First stay at Fort Wilderness campground...

[t_catt11]

Just booked last night for sixteen nights next fall (September 18th - October 4th). Also rented a huge camper. We are super excited, as it has been too long since we caught a Halloween party or Food and Wine.

This will be our seventh trip to WDW; we've done Deluxe (Animal Kingdom Lodge x 2, Wilderness Lodge), Moderate (Coronado Springs, Port Orleans Riverside), and Value (Pop Century). We have never given serious consideration to the campground before.

My family is quite large, however - my wife and I, two grown kids that won't be coming (well, the boy might come for a few days), seven kids that will range from thirteen years to eighteen months by the time that we travel.

We like the long trips, and with little kids, we feel like we need extra time to handle a slower pace... so we decided to save money on accommodations to help with the length of the trip. So again, I'm excited... but a little queasy about the unknown.

The pools look great (not that we will use them much), and we clearly need to do a campfire at least once. The fact that we will have a fridge, microwave, and cooktop means that we can save a little on food - especially on the nights where it is late, we need to eat before we sleep, but the tired kids waste half their food court offerings. Yay for easy mac, frozen chicken nuggets, etc.

I miss the huge, impressive lobbies... but we "go, go, go"while at WDW; we only hit a couple of rope drops, but we will close the parks pretty much every night (even with evening EMH).

A few questions...

Is it worth upgrading to preferred campsites over the full hookup sites? I understand that preferred are closer to the Marina (and thus, water transportation). It's not a big cost difference, about $130 for the length of the stay. I'm not exactly trying to pinch pennies, but considering that we will likely spend $18k-$20k on the trip, I also don't want to spend money that doesn't get me anything.

I understand that the general store has some packaged snacks and such. We will need to plan for most of our meals to come at the parks, other resorts, or us cooking at the camper, right? I.e. there is no actual dining at the campground (aside from the Hoop Dee Doo Review)?

Our camper rental comes with a golf cart, and the rental guy said that with a family my size, for as long as we are staying, he would throw in a second cart at no charge. I can see the use for, say, going to the pools or to the store. But what about other places? Is there golf cart parking at the campfire area? At the marina? Or will we be hoofing it to those places? Surely we will be walking to a bus stop, yes? Sorry if this is a silly question.

Speaking of getting around, how exactly does transportation work here? I'm a huge fan of leaving the driving to Disney. I know that there is water transportation to the Magic Kingdom and to Wilderness Lodge, and I have been told that the best way to get to the monorail resorts is to take the boat to MK, then switch to the monorail. Does that mean no bus transport to Magic Kingdom? Any other tips I should know about?

Aside from the campfire, what else do we really need to know about staying at Fort Wilderness campground? What are the hidden gems, or items you wish that you had known from the beginning?


Thanks for any and all advice!

 

[Denise W]

Just booked last night for sixteen nights next fall (September 18th - October 4th). Also rented a huge camper. We are super excited, as it has been too long since we caught a Halloween party or Food and Wine.

This will be our seventh trip to WDW; we've done Deluxe (Animal Kingdom Lodge x 2, Wilderness Lodge), Moderate (Coronado Springs, Port Orleans Riverside), and Value (Pop Century). We have never given serious consideration to the campground before.

My family is quite large, however - my wife and I, two grown kids that won't be coming (well, the boy might come for a few days), seven kids that will range from thirteen years to eighteen months by the time that we travel.

We like the long trips, and with little kids, we feel like we need extra time to handle a slower pace... so we decided to save money on accommodations to help with the length of the trip. So again, I'm excited... but a little queasy about the unknown.

The pools look great (not that we will use them much), and we clearly need to do a campfire at least once. The fact that we will have a fridge, microwave, and cooktop means that we can save a little on food - especially on the nights where it is late, we need to eat before we sleep, but the tired kids waste half their food court offerings. Yay for easy mac, frozen chicken nuggets, etc.

I miss the huge, impressive lobbies... but we "go, go, go"while at WDW; we only hit a couple of rope drops, but we will close the parks pretty much every night (even with evening EMH).

A few questions...

Is it worth upgrading to preferred campsites over the full hookup sites? I understand that preferred are closer to the Marina (and thus, water transportation). It's not a big cost difference, about $130 for the length of the stay. I'm not exactly trying to pinch pennies, but considering that we will likely spend $18k-$20k on the trip, I also don't want to spend money that doesn't get me anything.

I understand that the general store has some packaged snacks and such. We will need to plan for most of our meals to come at the parks, other resorts, or us cooking at the camper, right? I.e. there is no actual dining at the campground (aside from the Hoop Dee Doo Review)?

Our camper rental comes with a golf cart, and the rental guy said that with a family my size, for as long as we are staying, he would throw in a second cart at no charge. I can see the use for, say, going to the pools or to the store. But what about other places? Is there golf cart parking at the campfire area? At the marina? Or will we be hoofing it to those places? Surely we will be walking to a bus stop, yes? Sorry if this is a silly question.

Speaking of getting around, how exactly does transportation work here? I'm a huge fan of leaving the driving to Disney. I know that there is water transportation to the Magic Kingdom and to Wilderness Lodge, and I have been told that the best way to get to the monorail resorts is to take the boat to MK, then switch to the monorail. Does that mean no bus transport to Magic Kingdom? Any other tips I should know about?

