May Pre-Trip & Trip Reports

[peg110]

Hmmmm.... I would of thought with May just a couple of days away, that this thread would have been more active....

 

[tiggerdad]

Strangely May seems quiet from the Dis perspective. Perhaps I might have to consider it for next year to squirrel it up a bit?

 

[texasroni75]

Most recent updates to our trip plans (5/22-5/28):
Purchased new tires for the car, and different clips and longer tie-downs for the roof cargo bag (car we're taking doesn't have a roof rack so we have to attach it to the roof differently)
Decided to add one more night at the end of our stay just to get in more rest before starting the long drive home. Had to book a resort room since there are obviously no available campsites for Memorial Day weekend this late in the game. Which means I'll be breaking down the last of our campsite stuff and driving over to the resort that morning, while DD and her fiance take my boys to AK for RD. I'll meet up with them as early as possible. Booked it separately as a RO reservation under a separate MDE account, to avoid potential split stay /ticket, magic band issues. Bonus is we get an extra set of magic bands for that stay, but still checking daily to see if a campsite opens up for that night, even though odds are against it.
Was able to grab a PPO ADR for BOG on our second MK day.
Considering adding another park day at the beginning of our trip. With check-in at 1pm, and knowing we can set up camp probably by 4 - and total cost to add the day for our group would be $75. Original plan was to explore the Fort and take it easy. But thinking about having dinner and watching Wishes at MK since it's open till 11 that night.

Still a little worried about how the time needed for the extra buses to get around the Fort,our inexperience with using the boat transportation at the Fort, and monorail closures will affect our ability to get to RD (or as close to RD as possible) each day.

 

[UncleMike101]

Hmmmm.... I would of thought with May just a couple of days away, that this thread would have been more active....

We're too busy getting ready for our May visit to post here......
My Wife has cleaning and laundry to get done.
I have to take the car in for an oil change, fluid check, and tire rotation.
And we're finalizing our plans with the others in our group.
All of this is taking a toll on our sanity.

 

[lindsey]

Decided to add one more night at the end of our stay just to get in more rest before starting the long drive home.

We did this in October, and being it was so hot when we had to pack up, that it was rather nice to go to the hotel, take a nice long shower in the room, then go to the Magic Kingdom for one last time. Next morning, we hit the food court for breakfast, then were on our way home.

 

[texasroni75]

We did this in October, and being it was so hot when we had to pack up, that it was rather nice to go to the hotel, take a nice long shower in the room, then go to the Magic Kingdom for one last time. Next morning, we hit the food court for breakfast, then were on our way home.

That does sound good. Makes me feel a little better about the added expense (a room that fits 5 ppl onsite, booked last minute with no discounts is quite a budget breaker for what we originally planned as a bare-essentials "camping" trip! LOL)

 

[MamaRoo]

May 12 - 21 here. We are DL vets, but having relocate to Texas last year from CA, we're going to take the WDW plunge with our new pop-up.

We're planning two days at MK, two days at Epcot, and one day each at HS and AK. We have 7 day PH, but are planning a day at the fort for swimming and relaxing. We'll be celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary on May 20, so I booked the Star Wars fireworks dessert party - so excited that they extended it!

 

[mich1073]

I had to move my dates again to the 22nd now. Good thing, we are still going, just not next weekend. My mother is not in the best of health and my dad who is retired and bought a new dodge dually with cash. So he needed to take a consulting job to replenish his accounts So we are staying home to keep an eye on her until dad gets back.

Looking forward to trip reports!!!!!

 

[peg110]

All of this is taking a toll on our sanity

I don't have to worry about this. I lost my sanity a couple of decades ago.

So we are staying home to keep an eye on her until dad gets back.

It's wonderful that you can do that for your parents. My dad is recovering from Colon and Gall Bladder Surgery. It's a rough go for him especially at 76, but at least he has family around that we can look after him and things while he recovers.

I hope you have an extra magical trip when you do go.

