September 2018 TR- Thunderstorm Dodging, Toy Story Land Visiting

dalir · Jul 12, 2018

Well, weekends in October at The Fort were all booked, so this year, we had to move our 2nd annual Halloween / Food & Wine Festival trip to September 28-October 1. However, yesterday, I received the AP TSL Play Time email and was able to get registered for the early shift on the 28th, so a September trip may not be so bad. That is our arrival day, so we will have to leave the Ocala rest area a little early that morning; check-in starts at 6:45. We don't have any other plans yet, but will try to do MNSSHP. We really enjoyed that last year. I'm sure we will spend quite a bit of time at Food & Wine. We are completely sucked in by the Festival sticker "passports" and make it a goal to complete them; for us, that was a masterful piece of marketing.

Teamubr · Jul 12, 2018

Not much trip planning the rest of this week after all the 60 day activity last weekend. I'm going to have a busy lead up to leaving on Labor day. I just made camping reservations for the Midwest DIS Meet 2018, Part 2 for August 18-19 weekend. The weekend after that, I'll be driving up to Verona Wisconsin (Madison area) for a 4 day conference. Driving the 5 hours is actually faster than flying from StL since you have to go through Chicago, plus I get to take the RS with me and have some fun, road trip time. I return from the conference and 3 days later head to the Fort. Nothing like driving from the top of the country to the bottom in a few days. We did something similar a few years ago when I was racing in Brainerd, MN (closer to Canada than Iowa) one weekend and 4 days later was at the Fort. That was all towing something big. This time, part of it will be in the pocket rocket.

Heading to Branson for a quick 3 day camping trip with my dad and his wife next weekend. After that I'll start getting serious about getting the Disney and beach things in the camper.

j

Teamubr · Jul 15, 2018

Worked on the truck today getting it ready for the drive down to the Fort and the beach. Changed the oil and rear dif lube. I didn't realize it had been exactly a year since I changed the oil, but only 6400 miles. Times have certainly changed. When I was racing all over the country, I was putting 20,000 a year on the truck.

j

Teamubr · Aug 1, 2018

We are 30 days away from September now and I am 33 days away from arriving at the Fort.

Nothing major on trip planning. Too much going on at work, but I figured this deserved a bump back to the 1st page.

Anyone else coming down? I know Joe (tigger92662) is coming in a week or so after me.

j

Teamubr · Aug 4, 2018

DW started packing already.

Seriously though, I decided now was the time to make a badly needed modification to the truck. Since I'll be towing straight through from StL to Lake Louisa in September, I will likely be leaving in the dark and certainly be arriving in the dark. The headlights on the F350 are pathetic. The camera flash on our cell phone is brighter. I have installed HID Xenon lamps on my Explorer and Ian's Miata and they are fantastic. It was time for the truck to get the same care, except this install was a little more involved than replacing the lamp and finding a place to tuck the ballast.

j

PaHunter · Aug 4, 2018

Teamubr said:
DW started packing already.

View attachment 341307

Seriously though, I decided now was the time to make a badly needed modification to the truck. Since I'll be towing straight through from StL to Lake Louisa in September, I will likely be leaving in the dark and certainly be arriving in the dark. The headlights on the F350 are pathetic. The camera flash on our cell phone is brighter. I have installed HID Xenon lamps on my Explorer and Ian's Miata and they are fantastic. It was time for the truck to get the same care, except this install was a little more involved than replacing the lamp and finding a place to tuck the ballast.

View attachment 341308

j

that seems a little bit more involved, DW packing and deciding which new handbag to purchase ?

Teamubr · Aug 4, 2018

PaHunter said:
that seems a little bit more involved, DW packing and deciding which new handbag to purchase ?

Pulling the front off is actually 5 minutes. The grill has 4 bolts at the top, all easy to get to, and 5 clips across the bottom that you pop with a long screw driver. Each light has 4 bolts and they pull right off.

The purse situation take a lot longer.

I'm glad I did this now. Discovered one of the batteries went bad between our Branson trip and now. Drained the other one that was only 2 years old. The new head lights wouldn't come on, so I tried starting the truck and it would start either. I can't complain. The one that just died was an original, so it is 7-8 years old.

j

PaHunter · Aug 5, 2018

Teamubr said:
Pulling the front off is actually 5 minutes. The grill has 4 bolts at the top, all easy to get to, and 5 clips across the bottom that you pop with a long screw driver. Each light has 4 bolts and they pull right off.

