family Activities

[some Disney guy]

In the last couple of months, Fort wilderness has increased it's Recreational "children's" activities. Has anyone got any feedback on these, whether positive or negative?

[some Disney guy]

Has anyone played the Bingo that the fort offers? If so, what were your thoughts of it? How were the callers? How were the prizes? Any changes that you would recommend?

Anyone participate in any of the new activities that take place during the day? We have an 11am activity, a 2pm activity, and a 3pm activity.

What are your thoughts about the basketball goal on Meadows pool? Is it a keeper, or should the fort try something else?

Is there anything you would like to see added? I heard that the Fort is planning Jenga tournaments in the near future (December) as well as connect 4 tournaments (December as well).

[Florida_Mom]

How about:

arts and crafts for the kids? (not sure if FW is doing this already)

a guided nature hike

grilling demonstrations for adults (kind of a twist on cooking demos, but for grilling -- I think adults might get a kick out of that)

Just some ideas...

[some Disney guy]

the 3pm activity is usually a craft.

[WAHMto5]

We are looking foward to doing some of the activities on our up~coming trip! I will be sure to leave feedback on them. We curretly have a camper here in Illinois that we leave year~round at a campground that also offers activites for the kids to do. The kids really enjoy them and look foward to them each time we go!

[jamzots]

How about some kind of wilderness survival training that is toned down for the kiddies? Do you have nature hikes and/or nature treasure hunts?

[some Disney guy]

There is a scavenger hunt every once in a while. They put kickball, remote control boat races, free cane pole fishing, and some other activities in its place.

[abitgoofynow]

How about some kind of wilderness survival training that is toned down for the kiddies? Do you have nature hikes and/or nature treasure hunts?


Good Idea... sounds like fun!

[Beachmom]

We played BINGO when we were there for Halloween. At first our boys (13 & 14) turned up their noses, but then got into competing against each other and had fun. Caller was great, a young guy. Only suggestion might be to move it to pool covered area by the concession.

[campingcorgi]

We did the Bingo and are doing it again tonight! It was a lot of fun. We liked the caller and the free popcorn was a treat.

We just heard about a scavenger hunt today so we had a couple of family members head over there for that while we ran home for a few things and to pick up a couple more of our kids.

I think there needs to be more info given out about the activities. We didn't read anything about the Bingo except here. We'd seen it but thought it was a private function (there was a church that had rented the entire 1700 loop that trip). We just happened to hear about it on the next trip and decided to check it out.

Well, I need to head back. I talked to Angie (mrsgus6) and Ms. Sundee yesterday and hope to see some more disers this weekend. We are at 1719--say hi if you see us!!

[bigdisneydaddy]

Tell everyone we said "Howdy"
It was 23 degrees here last night and we got about 3" of snow, we are definetly in need of some Fort Wilderness.

If you see Ms Sundee tell her I heard the song "its the most wonderful time of the year" on the radio the other day and all I could think of was her singing it at the campfire.

Scott

[striker3636]

I love all this! Is there any way to find out ahead of time what's planned? We missed all this stuff on our last trip. This time we are planning more down time to enjoy FW. Is the gazette ever posted online - ours last trip had a bit of the activities info on it. I know my kids would LOVE any craft that's Disney related!

[gemstone1952]

A few years back Fred, the gardener, used to offer gardening tips along with an arts and crafts activity done with the vegetation found around FW. I remember we all enjoyed making flower arrangements while Fred explained details about each "flower (or branch) we added. He also talked about safety (as in what not to eat or touch around the Fort). I think these were on Wednesdays, sometimes near the pool, sometimes on the porch. We saw him displaying butterflies near Trail's End on Earth Day this past year. He is so incredible knowlegeable and is so very patient with adult and children questions. Maybe a weekly "nature talk" with Fred would be a good activity for both families with and without children.

[Dirtslinger]

Wish I would have been on this site before our trip to FW. There is so much to FW and we missed most of it. Next trip we are planning more time to be in the world of FW!!!!!!!! These activities sound like fun for our Dd.


____________________________

Feb 99 - All Star Sports
Dec 99 - Off site
July 01 - Off site
July 03 - Off site
July 05 - Fort Wilderness
Future - FORT WILDERNESS!

[spoon full of sugar]

some Disney guy where can I find a listing of the new activities and their times? Do they give them to you when you check in? We'll be there mid December, and want to spend more time at the Fort, this would be just what I'm looking for. Also what age groups are these new activities for? Thanks! :flower:

[spoon full of sugar]

Hi again! I really want to know about the remote control boat racing, were is it, when is it, can you sign up in advance, or is it first come first serve?

[some Disney guy]

The guides are handed out in your information packet when you check in. the sheet also has the calendar for the movies.

The events are for children of all ages (meaning children, parents, grandparents, whomever wants to participate).

[some Disney guy]

the remote control boat races take place in the pool. It is a more first come first served process. It takes place on Mondays or Tuesdays at 2pm right now. I am not sure of the exact times in December.

