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Everything posted by North7... Jeff
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How's the wi-fi?
North7... Jeff replied to GOBA Mom Lynn's topic in General Camping Discussion and Questions
We were at Fort Wilderness the last week in July and first three weeks in August. The first 3 weeks we were in site 1318 and the WiFi was terrible. Very low signal strength. The laptop connection was usually OK, but the iPhones and Fire TV kept dropping the connection. We moved to the 1200 loop for our last week because they closed the 1300 for tree trimming. The WiFi signal here was a lot better with speeds generally around 5 mbps. -
On two occasions, we have purchased our annual passes at Guest Relations at Disney Springs (formally Downtown Disney). Guest Relations is located in the building behind Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop and is usually not very busy.
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Jacksonville I95 or 295 with tow vehicle
North7... Jeff replied to pixiesteno's topic in Camping To and From the Fort
We've taken the 295 East route the last 3 trips and have not encountered any issues. According to Google Maps, it is the shortest and quickest route. Others that travel this route more frequently may have encountered issues that we've been lucky enough to avoid during our limited use. -
New Access?
North7... Jeff replied to Retired and Happy (Ken)'s topic in Disney and Fort Construction
You surprised me with this reply Lou... I fully expected you to say the only vehicles you've seen drive in there have had Ontario plates on them!! :rofl2: -
Bus to the ballgame
North7... Jeff replied to jayco1's topic in General Camping Discussion and Questions
We only stayed 1 night as we were passing through to our destination further south. We have AP's and the kids wanted to spend a day hitting some of their favorite attractions. I checked in early (6:30 am) to pick up our new Magic Bands which had the AP's and FastPasses linked... Disney currently will not mail Magic Bands outside the US. We didn't receive any KTTW cards at check-in. I assume the magic bands worked on the comfort stations (since we didn't get any KTTW cards) but I don't know for sure as we didn't use them. On Sunday morning, March 9th, I went to the HESS station to fill -
Bus to the ballgame
North7... Jeff replied to jayco1's topic in General Camping Discussion and Questions
The Magic Bands opened the gate at the main entrance for us on March 9th. -
Hey Troll, I'm hoping the delay in your posting is because you're trying to let the anticipation build!! If that's not the case, I hope everything works out for the best.
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I agree with this 100%. I think it was Stacktester who recommended this route when it opened and he should know as I believe he lives in Jacksonville. Originally, I think it may have been called 9A rather than 295 East but I could be confusing things. The 295 West bypass seems to add a lot of extra distance but the 295 East route seemed really fast in comparison on the 3 trips I've used it. I haven't found traffic to be heavy but I haven't traveled this route during rush hour.
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Bonnet Creek or anything else on a budget.
North7... Jeff replied to Abagpiper5's topic in Off Property Rentals (Non Disney)
I recently made a reservation with Vacation Strategy for a 2 bedroom suite at Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort for a 14 night stay this Christmas. I originally had a reservation at Port Orleans Riverside for 7 nights and then we were going to stay at Blue Heron Beach Resort for another 7. Our kids are now 17 and 16 and after thinking about it, we all agreed that we didn't want to spend a week in a small resort room and looked for other options. I have never stayed at Bonnet Creek but have read a lot of positive reviews. The change to the bus policy came after I reserved but we will just drive -
New and rental questions
North7... Jeff replied to LUCINDA574's topic in General Camping Discussion and Questions
If you do end up renting a pop up, I can give you one piece of advice that we learned the hard way. Whenever you leave your site, make sure you close all the zippered flaps on the pop up. We left our site to head to the settlement and left the flaps down as it was sunny and clear. The weather can change quickly (especially in the summer) and a storm came in a hurry and we couldn't get back to the site in time. All the bedding and pillows were soaked by the time we got back. You will only make that mistake once :rofl2: -
New and rental questions
North7... Jeff replied to LUCINDA574's topic in General Camping Discussion and Questions
Welcome Lucinda574!! We had a Coleman pop up (12 ft box) with a Carrier 12.5K AC and camped at FW in August of 2001 and had no issue keeping the pop up cool. In fact, there were a few times my wife turned it off for a while because she was too cold. I was actually surprised the canvas would retain as much of the cool air as it did. We're from Ontario and not accustomed to that type of humidity but we all agreed the horror stories about the summer heat/humidity were not as bad as we were led to believe. In fact, we've since camped many times in August at FW. I don't think you should have -
Credit card weird question
North7... Jeff replied to paulmlac's topic in General Camping Discussion and Questions
Another thing to keep in mind is that if you have charging privileges on your Keys to the World card, make sure you update your account with the new card number when you check in at Fort Wilderness if you used your old card number to make your original FW reservation. We had the same CC scenario as you described and when I went to the front desk to ask them to charge all my purchases back to my credit card, the front desk CM said there was a problem and kept my card. It took a call to the CC company to figure out that they were trying to charge back to my old CC number that was no longer acti -
New Reservation System
North7... Jeff replied to ~Kristina~'s topic in WDW and Disney Park Discussions
Another thing to keep in mind for future reservations is that AAA discounts are usually released in August or September for the following year and the number of sites are limited. If I remember correctly, the 2013 AAA discounts were released in August 2012. This is good for people who plan their trips well in advance but not so good for last minute trips. Keep calling to check on a discount especially once your dates are closer... someone who has an AAA discount may need to cancel their reservation. I've had luck with this before. -
SiriusXM NASCAR Radio reported this morning that he won't be Mr. Ashley Judd for much longer. They are separating after 11 years of marriage.
