ftwildernessguy

I am planning a trip to assess the damage Irma did to the 3000 loop.  Beer lines are already scheduled for replacement, so mainly I will be focusing on the massage parlor.  I can't hook up the Outback, however, until I hit at least 650 likes.  So it's all up to you! 

The Fort is built on a reclaimed cypress swamp.  There is water everywhere.  Most likely hurricane Irma took care of a good bit of the vegetation which offered privacy.  Your best bet may be the 3000 loop.

I fill my tires with helium.  My trailer weight decreases by 1%, allowing me to buy more Disney crap when I am on vacation.

I am planning a trip to assess the damage Irma did to the 3000 loop.  Beer lines are already scheduled for replacement, so mainly I will be focusing on the massage parlor.  I can't hook up the Outback, however, until I hit at least 650 likes.  So it's all up to you! 

I am planning a trip to assess the damage Irma did to the 3000 loop.  Beer lines are already scheduled for replacement, so mainly I will be focusing on the massage parlor.  I can't hook up the Outback, however, until I hit at least 650 likes.  So it's all up to you! 

I am planning a trip to assess the damage Irma did to the 3000 loop.  Beer lines are already scheduled for replacement, so mainly I will be focusing on the massage parlor.  I can't hook up the Outback, however, until I hit at least 650 likes.  So it's all up to you! 

I am planning a trip to assess the damage Irma did to the 3000 loop.  Beer lines are already scheduled for replacement, so mainly I will be focusing on the massage parlor.  I can't hook up the Outback, however, until I hit at least 650 likes.  So it's all up to you! 

I am planning a trip to assess the damage Irma did to the 3000 loop.  Beer lines are already scheduled for replacement, so mainly I will be focusing on the massage parlor.  I can't hook up the Outback, however, until I hit at least 650 likes.  So it's all up to you! 

I fill my tires with helium.  My trailer weight decreases by 1%, allowing me to buy more Disney crap when I am on vacation.

The most critical factors in blowouts are weight, pressure and speed.  Keep your speed down, don't overload and keep the inflation up.  The TPMS you have installed will do more as far as blowout prevention than what gas the tire is filled with.

The Fort is built on a reclaimed cypress swamp.  There is water everywhere.  Most likely hurricane Irma took care of a good bit of the vegetation which offered privacy.  Your best bet may be the 3000 loop.

I am planning a trip to assess the damage Irma did to the 3000 loop.  Beer lines are already scheduled for replacement, so mainly I will be focusing on the massage parlor.  I can't hook up the Outback, however, until I hit at least 650 likes.  So it's all up to you! 

I am planning a trip to assess the damage Irma did to the 3000 loop.  Beer lines are already scheduled for replacement, so mainly I will be focusing on the massage parlor.  I can't hook up the Outback, however, until I hit at least 650 likes.  So it's all up to you! 

I have decided to start a new podcast that I think Fort Fiend members might find interesting. It's called The DisCamp Podcast. It focuses on Fort Wilderness, WDW and camping around the US. I just got through recording an Irma episode. The audio quality is pretty rough right now and I'm not the best at podcasting but hopefully It gets better. If anybody would be interested in coming on the podcast, I would love to have you on. I am hoping to do a Halloween at the Fort episode next. We have a trip coming up in October and I would love to hear some advice and tips during the Halloween season. I would also be open to record a podcast on just about any topic anyone would like to discuss. Anyway, hope ya'll take a few minutes to listen. 
 
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-discamp-podcast/id1281369946?mt=2
 
 

Well Wade, I do loves me some podcasts, especially Disney and camping related, so yours is the best of both worlds.  I have subscribed and am downloading your first two episodes, so hopefully I will get around to listening to them while I prep the camper for our upcoming trip.

When Sandy hit in 2012, we were without power for 7 days along with 3 of our neighbors.  Everybody else in the neighborhood was served by a different transformer and had power within an hour of it going out.  Every time I called the freaking power company, some bubble headed idiot would cheerfully say "I have great news for you!  Your power is on!"  I finally told her that was a pantload of crap since I was sitting in the dark talking to her.  I told her I was going to get my ladder and climb the pole and throw the switch to the fuse myself if she didn't get somebody out to turn on the power.  She kept telling me it wasn't safe and I said I didn't care and my widow would hold her personally responsible for my death.  Power on within an hour.

This is one of those areas where you will find most folks are one side or the other with no one in the middle. Snake oil as far as I'm concerned when used in everyday vehicles. Keep in mind that the atmosphere is already 78% nitrogen and the stuff they put in tires is 95%. Nitrogen is used in aircraft and race vehicles as they are under a lot higher loads and heat levels. Add to that aircraft going from balmy temps to frigid and back to balmy over short period and the lower temperature related deflation has makes sense.  You don't see, or shouldn't see, any of these extreme conditions with your average TV and TT.  
My trailer came with nitrogen filled tires from the factory. If it didn't arrive that way I would not have paid extra to have nitrogen put in. I still have to check and fill them just like air filled tires. If you are going to stay with 95% nitrogen this means you have to find a facility that can fill your tires.  You also have to pay a premium for the nitrogen. If you can't find nitrogen you end up diluting the mixture in the tire with air anyway. I save the cost and frustration and use the compressor in my garage or the small portable one we take camping when I need to add air.
Keep in mind most blowouts even with the China bombs are the result of overloading, under inflation, road hazards or some combination of these. Nitrogen won't fix any of these. So in the end it really a personal decision on whether pay the extra money or not. If it gives you peace of mind and you don't care about the cost then I say go for it, otherwise don't.

I have limped into the Fort more than once with tow vehicle issues, and I have limped home with them as well.  Whenever I feel sorry for myself for having truck issues on vacation, I think of my grandfather, who decided to take a trip to Florida from Western New York in the 1930's in his Model A Ford.  He loaded it up with spare tires and parts and off he went.  It took him a week, he slept on the side of the road, and when he got to the Sunshine State there wasn't much to greet him.  He loaded up his car with seashells and came home.  What an adventure, though.  I can't imagine going that distance with unreliable transportation, no major highways, no service areas, no cell phones.  He loved to tell that story.

Given the option, I think it's pretty obvious what I would (or wouldn't) be wearing if I had this job.

Laws or no laws, I'm double towing

The RV industry as a whole has pretty poor quality. Some of it comes from trying to keep their profit margins but a lot is also due to their labor structure. Many if not all pay on a piece rate for the job. This means many of the workers will rush through so they can go home or in the case of the Amish go work on their farms. This type of structure does tend to emphasize speed over quality and it shows. There are some manufacturers that generally have better quality than the rest but you pay for it and they tend to be somewhat limited in the models they offer. Even these can have issues as they all use the same suppliers for many of the components.
Whether you want to buy new or used is up to you. With a used unit you don't take the big depreciation hit and the manufacturing issues might have been resolved. On the other hand with a new unit you have to go through the new RV pains but you also know the history and if you do the repairs yourself know they were done to your liking. I pretty much go new as I'm one of those that rather know what the problems were and how they were handled. I also keep things and not turn them over every few years so the initial depreciation isn't a concern. 

I don't know.  I think I'd pay twice that for a burger just to be able to eat it in a fake fiberglass car and watch B movie clips.

$16 for a burger it better come with a 6 pack of beer!

Fake news!  My buddy Andy has been a part timer for Disney for about 15 years and his hours are always going up and down.  One common reason has been an influx of College Program kids.  When a new crop comes in, his hours get cut.