August 10, 2023 • 38 mins
In this episode, we are joined by Emily from Camper Rental Adventures. Their family business is basically the Airbnb of the RV Rental industry. They provide RV vacation homes, set up at Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground for families to use while visiting Walt Disney World. They provide a variety of add-on rentals including fire pits and more.
Check out this link for this week's specials. Make sure to check back to Facebook if looking to book later for their latest offers.
Earlier in the show, Kris and Vanessa revisit all the fun activities and benefits to staying at Fort Wilderness.
- Camper Rental Adventures Facebook Profile
- Camper Rental Adventures Instagram Profile
- Episode 80 where we also discuss fun at Fort Wilderness.
- Recreation at Fort Wilderness
For all the latest news about our episodes follow us on Instagram @dislovewithvanessaandkris or on YouTube.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the Diz Love podcast with Vanessa and
Chris . I'm Vanessa Ferguson.
And I'm Chris Johns. We wouldlike to welcome you to show
number 133 and for anylisteners joining us for the
first time, our show featuresthings we love at Disney. And
in each episode we feature aguest who creates Disney Magic
for our listeners at home or ontheir Disney vacations. From
(00:26):
vacation planners to productproducers, our guests can bring
Disney Magic into your lives.
And as a reminder to ourlisteners, we appreciate if you
can take time to leave us areview on Apple Podcasts or any
other platform where youlisten. We always like to give
shout outs to those who taketime to review us and of course
we're thankful 'cause thathelps new listeners find the
show. We greatly appreciate it.
(00:48):
And on today's show we aregoing to be joined by Emily
from Camper Rental Adventures,their family business Provides
your family with an RV vacationhome that's all set up at Fort
Wilderness Campground for you ,you to use while staying there.
They also have some fun add-onfeatures. So we're really
looking forward. This wasactually I think one of Chris's
(01:09):
favorite interviews. It surewas super exciting. One of the
things you'll wanna make sureto do is always check their
Facebook page for their latestspecials. They have some great
offers periodically, you knowthey have someone we were
recording the show. Sodefinitely check out their
Facebook page for that. Andbefore we get to our interview
with Emily, we wanna talk aboutall things Fort Wilderness. Now
(01:30):
if you've listened to the showfor a long time, you know we
did visit this topic a coupleyears ago, but we thought it
was time to give an update. Andof course it goes really great
with you planning a trip withCamper Rental Adventures. So we
thought it was about time toget back to Fort Wilderness and
there are some new updates thathave happened recently. So
we're really looking forward tosharing with you about Fort
(01:54):
Wilderness. Now, if you're notreally familiar with it, it of
course is the campground andthey have campsites as well as
cabins. It's 750 acres, whichis huge. I didn't realize it
was that big, but I've beenthrough it. I should realize
the size of it. So they dohave, as I mentioned, they have
cabins and campsites. And yearsago my family stayed at the
(02:18):
cabins and I don't, Chris youdidn't, you weren't, we weren't
married then. You didn't stayat the cabins did you did not.
So the cabins sleep up to sixadults and it has a full living
space. So they have a livingroom, bedroom, kitchen, all of
that. They do have housekeepingservice based on the Disney
cycle at that time. And theyare nice. They have some nice
(02:38):
swimming areas that are closeto the cabins. My family stayed
there when I had brought alonga friend. I was in college and
we stayed there a lot of space.
There is only one bathroom,which I think is a downsize and
when they did some remodels afew years ago, there used to be
an extra sink and mirror. Theytook that out too. So I will
say if you have a larger party,you're probably gonna wanna
(03:01):
check in with our friends overwith Emily and be able to get
something, one of theircampers. 'cause you could
probably sleep morecomfortably, a larger group
there. So when it comes tocamping, you can do all kinds
of camping there. They havewhere you can bring your tent,
your own rv, you can run an rv,lots of different things. And
(03:22):
we are not ones that go campinga lot. So if you're like us,
you might not understand thedifferences. So there are four
different types of campsites,which is helpful for those of
you who already have yourcamping gear and are coming
prepared. They have apreferred, they have a premium,
they have a full hookup andpartial hookup. So the premium
ones of course, just likeeverything with Disney, the pre
(03:43):
, I'm sorry, the preferred onesare close to everything. The
recreation hall, the pools, themarina, which we'll talk about,
all the things like that. Theyalso then moving to the premium
ones, they're a little bitfurther away from those common
areas, but they have more spaceand privacy. And for those of
you who are camping noviceslike me, a full hookup is
(04:06):
everything for an RV withwater, electric, sewer. A
partial would be more if youare coming with tent camping or
something or maybe a popup.
It's just water and electric.
So this gives you an idea, it'sa full service campground just
like you would find anywhereelse. And I know we have
friends that enjoy going andstaying at Fort Wilderness all
(04:27):
the time. If your family isused to you camp more on your
vacations, it's a great way toget the best of both. You get
Disney and camping, which issuper fun. Now one of the
things that it , you have tokeep in mind with Fort
Wilderness is it is huge. Likewe've gone just to eat and do
some of the things. They havetheir own internal bus system.
(04:50):
So if you are coming and you'renot staying at Fort Wilderness
and you're just going there todine or enjoy some of the other
recreation there, you have to,if you have your own vehicle,
you park at the front or if youdon't have your own vehicle,
the buses drop you off and youhave to take their internal bus
system and that can be a littleconfusing. So make sure that
you learn about that, theirinternal bus system. But it
(05:13):
saves you from all the walkingthat you could have. Now they
have a lot of differentactivities which we're gonna
break down and look at for you.
One of the things that I thinkis kind of fun is they have all
kinds of rentals. So you canrent everything from golf carts
to kayaks to canoes. There'sall kinds of different things
(05:35):
that you can do. And inaddition to the rentals, they
have a lot of fun activities.
And I don't remember if Chriswent to this, but when we had
our wedding, we did a grouphayride. I mean I know he
remembers the hay ride from ourwedding for our guests to come
and enjoy. We ate at Trailsend, which of course is just
(05:58):
transitioning its food. Butthen we took the, we had a
private hay ride . So everynight they have hay rides and
anyone can take part of 'em.
You just go up uh , by PioneerHall and you're able to pay to
go on one of those. If you havea large group like we did for
our wedding, you can do aprivate one. We did this with
(06:18):
some of our groups of friends.
So it's fun. I think that whenyou go on those hay rides, you
don't really feel like you'reat Disney at all, do you? You
sure don't. You're kind of outin the wilderness and it's nice
depending on what time you takeit, you can see some of the
fireworks from Magic Kingdomand things lit up, which is
super cool with um , hay ridesalso in that area. They have a
(06:40):
campfire sing-along and thishas Chip and Dale and they
usually, it's timed with a,with a movie that you can also
enjoy. So it's calledChippendale's Campfire
Sing-Along. So when we went,what they do is they have
Chippendale come out. They hada cast member playing guitar
(07:02):
and leading a sing-along and itwas super cute and fun and they
will also, did you go to thesing-along with us? I don't
know, I don't think Chris did.
Um, so they have the sing alongand you don't have to be
staying at Fort Wilderness togo enjoy this and it's a free
activity. What they'll do isthey'll do some songs and
they're more like traditionalkind of camping songs. They
(07:22):
have a campfire going and youcan roast marshmallows and you
can either bring your ownmarshmallows and sticks or they
have s'mores kits that you canbuy, which is nice. So if
you're on vacation like us, weprobably wouldn't go and get
s'mores stuff, but you can buya S'mores Kit kit and you can
roast your marshmallows andthen afterwards they have a
(07:43):
Disney movie under the Stars.
And if you've listened to theshow when we've talked about
other resorts, there's a lot ofthe resorts where you can go
and watch the movies under thestars. And I think this one's
even more special because youget to have all those added
aspects with Chippendale andthe campfire and all of that.
So that's super fun if you'rewanting to find out the
schedule. 'cause the scheduleof course changes of what the
(08:05):
movies are and timing and allthat, you can check with the
front desk at Fort Wildernessor you can check on, it's hard
to find the information onlineunless somebody else has posted
it. So one of the things, Iknow it's old school , but you
can call 4 0 7 W D w and thenthe word play. So W D W play
(08:26):
and they also will have theschedule available for you or
if you're lucky enough somebodyon the internet's been a friend
and has been able to post thatfor you. So that is super nice.
I really enjoyed that. It'sbeen a long time since I've
done it, but I think it wouldbe something fun even now that
we, our daughters in ourfamily, it would be fun to go
back and experience that againwith her. When I went it was
(08:49):
all adults, we went and did itand we had fun. So there's,
there's not an age limit or anage requirement I guess for
that at all. So the campfire isone fun acts aspect that they
have one fun activity. Theyalso have Pioneer Hall, which
is right kind of at the main,the heart of Fort Wilderness.
They have the Hoopy Do musicalreview and this had the record
(09:13):
of being like the longeststanding dinner show in the
United States and I know theydid have to close, they closed
for two years because of Covid.
