First time to Fort Wilderness and Disney World

[ohiomast]

Hello Fellow Campers!
We are going to FW/DW in June with our 4 kids for the first time in our camper!
CAN'T WAIT.....don't know who's more excited us or the kids ( 7,9,17,17),lol
Just not looking to the long drive from Ohio...

Any must have's or do's?
Planning on visiting Epcot and Magic Kingdom then most of time at FW....

 

[North of Mouse]

Hello Fellow Campers!
We are going to FW/DW in June with our 4 kids for the first time in our camper!
CAN'T WAIT.....don't know who's more excited us or the kids ( 7,9,17,17),lol
Just not looking to the long drive from Ohio...

Any must have's or do's?
Planning on visiting Epcot and Magic Kingdom then most of time at FW....

and just have a wonderful trip!

 

[Teamubr]

Any must have's or do's?

Congrats! You are going to have a great time.

As far as must do's. Keep doing your homework now and learn about the things you really want to do. DIS forums will overwhelm you, but there isn't anything you can't get info about.

Make sure to include time exploring the Fort. There is so much to do there, it is almost another park in itself.

j

 

[bama_ed]

Hello Fellow Campers!
We are going to FW/DW in June with our 4 kids for the first time in our camper!
CAN'T WAIT.....don't know who's more excited us or the kids ( 7,9,17,17),lol
Just not looking to the long drive from Ohio...

Any must have's or do's?
Planning on visiting Epcot and Magic Kingdom then most of time at FW....

Florida sun can be strong in the summer so bring a good SPF lotion. Expect daily afternoon thundershowers. Be flexible enough if you are at MK and get tired/hot/worn out, go back to the Fort to nap, swim, cool off, relax then maybe head back same day readmission to the MK. The boat ride is wonderful. (Of course you can do this for any park but MK is the most convenient).

Make sure you check the movie schedule, roast some marshmellows, sing-a-long with Chip, Dale, and Cowboy Anthony, and get your photo taken with C or D.

Bama Ed

 

[JETS70]

Hello Fellow Campers!
We are going to FW/DW in June with our 4 kids for the first time in our camper!
CAN'T WAIT.....don't know who's more excited us or the kids ( 7,9,17,17),lol
Just not looking to the long drive from Ohio...

Any must have's or do's?
Planning on visiting Epcot and Magic Kingdom then most of time at FW....

The DW and I went to the Fort for the first time this past Thanksgiving. We are going back the first week of April. You will really enjoy the Fort. I'm not sure when we will stay at a resort again. We will be going to the parks but we are definitely going to spend more time at the Fort. Eating, relaxing, eating, swimming, eating, Chip and Dale, eat...... you get the pictire. Like others have said, explore this forum. Lots of knowledgeable folks with a lot of useful information.
Welcome and have a great time.

 

[ruthies12]

How long are you going for? With the ages your kids are at I wouldn't rule out going to Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Those are great parks to do a half day in and then spend the other half at the resort relaxing/exploring. Although MK and Epcot are definitely my favorites

 

[veraletta]

If you have enough time try to enjoy the Fort Wilderness campground. I love Fishing, Swimming, Chip & Dale's Campfire Sing-A-Long, Electrical Water Pageant and just driving around with golf cart.
I see you're from Ohio too.. We are SE just before you cross into West Virginia...
We love Epcot the best then it's Magic Kingdom...
I hope you enjoy your time at the Fort..

 

[Disneypeach]

hope y'all have a great time...here's a thread that has a lot of great info about the fort in one place...DISer hstrickland did a great job gathering it up

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3218169

Peach

 

[ohiomast]

Thanks everyone!
We are going to be there the week of June 15th until the 19th!
Do you find that you eat out more even though you are camping or do you take the time to cook your meals? We are planning on cooking our meals so we have more money to do the fun stuff.
This will only be the second time in our new to us hybrid camper as we just upgraded from our pop-up camper we had for about 9 yrs.
This will be the furthest we pulled this camper....we've gone to lots of different states in our pop-up so hopefully it's not to different,lol

Can't wait!!!!!!!

 

[RandolphNY]

Thanks everyone!
We are going to be there the week of June 15th until the 19th!
Do you find that you eat out more even though you are camping or do you take the time to cook your meals? We are planning on cooking our meals so we have more money to do the fun stuff.
This will only be the second time in our new to us hybrid camper as we just upgraded from our pop-up camper we had for about 9 yrs.
This will be the furthest we pulled this camper....we've gone to lots of different states in our pop-up so hopefully it's not to different,lol

Can't wait!!!!!!!

We are traveling from WNY in 2 weeks. (but who's counting?) As this will be our 2nd Fort Trip and the kids are older (18 & 15), we plan on slowing down and not only enjoying the parks, but the fort as well.

Yes, food can become an issue, but even based on our previous trip, If you map it out and try your best to stick with the plan it will all work out.

I don't know if this will help, but here is our plan:
Arrive Monday, Set-up, dogs on the grill and then the boat to Magic.
Tuesday, Brunch and then head to Hollywood. We are staying there all day, so we have reservations at the Hollywood & Vine. This will be our first chance to see the night show.
Wednesday is going to be our kickback day. All 3 meals at the fort. If the kids get to board, we will let them head off on their own.
Thursday, Brunch and a late start at Epcot. (thxs for fastpass / and extra hours for this one). Dinner at Rose and Crown. love their fish and chips.
Friday is an unplanned day. Right now I have fastpass at hollywood, but may change once there.
Saturday, is our early morning trip to Animal with Lunch at Tusker. Once the parade is over, all I can say is POOL, lol
Sunday, will be all meals at the fort and trying to goto a couple of parks, but finishing at Magic.

Obviously, its just plans, with 3 dedicated reservations. Don't forget to incorporate early or late hours at the parks for planning purposes. I only plan to get up early for Animal, otherwise take advantage of late nights.

The most important thing though is slow down and enjoy!

 

[ohiomast]

Thanks for sharing!...sounds like fun
I'm sure we'll come back to FW/DW again in the future....Our oldest son graduates next May 2015 so wanted to get in one big family vacation before that happened, lol and since we never been to DW thought it was perfect timing to do so now.
79 days!!!!!!!Hopefully this crazy cold winter stops soon so we can prep the camper for our first camping trip in May to WV state park.

 

[ChrisinNJ]

Thanks everyone!
We are going to be there the week of June 15th until the 19th!
Do you find that you eat out more even though you are camping or do you take the time to cook your meals? We are planning on cooking our meals so we have more money to do the fun stuff.

Everyone is different, but we tend to eat at restaurants quite a bit at Disney. I cook all the time at home so I enjoy the break, and it is sometimes easier to just eat in the park than to come back to the Fort, cook eat, clean up and go back. If you are planning some half days then it will work out better.

That said, we eat breakfast every morning, we take snacks and water bottles to the park with us. We also go off property to eat a lot which is much cheaper and (putting on my flame suit) often times better food. I am not a fan of Disney restaurants and was particularly disappointed with the food on my last trip.

One thing I will warn you. If you plan to do any sit down restaurant meals, you NEED a reservation. Reservations open 180 days in advance so even now you would probably have trouble getting much, but it is possible if you keep trying.

There are some good counter service meals and snacks though, so you may want to plan a meal in the parks, especially on long park days.

We did have a few meals at the motorhome. We grilled burgers and dogs one night, and re-heated pre-cooked frozen chili another night, and we had some cold cut lunches on days we had a late start into the park. We just didn't cook and eat every meal in.