Arriving Early

[arielmomma]

Hello everyone! We are hoping to stay at the Fort for the 1st time this winter. I was just wondering . . .

I know check in isn't until 3pm. We would be tent camping and driving a car in from MI. We would likely be driving all night (24 hours). We like to drive straight through and will be pooped by the time we arrive.

What should we do if we arrive early? Theme parks will be out of the question. We're going to want to sleep. Go the nearest Walmart or rest area and crash in the car? Is there anything nearby? What are our options? Suggestions?

[clkelley]

Stopping at Wal-Mart or a Rest Area in Florida is not allowed at all.

What do you mean by early? Early as in that morning?? or early as in 24 hours before you expect??

What day of the week are you arriving??

If you are arriving on a weekday and you arrive that morning instead of that afternoon, go ahead and check in,your site will probably be ready.

FYI, checkin for campsites is 1pm.

Also, I see the word hopefully in your post. Do you have reservations yet?? When is your hopefully dates?? The Fort books up quickly, especially weekend days.

[tderonne]

Reserve 1 night at Lake Louisa or Lake Griffin State Park. They are like 20 minutes and a hour short of Disney on your drive down. With a reservation and a phone call ahead or arrival, you can arrive at any time.

Works something like this:
Leave Michigan Friday after work.
Arrive at State Park sometime Saturday evening (depending on traffic, weather, etc.)
Get a real night's sleep.
Head to Disney first thing Sunday morning. You can be the first car in the lot. Do a park for a few hours.
Head to Fort Wilderness to check in and do lunch.
Enjoy the rest of your trip.

Maybe not the best option with a car and tent, but works great with a motorhome or trailer. If the drive down goes bad, you skip the State Park and head for Disney.

[Jasperann]

Originally Posted by clkelley

Stopping at Wal-Mart or a Rest Area in Florida is not allowed at all.

What do you mean by early? Early as in that morning?? or early as in 24 hours before you expect??

What day of the week are you arriving??

If you are arriving on a weekday and you arrive that morning instead of that afternoon, go ahead and check in,your site will probably be ready.

FYI, checkin for campsites is 1pm.

Also, I see the word hopefully in your post. Do you have reservations yet?? When is your hopefully dates?? The Fort books up quickly, especially weekend days.

Just to tag along on this question...because we will be doing the same thing in March.....

So what do you consider morning?? We will be getting there probably around 7am... We want to check in to at least get our tickets so we can go to a park, but do you think they might have a site that early? It would be a Tuesday Morning.

[clkelley]

Originally Posted by Jasperann

Just to tag along on this question...because we will be doing the same thing in March.....

So what do you consider morning?? We will be getting there probably around 7am... We want to check in to at least get our tickets so we can go to a park, but do you think they might have a site that early? It would be a Tuesday Morning.

7am is not a problem for checking in and getting your tickets. And yes, on a Tuesday morning it is a possibility they can go ahead and give you a site.

[becky1960]

All I can say about this, is the last three years in a row we arrived early ( 10 am ) and had to wait in the overflow. We just got back from Oct-Nov..

[mreyes01430]

We arrived @ 10:30 am - we were told site not ready until 12:00 - had enough time to unload the golf cart and they called us we were @ the site by 11:15!! Get there early and relax..............

[Jasperann]

Originally Posted by clkelley

7am is not a problem for checking in and getting your tickets. And yes, on a Tuesday morning it is a possibility they can go ahead and give you a site.

That is awesome news. Thanks! I kinda hope we get a site early then we can at least park our car and come back a little later to set up.

[GOBA Mom Lynn]

When we arrived last May about 10 am or so, we were able to check-in but the site was not ready. We just parked in the Overflow lot, took the bus to the marina and had a nice boat ride to the MK. After lunch we headed back and only 1 of us had to go get the car, the rest of us walked over to our site. If you don't want to go to a park, you can enjoy the pool, or pick out a lounge chair on the beach and take a snooze there. Much more pleasant than the parking lot of a Walmart if you ask me.

[BradyBz12]

Some recent experience with FL rest areas from just a few weeks ago...

We pulled into a rest area signed for "nighttime security" along Rt 95 between St. Augustine and Daytona at about 9pm on a Friday night. There were a bunch of RVs lined up, but paranoid me had DH go over and ask the security guy (not sure if an actual cop or service?) if it was ok for us to crash for the night, since it's clearly marked "no overnight parking/camping."

He said absolutely fine, that's why they're there, so you can get off the road when you're tired. He said "just don't put out any slides" and that every time he sees a MH with slides out they're always from Quebec.

We had a pretty quiet, comfortable night, (feeling safe that it was well lit and the security car was just 30 feet away) a good place to walk the pooches, and were were off bright and early the next a.m.

Also just confirming - none of the WalMarts anywhere near WDW allow overnight parking/camping.