LUCINDA574 1 Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 Hi, found this site through another and had some questions. We are a family of 5 from Northern Indiana who has 2 princesses who are dying to go to WDW ( 3 kids, 2 girls who will be 9 and 7 and a lil man who is now 3). We will be driving down and wanting to stay at Fort Wildnerness and thinking of renting a RV/pop up. At this point, I am a bit overwhelmed and was hoping for some guidance from you fine folks! First off, any suggestions on where to rent from? Another forum suggested a couple places, but no one had experience with them at all. Also looking to go Dec 14-28 and finding no availibilty for any sites on WDW ressie system online, am I out of luck at this point for those dates? If so, we are thinking end of March next yr, but the website wont show me dates to reserve for that time. When do ressies open up? We had thought about renting a Class C from up here and driving it down, but it didnt make much sense fuel wise. My hubby is a truck driver and can drive anything, but I figured also if we drove my mini suv, I can do most of the driving lol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 WELCOME!!!!As far as getting reservations for the December timeframe, I would recommend contacting a Disney travel agent that specializes in Fort Wilderness reservations. One is Judy Fiesty, she is a Fort Fiends site sponsor, and can work miracles with site availability.Fiesty's Fun Time Travel (504) 722-0888 [email protected] Judy primarily deals with Fort Wildernes and other Disney resorts.The other agent recommended is [email protected] with Travel on a Dream. Rhonda is a full service travel agent that can handle Disney, cruise lines, and any other travel needs.As far as camper rental. If you are looking for a popup, I would recommend http://www.fortcamperrental.com/ or if you want to rent a 5th wheel, contact www.makecampingeasy.com. These folks are active Fort Fiends members!There is one other camper rental place that is a site sponsor http://www.floridacamperrental.com/ . I have no personal experience with these folks though. Laura 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 Oh, and these camper rental places will deliver and set up the camper AT the Fort with just about anything you need, and then take it down when you depart!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LUCINDA574 1 Posted March 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 thanks am checking them out now! Not sure about using a TA, I am one of those overplanners who like to have everything under my own control, but will keep it in mind. Thank you for the welcome also! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 As far as getting reservations for the December timeframe, I would recommend contacting a Disney travel agent that specializes in Fort Wilderness reservations. One is Judy Fiesty, she is a Fort Fiends site sponsor, and can work miracles with site availability.Fiesty's Fun Time Travel (504) 722-0888 [email protected] Judy primarily deals with Fort Wildernes and other Disney resorts.The other agent recommended is [email protected] with Travel on a Dream. Rhonda is a full service travel agent that can handle Disney, cruise lines, and any other travel needs.Welcome to Fort Fiends!!!I just wanted to add to Carol's comments above....that using a travel agent to secure your reservations costs you nothing. They get a commission from Disney, but your rate is the same. They are also good at identifying any discounts available, although at Christmas time those are scarce (but possibly would be available for the first week of your stay). Good luck, and let us know if you have any other questions! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 One other thing to try....I just entered dates in the website for Dec 1st - 28th and it offered me a pop up site. Sometimes if you broaden the timeframe you search it will offer sites. You can then book it and then later call to cancel the days you don't need.This site type would work if you rent a pop up and don't need sewer hookups. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AC in A2......Aaron 693 Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 I have used FortCamperRental and recommend them very highly! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LUCINDA574 1 Posted March 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 I think I am just going to concentrate on March 2014 instead, like my husband just pointed out to me, with our son being autistic, the huge crowds are probably not a good fit.... we are alos trying to decide whether getting a unit like a fifth wheel/self contained is worth it versus the cost of a pop up. We are tent campers here at home, so either will be a luxury... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 Well, for March 2014, online reservations won't be available until sometime in August. That is when 2014 rates and packages will be released.However, room only/site only reservations can be made through a travel agent or on the phone directly with Disney up to 599 days out. So if you contact a travel agent, they can go ahead and get you a site reserved.However, don't croak at the deposit requirements. You will be charged a one night deposit to secure the site. Since the rates have not been released yet, it is their policy to quote the highest rate for this year, then adjust to the actual rate when they are actually released. You can look at March 2013 rates to get an idea of what that rate might be for next year, and add a couple dollars per night. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LUCINDA574 1 Posted March 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 thank you for the info, I guess I will go ahead with the TA route after I get hubby to nail a date down for me. He has over 6 weeks vacation coming and always balks at taking them, trying to nail him down is feat within itself. Think I will just go ahead and book and he will come or stay home! lolthank you all so much, I have gotten more info in the last hour than I have in the last week of looking online PureTcrazy...rita 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023 Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 Welcome!!Just wanted to add that we have one more site sponsor that rents RVs, Meacham's RV. You can find all our site sponsor's info on this page......and a bit more in depth information on the camper rental companies listed here...http://www.fortfiends.net/_/rental-information/campers/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799 Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 Welcome to the party!!!!!!!!!I'm a super planner too, so I understand what you're saying. I did use an agent this time for my site only. I still do all my own ADRs. Using an agent saved me about $75, and I'm happy with that because I'm staying during a holiday week. I know on non-holiday weeks you can save MUCH more.Continue to ask questions. We love to help! