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RE: Disney World Orlando RV Site for Christmas
We've been to DW roughly 30 times. We would normally avoid Christmas week at all costs. The crowds and lines could make what should be one of the happiest adventures into torture. 90 minute lines, and the fast passes all gone by 9AM. One of our favorite times to visit are the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas (you don't want to be there Thanksgiving week either). All the Christmas decorations are up and you can walk onto all but the most popular rides, you may have to wait 10 or 15 minutes for those. If that's the only time you can go, just be prepared, and keep a smile on your face.
Now, if we are ever lucky enough to realize our dream of going full time, and spending the worst of winter in Florida, we'll likely have an annual pass and will just be happy to be in the park, enjoying the 'ambiance', being content to see and do what we can. But if this is a 'once in a lifetime' trip, or even a once in a few years, I'd try to avoid that week.
Have fun.
I agree with your post. We went in the Christmas week only once many years ago and everything you stated was right.
However, if you must go in that week, as sometimes there's not much choice, I'd recommend Tropical Palms. They have a shuttle, are close to old town and walking distance to shopping.
Of course, I by far prefer FW but if that's not possible, then Tropical Palms is a viable option. I'd keep trying though.
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johnas
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11/19/09 06:41pm |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: How many of you have Diabetes?
I don't have diabetes but my mother does. She was diagnosed 3 years ago with type 2. She was very resentful of it since she was always slim and watched what she ate. Must be a genetic thing then, I guess. My grandmother had type 2 diabetes but she was a "big" lady and we always assumed that's why.
My mother is 5'9" and weighs only 120 lbs. There's no room to cut out any type of foods except for simple carbs I guess. She's on one Metformin per day, watches her diet and does some exercise. Not to lose weight though. One thing that irritates her the most is that her 'readings" aren't that high (8 - 10 if a sugary product is ingested without meds) and yet she still has a neuropathy in her feet.
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johnas
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11/12/09 08:41pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Do you like your pellet stove?
We have a pellet stove for three years now. We have a very large house with vaulted ceilings and it does a really decent job of keeping the living are of our house heated. We had a wood stove for 14 years first but it broke and we had to make a decision.
We don't have our own woods and we used to buy wood to saw and chop. My father is getting older and my husband doesn't have time. Plus, we always found it to be very messy. The good part was the radiant, big burst of heat that it gave you. The negative was that it was messy and if you didn't think for a few minutes you'd have to sit like a boyscout and try to restart the fire.
The pellet stove is so much easier. Insert the pellets, turn it on and presto. It gives a more constant and even heat. We use roughly one bag every twenty four hours when temps are in the 30s. If we have 20s we may have to put in some more pellets. Another great thing that it's cleaner and way less dusty than wood. Another con, of course is that it runs on electricity and you may be out of heat in case of a power outage. That's only happened once to us for a very short time. You can buy battery backups to them though.
As far as a chimney is concerned, we have a direct vent and it's really quite simple. We don't have natural gas so this is a great addition for us.
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johnas
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11/12/09 08:29pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Amazing Race Drop Outs
I think those poker playing girls should have been gone a long time ago. They only got as far as they did by teaming up with the gay brothers. They didn't even have to do the bell counting challege because they were told the answer...I say fair well to them!
I was surprised that there was no penalty for that as well as the couple who went in to count the bells together. This was a single person challenge.
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johnas
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11/12/09 08:16pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Amazing Race Drop Outs
I think the woman that wouldn't go down the water slide was a total wimp. You know when you sign up for a race like that that there may be challenges like this. To blow the entire race over a water slide is sad. Even if there was some fear and delay is understandable but then just decide to do it.
As far as the boyfriend is concerned, he just tried to get her to go. I think I'd be frustrated too. I believe abuse is always inexcusable no matter what, but I didn't find this abusive at all. He wasn't punishing her, he was just panicked trying to get her to go.
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johnas
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11/09/09 04:09pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Disney World RV Parks
FW is definitely my first choice, however, if I couldn't get in there I'd book a super site at TP.