But thankfully the hoop to doreview is back and it's been
back since last year and thisis so much fun. I know my
family went years ago. My dadwas one that got picked to go
up and do some of the stuff. Ithink Chris would enjoy this.
(09:35):
Here's the menu there Chris atthe dinner show, they have
fried chicken, barbecue porkribs, they have you get a
salad, they have cowboy beans,fresh baked cornbread, macaroni
and cheese, creamy coleslaw andthen they have strawberry
shortcake. Sounds good. Yeah,so I think Chris would enjoy
that. We, when I've been in thepast, the food has always been
(09:55):
good. That was before Covid.
I've heard good things offriends who've gone since it's
returned . So I'm sure youwould enjoy it as well. And
just like I mentioned with the,with the campfire, you do not
have to be a guest there. Infact, most of the people that
are going to see the Hoopty domusical review are not guests
(10:15):
and it's fun to, it's just afun kind of over the top
experience. It's a great dinnershow and especially now with
the luau gone , this gives youa nice chance to, if you're
wanna do something fun outsidethe parks with your guests. So
as I mentioned, you would haveto take that internal bus
system to get back to PioneerHall. Another great option it
(10:36):
is to enjoy this is if you areat Magic Kingdom for the day,
there is a boat that goes rightfrom Magic Kingdom to Fort
Wilderness and this will takeyou right to that main area
where Pioneer Hall is. So youcan be right there and you
don't have to worry about theinternal bus system and then
you can take the boat back andget on the bus or whatever mode
of transportation for yourresort if you're staying on
(10:57):
property. So that's kind of afun thing. The show they do, it
varies at times a year but theyusually have at least two shows
every year. So it's fun to beable and sometimes they have
three depending on the time ofyear. So definitely check it
out, plan it ahead of time,it's a good time. You will
definitely enjoy it. So we'vetalked about some of the
(11:18):
entertainment. So you have thecampfire and the sing-along,
you have the hoopty do review.
Now let's get to, if I'mstaying at Fort Wilderness,
what are the things that I'mgoing to experience now there's
a few more activities whichwe're gonna talk about that are
kind of open to everyone. But Ithink one of the fun things is
(11:39):
that there's a whole, I wouldsay culture around Fort
Wilderness now in particular,if you go at Halloween or at
Christmas, which you'll hearEmily mention they book out way
in advance for some of theirRVs for those seasons. So you
definitely, it's kind of amagical time. Um, Halloween is
(12:00):
will look at a little bit aboutwhat they do for each of those
and how you can experience it.
And if you're new to staying atFort Wilderness, you can just
go and enjoy what everybodyelse has done as well. So for
Halloween they do a Halloweengolf cart parade, which people
say is so much fun that mostthe main mode of transportation
(12:20):
for guests at Fort Wildernessis usually golf carts. So
people will rent golf carts,they will have their own golf
carts and people decorate themup and they have a huge parade
through the campground onHalloween. And this is
something that people say issuch a cool thing to see and
they say that people kind ofmake 'em everything from Disney
(12:42):
inspired things like withHaunted Mansion and that just
to kind of fun things relatedto almost any kind of Disney
topic you could imagine. And sopeople say that is a lot of fun
and I have not been there atthat time of year, so it'd be
fun to be able to do that. Ifyou go at Christmas time ,
there's some makeover Christmasmakeovers at things all over.
(13:04):
So the first thing is theHoopty Do Review has a holiday
makeover and during that timeyou get a chance to to kind of
add in a little bit ofdifferent music and some new
lines to kind of the showitself. And that's kind of a
fun thing to experience at theHoopy Do review. In addition to
those changes, you also canenjoy walking around and seeing
(13:28):
all the amazing holidaydecorations people do at their
campsites, at the cabins frontof their tents, RVs,
everything. It's so cool thewhole month of December people
will have their sights totallydecked out. It's super cool to
see you can walk around andenjoy that. I've also seen they
have all throughout the yearthey have carriage rides that
(13:49):
you can take at along with thehay rides, but they have
personal carriage rides. Youcan take that hold several
people, but during theChristmas season they do sleigh
rides, which I think is superfun. I'm not sure how they do a
sleigh ride in Florida with nosnow Chris. So we'll have to
look that up. It's probably onwheels I'm sure, but I would
hope so . But it's a sleigh.
It's a sleigh. So that's superfun. I really would love to see
(14:15):
the holiday season at therebecause it just adds that extra
magic that you already areexperiencing in the parks and
then you can go and just seewhat people have brought on
their own to be able to bringthat holiday magic. And I think
doing like the campfire and allthose things really brings that
cozy kind of Christmas feel.
And if you're like us andyou're from somewhere where
(14:35):
you're used to having snow andmaybe a little bit colder
temperatures for the holidayseason, I think it brings a
little bit of that festfestivity there. So it's super
neat to go either at Christmasor Halloween. Of course I'm
sure that celebration spreadsout over several weeks. It's
not just on that those daysthemselves, but it gives you a
(14:56):
chance to, again, we alwaystalk about how there's all
these extras at Disney andthat's one more thing that you
can experience. It's not justthe same old going and riding
the same rides I'm eating atthe same places. There's all
these new things that you canexperience now if you want a
day away from the parks.
There's also a lot of funactivities that you can take
part in at Wilder at FortWilderness, they have Tri
(15:21):
Circle D Ranch allows you to,when you go there you can do
horseback riding. They havepony rides for kids. I've been
wanting to take our daughter tothat. My mom and I did the
horseback riding years ago. Idon't think it's returned since
Covid , but they have donesegue tours in the past. I
think that hopefully we'llreturn I would, I'll have to
(15:41):
double check , but I'm not surethat those have returned since
C O D . You also can do archerylessons, which I think would be
super fun if like our daughterright now is really into Marita
, so if she was a little morecoordinated, it would be fun to
take her in a little older todo that. But if you have older
ones or even yourself if youwanna try something out so you
(16:01):
could really have that wholerustic experience at the
campground and not feel likeyou're in that super busy
hustle and bustle of theFlorida theme parks. So that's
a great thing to do. Andoverall it gives you a chance
to experience the outdoors aswell as to have some relaxation
and enjoy some different thingsthat you might not have done at
the parks before. You can do itagain. As I mentioned, most of
(16:24):
these things are available forpeople who are guests as well
as people who are just stayingelsewhere on property or
elsewhere. You can just come inand enjoy these amenities.
There's lots of trails that youcan take. There's some
beautiful scenery where you cansee parts of Magic Kingdom from
the beach area. And I'll alsosay it's just nice because it
(16:44):
gives you a chance toexperience Disney in a new way,
which I think that's one of thegreat things that Emily's
family with their camper rentalventures gives you a chance to
experience Disney in a new wayand really kind of enjoy
something new. Right nowthere's the Trails end
restaurant. It kind of wentthrough the revamp and is in
the midst of reopening. So thatused to be family style like
(17:08):
buffet and then now it'sopening as a quick service.
Sounds like what they havecoming for that is gonna be
really tasty as well. And thenof course they have all the
standard things like there is agift shop there and all of
those standard amenities thatyou expect with the pools and
everything from Disney. Sohopefully you and your family
can get a chance to experienceall the great things at Fort
(17:30):
Wilderness and maybe can rentan RV from our good friend
Emily. So we are lookingforward to sharing our
interview with her and lookforward to sharing even more
about the fun and excitement atFort Wilderness. We'd like to
welcome Emily to the show . Herfamily's business , camper
Rental Adventures is a rentalbusiness that services Fort
(17:51):
Wilderness. They specialize ofcourse in campers and they love
providing their guests with amagical camping experience.
We'd like to welcome Emily tothe show.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Hi. Thank you guys for having me.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Now we always start off by asking a little bit
about what people enjoy atDisney. And so right now we've
been asking people what is yourfavorite character to meet at
any of the parks or see ,
Speaker 2 (18:16):
I would definitely go right now with um, all the
characters from Poo Bear . Myson, he is two and he, his
favorite show right now is SPoo . So we love going, he is
usually at Magic Kingdom and welove going to see him.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
I know we're going to the Halloween party this
year and my friend a coupleyears ago got where you can get
all of them in their Halloweencostumes and I'm hoping a
picture with them. I'm hopingto be able to do that at the
Halloween party.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Oh yeah, I really wanted to make it this year. I
haven't gotten dates yet, but Ido wanna make it .
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Now we wanna learn all about your family's
business and what are theservices that you offer
connected to Disney?
Speaker 2 (18:54):
So we provide camper rentals at Fort Wilderness. So
our clients, they book a sitewith Fort Wilderness, just like
you would book a hotel room andafter they secure their site
with Disney, they secure acamper with us. We have over 20
campers to choose from. We havelarger ones and smaller ones.
