mgsmom

Great non-TR you have going here! Enjoying it tremendously! II am also anti-poncho. I mean, come on, let me get wrap myself in plastic when it's hot and wet. Dang. Fantasmic looks fun - that is one thing we have never done. One of many things, anyway... Also looking forward to Vodka fest!

Your wish is my command!

Okay, so back to the setup - here is our brand new tent. It is a Coleman Cimarron and we ordered it from Walmart and picked it up site-to-store for free shipping. There is plenty of room inside - both of these pictures are taken from the doorway. Looking to the right... And to the left... You can kind of see in this picture - we had about a 3 foot walkway between both beds. And DH and I had about a foot or so on either side of our bed. Plenty of space! It also had these neat pockets around the interior walls to put important stuff in. We arrived around 4:00 and it took us about an hour

You are so right! We did have DD's lavender swimsuit cover, but it's not really purpley enough.

Yay! I rode the scooter (briefly) but managed to escape unharmed. Then, I stuck with the cooler... There were probably a dozen or so tent/popups in our loop - we just chose a site way at the back. I'll put more pics up soon. And thanks - I was pretty happy with my clothesline too! Yay! I will get busy posting an update later tonight. I do have more cg photos and some info to share. I'm off for my Monday run now!

It is a fun place for a long weekend, especially if you have park passes! More details to come... Yay! Hi Carol, thanks for reading along! The ez up was the second canopy we bought - the Ozark Trail one was terrible. We got that cooler for a gift when we got married - it came with a regular size Igloo as well as a "lunchbox" size igloo. We love them all! And you soooooo need a pink scooter!

Camp Wilderness Resort - Charlotte, NC - (Carowinds Themepark) We decided to camp out at Carowinds one night just to "test out" our camping stuff we've bought so far. We also wanted to make a "we need/we don't need" type list for the camping box. I will go into more detail later about the trip and about the campgrounds themselves (in case anyone in curious) - but for now I will just post a few pics to get us started! :heartsmiley:

Those pictures are awesome! Thanks so much for sharing!! My first trip to WDW was in 1998 - so I am a newbie. It's fun to see those pics from '89 - but I do remember the hairstyles and sunglasses!

Have fun! We will barely miss each other. But we won't be at the Fort, so I guess we will more-than-barely miss each other. :rofl2: Hope you get great weather!

I didn't realize how limited those resorts were on transportation. Funny. I always thought the Fort was very easy to navigate and "go places". I'm with you TCD - if I'm stinkin' rich, I'll buy myself a hotel on wheels! :mh1:

Good work, TCD! You want to price out my next trip for me? ;D So, these are all rooms except the cabin. Is a Studio still just one big room (basically)? I ask because when we came on our first trip, DD was 2 and we really needed 2 separate rooms - like put her down for a nap and go in the other room and watch TV kind of thing. At the time, I priced out the family suites at All Stars and they were similar in price to the cabin. I know AoA is new and fancy - but wonder why it is SO jacked up? I'm with you, they'll discount it and eventually bring it down once the new wears off. It is what it is.

What an action packed day!!! How fun!!! Thanks for the TR!

That is awesome!!!! Congratulations!!!!

Exactly - you have to compare apples-to-apples, if you will. So a 1-bedroom suite at DAAR is $275, while at WL it is $915. I did notice the rates were higher for the LM rooms than the Pop rooms. But I also notice the Pop rooms are slightly higher than the All Stars rooms - not by much, but a tick. Maybe he can get a big van like Dave's

I thought about the stooping too - but with the center height being 80", DH said that would give him plenty of room to move around on either side before he has to start stooping. He's about 5'10 or so, I guess (70"). Plus, we plan to put the beds on the ends, where it is shortest. I'll have to take pics of him standing in it when we get it! Hope it works out! Oh, now that's dangerous! :rofl2: I will definitely report back and let you guys know how it goes - and post some pictures! Thanks for the tips!. I will pass it on to DH - he is in charge of sealing. I am in charge of watching

It was close for the Giga. In the end, I think the rectangular shape just worked better for us. That awning was part of the draw for me, too. In the end, I just didn't feel as good about it as I did the 8ft width on the Cimmaron. Oh wow! Too bad princess (that's me) has to have a NEW one. Thanks again for all your help. I was having a hard time narrowing things down and knowing what to look for.

