Julylady
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2005
- Messages
- 2,099
I have been lurking on this board for a couple of weeks and decided to go public. You'all seem like a friendly, welcoming bunch so I will just jump right in.
We are long time WDW fans and DVC members since 2000. Although I love the villas, I have long wanted to stay in a cabin at Ft. Wilderness. (We always camped when I was a kid and it just looked cool!) In 2013, we spent an evening at HDDR, which just reinforced my thinking. I have two nephews getting married in 2015 and they are each planning a Disney honeymoon (one at WDW, the other at Aulani) as my wedding gift. So, I am points short for my own vacation in 2015. A cabin is appealing since the accommodations are similar to the 1-bedroom villa we usually stay at.
We had already asked my two youngest nieces (ages 13 and 10) to join us on our WDW trip in July 2015. They are Disney veterans with trips both with their parents and with us. When I mentioned staying at Fort Wilderness and taking things a bit slower, they balked. They wanted to stay at a "regular" resort and visit parks all day, every day like they are used to doing.
Thinking my dream was dying, I changed our 2 night post-cruise stay in December 2014 to a Cabin. I figured I would get the Fort out of my system, or at least have had two nights there if I never got the opportunity to go back. Well, we LOVED it!! I had rented a golf cart and we had so much fun riding around the campground. It was too cold to swim, but I took a ton of pictures to show my nieces. Before we left, I went ahead and booked a cabin stay at the end of our July dates using a bounce back offer.
Back at home, I had the girls over during Christmas break and unleashed my plan to convince them that staying at Ft. Wilderness was the greatest idea ever. Well, it worked! (The golf cart was what really did the trick!) We are starting with 3 nights at Grand Floridian villas (remaining DVC points) followed by 3 nights at Yacht Club. Lastly, we will spend 4 nights in a Ft. Wilderness cabin. Yippee! OUr plan is to hit the parks hard the first 6 days so that we can relax and take it easy at the Fort.
So far, I have rented a golf cart and made Hoop De Doo reservations for our 2nd night. I am also thinking of signing up the girls for horseback riding. They are interested, but have never been on a horse. We also talked about letting them rent bikes a couple of times. And, I trust that the pool will be a big draw in July.
For those of you who are still with me..... What am I missing? Are there other activities that are "must do's" with 10/13 year old girls? Are they too old for the campfire singalongs? Is it fun to watch the fireworks and boat parade from the dock or would we be better off making our way to the Contemporary's observation deck? Is there enough to do at the Fort to keep us busy for three days, or should I plan a couple of park days? What about laundry? Where is it located and how much does it cost?
Are there things that we need to take along on this trip that we normally would take camping but not to Disney World? I was wondering about bug spray? Beach towels? Frisbees or other outdoor games?
We are all really exciting about this trip! Any suggestions or advice will be much appreciated!
We are long time WDW fans and DVC members since 2000. Although I love the villas, I have long wanted to stay in a cabin at Ft. Wilderness. (We always camped when I was a kid and it just looked cool!) In 2013, we spent an evening at HDDR, which just reinforced my thinking. I have two nephews getting married in 2015 and they are each planning a Disney honeymoon (one at WDW, the other at Aulani) as my wedding gift. So, I am points short for my own vacation in 2015. A cabin is appealing since the accommodations are similar to the 1-bedroom villa we usually stay at.
We had already asked my two youngest nieces (ages 13 and 10) to join us on our WDW trip in July 2015. They are Disney veterans with trips both with their parents and with us. When I mentioned staying at Fort Wilderness and taking things a bit slower, they balked. They wanted to stay at a "regular" resort and visit parks all day, every day like they are used to doing.
Thinking my dream was dying, I changed our 2 night post-cruise stay in December 2014 to a Cabin. I figured I would get the Fort out of my system, or at least have had two nights there if I never got the opportunity to go back. Well, we LOVED it!! I had rented a golf cart and we had so much fun riding around the campground. It was too cold to swim, but I took a ton of pictures to show my nieces. Before we left, I went ahead and booked a cabin stay at the end of our July dates using a bounce back offer.
Back at home, I had the girls over during Christmas break and unleashed my plan to convince them that staying at Ft. Wilderness was the greatest idea ever. Well, it worked! (The golf cart was what really did the trick!) We are starting with 3 nights at Grand Floridian villas (remaining DVC points) followed by 3 nights at Yacht Club. Lastly, we will spend 4 nights in a Ft. Wilderness cabin. Yippee! OUr plan is to hit the parks hard the first 6 days so that we can relax and take it easy at the Fort.
So far, I have rented a golf cart and made Hoop De Doo reservations for our 2nd night. I am also thinking of signing up the girls for horseback riding. They are interested, but have never been on a horse. We also talked about letting them rent bikes a couple of times. And, I trust that the pool will be a big draw in July.
For those of you who are still with me..... What am I missing? Are there other activities that are "must do's" with 10/13 year old girls? Are they too old for the campfire singalongs? Is it fun to watch the fireworks and boat parade from the dock or would we be better off making our way to the Contemporary's observation deck? Is there enough to do at the Fort to keep us busy for three days, or should I plan a couple of park days? What about laundry? Where is it located and how much does it cost?
Are there things that we need to take along on this trip that we normally would take camping but not to Disney World? I was wondering about bug spray? Beach towels? Frisbees or other outdoor games?
We are all really exciting about this trip! Any suggestions or advice will be much appreciated!
The cost for the washer and dryers are 2.00 each, there are change machines in the laundry rooms and also vending machines for laundry supplies and soda. 
