Hybrid TT in August?

[himandher818]

Greetings,

New to forums here, but have been lurking for a while.

Anyway, my DW and I are currently looking at getting a travel trailer. We have stayed at FW a few times in the cabins, and honestly FW is part of the reason we want a RV (we already have reservations for full hookup site at FW in Dec 2018). One of the models we are looking at is a 2018 Jayco X19H. One of our main concerns in getting a hybrid vs. a regular hard TT is temperature control. Being cold is not a big issue, but being hot is.

We figure the absolute worse for heat would be Disney in August (that’s our anniversary and we usually stay at POR). So, I am asking for advice/comments from those with hybrid or pop-up experience with camping at FW in August (or summer in general). I want to know if we could expect to keep the temp inside a comfortable 70’s during the day and low 70’s or below at night? The X19H we are looking does have the 15K A/C, and we would be getting covers for the pop outs.

Also, one of the other TTs we are looking at is a 2018 Keystone Bullet Crossfire 2200BH, so I welcome any advice/opinions about the quality of the two, on choosing between the Bullet Crossfire and the Jay Feather, or hard sided vs hybrid.

Both are towable by my F-150, but the 2200BH is about 250-300lbs heavier and almost 5ft longer, so I am a bit concerned about towing it and would require cutting 150-200lbs of cargo. I expect about 800lb of cargo, so the bullet would have to go down to 600lbs or so. A new tow vehicle is in the future, but the bullet would make that sooner rather than later.

In general, I feel the Jayco could be the risky choice (It think we would either love it, or hate it), and the crossfire is the low risk choice (I think we would like it).

 

[2goofycampers]

Welcome himandher818 ! We like Jayco, especially the 2 year warranty. Hybrids are a bit more involved over hard sided. Keeping it cool you'd have to have some reflective material for the ends. Also you'd have to open it up when you got home to make sure no rain/dew got on it. It could cause mildew/mold. My best advice. Pick the one you love the first time, it's expensive to trade.

 

[parrothead64]

We have the gizmos for our tent ends and we also have a tower fan to help move the air. We have had no problems camping in 95+ temps in the summer. We have a Jayco X23F and have had no problems with it.

 

[proudmomof4]

Welcome himandher818!

I have been camping in my 2006 Fleetwood Utah popup for almost 12 years now, I live in Tampa and usually go to the Fort in June/July/August, but have also been many other months too.

We have the bunk end covers and they do help, but during the day it does still get rather warm in the camper, not unbearable, but rather warm. Having a rotating fan does help though.

At night is a different story, it gets to be like a meat locker in there, I am not even kidding! When any of my sons' friends would come with us for their first time, I would tell them to bring something warm to sleep in and let them know we had plenty of blankets. They would look at me like I was crazy, and then after the first night they would ask for more blankets.

I am also considering upgrading to a hybrid, I am looking at a Flagstaff Shamrock or a Rockwood Roo, I just need to sell my popup first. Once I do take that leap to a hybrid camper, I will get the bunk end covers for that too. I think the advantage the hybrid would have over a popup is that the canvas on the bunks is attached so there is a lot less space for air exchange between the inside and outside. I hope that made sense.

Best of luck to you in your decision.

 

[rideswithchrist]

We also have a Popup and we camped in Texas in August when it was 100 out. It was warm during the day, especially since our spot was in direct sunlight, but at night our A/C unit froze us out and we did not bring enough blankets.
Like 2goofycampers said, just make sure you let the tent ends dry well. In the humidity you may need to leave a window cracked to keep condensation from building up and falling back on you but it is camping

Have fun! Another option is to find a local RV show in your area and look at all your options. We are deciding between a hybrid with 3 tents or a bunkhouse. BUT at FW, a hybrid fits in the tent/popup sites if you choose.

 

[2goofycampers]

I wonder if you can upgrade your A/C from 13,500 to 15,000 BTU?

