slices 16 Posted July 18, 2018 Report Share Posted July 18, 2018 I was hoping to post this from tapatalk but I think I've just about figured out how to link photos from google so giving this ago. SHout if the photos don't work. We booked this trip last July after sitting around last July 4th and feeling a little isolated. A few months ago my wife's cousin Sinead from MA says she really wants to do Disney, my wife invited her along on this trip thinking she would say no as she doesn't do camping. She decided she'd give it a go, ok didn't have a problem if she was willing to come out of her comfort zone to do Disney(I'll come back to this later). Decided not to mention Sinead joining us to the kids. We had originally planned on just resort hopping and water parks, but you add in someone who doesn't go to Disney a lot(13 years ago on a school trip in Sinead's case) and I try to accommodate. She wanted to see Snow White so I booked Akershus for 8:15 on our first full day, and got us park tickets. Figuring that it would get us in ahead of the crowds and let us at least do some of Epcot before it got unbearably hot. Belle and Ariel were also on her top list of princesses to see so it seemed to be a good plan. Also while I like lunch in Akershus I've done it twice and I wasn't sure how Sinead would be with the more 'exotic' food, plus breakfast is cheaper. I will really try not to make this entire post a rant about camping with family. Prior to the trip I did ask what she didn't like about camping: bugs; sleeping bags and wanting a proper bed. Ok it's Florida in the summer there will be bugs, but I did buy a camp cot with inflatable mattress for her. Leading up to this I assembled the tent with the bed and air conditioner and took photos as I knew she was nervous. In hindsight, I should have noticed some warning signs based on a few things she said a couple of days before. Including is there anywhere to charge her phone (I'd already said there was electricity and that we were taking a portable air conditioner - I did say I wasn't sure how efficient it would be), she was surprised how much we were taking, did the provide towels , were there hair dryers and hair straighteners! I start loading the car up the night before and realize we've run out of room, which is a first. Managed to get almost everything in with the exception of the raised camp cot, still had the large air mattress and a stuff sack of real bedding. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted July 18, 2018 Report Share Posted July 18, 2018 I'm in. Tent camping in Florida in July? You're a brave man. I can't wait to hear all about it! TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WannaBeImagineer 98 Posted July 18, 2018 Report Share Posted July 18, 2018 I''m in, but... "I've got a bad feeling about this" lol hope the cousin made it ok WBI Quote Link to post Share on other sites
slices 16 Posted July 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2018 Yes did wonder if I was insane, attempting this. Took two tents this time and really wish I hadn't as it meant taking two AC units, which was mostly why the car was so packed. I already had a portable 1000 BTU unit, and also picked up a 5,000 BTU window unit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grumpy and Grandma 739 Posted July 18, 2018 Report Share Posted July 18, 2018 37 minutes ago, slices said: Yes did wonder if I was insane, attempting this. Well, maybe... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Travisma 1,317 Posted July 18, 2018 Report Share Posted July 18, 2018 1 hour ago, slices said: Yes did wonder if I was insane, attempting this. Took two tents this time and really wish I hadn't as it meant taking two AC units, which was mostly why the car was so packed. I already had a portable 1000 BTU unit, and also picked up a 5,000 BTU window unit. Aww, c'mon, you're a Floridian, no problems tenting in July! We did it for a week 2 years ago for the 4th. No A/C, just fans (and a lot of pool time). Waiting to see the rest of the story! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BashfulJohn 1 Posted July 18, 2018 Report Share Posted July 18, 2018 👍 looking forward to the trip report Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted July 18, 2018 Report Share Posted July 18, 2018 1 hour ago, Travisma said: Aww, c'mon, you're a Floridian, no problems tenting in July! We did it for a week 2 years ago for the 4th. No A/C, just fans (and a lot of pool time). Waiting to see the rest of the story! Yup. I've tent camped in July. And, I've been involuntarily without AC in summer months courtesy of hurricanes. I know how brutal it can be. It's not for the light of heart, and especially not for cousins from MA. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted July 18, 2018 Report Share Posted July 18, 2018 I just got back from spending some time in northern Michigan in our motorhome. We had a great time, and one of the reasons we had a great time is that the weather was beautiful. Highs in the 70's, and low humidity. And even with that, we still ran the A/C in our RV. We chattered our teeth away all night and we loved it. You people that camp in Florida in the summer are nuts. You know, they have these things called interstate highways. Find one with an odd number....those run north/south. Get on it, and drive north until you stop sweating. That's a summer vacation. And in the winter, just do the opposite. That's when you'll find me in Florida. Breezy2 and keith_h 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Robin 48 Posted July 18, 2018 Report Share Posted July 18, 2018 We have done it in June and August and we did not find it that bad with just fans. Family members with that might bring a little stress. Thanks for the report. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
