Fort Widerness
Planning a trip to Walt Disney's Fort Wilderness.
Any tips or opinions.
Sarge
Any tips or opinions.
Sarge
Forum Discussion
- We've camped there twice. Our very first trip to DW was at Fort Wilderness. After Disneyland, it was an out-of-this-world experience. We arrived after dark, set up, went to bed and the next day we walked around the campground and sat in front of the General Store in large rocking chairs enjoying our breakfast. Then we wandered down to the lagoon and got on a boat. Rounding a bend, we got our first sight of the Magic Kingdom. There was Mickey in flowers with the train above it just like the entrance to Disneyland, but instead of a parking lot, we were transported to another world from a campground via a boat. It seemed miles from any civilization. Heading back to the campground was so easy by boat as well. The 'total immersion' experience made every day seem like we were getting 3 times our value. Stepping outside the park every evening to deal with traffic and 'the real world' just didn't compare. Visiting Disney World for 5 days is nothing compared to living in Disney World for 5 days. It's worth saving for.
- We went in 2009 and 2011. Assuming things haven't changed too much...
Hoop-de-do-Review show is very much worth going to. Of course, pretty much all the Disney shows are worth seeing.
If they still have the carriage rides, they are a little pricey, but very cool to go on.
No need to rush out in the morning if you don't want to! Some people love the "rope drop", being at the main gates first thing, but most days we would show up an hour after opening to avoid the lines and walk right in. Transportation from the Fort to the main gate is by boat, which is just too cool.
Fort Wilderness is a pretty big campground, and a lot of people rent or bring golf carts. Renting a cart at the campground is a bit pricey, so we did it for just one day and had fun driving around in it. There are a few "cart roads" that sort of sneak through the campground.
Otherwise, transportation is not a problem. Bus stops are scattered through the campground, and the buses run constantly.
If you need or want anything... Ask! Disney people will help you out in remarkable ways. One thing that happened to us was that we were at the docks waiting for an orange bus (routes are color coded, the electronic signs on the front of the buses tell which color / route they are). It was taking a surprisingly long time, so I asked a different bus driver if he knew where the bus was. He looked surprised, said he didn't know, but (hitting a switch), he said "hop in! I am now an orange bus!".
Which campsite to stay in - they are all excellent, with mostly small variations. I do recommend a site (or "loop", I don't know if they allow individual site reservations yet or still just loop sections) near the middle camp store or near the docks.
Expensive? Yes. It one of, if not the, top campgrounds in the country, in the top vacation resort in the country (or world). Save money for the trip so you don't have be worrying about the cost while you are there. - We stayed in Fort Wilderness years ago when my kids were small. It was the nicest campground we've been to. It isn't wilderness camping (which we enjoy), but it is part of the "Disney experience" and the staff treats you like kings and queens.
I've been to Disney many times since as the kids grew up. We've stayed both in the park and outside the park. There's nothing like the convenience of staying in the park if Disney is your destination.
Yeah, bring lots of money, but you get what you pay for. Dave in TN wrote:
Browse the forums at fortfiends.net. Lots of experience there, and if you have specific questions you'll get good answers.
X2- Hi,
We were at Fort Wilderness twice last year, once in January for about 2 weeks and once in July-August for about 10 days or so.
Yes, it IS expensive, but as others have said, it is about the experience. One thing I WILL SAY to their credit is they will allow up to 10 people to stay on your campsight WITHOUT additional charges. We didn't take advantage of that last year, but back in 2009, we had my brother, wife & daughter stay with us for 5 nights for no additional charge PLUS they received Disney transportation to and from the airport. For them to stay at a Disney hotel back then would've been an extra $1,000 and we wouldn't have been able to spend as much time with them. This way, every morning & evening we had some good, quality time with each other. And no extra cost! A rare bargain in the "House of Mouse". LOL
We found it was usually quicker to drive directly to all of the parks/water parks than use the bus/boat system. (The monorail was experiencing some issues when we were there last summer.) There were times we did use Disney transportation, but if we were trying to keep to a schedule, we'd drive. If you're a Disney resort guest, you can park for free at the parks.
One thing I will recommend is to learn how to use FastPass+. This will allow you to make reservations for key rides which usually have a line at them. There are limitation, but depending upon when you go, some attractions have wait times of over 2 hours (Avatar in Animal Kingdom to name one, Seven Dwarfs Mine in the Magic Kingdom to name another. These are both new rides.) With the FastPass+ you can reserve a time and it allows you to walk up to a much shorter line often less than 10-15 minutes. If you're staying on Disney property, you can start making your reservations up to 60 days in Advance. If you're not staying on Disney property, you can make them up to 30 days in Advance. If you're going to be there in their busy season, you'll NEED those days in advance for some attractions.
Think carefully about the "Park Hopper" option. It IS expensive. Yes it allows you to jump from one park to the other, BUT that usually means a long day, and if you have little ones, that might not be possible. Oh, by the way, you can buy any ticket package you want at first, and if you want to upgrade or add features (such as Waterparks or Park Hopper) they let you do so for just the added difference.
It's a great campground. An interesting thing is, though it's pretty much in a swamp, we didn't see a single mosquito while we were there! So it was quite pleasant being outdoors any time of day.
Good Luck, and have a great trip!!!
~Rick - Blast from the past. When I first camped there the steam train was running around the campground. Told my dad how much we have to pay next month - he told me he paid around $35 when he first camped there. I remember using tickets to get on rides.
- We camped there in 1977. Cost was an outrageous $14.50 per night. Having to evict a family of armadillos from under our Scout camper at 2AM made it all worthwhile though.
- Thank you all so much for your input.
Sarge Boon Docker wrote:
fj12ryder wrote:
Take a lot of money. :)
$162 a night is a bit ridiculous. :E
Well, it is Disney.
We just paid $650/night last May for club level and dining plan at the Polynesian, and that was WITH military discount. :E
