1st time at Ft. Wilderness

[kltigger]

Help!

This will be our first time going to the Fort Wilderness Campgound with an RV. When making the reservation, I gave them our information and asked for assurance that the site area that we requested (Loop 200/300) would be long enough; our RV is 40' with two slideouts. I was assured that it would be. Now, in reading some of the blogs, I'm not sure. Also, I read a blog that said those areas were sand pads (which is not acceptable). I just called and was told that they are not sand, but cement pads.

Can someone give me some insight since this will be our first experience and I want it to be a good one!

Thanks!

 

[BradyBz12]

What class of site did you book - Preferred or Premium?

100, 200 and 300 (pet) are the only Preferred loops and still have sand pads.

Premium sites were fully paved and no longer have sand.

 

[motherwild]

We have a 36' MH with 2 slide and have had no problems with the 300 loop. Sites have a cement pad with sand area around the pad. If you have issues fitting into a site you could asked to be moved to another site.

 

[k4dcf]

Preferred sites have a concrete pad about 35 feet long with a twenty foot section behind them that is sand for a tent. premium sites have had all all concrete.

 

[becky1960]

The problem we had was obstructions ( fence, markers, trees ) across the drive way from our site, such as a fence one time we could not back into the site without hitting the fence, which I did. This mostly happens on some of the back sites on curves.

 

[freshlybarked]

We have a 32' Class C and a SUV. We usually park the RV with the back wheels on the sand (crushed shells) and then we park the SUV in front. You can put something under your leveling jacks if you need to. You may want a Premium which is all concrete, but I have seen many larger RVs on the Preferred sites.

 

[BradyBz12]

In November we were in 300 and had neighbors in a 40' +/- MH. They had no trouble fitting into the site (335) and putting out their slides. However they did have to back off the pavement onto the sand pad.

Oh and FYI - the "sand pad" is a very hard packed surface that is a combination of sand/cocina (sp?) shells. It's not soft and you can easily park your rig on it without any trouble (if you want to).

There are some Preferred sites that can be tricky with big rigs/slides because of trees - that's why it's important to make sure FW knows what your requirements are for length/slides - and there are also sites that are plenty big enough, but the angle to get into them is pretty tricky. Although our neighbor was clearly an expert, as he backed that behemoth in there on the first try with out any help whatsoever.

 

[mnsprk]

and there are also sites that are plenty big enough, but the angle to get into them is pretty tricky. Although our neighbor was clearly an expert, as he backed that behemoth in there on the first try with out any help whatsoever.

On the flip side, when were there in Aug. (300 loop) a fellow with a 40' toy hauler had the road blocked for over 45 minutes because he couldn't get it parked.(site 360)

 

[BradyBz12]

On the flip side, when were there in Aug. (300 loop) a fellow with a 40' toy hauler had the road blocked for over 45 minutes because he couldn't get it parked.(site 360)

Oh yeah, we've seen similar situations too in 300. In some cases people just give up and go ask for another site. The site on the right at the very end of the loop is a killer and I've heard that sometimes CMs will block off the road and let people drive in the opposite way to get into this site.

From what I've seen, the Preferred loops definitely have more "challenging" sites to back into for bigger rigs and people without a lot of experience than many of the Premium loops. It's not that the sites themselves are too small, but more that the angles to back into them, and sometimes where the trees are, can make it difficult.

 

[testtubes]

First off, requesting a particular loop doesn't always get you in that loop. I was there during Jan. (last month) and I had requested a site as close to Pioneer Hall as possible. My site was in the 1300 loop which is at least 3/4 of a mile from Pioneer Hall.
I did however ask to be moved and I was given several choices to pick from. We ended up staying in the 1300 loop though because it was the best of the options.
I think the problem was that I should have requested a particular loop because whoever took my site request probably didn't know where Pioneer Hall was.
As for getting a 40 footer on a site. I'm guessing that has to be a motor home and Fort Wilderness has hundreds of 40 to 45 footers in there at any given time. It really isn't a issue. I had zero problems with my 36 footer and I had enough room in front of my motor home to park my jeep and golf cart easily.
If this is your first ever trip to FW you will be blown away by it and it will take about 5 minutes to realize that there isn't a bad site in the place.
Good Luck

 

[kltigger]

Thanks!!