Camper Rental - Is it a good idea?

[FeistyDisneyMom]

I'm just over 2 years out from the trip we want to take, and I've been falling in love with Ft. Wilderness and the regulars who post here! My family has done tent camping elsewhere, but I was thinking it would be much nicer if I rented a 5th wheel in Orlando. I've seen some services say they deliver, park, and hookup for you right at your Ft. Wilderness site. Does anyone have any experience with that kind of rental? From my perspective, it seems almost too good to be true, so I keep looking for a catch or a problem. We are a family of 7, and while we DO regularly travel and camp together, it is for long weekends at most, and I'd much rather stay for a nice long 8-10 days, and Ft. Wilderness just can't be beat for value and immersive experience.

 

[G719]

I'm just over 2 years out from the trip we want to take, and I've been falling in love with Ft. Wilderness and the regulars who post here! My family has done tent camping elsewhere, but I was thinking it would be much nicer if I rented a 5th wheel in Orlando. I've seen some services say they deliver, park, and hookup for you right at your Ft. Wilderness site. Does anyone have any experience with that kind of rental? From my perspective, it seems almost too good to be true, so I keep looking for a catch or a problem. We are a family of 7, and while we DO regularly travel and camp together, it is for long weekends at most, and I'd much rather stay for a nice long 8-10 days, and Ft. Wilderness just can't be beat for value and immersive experience.

We just did a 5 night rental June 3-8 and I wish we had skipped the 3 days at universal and just stayed at Disney for the whole trip. We had stayed twice before in a cabin and loved it too.

We rented from Meachams and it was a very easy process. They really have thought of everything you might want and included it in the camper. We also rented a golf cart from them. The camper was set up and cooled down by the time we showed up.

We rented a larger RV with a bunkhouse for the 4 of us because our kids like their own space. Plus we needed a place to cook and have healthier meals. The RV met our needs better than the cabins this time.

The one thing with meachams that some people give them bad reviews for is that your reservation is nonrefundable but you get a credit that never expires. I didn't have a problem with that.

I would use meachams again for the fort. We had such a great trip.

 

[ms_flo]

I've stayed at FW in a rental camper twice. It's not too good to be true. It's GREAT! I highly recommend it.
It's been 5 & 6 years since we went, so I don't have any current info. But if you're interested, I will try to look up the companies we used.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

This is great news I hadn't seen Meachams yet, but had seen Florida Camper Rental. I will continue planning then and can't wait until we can book our week+!

 

[G719]

This is great news I hadn't seen Meachams yet, but had seen Florida Camper Rental. I will continue planning then and can't wait until we can book our week+!

https://www.traveltrailerrent.com/Meachams is listed on the disney site as one of their official vendors. I'm not sure what advantages they get over other vendors. I think they can get your site number before you get there for one thing so they can set up.

I already started thinking about next time and am considering https://www.korvrental.com/. They have more high end RVs with more spacious bathrooms. That was the one complaint from one family member. They wanted a bigger shower.

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

I have no experience, but I'd suggest checking this blog article out.

 

[Sjm9911]

I haven't rented, but note that 7 people in one camper will be a bit tight. So get the biggest one possable and make sure you have an awning. Look at the floorplans and make sure you have beds for all. A screen tent outside may be a needed expense, to store some stuff out of the way.

 

[nomorethan8]

Something with a Bunkhouse setup would work pretty good without impeding on the living space of the camper.

We have done the cabins and setup a tent on a site years ago. We put the teenagers in the tent. Which looking back, could be considered foolish. But it was done for the purposes of people management. A bunkhouse would do almost the same.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

"That there's adventure sleeping" Opie Taylor

 

[morrik5]

We've booked Meacham for our daughter's trip in April. Easy to work with. Be forewarned of their cancellation policy: "We do not issue any refunds on payments applied to a scheduled rental we only allow a credit for future use with no expiration."

They need the following info from you:
What time do you plan on arriving?
Please send us your reservation number
What type of campsite do you have reserved
DISNEY DOES NOT GIVE SITE # UNTIL YOU CHECK IN OR UNTIL WE ARRIVE

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

One of the reasons I find Ft Wilderness so attractive are all the ways you can spread out beyond the room. I will say - even the most spacious rooms can feel cramped with 7 if you are spending too much time inside, but with more of our days spent outside or enjoying the resort grounds, I think it'll be a couple of meals (eaten mainly outside) and sleeping. It is just the 2 adults (me and DH), and 5 kids (DD14, DD11, DS9, DD7 and DD4). We will be driving a 12 passenger sprinter van named the Disneymobile (its my daily driver when we do anything as a family - our other car is an electric car that only seats 4 and we call it the golf cart ).

I like the idea of using official vendors, so Meacham is now at the top of my list. Now to read that excellent blog post linked above, and continue my planning! Given that we are making this trip specifically because of a Girl Scout function, I'm tempted to book quite a few more days at FW than I plan on buying park tickets. With as much as there is to do and see, I am pretty sure DH and DS (and likely DD14 who will be 16 at the time and isn't very interested in girl scouts these days) will have plenty to do around the grounds while the other DDs and I go off to do GS stuff.