slices 16 Posted July 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2018 3 hours ago, Travisma said: Aww, c'mon, you're a Floridian, no problems tenting in July! 1 Only been here two years. It didn't find it that bad but would have been easier taking it at our own pace without worrying about the cousin. Looking around the loop I would say there were less tents than March but still some, most with some kind of A/C rigged. A lot of Pop up campers, truck campers and A frames. Also saw a lot of dogs including dogs in tents, and the usual array of Disney rule breaking. Ok, headed off after breakfast July 1st, after a slight rearrange to get the cooler in. Got there about 11am, good thing my kids weren't paying attention as we went through the gate as the guard confirmed the names of everyone on the reservation, not that he could pronounce Sinead correctly. No text so drove up to the window, first time I've done this. I'd faxed a request in previously but they didn't have anything assigned me, fortunately, they had 1513 free. I was hoping for something around 1504 closer to the comfort station like last time, but it's quite a small loop so wasn't that bothered. Got unloaded and the kids helped me setup with tents before heading off to the pool with my wife, while I finished setting up. Last time we camped at the fort I bought my 4 man tunnel tent. Learnt from that and this time I had a 4 man instant cabin tent, which we'd used on a couple of scout trips and a 10 man instant cabin tent, which was new. Getting the rain flies on and everything staked down took longer than I thought. Next time I'm bringing a small step ladder instead of the kitchen steps I had with me, getting the rain fly over the large tent was a challenge. Also had to chase a squirrel out of the car as my son had left a packet of chips on his seat. Took the hint and dumped out the box I had decorations in and made sure I had all food in the sealed box after this. Eventually got set up and headed over to the pool to meet them. I was kind of dreading the pools thinking they would be warm and over crowed. I don't think they were much busier than when we were there in March last year. After that, we headed back to the tents, got the A/C units set up or so I thought. Had a few problems with the portable one and managed to collapse the smaller tent. Changed it to vent out of the vent at the top of the tent rather than the door and it seemed to work. Hadn't had a chance try out the big tent before, using the window A/C worked but next time I will bring some small steps so I can secure it better. It was the big portable unit that I kept having problems with. Doing this again I think I would probbaly consider a second window unit, was glad of what we had the first two nights. Hadn't planned much originally for the first day but we'd heard that Lilo and Stitch's playhouse was closing, and wanted the kids to try it so had booked them in that evening. Was probably more nervous about this than camping in the heat, my son is autistic and has mixed results with these kind of things. We'd booked 'Ohana for dinner as we wanted to stay close just in case, considered Kona Cafe but the menu at 'Ohana appealed more to my wife who isn't big on steak or fish. I thought we'd left plenty of time to get there, but the monorail was down so took a boat from MK to the Poly. Should have gotten the kids there by 5:30 to order food, I think it was more like 6:00 when we checked them in, not a problem though. We headed to 'Ohana, I've done breakfast there before but not dinner. Really enjoyed it, plus we get very few chances to go out without the kids so that was good. Not a huge fan of cocktails but was intrigued by the Lapu Lapu Sinead had gotten in early, talked her through using the magical express and told her to meet us at the campfire. We finished up dinner, looked around the shops for a bit then went to check on the kids. They said they wanted more time, which was great and then about 30 seconds later we got a call saying they had changed their minds. Really glad we tried this, and a shame it's closing. I'm a little more concerned about the Pixar one at the Contemporary because it seems less free flow. Given the monorail was down and we had Sinead waiting we decided to take a minivan straight to the meadows. First time using one and was impressed, worth the cost with a tired child and I decided not to rent a gold cart since I knew we'd be using them instead. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tony 27 Posted July 19, 2018 Report Share Posted July 19, 2018 I'm late, but in, being born and raised in S Tampa, growing up in the scouts camping all the time you know the heat and bugs are going to be there ya kinda just deal with it but I've learned to bring more toys as I've gotten older great report and pics so far! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
