Advice Needed: Camping at Fort Wilderness vs a hotel stay

We have done both. I like camping over hotel stay. I like to sleep in my own bed and have more space from my neighbor. It is personal preference issue.

jbjuices wrote:
All,

I'm hoping to get advice on camping vs staying at a hotel when going to Disney World. Here's my rationale and would love to hear your thoughts:
-Estimated $1500 in savings by camping (this includes add'l gas used by towing a trailer)
-The amenities at Ft Wilderness isn't too far off from that of the hotel. I'd say its better because of the horseback riding, beach, etc.
-Save on food costs by eating 1-2 meals a day at the campsite
-Timeframe would be October, so the average temp would be still hot enough to swim

I'm trying to talk my wife into this type of stay, so would love to have your thoughts. If you know of reasons why its better to stay in a hotel, I'd love to hear that also, since this could sway my decision.

You're "trying to talk my (your) wife into this type of stay"

I'm assuming you have heard of "Happy Wife - Happy Life"

You present some good reasons for staying at Ft Wilderness,but if your wife ain't happy get ready to check into the hotel cuz if she ain't happy no one is going to be happy.

You are posting at the wrong forum. All these guys here including me are biased. We are all campers. I can give you my propective of my neighbor who bought a MH for a season and sold it. The reason is being his DW doesn't want working holiday. Cooking & cleaning as she does at home. Her idea of vacation is at a 5 star resort and be served. Got the idea? As the last poster said, the key is in her hand.

But I think she would be happy. When she thinks of camping, she is envisioning our normal camp trips. She wants this to be magical and from what I heard, Fort Wilderness is just as magical as the hotel scene.

If I get the premium sites, then we'll be in good shape.

TKW wrote:
You are posting at the wrong forum. All these guys here including me are biased. We are all campers. I can give you my propective of my neighbor who bought a MH for a season and sold it. The reason is being his DW doesn't want working holiday. Cooking & cleaning as she does at home. Her idea of vacation is at a 5 star resort and be served. Got the idea? As the last poster said, the key is in her hand.

Well said - if the better half didn't or doesn't buy into it - then forget it.

I once heard a guy say his wife idea of camping was to stay in a 5 Star hotel and not turning the air conditioner on.

DW and I took a trip to Ft. Wilderness in October 3 or 4 years ago. We had a great time. The campgrounds is what you'd expect for Disneyworld, we enjoyed walking the dogs around it and the boat rides to the park. October is a wonderful time to visit, one morning we took a picture down a back street in the main Disneyworld with only a handful of people in sight! Not the norm, but we never experienced any 'crowds.'

Fort Wilderness has a lot of amenities. Ultimately, it is down to the experience you want and what your pocketbook can handle.

Depending on the age of your kids (if any), you might only be eating breakfast at the campground. If you have young kids that can't spend an entire day out in the parks (it does get tiring) then you might come back to camp earlier enough to have supper at the camp as well. If it is just the two of you (or if you have older kids) you may want to stay straight through and catch the nighttime shows and fireworks, so probably not have supper at the camp. Also, after a day out in the park, you will be tired and having to fix supper, wash dishes, etc may be more of a task after long days walking in the sun.

We are avid campers and have visited Ft. Wilderness while at Disney, but not as campers. Our reason for going to Disneyworld was to immerse our family in the Disney magic. We deliberately did not stay at Ft. Wilderness because we can and do camp elsewhere. For the same reason, we did not go to the Disney waterparks, because our kids can do that elsewhere. Remember, the only swimming at Disney is in a concrete pool or at the waterparks. While you can sunbathe at the beaches, you cannot swim in the Disney Lakes.

We went to Disneyworld for the unique rides, shows, dining at Epcot, and overall Disney experience. We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Hotel. It is pricey, but having giraffes and other African animals just outside your balcony when you awake in the morning was...priceless.

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We weighed the difference back in nov 2011. We ended up staying in FW. The price difference for us was about $300 more than a hotel and we stopped at Stone Mtn in GA on the way down. I like having my own bed and access to being outside anywhere as opposed to a balcony. We were able to go swimming in Nov!

Sometimes we go to FW and don't even visit the parks.

Here is the fix. Tell the wife that it will save you $500 and you will let her take it and shop.

Problem solved unless she finds out what you really saved.

We love riding our bikes at FW. Not sure you can do that if you stay at the other resorts.
Either way enjoy your visit!