Rental Car when staying at the cabins at Fort Wilderness?

[DisDancerina]

Hey all,
We're staying at the cabins at Fort Wilderness and are trying to decide if we should keep a rental car for the week or not.
We're already renting a car to go from MCO to Fort Wilderness (we don't want to deal with the hassle of Magical Express when we get in at midnight and need to make a grocery stop the next day as well).

It's about $40 a day for us to rent it.

I know the internal bus system is a little confusing and probably takes a bit longer than what we're used to at somewhere like POR or POP so we're considering just keeping the rental car and driving to the parks. We've never done a rental car in Florida before, we usually just rely on Magical Express and the free resort transit, but we're definitely considering the car this time!

We looked into a golf cart, but those are $60 a day so a little more expensive than the rental car and we obviously can't drive the golf cart to the park!

What is your opinion on rental car vs bus system?

 

[wdwchamp]

You may want to rent a golf cart at Ft Wilderness and use the cart to get to the boat landing depending how far your cabin is from the dock. That way you cross the lake directly to MK and take the monorail to EPCOT. Parking at the parks is OK except for MK and Downtown Disney.

 

[floridagirl61]

On our last trip in January we had a rental car. We drove to all parks except for MK for which we took the internal bus and then the boat to MK. We only stayed for three days but we all agreed that the next time we stay there and are there for a longer period of time, we would definitely get a golf cart. The internal bus system worked just fine but it would have been nice to just jump on the cart and go. Also there are offsite golf cart rentals that are cheaper than Disney. I don't know the names since I haven't used them but others have posted about them so I'm sure you can search and find some info if you are interested.

 

[jennab]

I would do a rental car. You can park right in front of your cabin and it will be better than taking the internal bus to the front to get on a park bus. You would then just need to do the internal bus to boat dock for MK (easier than driving to park at TTC).

 

[Mary2e]

We always rent a car and most times, rent a golf cart as well.

The internal bus system is pretty easy to use as all of them go to the boat landing (for the MK) and the entrance to the resort for buses to other parks. There are color coded buses that will take you back to your cabin, and if you're not sure which color bus to take, the driver will assist.

During busy times the buses come pretty often, in January, they're not as frequent but still acceptable.

We also decide whether or not to rent the golf cart based upon when the parks will be closing, since it comes in handiest for going to the MK. If it's a higher season and the parks are open later, we will rent a cart. If it's slow season and we may not go to the MK as often, we won't. It's also nice to use the cart to drive around the property. It's enormous with plenty of things to see and do.

Note that you are not able to drive to most places within Ft. Wilderness. You can get to the Trading Posts, but parking is very limited. I don't think there's any parking available for either of the pools. If you want to get food at Trails End, you'll have to take a bus and walk to it. Bringing back take out from there would require using the bus and would result in cold food. However, one time I did do it with the car. My husband dropped me off at the closest point to Trails End and drove away. He circled the areas he could drive into until I called. He then returned when I had my food.

 

[sharadoc]

We love driving, especially when we stay at Fort Wilderness. You literally park at your front door so the unloading of luggage, getting home at night, is SO easy.

We rent a golf cart when we know we'll be doing more at the Fort. If we are going to do more park time, then the cart sits all day. But we love going to the beach for the fireworks and electrical water pageant almost every night, so we definitely use the cart, plus the trips to Trail's End and the Meadows. The internal bus system is fine, those things come every 10-15 minutes.

The offset golf cart companies have been severely restricted by Disney. You have to meet them and drive the cart in yourself, either with your own vehicle, or by borrowing theirs. It's much more of a hassle.

 

[Mary2e]

That's true about driving and parking right at the cabin. People often underestimate how nice it is to pull up right to the cabin and be "home." Actually, it IS like being in a single family home. Which is why I went from being a deluxe hotel snob to a FW snob

Agree about the off-site rentals. I think I saw a post from someone saying it takes about 90 minutes, door to door, to pick up the cart, bring it to the cabin (yourself), and then return the cart hitch back to where you got it from. You have to do it in reverse when it's time to give it back.

That is NOT very convenient, to say the least. I rented from Disney.

 

[TessieA]

We stayed at Ft. Wilderness last summer. We drove, so we did have our vehicle, but still used internal busses. The last two days of our stay we broke down and rented a golf cart. That made all of the difference in our stay. I would not stay there again without renting a golf cart. I felt like a tremendous amount of time was spent waiting for transportation, between waiting for internal bus and then waiting on transportation to the parks.

 

[NicholleB]

I'm considering the Cabins for my October trip. There are 4 family groups going and we want to be close but not in the same room/suite. Here are my questions about this resort
1. Are the cabins close? Like, if we wanted to grill out one night, we would be close enough to just yell "come on over!" ?
2. Also, about cars...I can drive a car right to the cabin?? I have been trying to read about it and I thought I saw that you can't drive around there. Only 2 of the family groups will have a car, so the others would need to take the bus to parks. Is it easy to get transportation?
3. If we rent a golf cart and drive it to the bus stop, can we just leave it there for the day and feel safe that nobody will move it or take it?

I have never even driven by this resort so I'm really unsure about all of it. Any advice/information is greatly appreciated!!

 

[Hi Pluto]

I was just discussing this with my sister, so I have some logistical questions for you. How would you return the car if you aren't keeping it the whole time? How would you get it back? Or would you use ME to get back to the airport?

~Cari~

 

[Mary2e]

Yes, the cabins are about 40 feet apart and yelling over would do the trick
Yes, you park your car right in front of your cabin in it's own parking spot. It's like a little house with a short driveway
Transportation is via bus and you can get the bus very close to the entrance to your cabin loop.
You cannot leave your cart at the internal bus stop. It's easy enough to walk there. You CAN leave your cart at the marina (for the MK) or at the main entrance bus stop for buses to other parks.

Note, you would take an internal bus to either the marina or the entrance bus stop to get to other parks. If you have a golf cart there is cart parking in both locations. You can park your in the overflow lot near the main entrance if you want to use the buses to other parks.

 

[Kevin355]

Rent a car. It is cheaper than the golf cart, plus as someone mentioned, you can park right outside of your cabin. Plus, you will need to drive off-property to buy groceries.