eticketride 2 Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 So again, thanks to all who answered some of my pre-trip questions, I really appreciate it. We had a preferred site reserved, and I sent in the fax 4 days before we checked in, asking for a site with some privacy on the outside middle part of the 200 loop. I mentioned that 219 was my first choice based on recommendations from here and from checking out the google earth links, and I was happy to find out that they gave us 219. What we liked about that site was that there was nobody behind us and it was very woodsy toward the back. The only negative about that particular site was that there was no shade in the morning/afternoon over our campsite and there wasn't a great option for setting up a tarp for shade. And as warned, we did end up with dogs to the left of us and to the right, but they were in really fancy RVs that were sealed up really well. You couldn't hardly hear the yapping, but the little dogs jumping all around the dash board were fun to watch. We rented a popup camper from Fort Camper Rentals and I have nothing but great things to say about that experience. Everything was set up when we got there, they came out to check on us once, and they were so easy and accommodating to work with. We will definitely use their services again and I highly recommend them to anybody considering renting a pop up. Our two teenagers slept in a tent, it would have been possible, but pretty tight to put us all in the pop up camper. And we discovered that the AC on a popup cannot keep the camper cool when it's over 90 degrees and the sun is pounding directly on the camper. We did not rent a golf cart, but brought bikes for everybody. The sidewalks were easy enough for my 5 year old daughter to get around with her training wheels and we were really happy that we brought the bikes. They were kind of an afterthought and we almost left them at home, but it turned out that our favorite part of the trip was riding bikes together. My oldest daughter and I went on a midnight bike ride one evening and my 6 year old son and I rode the trail to the Wilderness Lodge at sunrise the next morning. I highly recommend bringing bikes if you are questioning whether it would be worth the effort. We really enjoyed swimming at the pool from 9 to 10 on a Sunday night; we had the place almost to ourselves. The kids enjoyed the water parade and fireworks the first night. We used the boat o get to MK on a morning when they opened at 8. We rode directly to the MK and got there just as the train was pulling up with Mickey & Pals. Coming home that afternoon we had to wait almost 15 minutes for the boat back, but that wasn't a big deal. We drove ourselves to Hollywood Studios on a Sunday and avoided using a Disney bus the entire trip. It was summertime hot the weekend we went, the highs were in the low 90s and the humidity was kicking. I was hoping for more late-spring like temperatures, but this April was brutal. Along with the early heat came the yellow deer flies, and they were really thick and got almost all of us. That was the only real negative part of the trip. Oh, and the horse poop that stayed in front of our site for two days from a carriage ride. We never complained or asked for it to be cleaned up, so I'm not really complaining about it now. I'm sure if I had called maintenance, they would've sent somebody out. So all in all, we had a great time, one of our best family vacations ever and we will definitely be back, but we'll keep to the only 4 safe months for cool weather next time (Nov-Feb). It was really just too hot to enjoy sitting around outside. Let me know if you have any questions. GradyBunch 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799 Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Thanks for coming back and letting us know how your trip went! I'm surprised the AC didn't keep you cool. We rented from them last July, and it froze us out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twiceblessed....nacole 433 Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Glad you had a great trip! Bummer about the a/c but... if it's really hot (especially with a site that has no shade) it can be tough for little systems to keep up. Even so, sounds like a wonderful time :) Thanks for checking back in! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Memphis 105 Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Thanks for the report. Glad ya'll had a great time. Disney really should do a better job cleaning up the horse poop. They make a ton of money on those carriage rides not to mention the campsites. Pop up ACs can have trouble keeping up in direct sunlight unless you use bunk end solar covers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Thank you for the TR! I've been at the fort in November, December, and January when it was unbearably cold. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
diane+ not THAT monte 7 Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Glad you had a good time . Welcome to FF . If the pop has bunk curtains ,closing them helps the middle stay cooler . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
