Florida Camping

[rrohrer]

Looking at going to Disney's Frontier campground in the spring. My friend was there and said you can't have fires there. Being from PA fire was alwys part of camping experience for us. My friend thinks it was cause it is dry in florida?? Not a dealbreaker for us, but just curious if this is common in fla? or just a disney thing?

[hankpage]

This is from Jacksonville.com:
Recent rains have improved dry conditions across the state, so the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and state Division of Forestry have rescinded a June order that prohibited campfires in wildlife management areas, wildlife and environmental areas and other lands it manages.

Campfires are again allowed in designated areas, although the conservation commission reminds campers to properly manage any fire to make sure it is under control and completely extinguished

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/community/mandarin/2011-07-19/story/campfires-allowed-again-florida-lands#ixzz20hqWxW7U


Still individual counties, municipalities and private campground have their own regulations. This article was from 2011 but you can see that Fl laws change with the weather conditions. Hope this helps and travel safely, Hank

[closesquarters]

Didn't camp there... but toured through the campground at Disney World about 6 or 7 years ago to see what it was like. We loved it and hope to stay there some day. Love that you can take a boat ride to Magic Kingdom directly from the campground.

I remember noticing that none of the individual camping spots seemed to have a designated fire ring at them. I'm not sure on this... but I believe there are designated areas of the campground where the park staff make a fire.

Update: Just checked the Disney World Fort Wilderness website. The map and information on the site indicates a "Campfire Program." So perhaps there is 1 spot there for guests to gather around 1 or multiple campfires. Seems like that could potentially be a large crowd sitting a great deal away from 1 fire.

[Laredo291OH]

We just got back from Disneys Frontier last month. You can't have campfires at your campsite, but they do have a group campfire at the movie every night. We traveled there from Ohio and stayed at a campground in GA on the way. You couldn't have a campfire there either, unless it was in an enclosed fireplace, like the steel ones you buy at Walmart. I think Disney may have the same rule. Honestly, except for 1 night, we didn't miss having a campfire and didn't really have time to use one anyway. By the time you spend all day in the parks, get back to the camper, watch fireworks etc, you won't notice you don't have a campfire.

[rrohrer]

thanks for the info

[Outbackmel]

Perhaps the last note on this restricted fire question/issue. Having lived in Jacksonville, for 10+ years, traveled the state constantly for the then biggest bank in Florida, let me say that when the fire marshals declare a fire danger, you do not want to be the cause of burning embers in flight. The Palm Coast area has burned extensively over the years. Orlando is a dry hot bed of undergrowth which if ignited will burn like fires in western AZ and Colorado.

Be happy there are rules. Go enjoy the campfire by the Disney pros and retire knowing you and your family are safe from any fire possibilities caused by open campfires. Our daughter and family just returned from there, stayed in the campground rental trailers. Loved it and enjoyed the campfire put on by Disney employees. "bouncey:

Given any option, Disney will always be on the family safe side. That's why people LOVE Disney, young and old. What a wonderful fantasy!

[JBE-Dad]

Disney allows campfires in the enclosed fire pits, not just the elevated stands but the one with the metal sides. There are examples of approved ones on their website.

The group campfire is actually a sing a long with the chip n dale characters and then a movie shown after on a drive-in type screen. The fire pits there do get pretty crowded.

[Laredo291OH]

Closequarters,

There are actually 2 campfires, just average fire rings like you find at most campsites. The campfires are at the outdoor movie theater. Everyone brings marshmallows, sticks and everything needed for smores. Between the guy playing guitar, chip and dale characters and the movie, there are plenty of distractions for everyone to get to the campfire. They aren't really setup for people to "set" around the campfire, you are setting on the benches and bleachers that are in front of the movie screen and make trips over to the campfires.