Our family had a blast! Fort Wilderness is great and all the help I received from this board was a huge help. I will say that the 2000 loop was perfect for us, however, our neighbors were very upset that they were not able to be in the 1500 loop. They thought 1500 was much better. If anyone has any questions that I can help with, please feel free to ask.
Back from FW -- It was great!
- Thread starter Kanda
- Start date
1derfultigger
FW Bound
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2007
- Messages
- 86
Kanda, we have our first trip scheduled for July - so we're curious. How long were you there? Did you RV or tent? Did you rent a golf cart? If not, did you feel a need for one? What did you like and was there anything you didn't like? How was the transportation? Did you visit the parks everyday? Any tips or tricks you picked up on to share? Anything you paid for and felt like it was not worth the money? Anything you didn't do but wish you had?
How long were you there? 7 nights
Did you RV or tent? Tent, 2000 loop
Did you rent a golf cart? Yes, but not the entire time. We got there Sat and had Magic Kingdom planned for Sunday and we visited my dad in Tampa on Monday, so we didn't get the golf cart until Tuesday. I thought the bus system was fine, but my DH would not have gone to the water parade if he had to take the bus, nor would he have gone to the campfire movies. He really liked the convenience of coming and going at him time and not waiting on the buses.
What did you like and was there anything you didn't like? We liked the close proximity to the comfort stations, we liked the security, we liked our friendly neighbors on both sides, we liked the cleanliness of the campground, I can't think of anything we didn't like, maybe the cost of ice and laundry ($2.00 for a bag of ice and $5.00 for a load of laundry). But hey, it's Disney, we expect things to be expensive right?
How was the transportation? The transportation was ok. We never really got the hang of it, which color goes where. Once we picked up our golf cart, everything was better, as soon as the park bus dropped us off, we got on our golf cart and headed to our campsite. It prevents you from having to get off one bus and wait for an internal bus. The transportation to and from the parks was fine, very timely, and never overly crowded, although it may not be like that in July.
Did you visit the parks everyday? Nope, like I said, we were in Tampa on Monday, which was the only cold and rainy day of our whole week there, then we went to MGM on Tuesday, stayed at the campsite on Wednesday, rode our bikes, cooked out, went swimming, went to the campfire sing along, etc, Thursday we went to AK in the morning and Pirate & Princess Party Thursday night, then Friday we rented a boat and rode around the lake for a few hours and let our little one try out all the different playgrounds, and sadly, Saturday, we packed up and drove home.
Any tips or tricks you picked up on to share? There's a short cut from the 2000 loop to the Meadows Trading Post and pool, let me know if you're tent camping and I'll give you details on thes short cut. Also, the CM's were especially friendly to us when we wore matching t-shirts (check out the Creative forum here for great t-shirt ideas), If you eat at the Trail's End, you do not have to eat the buffet, they have ala carte items you can order, but you have to ask for them. Also, we went to a character breakfast, but I don't eat breakfast and I thought they would charge me anyway, but they didn't. Your entire party does not have to eat at the character meals.
Anything you paid for and felt like it was not worth the money? Anything you didn't do but wish you had? Not really, the boat we rented was $72.00 for an hour (pricey to me) but my son really loved it. I think some better planning next time would benefit us. We drove 10 hours Saturday morning and set up our campsite and had Hoop De Doo reservations for 7:15, then 8:05 Crystal Palace reservations the next morning, that was a lot to do in a short period of time, but the rest of the week was spaced out better. I'm glad we had some down time to check out the campground. I did miss the nemo attraction at AK and didn't even realize it until we got home, so that's something I'll make sure to catch next time. Also, I'm glad we didn't add the hopper option to our tickets, I was afraid we would want to hop, but the opportunity never occured. We just did a park and a day and that was plenty.
Those were great questions and I hope I helped. I will mention that one down side to our trip was a rude lady at the pool. My DS and I were in the shallow end of the pool playing around and she came up to that end and sat down on the edge while talking on her cell phone. She said "stop splashing" in a not so nice tone. HELLO, this is a pool, you're in the kiddie section, and we were here first, go talk on the phone somewhere else. But we just moved to the other side of the pool and waited for her to leave. Other than that, everyone we encountered was extremely nice and made our trip very enjoyable.
