Fort BigRiggerness or Fort Snowbirderness? New addition to the Fort...

[bama_ed]

I think any expansion at FW should be geared toward the bigger rigs. Wherever they expand, I would suggest parallel roads with pull through sites in-between. The sites would accomodate slideouts, etc. They would require a bigger footprint and should be priced as such but that's what I would offer.

Me and my little pop-up can continue to stay in the legacy portion of FW!

Bama ED

 

[LarryJ]

I think any expansion at FW should be geared toward the bigger rigs. Wherever they expand, I would suggest parallel roads with pull through sites in-between. The sites would accomodate slideouts, etc. They would require a bigger footprint and should be priced as such but that's what I would offer.

Me and my little pop-up can continue to stay in the legacy portion of FW!

Bama ED

Yep I AGREE ... leave the FW we all know and enjoy alone and build something to take care of he newer rigs.

Larry

 

[John VN]

Yep I AGREE ... leave the FW we all know and enjoy alone and build something to take care of he newer rigs.

Larry

Gee, didn't I post this on page 2. Great minds think alike. Have new entrance opposite current entrance. Call it FW Too.

Seems to be a new thread going on about the pool improvements wanted that contradicts some postings in this one.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

I'm not sure what's in it for Disney to accomodate big rigs.

But maybe a better bet would be to put them elsewhere altogether in their own luxe resort... Take a bit of space from Port Orleans or put them down by Downtown Disney. Or even locate them in SSR or AKV and make it part of DVC. Do some heavy landscaping and let them use the existing pools.

 

[We4mickey]

I have to agree, leave FW the way it is and make something else for the big rigs. Every other campground is the same with straight roads and campsites in a row. I like the loops being separate, like it's your own little part of Disney.

 

[LarryJ]

I'm not sure what's in it for Disney to accomodate big rigs.

But maybe a better bet would be to put them elsewhere altogether in their own luxe resort... Take a bit of space from Port Orleans or put them down by Downtown Disney. Or even locate them in SSR or AKV and make it part of DVC. Do some heavy landscaping and let them use the existing pools.

I think one thing is when FW was built back in what 1973 MH's and especially the 45' ones with the Suburan as a toad with a zillion slideouts and 5'ers requiring a Class 8 Tow Vehicle just didn't exist, both of which now require shore power based on "flux capacitors". The current FW will easily handle TT's and 5'ers up to the low 30' range and with planning can handle all the slideouts that rigs now have. Plus just look at how hard it is to get any ressie at all at FW and the "FACT" is they just need more spaces than they now have.

Larry

 

[FortWildernessLoopy]

I think its time for another Disney camping resort! I love Fort Wilderness and always wiil, but why not build one by another park? I bet one over by Animal Kingdom would do great. It could be themed more towards a different kind of wilderness. There are so many "regular" resorts and with the renewed popularity of camping, there should really be more than one option. I would hate for them to take away what's left of the "Wilderness" part of FW to make way for even more campsites.

 

[CottontailCurl]

I think its time for another Disney camping resort! I bet one over by Animal Kingdom would do great. It could be themed more towards a different kind of wilderness.

OOOH I love it!! It would be similar in size and amount of sites at Fort Wilderness but instead of Going west theme and cabins, it could have an African Safari them and substitute the cabins with those safari tents that people pay boo coo de bucks to use when they're 'on safari' in Africa (i.e, a real structure with walls but appearance of having tent walls with 'romantic' skeeter nets). I had an RV in Africa. Great idea!

 

[FortWildernessLoopy]

Or how about a full on jungle theme? ooo...I wanna camp next to the waterfall, lol

 

[Colson39]

The only problem with building a brand new camping resort specifically for large campers is that it's going to be hard keeping it full all the time. And you don't build something if you can't always keep it full.

Plus how are you going to tell people with smaller campers that they can't camp there? Then this board would be filled with people complaining that they're not allowed to camp in the new campground, and saying Disney caters to the "rich" people. Which would basically put us back at square one if anyone can camp in either campground.