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LUCINDA574 1 Posted March 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 thank you Brady, more to think about! I do have a question, hubby is stuck in a snowstorm so he is online too while we are discussing on the phone, he wondered how well the AC keeps up in a pop up versus a self contained? He is enjoying looking at all the pics of the units, he delivers parts to the RV manufacturers, thats all they handle, so recognizes most of the units Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LUCINDA574 1 Posted March 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 And hubby just made the dates, guess it helps to look at the kids calendar for next yr....I guess I was having one of my "duhhh" moments, he said April 5-19, 2014. I will hit the TAs up for price quotes, thanks all Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 And hubby just made the dates, guess it helps to look at the kids calendar for next yr....I guess I was having one of my "duhhh" moments, he said April 5-19, 2014. I will hit the TAs up for price quotes, thanks allGood luck! And have fun planning. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LUCINDA574 1 Posted March 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 thank you! Does anyone know about how well the AC's keep a pop up cool in the heat? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Momof6....aka Marty 769 Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 I was proveledged to have a friend rent a pop-up from fortcamperrental for us to share rencently and was extremely happy with the pop-up we stayed in as well as the service provided. I am hoping and praying to bring my family back to FW in the somewhat near future and would definitely rent from from them again if at all possible. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
North7... Jeff 2 Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 thank you! Does anyone know about how well the AC's keep a pop up cool in the heat?Welcome Lucinda574!! We had a Coleman pop up (12 ft box) with a Carrier 12.5K AC and camped at FW in August of 2001 and had no issue keeping the pop up cool. In fact, there were a few times my wife turned it off for a while because she was too cold. I was actually surprised the canvas would retain as much of the cool air as it did. We're from Ontario and not accustomed to that type of humidity but we all agreed the horror stories about the summer heat/humidity were not as bad as we were led to believe. In fact, we've since camped many times in August at FW. I don't think you should have any issues, especially in April.Have a great trip and enjoy the planning. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LUCINDA574 1 Posted March 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 Thank you for the info Jeff. We are from northern Indiana, I was originally a NoDak'er, so I dont do well with heat at night ( I freeze the poor hubby out). We have only been to WDW previously in early Dec, never at the Fort, always a resort, so I am overthinking things like weather I guess. Now I just have to decide the what to rent.....all the suggestions are awesome, having a hard time choosing between a popup and fifth wheel...thank you all for the recommendations of all the companies also! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
North7... Jeff 2 Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 If you do end up renting a pop up, I can give you one piece of advice that we learned the hard way. Whenever you leave your site, make sure you close all the zippered flaps on the pop up. We left our site to head to the settlement and left the flaps down as it was sunny and clear. The weather can change quickly (especially in the summer) and a storm came in a hurry and we couldn't get back to the site in time. All the bedding and pillows were soaked by the time we got back. You will only make that mistake once :rofl2: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LUCINDA574 1 Posted March 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 LOL Jeff, that would be awful, but as tent campers, I learned that the hard way about 18 yrs ago, we went trail walking, not expecting a thing and a huge storm blew in before we got back, we had almost an inch of water in our tent and it was just awful. Never again, I would rather come back to an oven! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
h2odivers...Ray 952 Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 I just wanted to say hello and welcome. We rented a fifth wheel from makingcampingeasy.com. It was great. It has bunk beds in the back which was great because you can put the kids to bed and close the door and watch a little tv. It also included a golf cart. I've never rented a pop up but I've heard nothing but good things about curt. Have fun planning Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tim5055 120 Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 thank you! Does anyone know about how well the AC's keep a pop up cool in the heat?Obviously every one is different (there are 3 sizes of RV A/C units), but I can hang meat in my pop up with the A/C on high. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LUCINDA574 1 Posted March 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 Obviously every one is different (there are 3 sizes of RV A/C units), but I can hang meat in my pop up with the A/C on high.I had to quote this because it had me lol'ing....I will make sure hubby reads this later so he can take my threats literally...lolI believe we are going to go with the 5th wheel, I emailed Judy about it already....thanks for putting up with my rambling yall....as you can tell I am a SAHM and I like to TALK lol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Momof6....aka Marty 769 Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 thanks for putting up with my rambling yall....as you can tell I am a SAHM and I like to TALK lolThen you will fit right in! Be sure to take time to read some Trip Reports. They are amazing! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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