Cortezcapt (Derek)

Another vote for the Ale House. Can get crowded with football. The Zinger Mountain Melt is oh so good (not necessarily good for you) Fries with "chicken fingers", bacon, cheese, green onions, you can choose different sauces garlic, mild, medium, hot, so on and ranch or blue cheese for dipping. Definitely big enough for 2 or as an appetizer for a large group. The Capt Jack's buried treasure is a must have desert. Then again never had a bad meal there. Ok yeah now I want to go to the Ale House!

You might want to call some Cracker Barrels around where you think you might stop and see if they allow overnight parking. As far as Florida rest areas most if not all have "No overnight parking" signs. Most also have security if not 24hrs then at night. I'm not sure on this but think I read someplace that 3hrs is the limit for a FL rest area. But then I have seen plenty of RVs and trucks that have appeared to be there all night.

Another option may be checking into Amazon locker locations near the Fort. I have no idea if there are any and it may be worth the 5.00 for the convenience of not having to go off property.

This is something that's on our travel bucket list.

I don't have any experience tent camping at the Fort and I'm sure someone who does will be along with more info for you. The sand is actually hard packed crushed coquina/sand, I have read on here and seen where there can be low spots in the pads where water won't drain out. One of the Fiends had a problem with this and recommends bringing a small shovel to dig a drainage trench if needed. I would recommend making your reservations as soon as you can especially if you are getting multiple sites, they can always be cancelled or changed but often times weekend sites are very hard to get if

Are there discounts or anything off the price of diesel at truck stops if you have a Good Sams card or that stations card to turn the pump on? I ask because the Pilot around here and the Loves on I4 always seem to be higher priced on fuel especially diesel than other stations. I guess if you were traveling you know stopping at one of these you should be able to get to the pump with no problem no matter the size of your rig, but I always try to find another station maybe an exit or 2 away with better prices. Around here I look for racetracks as they usually have a diesel pump on the end.

I wonder if it got to be to many people using it between the 2 resorts or even to many from just Wilderness Lodge that they didn't want any extra people that might come over from the Fort jamming up the gym. It is unfortunate for people who like to work out or need to for health/rehabilitation reasons, but it is an amenity of Wilderness Lodge and I can understand them wanting to make sure their guests can have the best access to it. The Fort could put in their own gym, will they doubtful because people are paying to stay there now without it so why would they spend the money. I would think if

So 9.00 is a bargain for Disney standards! Don't want to give them any ideas but they could probably charge more and the masses would still buy them.

What's the price of just a regular milkshake. 9 doesn't sound bad for Disney prices, especially bottomless. I love milkshake unfortunately they don't love me ?. It may be just me but I don't get the Nutella constantly being pushed down our throats.

You never know in Florida, we are usually up there in early December. Most years it's been shorts and t-shirts weather other years we've ended up going to the outlets and buying warmer clothes or sweatshirts at Disney. If you're thinking of staying off property here's a link for a place we used to stay before we got our trailer. http://www.lbvorlandoresort.com They have 2 and 3 bedroom units some with fireworks view. Not a bad drive to Disney though S Apopka Vineland gets pretty backed up around rush hour time. The resort was always nice they have 2 pools, one with a pi

I want one!!! I can't make any promises but if you find out when they are going to start selling them post it on here. If I can I may have to run up and get myself one and can pick up some others and oh darn I'll have take another drive to the Fort to deliver it to you, what a shame. Haha

The Braised "Beef Stroganoff" was very good, would definitely recommend it. Although I really don't get the "Beef Stroganoff" part other than it was beef served over spaetzle (tiny German egg noodles).

I didn't think of that, I know that's how some friends of ours ended up with Thanksgiving reservations. I have even tried the looking for longer stays just to see if anything would come up and nothing does.

We did make it up to Epcot for the 35th anniversary. Unfortunately my alarm turned off so ended up waking up late and missing the show at 10:01. I have a feeling it was a mixture of it being a Saturday at F&W and the 35th anniversary with special day of merchandise that caused the park to be packed when we got there. I didn't pre order my shirt so we waited in line for an hour and a half to get our shirts and pins. The odd thing was they weren't really advertising where the pop up shop was selling things and/or where the line started. Which at 11 am was the third row of "monuments/legacy"

I don't think the price is bad for NYE, if we could only get a site...... Lol

We stayed here one time, it's the first exit off the turnpike after getting on at 75. http://www.villagerrvpark.com It was several years ago when we stayed there, it was nothing fancy but we felt safe, they had a pool and there are 2 gas stations on that exit. It was a mix of full time and I would assume snowbirds in the winter. They did have some pull through sites with full hookups. I think it took us a little over an hour to get to the Fort. I'm sure there will be some other fiends along with some more recommendation who are more familiar with the route you're taking.

I wouldn't stress to much about being able to fit your TT and tent. List the size of your TT and note you'll also have a tent, download the Fort Fiends app so you can check the site out at check-in. Our TT overall is 34ft and we have always had at least one easy up canopy on our site and at time 2 of them. Also with having a golf cart if you do end up tight on space you could park your tow vehicle in the overflow lot and use your golf cart to get to it when you need to use it.

Hey now don't go announcing that to many places, fiends are one thing but we already have enough tourists down here. Haha I'm joking. The beaches are nice and a few years back they re arranged parking at Coquina beach which really helps. But holiday weekends and a good part of the winter forget about it. There are only 2 roads with drawbridges going out to the island and unless you go early you'll spend more time in traffic than you will on the beach. But I think it's that way with a lot of the beaches on the west coast.

We like the 900 loop. It's not a bad walk from the pool or campfire but far enough you don't hear it, plus it's nice to be able to just walk to the meadows trading post. The in the 500 loop sites 540-542 if I remember correctly are very easy to get into being able to back up almost straight into them. The only problem is the seem closer together because of how they sit on the corner and do back up to the canal.

Any fans work, with an extension cord and power strip you'll be able to plug in multiple things. Fans are just nice to circulate the air, September can be hot and muggy. I don't know if you are a garage saler or not but a lot of times at least around here you can find good deals on slightly used camping stuff at garage sales, things like propane stoves, screens and such. Also Craig's list is good if you don't want to sink a bunch of money on new stuff you're not sure if you'll use or not.

I just wanted to say welcome!!!! Haven't tent camped in years so can't really be of much help. But here are some things right off my head I would bring or consider. Extension cord and power strip, for charging phones, fans, maybe a radio. Fan or fans to circulate air in the tent. Some sort of canopy or screen room to keep things cover that aren't in the tent and a place to get some shade that not in the tent. Games or something the kids can do if it's raining and you're stuck inside. A mat to put in front of door to keep from tracking stuff in. L

Chair socks, what a great idea and that you remembered to bring them amazes me. Mostly because I'm one of those people that would have to have them then forget to take them with me.

Well guess I'll have to get my Tiki fix in.

So we are going to try to make it to Epcot Sunday October 1st for the official 35th anniversary. I want one of the I was here shirts. So I started this thread in case any other fiends will be going or as a place to post whatever throughout the year about the 35th anniversary.

Gotta love the car horn symphony! We had a great concert the other night at Epcot.