1500 Vs 2000?

[BigDaddyRog]

At the risk of sounding like one of the "Whats the best loop?" brainiacs, as many of you know I just purchased a big'ol cheap tent that should serve me & the family pretty well as long as theres no major winds. Now, this IS my wife & kids 1st time tent camping, so I'd like it to be as close to nature as you might be able to get in Disney.
Im looking at the map and realizing, I didnt loop through either 1500 nor 2000 when I was there and have no idea what the two loops are like...I know most have said that 1500 is closer and more convenient to everything, and that's obvious when looking at the map....but then there's 2000...waaaay over there, all by itself. Its looks secluded and quiet and forest-ish. Is it...or has the yanking of the killer-vines have it cleared out right now? And the map has tents pitched in "Creekside Meadow"..whats that? Is that for real? Is that PART OF loop 2000? Are there coquina(sp?) pads back there? Are there electricity & water hook-ups there?
As always, any info is greatly appreciated and rewarded with plenty of pickles, peacock droppings and otter udders.

P.S.
Any photos of 2000?...ANYONE?

 

[pooh4me]

Creekside is a group camping site used by the scouts ect. It does not have electric or water at the sites. Loop 2000 has two rest areas and is larger than 1500. I am sure someone else can give you more info.

 

[okeydokey]

I personally like 1500 way more than 2000. 2000 is quite big and busy and if there are campers in the group site it is noisy as can be.

 

[proudmomof4]

The 1500 loop is closer to the Meadow's area but they have to share a CS with the full hook-up loop next door. 2000 loop is more "out of the way" but there is a short cut through the group camping area into the 900 loop to the Meadows area. As far as quiet goes, it depends on where in 2000 loop you are, it is a very big loop and most of the sites are a good ways from group camping. In addition, I believe the group camping area is mostly vacant during the week and then fills up on the weekends, but then so does all of FW. As was stated by someone before, 2000 has 2 CS and they have been renovated recently. I have not been through since the major clean up of the vegetation so I can not answer that question, but I can post a few pics and I am sure clkelley will as well.

Oh, this is a site directly across from the CS closest to the bus stop. I think it was 2064? We have tent camped in this same site before we got our pop-up.

 

[Gatordad]

Rog,

To me, you are rookie of the year with your quick wit, Aint's Jersey and an all around good guy. That being said, you had better be at the grand gathering for the 4th of July.

I'd go 2000 loop.

Thank you

 

[CottontailCurl]

Here's a picture of campsite 2054. If you've never camped at Fort Wilderness or this loop before, it looks normal. If you've camped on the loop and see it for the first time since it was cleared it is very much a shocking experience. Before, you couldn't see the inside of the loop let alone the back of the comfort station (as is shown in these pics).

My daughter was very upset by it, even more so for younger kids who were at the Fort when we were there and who would visit in the future. She's the one who, if you couldn't find her at supper time, would be up in a tree watching birds. If you see in this picture, the majority of trees left just at the side of this site were the little brush type bushes you find near a beach. There were not enough trees large enough to tie ropes to secure a tarp with around this site. Not having a tarp isn't really a major problem, I'm just mentioning this to show the difference in the kinds of trees and vegetation that is no longer there.

I tried to explain to my daughter that Disney has tried to do things in the past that promote 'environmentality' (Jiminy says so!) and I was sure that they were being careful to clear the brush to remove fire hazards and clear non-native vines in such a way as to not harm any ecosystems or trees or brush that didn't need to be removed. I was sure they'd hire an expert to make sure it was done right. I changed my mind when we got to the 1500 loop. We asked to be moved to that loop and had the same jaw-dropping disbelief when we got there. After we set up our campsite, I looked around and decided that, although it looked barren and unfamiliar, it didn't look nearly as stark and horrible as the 2000. That's because at some point in the past, the inside of the 1500 loop had trees planted that give it a fairy tale forest feel to it. There was also a good amount of vegetation at the juncture between 1500 and 1600 at the Comfort Station. The next morning we were awakened by dudes with saws that were in that juncture cutting down just about everything they came across. I went to watch and there was no system as to what was cut, there was no attempt to stop and see what is non-native and destructive (HA!) and what could be hazardous during fire season. When they took a break I tried to talk with them to find out who was telling them what should be cut, how do they know what to cut down? He didn't speak English, I resurrected my college Spanish to find out that they were told to cut 'todo' he said - all. He said they were supposed to cut what was ugly! For example - the campers at the site that's by the ice machine on the 1600 loop should be able to see the comfort station!? The only word I had trouble with was when I asked exactly what they were cutting - he said 'monte' I asked what that was and he swept his hand in front of him to indicate all that was in the area in front of him. I found out that it means 'the forest'.

My daughter took it one step further and called the front desk to find out what in the world was going on because clearly Jiminy was not being consulted on this one. She was told by a cast member that they were clearing out the stuff around the loops for 2 reasons; one was to clear out the destructive non-native vines that have taken over (that makes sense) and two this was the first phase of giving Fort Wilderness a new look that would include expanding the campsite pavement areas to accommodate larger RVs. Well, now we're getting to the heart of it.

