Travel from Disney World to Clermont, Florida

We drove our coach just 26 miles, about half an hour of driving (plus killing a little time at a Love’s truck stop), from Disney World to Clermont, Florida.

It’s a little awkward, as check out time from Fort Wilderness is 11:00, and check in at TTO is noon (very strictly enforced), but the drive time between the two is only about half an hour. We considered waiting for a bit in the overflow area at Fort Wilderness, but it was full. We also considered going to a rest area to kill some time, but we noticed a Love’s truck stop on the way, and figured we could spend some time there. Love’s doesn’t usually have parking that works for us, but what with a long time to get through the intersection and a few minutes at the pump, it used up enough time.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading west:

Map

An interactive map:

Toading up on the way out of the campground:

Toading up

Leaving Disney World (how sad):

Leaving Disney World

Exit to I-4 East:

Exit to I-4 East

Disney-shaped power pylon:

Disney-shaped power pylon

Love’s truck stop:

Love's

Joining the very long line to enter TTO; this was at 12:07 on a Sunday:

Joining line to enter TTO

Almost to the entrance, at 12:18:

Almost to the entrance

Finally on the entrance road, at 12:20:

Entrance road

We knew it’d take a long time to get in, so I made some lunch while we inched forward:

Making lunch in the line

Paladin on the dash:

Paladin on the dash

Welcome:

Welcome

Almost to the entrance gate, at 12:54:

Entrance gate

But wait, there’s more: joining the line to get a site, at 12:56:

Line to get a site

People watching the line:

People watching the line

Almost to the front of the line, at 13:22; I waited in the truck after we untoaded:

Almost to the front of the line

Getting guided to our site, at 13:36:

Getting guided to our site

So yeah, arriving shortly after noon on a Sunday, finally getting to our site an hour and a half later. One day we’ll learn and arrive mid-week, when it isn’t so busy, though we prefer to travel on weekends to avoid impacting Jenn’s work.

Power steering fluid leak repair, engine bracket replacements, underside of coach

I need to get better at checking the fluids of our coach.

We heard some weird noises coming from around the front wheels while driving, and couldn’t figure out what was causing it for a while. Since we were heading towards Red Bay at the time, I contacted Bay Diesel and made an appointment for them to investigate.

We eventually guessed that it was related to power steering. When I looked in the power steering reservoir in the engine compartment, it was completely dry:

Empty power steering reservoir

Oops.

I refilled it with Dexron III (as required) and kept an eye on it; sure enough, the level dropped during drives:

Dexron III

When we arrived at Bay Diesel, they wasted no time lifting up the coach:

Coach on lift

They found and repaired the power steering leak, from a hose under the rig:

Power steering leak

They also inspected the entire underside of the coach, with special attention on the engine, and found cracked clutch and tensioner brackets; common issues with this vintage of coach:

Cracked bracket

So they replaced them with better, stronger brackets. Here’s a comparison of old and new brackets:

Old and new brackets

Rebuilding the clutch assembly:

Rebuilding the clutch assembly

They also lubed the various lube points:

Lubing

A nice thing about Bay Diesel is that they were happy for owners to hang out in the shop. I wandered around under our coach and took lots of photos. Here are a bunch of pictures, starting at the front and working my way backwards:

Front with the generator partially out:

Front with generator partially out

Entry step:

Entry step

From in front of the front wheels:

From in front of front wheels

Independent front suspension:

Independent front suspension

Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer:

Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer

Back of the generator:

Back of generator

A small void behind a front mudguard, with a junction box for the ground effect light strip:

A small void behind a front mudguard

Behind the front wheels, with air horns and generator exhaust:

Behind the front wheels, with air horns and generator exhaust

Under the basement storage bays:

Under basement storage bays

Under the wet bay, with hot and cold low point drains, Aqua-Hot coolant overflow, and Aqua-Hot exhaust:

Under wet bay, with hot and cold low point drains, Aqua-Hot coolant overflow, and Aqua-Hot exhaust

Under the wet bay, with my sewer outlet and the fresh water drain:

Under wet bay, with sewer outlet and fresh water drain

Rear wheels and engine area:

Rear wheels and engine area

A couple of techs inspecting the engine:

A couple of techs inspecting the engine

Oil pan, with a non-concerning minor leak:

Oil pan, with a non-concerning minor leak

Oil pan

The engine:

Engine

Allison transmission:

Allison transmission

Drive shaft; this piece was removed when our coach was towed back in 2023:

Transmission linkage

Other side of the transmission:

Other side of transmission

More engine bits:

More engine bits

Side radiator gearbox and fan:

Radiator gearbox

Radiator gearbox and fan

More engine bits

Rear of the engine:

Rear of engine

Finally, the rear of the coach:

Rear of coach

Fascinating!

Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground

We stayed at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground within Walt Disney World, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A magical campground within the Disney World bubble.

