O.K. convince me to stay in a cabin!! LOL

[antkim]

As of now we have ressies for ASMo next March 8th- 12th. We have stayed there before and love it-ds(5) loves it the most!! This trip will be our first with 2nd ds(he will be 17 months at the time) and we are toying with the idea that a seperate bedroom would be wonderful-that way we don't all have to go to bed at the same time. It will cost us twice as much to stay at FW so that is my hesitation!!! I don't think I will be doing much cooking so having a full kitchen, while nice, is not necessary. My other concern is that we might be disappointed in the pools because I hear they are not themed like other resorts that we have stayed at. That being said, I think that all the activities the resort has to offer will be WONDERFUL as well! So convince me!!LOL

Kim

[antkim]

you're not convincing me yet!! LOL PLEASE!!

Kim

[Rhonda]

I'm surprised you don't have 25 replies by now! LOL! It must be the holiday weekend slowing things down.

I think your kids would LOVE Fort Wilderness! There's lots of room to run around and have fun! The campfire program at night would be great for them, and they would love the pony rides and the petting farm!

With kids, it nice just having a "home" to come back to at night after a long day at the parks, instead of just a "room". When you're staying at a hotel, you have to be a little more careful of the kids making noise, but in a cabin they can run around and burn off steam freely! LOL

I don't think you would be disappointed at all with the cabins!

[mrsgus06]

I stayed in the cabins for years before finally finding the camper I wanted. Ft. Wilderness is the only way our large family (6 young kids) can go. If I did not own my camper, you would have to convince me NOT to stay in the cabins. Beach, sing a long, activities in the afternoon with Ms. Sundee, fireworks over the MK at night, water parade, bike riding, roller blading, fishing, boating, playgrounds at every turn, golf cart riding, not much traffic so the kids can play. Do I need to convince you more? Will be there this Saturday for 15 nights, meals at my convenience, price tag of less than $700.00 for the nights. Do I need to convince you more? You may find that your little one enjoys the petting zoo (I have a 2 year old) and your little one might enjoy finding the peacocks that roam the park. Do I need to convince you more? Stay in the cabins, you may be one of the people that spend their non Disney days looking for the perfect camper so you can go more often. Become one of us, its painless!

[antkim]

YAY!!! Replies!! LOL I think I'm convinced!! What the heck, I love trying new resorts anyways!!! DH and I were just talking about the possibility of getting a camper someday so this would be perfect for us to experience. I know the kids will love it I was just wondering if it was worth the extra $$$ because our stay will be quite short. Now I'm really excited-more for me to research!!! LOL Planning is 50% od the fun!!!
Thanks!

Kim

[debster812]

OO! OO! Pick me! Pick Me!

Kim--we did the cabins in January. We also did not do a lot of cooking, but think about it this way--you could have breakfast in every morning (with the exception of any character meals you might have) and the savings right there, might get you close to break even. Plus, you can stock up on snacks, and drinks, voila! more savings. We stopped at Publix, and got drinks, snacks, hot dogs for the grill, buns, bread, and cold cuts, and ate at the cabin for breakfast each morning, and a couple of lunches and a couple of dinners.

DS LOVED being at FW. Peacock and Armadillo seeking. The petting zoo. The BOAT ride to MK (with easy monorail access to EPCOT) He even loved riding the busses. The Electrical Water Pageant at night. Trails End buffet. I could go on and on and on.....

We loved it, and any stay over 4 nights, that is where we will returning to.

Any specific questions, fire away!

[ugadog99]

They've already said all there is, but I just wanted to add that we LOVE FTW. We have tried other resorts, but the Fort is for us. In fact, I am seriously considering investing in a pop-up so we can start camping. I think you will really enjoy Ft. Wilderness!

[parmtoo]

WOW!

