sharadoc
Visit WDW since '86, driving since '94.
- Joined
- May 6, 2008
Hi Everyone.
We just got back on Saturday from a 2 week stay at a Fort Wilderness cabin. Our trip before this was 2 weeks in January in a Family Suite at All Star Music. I thought some of you might be interested in my comparison of the two.
Our family has 4 members, but my DS has ASD and kind of "freaks out" in a regular hotel room. He needs to feel like he's in some sort of home-type environment, so a sofa/sitting area and a separate bedroom are a necessity for us.
SLEEPING/HANGING OUT:
Cabin - 1 full size bed, 2 bunk beds, full size Murphy Bed
Suite - 1 queen size bed, 1 full size pull out sofa, 2 pull out singles
Advantage - Cabin. Kids can sleep in the bedroom with the door closed while parents hang out in the LR and/or sleep there too. With the suite, the kids get the LR with the pullouts and the parents get the BR. Plus the cabin has 4 real beds. Murphy bed was not any more comfortable than the pull-out sofa. BUT, the pullouts in the LR of the Suite gives more sitting area. In the cabin, 2 can sit on the sofa, and 2 of us had to sit at the kitchen table to watch TV. Got pretty uncomfortable.
BATHROOMS:
Cabin - 1 bathroom with BIG vanity, storage shelves and under sink cabinets with extra towels and storage space.
Suite - 2 bathrooms, small storage bins, separate toilet and shower area.
Advantage: Suite. Plenty of space for getting ready in the morning, both kids could be taking showers/baths at same time at night, everything took half the time.
EATING:
Cabin - full size stove, fridge and dishwasher, plus cabinets and countertop
Suite - microwave, small fridge, sink
Advantage - Cabin. IF you want to cook in the room. Plus the full table and chairs are more comfortable to sit and eat a meal rather than the small table and 2 chairs in the suite. Cabin has a freezer for ice which comes in VERY handy in the summertime.
STORAGE:
Cabin - 4 small drawers in BR, small closet, 2 small drawers in nightstand, 2 shelf cabinets on either side of Murphy Bed
Suite - 2 full closets, 1 large TV armoire, 1 smaller TV armoire
Advantage - Suite. All we could fit in the Cabin drawers were socks and underwear for 4. I brought a cube type thing that hangs in the closet that we could stack clothes in, but then that eliminated most of the hanging space.
In the suite, we had space for everything PLUS extra space. We were SO much more organized in the suite. By the 2nd week in the cabin, I was going crazy dealing with stuff piled everywhere!
TRANSPORTATION:
Cabin - too big to walk everywhere, so must take a bus to go to main pool, trading post, boats or buses, etc. Park at your door.
Suite - walk to Celebrity Hall and pools. Park in parking lot.
Advantage - neither. If you don't mind waiting for internal buses at FW, they are very convenient and take you basically anywhere you need to go. But they can get in the way. One night we tried to see the campfire sing-along and the buses were delayed and we missed Chip and Dale. BUT, parking at our door and driving everywhere was great.
ATMOSPHERE:
FW - quiet, rustic, peaceful and very friendly, lots of trees and shade. The spring rains washed away a LOT of the dirt around the cabins, so the landscape almost looked extraterrestrial. All the tree roots are showing and it's kind of creepy feeling. The areas that have been fixed or didn't wash away looked much nicer. I was surprised that they haven't fixed that up yet.
ASMu - hectic, rowdy music at the pool area, more concrete and modern with giant icons
Advantage - personal preference. FW was lovely in the summertime, there was no sun beating on us at our cabin but it was really hot so we didn't spend much time outside. MUCH more quiet with no footsteps or toilets from other rooms. But, the housekeeping golf cart trains started at 5AM and were SO INCREDIBLY LOUD that they woke us up. They would hook up all the housekeeping carts together and pull them with a golf cart to each cabin loop to get ready for the day.
AMENITIES:
FW - pool with nice slide, snack bar, hot tub, kids play area plus quiet pool. Snack bar at pool and take-out at Settlement only non-TS food options.
