Fort Wilderness, will they have a problem with us visiting the resort on 12/22/18?

[SL6827]

Ok, this is my plan right now, but need to know if I might need to possibly switch it around. We will arrive at the Poly on Thursday, December 20th for two nights. On Friday, December 21 I had planned to head out to Disney Springs for a while and come back and tour all the MK resorts and in the evening tour the Epcot resorts. Then on Saturday, December 22, head out around 11 a.m. and go and check out Fort Wilderness Campground for about 1.5 hours before heading home.

But I got to thinking. We will be entering the busiest time of the year for Disney. I have never experienced it but I know its going to be something we have never seen before. I am wondering if we will have any problems getting into Fort Wilderness and parking and touring for 1-2 hours? With it being the busiest time of the entire year, I am starting to wonder. Should I swap my days around and take Disney transport over there on Friday, making certain we will get it? This is very important aspect of this trip.

 

[lanejudy]

I don't think you'll have a problem being allowed in to park. Guests drive to FW to dine every day. Yes, it's a busy time of year, but unlike places like the CR or POLY, FW doesn't typically have the large draw of guests wanting to park vehicles and head to the MK. That's what gets places jam-packed and creates parking issues.

How do you plan to "tour" Fort Wilderness? It is a very large campground, covering several acres. What do you plan to do? There is an internal bus system, some recreation opportunities, the horse barn, etc. It's quite spread out. But again, I don't think you'll have any problem taking Disney Transport or driving your own vehicle to park. You just can't drive your car around the campground.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[OneinThree]

How do you plan to "tour" Fort Wilderness? It is a very large campground. . .

This. It's large, and sprawling. Without a golf cart, you'll spend a lot of that 1 1/2 riding the internal bus system.

 

[SL6827]

Probably get a golf cart.

 

[HopperFan]

Probably get a golf cart.

This is where you might have a problem. Given it's around the holidays I believe it's been reported they are often sold out and not available. I would imagine due to the decorations that many FW Guests who would not normally rent one, do so in order to see all the decorations. There very well may be none left for daily rentals.

Maybe check on the Camping forum for more info.

 

[TwinkleKS]

You can't just show up at FW and get a golf car, especially during peak times like Christmas. They are all reserved by people that have called months in advanced.

Like many Christmas displays, the decorations are better viewed at night, if you are able to work that into your plans you could go and take a sleigh ride to see some of the more popular loops.

On the 22nd you should be able to park at FW. However, they do get very full the closer to Christmas and New Years and start limiting people parking there to guests and those with dining reservations or show reservations. Normally by the 24th or so they have people parking in "overflow" parking, i.e. the grass near the entrance loops for some of the evening shows.

You can use the internal transportation to get around, and it will drop you off at certain stops where you can walk through loops to see decorations.

We love FW and have stayed there many years for Christmas, but there may be some logistical issues with your plans.

 

[StarSeven7]

We tried to get into Fort Wilderness once just to look around and they wouldn't let us park unless we had a camping reservation or an ADR. This was not at Christmas time....I can't remember if it was our trip in early December or late January, but it was a less busy time of year!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Ok, this is my plan right now, but need to know if I might need to possibly switch it around. We will arrive at the Poly on Thursday, December 20th for two nights. On Friday, December 21 I had planned to head out to Disney Springs for a while and come back and tour all the MK resorts and in the evening tour the Epcot resorts. Then on Saturday, December 22, head out around 11 a.m. and go and check out Fort Wilderness Campground for about 1.5 hours before heading home.

But I got to thinking. We will be entering the busiest time of the year for Disney. I have never experienced it but I know its going to be something we have never seen before. I am wondering if we will have any problems getting into Fort Wilderness and parking and touring for 1-2 hours? With it being the busiest time of the entire year, I am starting to wonder. Should I swap my days around and take Disney transport over there on Friday, making certain we will get it? This is very important aspect of this trip.

If you can do it, I would just fit Ft. W in on your MK resort tour. Personally, starting from Poly, I would monorail to GF and CR, then take the boat to WL and Ft. W. I would try to hit Ft. W around dusk and consider booking a sleigh ride. That way, you have transportation around the resort (at least in the close vicinity of Pioneer Hall) to see the Christmas decorations when everything is lit up. I'm not sure what you wanted to see at Ft. W, but if it's the camper decorations, you won't really see them during the day. After that, you could take a bus to DHS and then boat to the EP resorts from there or boat back to MK and hop on the first EP resort bus that comes along.

 

[partigus]

book a late lunch reservation at WL- park there and take the boat