelCost

On a computer/big screen, it shows the national average from FuelEconomy.gov. You can click/touch on it to fill the cost/gallon field. On small screens, you have to click the button to show hints to see that.

Hope it helps.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sounds like things have been covered pretty well so far- Kapitol KOA in Millersville is likely the best option. Second to that are either going to be Bar Harbor or Whispering Pines but both of those will be 45 minute drives.

We live in Columbia, MD. 9 years ago, my daughter was treated for a cancerous brain tumor when she was 1. I don't know how old your son is, but if it is pediatric, they have housing for folks from out of town. Almost on-site and across the city at a Ronald McDonald house. We lived too close when my daughter was in to qualify, but they still helped us get setup with an apartment in the city for ridiculously cheap.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk