First time at the Fort/Disney!

[McMonsters]

We are excited to be staying here for our first trip but I'm getting a bit overwhelmed with it all! Here's hoping you can answer some of my campground questions...
We'll be traveling with a 26' TT, 2 adults, 3 year old, 22 month old, and one old dog. We have a premium reservation but were wondering if we really needed that much space. I'm thinking we could down grade and stay another night With the two young ones we'll be using a side by side double stroller and was wondering the best way to get back and forth to the parks with so much in tow. Our eldest has severe food allergies, reasons why we have the camper, hotels could pose a risk if not properly cleaned, we take it everywhere, we can't even stay family. So we'll be eating our meals at the campsite or bringing food in to the parks. Any thoughts on area grocers or keeping food eatable in the park? Any relevant help would be great!

 

[RVMH]

With your size unit you should be fine on any full hook-up site. We regularly put a 40' motorhome on the 1800 loop. Be aware that the premium sites are closer to the boat dock and the settlement and with little ones this could save some walking. You'll need a pet loop in any case. There's a publix grocery close by and the restaurants will arrange for a variety of health concerns. It might be a good idea to check . Have a great visit!

 

[McMonsters]

With your size unit you should be fine on any full hook-up site. We regularly put a 40' motorhome on the 1800 loop. Be aware that the premium sites are closer to the boat dock and the settlement and with little ones this could save some walking. You'll need a pet loop in any case. There's a publix grocery close by and the restaurants will arrange for a variety of health concerns. It might be a good idea to check . Have a great visit!

Thanks for the info! Being closer may be a good idea where the girls are concerned. I'll need to make sure we have the pet loop, didn't even think about it since most places we have stayed generally don't segregate.

 

[bama_ed]

We pack a meal into the parks and rent a locker to store it in till it's time to eat. It's a soft sided cooler with the blue gel pack to keep cold thing cold. Things like chips, box drinks, etc (non-cooled) items go in the mesh open top. A locker is only about $7 (with a refundable small deposit when you return the key). We do this for 5 people. No glass bottles, no hard side coolers, no alchohol of course.

We eat the second meal in the park at Counter Service or Table Service but you might be able to squeeze a second soft cooler in the locker - I think there is room for two.

We breakfast in our popup at the Fort each morning.

Premiums are nice sites - all concrete and wider. You could downgrade and save some money but the remaining types of sites have a sand pad and you might be sweeping sand out of the trailer more often that you would on the Premium for sure.

We boat over to the MK from the Fort (take the internal bus down to the beach/marina). For all the other parks we drive. Your Fort parking pass will get you free parking at the Disney theme parks so make sure it's on the dash and you will be waved through.

Relax - it will be fun!

Bama Ed

 

[2goofycampers]

If you stay at a full hook up they are all pet loops.

 

[stpetedisneydad]

We use WDW transportation as little as possible, some people love it but we always seem to be the ones who get to the bus stop 30 seconds after the bus pulls away. We take the boat to MK but try to drive to all other parks. Your plan is going to depend on how you want to do your trip. Are you going to go at a leisurely pace and do what you can while realizing WDW will be there for years and you're gonna be back again in a year or 2 so you can do then what you miss this time or are you gonna go full kamakazi staying in the parks from open to close and running from ride to ride because you will never be back to visit WDW...EVER!

We like to do breakfast at the camper then try to be at the parks at opening because you can bang out some rides with little wait. We pack a lunch in a soft sided cooler which we often just carry with us by itself or in a backpack, this way we avoid being hungry when we hit the back of the park and realize the cooler is in a locker at the front of the park. We also like to bring the single serve drink mix packets that will flavor a 16 oz bottle of water. Mid-afternoon we head back to the camper to relax, swim, bike ride, whatever and cook dinner. Then it's back to a park or campfire sing along or DTD or more whatever.

 

[disnic75]

Request Loop 300. It is a pet-friendly preferred loop closest to the Settlement.
The dog park is right there. It is very nice with a few picnic tables and has lots of room for your dog to run around.

 

[retired and happy]

Since our kids are all special needs, our situation may not apply to you in full. We use Disney transportation all the time, except we own our own golf cart. We boat to the MK; EPCOT requires us to boat to the MK, Ferry boat to the TTC, and nmonorail to EPCOT. Ok, our 17 year old requires this, but those are also WDW modes you may want to try at least once. We take busses to AK and HS. Internal Fort busses depend on where our campsite is, and where we are going.

We do breakfast at the MH and catch a midday meal at a counter service shop wherever we are when we get hungry. Supper/dinner is usually at the MH, often leftovers after the first few days. We also get at least one GAG at the TE, and sometimes a pizza.

We do not try to cram too much into each day, and there is much to do at the Fort, especially for newbies.

You'll soon get the hang of WDW and know what you like to do and what you don't. Mainly enjoy your trip and start planning your next visit even before you leave from this one. And

 

[McMonsters]

Thanks for all the great info! We have been planning for the last 24 hours.....Trying to read up and figure out where, when and how. Since the girls are so young and we have the time we are going to take it SLOW.

 

[ChrisinNJ]

I don't know what allergies your child has, but Disney is one of the most allergy friendly places you can go. If you choose to plan a meal at any of the restaurants, the chef will come out and speak to you about what you can and can't eat.

Most of my friends whose kids have severe allergies are not comfortable in any restaurants, and they all LOVE Disney for how accommodating they are. There are numerous allergy threads on the disAbilities forum.

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20


Happy Planning!

 

[2goofycampers]

This is useful for "special" dining needs.


https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/special-dietary-requests/

 

[clickrs]

We eat breakfast in the camper, and pack snacks, food and drinks for the day, then eat a late dinner at one of the counters. I take a large soft sided cooler bag and use frozen water bottles (that we use thru out the day) to keep the food cold plus a gel pak. I also take a small umbrella stroller to keep everything in the seat part since the cooler is heavy with the frozen water bottles for 5 of us. Plus we keep the rain poncho's under the cooler in case we need them. I also pak beaded neck wraps in the cooler to use on our necks and foreheads to keep us cool thru out the day (since we go in the summer). Good luck and enjoy.

 

[Maggie at the Fort]

We loved the 600 loop (also a pet friendly loop). Close to the pool and relatively close to the marina as well. We pay for a premium site for our pop up just so we can be in a better location. Also if you need space beyond your fridge for keeping food cold make sure you bring quarters for ice. We would keep a cooler outside at night and slide it in the air conditioned pop up during the day while we were gone to help the ice last longer. Also make sure you double check AAA discounts for your stay. A discount just became available for us in Oct and made a huge difference in the cost for a premium site.