[TuckandStuiesMom]

Maybe it's just that My kids and I are horse nuts -- but we had a great impromptu visit with a castmember two years ago about the Gypsy Cob (I'm pretty sure I just flubbed the second part of the breed name here -- it sounded veddy veddy British to my ears) horses that Disney was trying out at the time. (the horse, himself, was also quite the character -- hamming it up the whole time.) Maybe some horse-shoing demonstrations or talks about the various breeds in the barns? I can tell you -- this was one of the highpoints of the trip for us.
p.s. -- Disney Guy -- we TOTALLY love FW!

[Tink's little fan]

Some Disney Guy ~

Thanks for asking what we like/don't like, etc.

We are arriving next weekend (Dec 3rd) and can't wait for my kids to take part in some of these activities. It is SO much fun to try and plan out our days, and if we could have the schedule in advance, all the better. Like the movie schedule... how do I know if I want to stay home that evening to catch the movie or go to a park. That is one of the reasons that we haven't done many of the activities around the campground is for lack of pre-planning info.

And the gazette thingie has WAY too much information in it for being only 4 pages in length. More white space would make it easier to read.

Just a few of my comments. But I am sure my kids would have a BLAST playing bingo, or racing the water boats (can we bring our own?)

Thanks for keeping us "in the loop", it is great to know our opinion is heard.

Denise

[logella]

We were NOT a big fan of Bingo when we were there in October. We never played it instead we were in the 1400 loop right across from the Comfort Station. The bingo caller over the loud PA system was extremely annoying to us as well as others in the 1400 loop.

The kids did enjoy the basketball goal at the Meadows pool quite a bit though.

[spoon full of sugar]

Will their be any special holiday activities? You could let the kids decorate a cookie, make an ornament, something like that. The other day I was at a craft store and they were selling small plastic tubs full of "snowballs" they were giant white fuzzy pom poms, Ft.Wilderness could host a snowball fight! That would be soo cool! I really like to participate or see the kids doing things that are specific to a certain season or holiday. I always think we have to go back for Halloween, Christmas etc. for that special certain something we can't do the rest of the year. It's the little things that make WDW special for me and keeps me coming back. Some holiday suprise activities would really be special. :flower:

[some Disney guy]

yes there will be special activities for the holidays.
some of the activities are the donut eating contest, an amazing race like scavenger hunt, some crafts, an "unwrapping" contest, and many more.
They will take place Christmas day at the Meadows pool.


also, for those interested.....Bingo will take place on Thurs-Sat in december and every night from December 22-31.........

[spoon full of sugar]

These activities are only on Christmas day? We won't be there then. :sad: Anything going on the 15-20?

[campingcorgi]

[QUOTE=


also, for those interested.....Bingo will take place on Thurs-Sat in december and every night from December 22-31.........And we have a new caller that you may be interested in seeing call it.....It will be Sundee[/QUOTE]


Yay! We'll be there on the 22 and we are doing the campfire so I'm sure we can do bingo, too. And I'm glad Ms. Sundee will be the caller. We did Bingo over Thanksgiving and the caller was okay but she didn't check the winner's cards. You don't mind losing as long as you are sure it is on the up-and-up but if they don't check the cards you are never sure. There was a lot of grumbling in the audience that night (and not just from my group) :rotfl:

[spoon full of sugar]

campingcorgi how many/what kind of corgis do you have? We have two Pembroke Welsh corgis, a male and a female. :flower: :dog2:

[Thekidsmom]

I would love to find out ahead of time what the activities would be, we will be camping with a Cub Scout Pack in May and would love to have the schedule so we can plan our events ahead of time.

[mrsgus06]

We did the scavanger hunt on Thanksgiving Day and had a blast! We came in second place and won a free stuffed Mickey Mouse that the kids love. He will have a special place in our camper (when we get it back). The first place team won a Disney Trivia pursuit game. There were some problems with the placing of the teams. We were the first ones back with the correct map from the front desk. The first teams map was not signed by someone at the front desk, so there was some confusion about whether the first team won or not. My girls had so much fun and would rather have the Mickey so it worked out best for everyone. I am disappointed that we will not be there until the day after Christmas, missing many of the activities. I have not tried Bingo yet, but the girls did. They each won a free popcorn over the two nights they played. I did get a look at the prizes and thought they were great. I think it is great that Disney is updating the playgrounds and putting more of an interest in the campground. The new speakers on the beach are nice, but not all of them play the music during Wishes. The only activity we really miss is looking for the peacocks. My now 4 year old loved to ride around the 100 loop looking for "cockpeas". She understands that they had to be moved to the AK, but is still sad. She also misses her donkey's at the petting zoo. I will say that she has taken an interest in the talent show and did get up there twice to sing. That is a huge accomplishment for her!

[TEENEE]

SDG, thanks for the info. I'm looking forward to playing bingo.

We'll be there Dec 8-11, any chance there will be a scavenger hunt while my family is there?

[lookingforward]

Do they have the bingo year round? These activities sound like a lot of fun for the kids. Is there a list of daily activities at the main desk?

[TuckandStuiesMom]

Well... they probably can tell you what's going on daily @ the main desk. BUT... you will get a cool little newspaper-type flyer when you check in, that pretty much covers what is going on. (I know because inevitably, we get one and don't bother looking at it for a couple days, and then we see what we've been missing. :rotfl:)