Fort Wilderness question

DW and I plus grandkids stay at Fort Wilderness often. Here's some info to keep in mind.

Check-in typically is 1PM. (checkout is by 11AM which gives Disney a chance to determine what sites open up).

There is no overnight camping allowed in the parking lot. So, either stay at an off Disney RV park (KOA in Kissimmee comes to mind) or plan on arriving no earlier than noon.

If you arrive around noon and have not requested (through your reservation a specific loop) then you may get to check-in and go to your site.

The DISboard is a valuable site on all things Disney and the link below will help you further with Disney camping.

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=24

Enjoy!!

Checking in at Fort Wilderness

As most have said no on staying in the overflow lot for the night, but if you arrived say 3-4 am they might let it slide waiting for your site to open. Check out Fort Fiends web site for more help, they offer the most info and the most current info out there.

They do NOT allow you to overnight in the overflow lot... Arriving early (but not at 1 AM), might or might not work, if your site is ready they will likely let you have it. If it is not ready, I believe they will let you into the overflow and call/txt you when it is ready. I've read on other forums that folks will leave their rig in the overflow and go get some park time in while they wait for their site. If you've never visited, check out fortfiends.net. it's a great resource for researching all things Fort Wilderness.

IIRC...the lot is closed at night. There's plenty of nearby lots to park in for a few hours. There's a golf course with a bar just east of Fort Wilderness. The golf course will be closed but the bar would be open. Large parking lot....might call the bar first though...I think it's called the SandTrap...Dennis

CampingN.C. wrote:
Can you arrive the night before or very early the day of and be allowed to park in the overflow area? We're looking at getting there around midnight-1am.
I called and didn't get a real direct answer, she said it would be up to security, something about no generators and what not.
Has anyone done this? Last time we were there I saw a ton of rigs in the parking lot.

You might not since 1) some of those in the lot are folks on cruises, etc. or might have checked out and gone back into the parks. Also, I'm sure security doesn't want folks actually staying there and like sleeping/cooking (i.e. basically camping out) since that would set a precedence they wouldn't want. We've found they might check you in early if the site is open and a couple of times they have let us in when the site was empty and not even prepped as long as we realized it wasn't totally ready.

If you don't get a better answer I think it would probably be safe to just show up and play it by ear if you're showing up after midnight on the day you are to check in. Just be prepared to have to have someone stay like in the driver's seat until the check-in booths open. The staff is fairly accomodating as long as your pleasant in dealing with them.

Larry