Bike Barn and other rentals to fill the day?

[peyjax]

We love the fort despite only having visited once. Would love to stay but it is a budget trip squeezing out one more use of our APs. So we are going to spend some time there hanginig out. We were going to shop, eat at the buffet and go to the campfire. I would love to ride bikes or rent a canoe to fill in the day some.

What are the rates for bike rental and what kind of bikes do the have (surrey bikes, bikes with places for toddlers, bikes for kids, etc.)?

What is the canoe rental? Horse rides?

Any experiences with any of the above?

What are other great ways to fill the day at the fort?

 

[des1954]

I'm sorry I can't give you any rate information, but, IIRC, the surrey bikes are only available at WL. I believe the bike barn only rents regular bikes. I have heard it mentioned that for the cost of a bike rental you can go to Walmart & pick up cheap bikes for less money. Other people on the board have stated doing that & just giving them to another camper when they leave.

That being said....biking around the Fort is an awesome way to spend time. Plus, you can ride the paved trail that connects to WL - which you are not allowed to take a golf cart on. Other no cost options are taking the launches to the resorts, riding the resort monorails, taking the buses to visit other resorts - we call that "resort hopping" and it can be a lot of fun exploring the resorts. Each one is its own theme park - sans the rides!

I hope you have a great trip!

 

[stacktester]

Bikes are about $20 a day and they have to be back by 5:00. Canoes and kayaks are about $16 an hour. TCD has a pic of the rate board at the barn but I'm not sure how to search for it. Horseback riding if IIRC is about $45 an hour and you have to be under 250 pounds. Guess I'll never see the horsetrail huh? At least not on a horse.

 

[peyjax]

I just called to get the rates.

Bike rental- $9 per hour $18 per day.
Canoe and Kayak rental- $6.50 per half hour. Maximum 3 people per boat.

Yes they rent bicycles with toddler seats -not sure if those are extra? and they have kid bikes with training wheels.

Is an hour enough time to ride around the fort and perhaps over to Wilderness Lodge?

 

[peggyN]

An hour would be a quick trip to WL and around the campground. It's doable but more fun to take your time. I rode to WL, stopped on the beach trail, had lunch at the lodge and came home. I had the bike from 11:00 on and was ready to turn it in at 4. Didn't count the time I abandoned the bike after falling off in front of a bazillion people.

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

Sorry for the thread drift, but I've never understood where you actually take the canoes...is there a way to access more than just the water in front of the bike barn?

 

[stacktester]

Sorry for the thread drift, but I've never understood where you actually take the canoes...is there a way to access more than just the water in front of the bike barn?

You paddle from the bike barn north which takes you between the 600 and 1400 loop. The last time we canoed thru there it was covered in algae. The overhead map shows a vast looking river lol. Once you get out behind the 300loop it widens out some and has some nice views.

 

[bama_ed]

You can take the canoes out and paddle in a loop. Leaving the Bike Barn we like to turn right and, as Stacktester said, start down between the 600 and 1400 loop. It comes out by the dog park by 300 loop, we turn right into the larger, more open canal that drains off Bay Lake, paddle down by the 1500 loop, turn right again, and come back in around by the tennis courts and main Fort Wilderness pool. It should take nominally about 30 minutes.

We see fish and baby gators most times. Early in the morning or late in the day maybe a deer along the larger canal. The only thing is if the waterlevel is down your canoe might run aground (mine did) right under the bridge between the pool and the trading post. But maybe that's just me. Shouldn't have had that second donut that morning I guess. But they give you all the life jackets, etc. so any canoing novice can enjoy it.

Bama ED

 

[Memph1s]

We really enjoyed renting a pontoon boat and looping around Bay Lake. They are pitifully under powered and they will not let you fish but we had fun. We went all the way over to MK and back the long way. We had a large pontoon boat that will carry 10 people and it cost about $32 per 1/2 hour. Our trip was 45 Min.

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

Ah, I see. Thanks for the input. All these visits, and I've never done the canoes there. I'll have to check it out next time!

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Take your fisging poles, you dont need license as long as your fishing Disney property. Some times the fish'n is great,,,some times it's just fish'n.

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Here's a link to a thread from earlier this year. The photo Stacktester mentioned is posted there:

Canoes???? (Click on this)

Also, there is a link in one of the posts on that thread to a trip report with some good photos of what you might see if you rent a canoe at the Fort.

I'm editing my post to add a photo from Shan-man's Google Earth map which shows the basic canoe trail, as described by BamaEd, above:

As shown, the basic trail is about one mile. You can also go up and down the large canal that borders the campground. If you go to the south, you will be heading toward some of the WDW golf courses. I am not sure how far you can go, but I think you could at least get to the golf course itself.

And, since I am editing my post anyway, here is a photo of the price list which was posted at the Bike Barn in February, 2009:

TCD