First time at FTW in 8 years ... our thoughts

[disneymom2one]

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.

 

[allaboutmm]

Thank you- was very helpful!

 

[clkelley]

Hi all...


* 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)

Absolutely!! While I love Trails End once or twice a trip, don't really want a big sit down breakfast every morning!!

One thing I do, I take the 6:30 am boat over to Contemporary, and get a quick breakfast over at Food & Fun Center, then start my transportation from there. However, that also has it's downfall, as sometimes I return from Epcot or Downtown Disney in the evening, and my scooter is parked down at the boat dock, so I still have to take an internal bus down to Settlement to drive my scooter back to my site.

A food court or counter service over at Meadows that serves breakfast and lunch would be a "great" addition to Ft. Wilderness.

 

[toytowner]

i agree 100% we also stayed in the 300 loop over the 4th no problem with disney transportion however we took the boat to mk and all 12 of us thought it was fun but it's time for some up grades. still had lots of fun.

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

You review was great and in my opinion as a frequent FW(2/3 years since it opened) guest was right on the money. The trading posts used to have a small deli type area with salads, beans, cold cuts, soft serve ice cream etc. I miss that. I don't know why people get so negative on the internal bus system, it sure cuts down your walking, the walk from some hotel bus stops to the rooms is so very long, not a problem at FW. The pools at FW are very sad, but atleast they finally got some, I guess when they closed the beaches they had to do something, unitl then it was the beach only when I was a kid. In all FW is great family spot but it does not seem to get the attention from Disney that it deseves to help it keep up with the other resorts, after all FW is a Disney Resort too.

 

[OK GRUMPY]

I agree. It seems like at FW there are things that have change and not always for the better (my opinion), such as Crockets Travern use to serve the best steak aww it was so good. The petting zoo use to be fun too!! River County GONE!! I've been going to FW regularly since 1991 and have seen a slow but steady increase in campsite prices but really no big improvements.. But then everything goes up but it would be nice to see some improvements! This last time we camped in loop 200 and I was thinking wow this is most likely one loop that has been here since the park opened problably a site that Walt himself imagined and I wondered how many changes that loop had since the park open. CRAZY!! That said I still Love FW and will go back again again and again

 

[schmitty]

I dont like the bus system now. I loved having the busses also stopping at the other outpost.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

That was a very well written review. The points you make are all valid.


Scott

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

I dont like the bus system now. I loved having the busses also stopping at the other outpost.

Which other outpost? The internal busses all stop at settlement and outpost, they just keep running in big circles.

 

[clkelley]

Which other outpost? The internal busses all stop at settlement and outpost, they just keep running in big circles.

schmitty might be referring to the Purple Line that serves the cabins, Loop 2000, and the Group Camping Area. This line does not stop at Meadows area at all. The Orange and Yellow Line Pass by the Meadows area.

So if you are relying on buses and are on the Purple line, getting to Meadows involves a transfer.

 

[ConcKahuna]

schmitty might be referring to the Purple Line that serves the cabins, Loop 2000, and the Group Camping Area. This line does not stop at Meadows area at all. The Orange and Yellow Line Pass by the Meadows area.

So if you are relying on buses and are on the Purple line, getting to Meadows involves a transfer.

Actually, the yellow and purple bus are the same bus, it just drives in circles. So you can ride the purple bus over and around to get to the other side of the meadows.

 

[dl1955]

Great Review! I have a few questions for some of the seasoned FW campers.
1) When did the petting zoo close? Why?
2) Did River Country close? When? Why?
3) I also read that the beaches closed. I'm assuming that you used to be able to swim in the lake? What were the reasons for closing it?
All replies greatly appreciated!

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

Great Review! I have a few questions for some of the seasoned FW campers.
1) When did the petting zoo close? Why?
2) Did River Country close? When? Why?
3) I also read that the beaches closed. I'm assuming that you used to be able to swim in the lake? What were the reasons for closing it?
All replies greatly appreciated!

I haven't been to the peting zoo in a while but my understanding is that there are not as many free wandering animals as there once were, more are in stables and such.
River Country closed in the late 90's, no official reason but thoughts like, bacteria levels, not enough guests, cost to high to maintain, parking etc..
You could swim in the lake but years ago when FL had a serious drought bacteria levels got to high,and alligators sought it out since the canals were too low. When water levels returned to normal I think Disney decided it was easier(more cost effective) to leave the beaches closed and only have pools.

 

[goscudder]

Thanks for all the great information! We've stayed at other Disney resorts but Feb will be our first time at FW and I'm glad I know what to expect!

 

[schmitty]

schmitty might be referring to the Purple Line that serves the cabins, Loop 2000, and the Group Camping Area. This line does not stop at Meadows area at all. The Orange and Yellow Line Pass by the Meadows area.

So if you are relying on buses and are on the Purple line, getting to Meadows involves a transfer.

I actually meant busses that came from other parks, like Epcot and MGM, they used to have those buses drop you off right infront of the outpost by River Country and Pioneer Hall.

 

[clkelley]

I actually meant busses that came from other parks, like Epcot and MGM, they used to have those buses drop you off right infront of the outpost by River Country and Pioneer Hall.

As it stands now the Studios bus does drop off at Settlemen near Pioneer Hall. Magic Kingdom, of course you come from the boat dock.

The Epcot , Animal Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon, and Blizzard Beach are the ones that drop you at Outpost near the check in area.

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

Unfortunatly neither stop was originally ment to serve so many busses so they had to split the outbound busses between the 2. Outpost was actually the train depot once upon a time. Settlement only served 2 internal lines and 1 bus to the TTC.

 

[Gillian]

Thanks for the review!

Anyone who has comments can send them through the disney world website, there is a link for "contact us" or something similar. They do read all of those messages and have often called me in response.

When I got back from my trip this year I wrote in with thanks to specific cast members (I keep notes), some general comments, and a few suggestions about Fort Wilderness. I got a call saying that my CM comments would go in their files, and that the FW stuff would be forwarded to the appropriate people. Not sure what that means, but at least someone read it!

 

[jima53]

Thanks for a review after coming back. Lots of people have written very postive reviews of the campground and I wonder if the Disney people ever think about any of the negative aspects of what people write. Seems that a counter for quick breakfast snacks would work out along with later hours for people returning from the them parks. I'm going for my first ever visit late october and depend on both sides of the opinion about WDW.

Jim

 

[Disney owl]

Thanks for the info