Everyone has already said the things I would have said, so I'll just tell you the same, we love FW and can't imagine doing WDW any other way. We do have a camper, so the cost is not nearly what you pay for a cabin. We started to get the "camping bug" while staying in campgrounds that had cabins. We love the outdoor part of being away, so we got the camper.
One thing that we really enjoy is sitting outside at night, or taking a long walk around the resort.
Stay in a cabin, you'll have a wonderful time.
:bounce: :Pinkbounc :bounce: :Pinkbounc :bounce: :Pinkbounc :bounce: :Pinkbounc :bounce: :Pinkbounc :bounce: :Pinkbounc

[sweet maxine]

We love FW cabins, too! We just stayed for almost two weeks there recently, and really enjoyed our time there. We always like to rent a golf cart, but remember to add that cost in with your budget. I think it's definitely worth the extra we have to pay. My kids love to just ride around the campground in the golf cart. I wish I could talk my husband into buying some kind of camper, so that we could go and stay longer, but he won't do it. He doesn't like to "rough it" as he says. We did stay at the Pop also on this last trip and enjoyed the lively pace there. I just think the campgrounds are so relaxing and really a "world away" from everything. We always take charcoal and BBQ on the grill while we're there. It's nice to have a full size fridge to freeze water bottles in and also have the kitchen for making cheese dip late at night when everyone comes in hungry from the parks!

[CajunGirl2]

Kim,

We've booked the cabins for our trip Sept. 25 - Oct. 2 for the exact reason you're thinking about it. Our last trip was in May 2000. DH, myself & DD (22 months at the time) stayed at AMu. It was lights out and TV off at 8:30 just to get her to sleep every night. I didn't want to have to do that again this year. DD will be 4 and we now have another DD who will be 23 months at the time of this trip. Reading these posts has me so excited about our upcoming trip! I can't wait. I think DH will love it since everyone talks about the slower pace at FW. I don't think my girls will miss having a themed pool. Water is water to them.

Good luck deciding!

[antkim]

O.K.- I'm loving all the replies!!! Keep them coming! I'm very excited about this and I really think my DH will enjoy this resort. I'm the WDW fanatic-not him! Although he enjoys himself it's not his idea of a "relaxing" vacation(LOL) so I think FW might be just what the "disney doctor" ordered!! I need to budget in the golf carts as well because I KNOW we would all have a ball with them and it makes the resort that much more "accessible" with a 17 month old!! Oh boy NOW I'm really excited!!!
Cajungirl, have a great trip and please let me know how you enjoy FW!!!!

Kim

[castlegazer]

Kim - you already know a lot of my arguments for why having a cabin made for one of the best vacations we have ever taken as a family but here are some more:

1) At night, without park tickets, we would take the boat over to MK right before the fireworks, and either watch from the boat or get off on the dock at MK and, well, I probably shouldn't spill this, but a really, really nice cast member let us just go in to watch the fireworks as they were at that time, and will be when you will be going, right at the closing time of the park - no harm letting us just go in to watch from Main Street. AWESOME! the kids were all in PJ's, so we just hopped back on the boat afterwards and went back to the cabin and they fell happily to sleep.

2) Being able to turn the lights on, play games, watch TV, and grab a cold drink out of the fridge at night while the kids slept happily in another room. Hallelujah!

3) A big thing for us, but it may not be for all people, but with little kids who need to take baths at night, the bathrooms are absolutely beautiful. The bath is very large and very well lit. There is even a little window in the bathroom. Its all very nice. Many of the pictures don't do it justice as its all dark paneling.

4) We definately did not partake in this as we were sharing the cabin with another couple - but let's let our adult minds work for a minute here. The kids are asleep back in the bedroom with a closing door on it. You and hubby are out in the living room partaking in those cold drinks in the fridge - you look over and notice there is yet another bed in the living room that comes down from the wall - hmmmmmm.

5) My son likes to rise with the birds. I was able to grab him and take him for some of the best walks we have ever done watching the sun rise and seeing wildlife and tons of birds while walking him around until everyone else sane got up for the day.

6) The pools are not themed but they are nice - the smell of jasmine at the cabin pool is just intoxicating.

