Any one do horse back riding at Wilderness Camp Ground ?

[pooh2001]

Horse back riding - something to do on an 'off day' - like 4th of July when all the parks are extreamly crowded. Don't get me wrong, we'll do EPCOT later in the afternoon.

Best time in the morning ?
Do they do horse back riding at 8 am, when it's cooler ?
Do you wear pants or shorts ?
Sneakers OK for footwear ?
How many people are allowed to ride during a horse back riding session ?
How long do you ride the horse for ?
Do they require you to wear a helmet (head protective gear) ?
Are the horses gentle ?

Any discounts for AP ticket holders ?

Thanks

 

[tinan]

I'm subbing as I would like to know some of the answers to your question. Plus I am interested in knowing if this is a very confined trail ride. We have been horseback riding elsewhere and every place is generally different in some way. One place we have gone the horses were trained to literally stay behind the tail in front of it. Meaning that you could NOT budge this horse by trying to steer it. My poor knees had hit one too many trees on that trail ride. Other trail rides we have been on you were not only able to steer them, but also control their speed.

I prefer to ride in the mornings as the horses are "fresh"
I have gone horseback riding in both shorts and pants
Sneakers are fine for footwear
Most trail rides are generally an hour......I'm wondering if Disney is the same
I would also like to know about the helmet requirement. The places I have been hasn't required adults to wear them although I have to sign a waiver.

 

["thegirls"]

Hello

I did this about a year and a half ago. The horses do follow tail-to tail and you need to wear long pants/jeans. I do not know about the AP discount because while I've been an AP holder for years I was also a DS CM at the time and used that discount. I do remeber you needed to pay in advance and I beleive their was a 48 hour cancellation policy that was non refundable.

My purpose for doing this ride was for my animal loving 11 year old daughter. I must admit I was not very comfortable following so close to the other horses. For me it was a fear of becoming part of a bad domino effect that potentially would not end in a very pretty scene. That and the fact that my horse had a 'touch' of ADHD and while I am very patient and understanding of all special needs(it is my profession after all) I was not as understanding as a paying customer just looking for a relaxing ride.

It is well run and the CM's while not as perky as the park and resort CM's are very kind and loving to the animals. It all occurs at a real stable on site at FW and is the the most realistic interaction I had at WDW.

My daughter loved that I did it with her and I do not regret doing it.

That's about the only fact's I can offer..Have a great trip,

Debbie

 

[laurenk]

We did this at Christmas. The horses are VERY gentle, and you DO NOT have to wear pants, but it is suggested. They provide you with helmets. You are out on the trail for about 45 minutes, and before that it takes about a half an hour to get everbody in the group saddled up. I don't think you really have to worry about going in the morning for "fresh" horses. Disney is not going to over work them, and there are plenty to rotate them out. Plus, you aren't moving too fast. We went to Hoop Dee Do after our ride for the first show. It is a good way to spend some time, especially on a busy day!! My family really enjoyed themselves.

 

[zulaya]

Is there a minimum age? My DD is 8 and would love to do this.

 

[goofy4tink]

There is a minimum age but I can't remember if it's 9 or 10. Want to say 9 since that would have been the age my dd was when we did the ride.

As for the ride itself...very gentle, nose to tail, unless you get a horse like mine who decided the surrounding vegetation was a buffet for him!!! Good think I had him and not my dh or dd!!! He was one of the last horses to be used..wonder if it was because of his 'eating' habits. But, he was really fun and I got to 'ride' more than most...meaning I got to have some control over where we went. We did ride out just before a huge torrential downpour that came along with a thunder storm. I had just finished asking the ride asst. what happens if it starts to thunder/lightening while we're out there in the woods, on these strange horses. She said they had checked with the weather radar people just before we left and it was fine...and that the horses didn't really mind it, but that I should be glad it wasn't raining since my particular horse (Mr. tree muncher) hated getting wet!! Well, you can probably guess what happened at that moment....huge crash of thunder, and the downpour started. We rode for about 5 or so more minutes until we got to a spot wide enough to turn the horses around in. We had already been on the ride for about 30 minutes. It was just hysterical seeing all those people (about 9) trying to turn their horses back to where they had just come from. Thank heaven I had ridden before (about 30 yrs. before!) so knew how to turn my poor horse and then dd and dh's horses followed me. We were the last three in line. The asst was really right about my horse not liking to be wet...he kept trying to pick up the pace, but that's a little hard to do when you're horse number 10 in a line of 12!!! But, he kept trying to pass the horses in front of him!! Asst told me she was really glad I was on him and not one of the front people who were, at this point, really freaking out in the storm. By the time we got back to the stable, my feet were soaked, I looked like a drowned rat. We were told to go to the kennel area and we would be given towels so dry off with. Then, we were told that we were being refunded all our money!!! How cool was that? We had been out on the trail for almost an hour and had a ball and it was free!!!! there were some people that really griped about the rain and the bad ride...it is one of my family's favorite memories!!!
I would definately wear long pants and sneakers at least. Sandals would not work. They do give you a helmet. We had a ball even though it is a really gentle ride.