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Carol is in a Two-Week Fort Fantasyland!
North7... Jeff replied to mouseketab.....Carol's topic in Trip Reports
Thanks so much for the info!! -
Carol is in a Two-Week Fort Fantasyland!
North7... Jeff replied to mouseketab.....Carol's topic in Trip Reports
Carol, where did you find the large shelter you have over the tent? It looks like it is double the size of an average one... it's exactly what I'm looking for. Is the shelter over your trailer also a large one or is it a number of smaller ones put together? Jeff -
TCD is Thankful for Thanksgiving @ The Fort 2012
North7... Jeff replied to Tri-Circle-D's topic in Trip Reports
A TCD trip report is the perfect way to start a new week!! There must have been a number of Fiends around the Fort last week as it was pretty quiet on the forum. Looking forward to reading all about it! -
I think in most, if not all, cases the sites in the premium loops are larger than the preferred. The entrances to the premium loops have been widened over the last few years to make it easier for bigger RVs to back into. There also seems to be a little more room between sites in the premium compared to the preferred loops. We also grew tired of the sand all through the trailer and now only stay in the premium loops for that reason. Check out Brent's videos of the sites on youtube to get an idea of size. They can be found in this thread.
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On my last trip in February, we left MCO via the south exit and then on 417. We then exited 417 at SR 536. On this route there were two tolls and they were both $1.25, so $5.00 would cover the round trip from MCO to WDW taking this route. However, after checking the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority web site, it appears a toll increase came into effect July 1st, 2012 and the according to the toll calculator on their site, the route I noted above is now $3.00 in each direction or $6.00 for a round trip (I'm guessing it is $1.50 at each of the tolls). The toll calculator is located he
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Pre and Trip Report: First time tent campers 8/17 - 8/19
North7... Jeff replied to trish321's topic in Trip Reports
Welcome!!! This sounds like it's going to be an interesting trip report. :jumpforjoy -
Portable Ice Maker
North7... Jeff replied to fotofx....Steve's topic in General Camping Discussion and Questions
We have the same Magic Chef as your parents do... it is also our 2nd one and we've used this one for 4 summers now. I have 2 Coleman Xtreme coolers (one for beer and one for water/drinks for the kids) and this ice maker can keep both coolers supplied with some left over for friends who may need it. In the summer, we camp anywhere from 4-6 weeks straight and the ice maker runs 24/7. With the price of a bag of ice anywhere from $2.50 - $3.25 (in our area), this ice maker has paid for itself many times over!! If you do decide to get one, you won't be disappointed. -
Heading out east, June-July 2013
North7... Jeff replied to photogal06...Sommer's topic in Regular Vacations
Ontario has had legislation banning pit bulls since 2005. If you were entering Canada in Ontario, your dogs would not be allowed but it looks like you will be entering via New Brunswick on your way to PEI (I'm assuming you will stay in the US on your way to Hershey). On your return trip, you will enter Ontario from Quebec and this is the same as travelling from one state to another (just a "Welcome to ..." sign). You mentioned that you are planning on staying in London, ON on your way home... are you planning on overnighting at the Flying J located there? If not, you may have a hard time -
Discounted park tickets?
North7... Jeff replied to h2odivers...Ray's topic in Budget Board and Disney Discounts
That makes sense... don't know what I was thinking!! :faceplant2: Thanks for the clarification.