Xmas 2014 planning for first timer to Fort

[momtolots]

Have been following all the info about the Fort for sometime. We leave on dec 18 for just over two weeks and are renting a house offsite due to the number of people we have. All six kids, hubby, myself, and my MIL Anyway, we are already thinking about next year!! I know that bama_ed is a wealth of info. So, we are looking at renting a Pop up,for Xmas 2014,and we would be driving from kingston, Ontario, Canada. (We would not have my MIL with us, and our oldest maybe for only a couple of days, because of work.) Although we have not camped a lot, we are big outdoor people and live in the country where we have several acres. Now,that the kids are older,I'm thinking it would be nice for them to go exploring and to parks on their own. We last stayed on site almost two years ago at POR. We are also bigChristmas people and love to decorate. Do you think this is doable, or is it too much to take on? Any info, or comments would be appreciated.

 

[bama_ed]

I know that bama_ed is a wealth of info.

I hear bama_ed is full of it. Just sayin'....



























Seriously, please don't single me out. We have a whole board full of posters who are helpful and more knowledgeable. Personally I hope several people respond to you with their opinions and ideas.

So the way I hear your plans, you want to rent a popup for about two weeks at the end of December for 7 people (possibly 8 when the oldest is there). Since you asked my opinion, here it is: I think that would be a tight fit. Some popups rented by delivery/setup services say they sleep 8 folks at most and they CAN, I just don't think you would WANT TO for 14 days. That usually means dinettes or couches/gauchos have to set up EVERY night with pillows, sheets, and blankets, and then put away EVERY morning. There's always someone who wants to stay up late and can't because everyone wants to sleep and then there is someone who wants to eat breakfast early and can't because the dinette has someone sleeping on it.

Also, popups are notoriously short of storage space for luggage etc. I know you guys are a family and even though the kids probably know how to push each other's buttons and you as parents know how to keep peace in the family, I think it would be uncomfortable for you. I mean if you HAD TO do it then you could but it would not be preferable.

I would suggest you look into renting a travel trailer that has a bunk room in it where you can put 4 kiddos. They come with a big bed usually and a couch or a dinette that converts to a sleeper. It's a little more expensive but you have more space, more storage, and the ability to close a door or two for privacy. (You can send the youngsters to bed and the older ones can watch a college bowl game on tv or something).

If you REALLY want to do a popup one thing you could do to help storage wise is bring a tent to set up next to the popup to store your clothes/luggage (no valuables) and let the kids change in there or at least offload the stuff out of the camper to give you more elbow room. I see you are from Canada but the weather that time of year at the Fort can be really chilly or very warm.

I have a 12 foot popup with a king, a queen, and a slideout dinette and camp as a family of five in it so I have some experience with the things I say above. Ours isn't the biggest popup but I can "scale up" our experience and relay lessons learned.

But hey, you've got time to check things out, ask questions, and make a decision. So I REALLY hope other folks will share their thoughts.

Bama ED

PS - I think the Fort is a perfect place to do as you wish which is to give the kids (at least your older ones) a place to have a little freedom around the resort. They can visit the Trading Post, the pool, fish, find the old Fort Wilderness Railroad tracks, or just explore and you parents don't HAVE to be with them.

 

[michly]

A good thing to keep in mind - there is a lot more moisture in the air in Florida, so it feels colder than it is if the wind is blowing and it's on the chilly side. I camped in 50 degrees (F) weather in March south of Orlando and wished I had my 0 degree (F) rated bag instead of my 45 one. I'm originally from NY so that was a bit of a shocker for me. While you can deal with it walking around, as soon as you're trying to sleep it is less than pleasant. Be sure to have some extra blankets.

We had 7-8 people in a popup [smaller one - a bed slides out on either end and the table folds down] this August, but it was strictly used for sleeping. The table was never put up. It was a bit cramped - especially around wake up time - and I moved to another family member's popup to allow the rest more room. After that there was still 4 adults and 3 children (one slept in the bed with her parents) and they immediately filled the space I left!

It worked out for them. The luggage was also piled up on any available location/left in vehicles. The sink... was not useable, it had luggage on top of it. Their older boy slept in a tent outside with his cousins. This wasn't at Disney though, it was up in Maine so logistics were a bit different, had a little more privacy, and were allowed all our vehicles on site. We also had three picnic tables plus all the toys, food, and cooking apparatuses under a huge shelter, which was good because it rained a lot and if we had to be in the pop-up... the kids would have been a bit more restless than they already were.

I've stayed in a travel trailer like the one bama_ed described and it would sleep everyone much more comfortably. The bunk beds are pretty handy!

 

[RVMH]

Before deciding to live in an RV, we camped in pop-ups, tents, etc and I agree with all of the above comments. Just because it CAN sleep 6,8, whatever - doesn't mean you would really want to sleep that many. Take into consideration space for clothes, bedding, towels, and simply moving around space and above all - how close do you want to be with these people and for how long??? Sometimes having a bit more room makes for more enduring friendships or family harmony. Good Luck