Fort Wilderness Manager Did A Bad Thing (Golf Carts)

[Carousel_OF_Disney]

This is just another example of greed.
I stay at the fort as much as I can, in a tent, and go to the parks.
But I can't afford to rent a bike, much less a golf cart. Would be really nice, especially at Halloween or Christmas to be able to do have a golf cart to drive around in.

When I was at the fort 2 weeks ago - I watched numerous outside companies picking up and dropping off golf cars in the parking lot.
Made me excited to at the thought of being able to maybe finally have a cart for my next trip.

Guess I'll have to do a pick up and drop off in the grass on the side of the road down the street.


P.S.
You would think management would be more worried about tree huggers protesting all the constent cutting down of trees at the fort.

 

[tungpo1]

I understand that rental companies doing business on Disney property is not right. Just meet them down the street and ride it back into the back parking area then no worries (out of sight out of mind) the people at Disney are not that smart. As for them telling me my cart is too loud or too ATV like is crap and i just wont listen

 

[BradyBz12]

I understand that rental companies doing business on Disney property is not right. Just meet them down the street and ride it back into the back parking area then no worries (out of sight out of mind)

That's what we'll be doing.

And I get that "doing business" on Disney property isn't right and no one is entitled to do that. However it's not like the off-site companies are staking out the parking lot and pulling people aside, "psst.... wanna rent a cheap golf cart??"

They're delivering/picking up carts that people have already contacted them about and paid for in advance. They're not disrupting traffic or taking up space in the overflow lot... heck when we did this last December the lot was virtually empty! And they're there for all of 10 minutes, tops.

I do think GCE shot themselves in the foot showing up with the big, flatbed company truck, vs a nondescript truck that doesn't look like they're "advertising." But GCE also used to be Disney's supplier for carts when they needed extras too - so there's some history there. Of course who knows if it's *good* history.

So, here's a wrinkle.... what happens if I have a personal cart that breaks down while I'm there, and I contact one of these companies to come get/repair my cart?? Is Disney going to refuse to allow me to get my cart serviced because they won't let the company pick up/drop off?

 

[m1tchells]

I can bet that knowing Corporate structure that Managers dont make a move without higher approval. I believe that as long someone breaks the rules letting their small kids drive the carts, private carts too will end someday. When we were leaving FW our last trip we almost hit a cart as some young kids ran a stop sign, its hard to stop quickly pulling a 13000 pound trailer. And entering the Fort that trip a lady was letting her about 8 yr old drive her cart all over the road in front of us, see did finally get him to pull over..

I agree! We own our own cart which we bought in part just for the Fort (it has long since paid for itself!). I have been worried for the last few years that things were just getting more and more out of control with the carts and that Disney would end up pulling the plug for private owners. The irresponsibility/stupidity is staggering! And it is not just kids. I can TOTALLY imagine the panic you must have felt trying to stop your rig! You know what they say...it's all fun and games till someone loses an eye. Shame it's gonna ruin it for all the rest of us!

 

[rapriebe]

A year ago when my wife and I decided to purchase a golf cart since we frequent the fort often and figured it would pay for itself, we noticed the site next to us had a Yamaha Rhino parked there. I told my wife I would rather get one of those vs. a golf cart. I asked our neighbor if Disney allowed them. He said he called in advance and they said no problem. Low and behold, the next day he was told as of that minute he was not to drive it on disney property anymore. He was very irate calling the manager every name in the book. It just goes to show you that certian CM will turn thier head or they don't know the rules and others have fun over enforcing things. Just like some CM will kick the 15 yo out of the drivers seat and others with 10yo will drive right by.

There is a Polaris Ranger in the 1700 loop now and I'm curious if they are going to allow him to keep using it. It's kinda loud, you can hear it coming and going. He's been using it for 2 days so far without any problems.

