Just Back

[Mary2e]

Hi All,

Thank you again for all the advice and hints during planning. It was great!

A quick review. We rented from Kissimmee Orlando RV Rentals and couldn't have been happier. We had a 40ft 5th wheel with one bedroom with a king size bed and 4 bump outs. Needless to say, for 2 people and a 7lb dog, we were very comfortable. The RV came equipped with everything we needed except food. They even provided chairs & a gas grill!

We were assigned site 235 - what a great location. We were close to everything, including the comfort station We didn't use it much, but it was nice to be so close.

The owner of the RV taught us all we needed to know about "managing" the systems in the RV, including the black tank. Who knew? Using the toilet was also, um, interesting, but we quickly got used to it.

The main purpose of this trip to FW and an RV was to start getting our pup used to being left in a strange place. We even purchased a PetCube camera so we could watch him. The plan was to leave him for an hour at a time until he realized we would come back, all while watching him on video. Unfortunately, we could not get the camera to connect. We discovered it doesn't work with 5g. So there went our plans to try to get into a park for a few hours. I'm glad I didn't buy tickets in advance. Plus, it was the main spring break week and from what I heard from others, the parks were packed all week.

So we spent the week just relaxing, walking around FW, and going to Disney Springs several times both to eat and shop. Given how many times we've been to WDW, we really didn't miss the parks, mostly because of the crowd levels.

The dog park was not yet complete, but it looked like they had seeded the day before we left. If it's not open yet, it may be soon. We did need to let our pup run around a bit, so we went to the kiddie park right next door and let him loose. If kids came in, we asked the parent if it was OK (and it always was) and if there were too many kids, we just left. After all, it is a kiddie park. In case you missed it, he is a 7 pound dog and very little. He didn't do anything nor bother anyone.

We definitely will do it again. We enjoyed the campsites (versus the cabins) and were lucky, we had very nice neighbors all around and everyone was very considerate of not bothering anyone. I was also quite surprised as to how many dogs were there. Some people had multiple dogs, and one had 3 medium size. I don't know how they did it in an RV.

Thank you again.

 

[MudQueen22]

Great review! Thank you.
Are you considering purchasing an RV?

 

[bama_ed]

Mary2e,

After all your preparation, I'm glad to hear that your trip went well. Many people think camping on vacation (versus paying for hotel rooms) is done to save money but it's really a lifestyle choice while you're on vacation (and campers/rv's don't come cheap). It's more laid back and relaxing. Especially at the Fort.

I'm glad to hear your new dog didn't have a bad experience in the trailer.

Site 235 IIRC is nearly all the way around loop 200 and yes is close to the CS. I stayed in 218 (outside) about half way around the loop my one time in 200 so my assumption is your spot was nearly all the way around. We find that part of the Fort (loop 100/200/400) very convenient for boat transportation and the bus to WL.

Now you've been bitten by the FW camper bug (I know you did cabins before) like the rest of us. So you're in good company!

Bama Ed

PS - not sure what you mean about the camera not working with 5g. I'm in the communications industry and 5g has begun limited roll-outs only in major markets and there are no true 5g devices available to consumers yet. The 4g/LTE networks are still up and running carrying the load on the data network side. Can you elaborate please?

 

[Mary2e]

Great review! Thank you.
Are you considering purchasing an RV?

No, I don't think so. While we enjoyed the experience, I don't think we want to do that much driving. We will probably continue to rent.

 

[rajak73]

Mary2e,

Now you know why we all stay there. You know, I read the resort boards occasionally and at times they make fun of us campers, ie, "well I'm not going to cook and clean, I'm on vacation", then the the next sentence is, "Can I bring my crockpot? I put the remote in a plastic bag, I bring the lysol and wipe down everything, do they have trouble with bed bugs? I never walk on the carpet barefoot." Well, I don't seem to have to many of those problems. Besides that, my steak that I'm cooking that I buy off the hoof, is a lot better and not costing me $40.

No for the pup, we boarded ours at Best Friends Pet Center the last 2 times we were there. In August, 2018, left him there a week and he got along just fine, just be advised it's like a Disney Campsite, not cheap. Had a call one day that said he had a little diarrhea and wanted to ok from us to give him a pumpkin supplement with his food. After that he was fine. I would highly recommend Best Friends, have not been disappointed.

As far as managing your tanks, it's not as bad as some make it seem, I laugh when I'm at a dump station and see someone pull out those big plastic gloves that go to the elbow, (my apologies here to anyone that uses them, not trying to seem mean) BUT..I'm a electrician, I have worked in waste water treatment plants, worked on motors in waste water treatment plants, do repair work at cattle feedyard, (Yah, not the nicest place to be when it has rained) worked in hog confinement buildings, the black tank doesn't bother me, I guess I was taught to wash my hands before I put my fingers in my mouth,LOL. Glad you had a great time, problem now is you are going to be looking at campers, you're hooked!

 

[rajak73]

No, I don't think so. While we enjoyed the experience, I don't think we want to do that much driving. We will probably continue to rent.

