A few questions for experienced fort goers

[gypsymoon]

A few questions for the experienced fort goers. We are staying 10 nights in August at the fort. We are not doing the water parks. We want to have a fun relaxed trip . So, how many days do you suggest we get park tickets ? We have a membership to touring plans to plan with. My plans are one or two days per park. I know the fort has a lot of fun stuff to do too. We are a large family of 9 and don't want to hit the parks 24/7. The only advanced dining reservation we plan to make is TREX. What do you suggest we do or suggest we skip ? TIA !

 

[Brendonsmom]

You will love the Fort. Didn't see you mention if this was your first time staying. Plenty to keep you entertained in the campground with archery, biking, horseback riding to name a few. Are you certain you won't include a water park? The heat is pretty tough in August. Typhoon Lagoon is great for younger under 12, Blizzard Beach for the older kids in your group. I have read a lot of suggestions from the longer campers that one day in park, then two off gives you time to relax and enjoy your surroundings without feeling the rush and pressure to see and do it all. We usually stay seven days and have finally decided it is not worth the strain and stress to see and do it all. This April we are visiting for our 7th year in a row and are only doing MK and ECT. It's our first time venturing off Disney to Universal, but only because our 10 year old is interested in Harry Potter. Best of luck on your trip.

 

[North of Mouse]

A few questions for the experienced fort goers. We are staying 10 nights in August at the fort. We are not doing the water parks. We want to have a fun relaxed trip . So, how many days do you suggest we get park tickets ? We have a membership to touring plans to plan with. My plans are one or two days per park. I know the fort has a lot of fun stuff to do too. We are a large family of 9 and don't want to hit the parks 24/7. The only advanced dining reservation we plan to make is TREX. What do you suggest we do or suggest we skip ? TIA !

to FW. Not sure if this is your first time, but regardless you will love it. I'm probably not the best person to help you with regarding how many days to go to the parks. LOL

We love the parks, water parks, so usually go most days to them along with our dinner reservations. We also like to go to DTD and visit the other resorts.
You must have young children with a family of 9. the pool was renovated a couple years ago, so is very nice, also a splash area for the smaller ones.

There's a nightly campfire with marshmallow roasting, and Disney movie shown nightly (weather permitting), horseback riding, carriage riding.

The Hoop de do dinner show is there, plus Mickey's backyard BBQ, and Trails End Restaurant. ADR's are usually needed, except for Trails End.

There's *water sprites* to rent (small power boats on lake) for older children.

Have a great stay filled with

 

[amylevan]

We usually tour the parks in the morning, come back to the fort in the afternoon to enjoy the offerings there, and then head back out for dinner and evening entertainment. Then we usually have 1 full fort day mid-trip.

Keep in mind that the per day costs of park tickets goes down the longer you are there. (i.e. there is only about $10 difference between a 9 and 10 day ticket) And there is always the option to add more days to your tickets while you are there if you decide you want more (you have to add the days before you use up all the available days, and you can't have more than 10 days).

 

[dalspot]

The water parks are always part of our "down day" to just kick back and relax! We usually will do 2 days at the parks, then a day (which usually is only a half-day) at a water park. The lazy rivers are great!

 

[Southern Bell]

I know some are against it, but we always get the Park Hopper(for just convenience of going as we please) with at least 6 days of tickets. But if you are not going to the water parks it may not be worth it to you! I think its 60 a person for just park hopper. It always takes us a day for each park and we have always returned to the parks for something we missed, shopping, fireworks, reservations for dining, shows etc., Seems like we always take a second day for Epcot & Magic Kingdom. If you have teenagers they may like HS better than Magic Kingdom or at least my older nieces do. Ususally we just spend one day in Animal Kingdom except once it rained us out for the day and we had to return one morning to finish. One thing I read and took the advice from someone on here, was to not purchase your tickets for full length of your stay and add on extra days if you needed them. That worked well and did save a few dollars. If you are staying for ten days and have no dining reservations at the theme parks, it may be better & cheaper for for you to skip the park hopper and add extra days if they are needed.

 

[amberlynn]

I agree with you on the Hoppers...While its not always the best way to go for us when cost is an issue, we are looking forward to a relaxing trip...with 4 kids ages 7-19! Hoppers will enable us to not feel tied to one park, and take our time to go wherever we want. Enjoy your planning! And your trip!

 

[gypsymoon]

This is our first time at the fort. I have only been to MK many many years ago. My hubby and 7 kids have never been at all. Our oldest is 14 and the youngest 2. So, we have all ages. I didn't add the water parks b/c I didn't want to feel like we had to go every minute of everyday. With 9 people I figured park hopping would be a pain. We booked only 3 dinner reservations. Trex , Coral Reef and Sci fi theater . I booked them on the days we were already hoping to be at those parks using crowd calenders on touring plans.

 

[WizardLarz]

2 days Magic Kingdom
2 days EPCOT
1 day Animal Kingdom
1 day Hollywood Studios

That totals only 6 Park days which and leaves you several days to spend hanging out at the Fort.

Possible Itinerary
Arrival day: Set Up and scope out the grounds
Day 1 : Magic Kingdom
Day 2 : Animal Kingdom
Day 3 : Fort Day -- fishing, horseback riding
Day 4 : EPCOT
Day 5 : Hollywood Studios
Day 6 : More Fort fun
Day 7 : EPCOT, see what you missed the first time
Day 8 : Magic Kingdom
Day 9 : Fort fun. & maybe DownTown Disney
Day 10 : Magic Kingdom, one more time or which ever Park people Enjoyed the most!
Departure Day : Time to say, Goodbye

 

[dr&momto2boys]

2 days Magic Kingdom
2 days EPCOT
1 day Animal Kingdom
1 day Hollywood Studios

That totals only 6 Park days which and leaves you several days to spend hanging out at the Fort.

Possible Itinerary
Arrival day: Set Up and scope out the grounds
Day 1 : Magic Kingdom
Day 2 : Animal Kingdom
Day 3 : Fort Day -- fishing, horseback riding
Day 4 : EPCOT
Day 5 : Hollywood Studios
Day 6 : More Fort fun
Day 7 : EPCOT, see what you missed the first time
Day 8 : Magic Kingdom
Day 9 : Fort fun. & maybe DownTown Disney
Day 10 : Magic Kingdom, one more time or which ever Park people Enjoyed the most!
Departure Day : Time to say, Goodbye

This seems like very good advice for a semi-ralxing and very fun vacation. Remeber you can add more days on while you're there for smaller $$ ammts the more days you're there if you decide you want more park time.
Look at EasyWDW.com too for planning. I like their park day recommendations better than Touring plans, but I use both sites for planning and making touring plans.

We just spent last week at the Fort and really enjoyed hitting the parks at rope drop and maximizing our rides with minimal wiats then having a nice lunch and returning to the Fort to swim. The kids liked the campfire and movies and we went to bed early to rise early the next day. We didn't worry about doing the nighttime shows just because we go often and saw them last time and will next time. So it was quite relaxing.