 

[LONE-STAR]

I can bet that knowing Corporate structure that Managers dont make a move without higher approval. I believe that as long someone breaks the rules letting their small kids drive the carts, private carts too will end someday. When we were leaving FW our last trip we almost hit a cart as some young kids ran a stop sign, its hard to stop quickly pulling a 13000 pound trailer. And entering the Fort that trip a lady was letting her about 8 yr old drive her cart all over the road in front of us, see did finally get him to pull over..

The problem is not with people that own their own carts- it's the people that rent them most of the time. Most of them have never driven a cart and just think its a game and don't pay attention where they're going. Not to mention they let their kids drive. Then take somebody that owns their cart, has thousands invested in it, drives it all the time, and knows how it handles and how to handle it. Do some of the private carts go too fast- sure. But they are paying attention because they know how to drive their cart. Now take a rented cart going slower and it pulls out in front of a bus because they were not paying attention. My point is most privately owned carts don't wind up in the pool or bay lake- its the rented ones. You want to take care of your own property. We were sitting at a stop sign and a lady in a rented disney cart took off and dumped all three of her kids off the back seat and on to the road- the oldest not more then 6 years old. As for Disney not letting the off site rental company on their property I don,t blame them.

 

[becky1960]

Lonestar, you are correct, knowing you are from Texas I should have known.

 

[LONE-STAR]

Lonestar, you are correct, knowing you are from Texas I should have known.

If walt would have built Disney in Texas we wouldn't have these problems.

 

[keylime359]

I only rented a cart for one weekend back in 1994 and for the charge, I could have bought an AP for a child with what a 4 day GC rental cost us. My DH found a used GC within weeks of that stay and started his upgrade project. We figured for as many times as we went to FtW, it would save us $$$ to own our own cart....and it has.

You know I NEVER thought about the fact that the GC cost as much as an AP, but you are correct. I did not buy AP this year for Disney, I did for US/IOA because I got them for $99/ea. I may give that thought when those passes run out. We have a 5er so we can't haul a GC, but I bet we could live without one. We did at the 4th of July because they were sold out.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

I have access to a cart, I just dont want to bring it 1100 miles in the back of my truck.

 

[FlaFortCampster]

If the Fort would just lower their price a bit and become a little more competitive, this wouldn't be an issue. The carts at the Fort have been paid for long ago, so the profit on them must be huge. They sure aren't putting much money into them for upkeep. We rented one for a day so we could "loop" and it wasn't charging right. We called on it about 7 pm and were told to just try to get it to charge. The plug was bad so I had to tape it to the outlet to try to get some juice into the battery.
When we dropped it off the next day and told them how much trouble we had and the plug was no good, the CM just shrugged and took the keys. I know I should have gone to the Front Desk, but who wants to stand up there and lose precious time?
So the carts you rent off site are in beautiful condition, run great and are less money. It should be just the opposite. You pay less for the crummie cart and more for the nice cart and I have no idea where this post is going.........
I think the Fort is ticked off cause their cushy cart business has taken a big hit and NOW they are going to crack down on the competition. How about a nice rate for passholders and how about one free rental if you rent for 6 days straight. Something, anything, work with us here Disney.......
Thank you for listening, I'm leaving now.

 

[DVCajun]

If walt would have built Disney in Texas we wouldn't have these problems.

That's true. It would be a police state!!

 

[starbuc71]

Here is another example of an outside vendor on Disney property that some of you will disagree with me on. Don't hate me...lol Last week while at the fort, nothing pisses me off more than being woke up by two seperate RV detailing businesses with pressure washers washing and detailing the big rigs. We were in loop 1300 and 2 sites next 2 us pressure washers were up and running out of the back of trailers and vans for about 3 hours. IMO I think these are vendors that should not do business at the fort. What really ticked me off was that the two rigs that were being cleaned were both only there for 1 night. So much for a peaceful Saturday morning. If you ax one outside vendor you have to look at them all. Sorry to the folks with big rigs who use the detail services.

