Is Ft. Wilderness really sold out for Christmas?

[musicmama]

Have tried for 2 weeks to get campsite for Dec 23 - Jan 1, but no luck. Is there anywhere other than Disney res site to book? Would I have a better shot if I bought an AP and went through the passholders' site?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[tim5055]

I can believe that it is full. For holiday periods most folks book up to a year in advance.

[Sharon Esch]

I was looking on Disney's web site today and all the "values and mods" were booked at that same exact time. I tried about 3 hours later and all the hotels were NOW available. I'm not sure if you looked on the web site or called.
::MinnieMo

[LMC]

I've been trying to get a campsite for the Christmas season since January. No luck so far. I only have 3 days but need about 10. I guess we'll be keeping our off-site ressie. If I am lucky, I may get a site closer to vacation if someone else decides to cancel. And being an AP holder makes no difference. We have those and this will be our 4 trip this year but they haven't offered to "boot" anybody out for us yet. :confused3

[RocklandRVers]

This happened to me a couple of years ago. I wanted 12 days but could only get 8. I was relentless! I called at least once a day sometimes more in hopes of a cancellation. Finally got what I wanted.

I also think that the 9/11 fears have subsided and people who have not traveled in a while are now headed out. All this pent up demand along with Disney's deals is going to make it hard to get reservations for a while in my opinion.

[mum4jenn]

Sometimes you can go through AAA or places like Hotwire etc. There is another campground but I can't think of the name right now.

[LMC]

A few other campgrounds are:
Tropical Palms
Encore
KOA - Fort Summit
KOA - Whipporwhill?


Sometimes you can go through AAA or places like Hotwire etc. There is another campground but I can't think of the name right now.

[PrincessGrandma]

Keep looking online as well as calling. I tried to get Thanksgiving week starting in late March and finally got them mid-June. The strange thing is that I had to make them online. Once I saw them online, I called the reservation number but they said the days were not available. I told them they were showing available online and the cm said that happens sometimes. I was checking online at least 2x/day and sometimes more often and usually calling once a day. So much work!! (but it will be worth it!) Don't give up because people cancel or reschedule all the time!

[bigdisneydaddy]

Keep trying, we managed to get 12/31 and 01/01 just last week, now we are all set :cool1:

[Grammy]

I second the keep trying idea! We had originally reserved 12/27 - 1/5 last year and later decided we'd rather do 12/23 - 1/2 instead. We didn't think DD and her husband would want to have the kids away from home for Christmas morning but DD ended up saying she would rather move it up! It took weeks of calling and checking but we did pick up the extra days. I would call at least once a day and would check the web site 6 or 7 times a day.

Another campground to add to the offsite list is Sherwood Forrest. We stayed there Christmas of 2003 and were pleased with it. It was a last minute trip and Ft Wilderness and Tropical Palms were both full. It is just maybe a mile away from Tropical Palms and was really quite nice, and less expensive too!

[welovemickey]

If you call CRO first thing in the morning you may have better luck. The computers cancel out reservations without deposits at midnight. So if you call first thing (7am EST) you will probably get something.

It worked for us on two separate occasions.

[We4mickey]

If you keep trying online, check for different date combinations. One day at a time and keep adding days. You may not be able to get them all in a row, but it is a start. We did this for Easter last year and did end up being able to piece together two weeks. Good Luck!

[musicmama]

:goodvibes We do have a res at Encore - Lake Magic on Rte 192 West / Clermont. It's also an Outdoor World park, which we belong to, but we would prefer Ft. W for our first Disney camping experience. I've been trying every day, for any and all possible combinations, but all I've found have been no hook-up sites specifically designated for tents. (we are motorhome newbies) Thanks,welovemickey, for the suggestion to try first thing in the morning -- am I better off calling or going through the website?

[Memph1s]

am I better off calling or going through the web site? That’s really hard to say. I used to think calling was always better and probably still is IF you get the right person. However, this past July,4 Holiday I had called and called with no luck and after the last call I checked the web site and got in. A couple of times the CMs would say without even checking "We have nothing on property at all" and when I pressed them to check for a cancellation they said OK but came back way to fast to say that there was nothing. So for a major holiday maybe the web site is best just to be sure that availability is actually checked.

[Lesia]

I would try one of the Disney travel agents. I know the DIS has one as a sponsor. You set up what you want with them, and they will do all the calling.

[musicmama]

I found an opening for a partial hookup for most of my dates. Does Disney allow motorhomes to use partial hookup sites? We have a Class C, no slides, only 29'. Would this be a possibility for us? (if we did like the popups do and pump into a portatank)

[stillh2o]

No motorhome just tents and popups. Keep tring the internet every 20 min for two days last time we where looking for a site called 6 times a day no luck. Then i tried the internet just sat at work for two days and checked evey 20 mins on day two got lucky.Hope this helps...

[cyndilou01]

I would see if they have even one of the days I want and book it... then I would keep calling back and see if anyone has cancelled... Peoples plans change, a booking a year out you never know what may happen... so I would just keep trying.

[musicmama]

So, after reading some info on the Codes & Rates boards about being able to book a room in a resort if you enter dates farther out, I tried that for Ft. Wilderness. If we arrive Dec. 23rd and leave no earlier than January 9th, a full-hookup site is indeed available. What is this - is the campground only available for long-timers? Does anybody think that if I make the res and shorten my dates, I would lose it? I need advice, please.

[We4mickey]

You will not loose the dates if you book it. You can then modify them to your exact dates without penalty.

[musicmama]

:jumping1: As I posted earlier, I was able to get a reservation for a site only if I was willing to spend 17 or more days in the Fort. That seemed strange to me, so I decided to try AAA - a wonderful :wizard: agent by the name of Michelle Shears in GA that I heard about here at the DIS. Part of the reason I called her was because we really wanted the dining package - which you definitely couldn't get for more than 10 days - and we really only wanted 10 days. She spent at least 4 days trying different CRO agents and finally got transferred to Guest Services when she asked "why should you restrict the Fort to long-term stays?" :confused3 She told them my story - and ultimately was able to get us the package for the 10 days we really wanted. (Thanks to whoever dusted Pixie Dust for us.)

We're so excited :cool1: - now all we have to do is figure out a good loop.