Earliest you've gotten on site?

[MushLRC]

As I've mentioned before, this is our first time at the fort. I'm having a hard time figuring out and entry an departing plan for this. Usually we stay in a hotel. We leave around 5 p.m. and drive straight through. Get in town around noonish. Go to hotel and we have been lucky enough that they have had our room ready or close enough to being ready that we just milled around the hotel for a bit. When we leave we just get up and out the door by 6 a.m. to drive straight through 20 hours home. I have no idea what to do with the fact I have to set up and take down camp. For arrival what is the earliest time anyone has been blessed to get onto a site? I would like to try to sneak in a bit early in the day if that is ever a possibility so we aren't still setting up camp at dinner time. Any seasoned fort goers care to share their experience?

Thanks a bunch

 

[SinceDay1]

I have gotten in around 11ish, I am guessing it has to do if your site is ready or not. I know I have seen some fellow campers park in the over flow lot and go to the parks or whatever the one back and go and set up once their site was ready for them.

Richard

 

[North of Mouse]

As I've mentioned before, this is our first time at the fort. I'm having a hard time figuring out and entry an departing plan for this. Usually we stay in a hotel. We leave around 5 p.m. and drive straight through. Get in town around noonish. Go to hotel and we have been lucky enough that they have had our room ready or close enough to being ready that we just milled around the hotel for a bit. When we leave we just get up and out the door by 6 a.m. to drive straight through 20 hours home. I have no idea what to do with the fact I have to set up and take down camp. For arrival what is the earliest time anyone has been blessed to get onto a site? I would like to try to sneak in a bit early in the day if that is ever a possibility so we aren't still setting up camp at dinner time. Any seasoned fort goers care to share their experience?

Thanks a bunch

This past April we were able to get in at 10:30, but that's the earliest, and the 'only' time we were able to get in that early. Just some that trip, I guess.

We usually arrive between 11:00 - 12:00. Sometimes we get in then, sometimes we have to wait anywhere from 15min - 1 hour. All depends on if they have your site ready or not.

Have a great trip!

 

[Nature Mom]

Last December my DD and I was too excited and couldn't sleep so we left home and headed down at about 10 pm, getting to the Fort while still dark. They gave us a site at around 6:00 in the morning and we watched the sun come up. It was great!

 

[2goofycampers]

We've gotten in at 9AM. Next time we got there at 9AM and got our site at 2PM. You never know.

 

[bama_ed]

Mush, here's what happens:

Days before arrival you have the opportunity to use the early checkin online where you can specify an estimated arrival time, request a specific loop, etc. Based on that information or none at all, guests arriving each day are pre-assigned a site number.

Sometimes you are assigned a site that has someone camping on it but leaving the same morning you arrive. The Fort needs an hour or two once they leave to clean it and prep it for you. What's best is if no one was on the site the night before you arrive - then it's just sitting there waiting for you to arrive.

When you get to the checkin entry at the Fort, the CM will say, "your site is ready, here it is" or they will say, "your site is not ready yet but we can text you when it is". The latter is what happened to me in March 2012 - I had requested a particular loop and when I arrived at 11am there was no site available in that loop yet (it hadn't been cleaned/prepped yet). Since I wanted a site in that loop I was willing to wait for one so the CM gave us all our paperwork EXCEPT we didn't have a site number yet. We went off property to lunch and got a text while eating with our site number. We bought groceries then headed back and went directly to the site.

If the site is not ready/available when you arrive, then you can ask for a site that is available immediately and the CM will switch you over to it right away and you can go set up. So the choice is yours. Be flexible, it's all good, and it will work out.

Bama Ed

PS - my last trip in April I checked in at 1030am and my site in 100 loop was available immediately.

 

[thegoofyfamily]

What date do you check in? Now that Summer is ending, the availability opens up and you shouldn't have any problems checking in early unless you are wanting a specific site. The weekends......especially Labor Day weekend will be more full, but if you are checking in Mon-Thurs, you should be fine.

As you get closer to Halloween, our weather starts to cool down and the holidays start kicking into full gear..... That's when the Fort availability goes down.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) We have let people onto their campsite as early as 6:30am.
2) Of course, it was empty the night before.
3) If occupied the previous night, figure 11:00am as the earliest.

 

[indimom]

We checked in at 6 a.m. and were given a site right then. I was pleasantly surprised!
Of course, we went out there and someone was already camped there. lol.
So, we took a breakfast break, then went back to check in and were given another site right away. (And got a better location, woo hoo.)
We were setting up our tent by 8 a.m.

 

[MushLRC]

Thanks for all your sharing and info. As alway Bama Ed you are a thorough wealth of information

We did pre check in all ready. I did tell them we would be there early in the morning just in case We requested loop 1500 but not a specific site. I'm totally willing to be flexible and roll with it. I better be if I'm tent camping in August with 3 kids, lol

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Here's all you really need to know,,,
be sure to pack your fish'n equipment so it's real assessable when you arrive at the Fort. If your site isn't ready, grab your fish'n poles and start drowning some worms. If you get to go straight to your site, grab your poles and hit the lake while everyone sets up camp,



okay okay,,maybe you should help set up camp first,

 

[massmickeypal]

Here's all you really need to know,,,
be sure to pack your fish'n equipment so it's real assessable when you arrive at the Fort. If your site isn't ready, grab your fish'n poles and start drowning some worms. If you get to go straight to your site, grab your poles and hit the lake while everyone sets up camp,



okay okay,,maybe you should help set up camp first,

 

[worm761]

What is the normal time for check in?

 

[thegoofyfamily]

What is the normal time for check in?

3:00 pm.

 

[bama_ed]

What is the normal time for check in?

Uh, it's 1pm.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/resorts/check-in/

The check-in time is 4:00 PM for Disney Deluxe Villas, 1:00 PM for The Campsites at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and 3:00 PM for the other Disney Resort hotels. The check-out time is 11:00 AM.

Bama Ed

 

[KristinU]

Mush, you've been lucky with the hotels! The funny thing is that at the hotels, I think we've had a room ready maybe 3 times total at or after the official check-in time (I think it is/was/has been 3pm at the hotels, right?) But at the Fort we've been lucky and have never had to wait...usually getting in around noon or so.

 

[tiggerdad]

We arrived around 9:30am when we visited and had no wait.

Sent from my Desire HD using DISBoards

 

[MushLRC]

Mush, you've been lucky with the hotels! The funny thing is that at the hotels, I think we've had a room ready maybe 3 times total at or after the official check-in time (I think it is/was/has been 3pm at the hotels, right?) But at the Fort we've been lucky and have never had to wait...usually getting in around noon or so.

Maybe it's the time of year we have always gone as well. We have always gone the week before Thanksgiving which is typically slower than most. We also always did the pre check in stating that we would be there my 9:00 a.m. knowing that was not likely, lol. The soonest we actually got in was noon.

 

[MushLRC]

We arrived around 9:30am when we visited and had no wait.

Sent from my Desire HD using DISBoards

I'm hoping for the not wait! We should get in Sunday around noon. I'll let you all know how that works out

 

[staceyrhood]

We have been at the fort 3 times over the last 6 weeks for long weekends, each time we arrived at 11am and our site was ready. We talked to a cast member when we checked out yesterday and mentioned that we have never seen so many empty sites, he said it is not that busy for the next 2 weeks. You'll probably get right in if you arrive at noon have fun!