ASMu - pool with water jets and quiet pool. Large food court.
Advantage - personal preference. FW pool is nicer, you have to take a bus to get there. Makes jumping in the pool for 15 minutes a little difficult. ASMu pool gives you that quick swim when you want it. If you cook in the cabin you don't need a food court. If you're on the dining plan, you have to eat CS somewhere else if you stay in a cabin.
STAFF/Celebrations:
FW - Daily arts and crafts, game or dance party, nightly campfire sing-along and movie. Check-in did not acknowledge my celebration, no birthday button at check-in. Got one towel flower vase on first day, none thereafter. Cabins around us had at least 5-10 towel animals and flower vases in their windows. Don't know what we did different - we tipped every day and didn't leave major messes. Trail's End waitress also ignored Birthday Button at dinner.
ASMu - check-in balloons and birthday button for DD and all of us. Birthday card in the room, one towel animal. Mousekeeping washed our dishes, too. Daily pool activities, Wii games and movie.
Advantage: ASMu. Activities are constant at the main pool, easy to do, rather than busing to them at FW. The staff there seemed more festive and friendly and "aware" of the celebration theme and went out of their way to acknowledge it. No biggie for me on this trip - it was MY birthday and I'm no kid so I didn't feel disappointment, just surprised at dinner, especially when the waitress the next section over made a big deal about somebody's anniversary and had the whole section "yee ha".
So, did we like one over the other? No, not really. Although I don't think we will stay in a cabin again. The storage and one bathroom issue got to be annoying. Price in value season at the cabin is almost $100 more than the suite and to REALLY enjoy your stay at FW, you should rent a golf cart which is another $57 a day. We got the room discount this time that brought the cabin price to $169, so the price was a wash which is why were were willing to try the cabin. We do think we'll stay in a Suite again - it felt comfortable and we spend time in the room so space and storage is an issue for us.
My dream is that Disney would make rooms at every resort level that are family suites. If I could take that suite and put it at POFQ, I'd be in heaven
If you're still with me, I'll be happy to answer any questions.
We just got back on Saturday from a 2 week stay at a Fort Wilderness cabin. Our trip before this was 2 weeks in January in a Family Suite at All Star Music. I thought some of you might be interested in my comparison of the two.
Our family has 4 members, but my DS has ASD and kind of "freaks out" in a regular hotel room. He needs to feel like he's in some sort of home-type environment, so a sofa/sitting area and a separate bedroom are a necessity for us.
SLEEPING/HANGING OUT:
Cabin - 1 full size bed, 2 bunk beds, full size Murphy Bed
Suite - 1 queen size bed, 1 full size pull out sofa, 2 pull out singles
Advantage - Cabin. Kids can sleep in the bedroom with the door closed while parents hang out in the LR and/or sleep there too. With the suite, the kids get the LR with the pullouts and the parents get the BR. Plus the cabin has 4 real beds. Murphy bed was not any more comfortable than the pull-out sofa. BUT, the pullouts in the LR of the Suite gives more sitting area. In the cabin, 2 can sit on the sofa, and 2 of us had to sit at the kitchen table to watch TV. Got pretty uncomfortable.
BATHROOMS:
Cabin - 1 bathroom with BIG vanity, storage shelves and under sink cabinets with extra towels and storage space.
Suite - 2 bathrooms, small storage bins, separate toilet and shower area.
Advantage: Suite. Plenty of space for getting ready in the morning, both kids could be taking showers/baths at same time at night, everything took half the time.
EATING:
Cabin - full size stove, fridge and dishwasher, plus cabinets and countertop
Suite - microwave, small fridge, sink
Advantage - Cabin. IF you want to cook in the room. Plus the full table and chairs are more comfortable to sit and eat a meal rather than the small table and 2 chairs in the suite. Cabin has a freezer for ice which comes in VERY handy in the summertime.