slices 16 Posted July 19, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2018 (edited) We had the Minnie Van drop us by the meadows so we could go straight to the campfire. My wife got a little worried as we went through Wilderness Lodge, I casually mentioned that we were going the back way which I think reassured her that the driver wasn't lost. This was taken from the Minnie Van as we went through Wilderness Lodge. After we got to the meadows I went back to our site to grab the s'more supplies. I suppose I could have asked the Minnie Van to drop me there but given we were in 1500 it wasn't much of an issue. Ran into Sinead waiting just outside of the campfire area, waiting for the kids to tell her where to sit (not sure if this was a sign she was getting a little overwhelmed by camping). I grabbed the s'more supplies and headed back. Letting my kids decide where to sit really isn't a good idea, they went right for the back of the benches. We did s'mores, I think we only managed to set one marshmallow on fire. Kids were hungry apparently, despite having dinner at the playhouse. So various snacks were bought over multiple trips to the chuck wagon, because of course deciding in one go would be too easy. Got myself a 'snack' as well. After watching about half of the Little Mermaid we headed back and got the kids settled down. Setup the TV. My wife and I had debated the merit of bringing the TV with us, and ultimately I had just enough space in the car so it went in. I'd found some coax when clearing out my in-law's condo so that was useful. I figured cable was there so why not and the last time we were in a cabin the kids watched it while we were getting ready. Really I just wanted the Disney promo channels. I've never actually hooked up cable directly to a TV before, I've always used a cable box so that was an experience. Can somebody tell me if the dash notation is normal? While my wife said that the TV wasn't needed , but she had no problem buying this from BJs. I will admit it gave more light than just using a lantern in the EZ up like last time, another reason I'm bringing a step lader next time. Edited July 27, 2018 by slices Fix photo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
slices 16 Posted July 26, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2018 It was a little warm that first night ended up moving the bed closer to the A/C which helped. Up bright and early in the morning to get to Epcot for breakfast. Last time we did a trip like this we had issues with making tea and coffee on the camp stove, this time I bought my smaller Keruig machine and not to miss out on the Disney experience Joffery's K-Cups. Encountered one small problem, the cups I keep in my camping gear are too small to be filled correctly from the Keruig. So after a coffee, I ordered a Minnie Van, was there within about 10 minutes. I did get a call from the driver asking which site we were at. The driver suggested he drop us at the Beach Club as in his opinion coming in the back way into Epcot would be a shorter walk. Never been to the Beach Club before and it looked quite nice. Not overly convinced we saved much time coming in this way once inside the park, but we needed to go to guest services to activate our resident tickets and get my son's DAS sorted. No line at guest services at the International Gateway, got it all sorted and straight into the park. Got some nice photos of the World Showcase on the way through. Always like to get a photo of this Rose and Crown, reminds me of where I used to drink in England. This would have been about 7:50, bearing in mind one of the reasons I booked an early breakfast was to make the most of Epcot before it got too hot. I still think I made the right call, but walking from International Gateway to Akershus Sinead looked like she was struggling with walking in the heat. I know she has been to Epcot before, but I don't think she was prepared for the amount of walking or the heat in general, so it was more than just not struggling with tent camping. Possibly had more of world showcase had been open it wouldn't have seemed like a long walk for her, but then it would have been hotter and busier. We checked in at Epcot and got the photo done, my son doesn't normally get in these so it was a nice change. I've done Akershus before but for breakfast, other than getting in early I had a few reasons for doing breakfast. Hadn't done it before, slightly cheaper and I know breakfast is meant to be better for fussier eaters, I wasn't sure how Sinead was going to find it. Guess I was