Just back from Spring Break at FW

[YangYang]

We returned on Saturday from a week at FW. We had a great time with only a few problems. Because of a flat tire before we left home, we were unable to leave as early as we wanted so ended up arriving after dark. Check-in was quick and easy since not many people waited that late to arrive! One of the problems however was the campsite we were assigned. We have a 38 ft camper with both an awning and a slide-out that we pull with a Ford Excursion. When we got to the assigned space we found out immediately that it was not going to work. Because of a tree right next to the road, we could not back into the space - No way, no how! We returned to the check-in and explained the problem and were told that there was only one other available space (we had driven by numerous empty spaces on the way) and if it didn't work we were just out of luck! The guy at check-in said that he could send someone to help us if we couldn't back it in. Now I realize that there are probably plenty of people who could use the help but my BIL who does the driving is experienced in driving everything including heavy equipment and 18 wheelers - he's worked in road construction for over 20 years. I told him that if we couldn't back it in no one could. We then went to the other space he had indicated was available and it worked out fine. At one point, when my BIL was trying to get the camper just right (he's a perfectionist), a WDW employee drove up, got out of his truck with a huge flashlight. He held the light up for a few minutes then got back in his truck and left without saying a word to any of us. The next day we drove by the first space we had been assigned and discovered that it would not have been big enough for our camper anyway.

Now the obvious question would be "Did I tell them when I reserved the camp site the size of our camper?" and the answer is yes. I told them the length and that we had a slide and an awning. My question is why were there so many empty sites that were unavailable if they don't guarantee that you will get a requested site? What can I do next time to avoid this problem?

 

[mum4jenn]

One suggestion would be to make a note of a few sites that you think would work well for you and tell the ressie person to make a note of them. We have done this before and as long as we arrive fairly early we have never had a problem getting what we wanted. We always have several sites in mind in the same loop so that way we can have backups in case our favorites are taken. I guess the key though would be that we get there early and in your case you were delayed so that did not help.

 

[ALostBoy]

Hi YangYang,

I know what you mean about the campsite.
We had ressies in the loop 200 and I told
them the size of my trailer. We arrived around
3:30 in the afternoon and they gave us our
site number. We proceeded to the site and
there was a popup in it. They had origionally
had the site next to us but did not like it
as much as ours so they just took ours.
When we called back to the front desk they
would not do anything about it. We were
barely able to get our trailer into the site
next to the origional site. It was in a curve
and hard to get into. I think this happens alot.

 

[YangYang]

ALostBoy,
Sounds like you may have had the same site we were originally given. I think it was 206. It was right in a curve and across from a tree and the garbage and recycling bins. Even had we been able to back into it, it was not long enough for our camper.

 

[ALostBoy]

That was it. The next site around the corner
would have been easier to back into.
I guess the moral of the story is to get
there as early as you can.
Good luck next time.