Dates:

Check in: 2025-02-09
Check out: 2025-02-16
7 nights

Weather:

Partly cloudy
High temps 79-87°F, lows 59-66°F
Little wind, gusts to 20 MPH, but sheltered

Noise:

A little road noise (including bus on main road)
No train horn noise
A little neighbor noise (kids)
Fireworks most nights

Site:

#555, back-in, concrete
Needed to disconnect toad, parked beside coach
Level site; used hydraulic leveling
Concrete driveway about 55 feet long by 25 feet wide
30 feet to neighbors on both sides
Trees between sites
Picnic table
Fire pit
Tall trees
Clean site
Elevation 100 feet, front facing West

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
75 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, very conveniently located (2 2-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 230-300 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 15-35 ms ping
AT&T: 155 Mbps down, 32-55 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Pools
Garbage bin near site
Golf cart rental
Boats and buses to Disney World parks

See our previous stay here for our review on Campground Reviews.

Campground map:

Map

Another map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site, with our rental golf cart out front:

Our site

Not quite as long as the site we had last time, but there was room to hang off the back of the pad:

Our site

Convenient utilities:

Utilities

We rented a golf cart, and decorated it a bit to be festive, and to be able to identify it in golf parking lots:

Golf cart

Solar-rechargeable lights at night:

Golf cart

Other nearby sites in our loop:

Other sites

A squirrel trying to get into a box left on a neighbor site:

Squirrel

Horse-drawn carriage ride:

Horse-drawn carriage

A bus stop near our loop, that we used to pick up our golf cart:

Bus stop near our loop

We could have used the shuttle bus to get from one end of the campground to the other instead of getting a golf cart, but the cart was more convenient:

Shuttle bus

Playground over the road from our site; not as annoying as the basketball court we had next to us last time:

Playground over the road from our site

Golf cart parking:

Golf cart parking

Meadow Swimmin’ Pool:

Meadow Swimmin' Pool

Meadow Snack Bar near the pool:

Meadow Snack Bar

Meadow Trading Post:

Meadow Trading Post

Definitely the best place to stay when visiting Disney World.

Video

Video: Clermont to Disney World, Florida motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, just 48 miles from Clermont to Disney World, Florida.

Travel from Clermont to Disney World, Florida

We drove our coach just 48 miles, about one hour of driving, from Clermont to Disney World, Florida.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading in a deliberately long route, to kill time before check-in time:

Route

An interactive map:

Checking out of TTO; unusual to need to check out, but at TTO one needs to hand in the site number tags:

Checking out

Leaving TTO:

Leaving TTO

Clermont water tower:

Clermont water tower

An idiot driving with a flat tire, practically falling off:

Driving with a flat tire

Going through a toll plaza, entering Florida’s Turnpike:

Toll plaza

Florida’s Turnpike:

Florida's Turnpike

We stopped at Turkey Lake Service Plaza for lunch, and to kill some time:

Turkey Lake Service Plaza

KFC for lunch:

KFC for lunch

A trailer staging area in the service plaza, which we could have used if the truck/RV parking was full:

Trailer staging area

Toll plaza when leaving the turnpike:

Toll plaza

Exit to Disney:

Exit to Disney

Entering Walt Disney World:

Entering Walt Disney World

Exit to Fort Wilderness:

Exit to Fort Wilderness

Passing by Magic Kingdom parking:

Passing by Magic Kingdom parking

Entering Fort Wilderness:

Entering Fort Wilderness

Fort Wilderness security gate:

Fort Wilderness security gate

Fort Wilderness Reception Outpost:

Fort Wilderness Reception Outpost

Unhitching area, where we untoaded:

Unhitching area

Thousand Trails Orlando RV Resort

We stayed at Thousand Trails Orlando RV Resort in Clermont, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A third visit to TTO, the flagship Thousand Trails park. Actually the first of two stays here this year, totaling five weeks, separated by a week in the Disney bubble.

Dates:

Check in: 2025-01-19
Check out: 2025-02-09
21 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny, a few rainy days
High temps 45-80°F, lows 36-61°F
Occasional wind, gusts to 31 MPH

Noise:

A little road noise
No train horn noise
Little neighbor noise
Gas golf carts going by (on the route for maintenance workers)
Distant fireworks from Disney most evenings

Site:

#49 Hurricane Road, back-in, concrete
Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
A little unlevel site; a little high on driver side and rear; used hydraulic leveling
Concrete driveway about 55 feet long by 12 feet wide
25 feet to neighbors on both sides
Just grass between sites
Picnic table on 25 by 10 feet concrete patio
No trees, one shrub
A bunch of small trash on site
Elevation 120 feet, front facing South

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
40 PSI water, conveniently located
Unthreaded sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 140-180 Mbps down, 12-25 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
T-Mobile: 25-30 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 20 ms ping
AT&T: 0.7-38 Mbps down, 0.3-11 Mbps up, 60-180 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters only in a central location
Package delivery to office, for $5 per package (we got a local mailbox)
Pools

See our previous stays here for our review on Campground Reviews.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

After setting up our griddle and furniture:

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

Aerial view of our site:

Aerial view of campground

Aerial view of a long line checking in, shortly after noon:

Aerial view of long line checking in

Aerial view of campground

The new section; nicely paved sites, but don’t you dare even think about putting anything on the scraggly grass:

Aerial view of campground

A line of RVs snaking around the parking lot and road by the tennis courts, waiting to be guided to a site:

Aerial view of campground

Another view of the entry road:

Aerial view of campground

Above our loop:

Aerial view of campground

TTO is very strict about only allowing checking in after noon. They don’t even let you line up on their entry road before then. So some people wait for noon on the highway turn lane, which risks getting ticketed by cops:

Waiting to check in

Check in line:

Check in line

Line to be assigned a site:

Check in line

Other sites:

Other sites

Most sites are back-in, but there are some pull-through buddy sites (that we’d avoid like the plague):

Other sites

Main intersection:

Main intersection

Pool:

Pool

Game courts:

Game courts

Group fire pit and benches:

Group fire pit and benches

Lake:

Lake

“Alligators and snakes in this area”:

Alligators and snakes in this area

Pond and birds:

Pond and birds

More birds roaming the campground:

Birds

Lizard:

Lizard

A nice thing about TTO is there is a Publix grocery store and pretty good Chinese food nearby:

Chinese food

And a Japanese restaurant:

Japanese food

Plus Chick-fil-A and pretty much any other fast food you might want within about 10 minutes drive:

Chick-fil-A drivethru

Back to TTO soon!

Video

Video: Dunnellon to Clermont, Florida motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 77 miles from Dunnellon, Florida to Clermont, Florida.

Travel from Dunnellon to Clermont, Florida

We drove our coach 77 miles, only about 1.5 hours of driving, from Dunnellon, Florida to Clermont, Florida.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading southeast:

Route map

An interactive map:

After exiting our (very nice) site and looping around, we passed our site on the way to the check in area to toad up:

Passing our site

Exiting the campground:

Exiting park

A fuel stop:

Fuel stop

Filling the DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid):

Filling DEF

“Welcome to Florida’s Turnpike, The Less Stressway”:

Welcome to Florida's Turnpike, The Less Stressway

Toll plaza when exiting the turnpike:

Toll plaza

Arriving at Thousand Trails Orlando:

Thousand Trails Orlando

“Welcome to Thousand Trails Orlando; We Are Family”:

Welcome to Thousand Trails Orlando; We Are Family

A long line to get sites:

Line to get sites

At TTO people go to a parking lot then are guided to a site; you can request an area that you like, and are shown to that section, and can ask for a different site if you don’t like it. Kinda a hybrid between the usual Thousand Trails approach of first-come-first-served, where you roam around and find a vacant site, and the more typical assigned sites approach of other RV parks. Though Thousand Trails is moving to an assigned sites approach.

A bunch of RVs waiting to be guided to a site; this is where motorhomes untoad, too:

Waiting for a site

Guided to our site:

Guided to our site

Polished and replaced exhaust tips

While in Red Bay wet got Steve Brooks, aka School Bus Steve to do a few repairs for us. He’s so-named as he uses an old school bus for his mobile RV service:

School Bus Steve

One minor fix was to polish the exhaust tips of our generator and Aqua-Hot system.

He was able to polish the generator exhaust nicely:

Generator exhaust tip

But the Aqua-Hot one was beyond hope (see it on the ground), so he replaced it:

Aqua-Hot exhaust tip

Much nicer!

Rainbow Springs State Park

We stayed at Rainbow Springs State Park in Dunnellon, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A very nice state park campground.

Dates:

Check in: 2025-01-12
Check out: 2025-01-19
7 nights

Weather:

Partly sunny, some rain
High temps 57-68°F, lows 38-48°F
Little wind, gusts to 21 MPH, sheltered amongst trees

Noise:

No road noise
Occasional distant train horn noise
Little neighbor noise

Site:

#9, back-in, gravel
Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
Somewhat level site; high on passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
Gravel driveway about 75 feet long by 15 feet wide
40 feet to neighbors on both sides
Thick trees and bushes between sites, nicely private
Picnic table
Fire pit and charcoal grill
Tall trees
Clean site
Elevation 50 feet, front facing SW

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
40 PSI water, conveniently located
Unthreaded sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 50-140 Mbps down, 15 Mps up, 30-40 ms ping
Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5-10 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
AT&T: 1-4 Mbps down, 0.01-1 Mbps up, 86 ms ping
T-Mobile: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 750 ms ping, unreliable
Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Beautiful state park

We enjoyed our stay here and wish we could’ve stayed longer. The sites were spacious and private, with good hookups. It was quiet most of the week, with just some noise from the weekend crowd. You do have to drive a bit to get to the Rainbow Springs headwaters area, but it’s worth checking out. The river access at the campground is nice enough on its own, with kayak rentals at the main store/ranger station. We camped at Rainbow Springs State Park in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: If you’re new to Florida and looking for manatees, this is not one of those springs. It is an easy daytrip down to Crystal Springs, however, where we saw tons of manatees….

Campground map:

Rainbow Springs