 

[Teamubr]

to DIS Boards and the Camping Forum. It sounds like you've done your homework. 15K A/C should do pretty well cooling and the canvas cover things (Gizmos) really help. My first camper was a hybrid. It never made it to the Fort, but we did stay a week in Destin during the heat of the summer and we live outside St Louis where the summer temps are often hotter than Disney with similar humidity. I traded the hybrid after a year, not because of the summer heat (it did fine), but the late fall cold. The poor furnace didn't really do much in 40 degrees.

As for Keystone or Jayco, both are decent brands. Go for the one that has the layout and features that will benefit you the most. One of the benefits of the hybrids is they are lighter and shorter to tow, but opened up, really give a lot of living space. They also feel more like "camping" and closer to the outdoors. A full hard side TT is more like taking a small house along and moves towards "RVing". You feel like you have to "go outside" to be "camping".

j

 

[PaHunter]

Welcome,
While we have not had a hybrid, we did have a Keystone Bullet 251RBS. We towed it with our 1500 Chevy and it did ok. After towing to Disney and back from PA, and getting 6mpg we upgraded our tow vehicle. With a 3500 dually we towed while getting 13 mpg towing.
The Bullet was a nice trailer and we enjoyed it. Would fit everywhere we wanted to go.
Of course once we upgraded our tow vehicle, we upgraded our trailer to a fifth wheel.
Choose the one you like best, as others have stated, upgrading is expensive.

 

[himandher818]

Wow, thanks for all input.

2goofycampers, the 2-year warranty is one of the things I like about the Jayco too. And the x19H we are looking at does have the 15K A/C.

Parrothead64 and Teamubr, by any chance do know what the temp inside was when camping when it’s hot? You see for me 80 degrees would be no problems, but my wife starts getting uncomfortable at 75. Plus we have a dog that is a lab-husky mix that doesn’t like the heat very much (more husky than lab I guess). I also wonder how much trouble it would be to close the tent ends during the day if where going to be very hot, and then dropping them at night. Would it be much different that having to raise and lower a murphy bed every day?

Proudmomof4 and rRdeswithchrist, If the popups get cold at night when it’s warm outside, I’m sure the hybrid won’t stay to hot. I also think the hybrid would be better than popup with heat gain/loss since it’s attached, but is also makes it harder to make the bed.

PaHunter, good to hear that you liked the Keystone. I’ve hear mostly good about Jayco, but I have heard very little either way about Keystone, so it was one of my concerns.

Anyway, I am going to another dealer tomorrow that has a Keystone Passport very much like the bullet, and another next weekend that has some Minnie Winnies, so we will see what else comes up.

In a way, all this comparing and what if-ing, is actually fun. I just hope I make the right choice in the end.

 

[parrothead64]

I don't know an exact temp, but I wasn't sweating. Closing the beds every day is a possibility, but you have to fold up the mattresses up and exert more work opening back up which would make you hotter. Another thing you can do is cut and put reflectix in the tent end windows. I have known people who have done that as well. We also have a 13.5 A/C with 3 bunk ends and like I said, we were comfortable with 5 of us. There are also bunk fans you can buy to to run as well.

 

[2goofycampers]

Another thing to consider is The Fort doesn't allow dogs in hybrids. They must be in a hard sided camper.

 

[parrothead64]

Another thing to consider is The Fort doesn't allow dogs in hybrids. They must be in a hard sided camper.

That's incorrect, right from the Disney website. It's popup campers and tents that pets are supposedly not allowed.

Pet-Friendly Policy
Furry friends are welcome to join your family’s camping adventure as long as the following conditions are met.

• All pets must be kept on a handheld leash that is 8 feet or shorter or confined in the interior of the owner’s climate-controlled personal recreational vehicle. Pets are not permitted in tents and pop-up campers.
• Guests with pet privileges may take their dogs to play in the off-leash Waggin' Trails Dog Park or walk the many on-leash trails. So that our Guests with pets can enjoy ample time at the Walt Disney World theme parks and destinations, day and overnight kennel care is available at Best Friends Pet Care.
• Pet owners are required to pick up after and properly dispose of their pet's droppings.
• Pets that interfere with the quality of the Guest experience at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground in any away (such as aggression, noise, etc.) or generate a legitimate complaint to management will result in the pet owner being required to discontinue the pet's inappropriate behavior, remove the pet to an off-site kennel, or leave the Resort.
• Please note that Guests who wish to stay with their pets at The Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort will be charged a $5 per-night pet fee.

