propane delivery at Ft Wilderness

Walt was a very smart person. He bought all of the land for the complex thru strawmen for basically nothing. It was hard to give swampland away in central Florida then. After aquiring all of the property, Disney went to the State and had the Reedy Creek Management Area Created. Disney controls the planning, zoning, building etc. for the entire area and can and does do whatever it wants. The lakes were created to provide the fill for the rest of the property and it was all done first class. Disney isn't the only big developer to do this, but they did it better than the rest. I'm like Joe, I love to take the grandkids to the Fort, I just wish they would go to the Worlds without me and let me enjoy the quiet. :)

Goldencrazy, thanks for the kind words.

Loop 700 is our current favorite loop, even though it really isn't a loop at all. Thirty four or 35 sites on 700 with the highest number site being a full time Disney resident. Have never met the woman, just spoken to her as I walk our Beagle or he walks me, LOL. Cost is all relative, I would say. I can stay a month at the Fort for about the same or cheaper than some of the campgrounds located in the Keys of Florida. Not long ago I got an advertisement from the campground on Fiesta Key, offering me a monthly stay for $2,500 a month if I would sign up for a minimum of 3 months and prepay. Not much different than at the Fort Wilderness Campground.

We enjoy loops 100, 200 and 300 if we take our truck camper to the Fort. The interior roads of those loops cause me problems getting our 5th wheel backed in most of the time. The roads are too narrow and too many people park their tows too close to the road to allow room to turn and maneuver a trailer, but great for most Class Cs, truck campers, and some Class As in some sites. They are the closest and handiest loops to the boat dock as you well know.

If I could have one magic wish, dealing with the Fort, would be for Disney to put in another loop or two, of just nice long pull through sites, reserving one for me, at a very cheap price. LOL
The property where Fort Wilderness is located is a mix, consisting of mainly loblolly pine, bald Cyprus, some black gum, some cabbage palms, palmetto shrubs, and other plants I have not a clue to what to call them. Just remember, in Florida, if it doesn't have stickers on it, it will bite. LOL

Loop 700 has pine and Cyprus as the taller trees, some sites are about evenly mixed and others are one or the other for the most part. When we were up for the Not so Scary Halloween Party week, we ended up in site 802, as I remember, and we had to scrub the pine sap off the truck and 5th wheel when we got back home. Short of walking each site, I don't know of any way to know before hand.

Someone asked what's to do at the Fort, other than go to one of the parks? For me, most days start out with a good long walk with the Beagle around inside the campground. Then one day after the rest of the group headed for Hollywood Studios for the day, Rookie the Beagle and I headed off property in the car to go to Camping World to buy some RV parts, then stopped at a Publix supermarket not far from there. It is a quick drive down to either of those places. Where CW is located is in the middle of all sorts of great places to shop, eat, stay and camp. Often if we can't get a site at the Fort we will stay at Tropical Palms Campground, which works out to be about an 8 minute drive to EPCOT from there, just west to I 4, then follow the signs to WDW.

One morning after our walk, I walked down to the boat dock, rode the boat over to the Magic Kingdom, got on the train and circled the park, then walked over to Tomorrow Land where I rode the People Mover, Buzz Lightyear, and headed over to Casey's Corner to meet my wife for lunch. I had always thought the street vendors in the French Quarters of New Orleans had the best hot dogs in the world, but I do believe Casey's is their rival. Had a cold slaw, pulled BBQ pork hot dog and it was fabulous, no matter how it sounds. After lunch, decided to ride the mono rail over to EPCOT, round trip, via the ticket center, and back to the Kingdom, then boated back to Fort Wilderness. Rookie took me for another long walk and then was time to plop in my recliner lawn chair under the awning and read a book on my Kindle. An hour later I woke up started thinking about fixing dinner. LOL Not sure what there is about WDW but I find it very relaxing, most pleasant, lots to do if I want, great central location for Orlando doings. My wife and I never seem to tire of the place.

Our arrangements are usually, Rookie and I will take the RV up and get set up at the Fort early on the day of check in. We go up sometimes for just Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights as we are about 3 hours drive from home. Often Rookie and I will go up on Friday morning early, get set up and then my wife, daughter and two grandsons, 9 and 10, come up after the boys get out of school, and my wife and daughter get off work. (someone has to work in the family so I can travel, LOL) Then they will leave Sunday night, to drive back home and the next day, Rookie and I will break camp and head south on the Florida Turnpike.

I can't remember ever buying propane anywhere in Orlando, except at Camping World and Tropical Palms. While parking can be a hassle, in front of the CW store, since they now use former customer parking, to store new RVs they have for sale. Around back on the SW corner of the store, where the guy sells propane, I have never had an issue with access. If you come south out of Disney on World Drive and then Hwy 192 going east, just before the light at the corner of CW, there is a left turn lane that will take you to the back corner of the store where propane is sold, eliminating any need to drive up to the store front area. I don't think the propane seller there is actually an employee of CW, but works for the propane company. I come out of the Fort and follow signs to Hwy 192, which is south of the Fort. Never had any significant traffic issues. You actually run on Interstate 4 for about a quarter of a mile and then exit off on 192. I come back the same way. Like everything else at the Mouse Land, road signage is great for getting you there. The Mouse want each of us to make it there safely with our money, to share with him.

