5kidsmommy

Thanks all!  I'm basically deciding between the cart or being closer to  the Pioneer Hall area. The one good thing about being close (or being with a golf cart is we have 4 kids. (2 little ones). And we're running the Tower of Terror 10 Miler race that Saturday night.  Oy, I'm gonna be sore the next morning when my 4 and 6 yr olds wake us up for the parks. 

On the other hand... if I do stay in partial, I need to choose between 1500 and 2000. Last time, we stayed at 1500 and a tree was in the middle of the pad. Sorta annoying lol

Make sure to download the fort fiends app, that way when you check in you can check out your site before going back there, it can be a great lifesaver to avoid bad sites. 

You will have a great time at the fort no matter what loop you are in. We have never had a cart, honestly I like not rushing and taking the bus. I may be in the minority but I do try and take my time. And we always use the comfort stations because there are so many of us and using our small bathroom isn't practical. You will have a blast. 

It really is a personal decision. Do you need the sewer hookups? How much of a cost difference is it? Would you rather put that money towards food or souvenirs. Will you have a cart? The buses really only add a few minutes to the day. Really it comes down to preference. Honestly I'm cheap, we stay in the full hookup loops so I am biased and if I were in your situation and didn't need the sewer hookup I would stay where I was. 

Is your Hybrid a KZ by chance? We were calling in about our last warranty visit and brought up ours that did the same thing. It was the LP detector and there is a known problem with the ones they put in the KZ's. ours was a 2010. Call the KZ service department and see what they say. Our dealership was very vague on knowing about it. The word recall was never used but they were going to replace ours.

Thank you for mentioning this, our last trip out we had issues with ours and it kept going off, we've never had this issue before and we do have a KZ. 

When we want to go to rope drop we take the bus and then take the monorail back. But yeah it's fun to take the monorail into Epcot at least one. I actually like setting aside at least a day for riding the various forms of transportation around. It's fun to just ride the monorail and various boats around. 

This reminds me, on our last trip I saw a stroller that had 3 or 4 seats in a row. I tried to take a picture for you guys and failed. 

My kids are close in age (the fifth was born when the oldest was still 5) so I had a good sized triple stroller. I had that because I walked everywhere. I would have never dreamed of taking that monstrosity into Disney. In fact we waited until our youngest was 4 before even attempting a Disney trip and when we did we rented the double stroller. We only went once with a stroller, I hated pushing that thing around but I am one of those moms who brings the least amount of stuff possible. Whenever we went on trips I outfitted my kids with little backpacks with snacks and whatever else they needed and hated carrying diaper bags. I hate being a pack mule, so glad those days are long gone. 

We will just be reusing ours until they get too dirty or worn out. 

Love the 1700 loop. The sites are large and not close together. Also, you can use 1 or 2 comfort stations.

Which comes in handy when another mom of many is on the same laundry schedule as you. 

Sorry for the loss of your doggy.

The canal view isn't important to me but wide space is and that is why I like the 1700 loop. It seems to be the roomiest to me, plenty of shade and lots of privacy. 

We've only been once for dinner. It was at the last minute, kids wanted to stay at the trailer and relax so hubby and I went. We did have to wait for about 45 minutes but honestly it was worth it. We were pleased to get into a sit down place without a reservation. We plan on going next time we are there. 

Everything is more expensive in Florida during the tourist season.

I hear people talk about it being so expensive maybe it's just because I am cheap and I won't vacation during on season. SO I guess it's a non-issue. I was just wondering because I looked at the price for those off site campgrounds and they weren't really cheaper than Disney. Is there a certain time of the year when they are a lot cheaper or by cheaper are we just talking about $10 a night? And I am not trying to be snarky, I am truly curious. Like I said though I come during off season. 

I camped there in 2011 and am planning to go again in October.  I now see that there are some new amenities such as a camp store, bathrooms and free showers adjacent to the RV area.  I saw a picture on Yelp showing that the washhouse is a temporary solution as NPS figures out how to develop Floyd Bennett Field for camping.  There is no dump station.

I could handle free showers, heck we pay $1-$2 a lot of the places we go but the $10 quoted on the website just took me by surprise. Glad to hear they are coming up with some better options. I think it would be a great place to camp. 

Is it really expensive to stay places in February in Florida? I looked at the rates for my family and Disney was only a couple dollars more per night for my full hook-up site. Granted we have a large family and we tend to stay at the fort during the value time of the year, I was just shocked to see a rate of $60 a night for the cheapest site at an off-site place. Our rate for a full hook-up site at the Fort is $70 a night. I would rather just pay the extra $10 a night. Maybe it just depends on when you stay but I am one of those people who goes when it's cheap. 

