? about horseback riding at wilderness

[Jessalyn]

Hey everyone!

I am currently booked for a trail ride at the wilderness lodge for me and my fiancee. I am now having second doubts, as it is only a 45 minute ride and it is over 60 bucks. Also we are going in two weeks and I do not want a freezing cold ride. It is also walking only, which seems like a bore to me and I have been riding for a long time. Has anyone had this experience and was it worth it? Thanks!

 

[Maliki2]

Hey everyone!

I am currently booked for a trail ride at the wilderness lodge for me and my fiancee. I am now having second doubts, as it is only a 45 minute ride and it is over 60 bucks. Also we are going in two weeks and I do not want a freezing cold ride. It is also walking only, which seems like a bore to me and I have been riding for a long time. Has anyone had this experience and was it worth it? Thanks!

Hello,

Not sure if this information will help or not, but Wife and I did this back in 2001 on our Honeymoon. It was expensive but then again what at Disney isn't?

Experience: ME - Think I've been on one horse in my lifetime. CMs brought Tom out and I was a little nervous, he was the BIGGEST horse of them all. I was like umm kk?

LittleB - She has been on horses a few times. Oakley was her horse, and he just wanted to eat leaves!

I do understand why you were worried about the running, but thats due to lawsuit happy people I'm sure. The trail guides were excellent, I'd say 99% of us were novice riders and was a treat just to watch the others around us.
I had a great time, I enjoyed the ride (no matter how nervous and how much my clenched legs hurt). We went in October and it was actually nice weather for us....but that all depends on mother nature. If it sounds boring to you, you may not want to do it. If you want a quiet, get away from the world experience, I'd say go for it. I enjoyed it and if we had the extra cash we'd probably do it on our next trip!

 

[sorcerormickey]

We did this a couple of years ago too. It was....OK. Neither my boyfriend or I had been on horses before, so it was fun in that respect. But, the ride itself was rather boring - didn't see any other wildlife or walk anywhere of interest, just thru some woods. My horse decided she wanted a snack and took off down a small ravine into heavy brush and started muching on a tree. One of the other people actually had her horse rear back onto it's hind legs so dramatically that she fell off. I decided I much prefer looking at horses as opposed to riding them.

 

[BeamsofLight]

Hey everyone!
It is also walking only, which seems like a bore to me and I have been riding for a long time. Has anyone had this experience and was it worth it? Thanks!

My husband and I did this last January. I think it was a good time to go because we could wear long pants as they request without melting in the sun, so hopefully your weather will be the same way.

My husband had never been on a horse before (and he also rode Tom - I guess he's for newbies - heh). He really enjoyed it and has since been open to going riding other places.

I have been riding for a long time, and honestly, it was a little boring. I like the scenery, and anything to do with horses is usually enjoyable to me, so I liked that aspect. However, I wasn't super-impressed with the way the horses were being kept or how the ride was handled. We were encouraged by the trail guide to let our horses 'push' the one in front of us - I don't care how culled the horses are, that's dangerous IMO. My horse (can't speak for the others) was very listless on the way out, and perked up suddenly when we made the turn at the far end of the trail and headed back toward the barn. The guide said this was the third time he'd been out that day (it was early afternoon at this point). I didn't blame him for being eager to get home.

All in all, I'm glad we did it, I'm glad my husband enjoyed himself and I liked the scenery, but I probably wouldn't do it again.

 

[PatriciaH]

Hey everyone!

I am currently booked for a trail ride at the wilderness lodge for me and my fiancee. I am now having second doubts, as it is only a 45 minute ride and it is over 60 bucks. Also we are going in two weeks and I do not want a freezing cold ride. It is also walking only, which seems like a bore to me and I have been riding for a long time. Has anyone had this experience and was it worth it? Thanks!

I know it may have been a misstype but I just wanted to let you know the rides are at Fort Wilderness and not the Wilderness Lodge just so you do not go to the wrong place

 

[njzieglers]

If you are a rider, you may find this a bit boring. The horses are very docile, typical trail horses. They are well cared for and stabled nicely, but other than getting on and off (from a platform), you really don't get a chance to interact with your mount. The scenery is nice, typical Florida brushy forest, on a well worn trail. You can also go to the other stables in FW where the draft horses are kept. That was our experience, it was OK once, but I don't think we would do it again.

 

[diswedwish]

DH and I did this in November - it was included in our package, otherwise we wouldn't have paid the $. DH had been riding once before (first time was another guided ride in Shenandoah Nat'l Park), so it was somewhat new to him, but he definitely preferred his first ride. I'd ridden a fair amount when I was younger, so it was nice to be back on a horse, although I missed non-single file riding.

Scenary was blah, ride wasn't very exciting, very $$$ if it's not included in a plan - that's what we thought. DH had a much better time visiting with the draft horses, and that's free. I think this would be a neat experience if it was your first time on a horse however, and that's probably exactly how Disney planned it.

HTH

 

[Jennasis]

I am a full-time barn owner/manager/riding instructor/horse trainer and YES the first thing I do when I go on vacation (rare as they may be) is locate the nearest horse. When we went to the Dominican Republic I wouldn't rest until we did a ride on the beach. I have done the FW trail ride and the word "boring" is rather a generous term. It is little more than a short "hike" through the woods where you don't have to walk because the horses are doing that for you. The horses were nose-to-tail (the most dangerous way to ride, I don't care how gentle or trained they claim the horses are). This ride is truly not for those looking for a genuine "in-the-saddle" experience. If you enjoy hiking it may be for you.

That said, I have been desperately trying to find a way to contact the stables themselves about purchasing horses that are being retired. I always have students looking for tried and true trail mounts.

I'd save the $60 and do something a little more interesting.

 

[IwasatWDWforamonth]

my mom and I went horseback riding in november,
Im 28 and they gave me a kids horse of course they knew I was a little scared seeing as the last time I was on a horse I was thrown off.
My horses name was bugsy.
It was fun,,, But the dust on the trail was terrible I could feel it in my lungs, my nose and eyes. I was having a hard time breathing and after my ears felt so plugged I felt like I could'nt hear right. I did feel better after a sudafed though,
Im glad we did it because I enjoyed it even with getting sick, just wish they would fix that dust, someone could wet the ground a little in the morning and it would be fine.