The purse situation take a lot longer.

I'm glad I did this now. Discovered one of the batteries went bad between our Branson trip and now. Drained the other one that was only 2 years old. The new head lights wouldn't come on, so I tried starting the truck and it would start either. I can't complain. The one that just died was an original, so it is 7-8 years old.

j

Glad you caught the batteries beforehand and not somewhere down the road. The jeep liberty is the same way to change the front lights, grille off, etc. Need to upgrade our lights on the tow vehicle one day, they are horrible. Had them in the budget originally, but then found that we needed tires before GSP, so the headlights needed to wait.

Teamubr · Aug 5, 2018

More getting ready for camping next weekend, but the cover is off again and will probably stay off until the Fort trip. Flipped the hitch around. The base on my hitch is off set slightly. I have been running with it so it pitches to the rear. I don't need the extra few inches between the cab, so I flipped it around. I'm hoping it does 2 things. Put more of the pin weight forward and pick up a few tenths MPG by having the cap on the camper closer to the cab. In theory, less air to drop before hitting the front of the camper. We'll see.

I did dig the beach wagon out of the garage. It takes up a bunch of room in the basement, so I pull it out when we aren't going to the beach.

j

tigger92662 · Aug 8, 2018

We are 5 weeks out and apparently I've got some stuff to fix. Just came back from 10 days at Myrtle Beach, NC.
1) Generator wouldn't start on the way there, so no AC. Get to campground, get set up and figure I'll take a quick look. Of course it starts right up.
2) Fridge wouldn't cool down. Changed thermistor and seems OK now. Will keep an eye on it.
3) Rear AC temp sensor is malfunctioning. Sometimes reads temp, sometimes reads 0.

Fast Passes booked for Avatar FOP and Slinky Dog. The rest we're just gonna wing it. DW double checked loop requests today.
Thinking about possibly getting a golf cart for couple days and go looping.

Atlanta WDW Fan · Aug 10, 2018

We're tent camping next month 23-29. Going to our first Not So Scary, and making a long awaited return to the Back Yard BBQ! Can't wait!

Jason York · Aug 13, 2018

We will be down Sept. 3- 7th our first time at the Fort! we are tent camping, and super pumped!!

bama_ed · Aug 13, 2018

Jason York said:
We will be down Sept. 3- 7th our first time at the Fort! we are tent camping, and super pumped!!

Welcome to the Camping Board, Jason. Your first post! :welcome:

I hope you have a good experience. You can see WE ALL are hooked for sure.

Bama Ed

Teamubr · Aug 13, 2018

Jason York said:
We will be down Sept. 3- 7th our first time at the Fort! we are tent camping, and super pumped!!

Jason,

As Ed said, Welcome to the Fort DIS forum. First timer to the Fort too. We will be there nearly the same time. (4-8 for us.) Let us know what you have planned. I will be trying to post updates on here with where we are (loop/site) and what we are up to. You're more than welcome to stop by and say hi.

j

bjschil · Aug 15, 2018

Teamubr said:
Not much trip planning the rest of this week after all the 60 day activity last weekend. I'm going to have a busy lead up to leaving on Labor day. I just made camping reservations for the Midwest DIS Meet 2018, Part 2 for August 18-19 weekend. The weekend after that, I'll be driving up to Verona Wisconsin (Madison area) for a 4 day conference. Driving the 5 hours is actually faster than flying from StL since you have to go through Chicago, plus I get to take the RS with me and have some fun, road trip time. I return from the conference and 3 days later head to the Fort. Nothing like driving from the top of the country to the bottom in a few days. We did something similar a few years ago when I was racing in Brainerd, MN (closer to Canada than Iowa) one weekend and 4 days later was at the Fort. That was all towing something big. This time, part of it will be in the pocket rocket.

Heading to Branson for a quick 3 day camping trip with my dad and his wife next weekend. After that I'll start getting serious about getting the Disney and beach things in the camper.

j

Jim, I am not sure of your route of travel, but if you drive to Verona, on 18/151, we are very close to Mineral Point. I hope you have a great camping weekend for the Midwest DisMeet. We leave today for. “Schilling” camp out at Smokey Hollow Campground, crazy, crowded, and lots of kids! Good luck at Epic. The campus is beautiful and a vert rural setting. Safe travels. Barb & Bill.