We have ones that fit all theway down to tent and pop-up
(19:16):
sites. And then we have uh ,larger two bedroom, two bath
campers for larger families orextended families. So once you
get your site with Disney, youpick a camper with us. When you
pick a with us, we send you allinformation about the floor
check-in day. When check-in daycomes, we go in, we set the
camper up completely for youand it's just like arriving ,
(19:36):
arriving to a Airbnb or aDisney hotel room.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
That's awesome. Now you had mentioned this is a
family business. What was thedecision to start something to
offer services to families?
Speaker 2 (19:47):
So we were camping, that was our family vacation
since we were all young. Welived in Massachusetts
originally and had a drivablerv. So we would go down two or
three times a year. Ourfavorite time was always um,
Christmas. We would spendChristmas at the fort. So we
would do that uh , probably forlike 20 years. Then my parents
decided to move down to Floridaand as our family started
(20:10):
getting older, we wanted to godown with them. So my parents
bought a second camper so wecould use it and then they just
saw the need following peopleon Facebook for other people
looking for RV rentals. Andsince we had the extra one, we
decided to start renting itout. So we started with one and
we grew to around 20 and itbecame a really big business.
(20:33):
It doesn't give as many daysoff anymore and we work all
holidays, but we do enjoy it.
It's what we've always loveddoing, isn't
Speaker 3 (20:40):
It ? I mean , I think your family really ies
the American dream, which isthere's a problem, you provide
a solution one time and thennow you have this fleet where
you're able to provide so manyfamilies that additional fun
that is unique to the Disneyexperience.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Yeah, definitely.
And that's really what ,especially my mom enjoys . She
loves meeting all of our guestsand making sure that they have
their best at Disneyexperience. She loves it when
they have never come campingbefore and this is their first
time she'll show 'em how to doeverything and everything
around the fort that they cando and that's what really makes
her happy.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
So that's a, that's a good question. Now I had
mentioned to you earlier, I'vestayed at Fort Wilderness but
just in the cabins because myfamily probably wouldn't even
know how to set up an rv. Sowhat are all the service , I
know you said everything's setup, but so for somebody that's
a novice like myself, Iwouldn't have anything to worry
about it sounds like.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
No, so when we go in , um, and another thing is
since we're a family business,when you book with us, you're
usually either booking with mysister or I or my mom. And then
she's also the one setting yourcamper up. We don't hire
drivers so you're alwaysworking with someone in the
family. We do have a couplepeople who work with us who
were actually our clientspreviously. So they also love
(21:55):
the fort , they help set thecampers up, but you'll always
meet someone from our family.
Um, when you're on yourcheck-in day, we bring the
camper in, we hook up all theutilities for you, we get the
AC running, we get the fridgerunning. All the beds are made
just like an Airbnb, yourkitchen's stocked with
everything that you would needfor cooking. Um, your coffee
(22:17):
maker, we usually have theKeurig and the drip and then
you arrive and um, what happensis you can get your site from
Disney anywhere between 7:00 AMto 3:00 PM When you get your
site from Disney, you text itover to us. When you text it to
us, we start setting up. So ifyou get your site right at 7:00
(22:38):
AM and you arrive at 12, yourAC is completely cooled off the
camper's ready. You havenothing to do but unpack your
bags and start enjoying yourtrip.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
That's awesome. Now, you know, my wife and I, we
have a family of three, whichI'm sure you have models that
will accommodate that. What isreally the largest family that
your business could take careof?
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Well that's actually a up to fort wilderness because
it goes up to 10 people perreservation. Okay. And as of
right now, but they're alwayschanging roles . I believe it's
10 still. Uh, so you can have10 people on the reservation
and we definitely have campersthat accommodate 10. Uh, we
always are getting newercampers. And the newer campers,
they just, they're so large, Ican't believe they're making
(23:19):
them like as big as they are .
But we have like two bedrooms,two full bathrooms. So you can
have a bunk room that will fitfour to five people. They'll
have their own full bathroom inthe back along with the master
bedroom, their full bathroom.
And then you have the livingroom, which can also
accommodate sleeping couches,convert into beds and dining
(23:40):
room tables convert into bedsas well . So we have campers
that can definitely fit 10
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Now . That's awesome . You know, you talk about
campers. What are some of theother , uh, upgrades that a
person like Vanessa couldpurchase in addition to the
camper?
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Yeah, so we have outdoor games and a big one,
especially when it's gettingcolder as a fire pit. Uh,
Disney has certain fire pitsthat you're allowed to bring to
the fort . So it has to becompletely covered with a lid
and we'll bring those alongwith the camper if it's rented,
Speaker 3 (24:10):
You know , I'm glad you brought that up because you
know, we'll go to , is itAnimal Kingdom? What's the
lodge called that we eat in ?
Oh , animal
Speaker 2 (24:16):
Kingdom Lodge . Yeah ,
Speaker 3 (24:18):
I , I dunno . Even though I've been there 20 plus
times , I dunno any of theplaces. The one thing I love
doing, you mentioned the firepit, is I just like to,
especially when we go aroundlike Christmas, because we'll
be going in October and plusagain in December this year. I
just like to just kinda chillout in front of the fire they
have at Wilderness Lodge . AtWilderness Lodge. And it's
just, and I'm glad you broughtthat fire pit up because it's
(24:38):
something that you're not gonnabring on a plane and the odds
are you're not gonna go to alocal store to buy it. But for
you to be able to offer that,that's really, that's a cool
addition.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Yeah, definitely. I mean, that's one of my
favorites is when all of ourfamily comes in , we're sitting
outside at the fire pit. Butthat's another good point to
bring up is we do have a lot ofclients who are flying in, they
aren't driving, they're justflying in and arriving right to
the campsite. So we do offerother small things that they
might need, such as a pack andplay or if they wanted extra
bedding or extra towels becauseif they're flying in they don't
(25:11):
wanna pack too much. So theycan definitely, we work with
our clients like that and wemake sure that they have
everything when they need it ,when they arrive. And um, we'll
even , um, let them know aboutgrocery deliveries and things
like that, or if they havetheir groceries delivered at a
certain time, we'll help themget that if they're arriving
later on the plane.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
That's wonderful.
And I think that reallydifferentiates, I would say
like a corporation versus afamily owned business because
that's just a touch that mostfolks wouldn't think of and as
strict as airlines are becauseagain, like we live in in
Michigan, we fly, we've neverdriven to Florida in regards to
going to Disney. And that'sjust so nice that you offer
that because it just reallyalleviates a lot of burden on
(25:52):
families as part of theirplanning.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Definitely. I feel like flying in is definitely
different than driving and uh,we always ask, we have a
questionnaire when we take ourbookings and we ask there how
they're getting there drivingor flying because if they're
flying, we , you're arrivingwith your suitcases, you don't
have a car, we wanna make surethat the camper's completely
set up and ready for yourarrival so you're not waiting
(26:15):
at all. So we definitely doprioritize that. When it comes
to people flying in
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Now, we've talked a lot about arriving and all the
great things that are readynow. When , uh, families
leaving, what are theirresponsibilities? Is everything
kind of taken care of on theback end ? Are there certain
obligations they have to do toget everything ready for pickup
?
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Uh, it would be the same as leaving a hotel room or
an Airbnb rental. You just packyour bags and then we take care
of the rest. So check out atDisney is 11. We ask you to be
out by uh , 10, 10 30 . So thatway we can get the camper out
by 11. It takes us about a halfhour to get out.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Now one thing that we always try to ask people
with any of the types ofservices, how far out, like are
there certain seasons that arebusier? Like if my family was
wanting to plan a trip, howsoon should we reach out to
Camper Rental Adventures?
Speaker 2 (27:10):
So it depends, like you said on the time that you
were coming. Halloween is ourmost busy time of the year by
far. So Halloween books out assoon as the sites at Disney
Open. Um, and I'm not sure theexact time the site's open. Uh,
I can get that and add thatinto the notes if you wanted me
to. Sure. But so as soon asDisney starts opening bookings
(27:33):
for Halloween, we sell out forHalloween. And then same with
other times of the year, maybe.
Um, there's certain weekendsthat large groups like to come,
so then that always books outbecause they always tend to
come the same time of the year.
Sure. So all of our camperswill book out. But that being
said, if you wanted to comenext week, it's kind of slow.
So we have a camper available,so we always have, unless it's
(27:56):
a very busy time, we usuallyhave last minute availability .
Availability .
Speaker 3 (28:00):
What I think what I like about what you have to
offer is that your, we'll callit like a Florida December,
January, February is verysimilar to a Michigan, you
know, August, September inregards to the, you know, the
nightly temperatures mm-hmm .
. And so yeah ,you , you're gonna have the ,
the warmth of the day and evenwhile it may be cold out,
technically the RV or thecamper will take, you know,
(28:21):
keep you warm because for us itwould just be almost like
camping here in the fall. Andthat's, you know, and it's
something neat because, youknow, Vanessa and I, we stayed
from the Grand Floridian downto Art of Animation and I think
what you're offering is areally a unique experience for
families that just wanna dosomething different. 'cause
that's, again, we've been thereso many times where for us, we,
we've ridden the rides, but wewanna do something different.
