First Time at the Fort!

[CampinFam]

Hello all. My family will be picking up our new TT next week and will be traveling to FW late Feb. This will be our first time camping at Disney but it is our 3rd trip in 5 years. We'll be traveling from Niagara falls Ontario & have a premium site booked.

Looking for help on a couple of things.

-Our camper has the automatic awnings & I was wondering how windy it gets at FW. Do most of you retract the awnings when you leave for the day?
-How long of a Coaxial cable do people typically carry for hooking up to cable at the parks in general, FW in particular?
-Best place for quality fruits & vegs near the Fort?
-Any other advice for first timers would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you for all of the info on this site!

 

[sjc011]

Howdy! I'm going to be at the Fort in late February as well- although I'm a tent camper. From what I remember, it's not terribly windy since trees line nearly every campsite. I've seen people leave their awnings out and others leave them in. I guess it's a matter of personal preference!

However, I know from firsthand experience that rain is an indiscriminate beast... if it's gonna rain and you have your towels hanging up, then everything's going to get wet! If we suspect that rain will be all day and/or heavy, we just hang up our towels in the car or tent.

As far as first time advice, I'll be sure to return to this forum to offer what I hope is helpful hints. You should take advantage of all the free entertainment the campground has to offer- swimming in the heated pools, watching the Water Pageant, and going to Chip N Dale's singalong that occurs most nights.

I would also like to conjecture to give yourself plenty of time to get ready in the morning, as you don't know how crowded the comfort stations will be. That, and you could be waiting 30 seconds to 15 minutes every morning for a bus to take you to either end of the campground... AND THEN you have to take the bus or boat to your proper park. But fortunately the campground is peaceful (more peaceful than any hotel I've been at on WDW property), and that seems to melt my family's stress.

Who is in your family, so that I may offer more helpful advice?

 

[CampinFam]

Thanks for the info sjc011. My family is me, my wife and two boys 7 & 4 1/2.
We'll be getting ready in the camper so we can avoid any waiting at the comfort stations. We're bringing our bikes to get around so that should help speed travel up a bit.

 

[2goofycampers]

We leave the awning out unless a storm is suppose to blow through. Always with a good slant in case of rain. For produce I recommend Publix also for meat and fish/seafood.

 

[sjc011]

Your family will have a lovely time! Please post a trip report once you return.

If your boys love camping as much as we do, they will certainly enjoy the Chip 'n' Dale's Campfire Sing-a-Long. There is a campfire, marshmallows for sale (if you didn't bring your own), and a Disney, age-appropriate movie. It starts at 7 pm.

Also, FW is very bike friendly, and we've spent an hour or two strolling from one end of the campground to another.

The only disappointment was the food at Crockett's Tavern. It's great for adults looking for a refreshing grown-up drink, but there's nothing of value for children. I've never been to the Hoop-de-Doo Revue, but I've heard great things about it...

If it's warm- and since we're going the same time you are, I hope it is- the swimming pool is the best way to relax. If you go in the middle of the day in the springtime, there's hardly anyone there. 90% of the time we were the only ones in the heated pool. That is, if you go to the smaller of the two pools (the one that ISNT the Meadow Swimming Pool). Granted, that small pool doesn't have poolside snacks and what have you, but I'd rather have the whole pool to myself than some overpriced candy. XD

 

[retired and happy]

The smaller pool is in the cabin area, pretty far from the premium sites. The Hoop De Doo and the Backyard BBQ serve similar BBQ food, and all you care to eat. We leave our awning open, but if you can disable the auto-retract, you might want to tie the ends down, and lower one end for rain runoff.

 

[CampinFam]

Thanks!
We will check out the Publix and my wife and I will be posting our trip stories when we get back.

 

[North of Mouse]

Hello all. My family will be picking up our new TT next week and will be traveling to FW late Feb. This will be our first time camping at Disney but it is our 3rd trip in 5 years. We'll be traveling from Niagara falls Ontario & have a premium site booked.

Looking for help on a couple of things.

-Our camper has the automatic awnings & I was wondering how windy it gets at FW. Do most of you retract the awnings when you leave for the day?
-How long of a Coaxial cable do people typically carry for hooking up to cable at the parks in general, FW in particular?
-Best place for quality fruits & vegs near the Fort?
-Any other advice for first timers would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you for all of the info on this site!

to FW camping!

If you slant your awning for rain, as has been said in pp, you won't have to worry about leaving them during the day. We also have auto awnings and have had not problems. The only exceptions, we do retract it if there is a very strong TS rolling through. Also, we were there during Tropical Storm Faye a few years ago, and kept our awning retracted as much for falling limbs as wind. There were lots of branches fallen, but I didn't see anyone with damages. All but one or two tents/popups left, and I would have, had I been them. But usually, no worries, with normal weather/rains.