I seriously doubt you'll see a brand new campground anytime soon, although of course it's not a bad idea. There will be expansions at some point at the Fort though, they know that it's filling up quickly.

P.S. Also, the main issue is with the holiday and peak times. There are plenty of times throughout the year where the Fort is nowhere near capacity. Doesn't make sense to make tons of expansions if they will be empty. If you're not trying to get a campsite on a major holiday or during one of the peak times, you normally don't have a problem getting a site.

 

[bradisgoofy]

Unfortunately, the "Holiday and peak season" are when everyone wants to be there.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

I was just looking at a google map of AKV/AKL/AK in regard to a rumored second entrance (ala EPCOT) and realized there is a perfect spot for Fort Bigriggerness there. And...I don't see any reason why tent campers and poppups can't use a big rig slot...after all if you pay for the music you can dance to the piper. In fact they can add some sites in nooks and crannies just for the little people. However remember in my vision this is a dee luxe campground so you'd be paying a bit more to stay there.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=disney's+animal+kingdom& sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=32.335236,63.896484&ie=UTF8&t=h&om= 1&ll=28.353565,-81.597562&spn=0.013898,0.024676&z=15

 

[Mr Man]

A bit of a "wet blanket" post today (not sure why as I just got back from DW yesterday-fun filled week btw but no FW.....) but I saw that oil just hit $80 barrel recently. I wonder how many monster rigs will be around when gas is $5-6 gallon (and up?)

Because of this, I will be buying an ultra-lite hybrid TT and expect more and more people will downsize as time goes on.

I'm not a "Peak Oil" proponent by any means, but think we are in for some fairly dramatic increases in gas prices in the near future.

If I was Disney, I would wait it out on expansion (but put in a slide at the pool of course, I mean dang!)

 

[Pirate-Jeff]

Mr Man

I don't think the people buying the BIG RIGS are worried about fuel prices. I was at the PA RV show over the weekend. Most of the BIG RIGS (36' and up) had SOLD tags on them. Not gas but the Diesels are the hot units now. Very few of the small to normal size TT had sold tags. About 1/3 of the big 5'ers had sold tags. Looks like us Baby Boomers like a big RV. I talked to my dealer friends, Business is Booming this year In spite of fuel/gas prices

Jeff

 

[Gillian]

Jeff, how was the show? Is it worth making a trip of it? We aren't buying, but it's always fun to shop!

 

[Pirate-Jeff]

The show was very good. I have a lot of new ideas for the MH.

Next year I think we will camp for 2 nights. The show was so large we only were able to see less than 1/2 of the show in 1 day.

Jeff

 

[bradisgoofy]

If I can afford the payments, I can afford the fuel.

 

[Mr Man]

Well, I sure hope it holds out until I get my shot at a "Road Schooner".

I work with a very diverse international clientele (Europe/Asia/S America). You would be surprised how often I hear them say their dream would be to come to the USA for a year and live in a MH and roam our country. Some have actually done it too.

Only in the USA.

I would hate for that to change but will gladly settle for a Pool Bar & slide at FW in the interim.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

Its my impression that the price of oil has less to do with the per barrel price of crude and much more to do with refinery capacity (or lack thereof). For example people are driving less for the moment possibly due to stagflation (income staying low, product prices rising)...the price of gasoline is actually going nowhere despite the per barrel increase in crude.

 

[Minnie's Mate]

Actually, about 6-8 months ago I wrote Disney and recommended that they build a Safari themed campground by AK/AKL and got a response that basically said "thanks for your interest, but Disney doesn't accept suggestions because our imagineers have back logs of ideas that may or may not be similar to guest suggestions and we can't risk someone thinking we plagiarized theirs."

So whether one is in the works or another campground period is in the works is any body's guess.

Also, somebody mentioned that before 9/11, FW was never more than half full and the CM's used to invite guest to add days to their stay and since 9/11 you can't get a reservation during the holidays and school breaks unless you plan nearly a year in advance. I think Disney may be waiting to see if the RV revival is going to wane or if it is here to stay.