Cost Crunch

[babytrees]

gilesdad- we are doing almost identical to you....tenting it and driving our reliable little Ford Escort.(ours will be 3400 miles round trip ) but this is the cheapest way for us to get to go to WDW for our first time....plus staying at the resort.

Plus with camping you just never know what you will find on the journey there!!

 

[clkelley]

I also tent camp at Ft. Wilderness every December, but I fly. For the past 3 years, I have managed to find an airfare for myself that is less than what it would cost me to put gas in my truck roundtrip, and now that Magical Express is there and free, I love it!! Now, I don't cook on this camping trip, so there's no savings there.

Camping at Ft. Wilderness just can't be beat!!!!!

Carol

 

[rbork]

One 8 day stay at FW plus 2 years of camping paid for our pop up. We saved $2800 for one trip in lodging /airfair/eating breakfast/lunch out every time! Pop up is still cheaper than the resort thing. I don't stay at the value resorts anyways. BTW I gaurantee my pop up is cleaner than ANY hotel room. (germophobe coming out.. ooops.)
In closing I will admit camping is getting much more expensive as time goes on.

 

[stillh2o]

I know my motor coach bed is a lot cleaner then any hotel. Plus at mid night if I want a something to eat I have it try that at the hotels. Did I say it was clean, I like clean. Just waiting for new motor coach

 

[striker3636]

We camp with a 23' hybrid and love it! We save on food, enjoy much more room than in a hotel, and we have everything we need on board. I second the other poster's comments about camping fees going up all around. We have definitely found this as well - Canada, U.S.A, government park or private campground. When I look at all the things we can do at FW the additional cost doesn't seem so much. We come in value season and when I compare the services, perks, and programs that come with camping at FW, you can't come close with just camping anywhere or staying in a hotel. We love being able to come "home" from the park, have a bite to eat, go for a bike ride, head over to the sing a long, watch a movie, roast some marshmellows, have a quick dip in the pool, head back and get the kids into bed, and still have some space for stretching out and relaxing. (ok, maybe not all in the same night, but you get the idea!) We can easily fill a down day from the parks with all the things at FW. We saved so much on accomodations and food that we were able to change the original 1 week plan at one of the resorts to an 11 night stay at FW once we bought our hybrid.

 

[dizneybelle]

My husband has just talked me into upgrading our tiny little pop-up to a hybrid type camper. (At least we'll have a bathroom and a fridge!) While that is nothing compared to the big RVs like you all are discussing, it's a step up for us. The only way my hubby talked me into it was to say we could then go camping at Disney! I'm assuming there are other small campers there(?) Just wondering, we're not even started to get info together yet for a trip. I'm trying to weigh in all the expenses.

There are smaller campers there. We have a 25 foot TT and my BIL have a 25 foot pop up and we go all the time. The only way I would agree to stay in a camper is if we went to WDW at least once a year. We love FT Wilderness camping and think it is totally worth the money!

 

[Laura_Lewis]

My husband and I have also been discussing the cost of our upcoming trip comparing driving down from the Chicago area in our motor home versus flying down. This is our first visit to FW and I am very excited about our trip. I like the idea of having my second 'home' with me. Even though campground prices are going out of site, and gas is so high, I still think we are better off driving down. We have our own beds, I don't have to worry about overpacking and getting charged extra by an airline for my luggage, I can bring my dogs, and we can eat our own food if we choose to.

I think that after 9/11 people got a little nervous about flying and a number of them went out and bought motor homes/campers and I think that many campgrounds took advantage of this. The good news (I hope) is that I expect that campgrounds (okay maybe not FW) will have to start lowering their prices soon if the gas prices stay where they are at. People will start deciding that camping is not as cost effective as it once was and getting rid of their campers. I just saw an article about Winnebago losing money because of slumping sales.

 

[SandrA9810]

Yesterday when I was watching tv, they had a thing on PBS about motorhomes, and travelling with them. Part of the boom in trailors and such is that all the baby boomers are retiring and they all want to hit the road. So that's the greatest market. Older ones are trading up, and selling thier smaller ones to the new travellers.

FW is starting to hit us too. Two years ago we were staying at the value resorts, and since our income hasn't gone up, we've become campers. Our biggest perk to staying on site is not having to drive into the parks and pay for parking. (Seasonal Passes don't get you free parking, but they do give you rate discounts.) But even this next trip seems to be kind of costly. Since preffered sites is the only thing available. I really want to go to the F&W festival, and Kari got invited to a techie trade show up there on the last weekend. And we're splitting costs with my mom to stay there. If it wasn't for the last couple of reasons, we wouldn't be able to swing it at all.

Two christmas's ago, we stayed at a ramada off site for 35$ a night. The next year we decided to do Pop Century for 49$ a night. Minus the 8 bucks for parking, it was well worth it. But now, it's getting harder to budget the campgrounds.

 

[michelle9343]

We have been staying at FW for over 12 yrs. The prices have really gone up but so as everything else in the world. The rates really change alot during different seasons. The summer this year was crazy! We did a quick trip in Sept and had a great rate, campground was empty. We are going at christmas and booked it coming in a few days early so we could still be in pre- holiday rate at big savings although last year early Dec was value season Disney got smart that a lot of us would come in the day or 2 before the holiday rate jump. We also stopped staying in preferred sites. That helps save quit q bit. We bought our own golf cart this past summer so that also saves alot.Regardless FW is my favorite way to do Disney. I really enjoy a FW morning esp in the winter months . What a great way to start the day.