 

[ruthies12]

Had some time this morning to type up a bit more detailed itinerary for our May 2016 Fort Wilderness stay. As I mentioned above, we were originally slated to visit in early June, but DD decided to use up some of her paid vacation leave before her summer session college courses begin. We were lucky to find a campsite for dates that worked for her and our new itinerary looks like this:

When: May 22-28 with 2 days extra on each end for travel to and from WDW
Who: Myself, my sons ages 4 and 11, and my oldest DD and her fiance - (DH and 14yo DD must stay behind due to work and school commitments, respectively)
Where: Standard Tent Site in 2 tents - one for me and the kids, one for DD and her fiance
How: Driving 16.5 hours from Central Texas with just a mid-size car and roof Thule cargo bin

We will have 5 day park tickets, no dining plan this time. We expect to eat most meals in the parks due to the limited space in the car (decided to leave behind most of our camp kitchen stuff other than a cooler for drinks and a smallish bin of snacks.)

We do have years of tent camping experience, but we have never stayed at the Fort, or quite so far from home. The furthest we've camped from our home is about a 3 hour drive. DD's fiance has no camping experience, so I'm hoping things go smoothly enough that this trip will get him on board for more camping trips in the future

K but I think taking your dd's fiancé to the Fort for his very first camping trip is setting the bar pretty high for camping. He may not like other campgrounds after this experience lol!

 

[MamaRoo]

Driving 16.5 hours from Central Texas with just a mid-size car and roof Thule cargo bin

How are you breaking up that drive? We're coming from west Houston, and DH wants to leave at about noon on a Thirsday, drive to Pensacola, and stay the night, then finish up the next day. My original thought was to leave a little later in the day and hope that the kids would fall asleep and we could drive into the night. But Houston traffic is causing us to rethink that plan!

 

[texasroni75]

How are you breaking up that drive? We're coming from west Houston, and DH wants to leave at about noon on a Thirsday, drive to Pensacola, and stay the night, then finish up the next day. My original thought was to leave a little later in the day and hope that the kids would fall asleep and we could drive into the night. But Houston traffic is causing us to rethink that plan!

Leaving late Friday afternoon (5/20) after DS gets out of school. This puts us slightly ahead Austin rush-hour traffic, and later than Houston's rush-hour. We've gotten stuck in both places during previous trips. Hoping to get to Lafayette, LA that night. The only other place along our trip that we've seen serious traffic delays was near Baton Rouge exits. Then to Tallahassee or a little further on Day 2. Sleep in, lazy breakfast and drive the rest of the way to the Fort on check-in day (5/22).

We are lucky because we have three adult drivers to take turns at the wheel so we don't have to worry about being tired. Planning to take as many breaks as we feel we need for gas/food/stretch legs. The first night of driving also helps to make those breaks possible.

We've made this drive before with 2 drivers, so we know it's do-able with 3

 

[texasroni75]

K but I think taking your dd's fiancé to the Fort for his very first camping trip is setting the bar pretty high for camping. He may not like other campgrounds after this experience lol!

So true!

 

[jeffrey1966]

Did not see it started, so I figured I would put it out there.... Might be the only one

There Mothers Day weekend for my DDs birthday.

Thank you! We are on the way home and will be looking forward to reading along as we readjust back to our normal routines.

 

[tigger92662]

Although I don't post much, i do check and read all the valuable info on here from you guys, we'll be headn down from indy to the fort from may 6-21, only our second trip, last time was 2008, so very excited!! Its me the wife and our 2 girls (17,19) and they couldn't be more pumped lol

Well then, it sounds like you are about due for your 1st trip report LOL. Try to keep us informed and enjoy your stay, you are long overdue

 

[monkeybug]

We arrive today! We ended up making better time than expected so I went online last night and changed our arrival to today! I've been surprised that each time I've had to modify our trip dates every category of site has been available (decided on full hook-up) I hope that's an indicator of low crowds, but it's probably not.
We're renting a golf cart from Tee Time (Kenny) so I figured it's not super important to be near the pool or marina.
Also, for fellow I95 travelers—Palmetto Shores in SC is a great place to stop overnight! Right off the interstate, clean comfort station, pretty darn good pizza onsite, pull-thru sites, and activities for kiddos. The people working here are all friendly too.
Time to pack up and get on the road! After I drain this cup of coffee...

 

[Disneypeach]

Hi campers....I arrived at the Fort this afternoon and have been setting up and riding my bike around...got some shots of the old 2100 loop work...I'll try to post a few pics I took today. Got a great site on the 1800 loop, view of the canal and total shade!

 

[Disneypeach]

fence around the 2100 loop now

 

[Disneypeach]

Gate was ajar so I did what all good Disers do, poked the camera thru and took pics

 

[Disneypeach]

Maybe I was just not observant before but I just noticed on the Fort map they gave me today there was no 2100 loop shown on the map.