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johnas
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10/24/09 07:26am |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: Tropical Palms in April
My brother who went to TP April 2007 had the same thing. Over crowding lewd behaviour in the pool........People parked their untility/storage trailers right in his view two feet away from where he put his car etc.
He complained and then someone from the office came out and yelled really loud, "are you the ones who complained about this utility trailer parked here." You can imagine the snide looks he got. He was really hoping that his equipment stayed in tact.
When TP isn't overcrowded it's just fine. I've been there about 5 times and never encountered that behaviour. My brother only encountered that behaviour during Easter Weekend/spring break. Otherwise he said it was fine too.
I've read that it is under new ownership now, so I don't know how it's changed. I hear many positive things.
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johnas
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10/24/09 07:25am |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: Best winter month to visit Disney World/Epcot?
We used to do that but quit because we hit every cold snap in every year. I don't know how we do it be we always used to hit the cold snap target......and I'll tell you it can get cold.
50's is ok by us. We're not 'snowbirding' --- just want a trip over the winter. We're in Chicago and may not be much warmer than you guys up north, depending on what area you're in.
So, the trick is to check with you and not visit when you you as you apparently bring down the Canada clipper with you! ;)
Actually, I think Chicago weather is often worse than our weather. We live on the "right" side of the lake, on the top of Lake Ontario. :D
You can follow us in March, just not Jan or Feb.
If 50s or 60s are fine for you than Jan or Feb is a great and cheaper time to go. :)
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johnas
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10/15/09 08:22pm |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: Best winter month to visit Disney World/Epcot?
Jan to mid Feb (not President's day) is least crowded and cheapest. We used to do that but quit because we hit every cold snap in every year. I don't know how we do it be we always used to hit the cold snap target......and I'll tell you it can get cold.
We're from Canada and for some reason 50s in Florida still feels downright Freezing and I find to still freeze a waste of money. Some people will comment it's only a couple of days. Our experience is yes, it's three or four days for the coldest of cold, after that two days of coolness linger. That's not bad if you're there for a month or more but if you only have a week or two, it takes up most days.
Friends of ours go and that time of year and they usually have upper 60s and lower 70s and have encountered cold snaps as well. It's like playing weather roulette that time of year. Even with weather in the upper 60s you still need a sweater.
We've opted for March the last 5 years and we've generally been lucky. We've encountered a few coolish days, but most days were nice like mid to high 70s. Yes it is busier and we've found the beginning of March a little less busy than the middle but we find it worth it. This year we'll be taking two weeks from the 7th to the 20th. Can't wait.
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johnas
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10/14/09 07:29am |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: Tropical Palms in April
My brother used to go there every April. He said there was one week where it was nuts with some misbehaving around Easter/spring break and for the rest it was quiet.
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johnas
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10/14/09 07:17am |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: 3 year old terrorists
I don't have grandchildren but I do have 4 kiddos. I'm also the oldest of 5 kids, my parents have 12 grandchildren. My children have always understood that coloring is for paper only. To me it's logic and odly enough, we, as children NEVER wrote on walls and neither did any of mine.
My paternal grandmother had 40 grandchildren and do you think that any of us would even contemplate touching or demolishing anything at all in her house? No way!
My parents are also kind and loving grandparents but there's no way that any of the grandchildren can lip them off or demolish anything in their house. They just won't stand for it. Out of the 12 there are 3 (not mine but from they're siblings from the same family lol)that can be a problem but they are always warned to behave.
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johnas
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09/30/09 08:02pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Senior Discount; opinions, please
I find senior discounts very often unnecessary. I wouldn't mind a volume discount when I take my group out for dinner while we have a truck load of expenses. Though I do respect the seniors on a limited income in respect to discounts, I personally know seniors who have huge pensions/low expenses bragging about their senior discounts. This one would be hard to solve as showing proof of income would not be a suitable solution. :-)
There are times where I think discounts are fair. Often, we like to take my parents to Blizzard Beach so we can have a centralized point and they basically enjoy taking in the area. Two people in their 70s aren't going down summit plummet and therefore, to charge full price is really silly. For that reason they don't go anymore. We also talked to other seniors there and they just enjoy watching the grandchildren. For these seniors the admit price should be way reduced.