probably right as she didn't touch the potato casserole becuase she wasn't sure about it. More for me, cheesy potatoes what more can you want. As much as I like lunch there, I did enjoy breakfast I find that with lunch I never have much room for the smoked fish on the buffet, not an issue this time. The Dinngle Hopper Hair, Don't care hat my daughter had gotten for her birthday. Who said it was too hot, given we were in Norway nice and early made sense to do the Frozen ride, hadn't done it before and really enjoyed it. A bit of a wait for the Anna and Elsa meet and no one was that bothered so we headed towards Figment, stopping at World Traders and Port of Entry as they were airconditioned. Replaced my fuel rod while we were there, and my son got some Mickey ears as he felt left out with all of the Minnie ears. Again if Mexico had been open , maybe we could have browsed a little more but the walk from the edge of Norway to World Traders isn't bad. However, Sinead seemed a little overwhelmed at this point, saw the friendship boats and asked if we could take one of those. No, because we were leaving the World Showcase (I hope she meant to future world and not to the Fort). We got to Figment just as our Fast Pass Window opened, and then lots of fun in ImageWorks afterwards. Made sure we used the photobooth thingies as without annual passes memory maker is quite expensive so we want to get as many photos as possible. Some time into the shop and then onto our next Fast Pass the Short Films, next door. Had to wait for Sinead to cool off in the fountains. Headed towards the Land after this and Lunch in Sunshine Seasons. Slight panic as my wife and I went down to Sunshine Seasons separately and each assumed our daughter was with the other. Fortauntly found her quickly. Over lunch, Sinead was looking at hotels on her phone, exclaimed: "There is a proper hotel at Fort Wilderness called Wilderness Lodge, why don't you stay there". Ok I know she wasn't coping well, and I think the Fort got blamed for the heat /humidity(She was thinking it was the same tempature as MA, but didn't account for the hummidity) and having to walk around Epcot, but there are many things wrong with that statement. I did point out that maybe she'd be better looking at one of the All-Stars. My son was flagging at this point despite having a DAS lined up for Soarin, so I took him back to the Fort. The issue with using a Minnie Van in the morning was concncing an overtired little boy that we were taking the bus back. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Seals 111 Posted July 26, 2018 Report Share Posted July 26, 2018 Following along. The Olaf photo is great! I think the more people one feels responsible for making happy on a trip the harder it is. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
slices 16 Posted July 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2018 Just fixed the chandelier photo above so hopefully, it shows up now. I get my son back to the tent and he has a rest on his sleeping bag for a bit. While he's resting I'm getting a few things put away and notice that the squirrels have gotten at the chai tea k-cup pods. My fault, I didn't think to lock them away with the rest of the food, I guess it's because they are sweet. Fortunately, there are some left, which I made sure were locked away. We headed down to the pool after this. He wanted the quieter pool by the cabins, but being in 1500 there is no direct bus, I guess if I had bought his bike like last time he would have managed it but I didn't have space so we ended up going to the big pool again. While we were resting the girls were still at Epcot, they did living with the land which I still haven't done. They stopped to see Baymax on the way to the Fast Pass at Test Track. It's a little easier to get things done with just my daughter. Just Sinead and Jean on this one my wife has done it once and that was enough. They decided to Monorail and boat back but I think the mono was still having problems. Around this time I'm at the pool and get a message from my wife saying Sinead is talking about booking a hotel some where offsite, so I head back to the tents to try and sit down and work out some better options. When they get back, we talk it through and apparently, she didn't mean right away (seemed to think she couldn't get anything that day), and was going to give it another night. Ok, good. No one was going anywhere, no one wanted to back to Epcot or any other park, we all seemed quite tired. I tried to budget this trip quite tightly, so had bought some food with us as well as my road trip grill. The other reason for bringing food was that last time I bought burgers from the trading post they weren't very nice. Resisted the urge to save all of the food for the 4th, and did hot dogs and corn. My 12v cooler worked well for this. After dinner, my daughter wanted to go to the pool so I walked with her down to the smaller one. I'd adjusted the beds and A/Cs in both tents so slept better that night. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fladogfan aka Gretchen 259 Posted July 27, 2018 Report Share Posted July 27, 2018 Following along, glad the AC units worked better. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
