disneymom2one
All our dreams can come true, if we have the coura
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2001
- Messages
- 832
Hi all...
We spent last weekend at Fort Wilderness after not having stayed there in about eight years. Eight years ago we had never stayed onsite and had a really old pop-up. Fast forward eight years and we're DVC members who have stayed onsite 20+ times. So I might have a different perspective from a traditional rv'er. My perspective (and my thoughts) are more from someone who has stayed at every level of Disney resort. So please ... no flames!
We are relatively new again to camping and have a brand new 2006 Fleetwood Williamsburg pop-up that is pretty much everything we wanted in a pop-up. We got it because as much as we love DVC we don't live close enough to Disney to visit more than a few times a year. The pop-up will allow us to get away on weekends.
We stayed in the 300 loop. Here are my thoughts -
* transportation - not nearly as bad as I've read about. It's relatively simple to use the internal bus system to get to either Settlement or Outpost and then take a bus to the parks. Because our daughter has Asperger's we don't do boats but the bus system was fine. One small negative was having to go to Wilderness Lodge to take a bus to the MK. One large negative was the set-up at the Settlement area. With so many buses arriving there was constant confusion about where to catch a bus. Drivers would let off as they were waiting in line behind other buses. Do you go there or wait for the bus to pull around to the bench area? This needs to be addressed and could be.
* golf carts - both positive and negative. We rented one and had an absolute blast. It really does make the trip (and no need for internal buses). It also really cuts down on vehicle traffic. For safety reasons that's a huge plus. One negative would be the price. But you can do without them if you need to.
* food options - not good enough in my view. Trail's End was great as always but I think a food court would be a tremendous benefit at Fort Wilderness. We went over to Wilderness Lodge but I think Disney could make some serious money by having better options (take-out at trail's end does not suffice in my view)
* pool - not good enough again in my view. It should be redone. It's just a shame.
* closing/opening hours of trading posts - a huge negative. We arrived at 10 p.m. and were out of choices. And nothing was open in the morning as we headed to the parks. Why?
* comfort stations - terrific. Always clean. We didn't use our shower/toilet in the pop-up once.
* fireworks Wishes hayride - simply the best view we've ever had of Wishes. Worth every penny and waiting an hour (we got in line early and were glad we did - they turned people away).
* Petting zoo - what happened?
* Chaos caused by lining up for HDDR. There has to be a better way although I don't know it. We've seen it before but it's enough to make me not want to eat there. Seems like a lot of "hurry up and wait"
This sounds negative but the truth is we loved Fort Wilderness. We know it's the best campground we'll probably ever see and we'll be back again in a few months. But I think there are things that could be made better. It does seem like in some ways Disney has somewhat neglected it. I would not choose to stay in a cabin - much better choices for the money in my opinion. But to stay with an r.v. is really nice and we'll do it again.
We spent last weekend at Fort Wilderness after not having stayed there in about eight years. Eight years ago we had never stayed onsite and had a really old pop-up. Fast forward eight years and we're DVC members who have stayed onsite 20+ times. So I might have a different perspective from a traditional rv'er. My perspective (and my thoughts) are more from someone who has stayed at every level of Disney resort. So please ... no flames!
We are relatively new again to camping and have a brand new 2006 Fleetwood Williamsburg pop-up that is pretty much everything we wanted in a pop-up. We got it because as much as we love DVC we don't live close enough to Disney to visit more than a few times a year. The pop-up will allow us to get away on weekends.
We stayed in the 300 loop. Here are my thoughts -
* transportation - not nearly as bad as I've read about. It's relatively simple to use the internal bus system to get to either Settlement or Outpost and then take a bus to the parks. Because our daughter has Asperger's we don't do boats but the bus system was fine. One small negative was having to go to Wilderness Lodge to take a bus to the MK. One large negative was the set-up at the Settlement area. With so many buses arriving there was constant confusion about where to catch a bus. Drivers would let off as they were waiting in line behind other buses. Do you go there or wait for the bus to pull around to the bench area? This needs to be addressed and could be.
* golf carts - both positive and negative. We rented one and had an absolute blast. It really does make the trip (and no need for internal buses). It also really cuts down on vehicle traffic. For safety reasons that's a huge plus. One negative would be the price. But you can do without them if you need to.
* food options - not good enough in my view. Trail's End was great as always but I think a food court would be a tremendous benefit at Fort Wilderness. We went over to Wilderness Lodge but I think Disney could make some serious money by having better options (take-out at trail's end does not suffice in my view)
* pool - not good enough again in my view. It should be redone. It's just a shame.
* closing/opening hours of trading posts - a huge negative. We arrived at 10 p.m. and were out of choices. And nothing was open in the morning as we headed to the parks. Why?
* comfort stations - terrific. Always clean. We didn't use our shower/toilet in the pop-up once.
* fireworks Wishes hayride - simply the best view we've ever had of Wishes. Worth every penny and waiting an hour (we got in line early and were glad we did - they turned people away).
* Petting zoo - what happened?
* Chaos caused by lining up for HDDR. There has to be a better way although I don't know it. We've seen it before but it's enough to make me not want to eat there. Seems like a lot of "hurry up and wait"
This sounds negative but the truth is we loved Fort Wilderness. We know it's the best campground we'll probably ever see and we'll be back again in a few months. But I think there are things that could be made better. It does seem like in some ways Disney has somewhat neglected it. I would not choose to stay in a cabin - much better choices for the money in my opinion. But to stay with an r.v. is really nice and we'll do it again.
