2 Days until arrival

[Khokhonutt]

Hooked up and ready to head that way in the morning.

 

[proudmomof4]

Safe travels! And enjoy your time at the Fort!

 

[Khokhonutt]

Safe travels! And enjoy your time at the Fort!

Thank you! We're looking forward to it for sure! First time since 1979 for me, first time for my wife and our son.

 

[Disneypeach]

Hope y’all have a safe trip and a great time.

 

[Khokhonutt]

Hope y’all have a safe trip and a great time.

Thank you!

 

[team bradfield]

What loop you hoping to set up in ?

 

[Khokhonutt]

What loop you hoping to set up in ?

We requested a preferred site (100-300). Tomorrow we head as far as Georgia, then arrive at the Fort on Sunday. We've got a small (19 foot) camper and I wanted to stay at one of the original loops, so we'll see what we get when we get there.

 

[Disneypeach]

200 loop is my fav. Close but not too close to the settlement action. 219-225 are nice sites with a bit of shade at least part of the day.

 

[bama_ed]

Try for 100-200 in a Preferred loop, @Khokhonutt .

300 is, IMO, too far away (at least it feels like it). Given you have a short trailer, you can fit in just about EVERY site in 100-200.

The key is arriving the morning you check in AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE and go to the Fort in PERSON to check in. Although campsites are pre-assigned each day based on who is leaving that morning and who is checking in that day (or site that was empty overnight), CM's can make changes in the system before others check in. Thus the early bird gets the worm.

As people (like you) check into the Fort in person, changes are made in real-time. People pre-assigned to loop 100 will get bumped (before they arrive) by folks who show up requesting 100 before them (like yourself). People who get bumped never know what happened.

I have some personal 100 loop favorites:



#114 or 116 (either side of walkway to Pioneer Trading Post). So VERY close (TOO close? ) to the boat docks, Trails End, Pioneer Hall. 114 puts the door side of your camper to the walkway between 114/116 to the docks so 114 is #1 and 116 is #2. Those are both exterior sites (on the outside of the loop circle). I hate interior as they feel claustrophobic. I also like 125 outside (long, deep) or 127 on the end close to Comfort Station. 102 just entering the loop is interior but nothing on the door side except a few small trees and some wide open spaces - no back side of a neighbor's trailer to look at. You can hear the boat and steam train whistles.

When you check in (EARLY), ask the CM if any of these sites will be available for assignment that morning (in order): 114, 116, 125, 127. Be polite with the CM, not pushy, and understand they won't TELL you what is available. But if one of those is available (or will come), if you use some charm and pixie dust, you can get a great site you request. You will only know what you get when the "It's Ready for You" text comes and tells you your campsite number.

Good luck to you.

Bama Ed

PS - and my friend Disney Peach likes 200 which is also very close (but not too close I guess). I've stayed in 200 but 102 is better than 200 loop IMO. When you get there, walk around and see what we mean.

PPS - I try to check in at 630am-700am on arrival day and have a high success rate of get my top 1-3 sites in a loop (100 or 1500 usually), then chill on property till the READY text comes in. Like I said, early bird gets the worm.

PPPS - if '2 days from now' means checking in on a Sunday, you stand a good chance of people leaving at the end of a weekend and leaving openings for new arrivals like yourself. Saturday and Sunday arrivals (coupled with Saturday and Sunday departures) stand a much better chance of a request being fulfilled rather than a Tuesday or Wednesday arrival IMO. My 2 cents.

P4S - the horse-drawn carriage and wagon rides come through 100/200 loops every evening. You can hear the 'clip-clop' coming. But in 114/116, they walk right past your campsite back to the Pioneer TP area.

 

[Khokhonutt]

Try for 100-200 in a Preferred loop, @Khokhonutt .

300 is, IMO, too far away (at least it feels like it). Given you have a short trailer, you can fit in just about EVERY site in 100-200.

The key is arriving the morning you check in AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE and go to the Fort in PERSON to check in. Although campsites are pre-assigned each day based on who is leaving that morning and who is checking in that day (or site that was empty overnight), CM's can make changes in the system before others check in. Thus the early bird gets the worm.

As people (like you) check into the Fort in person, changes are made in real-time. People pre-assigned to loop 100 will get bumped (before they arrive) by folks who show up requesting 100 before them (like yourself). People who get bumped never know what happened.

I have some personal 100 loop favorites:

View attachment 1054082

#114 or 116 (either side of walkway to Pioneer Trading Post). So VERY close (TOO close? ) to the boat docks, Trails End, Pioneer Hall. 114 puts the door side of your camper to the walkway between 114/116 to the docks so 114 is #1 and 116 is #2. Those are both exterior sites (on the outside of the loop circle). I hate interior as they feel claustrophobic. I also like 125 outside (long, deep) or 127 on the end close to Comfort Station. 102 just entering the loop is interior but nothing on the door side except a few small trees and some wide open spaces - no back side of a neighbor's trailer to look at. You can hear the boat and steam train whistles.

When you check in (EARLY), ask the CM if any of these sites will be available for assignment that morning (in order): 114, 116, 125, 117. Be polite with the CM, not pushy, and understand they won't TELL you what is available. But if one of those is available (or will come), if you use some charm and pixie dust, you can get a great site you request. You will only know what you get when the "It's Ready for You" text comes and tells you your campsite number.

Good luck to you.

Bama Ed

PS - and my friend Disney Peach likes 200 which is also very close (but not too close I guess). I've stayed in 200 but 102 is better than 200 loop IMO. When you get there, walk around and see what we mean.