DaddyRog, I know you weren't inviting me to stand up on a soapbox here, but I couldn't stay silent about it any more. You'd think they'd be able to do it better by using maybe some of the $17,000 a year per cart rental Disney earns. I think this decision of theirs stunk and they could have done it better. By the way, the 1500 loop is the better of the 2 because of the inner part of the loop.

 

[clkelley]

Here are the differences between 2000 and 1500 for me.

1500 is close to everything and is a small loop and none of them are very far from a comfort station.

However, it is an older loop and some of the sites are a bit small for a large family with large tents, multiple awnings, etc. and a need to stretch out. For example 1506 is very narrow and has a tree in a weird place and the grill is in a weird place. 1503 is a good size, 1517 is a good size and folks have reported 1512 is a good size.

However, if you must have the room 2000 is the ideal loop. All of the sand pads are huge and have a little "L" section for the grill so it is never in the way.

The downfalls of 2000 is that it is out of the way a bit and it is a huge loop with over 60 sites. I LOVE site 2020 as it is the perfect size and shape for the stuff I set up and is right near the comfort station. The purple bus route is fairly quick and if you are going to Settlement it is very quick as there are no other stops.

To get to the Meadows area you do need to cut through the group camping area and take the path to 900 Loop.

So I guess what I'm saying is if I wasn't worried about size of the campsite I would prefer Loop 1500, but since I usually have friends with me and need to set up a tent city in addition to my T@B, I request 2000.

 

[clkelley]

Site 2020 with tents only:

Site 1517

Site 2020 with tents and camper:

An empty site in Loop 2000:

 

[mamaloya]

1503 is my favorite. It is next to the comfort station and the bus stop is behind it. I kept a fan on in the tent at night and never heard a thing. Just keep your key to the world handy for midnight bathroom runs as they lock the doors and you need it to get in. DH found this out the hard way. LOL I will avoid painting you a picture, I am sure you can imagine what he did to solve the problem.

Truly, no matter what site you get, you will be happy.

Happy Camping!

 

[BigDaddyRog]

Man...you guys are the best!!.. I Love these boards!!! Its looks like CottontailCurls pic is the most recent with the clearing....wow, thats kinda scary lookin. A disney forest would be great...heck, a Disney ENCHANTED forest would even be cool....but a DISNEY HAUNTED FOREST OF THE DEAD might just scare my kids right out of the Fort!!!Which I could use to my advantage..."If you dont be good Im gonna kick you outta the tent and let the trees eat you!!!" On the other hand, as much fun as that sounds, it would just end up costing me a fortune in psychiatric bills. Kids are sooo sensitive these days...ya ever notice, they wanna EAT, like, almost every single DAY??!!???Whats up wit DAT??
Im thinking that maybe by September the greenery will be back, and 2000 may be ok ...but who wants to chance that? Hmmm, decisions, decisions and more beer...er...more decisions.

Cottontail....youre welcome to toss a soapbox anytime....it aint like youre just mouthing off...your stating facts that NEED to be known, at least by me. That was straight from the hip and between the eyes and thats the way I like it.

CLKelly...your campsite is soo organized!! Im taking notes and Im gonna try...but if you happened to have seen my cabin pictures....I doubt I could keep things as together and orderly as you. I dont know that I need alot of room...just enough to pitch the tent, which is 19x10 and a 14x10 screen house...as far as room to "stretch out", shoot, if I cant stretch out in a 20ft tent, then I have problems that Disney cant solve!!

Gator??? Did you just COMPLIMENT me??? wholly cr......Im honored, coming from YOU that means alot!!! And as much as I'd love to check out the 4th's festivities with all of you, Im gonna have to pull a Colson on this one, 644 miles is one heck of a long drive for a 3 day weekender...plus its impossible for me to get off of the job on the party type holidays.... and 4th is just like a mini mardi gras in the french quarter, except people smell worse and throw up more from the heat, who would want to miss THAT???
We have the SugarBowl in town this week.....dem there Georgia Boys iz nutz!!!That along with new years eve last night, and Mardi Gras starting early this year (next week) has this Johnny becoming a dull boy from the "all work, no play" going on. But I should be able to finance my Sept or October trip...and I might even beable to buy a cheap used golfcart (I havent hit the wife with that one yet....afraid she might hit back!)

Mamaloya...Ive been known to paint that same picture myself many a-times!!!

Thanks for the great replies, and please keep them coming, the more info and opinions I have, the better a decision I can make.

HAPPY NEW YEARS, PEOPLE!!!!

 

[CottontailCurl]

Here's the campsite we were switched to, a very large and peaceful campsite because of its place in the center of the loop:

This is behind the campsite (1512):

This is the back end of the tent pad, we had a 9 x 13 tent placed lengthwise about halfway back on the pad:

The other side of the back end of the tent pad where the grill is:

The tent from the road, to the right of the tent was another large area of the sand pad with enough space for a dining canopy and the picnic table. Beyond that on the right was the concrete area for parking the car.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures of the campsites on the outer part of the loop.

