Bring the bikes or not??

[pmgreene]

In just 13 short days we will be be pulling into FW for a weeks stay. As we are getting closer to our trip we are going through the checklists, reviewing message boards, etc. etc. and the question came up - do we really need to bring the bikes with us? I have requested loop 1500 for our popup camper and I was curious what others thought about having our bikes there. It is DH, DS (12) and DD (9). I guess we are thinking that we will be going from the camper to shuttle stops, boat dock, campfire.... Are these all fairly walkable? If the consensus is to bring the bikes, are there bike racks located at these places? Thanks for the input!!

[christinou]

Absolutely, in my mind bikes are a necessity at FW, you can ride your bike to the Marina to take the boat to MK, which is a lot more convenient than waiting for a bus, you have will want to ride your bike to the bus depot to go to the other parks, which again is more convenient that getting a bus from your loop there and then another bus to the parks, and again to the pool. We always bring our bikes..... Last year my bike somehow got damaged on the way to WDW, we went to Wal Mart, and I bought a cheap bike, so that we all had a bike....

[LMC]

Absolutely take the bikes, especially if you will have any down time at the fort. You can ride them to Trails End, the trading posts, campfire (you can get headlights and tail lights at walmart), and I agree with the other post that you would be better off riding to the marina and taking the boat rather than waiting on the buses.
I don't think there are any places to store your bike at the bus stops except at the main entrance and back at they marina. Don't forget the helmets for the kids!

[cabowser]

I would say for sure to ride bikes, you can rent them if you don't have room to take them. They have great areas for biking. Man I am missing Ft. Wilderness~!!

[Mom to 2]

TAKE THE BIKES We rode our bikes every day, not only to the marina to catch the boat to MK but we rode to Trails End, Petting Area, stores, and just around to see all the campsites etc. Wouldn't go without the bikes.
At the marina we locked them up to some trees that were just to the right of the sidewalk.

Lory

[tim5055]

As everyone has said, take the bikes. You won't regret it.

[tinkerjo]

dont take them!!!!!!!!! they will just be a pain in the butt! most likely you wont even have time to ride them and they will take up to much space! :confused3

[ftwildernessguy]

dont take them!!!!!!!!! they will just be a pain in the butt! most likely you wont even have time to ride them and they will take up to much space! :confused3

In all the times we've been to FW, we did not take bikes only twice. The first time because we didn't know any better (boy, did I get tired of walking everywhere) and a later date when we took kick scooters instead (was ok, but bikes are better). I now take the bikes and my electric scooter, but the bikes get more use by far. We use them all the time.

[TomM]

I would take the bikes. It's nice, if you don't go to the parks everyday, just to get up early in the morning and ride around FW. We also ride to Wilderness Lodge.
Tom

[pmgreene]

Thanks very much for the feedback. It looks like the "take the bikes" vote wins! We found one bike rack on-line that goes in the hitch and then the camper goes into that so everything is towed behind you; but that one doesn't look like it will accomodate 4 different size bikes. Anyone ever find anything similar. We've looked at the options at Natasha's Website and might see if we can make something like that work if need be. And, no, we don't want to install a bike rack on top of the camper at this time.

Thanks again!

Pal Mickey is full of new batteries, the school excuse notes are sent and the packing list continues to grow!!! I think we are getting there...... :cheer2:

[ftwildernessguy]

Be very careful of this type of bike carrier. It will greatly affect the towing capacity and tongue weight allowance of your vehicle. If your camper is small, you may be okay, but it will be to your benefit to take the time to do the math.

[logella]

We've took our bikes both times. The first time they got used all the time. This last October they were barely used and we probably could have gotten away with leaving them at home. Next year I'm thinking about just leaving them at home and only bringing kid scooters -- much easier to pack.

[SandrA9810]

Bring them or at least a scooter. We don't have a bike rack so we just use our little razor scooters. But it's even nice in the morning when you gotta really go pee and you're about as far as you can be from the comfort station.
As far as what I've seen, no one ever locks up the bikes and kids usually just lay them down any where possible.
If you are going to ride them to the marina and such, bring a big coil lock to lock them all up together. Other than that, I wouldn't be too worried about them. Plus it'll give the kids something to do while you're fixing breakfast or getting ready in the morning.
Plus being there for a week, you should have a little bit of down time. We only go for a few days at a time so we never seem to have enough down time to go exploring.

[FletchFab5]

We just got a bike rack that holds 4 bikes at Camping World, it attaches onto the back of the camper's bumper so it's not in the hitch, we had to buy an adaptor to attach it but it was only $30. My vote is to bring the bikes also! We were just at Ft. Wilderness last week for the first time ever. It's the best!! You will want to ride around and look at all the sites, it is unbelievable how many people have their sites REALLY decorated for Christmas!!! We loved it! Have fun!!

[We4mickey]

Bikes are a must..They make it soo easy to get around the campground
and you can take the to WL. If you don't take them you'll kick yourself.
We have taken our bikes for the last 7yrs.

[pmgreene]

We leave TOMORROW and we will be taking all four bikes. Thanks for all the feedback! :cheer2:

We'll send in some Christmas decoration pics when we return.

[DAPford]

Hello to a fellow DE camper We are going to FT Wilderness Christmas 06 and can't wait what's the drive time from DE to Mickey

[pmgreene]

Just an update following our December trip - yes, we did take the bikes and we all would have been terribly disappointed if we had not. We were in loop 1500 so the kids could easily and safely ride their bikes over to the recreation center (pool, crafts, campfire, etc.) We frequently rode our bikes to the marina to catch fireworks or to take the boat to MK. We did bring a small lock that we used if we were going to be gone a good portion of the day. We also bought bike lights at WalMart that clipped onto the handlebars - a definite need. The kids also found light up caps to screw on the tire plugs so it was very hard to miss them riding down the road at night! And when mom and dad needed a little rest, the kids had fun just riding around and around the loop.

So moral of the story is this - even though it was a pain to figure out how to load up the bikes and haul the pop up it was a good thing to have them there.
Thanks to all who helped with that decision!!

[UrsulasShadow]

Thanks for your followup post...now I KNOW it'll be bikes for me!

[Gillian]

Thanks for the feedback! I doubt we'll have room, but maybe we'll try to find a way to take a bike for DS 5. He doesn't ride that fast yet!

How did you end up carrying the bikes on your car?

[pmgreene]

I think it was mentioned on another thread about putting a receiver hitch on the front of our vehicle. So we called around to see if one was made for our Land Cruiser - nope, no luck, but someone suggested having one custom made by a welder so that is what we did. I cannot say that it was a perfect solution but after shifting bikes around on the carrier and taking some wheels off it worked well enough. I had seen another option on this website that might be worth looking at: http://www.title-3.com/index.html (Natasha's Camp Site) For your little guy of only 5 maybe a scooter would keep him just as entertained. A family pulled in next to us for 2 nights and their three kids were 4-8 years old and they all had scooters that worked well on the cement pad and right in front of their campsite.

[FletchFab5]

Hello to a fellow DE camper We are going to FT Wilderness Christmas 06 and can't wait what's the drive time from DE to Mickey

It is about 16 hrs from DE to WDW, towing the camper it took another 2 hrs or so. It's not a bad drive, but depending on where you are in DE I suggest you don't take 13 all the way south to Norfolk. We did the first time down (my parents live in Orlando so we go relatively often--and have only lived here a year and a half), but found going over the Bay Bridge and around DC was much easier.

[Gillian]

The drive from DE to Orlando took me a very long time way back in 1989. Of course, having your car break down in (?) SC is not suggested! :)