Teamubr · Aug 15, 2018

bjschil said:
Jim, I am not sure of your route of travel, but if you drive to Verona, on 18/151, we are very close to Mineral Point.

Thanks Barb. I'll be heading to Verona on 8/26. From home, I come up through Janesville on I-90 and in on 18 from the east. I'll text you, but if you'll be around between 8/26 - 8/29, I'd love to come out and see the farm.
I cancelled the Midwest DIS meet this weekend. It seemed to be bad timing for everyone.

j

jbrostek · Aug 16, 2018

Love reading and seeing you all build up for the next trip!!! We are just under 120 days out for a quick trip in December for Melissa's birthday and our first use of out DVC points!!!! We are excited as all to have that option now!

The adult trip to FW is looking to be in February and I don't know my complete plans as I might be changing jobs soon which could affect my time off. Then of course there is July 2019 which is already booked in a premium site and I am so excited for that!! Keep posting up!!

Teamubr · Aug 16, 2018

This past weekend we were out camping for the last trip before the Fort. Sunday morning we got up to find no water. Our friends had shut off the city water when they saw water running under the camper. It seems the life expectancy of the water connection is exactly 2.5 years. It cracked right at the flange that screws to the wall. Good news is the RV dealer had one and it was 5 minutes to replace.

Since our Fort trip will be combined with a beach vacation, there are a bunch of things we bring for the beach that normally stay in the garage. Extra chairs came out of the camper. The beach wagon, umbrellas and lots of sun screen went in. Our Magic Bands arrived this week. I was going to pass on them since I have custom ones I normally wear, but DW and DS wanted to "try" different colors. The camper is back in storage, cover off until I bring it home on Labor Day weekend to finish packing.

We are getting close!

j

PaHunter · Aug 18, 2018

Teamubr said:
This past weekend we were out camping for the last trip before the Fort. Sunday morning we got up to find no water. Our friends had shut off the city water when they saw water running under the camper. It seems the life expectancy of the water connection is exactly 2.5 years. It cracked right at the flange that screws to the wall. Good news is the RV dealer had one and it was 5 minutes to replace.

View attachment 344243

Since our Fort trip will be combined with a beach vacation, there are a bunch of things we bring for the beach that normally stay in the garage. Extra chairs came out of the camper. The beach wagon, umbrellas and lots of sun screen went in. Our Magic Bands arrived this week. I was going to pass on them since I have custom ones I normally wear, but DW and DS wanted to "try" different colors. The camper is back in storage, cover off until I bring it home on Labor Day weekend to finish packing.

We are getting close!

j

I should probably order one of those and have it in my spare box. Ours of course is only a little over a year, but one never knows. Still waiting on the dealership to finish the warranty work on it.

bjschil · Aug 20, 2018

Teamubr said:
Thanks Barb. I'll be heading to Verona on 8/26. From home, I come up through Janesville on I-90 and in on 18 from the east. I'll text you, but if you'll be around between 8/26 - 8/29, I'd love to come out and see the farm.
I cancelled the Midwest DIS meet this weekend. It seemed to be bad timing for everyone.

j

jim, we will be available that week, and would love to show you our dairy farm. I am sorry the DIS Meet did not happen. We had a fun five days camping, but as the weekend approached, a zillion kids and a crowded beach. But, everybody is soaking up the last of those hot and humid summer days. I think you have my phone number. Just give us a call.

September 2018 TR- Thunderstorm Dodging, Toy Story Land Visiting

Mouseketeer

From somewhere outside StL

From somewhere outside StL

From somewhere outside StL

From somewhere outside StL

Reasonably Knowledgable Individual.

From somewhere outside StL

Reasonably Knowledgable Individual.

From somewhere outside StL

They're more like guidelines than actual rules

Can I just live at FT. Wilderness?

Earning My Ears

It's kind of fun to do the impossible-Walt Disney

From somewhere outside StL

DIS Veteran

From somewhere outside StL

DIS Veteran

From somewhere outside StL

Reasonably Knowledgable Individual.

DIS Veteran

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