7) The deck and grill. The only draw back and its not one they can remedy as its fire code I am sure is that the door to the cabin did not have a screen door on it - it was just a fire door. But there is a window to the back bedroom that looks out over the deck so you could have the kids sleeping back there and be able to listen for them that way.

8) Trails End Buffeteria. Great Food. Cheap Prices - AND, at the end of the night you can go up there and buy Fried Chicken and Pizza to go back to the cabin!

9) Sand beach.

10) The Petting Zoo and the peacocks as said previously. Totally cool.

11) Being a hop skip and a jump - litterally - either by boat or by trail, from WL. You can go over without cars easily - and get dinner or just go and walk around. I didn't say pool hop for any pool hopping police out there, but you can look around - wink wink. We walked around over there a lot and thanked our lucky stars when we returned to FtW because it was a madhouse of pepole at WL and the peacefulness of FtW is just awesome.

Oh, there are so many other reasons why we loved staying in the cabins, but that is just a glimpse at how cool it is. Plus remember to get the amenity of an extra bedroom you would have to spend twice at least the amount of the cabins at the other DVC resorts.

[antkim]

Castlegazer, I'm confused.... did you like it there? LOL I'm not understanding the extra bed thing either. ROTFLMAO!!!
I'm convinced!!! Actually, I need to email my CM friend at CRO to tell him to CHANGE MY RESSIES!!! I already have my golf cart booked!!!
CG-instead of going in October I think you should wait until March and go with us!!! The baby will be 1 month by then-plenty old enough!! LOL

Kim

[sweet maxine]

Forgot to add..................getting up in the morning and sitting out on the deck, drinking that first cup of coffee in the morning.........mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Very quiet.........rabbits hopping around.........lizards zipping through the brush........... a world away from the crowds! Not to mention the boat ride from the MK at night when the fireworks are going off!

[castlegazer]

Originally posted by antkim
CG-instead of going in October I think you should wait until March and go with us!!! The baby will be 1 month by then-plenty old enough!! LOL

Kim

No way man! Now that I have stretched my brain and thought of that idea with the, um shall we say, Mommy and Daddy time alone out in the living room I will not be sharing a cabin again! :eek:

Seriously, though, I wish we could, you all would be super fun to be cabin neighbors with. I gotta tell you though, after our experience in March at PoP Century and that first night getting in super late and trying to eat dinner in complete darkness while my son was trying to fall asleep right next to us, I am thoroughly convinced I will not do that again. I so dearly missed the cabins that trip but since we were only staying for 2 nights it was not necessary to stay at FtW - or so I thought.

[antkim]

CG- I meant get the cabin next door!!!!! Then you could stay in the cabin with the 4 kids and dh and I would take the other cabin!!! LOL

This is the true test with dh.... if he loves FW the way I think he will(pray he will;) )WDW could grow on him!!! Like I said, although he enjoys it there he tends to get bit stressed out from the constant "going, going, going" This will give us all the peace and quiet we need at the end of a crazy day at the parks!! Maybe this will be the just what I needed to convince him to go 2 times a year!! LOL

Kim

[CajunGirl2]

Kim,

Are we married to the same man??? LOL. I'm sure most of us women feel that way ... just hope & pray their husbands will come to love Disney as much as we do! Sounds like DH is the same as yours. He's much rather opt for a relaxing (i.e., boring to me) vacation somewhere. He'd be content sitting in a hotel room and reading a book. I'm hoping that FW will be just the place for him to wind down in the evenings.

I'll definitely let you know how our trip was when we return. BTW, we don't plan on renting a golf cart, so I'll let you know how it is without one.