Enjoy your first stay.

 

[retired and happy]

We have several lengths of 25 feet each, but have never needed more than one except once when the post was at the rear of the site. I don't recall which loop that was in.

And you may know Disney recently installed a special Direct cable net. Most newer flatscreen tv's will work, but if you have a CRT type, you will need to get one of the converters at checkin. They will dock you $125 deposit, but it is refunded when you turn in the complete set. And they don't charge your credit card, but just put a $125 hold on until the set is returned.

 

[hoosll]

Getting to MK: Since you have small kids I expect you will be heading to MK...
The only way to get there is by boat (we saw a lot of people who would wait at the front bus stop thinking the MK bus would come then be told to head for the dock). There are no signs at the bus stop to make this clear.

The boat to MK starts up 30 minutes before the park opens. If you need to be there earlier then you need to take the boat to Contemporary and walk to MK or even take the boat to WL where you can get a bus to MK.

There is a great playground near the dock for the kids.

Crocketts Tavern has just a tiny menu BUT you can get take out pizza OR you can go to the take out order at Trail's End for fried chicken and sides which worked for us one night. We love the Trail's End buffets for breakfast and dinner and you can usually get ADRs. Hoping to try lunch on our next trip.

 

[Main Street Matilda]

We were first time campers when we went to the Fort and it was almost a mistake to go to FW on our first RV trip - most other RV parks simply don't measure up to the FW standards. We love it there and cannot wait for our next trip.

We were told by a friend to put up our awning if we were going to be out all day because bad weather can pop up unexpectedly. We've followed this rule but I must say it's never been an issue. We have either 20' or 25' of cable for the tv hook-up and that was more than enough.

As for things to do at the Fort, my kids loved the campfire and movie (bring marshmallows and sticks!) and although it is an expense, mine will not allow us to skip Hoop-Dee-Doo. Actually really liked Trail's End for breakfast and the cost was reasonable.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[CampinFam]

Thanks for all of the input.

Has anyone visited Legoland while at WDW? I understand it is about 45 minutes away.

 

[tiggerdad]

Hello all. My family will be picking up our new TT next week and will be traveling to FW late Feb. This will be our first time camping at Disney but it is our 3rd trip in 5 years. We'll be traveling from Niagara falls Ontario & have a premium site booked.

Looking for help on a couple of things.

-Our camper has the automatic awnings & I was wondering how windy it gets at FW. Do most of you retract the awnings when you leave for the day?
-How long of a Coaxial cable do people typically carry for hooking up to cable at the parks in general, FW in particular?
-Best place for quality fruits & vegs near the Fort?
-Any other advice for first timers would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you for all of the info on this site!

Do not leave awning out! Take it from me, brand new TT, only 2nd camping trip. Storm came out of nowhere while we were at HS. $2,000 worth of damage to awning. Had to replace whole thing. It was not an automatic mind you, but was electric with gas shocks to let it automatically pitch under the weight of rainwater. Nothing worse than being hundreds of miles from home and having to get repairs done.

 

[bama_ed]

Thanks for all of the input.

Has anyone visited Legoland while at WDW? I understand it is about 45 minutes away.

Poster ksl5f123 (Karen) posted a nice review of Legoland in her trip thread last year:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2901196&highlight=legoland

Legoland is on page 2 of the thread in post #25.

Bama ED

 

[jeffrey66]

Thanks for all of the input.

Has anyone visited Legoland while at WDW? I understand it is about 45 minutes away.

I took my 9yo son last year after a cruise. We had a flight home at 8:00 pm so we needed something to to for the day. My son is into legos big time and it was one of the highlights of that trip. I understand they opened up a waterpark recently. Lots of fun!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

-Our camper has the automatic awnings & I was wondering how windy it gets at FW. Do most of you retract the awnings when you leave for the day?
. . . automatic or not, many folks take the awning down
. . . rains are frequent at WDW
. . . one never knows the strength of the rain
. . . a few minutes retracting can save major repair bucks

-How long of a Coaxial cable do people typically carry for hooking up to cable at the parks in general, FW in particular?
. . . two 25' cables should be more than adequate
. . . probably one, but a spare is always a good idea
. . . also, the extra length might be needed at other RV parks

-Best place for quality fruits & vegs near the Fort?
. . . as mentioned, Publix
. . . it is only about 15-minutes away

-Any other advice for first timers would be greatly appreciated!!
. . . just relax
. . . you are on vacation and time doesn't matter
. . . rent a golf cart or bring bikes, as FW is huge and spread out