 

[PolynesianPixie]

Hey Rog,

I have no experience with 2000, but we LOVE 1500! I agree with Cottontail that the inner area has more ambiance and vegetation. We were in the outer part of the loop, on the corner. Although we were close to the road and bus stop, we were never bothered by noise. Nevertheless, we'd probably prefered to be further in. We were right by the creek and had an orange tree on our site. We really enjoyed letting the girls hop on their bikes and ride over to the playground which was VERY close.

These aren't the best pics, but maybe you can get an idea.

 

[Conan the Librarian]

We stayed in the 2000 loop (2034 I think) a few weeks ago, and have stayed in it for 3 Christmases (sp?) now. We find it quite easy to get to any part of FW we want to go.

From the back end of the loop (the 30s and 40s) you can cut through Creekside Meadows and use the Bus Stop there, or, take the bridge over the creek, cut through loop 900 and you are at the Meadow trading post and the Orange Bus stop. If they would put a bridge behind the 2020s it would just be a hop skip and jump from the 2000 to the Meadow. The bus stop for the 2000 loop isn't that far either.

We walk almost everywhere we can. I have bad knees that will need replacing soon and I am going to walk as much as I can as far as I can until they are gone.

 

[Gatordad]

Rog,

Sorry to hear you won't be there. You are one dude I look forward to killing some brain cells with. You are a riot.

 

[momoffive]

Hey everybody its been a while since I was on and its been a month since we got home. I guess the depression set in. Long story that I'll fill you in on later but we had a GREAT time in WDW. We camped on site 2051. The brush had been cleared from there already which left little or nothing. We had one of the only trees that I could see. Again long story but we lost the camper on the way down and had to purchase a second tent after our 2nd night. The pad was a bit tight for 2 big tents but we made do. We never did get to other parts of the Fort, thats why I'm on today, looking to book another trip. We took some great pictures of our site and the ones next to us but I can't post pictures. Any hints?
momoffive

 

[Camping Cat]

My daughter took it one step further and called the front desk to find out what in the world was going on because clearly Jiminy was not being consulted on this one. She was told by a cast member that they were clearing out the stuff around the loops for 2 reasons; one was to clear out the destructive non-native vines that have taken over (that makes sense) and two this was the first phase of giving Fort Wilderness a new look that would include expanding the campsite pavement areas to accommodate larger RVs. Well, now we're getting to the heart of it.

DaddyRog, I know you weren't inviting me to stand up on a soapbox here, but I couldn't stay silent about it any more. You'd think they'd be able to do it better by using maybe some of the $17,000 a year per cart rental Disney earns. I think this decision of theirs stunk and they could have done it better. By the way, the 1500 loop is the better of the 2 because of the inner part of the loop.

Let me jump up there on that soapbox with you! Although I had read about the clearing talking place here on the FW forum and had even seen some photos, I was shocked when we first pulled into the campground. Shocked and extremely disappointed! The only word I can think of that really describes the Fort now is naked...totally stripped of the Wilderness that is part of its name. It upset me afresh every time we left out campsite. I meant to take photos but I was too heartsick to record the stripped version of the camping loops. You could see into the entire loop as you passed by. There was absolutely no privacy at all.

By contrast, I was so thankful that the campsite we got in the 300 loop wasn't totally stripped of vegetation...yet. I did take photos of our campsite and when I finally get them online, you'll see that we still had some privacy at the back of our site. It's a good thing because our site backed up to the comfort station and without the little growth we had, we would have had absolutely no privacy at all from the people going to and from the CS. By now though, they may have cleared the 300 loop also. My greatest hope is that by the time we get back to FW again, it may be filling in a bit. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they don't keep at this clearing on a continuing basis.

 

[PolynesianPixie]

Hey everybody its been a while since I was on and its been a month since we got home. I guess the depression set in. Long story that I'll fill you in on later but we had a GREAT time in WDW. We camped on site 2051. The brush had been cleared from there already which left little or nothing. We had one of the only trees that I could see. Again long story but we lost the camper on the way down and had to purchase a second tent after our 2nd night. The pad was a bit tight for 2 big tents but we made do. We never did get to other parts of the Fort, thats why I'm on today, looking to book another trip. We took some great pictures of our site and the ones next to us but I can't post pictures. Any hints?
momoffive

Hi! I was wondering how you were!

What happened to your camper?!?!

You may not be able to post pics due to # of posts. I'm not sure how many you need to be able to post pics.

 

[BigDaddyRog]

Rog,

Sorry to hear you won't be there. You are one dude I look forward to killing some brain cells with. You are a riot.

Thanks man....you crack me up too...HERE'S TO 2 OVERGROWN CLASS CLOWNS!!

I have very few cells left (the 80s are a big blur, what can I say), but I'd be glad to shave that number in half for a few beers and laughs with you guys.

 

[ynottony99]

We took some great pictures of our site and the ones next to us but I can't post pictures. Any hints?
momoffive

You will have to upload your pics to Photobucket or some such site, then copy and past the Img. code they provide for each photo. Give it a try and feel free to ask anyone here if you have trouble.

 

[ynottony99]

Double post