 

[cobbler]

My hubby rode and he went in the afternoon and it was very nice. Of course this was in December

You are required to wear some footwear that does not have heels or are open toed.

He wore pants. (Again December)

He chose not to wear a helmet, it is optional

He thinks it is 7 miles but I think it is less than that maybe 2 miles, I think they were gone over an hour. Maybe because it was a slow day they were out longer.

I think there is a limit of 12 per session that go out. He said a lot of the guides were on their ride out.

The horses are very gentle and they are not allowed to be overworked. He said that they don't have them go out back to back and whatnot.

They also aren't allowed to run because they don't want them to get used to that or get the itch to do that so they walk a very gentle pace. He said the horses know the trail very well. He said you just have to guide them now and again so they don't want to stop and eat the leaves.

He enjoyed it very much. I took the two younger kids to do the pony rides at the petting zoo farm while hubby did that. You have to be 9 years or older to ride the horse and step son was 8 so he just missed the cut. Maybe this year

 

[pooh2001]

Thank you for all the advice

We will try for the 8:30 AM ride.
Better time for wearing pants.
Yes - we will do helmets. We do helmets for bike riding, even though we see others at a local park not using them.

I will also remember to do bug spray. Can I spray it just on the clothes ? Or do we need to do our arms and faces ?

Long sleeve shirt too ? Or a light sweat shirt for 8:30 am ride ?

 

[zulaya]

OK, I am so not a rule breaker, but how strict are they on the 9 yrs? My DD will be 9 on Nov. 17. Our trip this year is Oct 26-Nov 2. It's not like she's a short kid; she's 50+ inches. Does anyone know why that age? Is it height? Maturity?

I just hate to have her miss it by that much, you know?

 

[diswedwish]

We went riding in November, and I was 2nd in line and talked to our guide a lot. One of the things we talked about was the age limit. From what I remember they're pretty strict about it - my guess is that it has something to do with insurance reasons, not necessarily height or maturity. She told a story of how one guest tried to argue their way out of it, and apparently wasn't very nice about it. My advice is explain when her birthday is if they ask for her age - the worst they can say is "no".

There are always the pony rides - and they're much cheaper I'm not sure about how little you have to be, but it might be worth a shot. The barn with the draft horses and Cinderella's coach ponies is near the petting zoo too, and DH and I had a lot of fun watching the horses there.

HTH

 

[zulaya]

Bummer. That's too bad, because she really wants to do it.

 

[mittelst]

I'm going to WDW in April, and plan on doing the horseback riding with my almost-9yo daughter (her birthday is the 1st week in june). I called the stables, and the CM did recite the party line about being 9, but did not say anything about it being for insurance reasons. After answering my questions, she was ready to transfer my call to central reservations so I could set up a time, so I guess she was OK with the age thingk.

My daughter is 55 in. tall and weighs over 80 lbs, so the ponies are out. She certainly is big enough and mature enough. I'm not trying the "get away" with anything.

Does anyone know if you are required to fill out a form stating birth dates?

 

[zulaya]

I hear you. My DD is pretty much the same, very tall and certainly heavy enough for a horse. Maybe I'll just call and see what I can find out.

 

[cobbler]

Does anyone know if you are required to fill out a form stating birth dates?

Yes there is a form you fill out, kind of a release type form and it does have you put your birthdate down and your weight (since you can't be over 250lbs to ride) and you have to sign it.