(28:42):
And what you're offering isdefinitely a unique experience.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Yeah. There's a couple different reasons why
it's, it's um , uh, differentand sometimes the better
alternative to a hotel roombecause like I said, you get
the 10 people on thereservation. So instead of
needing two to three hotelrooms, now you can fit all your
family in one. You have the twofull bathrooms and our two full
(29:06):
bathrooms give you a tub inone. So you have your tub for
the little ones, and then youalso have your stand-up shower
and the other bathroom. Uh ,but also you have the whole
outdoor area. So instead ofbeing in a hotel room where you
walk out and you're in ahallway, you walk out and you
have a whole seating areaoutside. When I bring my son,
(29:26):
we bring , um, a bunch ofoutdoor things for him. We
bring , uh, his baby gate andthen put a bunch of toys in
there. So you just get , I feellike you have a lot more space
and you definitely have a lotmore space for the kids because
now instead of being cooped upin the room or the camper, you
open the door and you have awhole outdoor area where their
bikes, their toys, things likethat.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
A hundred percent .
I mean if you think about it,you really have a guaranteed
first floor room.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Yeah . . Yes
. Now one of the things that we
always like to ask, and you'vereally touched on this already,
but maybe you could even talkabout things that like Fort
Wilderness offers as well. Howdo you think the products slash
really service that you offeradds Disney magic to your
customer's lives?
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Yeah. Well, I always start with our rentals first.
And what we try to do with ourrentals is we try to theme 'em.
Uh , all of our campers havehave names. Um, our newest
one's Raya , for instance. Oh .
So we have a themed with Raya,we have pillows and things like
that. And then in addition tothat, we ask all of our clients
, um, if they want characterbetting. So we theme our
(30:33):
betting for the children withcharacters like Mini Mickey
Moana cars, things like that.
And if they don't specificallyask, I'll go through and ask
them if it's Boyser Girls andtry to theme it that way with
either Mini or Mickey orPrincesses just so the kids get
a little bit extra when theyarrive. But then, I mean the
four itself is all Disney magicand it's actually where the
(30:58):
horses are kept for MagicKingdom. Yes. So we have the
horse barn. There's actuallytwo horse barns now right when
you drive in. And then there'salso one in the settlement that
also gives you trail riding andpony rides for the kids, which
is really fun for the littleones. And I know even if you're
not staying there, people comejust to see the horses at
(31:19):
Disney.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Yes, for sure.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
That , that's really an awesome point. I mean, just
about how I , I really likethat thing about the betting.
I'm surprised that in a macrosense Disney doesn't offer a
bit more personalization. Butto your point, you know, again,
if you're , like you said youryoung child is into poo and if
he can have poo on his, youknow, bedspread and his pillow
cover and whatnot, that justadds even more. And that's
(31:42):
something that parents don'thave to bring with them. It's
provided by you.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Exactly. That's what we, we really like to see all
the kids excited when theyarrive.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
And I know over the years we've enjoyed going to
like hay rides and in , inenjoying the restaurants there.
And my mom and I have done thehorseback riding and I love how
you mentioned about the Ponyrides. Our daughter is really
into horses right now, so onone of our upcoming trips, I
was hoping to take her overthere to do that . And I think
(32:11):
people don't realize too, it'sso peaceful there. I love going
just to hang out and get abreak from the hustle and
bustle at the parks andeverywhere else you really feel
like you're somewhere else whenyou're at Fort Wilderness.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Definitely . And I think something else people
might not know is you'reactually still a Magic Kingdom
Resort guest, so all you need ,um, to do is jump on the boat
and you're right at MagicKingdom. And you can also see
the fireworks from MagicKingdom along with they play
the music from Magic Kingdom atthe beach every night.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
You know , we've mentioned all the awesome
things that your companyprovides. Where can folks go to
learn more?
Speaker 2 (32:51):
We have our website, which is camper rental
adventures.com, that will haveall of our campers that we have
available . If you, we have aquestionnaire, so you fill out
the dates that you're lookingfor, you send us over that in
the email and we'll send youover what campers are available
or what would best fit yourparty for the dates. But we
also have our Facebook page,we'll run promotions and sales
(33:13):
almost weekly, but you can alsomessages on there. So we're
very active on our , on ourFacebook page. If you have any
questions, you send us over amessage and we'll get back to
you right away.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
Thank you. And then the one piece is , is there a
minimum a night minimum for howmany nights ?
Speaker 2 (33:31):
We have a two night minimum, but anything over two
is fine . And then if it's overthree nights, we don't charge
deliberate fee .
Speaker 3 (33:39):
Thank you. And I know you , you may have
mentioned this, but in reVanessa's a planner, I know the
other night she got up veryearly to make reservations
while I was sleeping or dining.
Yeah. , how far out,like time-wise, am I able to
secure, like let's just saythat the camper that sits, that
sleeps 10, because I'm gonnahave a family reunion, how far
out should I call to make sureI am able to secure a specific
(34:02):
model?
Speaker 2 (34:04):
So whenever Disney opens up the dates , and I
think it's roughly, I knowwe're already booked for
Halloween 2024, so I think it'sabout a year and a half. For
example, right now, a lot ofpeople are booking for Spring.
Sure . Uh , that would benormal. But if it's a really
busy time, you wanna book , uh,right when Disney opens up the
reservation. But if you wannabook , uh, just regularly,
(34:26):
probably , uh, a year inadvance.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Wow. And we will make sure to put the links to
your website , to the Facebookpage and the show notes. And we
are really excited to reallyshare your business with our
listeners because I think youoffer such a unique opportunity
to people, for people to enjoytheir vacation in a new way.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
Well, and I'm excited too because I would,
you know, I love Disney, thehotels, but I think this would
just be a fun experience justto have, because you know, we
had mentioned before, Vanessais not a camper , um, a tent, a
tent camper, . I I havebeen a tent camper in my
lifetime and I would love tojust do something different.
And I think for families thatare classic Disney visitors,
(35:05):
this allows you to reallyaugment and create a new memory
that you're , you would ,because again, do you really
remember the, the fourth timeyou stayed at Art of Animation?
Not really. Whereas with whatyou have to offer, that will be
a core memory for kids andparents alike.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Definitely. And actually one thing I forgot to
mention was Fort Wilderness isgreat to bring your pets and we
have pet friendly units, theyhave a dog park and you can
walk around. So that'sdefinitely something for people
to consider versus staying at ahotel room.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
That's perfect. And I will make sure to share some
of that information in our shownotes as well. 'cause I know
we're big dog lovers and I, wehave a lot of friends that even
travel and bring their dogswith them, so that's awesome.
We'll make sure to let peopleknow about that as well. Yes.
Perfect. Well thank you somuch, Emily, for joining us
today. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
Thank you again to Emily for joining us today.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
And now we are onto our two minute trivia and our
wisdom from Walt quote . AndChris , you are up with trivia.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
Now. You mentioned that Fort Wilderness was
founded, it was opened inNovember of 1971 and it's
grown. And so this directlyrelates to Emily and the
wonderful service that herfamily provides because they
will put a brand new RV into acampsite. The question is how
many campsites are at forwilderness?
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Now we're saying all campsites. 'cause I know we
talked about the differenttypes of like hookups and all
this is all the campsites.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
So this is for my friends@allears.net. The resort
has blank number of campsitesand blank number of air
conditioned wilderness cabinsresiding on more than 700 acres
of lush vegetation.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
, I'm gonna
, I'm I just have to answer the
campsites though, right? Well,
Speaker 3 (36:52):
You can do both. So how many campsites are there
and how many air conditionedcabins?
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Let's say 130 campsites.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
And then for cabins, I'm gonna go 65. You
Speaker 3 (37:02):
Just have to , you are way off. Way off . Okay .
You are way, you are way, waylow high , way low. Way low.
Okay. So I'm gonna give youwhat now do a take your, your
guess
Speaker 1 (37:14):
500
Speaker 3 (37:16):
Low.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
Wow, that's okay. I have no idea.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
According to all ears.net 799 campsites, holy
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Cow. And
Speaker 3 (37:25):
409 air conditioned wilderness cabins.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
Wow. That is way more, it doesn't feel that big
when you're there. Like youfeel like it , I think it's
that privacy aspect, the wayit's set up.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
I have very little memory of Fort Wilderness in
general. I mean, I , I've beenthere.
Speaker 1 (37:42):
You remember eating at Trails End .
Speaker 3 (37:44):
I do. But regards to like I , where it's at ,
remember , I don't remember. Imean, again, you go at night.
Don't Yeah, that's true .
Usually go eat. Yeah. I don'tremember what's around it in
the amenities, but I justwanted to share with that with
you .
