Fort Wilderness on 4/24 - 4/26

[majorgator]

We just completed our 2nd trip to Disney's Fort Wilderness campground, and we're still just as impressed as we were the first time. Once again, bath houses were spotless, grounds were well kept, and the sites (ohhhhh the sites) are super duper!

A few things we learned on this trip:
1. In our opinion, the "preferred" sites aren't any better than the standard "full hookup" sites. The only benefit is that they're perhaps a little deeper, and could more easily accommodate a tent behind the trailer.
2. The horse flies/yellow flies were intolerable. I'm a lifelong Floridian, and bugs are nothing new to me. But we didn't expect them to be so bad there. If you're planning a trip for any of the warm/hot months, make extra preparations for them. Not just candles, but add bug spray, bug zappers and whatever else you can think of.
3. Our middle child wanted to ride the monorail, but since there's no connection between Epcot and the campground, you get stuck riding it to the transportation hub, then to the magic kingdom, where you can then take a bus or boat ride back to the campground. Needless to say, we hope that kid REALLY enjoyed the monorail.

[majorgator]

bob34787 wrote:
living in Florida for 13 years now and spending many months at Fort Wilderness I can sadly say its not the same old Fort wilderness of even a few yeas ago. We spent 4 months there summer before last, as a matter of fact we sold our house, had a new 5th wheel delivered there and did not plan on leaving, but before that summer was over the place changed, rates went up, they placed restrictions o the holiday decorations and started to Pic o the long term campers, to my knowledge out of the 15+/- of the long term campers only 1 remains, she has been there for 6years now and I think she is just trying to wear them down. The current management have raised the rates to a point where you come for your vacation, the mouse sucks every penny they can during that 1-2 week period and they really don't want you to come back until you saved up again. Current preferred rate is in the 130.00/night range, 4 years ago it was in the low 80's, your choice of eating establishments s limited to basically 2 unless you want to go to the revue at 70.00/head , otherwise you have to bot or bus to one f the resorts or drive off property. As a guest of the Fort you are a second class citizen at best when it comes to transportation, you will wait for boats and buses longer than the other resorts. Then pool isfilled with locals in the summer so forget about swimming and now they will not allow swimming at he other resorts ( which are less crowded due to cast members checking t see if you are a guestof that resort) If you ret a Disney golf cart you can ignore all the cart rules butif you bring your own you will be reminded of the rules by the Rangers at every opportunity .

I certainly am not going to disagree with many of your points, based on my limited experience. For those of us who aren't into full-timing, its setup real good. The rate you mentioned is about what we paid this trip, but back in December is less than $80/night. I've been told there are ways to get the rates much cheaper than what we just paid, but haven't attempted to do it yet.

I will say these 2 things about your comments:
1. Based on our trip there in December, a simple observation would lead me to believe that they have ZERO restrictions on holiday decorations. Going around and checking out the massive arrays of setups was part of the fun.
2. While we didn't notice anyone (on either trip) being highly reckless on golf carts, almost every single one of them has at least 1 adult with an open container...and often the driver.

If I was able to make one single gripe about Fort Wilderness (other than the price), it would be the same gripe I have at many campgrounds...people driving their cars/trucks WAY too fast. There's ZERO reason why anyone should be zig-zagging through the inner areas at 15-20 MPH...especially when towing. The impatience of these people always annoys me. Even the bicycle riders that are zipping all around you while you're literally right in the middle of backing into your spot...!!!!!!!!

[RV-1_2n-FUN]

DownTheAvenue wrote:
I went to Disney once, and that was enough for me. And that was 35 years ago. Too many people, too much standing in line, too expensive, too artificial. I just don't get it.

I can go to London and visit world class museums with a large dose of class for less money!

Wife and I have no problem with artificial fantasy. No need for class since our noses are down to earth. Cost is simply relative. 2.5-3.0 hours from driveway to campsite is a little bit quicker than tripping over the pond.

[Bill_Diana]

DownTheAvenue wrote:
I went to Disney once, and that was enough for me. And that was 35 years ago. Too many people, too much standing in line, too expensive, too artificial. I just don't get it.

I can go to London and visit world class museums with a large dose of class for less money!

Sounds like one of the 7 Dwarfs....Gumpy. Or should say "classy" Gumpy.