Angie

[antkim]

Angie,

Maybe we should go together and let our dh's just hang out at FW the entire vacation while we park hop to our hearts content!!! LOL Actually, I enjoy the resorts as much as the parks!!! I love just taking in every "disney" detail!! I wish our stay was longer so that we would have more time to just enjoy the resort(actually I wouldn't be surprised if we did less park time and more FW time!!)-I wouldn't mind it a bit if we just "experienced" the resort. I think ds(5) is really going to enjoy it too because he and daddy will have lots of "man" time together fishing, water mice, hiking trails, golf carts and his ABSOLUTE favorite ..... electric water pageant!!!(I'll never get them to leave the resort! LOL)
So make sure you tell me EVERY detail!!! I'll be waiting not so patiently!! LOL

Kim

[castlegazer]

Angie, we didn't have a golf cart on our last trip to FtW. You will just really hate the buses by the end of the trip but its not all that inconvenient. We had a one year old and a two year old with us so the tired children on buses syndrom hit us pretty hard some nights.

Golf carts are a hard expense to add to a trip that already is out of control. What we did a lot was to take the bus up to Pioneer Hall and then take the boat over to the Contemporary and grab the Monorail from there over to Epcot. It was easier than the buses. We also found that taking cabs from the parks back was very convenient if your were really tired and late. Our friends one night wanted to stay behind at Epcot and we wanted to go back so we got on the buses - we no sooner got to the cabin, changed for the pool and they walked in the door - they had taken a cab. It took them half the time it took us and cost five dollars.

All staying at FtW means in terms of buses is to add one more connection on a bus onto your trip. So you have to get on on off buses a lot more often than at other resorts. Its not too bad and the drivers are very sweet and the buses come frequently.

[CajunGirl2]

castlegazer, thanks for the encouraging words about not necessarily needing a golf cart. We're driving from GA so we'll have a car as a fallback option. I have a feeling it may become necessary with a 4 yr. old and 23 mo. old.

You mentioned taking the boat to the Contemporary then monorail to Epcot. Was that pretty easy & not too time consuming? I was considering that for the morning that we have PSs for PSB at 8:30. It's on an EE day for Epcot.

Thanks!

[antkim]

Now I'm really excited!!! I was just telling DH about FW and he is VERY interested and excited as well!!! He wants to really enjoy the resort so we decided that we will only plan on 1 dinner out-Chef Mickey's!! The other 3 nights we will just hang out at the cabin and relax!! Sounds perfect. Then we can head over to the campfire or beach for fireworks etc. when we feel like it!! I can't wait!!!


Kim

[melk]

You will love the cabins! We always used to stay there. Then we bought DVC which we love also, usually staying at VWL. But my kids (even though they love the Wilderness Lodge) still ask, when are we going back to "our" cabin!!
I think you will love the atmosphere. It is so low key and relaxing...I want to be there right now!

[sweet maxine]

There is a small discount given if you rent a golf cart for a week. I think it's 10 or 15%, but not really sure. We rented one for 2 weeks and it came out to about $590 with the discount and tax, I think. I'm thinking about looking around for a used one, since we take the longer trips to FW, and really like having one to use.

[jann1033]

we have never stayed in the cabins, just the campground and we stayed at Pop last Jan. we love the campground. so much to do and so much nicer we would rather camp than stay in a value again. we might stay in a cabin this fall, depending on who in our family is going , but think if not we will stay in the campground. it just wasnt' the same even though slightly more convenient with the in room bath room. Pop was ok, just more crowded and didnt have the same peace and quiet we love about FW. not as much to do either and felt more like we were in a cattle herd at pop. since we have always stayed at FW it may be nostalgia too but we really missed fw this past trip! we love just strolling around the settlement area after dinner, just so nice and calm after a day at the parks. kind of an intangaible thing I guess

[BrianMonk]

Was that pretty easy & not too time consuming? I was considering that for the morning that we have PSs for PSB at 8:30. It's on an EE day for Epcot.

It is easy.....but time consuming.

I'd recommend driving. We drove everywhere but MK and even then when we had PS early we drove to MK.

We arrived either very early or late at each park and were able to park close enough to the entrance to walk to the gate (with the exception of MGM) or monorail at MK.