Aside from the campfire, what else do we really need to know about staying at Fort Wilderness campground? What are the hidden gems, or items you wish that you had known from the beginning?


Thanks for any and all advice!

I would post this in the camping forum, where all the Fort Wilderness experts hang out.
Denise

 

[Schneewittchen37]

Until recently, DH and I always drove to WDW in our 30' RV and stayed at Ft. Wilderness. It's not roadworthy anymore and we haven't bought a replacement yet, so for now, we're doing hotels. Anyway, I feel like we've camped at the fort a million times....

1. Yes, I think upgrading to preferred is worth it. The marina (The Settlement) is a major hub of activity - the dinner show, the restaurant, the launch to MK and the other resorts, the horses and stuff, gift shop, etc. We used to always end up in the 300 loop and could easily walk or ride our bikes.

2. No. Ft. Wilderness does have a restaurant and snack bars too. But, yes, buy food from Costco or Publix or whatever - take advantage of your kitchen!!! The general stores have some basic options, but don't rely on it. The fort does have solid dining options. The pool has the "Meadows Snack Bar" that really available for lunch stuff - it's not too bad. The Settlement area has a large-ish series of connected buildings that make up Pioneer Hall (dinner show) and Trail's End (sit down buffet for breakfast/dinner). Trail's End also has a takeout window that does breakfast/lunch/dinner. So you won't starve. Also, you can catch a quick boat to the Contemporary or Wilderness Lodge, they both have good dining options as well.

3. There is golf cart parking all over the place. The darn things are a nuisance. We usually ride our bikes. Anyway, there's golf cart parking at the Settlement, Outpost (buses) and the Meadow (pool and other gift shop). Yes, you have to park the cart and walk a few feet to the bus stop.....

4. There is an internal bus system. It's slower than snail snot. Use your cart. As for leaving the fort, there are two boats from the marina - one goes back and forth from MK to the fort over and over and over (Green Flag). The other boat (Blue Flag) is a loop around Bay Lake resorts with 2 boats running in opposite direction between Wilderness Lodge, Fort Wilderness and Contemporary.

So you can get to Epcot too (it's a bit planes trains and automobiles, but bear with me).
Option 1 - Take the Blue boat to Contemporary. Get on the monorail at Contemporary and get off at the Ticket and Transportation Center. Take the other monorail line to Epcot.
Option 2 - Take the Green boat to MK. Get on the monorail at MK and get off at the Ticket and Transportation Center. Take the other monorail line to Epcot.
Option 3 - Take the Green boat to MK. Take the MK ferry to the Ticket and Transportation Center. Take the other monorail line to Epcot.

Or you can just take your cart down to the Outpost and take a bus to HS, AK or Epcot.

 

[t_catt11]

Until recently, DH and I always drove to WDW in our 30' RV and stayed at Ft. Wilderness. It's not roadworthy anymore and we haven't bought a replacement yet, so for now, we're doing hotels. Anyway, I feel like we've camped at the fort a million times....

1. Yes, I think upgrading to preferred is worth it. The marina (The Settlement) is a major hub of activity - the dinner show, the restaurant, the launch to MK and the other resorts, the horses and stuff, gift shop, etc. We used to always end up in the 300 loop and could easily walk or ride our bikes.

2. No. Ft. Wilderness does have a restaurant and snack bars too. But, yes, buy food from Costco or Publix or whatever - take advantage of your kitchen!!! The general stores have some basic options, but don't rely on it. The fort does have solid dining options. The pool has the "Meadows Snack Bar" that really available for lunch stuff - it's not too bad. The Settlement area has a large-ish series of connected buildings that make up Pioneer Hall (dinner show) and Trail's End (sit down buffet for breakfast/dinner). Trail's End also has a takeout window that does breakfast/lunch/dinner. So you won't starve. Also, you can catch a quick boat to the Contemporary or Wilderness Lodge, they both have good dining options as well.

3. There is golf cart parking all over the place. The darn things are a nuisance. We usually ride our bikes. Anyway, there's golf cart parking at the Settlement, Outpost (buses) and the Meadow (pool and other gift shop). Yes, you have to park the cart and walk a few feet to the bus stop.....

4. There is an internal bus system. It's slower than snail snot. Use your cart. As for leaving the fort, there are two boats from the marina - one goes back and forth from MK to the fort over and over and over (Green Flag). The other boat (Blue Flag) is a loop around Bay Lake resorts with 2 boats running in opposite direction between Wilderness Lodge, Fort Wilderness and Contemporary.

So you can get to Epcot too (it's a bit planes trains and automobiles, but bear with me).
Option 1 - Take the Blue boat to Contemporary. Get on the monorail at Contemporary and get off at the Ticket and Transportation Center. Take the other monorail line to Epcot.
Option 2 - Take the Green boat to MK. Get on the monorail at MK and get off at the Ticket and Transportation Center. Take the other monorail line to Epcot.
Option 3 - Take the Green boat to MK. Take the MK ferry to the Ticket and Transportation Center. Take the other monorail line to Epcot.

Or you can just take your cart down to the Outpost and take a bus to HS, AK or Epcot.

What a superb, thorough answer. Thank you very much!