 

[lauraebeth]

If the Fort would just lower their price a bit and become a little more competitive, this wouldn't be an issue. The carts at the Fort have been paid for long ago, so the profit on them must be huge. They sure aren't putting much money into them for upkeep. We rented one for a day so we could "loop" and it wasn't charging right. We called on it about 7 pm and were told to just try to get it to charge. The plug was bad so I had to tape it to the outlet to try to get some juice into the battery.
When we dropped it off the next day and told them how much trouble we had and the plug was no good, the CM just shrugged and took the keys. I know I should have gone to the Front Desk, but who wants to stand up there and lose precious time?

do you remember your cart number?

 

[Carousel_OF_Disney]

Here is another example of an outside vendor on Disney property that some of you will disagree with me on. Don't hate me...lol Last week while at the fort, nothing pisses me off more than being woke up by two seperate RV detailing businesses with pressure washers washing and detailing the big rigs. We were in loop 1300 and 2 sites next 2 us pressure washers were up and running out of the back of trailers and vans for about 3 hours. IMO I think these are vendors that should not do business at the fort. What really ticked me off was that the two rigs that were being cleaned were both only there for 1 night. So much for a peaceful Saturday morning. If you ax one outside vendor you have to look at them all. Sorry to the folks with big rigs who use the detail services.

I don't know about being woke up by that.
For us it's usually someone's excited kids at 7am who can't help be noisy (although I've never understood why parents don't at least try to get their kids to be a little quieter so early on fort mornings).
However, the constent cutting down of trees/work the last few times has been very irrating. When you spend 12 hours at parks til an hour after closing, finally get to bed only to wake up 5 hours later to chainsaws - that pisses me off.

 

[TheFlame]

Has anyone asked the off-site rental companies if they have been contacted by Disney officials about this problem?

I talked to GCE a few days ago and the lady told me that Disney has told them if they come back onto their property that they would be charged with trespassing! We decided we could do without the cart so we didn't call Kenny back. He said he could deliver one the same day GCE told me the opposite.

 

[Todd Packer]

Disney like most big golf courses don't buy carts. The cart manufacturers bid for the contract to supply carts and after a certain period of time the manufacturer picks up the old carts and brings new ones. So Disney has even less money invested in each cart.
But another way to look at things is that everything is a revenue stream for Disney, it exists to make profits for it's shareholders. If they dropped the price on cart rentals they may have to raise the prices somewhere else. Also Disney charges what the market will bear as long as people are willing to pay, Disney will be willing to charge.

 

[DisCamper]

We leave next week for the Oct.GG and it look's like we will stay until Jan. 8th. We will have a Disney cart the whole time.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Here is another example of an outside vendor on Disney property that some of you will disagree with me on. Don't hate me...lol Last week while at the fort, nothing pisses me off more than being woke up by two seperate RV detailing businesses with pressure washers washing and detailing the big rigs. We were in loop 1300 and 2 sites next 2 us pressure washers were up and running out of the back of trailers and vans for about 3 hours. IMO I think these are vendors that should not do business at the fort. What really ticked me off was that the two rigs that were being cleaned were both only there for 1 night. So much for a peaceful Saturday morning. If you ax one outside vendor you have to look at them all. Sorry to the folks with big rigs who use the detail services.

I AGREE with every word ! Preach on brother ! (or sister!)
And I wouldn't apologize to anyone who uses that service at the Fort, no matter what they were driving or pulling. After all it is YOUR hard earned spent money and time they are ruining, all because they are selfish half wits who don't care about you as long as they get what they want. And yes I blame Disney as equal.

 

[Minnie&Mickey]

If they dropped the price on cart rentals they may have to raise the prices somewhere else.

I agree, but I just wish that some of the Disney bigwigs could earn a little bit less money every year and that would make up for what they would lose on the golf carts...but we all know that's not going to happen!