momof3kids-Yvonne 594 Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 Thanks for taking the time to do a report?I do have a question...do you have any pictures to share with us? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Humphrey Bear…Rob 42 Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 I think everyone should stay in a popup at least once in their camping experience - great for family bonding!!Great TR - now Pics please Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 What a great trip report! Good job! I'm so happy to hear that you had a great trip and enjoyed the camper. Don't write off April- this April was a record setting month for warm temperatures in Florida- I heard on the nightly news the other night that the high temperature was above average for every single day in April this year. That obviously doesn't happen every year. I'm surprised the AC didn't keep you cool. We rented from them last July, and it froze us out. You were in a nice, shady, spot on the 1500 loop, and if I'm remembering right, we had some cloudy days around the 4th last year. The key is the sun. If it's beating down on the pop-up, the AC isn't going to be able to keep it cool. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GradyBunch 11 Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 I mentioned that 219 was my first choice based on recommendations from here and from checking out the google earth links, and I was happy to find out that they gave us 219. That is the site we had in 2012. Absolutely loved watching the deer every night across the channel. So glad you all had a good trip! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AC in A2......Aaron 693 Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 Nice TR!Thanks for sharing Quote Link to post Share on other sites
eticketride 2 Posted May 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 I will see what kind of pictures I have and then figure out how to get them uploaded. I think we have a couple showing our setup and the campsite. And we didn't see any deer by our site, that would've been really cool. In fact, we really didn't see very much wildlife and I was looking. We did run across about 6 or 7 deer on the midnight bike ride, and we saw a couple of raccoons, but that was about it. Oh, and a bullfrog was about 10 feet away from us when we went up to the north end of the beach to watch the fireworks. That freaked the kids out pretty good! If anybody is there tonight or tomorrow, I hope you're enjoying the weather - this was the April weather we were hoping for! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted May 1, 2015 Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 If anybody is there tonight or tomorrow, I hope you're enjoying the weather - this was the April weather we were hoping for! You are right about that. Yesterday was gorgeous, and today is too! This may be the last time we enjoy a bit of cool and low humidity until the fall. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pixiesteno 2 Posted May 1, 2015 Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 We stayed at the very site in May of 2011. They must have done some tree trimming since that time as we had branches basically sitting on our awing. We had great shade from about the middle of the site to the road, although the back of the site was quite sunny. Glad you had a nice trip. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
eticketride 2 Posted May 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 I only had a couple pictures from our trip on my phone; DD16 and DD18 have all the other pictures on their cameras so these might be all I can get for awhile. But you can see how sunny the back half of 219 is. These were taken around 9:45 am. Here's a pic of River Country in case anybody was interested in how it's looking these days. I shot the picture through the fence, so no Disney laws were broken in obtaining this photo! I didn't think I'd be doing a trip report, or posting pictures, so next time we go I will be sure to take more pictures throughout the trip. Again, thanks for all the words of wisdom and for the warm welcome. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted May 1, 2015 Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 Hey pictures! Now this is a real trip report! Good job. Looks like you had plenty of room on the site- so good job picking it. And good job on the River Country photo. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Humphrey Bear…Rob 42 Posted May 1, 2015 Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 Love RC pics! Great TR! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sherryberry 35 Posted May 2, 2015 Report Share Posted May 2, 2015 I'm glad y'all took your bikes - we love having ours! We've never rented a golf cart. We ride our bikes a lot when we're at the Fort - I need the exercise since I eat a lot of sweets on vacation! We just got home from Disney tonight and I agree about the weather this past week - it was very pleasant. We stayed at Saratoga Springs and Kenneth kept saying that he wished we were camping this time. We're hoping to get back to the Fort in February. Good job on adding some pictures to your trip report! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DramaMama .......... Janet 75 Posted May 2, 2015 Report Share Posted May 2, 2015 Great job on your trip report! I can second the recommendation for Fort Camper Rental - an easy way to experience pop up camping. We had camped in Thrill's parents' 1970 pop up and wanted to see how the newer ones faired. Loved it! We hope to get one for ourselves in a year or so. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted May 3, 2015 Report Share Posted May 3, 2015 The weather IS gorgeous right now at the Fort!Love the report, and love curts popupp rentals! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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