Speaker 1 (37:55):
Wow , that's really interesting. Hmm . Well that
means there's plenty of spacesfor you to rent and have a nice
RV set up reading for you whenyou come. All right . We are
gonna end. I figured it wasperfect to talk about a nature
quote from Walt when we'vetalked about all this outdoor
experiences. I like wildnature, it's just the
(38:16):
wilderness instinct in me, Iguess. So I thought that was
kind of a fun quote to wrapthings up today. And thank you
so much for joining us on thisepisode of the Diz Love podcast
with Vanessa and Chris . I'mVanessa. And
Speaker 3 (38:28):
I'm Chris . This podcast is not affiliated with
the Walt Disney Company or itsholdings and it is intended for
entertainment purposes only.
Welcome to the Diz Love podcast with Vanessa and
Chris . I'm Vanessa Ferguson.
And I'm Chris Johns. We wouldlike to welcome you to show
number 133 and for anylisteners joining us for the
first time, our show featuresthings we love at Disney. And
in each episode we feature aguest who creates Disney Magic
for our listeners at home or ontheir Disney vacations. From
(00:26):
vacation planners to productproducers, our guests can bring
Disney Magic into your lives.
And as a reminder to ourlisteners, we appreciate if you
can take time to leave us areview on Apple Podcasts or any
other platform where youlisten. We always like to give
shout outs to those who taketime to review us and of course
we're thankful 'cause thathelps new listeners find the
show. We greatly appreciate it.
(00:48):
And on today's show we aregoing to be joined by Emily
from Camper Rental Adventures,their family business Provides
your family with an RV vacationhome that's all set up at Fort
Wilderness Campground for you ,you to use while staying there.
They also have some fun add-onfeatures. So we're really
looking forward. This wasactually I think one of Chris's
(01:09):
favorite interviews. It surewas super exciting. One of the
things you'll wanna make sureto do is always check their
Facebook page for their latestspecials. They have some great
offers periodically, you knowthey have someone we were
recording the show. Sodefinitely check out their
Facebook page for that. Andbefore we get to our interview
with Emily, we wanna talk aboutall things Fort Wilderness. Now
(01:30):
if you've listened to the showfor a long time, you know we
did visit this topic a coupleyears ago, but we thought it
was time to give an update. Andof course it goes really great
with you planning a trip withCamper Rental Adventures. So we
thought it was about time toget back to Fort Wilderness and
there are some new updates thathave happened recently. So
we're really looking forward tosharing with you about Fort
(01:54):
Wilderness. Now, if you're notreally familiar with it, it of
course is the campground andthey have campsites as well as
cabins. It's 750 acres, whichis huge. I didn't realize it
was that big, but I've beenthrough it. I should realize
the size of it. So they dohave, as I mentioned, they have
cabins and campsites. And yearsago my family stayed at the
(02:18):
cabins and I don't, Chris youdidn't, you weren't, we weren't
married then. You didn't stayat the cabins did you did not.
So the cabins sleep up to sixadults and it has a full living
space. So they have a livingroom, bedroom, kitchen, all of
that. They do have housekeepingservice based on the Disney
cycle at that time. And theyare nice. They have some nice
(02:38):
swimming areas that are closeto the cabins. My family stayed
there when I had brought alonga friend. I was in college and
we stayed there a lot of space.
There is only one bathroom,which I think is a downsize and
when they did some remodels afew years ago, there used to be
an extra sink and mirror. Theytook that out too. So I will
say if you have a larger party,you're probably gonna wanna
(03:01):
check in with our friends overwith Emily and be able to get
something, one of theircampers. 'cause you could
probably sleep morecomfortably, a larger group
there. So when it comes tocamping, you can do all kinds
of camping there. They havewhere you can bring your tent,
your own rv, you can run an rv,lots of different things. And
(03:22):
we are not ones that go campinga lot. So if you're like us,
you might not understand thedifferences. So there are four
different types of campsites,which is helpful for those of
you who already have yourcamping gear and are coming
prepared. They have apreferred, they have a premium,
they have a full hookup andpartial hookup. So the premium
ones of course, just likeeverything with Disney, the pre
(03:43):
, I'm sorry, the preferred onesare close to everything. The
recreation hall, the pools, themarina, which we'll talk about,
all the things like that. Theyalso then moving to the premium
ones, they're a little bitfurther away from those common
areas, but they have more spaceand privacy. And for those of
you who are camping noviceslike me, a full hookup is
(04:06):
everything for an RV withwater, electric, sewer. A
partial would be more if youare coming with tent camping or
something or maybe a popup.
It's just water and electric.
So this gives you an idea, it'sa full service campground just
like you would find anywhereelse. And I know we have
friends that enjoy going andstaying at Fort Wilderness all
(04:27):
the time. If your family isused to you camp more on your
vacations, it's a great way toget the best of both. You get
Disney and camping, which issuper fun. Now one of the
things that it , you have tokeep in mind with Fort
Wilderness is it is huge. Likewe've gone just to eat and do
some of the things. They havetheir own internal bus system.
(04:50):
So if you are coming and you'renot staying at Fort Wilderness
and you're just going there todine or enjoy some of the other
recreation there, you have to,if you have your own vehicle,
you park at the front or if youdon't have your own vehicle,
the buses drop you off and youhave to take their internal bus
system and that can be a littleconfusing. So make sure that
you learn about that, theirinternal bus system. But it
(05:13):
saves you from all the walkingthat you could have. Now they
have a lot of differentactivities which we're gonna
break down and look at for you.
One of the things that I thinkis kind of fun is they have all
kinds of rentals. So you canrent everything from golf carts
to kayaks to canoes. There'sall kinds of different things
(05:35):
that you can do. And inaddition to the rentals, they
have a lot of fun activities.
And I don't remember if Chriswent to this, but when we had
our wedding, we did a grouphayride. I mean I know he
remembers the hay ride from ourwedding for our guests to come
and enjoy. We ate at Trailsend, which of course is just
(05:58):
transitioning its food. Butthen we took the, we had a
private hay ride . So everynight they have hay rides and
anyone can take part of 'em.
You just go up uh , by PioneerHall and you're able to pay to
go on one of those. If you havea large group like we did for
our wedding, you can do aprivate one. We did this with
(06:18):
some of our groups of friends.
So it's fun. I think that whenyou go on those hay rides, you
don't really feel like you'reat Disney at all, do you? You
sure don't. You're kind of outin the wilderness and it's nice
depending on what time you takeit, you can see some of the
fireworks from Magic Kingdomand things lit up, which is
super cool with um , hay ridesalso in that area. They have a
(06:40):
campfire sing-along and thishas Chip and Dale and they
usually, it's timed with a,with a movie that you can also
enjoy. So it's calledChippendale's Campfire
Sing-Along. So when we went,what they do is they have
Chippendale come out. They hada cast member playing guitar
(07:02):
and leading a sing-along and itwas super cute and fun and they
will also, did you go to thesing-along with us? I don't
know, I don't think Chris did.
Um, so they have the sing alongand you don't have to be
staying at Fort Wilderness togo enjoy this and it's a free
activity. What they'll do isthey'll do some songs and
they're more like traditionalkind of camping songs. They
(07:22):
have a campfire going and youcan roast marshmallows and you
can either bring your ownmarshmallows and sticks or they
have s'mores kits that you canbuy, which is nice. So if
you're on vacation like us, weprobably wouldn't go and get
s'mores stuff, but you can buya S'mores Kit kit and you can
roast your marshmallows andthen afterwards they have a
(07:43):
Disney movie under the Stars.
And if you've listened to theshow when we've talked about
other resorts, there's a lot ofthe resorts where you can go
and watch the movies under thestars. And I think this one's
even more special because youget to have all those added
aspects with Chippendale andthe campfire and all of that.
So that's super fun if you'rewanting to find out the
schedule. 'cause the scheduleof course changes of what the
(08:05):
movies are and timing and allthat, you can check with the
front desk at Fort Wildernessor you can check on, it's hard
to find the information onlineunless somebody else has posted
it. So one of the things, Iknow it's old school , but you
can call 4 0 7 W D w and thenthe word play. So W D W play
(08:26):
and they also will have theschedule available for you or
if you're lucky enough somebodyon the internet's been a friend
and has been able to post thatfor you. So that is super nice.
I really enjoyed that. It'sbeen a long time since I've
done it, but I think it wouldbe something fun even now that
we, our daughters in ourfamily, it would be fun to go
back and experience that againwith her. When I went it was
(08:49):
all adults, we went and did itand we had fun. So there's,
there's not an age limit or anage requirement I guess for
that at all. So the campfire isone fun acts aspect that they
have one fun activity. Theyalso have Pioneer Hall, which
is right kind of at the main,the heart of Fort Wilderness.
They have the Hoopy Do musicalreview and this had the record
(09:13):
of being like the longeststanding dinner show in the
United States and I know theydid have to close, they closed
for two years because of Covid.
But thankfully the hoop to doreview is back and it's been
back since last year and thisis so much fun. I know my
family went years ago. My dadwas one that got picked to go
up and do some of the stuff. Ithink Chris would enjoy this.
