Tent the last week of September

[Tracie Brown]

Hi everyone! I am so excited that a website like this exists. I am a planner to the T, but not extremely computer saavy, so I apologize if this question has been asked a million times.

I need the lowdown on tent camping the very last week of September.

Does Disney provide accommodations if a hurricane closes Fort Wilderness? I keep seeing where they offer to move you to a room.

Portable A.C. vs window unit. Has anyone sealed window unit around the corner of door flap?

Is it as miserable as people say it is? We will only be sleeping in it with maybe a nap or 2.

I really want this to work because of low crowds and timing. Any tips will be appreciated...including recommended tent site close to both comfort station and bus pickup (but away from water) ** I want to call and request one specifically

Thank you so so much!!

 

[michelb]

As far as hurricanes, statistically, it's unlikely that it will be an issue; it's quite rare that severe hurricanes hit Central Florida although it can happen (so the odds of having one during your stay are negligible). If there was one, I believe Disney is very understanding as far as cancellations and since it's low season, I'd be very surprised if they did not offer alternate accommodations although I strongly suspect that this would be at your expense (i.e. refund campground if you want and you can have X,Y or Z accommodations but that's going to be at the regular rate).

In late September, it's most likely going to be hot at night but probably not unbearable unless there's a heat wave. You're probably looking at mid 80s daytime highs and high 60s to low 70s nighttime lows but that means it's likely going to be mid 70s or higher when you go to bed. The biggest issues will likely be rain - I suspect that at that time of year, it's still very likely to get daily late afternoon / early evening downpours.

I never heard of anyone using a portable AC in a tent although I guess it would work (it would likely be on all the time though - the tent will likely keep very little cool air in)

 

[4077]

I never heard of anyone using a portable AC in a tent although I guess it would work (it would likely be on all the time though - the tent will likely keep very little cool air in)

Not to refute you, michelb, but actually, there are quite a few posters here who have used portable A/C to cool tents in the hot times...even a thread about how one poster had done this. I am sure others will be along to give their input on that aspect.

There was also a thread from the last couple years when that hurricane did impact Disney and I believe I recall several people moving to the resorts and parking their RV's (not an issue for you) in alternate areas...so perhaps some of them will be able to let you know how that went.

In any caser, hope the planning goes well for a great trip!

 

[Tracie Brown]

Maybe I should just switch to the first week of October, though a week probably won't make a difference

 

[snowmedic]

I was there the 2nd week of aug. this year and the beginning to mid Oct a few years ago. In Aug we had a portable a/c that we had sitting on a folding table with the vent hose up against one of the window screens and just zipped the window closed as tight as we could, then zip tied the 2 zippers together tight around the hose.



The drain hose is going in the green bucket you see under the a/c.

In Oct. we had the a/c sitting on the floor in front of one of the doors with the vent sticking out the door and then zip tied the door zippers tight around it.

Both times we used a portable a/c the worked great.

 

[Tracie Brown]

I was there the 2nd week of aug. this year and the beginning to mid Oct a few years ago. In Aug we had a portable a/c that we had sitting on a folding table with the vent hose up against one of the window screens and just zipped the window closed as tight as we could, then zip tied the 2 zippers together tight around the hose.

View attachment 364672

The drain hose is going in the green bucket you see under the a/c.

In Oct. we had the a/c sitting on the floor in front of one of the doors with the vent sticking out the door and then zip tied the door zippers tight around it.

Both times we used a portable a/c the worked great.

This is SO helpful, thank you. We may buy our neighbors. All instructions say not to use a power cord, but I am assuming you did?

 

[PaHunter]

As far as the Hurricane, yes we were down just after Irma and the Fort was closed, they put us up in All Star Sports until the campground opened up again. Once it did reopen crowds were crazy busy everywhere.

 

[snowmedic]

. All instructions say not to use a power cord, but I am assuming you did?

Yes, I ran a 50 foot heavy gauge extension cord from the power post into the tent then hooked a/c to that. Worked great, nice and comfy at night for sleeping and during the day time.

 

[michelb]

As far as the Hurricane, yes we were down just after Irma and the Fort was closed, they put us up in All Star Sports until the campground opened up again. Once it did reopen crowds were crazy busy everywhere.

Simply out of curiosity, did they charge you the difference in rates between All Star Sports and the FW rate?

 

[michelb]

Not to refute you, michelb, but actually, there are quite a few posters here who have used portable A/C to cool tents in the hot times...even a thread about how one poster had done this. I am sure others will be along to give their input on that aspect.

There was also a thread from the last couple years when that hurricane did impact Disney and I believe I recall several people moving to the resorts and parking their RV's (not an issue for you) in alternate areas...so perhaps some of them will be able to let you know how that went.

In any case, hope the planning goes well for a great trip!

Just so it's clear, I wasn't saying that it wouldn't work or shouldn't be done, just that it's never even occurred to me and I'd never heard of anyone else trying it but I don't tent camp so don't typically read the tent camping threads.

 

[FLkid]

We used a portable AC in our tent last month. I posted about how I created a section in our tent to hold the ac vent hose here:



https://www.disboards.com/threads/tent-help-fabric-questions.3710320/


My post is at the bottom of the thread

 

[Teamubr]

Simply out of curiosity, did they charge you the difference in rates between All Star Sports and the FW rate?

I was down the same time as PAHunter. There were 5 of us and we were put up at Old Key West in a 2 bedroom condo with kitchen. The price sheet said it went for $660-900 per night depending on season.

I was not charged anything additional. Only the Fort reservation we already paid for.

Others have been down during similar bad weather. They will move you from the Fort into a solid wall accommodation at no additional fee.

Old Key West was really nice, but it wasn't the Fort. We were all glad to get back to our own campers.

j

 

[PaHunter]

Simply out of curiosity, did they charge you the difference in rates between All Star Sports and the FW rate?

As TeamUBR stated, no they did not charge us more. And well it was not any thing spectacular. I mean I have traveled the world and it looked like the inside of any other hotel I have stayed at only with a couple of Disney pictures instead. But in the end it was not our camper and we were very happy when they reopened the Fort and we could move Home.

 

[michelb]

I was down the same time as PAHunter. There were 5 of us and we were put up at Old Key West in a 2 bedroom condo with kitchen. The price sheet said it went for $660-900 per night depending on season.

I was not charged anything additional. Only the Fort reservation we already paid for.

Others have been down during similar bad weather. They will move you from the Fort into a solid wall accommodation at no additional fee.

Old Key West was really nice, but it wasn't the Fort. We were all glad to get back to our own campers.

j

As TeamUBR stated, no they did not charge us more. And well it was not any thing spectacular. I mean I have traveled the world and it looked like the inside of any other hotel I have stayed at only with a couple of Disney pictures instead. But in the end it was not our camper and we were very happy when they reopened the Fort and we could move Home.

Thanks for the responses. That's good to know and nice of them (I have to admit I'm actually kind of surprised!). I think at the end of the end, it's a drop in the bucket financially but for the person camping it's a big, unexpected expense.

I agree with your comment PaHunter; that's how I feel about our RV - we can certainly find nicer places to stay at but for me, I love being in my own bed with my own things and that's why I really like the RV.