When it comes to getting around the resort, would it work to just use the van? Or would we be looking at two golf cart rentals? There are very few golf cart options that seat 7 unfortunately. Or should I just pack the bikes and let the kids take turn biking places while up to 4 of us take the cart?

 

[Sjm9911]

They have buses in the fort that travel around. People like them. They will also take you to the buses or boats that go to the other resorts, disney springs , and parks. You could bring some bikes, thats always a good idea. 2 golf carts would break me. Lol. I like driving to the parks, except for mk, for that take the boats. You could take the buses also. Oh, and if going during Christmas or halloween, then spring for the golf carts, as the decorations are out of this world.

 

[morrik5]

There is no parking for your own vehicle at different locations within The Fort so another means of transportation is required be it bus, bike, golf cart or if you have your own Segway which has to meet Disney's standards.

 

[G719]

One of the reasons I find Ft Wilderness so attractive are all the ways you can spread out beyond the room. I will say - even the most spacious rooms can feel cramped with 7 if you are spending too much time inside, but with more of our days spent outside or enjoying the resort grounds, I think it'll be a couple of meals (eaten mainly outside) and sleeping. It is just the 2 adults (me and DH), and 5 kids (DD14, DD11, DS9, DD7 and DD4). We will be driving a 12 passenger sprinter van named the Disneymobile (its my daily driver when we do anything as a family - our other car is an electric car that only seats 4 and we call it the golf cart ).

I like the idea of using official vendors, so Meacham is now at the top of my list. Now to read that excellent blog post linked above, and continue my planning! Given that we are making this trip specifically because of a Girl Scout function, I'm tempted to book quite a few more days at FW than I plan on buying park tickets. With as much as there is to do and see, I am pretty sure DH and DS (and likely DD14 who will be 16 at the time and isn't very interested in girl scouts these days) will have plenty to do around the grounds while the other DDs and I go off to do GS stuff.

When it comes to getting around the resort, would it work to just use the van? Or would we be looking at two golf cart rentals? There are very few golf cart options that seat 7 unfortunately. Or should I just pack the bikes and let the kids take turn biking places while up to 4 of us take the cart?

It would be a good solution to have a golf cart plus bikes. You can get 5 people on the cart if 3 of them are small enough to fit across the back bench seat.

One good thing about the campsites is you don't pay for parking at the resort for your car like at other resorts and you get free parking at the parks. We drove to the parks this trip for the first time and found we preferred this to taking the bus. The only park we didn't drive to was MK.

 

[Disneyloverliz]

We just did a 5 night rental June 3-8 and I wish we had skipped the 3 days at universal and just stayed at Disney for the whole trip. We had stayed twice before in a cabin and loved it too.

We rented from Meachams and it was a very easy process. They really have thought of everything you might want and included it in the camper. We also rented a golf cart from them. The camper was set up and cooled down by the time we showed up.

We rented a larger RV with a bunkhouse for the 4 of us because our kids like their own space. Plus we needed a place to cook and have healthier meals. The RV met our needs better than the cabins this time.

The one thing with meachams that some people give them bad reviews for is that your reservation is nonrefundable but you get a credit that never expires. I didn't have a problem with that.

I would use meachams again for the fort. We had such a great trip.

We’re renting from them in august at the recommendation of someone who loved the experience! I can’t wait!

 

[morrik5]

It would be a good solution to have a golf cart plus bikes. You can get 5 people on the cart if 3 of them are small enough to fit across the back bench seat.

One good thing about the campsites is you don't pay for parking at the resort for your car like at other resorts and you get free parking at the parks. We drove to the parks this trip for the first time and found we preferred this to taking the bus. The only park we didn't drive to was MK.

Yes and you would be saving on the parking fee that you would pay if you stayed in a cabin.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

Hrm, we will likely do the golf cart + bikes then. Especially on days when we are dividing up, it'll make sense to have the golf cart.

Some of the rental places also mention Disney-approved firepit rentals. Does that seem like a good add-on? I can't imagine wanting/needing fire for warmth, but a small little fire pit that can roast hot dogs and/or toast marshmellows would be a cool finishing touch. It is currently a bit low on my list though, because there are so many other incredible things you can spend money on. Luckily I have a couple years to be saving up!

 

[Sjm9911]

Depends, we went in oct/November 2019. We brought our own fire pit, it was in the 90s the whole time we were there. So it was never used. Some stuff, depending on space, can be bought at the wallmart down the street. You can always pack a charcoal grill ( they have cool folding ones), or just go to where they have the movies outside ( and chip n dale hopefully) , they have big firepits there and you can bring your own marshmallows or hot dogs, or buy them from the truck on sceen. Oh , and sometimes wood is scarce in the fort.

 

[soccermom1422]

We had a great experience renting an RV from Meacham's a couple of years ago and have one booked with them for our trip in August. They make it very easy and their rates for golf cart rentals are much more affordable than renting from Disney.

 

[Fundytrail]

We used Meacham's (https://www.traveltrailerrent.com/), great people to work with for a Fort Wilderness trailer rental!