Did you RV or tent? Tent, 2000 loop
Did you rent a golf cart? Yes, but not the entire time. We got there Sat and had Magic Kingdom planned for Sunday and we visited my dad in Tampa on Monday, so we didn't get the golf cart until Tuesday. I thought the bus system was fine, but my DH would not have gone to the water parade if he had to take the bus, nor would he have gone to the campfire movies. He really liked the convenience of coming and going at him time and not waiting on the buses.
What did you like and was there anything you didn't like? We liked the close proximity to the comfort stations, we liked the security, we liked our friendly neighbors on both sides, we liked the cleanliness of the campground, I can't think of anything we didn't like, maybe the cost of ice and laundry ($2.00 for a bag of ice and $5.00 for a load of laundry). But hey, it's Disney, we expect things to be expensive right?
How was the transportation? The transportation was ok. We never really got the hang of it, which color goes where. Once we picked up our golf cart, everything was better, as soon as the park bus dropped us off, we got on our golf cart and headed to our campsite. It prevents you from having to get off one bus and wait for an internal bus. The transportation to and from the parks was fine, very timely, and never overly crowded, although it may not be like that in July.
Did you visit the parks everyday? Nope, like I said, we were in Tampa on Monday, which was the only cold and rainy day of our whole week there, then we went to MGM on Tuesday, stayed at the campsite on Wednesday, rode our bikes, cooked out, went swimming, went to the campfire sing along, etc, Thursday we went to AK in the morning and Pirate & Princess Party Thursday night, then Friday we rented a boat and rode around the lake for a few hours and let our little one try out all the different playgrounds, and sadly, Saturday, we packed up and drove home.
Any tips or tricks you picked up on to share? There's a short cut from the 2000 loop to the Meadows Trading Post and pool, let me know if you're tent camping and I'll give you details on thes short cut. Also, the CM's were especially friendly to us when we wore matching t-shirts (check out the Creative forum here for great t-shirt ideas), If you eat at the Trail's End, you do not have to eat the buffet, they have ala carte items you can order, but you have to ask for them. Also, we went to a character breakfast, but I don't eat breakfast and I thought they would charge me anyway, but they didn't. Your entire party does not have to eat at the character meals.
Anything you paid for and felt like it was not worth the money? Anything you didn't do but wish you had? Not really, the boat we rented was $72.00 for an hour (pricey to me) but my son really loved it. I think some better planning next time would benefit us. We drove 10 hours Saturday morning and set up our campsite and had Hoop De Doo reservations for 7:15, then 8:05 Crystal Palace reservations the next morning, that was a lot to do in a short period of time, but the rest of the week was spaced out better. I'm glad we had some down time to check out the campground. I did miss the nemo attraction at AK and didn't even realize it until we got home, so that's something I'll make sure to catch next time. Also, I'm glad we didn't add the hopper option to our tickets, I was afraid we would want to hop, but the opportunity never occured. We just did a park and a day and that was plenty.
Those were great questions and I hope I helped. I will mention that one down side to our trip was a rude lady at the pool. My DS and I were in the shallow end of the pool playing around and she came up to that end and sat down on the edge while talking on her cell phone. She said "stop splashing" in a not so nice tone. HELLO, this is a pool, you're in the kiddie section, and we were here first, go talk on the phone somewhere else. But we just moved to the other side of the pool and waited for her to leave. Other than that, everyone we encountered was extremely nice and made our trip very enjoyable.
1derfultigger
FW Bound
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2007
- Messages
- 86
Thank you for the quick and info filled response. We will be bringing our TT, so no tents for us but thanks anyway. We are going for 8 nights and plan on spreading ourselves out as well and spending a day or two doing things other than Disney - been there and done that on the cramming it all in in so little time before.
I hear you on the rude lady. Not sure it would have been so easy for me to just move away. I would understand a little more if my kids were splashing on the adult side or splashing enough to bother her in a chair. But, if she's sitting in the pool with a cell phone on the kiddie side, she asked for it and I'll tell her so.
Thanks again.
I hear you on the rude lady. Not sure it would have been so easy for me to just move away. I would understand a little more if my kids were splashing on the adult side or splashing enough to bother her in a chair. But, if she's sitting in the pool with a cell phone on the kiddie side, she asked for it and I'll tell her so.
