camping at the fort & not doing parks

[homemaker]

Has anyone with children ever camped at the fort and not gone into the theme parks? I would like to plan a trip for Easter but I don't want to go to the very crowded parks. We have been in the cabins a few times, but never get to enjoy the campground. I would like to take our popup and just camp. Is it going to be difficult to tell the boys NO PARKS? My DH thinks they wont be happy with that. What does everyone else think?

 

[susancl]

I guess that depends on how old the kids are and what kind of camping trips are the norm for you. If you usually go camping and hang out at the campground, they may be fine. But if you usually use the campground as a place to sleep and do a lot of activities outside the campground, you may have a problem.

The crowds can be stressful. One way to go to the parks during peak season is to go early in the AM, leave before lunch and go to the campground to take a nap or swim. Then, go after supper. It's a nice break and you can have your meals at the campground.

 

[Minnie's Mate]

We go to WDW on average three times a year. We went in June and stayed nine days at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and visited the parks for six days. So going to central Florida without going to Disney is like a wierd thing for our children, but we went to Ft. Wilderness with the Airstream for the July 4th week end and didn't go into the parks that trip. It was our first trip to Ft. Wilderness and we wanted to try things out and get a feel for whether we would want to go back with the camper or stick to the hotels. BTW, we have a reservation for MNSSHP at FW and one for a long week end in February and another for next July 4th. We also have a week long trip at Christmas for the Swan and a Week at the Animal Kingdom for Spring Break. So it is a toss up for us.

We went to Trail's End for dinner the first evening, spent a lot of time at the pool the second day, went to the camp fire and movie the night of the second day, went to DTD the third day and spent a lot of time at the pool the rest of that day and spent time at the campsite that evening, and on July 4th (4th day) went to the golf cart parade and did the poney ride and packed up and headed home. There is sooo much to do at Ft. Wilderness that you can find you don't have time to go to the parks if you aren't there for a long stay. Easter Week will be plenty warm enough to spend a lot of time at the pool and doing things at the Ft. so I don't think you will miss the parks.

You will just have to explain to your children that this trip isn't about going to the theme parks, its about camping at Mickey's campground. If you take them to the Rainforest Cafe at DTD, it will seem like they got a little theme park in without needing a ticket.

Just keep in mind that it will be hard to get ADR's if you change your mind after you get there.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

My kids are grown now, but we went the last few times to FW doing the parks only 2 or 3 of the days we spent there. A few years ago, my son and I went alone to FW (he was 16). He told me what he remembered the most about the camping trips to FW and what he liked the best. Not ONCE did he mention a park. He enjoyed riding the boat to WL and CR, taking the monorail around the resort loop, taking the monorail around Epcot, riding his bike around FW, the swamp trail, geocaching around FW, the Electric Water Pageant, the movies, seeing the Halloween decorations at the campsites. Some special times like when we got up early for a bike ride and rode through a herd of grazing deer on the exercise path to WL, taking photos on the swamp trail, seeing wildlife like armadillos, owls and a bald eagle. I was shocked. All those years of park tickets - and he liked the free stuff best! Think of all the money I could have saved........

 

[Minnie's Mate]

All those years of park tickets - and he liked the free stuff best! Think of all the money I could have saved........

Yeah, the first time we took our then 2 year old son to WDW, he had more fun on the escalator at the Land Pavillion! I told my wife we could have saved $4,000 and gone to the mall!

 

[TomM]

On an upcoming trip of 9 nights we are going to the park two days. I think you could easily go to FW and not do the parks. It's great just to swim, ride your bike to Wilderness Lodge, ride the boats, the monorail, roam around DTD, maybe rent a canoe, catch a movie at the campfire, and a waterpark.

 

[MikeM]

We are almost doing this next week. We're staying a week and only going to the MK one day. I have 3 and 13 yr old DDs. I'll re-post when we get back.

We stayed at FW a couple of years ago and stayed at the fort one day without going to the park. It was a great day, there is so much to do. Last year we spent every day at the parks and felt like we missed out on a lot at the fort. I would highly recomend staying at least one day. I don't think the kids will be too dissapointed.

 

[kjsstar]

We're going down in about three weeks and only doing MNSSHP in the parks. There's magic all over WDW not just in the parks. We found that playing a round of minature golf and riding the monrail all the way around Epcot and the Resort loop is just as fun as being in the parks when the crowds are high.

 

[Minnie's Mate]

We're going down in about three weeks and only doing MNSSHP in the parks.

We will be doing MNSSHP on 10/20! We will be doing Epcot on Saturday and MK on Sunday of that week end. We are going to do the Haunted Hay Ride either Saturday or Sunday depending on when we can get tickets. (Hopefully Saturday and Movie on Sunday.) Look for 30' Airstream with lime green Mickey Heads on the site number post.

 

[tallyfamily]

We have gone a few times with out actually going into the parks. We live in Florida and sometimes need a little Disney magic but don't have alot of excess $. We do things like taking the bus to MGM, then the boat to the Yacht and Beach Club for "The Kitchen Sink" ice cream at Beaches and Cream. Or Taking the boat or bus to a theme park, then the bus to Port Orleans, then boat to Downtown Disney and let the lids pick out some new Legos. We'll take the boat to Magic Kingdom then ride the monorail to Epcot and back to Magic Kingdom then boat back to Ft. Wilderness. We make sure to throw in a Character Breakfast one morning. The kids love it! They are 2 and 7.

 

[RocklandRVers]

We (me, wife, son now age 16, our dog) have made 6 trips to Fort Wilderness. I am guessing our average stay is about 8 days. The most we have hit the parks on any one stay is 3 days. We love camping and on spend a lot of weekends sampling campgrounds in a 3-5 hour radius of our NY home so going to FtW just to camp is not such a weird idea for us. It is the best campground we have ever visited and we have seen a lot of them on the east coast over the years.

To answer more specifically, we did visit last February and did not go to the park at all. We did the campfire show, hit the pool, visited the resorts, etc. We had a great time just relaxing in the warm Florida weather. Sure beat the below freezing weather back home.

 

[PenskeSth1]

We just went for a week in July and we didn't go to the parks! My kids are 8 and 17. We have been to Disney so much that it doesn't even phase my kids to not go in the parks.(for us they are just too busy)

We like to just relax and hang out at the Fort, we ride bikes, go to the petting zoo, do the camp fire and sing along, and swim, swim, swim...

We have passes to the water parks and the Quest though. It is not unusual for us to make ressies and not go in the parks. There is so much to do on property without going into the parks.

kjsstar: I always said my favorite ride at Disney was the monorail! (and it doesn't cost you a penny)

 

[bama_ed]

I suggested this and got hooted down

If you've been to DW recently and or the kids are older/younger you might get away with it. My kids are 8-13 and they want to visit the parks some. So we went but spent only half our days in the parks and half our days outside the parks mostly enjoying FW. If you are in this situation you might limit it to a day or two out of a week. The way the ticket prices are structured now, once you pay for 4 days then 10 days is not that much more!

But the idea of just camping and relaxing at FW resonates with adults (and those too young to know better) but doesn't with anyone else.

Bama ED

 

[Escape Artist]

So we went but spent only half our days in the parks and half our days outside the parks mostly enjoying FW. If you are in this situation you might limit it to a day or two out of a week. The way the ticket prices are structured now, once you pay for 4 days then 10 days is not that much more!

Bama ED

And with H2O+ and the no expiration option, you can make those 10-day tickets last thru a lot of camping trips!

Sue in TX