 

[Teamubr]

by any chance do know what the temp inside was when camping when it’s hot?

I had my hybrid a long time ago. DS was 2. He'll be 20 next week, but my DW is the same as yours and she never complained. I do remember the beds under the canvas were warm. We would put DS down for a nap and I remember it being a bit warm on his bunk at the one end. We were at Camping on the Gulf on a beach site. If you haven't been of seen pics, it is literally on the beach in direct sun. We didn't have any insulated canvas covers (Gizmos, reflectix) Closing the bunk ends during the day is certainly an option. Mine would have been fairly easy. The new trailers are probably similar.

j

 

[himandher818]

BUT at FW, a hybrid fits in the tent/popup sites if you choose.

Another thing to consider is The Fort doesn't allow dogs in hybrids. They must be in a hard sided camper.

That's incorrect, right from the Disney website. It's popup campers and tents that pets are supposedly not allowed.

I’m willing to bet that if you parked a hybrid on a popup site, you be informed pets are not allowed in hybrids, but if you parked it in a RV site it you would be told pets are allowed in hybrids. Now if you called ahead and asked you would have call 5 times and go with the answer you get 3 times out of the 5 (assuming you could get 3 that agree).

As far as temperatures in hybrid, I am getting the impression it can be controlled to be comfortable with enough gizmos and reflectix. Packing the ends up may help, and from my understanding is pretty easy. The 2200bh is a murphy bed, so it would have to be put up each morning, and the set out again each night anyway. I did see some hybrids at a dealer this last weekend that did not have the ends out, and it looks like just a mess of canvas with the mattress hanging out when closed. I don’t know if that is normal or if there is a way to close them up and still look neat.

 

[FortForever]

We live in Florida and camp all summer, every summer in our pop up camper. Never had a problem staying cool. You can throw some thermal emergency blankets on top the bunk ends for a bit of extra cooling in the bunk area, but we never do. Our camper is old ... a 1999 Coleman and keeps it nice and cool all summer. Even in the dead of summer, we end up turning the a/c off in the night and switch over to fan only. It gets cold.

 

[Teamubr]

I did see some hybrids at a dealer this last weekend that did not have the ends out, and it looks like just a mess of canvas with the mattress hanging out when closed. I don’t know if that is normal or if there is a way to close them up and still look neat.

It may be how they had the canvas folded (or wadded). I was pretty particular about how I folded up the canvas and tucked everything in and didn’t have any problems with mattresses falling or the canvas bunching in. Several times we got to a campground in the rain and sat it the closed up camper waiting it out.

j

 

[tigger92662]

Welcome to THE FORT and Camping Boards.

Although I can't offer any suggestions as we have class A, keep asking questions and doing your research.

Whether it's a trailer or coach, it's best to get as much info as you can before hand.

Oh, and by the way, I realize your not going till August, but we sure do like pictures and trip reports please

 

[himandher818]

I was thinking, as for when the bunks are closed, I think it has curtains that would probably hide any mess. If not I could always hang something to cover it if we are not planning on using the bunk.

Tigger92662, I was asking about August as the worst case for heat, but August probably wont be out next trip. We will most likely have a weekend trip or two before then. We are APs holder in NW Georgia, so it's not a bad trip.

But that raises another question that I may not like the answer to. It's about 500 miles to from our driveway to Disney, and take 7-8hr in a car. Can that be done in a day pulling a trailer, or would have to plan for it be two day trip just get there? I guess would be
a) no problem in one day,
b) possible but would be rough think about doing it two days,
c) no way it can be done in one day.

 

[2goofycampers]

I say A. If your tow vehicle and camper match up towing is a breeze. Just pick the right gas stations.

 

[rajak73]

I would say A. 500 miles isn't that bad if camper and truck are matched. Get up early, enjoy the drive. We are going to have to average about 600 miles a day in July when we head for the fort. And yes, pick the right gas stations.