Thanks again.
proudmomof4
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2006
- Messages
- 1,410
I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves and that you liked FW.
HappyDznyCamper
<font color=teal>Happily camping since 1972<br><fo
- Joined
- May 31, 2006
- Messages
- 2,939
PLEASE tell me that was a typo whenever you said doing a load of laundry was 5.00 were you kidding ?
By the time you use the dryers that sounds about right.
bama_ed
It's kind of fun to do the impossible-Walt Disney
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2004
- Messages
- 13,683
Great report! 
We rented a pontoon boat for an hour last year in May and the cost with an AAA discount was about $72 an hour. We tooled around Bay Lake and into Seven Seas Lagoon by MK, CR, GF, and the Poly (it's like restrictor plate boating). I thought I got off cheap considering a friend of mine calls his boat " a hole in the water you pour money into".
Bama ED
We rented a pontoon boat for an hour last year in May and the cost with an AAA discount was about $72 an hour. We tooled around Bay Lake and into Seven Seas Lagoon by MK, CR, GF, and the Poly (it's like restrictor plate boating). I thought I got off cheap considering a friend of mine calls his boat " a hole in the water you pour money into".
Bama ED
Thanks for all the info from your trip. Sounds like you had a great time, and now you can start to plan your next one!
Just a quick questions about the short cut over to the Meadow pool, etc... We will be staying in April, and probably get the 2000 loop. How long does it take you to walk over to the Meadow trading post and the pool??
Thanks for your help!
Just a quick questions about the short cut over to the Meadow pool, etc... We will be staying in April, and probably get the 2000 loop. How long does it take you to walk over to the Meadow trading post and the pool??
Thanks for your help!
Thanks for all the info from your trip. Sounds like you had a great time, and now you can start to plan your next one!
Just a quick questions about the short cut over to the Meadow pool, etc... We will be staying in April, and probably get the 2000 loop. How long does it take you to walk over to the Meadow trading post and the pool??
Thanks for your help!
It's actually a short walk, if you take the short cut. Go to site 2042 and you'll see a path that leads to the back side of the group camping comfort station, go to the right of the comfort station, kinda through group camping and you'll see a bridge that takes you over to the 900 loop, half way through that loop is the Meadows area. It a 7-10 minute walk with a 3 year old!
We're spoiled now to February. I'm already planning on the first week of February next year. Did I mention that our longest wait on anything at all 3 parks we visited was 10 minutes, and that was for Peter Pan of all things. Of course we didn't do the Mountains (BTMRR, Splash, or Space).
disneynewbeemom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2006
- Messages
- 847
We are going to FW in October and requested loop 2000. Were the sites large? Who much stuff did you have on your site? Were there any security issues about leaving your campsite all day while in the parks? Could you see the fireworks from FW?
clkelley
<font color=purple>I squealed really loud!!<br><fo
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2001
- Messages
- 12,571
PLEASE tell me that was a typo whenever you said doing a load of laundry was 5.00 were you kidding ?
Yep, $2.00 to wash, $2.00 to dry, $1.00 for a box of single use powder. If you bring your own detergent and dryer sheets, then that cuts it down to $4.00
DisneyBride'03
<marquee><font color=red>Jambo Wildbunch Gang</mar
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2007
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bigdisneydaddy
Fan of all things Fort wilderness
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2000
- Messages
- 3,964
Great report!
We rented a pontoon boat for an hour last year in May and the cost with an AAA discount was about $72 an hour. We tooled around Bay Lake and into Seven Seas Lagoon by MK, CR, GF, and the Poly (it's like restrictor plate boating). I thought I got off cheap considering a friend of mine calls his boat " a hole in the water you pour money into".
Bama ED
I feel the same way about the golf carts.
auntie
<font color=darkorchid>It's a really lovely way to
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2003
- Messages
- 7,311
Is that true..about the AAA discount on the marina rentals..I have never heard that. I wonder also if it's just at FW or any of the marinas on Bay Lake..WL or POLY? How much is the discount?
We are tent camping in April and asked for the 2000 loop. How was sleeping on the ground for a week? That is my biggest concern. I'm worried we won't be rested for the next day. Did you take the busses each time or did you ever try driving to the parks?
Thanks for all this info!
Thanks for all this info!
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