The whole "video editing suite" confuses me, why would you need that? Editing zombie videos while on the run? And if you are being chased by zombies don't use the pup tent on top unless it's made with kevlar. 

We have a TT right now, we had a tow vehicle so getting a trailer made sense. In the past we have used my parents class C and their old trailer. We are actually thinking of moving up to a class C (sooner rather than later). The towing and set up are getting to my husband and we would like to travel more with the kids but being cooped up in a suburban all day is tough. I'd love a class A but to get the amount of beds we need it just isn't in our budget. We are also in the 9-10 driving hours. 

Grocery shopping with 5? Impressive !

How far apart are all your kids?

Not really that close, 18 months between the first two, 18 months between the 2nd and 3rd, 13 months between the 3rd and 4th, and 17 months between the 4th and 5th. We knew we wanted a big family and I wanted to be done before I was 30. Had the first when I was 22 and the 5th right after my 28th birthday. It was a little tough when they were young but it's been great because they have always had built in friends. 

We've always traveled with our kids, even when they were babies. My oldest DDs first camping trip was just before she turned three months. 

 

I always think it's funny when people stress about traveling with a younger baby. Really, this is the easiest time you'll have to travel with your kids until they are much older!  In my experience, traveling with infants is a breeze until they become very mobile. Once they are mobile, it's a nightmare until they are able to sit quietly and occupy themselves for more than twenty minutes at a time. For our girls, that was far after their 3rd birthday. 

 

We cruised on the Magic when our girls were 2 and 3 years old. I almost wished we had waited at least one more year so that my youngest could sit through the shows, or taken the cruise much earlier so that they were easier to manage. 

 

Obviously, not all kids are the same, but this has definitely been my experience with my three little ones. 

Depends on how close they are. My fifth was born when my oldest was still 5. So we avoided going most places until they were all a little older. Yes I did the grocery shopping with all of them but I didn't do much more than grocery shopping, the zoo or parks. No Disney trips until the youngest was 5 and the oldest was 10. 

Gail is too and she's been a real trooper for the last couple of months, but she's the one that brought the last two kittens home.

She found two more a couple of weeks ago. She brought them to the shelter, but they were so young and in such bad health that they had to put them down.

 

People, people, if you have a cat or a dog and allowing it to go outside, make sure it's fixed before you do so that we don't have to put down new kittens and puppies. It's tough to have to do that.

We plan on trapping the two outside kitties that are strays and having them neutered. Our city has a trap, fix, and release program. But since we have been traveling most of the summer I want to make sure I am home long enough to take care of them, thus waiting. And all of my kitties are fixed but they are solely indoor cats. 

Had someone steal my business card clamshell holder off my truck. Seriously, a holder full of Santa's cards? No shame!

Someone is definitely on the naughty list now. 

Here are a few more. These are my outside kitties. Though they are not technically mine I do feed them daily. 

This is Rocky, he has a home, he just likes roaming the neighborhood and getting food from all the cat friendly folks that live around here. He also has a habit of watching us. 

This is Mo. He has been hanging around for about 10 months, he survived the polar vortex this winter and now allows me to hold him. 

This is Oreo, he wants food and nothing else. Very skittish but comes daily for a meal. 

Yeah, never brought an infant to Disney or any other theme park. I took my babies out when they were little but I always wore them and was a big "please keep your hands off my baby" type. 

And I like Marty looks forward to the way in the future day when I hold a baby on my lap while everyone else rides. 

Sorry about the pics, I changed the sizes, Chloe does not like having her picture taken. She is a very skittish dog. We've had them since they were about 6 months old but I have to wonder what happened to them in that time. They are incredibly lovable but she is just terrified of the world. 

And now for the cats. :)

This is from a few years ago, we were participating in an art film called Catopia. It was a blast and my kids learned a little about film making. 

And old one of Spike, back when he was thin and not so fluffy. 

Boots

Socks

Smokey

And Spike again, he is the character of the house. He followed my son home one day and has been a member of the family ever since. 

Ok, sorry for filling up this thread. 

Here are my doggies. 

This is Chloe, she likes the snow.

This is Rocky, he is a goofball. 

They are litter-mates, we got them from a rescue 7 years ago. 

Edit: hopefully these are a bit bigger now.