As a side note, in talking to a Disney employee last week, he said the company daily info sheet, for employees, said there was just over 73,000 employees working at WDW that day. They are the largest single site employer in the state, and what the Mouse wants in Florida, the Mouse gets. I can't imagine the daily payroll being in the millions of dollars at that place.

Joe B- Have enjoyed all your advice on Alaska travels and used much of it on our trip to Alaska which we will do again. Now find out you are a Disney fan. Interesting to hear about the sap issue. We had liked the general nature of the pine tree areas but have settled on the 300 loop again as it is nicely located for dog park. Thanks for sharing.

joe b. wrote:
This past week while we were in site 720, a couple stopped by to visit and to look at our site. They had reservations till the end of April 2014, but wanted to move sites. Their site was in the pines and they were getting pine sap on their RV. Site 720 is in the Cyprus trees so little or no sap problem. We told them when we were leaving and they were going to see if they could move to our site.

We were at the Fort for 7 nights, but I only made it to one of the parks on three days. My wife, daughter and two grandsons went every day. We too have annual tickets and just get a lot of pleasure out of being there. We average about 40 to 45 nights a year at WDW, mostly at the Fort. I would love to spend a couple of months there and may when my wife retires.

This past week while we were in site 720, a couple stopped by to visit and to look at our site. They had reservations till the end of April 2014, but wanted to move sites. Their site was in the pines and they were getting pine sap on their RV. Site 720 is in the Cyprus trees so little or no sap problem. We told them when we were leaving and they were going to see if they could move to our site.

We were at the Fort for 7 nights, but I only made it to one of the parks on three days. My wife, daughter and two grandsons went every day. We too have annual tickets and just get a lot of pleasure out of being there. We average about 40 to 45 nights a year at WDW, mostly at the Fort. I would love to spend a couple of months there and may when my wife retires.

I get a lot of info over on the DisBoards. They have a forum just for Fort Wilderness
DisBoards

We purchase an annual pass which allows us to go to any park unlimited times. So we spend 3-4 hrs doing something related to the entire complex. This is five days a week Leave the weekends for the short term visitors who fill things up on the weekends. On those days we may just relax around the motorhome as we would at home and take nice walks or go on outings with the pups outside the park. Sometimes just hopping on the boats and going to a hotel for lunch is enjoyable. There are many nice golf courses in the area. We never seem to tire of the parks. The light and fireworks show at Epcot is the best I have ever seen and the fireworks at Magic Kingdom an hour earlier are very good. And of course we are not as young as we used to be so energy goes more quickly and reading and less aggressive recreation are on the list. Being a little bored is not bad but rarely are we without things to do if we want them and where else in the world can you decide to which country you wish to go for lunch.

2gypsies wrote:
We always thought Fort Wilderness was a vacation destination for one or two weeks. Am I reading right that folks stay for months? That must be very expensive. What do you do during all that time? And the constant traffic and crowds. Just curious.

You should understand if you don't know about Ft. Wilderness then you don't have the information I requested. Many people did and I got some valuable responses. We love it there and have met some really nice people in our stays. It is ultra clean and has a neat variety of people from young to old. The staff are helpful and the transportation system which is free to guests is incredible. As in most things it is not for everyone but we love it and so splurge on it.

mowermech wrote:

Goldencrazy wrote:
And I don't understand people who reply to a post they don't understand or have an answer. Ft. Wilderness is the huge campground at Disney World. Many of the readers here have camped there and provide great information. I was expecting that if propane is not available I would get info on the best way to get it and from whom. In the past people have been so helpful in providing extended information from the question asked. The campground phone operators often don't have a clue. I have had numerous times that the information I get here is much more up to date than I get from the staff at a large campground. So I hope you understand why I asked here first. It just provides a bit more information. I learned for instance once that propane was not allowed in the campground but that a private vendor parked a truck for an hour on Tuesday in the front parking lot and you could bring the coach up for a fill. Not the best but better than driving 30 miles one way. So perhaps you get the picture. I didn't intend to irritate, just looking for info which is so incredibly plentiful on rv.net. I think this forum is the most valuable tool I have.

Y'know, all you had to do was say what town the place is near, and in what state. My first thought as well was "Where (and what) is Fort Wilderness??"
The difference is, I didn't and don't care enough to ask, because I know I will never go there, wherever it is.
Giving enough information is always a good idea.
As for the OP question, sorry, I can't help you, I don't know.

2gypsies wrote:
We always thought Fort Wilderness was a vacation destination for one or two weeks. Am I reading right that folks stay for months? That must be very expensive. What do you do during all that time? And the constant traffic and crowds. Just curious.

We are missing our first Christmas there, having done the last eleven straight. There are people there that spends months, and more. There is a whole fascinating culture of folks who show up with massive enclosed storage trailers, filled with their own decorations, and spend weeks and thousands of dollars, setting up their sites for Halloween, and then Christmas. There are folks who think nothing of booking months at a time, and many years ago a security guy showed us a site that was rented year round. He claimed that there were no discounts, or special treatment, for the high rollers who dropped tens of thousands a year there. If you get the chance, get one of the employees talking about what goes on behind the scenes when it comes to those with lots of money and a Fort wilderness fetish, it's pretty fascinating.

I would love to spend a month or two at Fort Wilderness. It's definitely on our list. I would especially love to see all the RVs decorated for Christmas.

I have trouble doing more that three days at DisneyWorld. Have not been to it's RV park. Way to pricy for my taste. And if the visitors are like the ones at Disneyworld, no thank you.