STORAGE:
Cabin - 4 small drawers in BR, small closet, 2 small drawers in nightstand, 2 shelf cabinets on either side of Murphy Bed
Suite - 2 full closets, 1 large TV armoire, 1 smaller TV armoire
Advantage - Suite. All we could fit in the Cabin drawers were socks and underwear for 4. I brought a cube type thing that hangs in the closet that we could stack clothes in, but then that eliminated most of the hanging space.
In the suite, we had space for everything PLUS extra space. We were SO much more organized in the suite. By the 2nd week in the cabin, I was going crazy dealing with stuff piled everywhere!
TRANSPORTATION:
Cabin - too big to walk everywhere, so must take a bus to go to main pool, trading post, boats or buses, etc. Park at your door.
Suite - walk to Celebrity Hall and pools. Park in parking lot.
Advantage - neither. If you don't mind waiting for internal buses at FW, they are very convenient and take you basically anywhere you need to go. But they can get in the way. One night we tried to see the campfire sing-along and the buses were delayed and we missed Chip and Dale. BUT, parking at our door and driving everywhere was great.
ATMOSPHERE:
FW - quiet, rustic, peaceful and very friendly, lots of trees and shade. The spring rains washed away a LOT of the dirt around the cabins, so the landscape almost looked extraterrestrial. All the tree roots are showing and it's kind of creepy feeling. The areas that have been fixed or didn't wash away looked much nicer. I was surprised that they haven't fixed that up yet.
ASMu - hectic, rowdy music at the pool area, more concrete and modern with giant icons
Advantage - personal preference. FW was lovely in the summertime, there was no sun beating on us at our cabin but it was really hot so we didn't spend much time outside. MUCH more quiet with no footsteps or toilets from other rooms. But, the housekeeping golf cart trains started at 5AM and were SO INCREDIBLY LOUD that they woke us up. They would hook up all the housekeeping carts together and pull them with a golf cart to each cabin loop to get ready for the day.
AMENITIES:
FW - pool with nice slide, snack bar, hot tub, kids play area plus quiet pool. Snack bar at pool and take-out at Settlement only non-TS food options.
ASMu - pool with water jets and quiet pool. Large food court.
Advantage - personal preference. FW pool is nicer, you have to take a bus to get there. Makes jumping in the pool for 15 minutes a little difficult. ASMu pool gives you that quick swim when you want it. If you cook in the cabin you don't need a food court. If you're on the dining plan, you have to eat CS somewhere else if you stay in a cabin.
STAFF/Celebrations:
FW - Daily arts and crafts, game or dance party, nightly campfire sing-along and movie. Check-in did not acknowledge my celebration, no birthday button at check-in. Got one towel flower vase on first day, none thereafter. Cabins around us had at least 5-10 towel animals and flower vases in their windows. Don't know what we did different - we tipped every day and didn't leave major messes. Trail's End waitress also ignored Birthday Button at dinner.
ASMu - check-in balloons and birthday button for DD and all of us. Birthday card in the room, one towel animal. Mousekeeping washed our dishes, too. Daily pool activities, Wii games and movie.
Advantage: ASMu. Activities are constant at the main pool, easy to do, rather than busing to them at FW. The staff there seemed more festive and friendly and "aware" of the celebration theme and went out of their way to acknowledge it. No biggie for me on this trip - it was MY birthday and I'm no kid so I didn't feel disappointment, just surprised at dinner, especially when the waitress the next section over made a big deal about somebody's anniversary and had the whole section "yee ha".
So, did we like one over the other? No, not really. Although I don't think we will stay in a cabin again. The storage and one bathroom issue got to be annoying. Price in value season at the cabin is almost $100 more than the suite and to REALLY enjoy your stay at FW, you should rent a golf cart which is another $57 a day. We got the room discount this time that brought the cabin price to $169, so the price was a wash which is why were were willing to try the cabin. We do think we'll stay in a Suite again - it felt comfortable and we spend time in the room so space and storage is an issue for us.
My dream is that Disney would make rooms at every resort level that are family suites. If I could take that suite and put it at POFQ, I'd be in heaven
If you're still with me, I'll be happy to answer any questions.