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johnas
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09/29/09 07:36am |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Myrtle Beach, SC Recommendations
As far as private CG, MB Travel park may well be the best pick. Willow Tree is nice, but no where near MB or the ocean, despite what they say. The 'big 3' (Ocean Lakes, Pirateland, Lakewood) have many sites, close together, most of them not pull thru. The KOA in MB is really a nice CG, with Pull thrus, but not on the ocean.
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Ocean Lakes is all pull-thru and you can select you site you want to stay at. The campground is huge with lots of concrete pads.
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johnas
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09/17/09 07:06am |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: Americas Got Talent Finals Vote?
I'm happy for the guy because he was so poor and needed the money, however that's not what the show is about. He wasn't that bad either, but not near as talented as most of the others. Barbara Padilla is by far a more talented singer, but would we want to see pure opera in Vegas? I think she'll go far elsewhere for sure and so will some of the others, such as the Texas tennors....
I don't know what Voices of Glory were doing in the top five that one surprised me the most.
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johnas
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09/17/09 07:01am |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Americas Got Talent Finals Vote?
I agree that there's no clear winner like Terry Fater was. That's a great idea to have a variety show with the top five.
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johnas
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09/16/09 05:44pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: suggest Chivy, Ford Gas or Diesel ¾ or 1 ton.
We have a 3/4 Chev Suburban and it's always worked great for towing and we have a pretty heavy TT.
I think Ford would be fine too.
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johnas
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09/16/09 05:37pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Best overall travel trailer
Hi everyone:
I agree with the people that all brands have potential to have a RV that isn't up to standard and also have great RVS
That said, we've owned two Trailite Travel Trailers that both leaked and fell apart. With the last one we had to repair all the plumbing after arriving at each destination. We always had to race to the nearest plumbing or camping store. We finally traded the last one in in 2006.
Now, for the last three years and we've owned an Outback by Keystone. It's the 31RQS with the bunkhouse in the back, huge slide out (the dinette and couch) with a master at the front. What a difference! I know I'm comparing light weight with a heavier model but we couldn't be happier. We've had no problems the 3.5 years that we've owned it.
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johnas
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09/16/09 05:32pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: WalMart - slideouts
We never use Walmarts for destination stays but if we need a couple of hours sleep between destinations we do use it.
We used to look for cgs but often if you need one on the fly there's no room or you ride endlessly on dark roads far from the highway trying to find it. Then it takes forever to set up and level. Then you get bilked for the full rate including extra people.
Walmart is faster and cheaper. But....like I said NEVER do we use a Walmart as a destination campground.
We use the slide because though the kitchen is accessible with slides closed the bathroom and bunkhouse aren't. Thus we open our slides in a secure spot.
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johnas
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09/14/09 08:37pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: WalMart - slideouts
We have to put our slides out. We park our trailer so we know no-one can remove our slide outs with their vehicle. We need to put the slides out to access our trailer. I can't see anything wrong with that. If Wallmart was asked for permission, you park where they suggest then there's nothing wrong with it. Provided of course you leave the place clean.
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johnas
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09/14/09 07:04am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: China into RV's - Yeah
I think it's pathetic that it's almost an impossibility to find things that aren't made in China. There's really not a lot of choice. Yes, the American with a highschool diploma does deserve to make 20 k plus. How on earth do you support your family with the cost of living in the US and Canada. I have 2 college diplomas but I think everyone deserves a fair living wage.
This is just meant to bring the American/Canadian worker to their knees and become part of the masses of the working poor. Is that what we want for our country? It baffles me, that there are still people on this forum who either want to or can't wait to give the Chinese even more world dominance than they already have.
I for one, will not consider a Chinese car or RV. That's the one and only thing we still have some choice in and we should say thanks but no thanks to those products.
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johnas
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09/14/09 06:58am |
General RVing Issues
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