(09:35):
Here's the menu there Chris atthe dinner show, they have
fried chicken, barbecue porkribs, they have you get a
salad, they have cowboy beans,fresh baked cornbread, macaroni
and cheese, creamy coleslaw andthen they have strawberry
shortcake. Sounds good. Yeah,so I think Chris would enjoy
that. We, when I've been in thepast, the food has always been
(09:55):
good. That was before Covid.
I've heard good things offriends who've gone since it's
returned . So I'm sure youwould enjoy it as well. And
just like I mentioned with the,with the campfire, you do not
have to be a guest there. Infact, most of the people that
are going to see the Hoopty domusical review are not guests
(10:15):
and it's fun to, it's just afun kind of over the top
experience. It's a great dinnershow and especially now with
the luau gone , this gives youa nice chance to, if you're
wanna do something fun outsidethe parks with your guests. So
as I mentioned, you would haveto take that internal bus
system to get back to PioneerHall. Another great option it
(10:36):
is to enjoy this is if you areat Magic Kingdom for the day,
there is a boat that goes rightfrom Magic Kingdom to Fort
Wilderness and this will takeyou right to that main area
where Pioneer Hall is. So youcan be right there and you
don't have to worry about theinternal bus system and then
you can take the boat back andget on the bus or whatever mode
of transportation for yourresort if you're staying on
(10:57):
property. So that's kind of afun thing. The show they do, it
varies at times a year but theyusually have at least two shows
every year. So it's fun to beable and sometimes they have
three depending on the time ofyear. So definitely check it
out, plan it ahead of time,it's a good time. You will
definitely enjoy it. So we'vetalked about some of the
(11:18):
entertainment. So you have thecampfire and the sing-along,
you have the hoopty do review.
Now let's get to, if I'mstaying at Fort Wilderness,
what are the things that I'mgoing to experience now there's
a few more activities whichwe're gonna talk about that are
kind of open to everyone. But Ithink one of the fun things is
(11:39):
that there's a whole, I wouldsay culture around Fort
Wilderness now in particular,if you go at Halloween or at
Christmas, which you'll hearEmily mention they book out way
in advance for some of theirRVs for those seasons. So you
definitely, it's kind of amagical time. Um, Halloween is
(12:00):
will look at a little bit aboutwhat they do for each of those
and how you can experience it.
And if you're new to staying atFort Wilderness, you can just
go and enjoy what everybodyelse has done as well. So for
Halloween they do a Halloweengolf cart parade, which people
say is so much fun that mostthe main mode of transportation
(12:20):
for guests at Fort Wildernessis usually golf carts. So
people will rent golf carts,they will have their own golf
carts and people decorate themup and they have a huge parade
through the campground onHalloween. And this is
something that people say issuch a cool thing to see and
they say that people kind ofmake 'em everything from Disney
(12:42):
inspired things like withHaunted Mansion and that just
to kind of fun things relatedto almost any kind of Disney
topic you could imagine. And sopeople say that is a lot of fun
and I have not been there atthat time of year, so it'd be
fun to be able to do that. Ifyou go at Christmas time ,
there's some makeover Christmasmakeovers at things all over.
(13:04):
So the first thing is theHoopty Do Review has a holiday
makeover and during that timeyou get a chance to to kind of
add in a little bit ofdifferent music and some new
lines to kind of the showitself. And that's kind of a
fun thing to experience at theHoopy Do review. In addition to
those changes, you also canenjoy walking around and seeing
(13:28):
all the amazing holidaydecorations people do at their
campsites, at the cabins frontof their tents, RVs,
everything. It's so cool thewhole month of December people
will have their sights totallydecked out. It's super cool to
see you can walk around andenjoy that. I've also seen they
have all throughout the yearthey have carriage rides that
(13:49):
you can take at along with thehay rides, but they have
personal carriage rides. Youcan take that hold several
people, but during theChristmas season they do sleigh
rides, which I think is superfun. I'm not sure how they do a
sleigh ride in Florida with nosnow Chris. So we'll have to
look that up. It's probably onwheels I'm sure, but I would
hope so . But it's a sleigh.
It's a sleigh. So that's superfun. I really would love to see
(14:15):
the holiday season at therebecause it just adds that extra
magic that you already areexperiencing in the parks and
then you can go and just seewhat people have brought on
their own to be able to bringthat holiday magic. And I think
doing like the campfire and allthose things really brings that
cozy kind of Christmas feel.
And if you're like us andyou're from somewhere where
(14:35):
you're used to having snow andmaybe a little bit colder
temperatures for the holidayseason, I think it brings a
little bit of that festfestivity there. So it's super
neat to go either at Christmasor Halloween. Of course I'm
sure that celebration spreadsout over several weeks. It's
not just on that those daysthemselves, but it gives you a
(14:56):
chance to, again, we alwaystalk about how there's all
these extras at Disney andthat's one more thing that you
can experience. It's not justthe same old going and riding
the same rides I'm eating atthe same places. There's all
these new things that you canexperience now if you want a
day away from the parks.
There's also a lot of funactivities that you can take
part in at Wilder at FortWilderness, they have Tri
(15:21):
Circle D Ranch allows you to,when you go there you can do
horseback riding. They havepony rides for kids. I've been
wanting to take our daughter tothat. My mom and I did the
horseback riding years ago. Idon't think it's returned since
Covid , but they have donesegue tours in the past. I
think that hopefully we'llreturn I would, I'll have to
(15:41):
double check , but I'm not surethat those have returned since
C O D . You also can do archerylessons, which I think would be
super fun if like our daughterright now is really into Marita
, so if she was a little morecoordinated, it would be fun to
take her in a little older todo that. But if you have older
ones or even yourself if youwanna try something out so you
(16:01):
could really have that wholerustic experience at the
campground and not feel likeyou're in that super busy
hustle and bustle of theFlorida theme parks. So that's
a great thing to do. Andoverall it gives you a chance
to experience the outdoors aswell as to have some relaxation
and enjoy some different thingsthat you might not have done at
the parks before. You can do itagain. As I mentioned, most of
(16:24):
these things are available forpeople who are guests as well
as people who are just stayingelsewhere on property or
elsewhere. You can just come inand enjoy these amenities.
There's lots of trails that youcan take. There's some
beautiful scenery where you cansee parts of Magic Kingdom from
the beach area. And I'll alsosay it's just nice because it
(16:44):
gives you a chance toexperience Disney in a new way,
which I think that's one of thegreat things that Emily's
family with their camper rentalventures gives you a chance to
experience Disney in a new wayand really kind of enjoy
something new. Right nowthere's the Trails end
restaurant. It kind of wentthrough the revamp and is in
the midst of reopening. So thatused to be family style like
(17:08):
buffet and then now it'sopening as a quick service.
Sounds like what they havecoming for that is gonna be
really tasty as well. And thenof course they have all the
standard things like there is agift shop there and all of
those standard amenities thatyou expect with the pools and
everything from Disney. Sohopefully you and your family
can get a chance to experienceall the great things at Fort
(17:30):
Wilderness and maybe can rentan RV from our good friend
Emily. So we are lookingforward to sharing our
interview with her and lookforward to sharing even more
about the fun and excitement atFort Wilderness. We'd like to
welcome Emily to the show . Herfamily's business , camper
Rental Adventures is a rentalbusiness that services Fort
(17:51):
Wilderness. They specialize ofcourse in campers and they love
providing their guests with amagical camping experience.
We'd like to welcome Emily tothe show.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Hi. Thank you guys for having me.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Now we always start off by asking a little bit
about what people enjoy atDisney. And so right now we've
been asking people what is yourfavorite character to meet at
any of the parks or see ,
Speaker 2 (18:16):
I would definitely go right now with um, all the
characters from Poo Bear . Myson, he is two and he, his
favorite show right now is SPoo . So we love going, he is
usually at Magic Kingdom and welove going to see him.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
I know we're going to the Halloween party this
year and my friend a coupleyears ago got where you can get
all of them in their Halloweencostumes and I'm hoping a
picture with them. I'm hopingto be able to do that at the
Halloween party.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Oh yeah, I really wanted to make it this year. I
haven't gotten dates yet, but Ido wanna make it .
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Now we wanna learn all about your family's
business and what are theservices that you offer
connected to Disney?
Speaker 2 (18:54):
So we provide camper rentals at Fort Wilderness. So
our clients, they book a sitewith Fort Wilderness, just like
you would book a hotel room andafter they secure their site
with Disney, they secure acamper with us. We have over 20
campers to choose from. We havelarger ones and smaller ones.
We have ones that fit all theway down to tent and pop-up
(19:16):
sites. And then we have uh ,larger two bedroom, two bath
campers for larger families orextended families. So once you
get your site with Disney, youpick a camper with us. When you
pick a with us, we send you allinformation about the floor
check-in day. When check-in daycomes, we go in, we set the
camper up completely for youand it's just like arriving ,
(19:36):
arriving to a Airbnb or aDisney hotel room.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
That's awesome. Now you had mentioned this is a
family business. What was thedecision to start something to
offer services to families?