Well, we decided to go with the Coleman Cimarron that we could order through Walmart for $119 and get free shipping site-to-store. I went ahead and threw in the seam sealant stuff and a few extra tent stakes into the order. When we laid out the three dimensions, the Montana was good but the 7 foot width bothered me. I mean, if we laid out the queen airbed one way, it would pretty much touch the edges of the tent. If we did the airbeds opposite ways, it made for an awkward open space. Maybe it was just me. The Giga was a perfect square - which I like - but it was the smaller of the three.

TCD you are going to need a bigger popup to fit all these kids you're adopting...

I totally get you on the confusing labels for the resorts. Is an AoA suite really a value at $275? And why is a cabin a moderate at a similar price? I do remember when we booked our cabin and I was thinking "I could get a room at WL or the Garden Wing of CR for this price". But I think that's the difference. It would have only been a room. I wonder what a 1-bedroom suite would go for at WL or CR? Still, though, the cabins are moderate? I think they just didn't know where to put them. The biggest advantages the cabins will STILL have though is that you park your car right outside your do

Okay, I'm just going to have to toss a coin. A 3-sided coin - LOL! I'm going to buy ONE of these tents TODAY! This afternoon, DH is going to mark off the dimensions of each one in the backyard with twine so I can eyeball the size. In the end, I decided we don't want to get anything TOO big. It's pretty much for sleeping, changing clothes, and lying down to watch a movie for DD. It was still important to DH to be able to stand up and move around easily. As we have started to make a list of things to accumulate, we have also reduced the amount we initially thought we would spend. So, drum ro

Thanks for the tip! None of the tents in our ad are what I'm looking for, but they had several interesting canopies! I hear you - I'm having a hard time making a choice!

Yeah, I think I've ruled out the Instant Tent just because it ticks me off that it doesn't come with the rainfly. All the other tents that I've looked at and liked have come with it. Thanks for the tip on the moving blanket! Good idea! Thanks so much! I had forgotten about ebay - I need to hit up Amazon again too...

Okay, so check these out. I like the hinged door on the Montana. http://coleman.com/product/montanatrade-8-tent-with-hinged-door/2000001594?contextCategory=ModifiedDomeTents This one looks cool - but may be biting off more than we could chew here... http://www.cabelas.com/product/Camping/Tents/Family-Tents%7C/pc/104795280/c/104779080/sc/105590880/Cabelas-Two-Room-Cabin-Tent/735047.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fcamping-tents-family-tents%2Fcabelas%2F_%2FN-1102574%2B1000002949%2FNe-1000002949%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_105590880%3FWTz_l%3DSEO%253Bcat104795280%253Bcat104779080%26WTz_st%3DGuidedNav

Thanks for the tip! I will look at those as well. It is so great to hear from you guys who actually have these. I can't stand reading the reviews - one person is 5 star, the next is 1. That is the tent! Do you use the rainfly? I don't like how I would have to order it separately. But, am drawn to the ease of setup. And I saw one at Target the other day for $199. No a/c for us - if we start camping that much, I am sooooooo talking DH into a pop up. :heart: He's dying to pull something with his Jeep anyway... :rofl3:

Good call on the backyard practice! Will do that for sure. We also have a KOA about 3 miles from home, so we will do a trial run there as well. I hadn't thought about the entrance to the tent. I did come across this one that looks like it would take care of that: http://coleman.com/product/montanatrade-8-tent-with-hinged-door/2000001594?contextCategory=ModifiedDomeTents I grew up on Coleman stuff, so that's where I started searching first. That sounds like a great tent! I looked at Cabella's website, but didn't spend much time because of the prices. I will give them another look for sur