YENSIDCAMPER 66 Posted July 27, 2018 Report Share Posted July 27, 2018 Enjoying the report. We have camped in July several times in a pop up. The AC definitely makes the trip reasonably comfortable. Glad you got yours sorted out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Humphrey Bear…Rob 42 Posted July 27, 2018 Report Share Posted July 27, 2018 In late! Enjoying your report! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
slices 16 Posted July 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2018 My chomebook just crashed and lost my last update. DIdn't have anything planned the next morning until Disney Springs, so cooked breakfast, nobody felt like eating out and people wanted time to get ready so that was good. Sorry if the next bit comes across a bit ranty. we had breakfast and thought all was good, then Sinead decideds she's changing her flights and staying in a hotel. Ok, caught me off guard as I thought things were better. I offered to go to Walmart and buy her a camp cot or anything else that would help. No nothing anyone could do, she just hates it there. She could have phrased that a little more gently but oh well, we sit down and go over her options. If I do any Disney trips for family again I'm booking it through a travel agent! As I said earlier I thought she was willing to come out of her comfort zone and do camping because she really wanted to do Disney. So we asked her why it wasn't what she was expecting, she said that she wanted to do Disney so much she ignored the fact that she wouldn't like it There is a slight difference there which is where we went wrong. Also as it was Disney camping she thought it would be nicer and more magical, not sure what she was expecting to be honest, the 3000 loop maybe! I briefly consider packing up and moving us all to a cabin as that would help her with cost, and I felt somewhat responsible. Came to our senses and decided we were fine staying where we were as long as Sinead made a decision as long as we weren't sitting around in the heat much longer. She decided on Wilderness Lodge or a cabin and her Dad was paying for it apparently. We take her down to the outpost to see what she could get booked. I follow them down there after cleaning up breakfast, so missed the next bit. However in her words "I need to stay in the All Stars hotel because Wilderness Lodge is too expensive", confused me slightly since I didn't think the cost would have gone up in the 20 minutes between showing her the costs and her booking it. Turns out she hadn't told her Dad how much it was or asked what his budget was! I was nice and pointed out that there were three All Stars hotels and she'd better check where she'd booked. We also picked up a package of goodies that was sent to us so something nice at least. I did suggest that we take her over to Movies and head to Blizzard Beach at that point,(Sinead had decided at some point between me buying tickets and then that she wasn't doing waterparks, not sure why) but it was already close to 11 and my wife wanted to get somewhere air conditioned so we stuck to the plan and got the bus to Disney Springs. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Robin 48 Posted July 27, 2018 Report Share Posted July 27, 2018 First I loved your sons shirt. I have a nephew with special needs and I hate the looks I get when I'm with him. He is not naughty just different. I feel your pain with the family member we have traveled with family and it can be a little stressful. I think you handled it very well! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BigTom 76 Posted July 27, 2018 Report Share Posted July 27, 2018 I don't see the problem Sinead is having, you are camping and have to expect to rough it a little. She would never get invited to go with us anywhere again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted July 27, 2018 Report Share Posted July 27, 2018 2 minutes ago, BigTom said: I don't see the problem Sinead is having, you are camping and have to expect to rough it a little. She would never get invited to go with us anywhere again. Same. I wouldn't have invited her in the first place. Tent camping in central Florida in July is not the best situation to find out if someone likes camping. Even if it's at Fort Wilderness. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted July 28, 2018 Report Share Posted July 28, 2018 Next time have her stay off site. Like Cleveland. wendinator 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Humphrey Bear…Rob 42 Posted July 28, 2018 Report Share Posted July 28, 2018 33 minutes ago, DaveInTN said: Next time have her stay off site. Like Cleveland. Ohio...not TN. Although it may not be much cooler up there.... Tent camping definitely separates the die-hards from the rest of the pack, but you've got AC!! Hope things all work out... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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