PPS - I try to check in at 630am-700am on arrival day and have a high success rate of get my top 1-3 sites in a loop (100 or 1500 usually), then chill on property till the READY text comes in. Like I said, early bird gets the worm.

PPPS - if '2 days from now' means checking in on a Sunday, you stand a good chance of people leaving at the end of a weekend and leaving openings for new arrivals like yourself. Saturday and Sunday arrivals (coupled with Saturday and Sunday departures) stand a much better chance of a request being fulfilled rather than a Tuesday or Wednesday arrival IMO. My 2 cents.

P4S - the horse-drawn carriage and wagon rides come through 100/200 loops every evening. You can hear the 'clip-clop' coming. But in 114/116, they walk right past your campsite back to the Pioneer TP area.

Wow, thanks for all of that! We'll be arriving Sunday morning, hopefully by 11am. We'll see what happens.

 

[ilovedisneymm]

Ed provided some excellent & accurate info about check in. If you check (google) Wilderness Princess Fort Wilderness loops, you’ll get an accurate map of each loop. Screenshot those loops and have them handy at check in. That way, if they assign let’s say an inner loop site, but you were after an outer loop site, you can ask to change that. Having as much info as possible at check in, can speed things up and ensure a good spot. “Good spot” is fluid here as we all have our own idea of what is a “good spot”. I have to laugh out loud that I’m giving check in advise, because my last check in was a nightmare. But I’ve got high hopes for you!

Since it’s basically a new trip with rose colored glasses for all, here is an extra tip. Get in early, as early as you possibly can. If they have extra hours that allow you to enter the park at 8:30, I suggest getting there before 8am. The doors will be open and people will be flowing. You’ll be able to do more attractions in that first 90 minutes than any other time of the day, with exception to the last 90 minutes of the day.

If you plan to do Slinky Dog, Tron, StarWars land, those things need to be early to save from having long weight times. Bonus…and this is an important one…arriving extra early allows one to truly appreciate the theming Disney has put into Toy Story land & StarWars. Early means very little people and the full picture of it all. We did not need to purchase any LL with a proper game plan in place. Those game plans are changeable by the hour and day…adjust and plan accordingly will be key!

Not sure the ages you’re traveling with, but kids always seem to love pool time and meeting new friends.

My daughter met a friend one year at the pool back in 2022, and they are still penpals to this day. My youngest met a friend on our recent trip and she, too, now has a penpal.

Safe travels.

 

[ilovedisneymm]

Dude…where did ya go? You know we’ve all been checking this post waiting for an update. My popcorn is stale, but I could pop some new…

Hope your trip went well.

 

[proudmomof4]

I have also been checking daily, but I understand, once you're in the "bubble" you might not want to take the time to update and entertain those of us not at the Fort. I look forward to reading about your experience once you head home.

 

[Khokhonutt]

Dude…where did ya go? You know we’ve all been checking this post waiting for an update. My popcorn is stale, but I could pop some new…

Hope your trip went well.

I have also been checking daily, but I understand, once you're in the "bubble" you might not want to take the time to update and entertain those of us not at the Fort. I look forward to reading about your experience once you head home.

Sorry folks. We're back home after a great week. I'm working on our photos to share, but here's the short story.

We had a great week, even though we had one pretty major screw up on my part. We left NC on Saturday morning, made it to our halfway stop in GA without incident. The next morning we got up a little before 5, so we could hit the road early, stop a Buc-ee's for breakfast, then get to the Fort before 11am. That was the plan...

Old as I am, I made a dumb *** mistake trusting our truck's distance to empty and we ran out of gas 2 miles short of our exit. We spent a little over 2 hours arranging to get some gas brought to us. First, our wonderful tow service (Verizon) wonderful AI system put us in the wrong location. When the tow truck driver contacted us an hour into waiting, he informed us we were out of his service area and he would not be coming. I gave up and called a local company and paid out of pocket. When all was said and done we didn't get to the Fort until after 1pm.

We asked about the sites Ed suggested, but there was a flood in the 100 loop and they weren't putting anyone in that loop. They already had us in the 200 loop, so we took what they gave us. I think we were in 204. It was a great spot, about 3 or 4 sites from the bathhouse and an easy walk to the Trails End and boat dock. We LOVED our stay at the Fort.

The rest of the week was spent with our adult son wearing ourselves flat out in the parks. My wife and I did 6 days in the parks, our son did 5 with us. We also did the after hours in Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. The EPCOT night was our 5th night and we did over 31k steps that day. Over the week we did a minimum of 14k steps with the average around 20k steps. This was our typical running the parks trip that we've done in the past, but we're already thinking about some future trips where we dedicate a little more time to relaxing at the Fort (allegedly).

 

[bama_ed]

The EPCOT night was our 5th night and we did over 31k steps that day.

I bet going to sleep (horizontal) that night felt REAL good.

My body is ready for a trip report even after the fact. I might do it that way too this spring - like mm did too.

PS - if 100 loop was closed then 200 loop was the closest to the "front" of Fort you could get and near the Comfort Station too. I'm glad it worked out.

 

[proudmomof4]

I’m glad you enjoyed your stay at the Fort and had a good site.

I look forward to seeing your photos.

A future trip with more time at the Fort is a good plan. We love Fort days!

 

[ilovedisneymm]

Glad to hear your family loved the Fort.

Bummer on the fuel issue, but a two hour delay isn’t too bad compared to all other possible scenarios when traveling.

Looking forward to the pics when time allows…