It's not that bad, we are 1500 miles from the Fort, divide it up into 3 1/2 days. Last August with the DS and family, we did it in 2 1/2. Too much driving per day for me. We like to run about 400-500 miles a day and then stop.

 

[Mary2e]

Mary2e,

After all your preparation, I'm glad to hear that your trip went well. Many people think camping on vacation (versus paying for hotel rooms) is done to save money but it's really a lifestyle choice while you're on vacation (and campers/rv's don't come cheap). It's more laid back and relaxing. Especially at the Fort.

I'm glad to hear your new dog didn't have a bad experience in the trailer.

Site 235 IIRC is nearly all the way around loop 200 and yes is close to the CS. I stayed in 218 (outside) about half way around the loop my one time in 200 so my assumption is your spot was nearly all the way around. We find that part of the Fort (loop 100/200/400) very convenient for boat transportation and the bus to WL.

Now you've been bitten by the FW camper bug (I know you did cabins before) like the rest of us. So you're in good company!

Bama Ed

PS - not sure what you mean about the camera not working with 5g. I'm in the communications industry and 5g has begun limited roll-outs only in major markets and there are no true 5g devices available to consumers yet. The 4g/LTE networks are still up and running carrying the load on the data network side. Can you elaborate please?

Yes, 235 is the second from the end of the 200 loop. We did break the rules though. We were so close to the entrance/exit we did not drive all the way around to get to our site. We honestly felt it was safer for us not to drive around with all the kids & pets running around. I'm happy to say we never encountered anyone driving OUT while we were driving in. The next time you're there, take a look at the location and the parking spot of 235 (&236) and you'll see what I mean.

We weren't expecting a hotel room experience and did enjoy the ambiance of the campsites versus the cabins. We almost switched to a cabin but the cost was nearly the same and we're both glad we didn't.

I wish I could elaborate more. We purchased a Pet Cube and when I followed the instructions to connect to a new network after a reset, I received a message that it would not work with 5G and I couldn't get it to connect. At home, it worked flawlessly on the first try. I wonder if the issue didn't have something to do with the unsecured network at FW. I do know the wifi worked pretty well at our site and we had no complaints connecting or using our devices. Needless to say, I returned the Pet Cube and will just buy ordinary cameras to use while on vacation.

 

[Mary2e]

It's not that bad, we are 1500 miles from the Fort, divide it up into 3 1/2 days. Last August with the DS and family, we did it in 2 1/2. Too much driving per day for me. We like to run about 400-500 miles a day and then stop.

We drove from NJ and broke it into 2 days in each direction With stops and hitting some traffic, we did about 10 hours of driving each way. The GPS said it would be 16 or so hours as a straight shot. Of course, that number always changes

My husband would use too much vacation time if we spent 4 days driving. We'd rather have more time on vacation and less time driving. Because I randomly picked one of the worst weeks to go, airfare from NJ was very high, so we opted to give driving a shot.

 

[Mary2e]

Mary2e,

Now you know why we all stay there. You know, I read the resort boards occasionally and at times they make fun of us campers, ie, "well I'm not going to cook and clean, I'm on vacation", then the the next sentence is, "Can I bring my crockpot? I put the remote in a plastic bag, I bring the lysol and wipe down everything, do they have trouble with bed bugs? I never walk on the carpet barefoot." Well, I don't seem to have to many of those problems. Besides that, my steak that I'm cooking that I buy off the hoof, is a lot better and not costing me $40.

No for the pup, we boarded ours at Best Friends Pet Center the last 2 times we were there. In August, 2018, left him there a week and he got along just fine, just be advised it's like a Disney Campsite, not cheap. Had a call one day that said he had a little diarrhea and wanted to ok from us to give him a pumpkin supplement with his food. After that he was fine. I would highly recommend Best Friends, have not been disappointed.

As far as managing your tanks, it's not as bad as some make it seem, I laugh when I'm at a dump station and see someone pull out those big plastic gloves that go to the elbow, (my apologies here to anyone that uses them, not trying to seem mean) BUT..I'm a electrician, I have worked in waste water treatment plants, worked on motors in waste water treatment plants, do repair work at cattle feedyard, (Yah, not the nicest place to be when it has rained) worked in hog confinement buildings, the black tank doesn't bother me, I guess I was taught to wash my hands before I put my fingers in my mouth,LOL. Glad you had a great time, problem now is you are going to be looking at campers, you're hooked!

I don't do any of those things in hotel rooms. I think the people who do are a bit whacky

I actually enjoy cooking some meals on vacation. We find it saves time, particularly in Disney. In the cabins, because we only had a charcoal grill, we would cook up a bunch of meat and have leftovers for a few days. In the RV, since we had a gas grill, we cooked as needed.

Our pup is still young - he turned 17 months while there. He does NOT like to be confined so before we try kenneling him, we're going to try somewhere locally where I can take him for a few hours at a time. When he was neutered, the vet actually called us because they were afraid he was going to hurt himself trying to get out of the cage. So we have some work to do

Thanks!