Hakuna Matata and Roofs

Yep folks, Disney World is sinking into my pores. I’m so full of Disney spirit that I could just…….just……burst. Why, who couldn’t love $10 candy apples or character dining to the tune of $60/person?! By golly, if I see another $5 chocolate covered frozen banana, I’ll go crazy with excitement. What in the world do the apples have over the bananas anyway? Apples dipped in caramel are twice as expensive as bananas in chocolate?! And did I mention the parking? It is $17/day, that’s right folks, head on down to Disney AFTER paying $300/per person (that covers 4 theme parks) and you gotta cough over another $17/A DAY to park there.

My husband and I have decided that it would be cheaper for us to buy a house down the street from where I’m staying for $20k and take up residency. Heck, that would save us a ton in Disney World park fees. I think I know why Disney loves the phrase “Hakuna Matata”. Because after we get done paying all this money, they have no worries for the rest of their days! All joking aside, I honestly don’t know who can afford to come to this most magical place on earth anymore. As it is, the girls and I are brown bagging one meal a day.

Animal Kingdoms activity book

Alright, alright enough of my rant. Someone has to pay for all this magic floating around over here. We went over to Animal Kingdom yesterday. They have a new program where you can collect sticker badges after you complete an activity. For those of you who have been to Epcot, it’s similar to the passport book. You buy a passport and the kids can get them stamped and add stickers to it. The only difference is the activity book is free. The girls really enjoyed doing the activities and learned quiet a bit about animals, heck, I even learned a thing or two.

It started raining around 6ish tonight and I can hear the pitter patter on the fiberglass roof from time to time. We’re planning to finish up the activities we didn’t complete at Animal Kingdom tomorrow. However, if the weather doesn’t cooperate then we may hang out here. Florida storms usually follow the ‘dump and run’ scenario. They dump some rain and disappear fairly quickly. So I’m not too concerned.

So speaking of rain, that always makes me think of my roof. Goodness knows the last thing I want going on with my RV is a leaking roof. In fact, I had some maintenance done to it before we headed out on this journey. Did you know that there is more than one type of roof on an RV? I had no idea until near the end of my RV search. I thought every RV out there had the same roof. Nope. There are rubber, metal and fiberglass roofs. And of the rubber variety, there are two types; EPDM (Ethylene Propylene-Diene Monomer) and TPO (ThermoPlastic Olefin). I almost bought a coach with a rubber roof but was really hoping a fiberglass one in my price range would come along. Each roof has its own set of pros and cons.

Both of the rubber roofs, EPDM and TPO, are fairly similar. EPDM roofs consist of a, you guessed it, rubber coating. The rubber is coated over a woven fabric. It is known to chalk after exposed to the sun over time and that chalk will be evident as it streaks down the sides of your RV. TPO roofs use the same materials but the difference is TPO roofs are coated with a smooth, shiny white coating. As a result, people can sometimes mistake a TPO roof for a fiberglass one.

mold and mildew on a rubber roof

So why did I shy away from a rubber roof you may ask? It really boiled down to personal preference. Some people who have rubber roofs swear by them. They clean and maintain them regularly, apply UV blocker yearly, coat and seal them as needed and don’t have any issues. You see where I’m going with this, right? They require more maintenance.  While all roofs need regular maintenance. I personally wanted a roof that required as little maintenance as possible. Some rubber roof manufacturers recommend four cleanings a year, no thanks. I am here full-time with three kids, my plate is already full and I don’t want to run the RV to a shop every three months for a scrub.

rubber roof coating

Another item that concerned me is that rubber roofs can be torn by objects such as tree branches, breaking their waterproof seal. I also wasn’t to keen on white streaks down the RV on a regular basis. Rubber roofs also have a general lifetime of about 10 – 15 years. That’s actually not too bad but fiberglass roofs live on and on as long as the seams are sealed.

Metal roofs are, you guessed it, made out of metal. Normally aluminum is used for its light and rust proof characteristics. RV’s produced many years ago may contain galvanized steel. They can be loud when it rains or hails, think of a tin roof. I didn’t run into a single RV with a metal roof so it was never a contender. Perhaps they’re more common on travel trailers and/or fifth-wheelers?

metal roof

Fiberglass roofs are made strictly of fiberglass. They are a hard, generally smooth roof although some can be pebbled. The material itself is waterproof. The seams need to be sealed regularly. They are louder when it rains or hails so if you think this will bother you, a rubber roof may be your friend.

Well there you have it folks. I hope this post helps out anybody who cares about RV roofs and/or how expensive WDW is. And in closing let me just say that I hope if you have an RV or soon will, that your roof will give you, in the Disney spirit,  “hakuna matata” or “no worries for the rest of its days”! And stay away from the apples, the bananas are cheaper.

{HUGS} from the crew!

Current Location = Thousand Trails Orlando, 2110 Thousand Trails Blvd, Clermont, FL 34714.  352-394-7575.

Cost = $33 for 11 nights w/Thousand Trails Southeast Zone Purchase. It’s only costing me $33 because I couldn’t find any 50 amp spots in the regular sites so I paid for a ‘premium’ spot.

My Observations = This is a VERY big, mainly RV based resort. The sites are not all that desirable but who can beat the price? We gave up concrete for dirt but we have big outdoor mats, so no worries. This keeps a barrier between us and the red ants. And yes, we’ve seen numerous red ant holes. The electricity works fine and we have full hook-ups.

*Please Note: If you do not like being handed a map and told to go forage for your spot, THIS PARK IS NOT FOR YOU! And to top it off, there are yellow stars placed randomly throughout the park to let you know where the 50 amp spots are, really?! Once we got settled, we were fine but what a pain in the *$%# that was.

Some of the amenities include:

• 2 pools
• numerous laundry facility
• planned activities
• shuffleboard
• miniature golf
• tennis
• exercise room
• numerous bath houses
• 2 fishing lakes