Speaker 2 (19:47):
So we were camping, that was our family vacation
since we were all young. Welived in Massachusetts
originally and had a drivablerv. So we would go down two or
three times a year. Ourfavorite time was always um,
Christmas. We would spendChristmas at the fort. So we
would do that uh , probably forlike 20 years. Then my parents
decided to move down to Floridaand as our family started
(20:10):
getting older, we wanted to godown with them. So my parents
bought a second camper so wecould use it and then they just
saw the need following peopleon Facebook for other people
looking for RV rentals. Andsince we had the extra one, we
decided to start renting itout. So we started with one and
we grew to around 20 and itbecame a really big business.
(20:33):
It doesn't give as many daysoff anymore and we work all
holidays, but we do enjoy it.
It's what we've always loveddoing, isn't
Speaker 3 (20:40):
It ? I mean , I think your family really ies
the American dream, which isthere's a problem, you provide
a solution one time and thennow you have this fleet where
you're able to provide so manyfamilies that additional fun
that is unique to the Disneyexperience.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Yeah, definitely.
And that's really what ,especially my mom enjoys . She
loves meeting all of our guestsand making sure that they have
their best at Disneyexperience. She loves it when
they have never come campingbefore and this is their first
time she'll show 'em how to doeverything and everything
around the fort that they cando and that's what really makes
her happy.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
So that's a, that's a good question. Now I had
mentioned to you earlier, I'vestayed at Fort Wilderness but
just in the cabins because myfamily probably wouldn't even
know how to set up an rv. Sowhat are all the service , I
know you said everything's setup, but so for somebody that's
a novice like myself, Iwouldn't have anything to worry
about it sounds like.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
No, so when we go in , um, and another thing is
since we're a family business,when you book with us, you're
usually either booking with mysister or I or my mom. And then
she's also the one setting yourcamper up. We don't hire
drivers so you're alwaysworking with someone in the
family. We do have a couplepeople who work with us who
were actually our clientspreviously. So they also love
(21:55):
the fort , they help set thecampers up, but you'll always
meet someone from our family.
Um, when you're on yourcheck-in day, we bring the
camper in, we hook up all theutilities for you, we get the
AC running, we get the fridgerunning. All the beds are made
just like an Airbnb, yourkitchen's stocked with
everything that you would needfor cooking. Um, your coffee
(22:17):
maker, we usually have theKeurig and the drip and then
you arrive and um, what happensis you can get your site from
Disney anywhere between 7:00 AMto 3:00 PM When you get your
site from Disney, you text itover to us. When you text it to
us, we start setting up. So ifyou get your site right at 7:00
(22:38):
AM and you arrive at 12, yourAC is completely cooled off the
camper's ready. You havenothing to do but unpack your
bags and start enjoying yourtrip.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
That's awesome. Now, you know, my wife and I, we
have a family of three, whichI'm sure you have models that
will accommodate that. What isreally the largest family that
your business could take careof?
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Well that's actually a up to fort wilderness because
it goes up to 10 people perreservation. Okay. And as of
right now, but they're alwayschanging roles . I believe it's
10 still. Uh, so you can have10 people on the reservation
and we definitely have campersthat accommodate 10. Uh, we
always are getting newercampers. And the newer campers,
they just, they're so large, Ican't believe they're making
(23:19):
them like as big as they are .
But we have like two bedrooms,two full bathrooms. So you can
have a bunk room that will fitfour to five people. They'll
have their own full bathroom inthe back along with the master
bedroom, their full bathroom.
And then you have the livingroom, which can also
accommodate sleeping couches,convert into beds and dining
(23:40):
room tables convert into bedsas well . So we have campers
that can definitely fit 10
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Now . That's awesome . You know, you talk about
campers. What are some of theother , uh, upgrades that a
person like Vanessa couldpurchase in addition to the
camper?
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Yeah, so we have outdoor games and a big one,
especially when it's gettingcolder as a fire pit. Uh,
Disney has certain fire pitsthat you're allowed to bring to
the fort . So it has to becompletely covered with a lid
and we'll bring those alongwith the camper if it's rented,
Speaker 3 (24:10):
You know , I'm glad you brought that up because you
know, we'll go to , is itAnimal Kingdom? What's the
lodge called that we eat in ?
Oh , animal
Speaker 2 (24:16):
Kingdom Lodge . Yeah ,
Speaker 3 (24:18):
I , I dunno . Even though I've been there 20 plus
times , I dunno any of theplaces. The one thing I love
doing, you mentioned the firepit, is I just like to,
especially when we go aroundlike Christmas, because we'll
be going in October and plusagain in December this year. I
just like to just kinda chillout in front of the fire they
have at Wilderness Lodge . AtWilderness Lodge. And it's
just, and I'm glad you broughtthat fire pit up because it's
(24:38):
something that you're not gonnabring on a plane and the odds
are you're not gonna go to alocal store to buy it. But for
you to be able to offer that,that's really, that's a cool
addition.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Yeah, definitely. I mean, that's one of my
favorites is when all of ourfamily comes in , we're sitting
outside at the fire pit. Butthat's another good point to
bring up is we do have a lot ofclients who are flying in, they
aren't driving, they're justflying in and arriving right to
the campsite. So we do offerother small things that they
might need, such as a pack andplay or if they wanted extra
bedding or extra towels becauseif they're flying in they don't
(25:11):
wanna pack too much. So theycan definitely, we work with
our clients like that and wemake sure that they have
everything when they need it ,when they arrive. And um, we'll
even , um, let them know aboutgrocery deliveries and things
like that, or if they havetheir groceries delivered at a
certain time, we'll help themget that if they're arriving
later on the plane.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
That's wonderful.
And I think that reallydifferentiates, I would say
like a corporation versus afamily owned business because
that's just a touch that mostfolks wouldn't think of and as
strict as airlines are becauseagain, like we live in in
Michigan, we fly, we've neverdriven to Florida in regards to
going to Disney. And that'sjust so nice that you offer
that because it just reallyalleviates a lot of burden on
(25:52):
families as part of theirplanning.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Definitely. I feel like flying in is definitely
different than driving and uh,we always ask, we have a
questionnaire when we take ourbookings and we ask there how
they're getting there drivingor flying because if they're
flying, we , you're arrivingwith your suitcases, you don't
have a car, we wanna make surethat the camper's completely
set up and ready for yourarrival so you're not waiting
(26:15):
at all. So we definitely doprioritize that. When it comes
to people flying in
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Now, we've talked a lot about arriving and all the
great things that are readynow. When , uh, families
leaving, what are theirresponsibilities? Is everything
kind of taken care of on theback end ? Are there certain
obligations they have to do toget everything ready for pickup
?
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Uh, it would be the same as leaving a hotel room or
an Airbnb rental. You just packyour bags and then we take care
of the rest. So check out atDisney is 11. We ask you to be
out by uh , 10, 10 30 . So thatway we can get the camper out
by 11. It takes us about a halfhour to get out.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Now one thing that we always try to ask people
with any of the types ofservices, how far out, like are
there certain seasons that arebusier? Like if my family was
wanting to plan a trip, howsoon should we reach out to
Camper Rental Adventures?
Speaker 2 (27:10):
So it depends, like you said on the time that you
were coming. Halloween is ourmost busy time of the year by
far. So Halloween books out assoon as the sites at Disney
Open. Um, and I'm not sure theexact time the site's open. Uh,
I can get that and add thatinto the notes if you wanted me
to. Sure. But so as soon asDisney starts opening bookings
(27:33):
for Halloween, we sell out forHalloween. And then same with
other times of the year, maybe.
Um, there's certain weekendsthat large groups like to come,
so then that always books outbecause they always tend to
come the same time of the year.
Sure. So all of our camperswill book out. But that being
said, if you wanted to comenext week, it's kind of slow.
So we have a camper available,so we always have, unless it's
(27:56):
a very busy time, we usuallyhave last minute availability .
Availability .
Speaker 3 (28:00):
What I think what I like about what you have to
offer is that your, we'll callit like a Florida December,
January, February is verysimilar to a Michigan, you
know, August, September inregards to the, you know, the
nightly temperatures mm-hmm .
the warmth of the day and evenwhile it may be cold out,
technically the RV or thecamper will take, you know,
(28:21):
keep you warm because for us itwould just be almost like
camping here in the fall. Andthat's, you know, and it's
something neat because, youknow, Vanessa and I, we stayed
from the Grand Floridian downto Art of Animation and I think
what you're offering is areally a unique experience for
families that just wanna dosomething different. 'cause
that's, again, we've been thereso many times where for us, we,
we've ridden the rides, but wewanna do something different.
(28:42):
And what you're offering isdefinitely a unique experience.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Yeah. There's a couple different reasons why
it's, it's um , uh, differentand sometimes the better
alternative to a hotel roombecause like I said, you get
the 10 people on thereservation. So instead of
needing two to three hotelrooms, now you can fit all your
family in one. You have the twofull bathrooms and our two full
(29:06):
bathrooms give you a tub inone. So you have your tub for
the little ones, and then youalso have your stand-up shower
and the other bathroom. Uh ,but also you have the whole
outdoor area. So instead ofbeing in a hotel room where you
walk out and you're in ahallway, you walk out and you
have a whole seating areaoutside. When I bring my son,
(29:26):
we bring , um, a bunch ofoutdoor things for him. We
bring , uh, his baby gate andthen put a bunch of toys in
there. So you just get , I feellike you have a lot more space
and you definitely have a lotmore space for the kids because
now instead of being cooped upin the room or the camper, you
open the door and you have awhole outdoor area where their
bikes, their toys, things likethat.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
A hundred percent .
I mean if you think about it,you really have a guaranteed
first floor room.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Yeah .
always like to ask, and you'vereally touched on this already,
but maybe you could even talkabout things that like Fort
Wilderness offers as well. Howdo you think the products slash
really service that you offeradds Disney magic to your
customer's lives?
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Yeah. Well, I always start with our rentals first.
And what we try to do with ourrentals is we try to theme 'em.
Uh , all of our campers havehave names. Um, our newest
one's Raya , for instance. Oh .
So we have a themed with Raya,we have pillows and things like
that. And then in addition tothat, we ask all of our clients
, um, if they want characterbetting. So we theme our
(30:33):
betting for the children withcharacters like Mini Mickey
Moana cars, things like that.
And if they don't specificallyask, I'll go through and ask
them if it's Boyser Girls andtry to theme it that way with
either Mini or Mickey orPrincesses just so the kids get
a little bit extra when theyarrive. But then, I mean the
four itself is all Disney magicand it's actually where the
(30:58):
horses are kept for MagicKingdom. Yes. So we have the
horse barn. There's actuallytwo horse barns now right when
you drive in. And then there'salso one in the settlement that
also gives you trail riding andpony rides for the kids, which
is really fun for the littleones. And I know even if you're
not staying there, people comejust to see the horses at
(31:19):
Disney.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Yes, for sure.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
That , that's really an awesome point. I mean, just
about how I , I really likethat thing about the betting.
I'm surprised that in a macrosense Disney doesn't offer a
bit more personalization. Butto your point, you know, again,
if you're , like you said youryoung child is into poo and if
he can have poo on his, youknow, bedspread and his pillow
cover and whatnot, that justadds even more. And that's
(31:42):
something that parents don'thave to bring with them. It's
provided by you.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Exactly. That's what we, we really like to see all
the kids excited when theyarrive.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
And I know over the years we've enjoyed going to
like hay rides and in , inenjoying the restaurants there.
And my mom and I have done thehorseback riding and I love how
you mentioned about the Ponyrides. Our daughter is really
into horses right now, so onone of our upcoming trips, I
was hoping to take her overthere to do that . And I think
(32:11):
people don't realize too, it'sso peaceful there. I love going
just to hang out and get abreak from the hustle and
bustle at the parks andeverywhere else you really feel
like you're somewhere else whenyou're at Fort Wilderness.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Definitely . And I think something else people
might not know is you'reactually still a Magic Kingdom
Resort guest, so all you need ,um, to do is jump on the boat
and you're right at MagicKingdom. And you can also see
the fireworks from MagicKingdom along with they play
the music from Magic Kingdom atthe beach every night.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
You know , we've mentioned all the awesome
things that your companyprovides. Where can folks go to
learn more?
Speaker 2 (32:51):
We have our website, which is camper rental
adventures.com, that will haveall of our campers that we have
available . If you, we have aquestionnaire, so you fill out
the dates that you're lookingfor, you send us over that in
the email and we'll send youover what campers are available
or what would best fit yourparty for the dates. But we
also have our Facebook page,we'll run promotions and sales
(33:13):
almost weekly, but you can alsomessages on there. So we're
very active on our , on ourFacebook page. If you have any
questions, you send us over amessage and we'll get back to
you right away.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
Thank you. And then the one piece is , is there a
minimum a night minimum for howmany nights ?
Speaker 2 (33:31):
We have a two night minimum, but anything over two
is fine . And then if it's overthree nights, we don't charge
deliberate fee .
Speaker 3 (33:39):
Thank you. And I know you , you may have
mentioned this, but in reVanessa's a planner, I know the
other night she got up veryearly to make reservations
while I was sleeping or dining.
Yeah.
secure, like let's just saythat the camper that sits, that
sleeps 10, because I'm gonnahave a family reunion, how far
out should I call to make sureI am able to secure a specific
(34:02):
model?
Speaker 2 (34:04):
So whenever Disney opens up the dates , and I
think it's roughly, I knowwe're already booked for
Halloween 2024, so I think it'sabout a year and a half. For
example, right now, a lot ofpeople are booking for Spring.
Sure . Uh , that would benormal. But if it's a really
busy time, you wanna book , uh,right when Disney opens up the
reservation. But if you wannabook , uh, just regularly,
(34:26):
probably , uh, a year inadvance.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Wow. And we will make sure to put the links to
your website , to the Facebookpage and the show notes. And we
are really excited to reallyshare your business with our
listeners because I think youoffer such a unique opportunity
to people, for people to enjoytheir vacation in a new way.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
Well, and I'm excited too because I would,
you know, I love Disney, thehotels, but I think this would
just be a fun experience justto have, because you know, we
had mentioned before, Vanessais not a camper , um, a tent, a
tent camper,
lifetime and I would love tojust do something different.
And I think for families thatare classic Disney visitors,
(35:05):
this allows you to reallyaugment and create a new memory
that you're , you would ,because again, do you really
remember the, the fourth timeyou stayed at Art of Animation?
Not really. Whereas with whatyou have to offer, that will be
a core memory for kids andparents alike.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Definitely. And actually one thing I forgot to
mention was Fort Wilderness isgreat to bring your pets and we
have pet friendly units, theyhave a dog park and you can
walk around. So that'sdefinitely something for people
to consider versus staying at ahotel room.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
That's perfect. And I will make sure to share some
of that information in our shownotes as well. 'cause I know
we're big dog lovers and I, wehave a lot of friends that even
travel and bring their dogswith them, so that's awesome.
We'll make sure to let peopleknow about that as well. Yes.
Perfect. Well thank you somuch, Emily, for joining us
today. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
Thank you again to Emily for joining us today.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
And now we are onto our two minute trivia and our
wisdom from Walt quote . AndChris , you are up with trivia.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
Now. You mentioned that Fort Wilderness was
founded, it was opened inNovember of 1971 and it's
grown. And so this directlyrelates to Emily and the
wonderful service that herfamily provides because they
will put a brand new RV into acampsite. The question is how
many campsites are at forwilderness?
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Now we're saying all campsites. 'cause I know we
talked about the differenttypes of like hookups and all
this is all the campsites.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
So this is for my friends@allears.net. The resort
has blank number of campsitesand blank number of air
conditioned wilderness cabinsresiding on more than 700 acres
of lush vegetation.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
campsites though, right? Well,
Speaker 3 (36:52):
You can do both. So how many campsites are there
and how many air conditionedcabins?
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Let's say 130 campsites.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
And then for cabins, I'm gonna go 65. You
Speaker 3 (37:02):
Just have to , you are way off. Way off . Okay .
You are way, you are way, waylow high , way low. Way low.
Okay. So I'm gonna give youwhat now do a take your, your
guess
Speaker 1 (37:14):
500
Speaker 3 (37:16):
Low.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
Wow, that's okay. I have no idea.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
According to all ears.net 799 campsites, holy
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Cow. And
Speaker 3 (37:25):
409 air conditioned wilderness cabins.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
Wow. That is way more, it doesn't feel that big
when you're there. Like youfeel like it , I think it's
that privacy aspect, the wayit's set up.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
I have very little memory of Fort Wilderness in
general. I mean, I , I've beenthere.
Speaker 1 (37:42):
You remember eating at Trails End .
Speaker 3 (37:44):
I do. But regards to like I , where it's at ,
remember , I don't remember. Imean, again, you go at night.
Don't Yeah, that's true .
Usually go eat. Yeah. I don'tremember what's around it in
the amenities, but I justwanted to share with that with
you .
Speaker 1 (37:55):
Wow , that's really interesting. Hmm . Well that
means there's plenty of spacesfor you to rent and have a nice
RV set up reading for you whenyou come. All right . We are
gonna end. I figured it wasperfect to talk about a nature
quote from Walt when we'vetalked about all this outdoor
experiences. I like wildnature, it's just the
(38:16):
wilderness instinct in me, Iguess. So I thought that was
kind of a fun quote to wrapthings up today. And thank you
so much for joining us on thisepisode of the Diz Love podcast
with Vanessa and Chris . I'mVanessa. And
Speaker 3 (38:28):
I'm Chris . This podcast is not affiliated with
the Walt Disney Company or itsholdings and it is intended for
entertainment purposes only.
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