[majorgator]

mgirardo wrote:

majorgator wrote:
We just completed our 2nd trip to Disney's Fort Wilderness campground, ... I'm a lifelong Floridian

You are a lifelong Floridian and have only been to the Fort twice?!? 🙂

As mentioned, the boat to Contemporary or Magic Kingdom gets you on the Monorail quickly.

Yes, only our 2nd visit. As a lifelong Floridian, I typically try to avoid Disney...and Beaches...and anywhere else that's overrun with tourists LOL. Really, though, I've built up zillions of hotel points over the years with Marriott and Hilton, and that's usually the way we travel when going to Disney and other places (if we're not interested in camping).

Our transportation issue was more related to leaving the parks at the same time as everyone else. One disney "cast member" said the monorail and busses are faster, but the boat ride is more "magical". HAHA!

[DownTheAvenue]

I went to Disney once, and that was enough for me. And that was 35 years ago. Too many people, too much standing in line, too expensive, too artificial. I just don't get it.

I can go to London and visit world class museums with a large dose of class for less money!

[Bill_Diana]

click here to view a transportation map.

The map may look confusing but is well worth taking a few minutes to study as it can make your stay a lot less stressful.

Hope this info helps.

If you have time ...visit the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Go through the main lobby and out the back door into the massive court yard to view all sort of African animals. Its free and worth your time.

There are 2 monorail loops. The Magic Kingdom which includes stops at the three major hotels and also stops at the Transportation Center. To travel from the Magic Kingdom to Epcot it will be necessary to transfer to the Epcot loop at the transportation center.

[mleekamp]

We are going to our 2nd visit to Fort Wilderness in June (7th trip to Disney overall)...can't wait! Appreciate the info on the Preferred sites. We did book a preferred site (after having a FU the 1st time). I'm not changing it at this point...we'll see how it goes. My understanding is the Preferred were a bit wider and closer to the Fort.

By the way, I thought the monorail went from Magic Kingdom to Epcot...we too rode it to the Hub, then to Epcot. Including the boat ride from the campground to MK, it was about a 50 minute jaunt to Epcot! Still fun......

[mgirardo]

majorgator wrote:
We just completed our 2nd trip to Disney's Fort Wilderness campground, ... I'm a lifelong Floridian

You are a lifelong Floridian and have only been to the Fort twice?!? 🙂

We love Fort Wilderness. We usually go twice a year. Haven't been to the parks since 2011. We don't really care about the parks; we enjoy the campground too much.

Now that all full hook-up sites have Cable, the difference between the 3 full hookup site designations is not really worth the price in our opinion. It is nice to have less sand on the Premium sites, but not that big of a deal.

We've never had an issue with Horseflies or yellow flies. April and October/November are our favorite times to go. We did get over run by weird looking caterpillars in 2005. Asked about them at the Outpost registration and they sent someone out to look at them. It was only our site that had them. Disney deemed they were harmless, but told use they would remove the nests if we wanted them too. Our 2.5 year old son enjoyed playing with them, so we didn't bother.

As mentioned, the boat to Contemporary or Magic Kingdom gets you on the Monorail quickly. You can also walk or bike to Wilderness Lodge quicker than taking the boat if you want to check out the Lodge. Whispering Canyon Cafe is fun to experience. If you have young children (older kids might enjoy it too), the Lodge has hidden Mickey hunts. There are hidden Mickeys at both the main Lodge and the DVC Villas.

We always enjoy taking the boats throughout Disney to explore the different resorts connected by boat.

-Michael

[Tvov]

lol, when we went, at one point my wife asked about why it seemed we were taking so long to get to one of the parks... I had to admit that I had planned out a zig-zag course with the transportation system in order to get the maximum rides on the monorail....

(My Dad has always been a train fanactic, and it has rubbed off some on me!)

[sch911]

We have used the busses many times and they're great. Have no fears...

[Bill_Diana]

43 years ago was our first visit to Fort Wilderness. I found it magical then...and still find it magical.

You can take the boat from Fort Wilderness to the Contemporary Hotel. From their ride the monorail to the transportation content and transfer to the Epcot monorail. All done without needing to catch the bus.

We are snowbirds so every year we visit Disney. Most of the time we go to ride the boats & monorail and then have lunch at one of the hotels. It's nice that Disney allows you to ride the transportation system without a fee.

This past Feb & March we had a 3 day parkhopper pass. We had a wonderful time. For us it is "bitter sweet" because it brings back fond memories of when we were much younger and we took the kids.

Oh well, sorry to make you read this boring story.