A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, just 68 miles from Clermont to Wauchula, Florida.
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Posts featuring the coach.
Travel from Clermont to Wauchula, Florida
We drove our coach 68 miles, about 1.5 hours of driving, from Clermont to Wauchula, Florida.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading south (though we actually took the route closer to Lakeland):
An interactive map, showing our actual route:
Pulling out of our site:
Line to leave TTO:
A gate ranger collecting site tags:
Can only turn right out of TTO, so we needed to do a U-turn to head south; we’d done it before, so know it’s easy for us:
Another RV doing the U-turn:
Us doing the U-turn; doesn’t look like it here, but there was heaps of room, didn’t even need to go into the bike lane:
Passing an accident:
I-4 West:
Route 570 toll road:
Route 98 South:
Turn:
17 / 98 South:
Paladin on the dash:
An interesting building in Bowling Green:
Arriving at Thousnd Trails Peace River:
Check in line:
Clock in bathroom
A very minor modification this time: we added a battery-powered clock on the wall in our bathroom. It is an atomic clock, that can set the time automatically, and has convenient time zone support, useful for us as we travel around the country. Plus it shows the temperature and humidity, useful for the bathroom, and reminds us which day it is, handy when we’re still waking up:
It is attached with Command picture hanging strips, that has two velcro-like pieces that can be pulled apart easily, so I can change the batteries. Nice and convenient.
Thousand Trails Orlando RV Resort
We stayed at Thousand Trails Orlando RV Resort in Clermont, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A fourth visit to TTO, the flagship Thousand Trails park. The second of two stays here this year, totaling five weeks, separated by a week in the Disney bubble.
Dates:
- Check in: 2025-02-16
- Check out: 2025-03-02
- 14 nights
Weather:
- Mostly sunny, a few rainy days
- High temps 62-82°F, lows 38-61°F
- Occasional wind, gusts to 31 MPH
Noise:
- A little road noise
- No train horn noise
- Little neighbor noise
- Distant fireworks from Disney most evenings
Site:
- #6 Hurricane Road, back-in, concrete
- Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
- A little unlevel site; a little high on passenger side and front; used hydraulic leveling
- Concrete driveway about 60 feet long by 12 feet wide
- 18 feet to neighbor on passenger side (a mobile home)
- 35 feet to neighbor on driver side
- Just grass between sites
- Picnic table on 22 by 10 feet concrete patio
- Some shrubs
- A bunch of small trash on site
- Elevation 120 feet, front facing West
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: 135-165 Mbps down, 16-20 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
- T-Mobile: 50-67 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 20 ms ping
- Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
- AT&T: 26-49 Mbps down, 3-11 Mbps up, 75 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:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Utilities:
Birds and other sites:
We still enjoy TTO, and will no doubt stay here again next time we’re in Orlando, whenever that may be.
Video: Disney World to Clermont, Florida motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, just 26 miles from Disney World to Clermont, Florida.
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:
An interactive map:
Toading up on the way out of the campground:
Leaving Disney World (how sad):
Exit to I-4 East:
Disney-shaped power pylon:
Love’s truck stop:
Joining the very long line to enter TTO; this was at 12:07 on a Sunday:
Almost to the entrance, at 12:18:
Finally on the entrance road, at 12:20:
We knew it’d take a long time to get in, so I made some lunch while we inched forward:
Paladin on the dash:
Welcome:
Almost to the entrance gate, at 12:54:
But wait, there’s more: joining the line to get a site, at 12:56:
People watching the line:
Almost to the front of the line, at 13:22; I waited in the truck after we untoaded:
Getting guided to our site, at 13:36:
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:
Oops.
I refilled it with Dexron III (as required) and kept an eye on it; sure enough, the level dropped during drives:
When we arrived at Bay Diesel, they wasted no time lifting up the coach:
They found and repaired the power steering leak, from a hose under the rig:
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:
So they replaced them with better, stronger brackets. Here’s a comparison of old and new brackets:
Rebuilding the clutch assembly:
They also lubed the various lube points:
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:
Entry step:
From in front of the front wheels:
Independent front suspension:
Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer:
Back of the generator:
A small void behind a front mudguard, with a junction box for the ground effect light strip:
Behind the front wheels, with air horns and generator exhaust:
Under the basement storage bays:
Under the 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:
Rear wheels and engine area:
A couple of techs inspecting the engine:
Oil pan, with a non-concerning minor leak:
The engine:
Allison transmission:
Drive shaft; this piece was removed when our coach was towed back in 2023:
Other side of the transmission:
More engine bits:
Side radiator gearbox and fan:
Rear of the engine:
Finally, the rear of the 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:
Another map:
An interactive map:
Our site, with our rental golf cart out front:
Not quite as long as the site we had last time, but there was room to hang off the back of the pad:
Convenient 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:
Solar-rechargeable lights at night:
Other nearby sites in our loop:
A squirrel trying to get into a box left on a neighbor site:
Horse-drawn carriage ride:
A bus stop near our loop, that we used to pick up our golf cart:
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:
Playground over the road from our site; not as annoying as the basketball court we had next to us last time:
Golf cart parking:
Meadow Swimmin’ Pool:
Meadow Snack Bar near the pool:
Meadow Trading Post:
Definitely the best place to stay when visiting Disney World.
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:
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:
Leaving TTO:
Clermont water tower:
An idiot driving with a flat tire, practically falling off:
Going through a toll plaza, entering Florida’s Turnpike:
Florida’s Turnpike:
We stopped at Turkey Lake Service Plaza for lunch, and to kill some time:
KFC for lunch:
A trailer staging area in the service plaza, which we could have used if the truck/RV parking was full:
Toll plaza when leaving the turnpike:
Exit to Disney:
Entering Walt Disney World:
Exit to Fort Wilderness:
Passing by Magic Kingdom parking:
Entering Fort Wilderness:
Fort Wilderness security gate:
Fort Wilderness Reception Outpost:
Unhitching area, where we untoaded:
