Ft Wilderness cabins or Margaritaville?

[partyof5er]

Planning a return trip for March 2024, our kiddos will be 16,11, and 8. The 16 year old might bring a friend, and I am guessing my mom and sister are going to come too. I am going back and forth on Ft Wilderness cabins if my 16 year old doesn’t bring a friend, or kind of in love with cottages at Margaritaville and we could get one to fit all of us, but I have concerns about staying off property esp with no early entry and I don’t really get how Lightning Lane works, like will we be screwed on getting on Guardians, Trons, Star Wars etc? And then there’s the transportation and parking piece if staying off property. Ft Wilderness is totally my husbands vibe but Margaritaville is much more mine haha.

Any tips or suggestions would be so appreciated ! Thank you !

 

[Stratman50th]

Are you talking about the Margaritaville in Auborndale?
EDIT: Never mind, I see there are several in the area.

 

[partyof5er]

Are you talking about the Margaritaville in Auborndale?
EDIT: Never mind, I see there are several in the area.

There is an Orlando resort that is very close to WDW and it’s a Disney Good Neighbor Hotel

 

[Stratman50th]

There is an Orlando resort that is very close to WDW and it’s a Disney Good Neighbor Hotel

I ask because there's a Margaritaville near me in Auburndale, FL but it's about 40 minutes away from Disney. I didn't realize there were several of them.

 

[Grumpy92]

The Margaritaville resort and cottages are on 192 about 10 mins from Disney property. It really is a personal preference. You will get a few perks like being able to make dining reservations earlier and no parking fee at Disney if staying there. With a large group it will be easier to stay on Disney property instead of taking additional cars or going & returning all together.

 

[HopperFan]

Planning a return trip for March 2024, our kiddos will be 16,11, and 8. The 16 year old might bring a friend, and I am guessing my mom and sister are going to come too. I am going back and forth on Ft Wilderness cabins if my 16 year old doesn’t bring a friend, or kind of in love with cottages at Margaritaville and we could get one to fit all of us, but I have concerns about staying off property esp with no early entry and I don’t really get how Lightning Lane works, like will we be screwed on getting on Guardians, Trons, Star Wars etc? And then there’s the transportation and parking piece if staying off property. Ft Wilderness is totally my husbands vibe but Margaritaville is much more mine haha.

Any tips or suggestions would be so appreciated ! Thank you !

So you and DH, 3 kids (2 teens), maybe another kid, your Mom and Sister ...........

I assume you would be getting two cabins then, so I guess what is the price point of those vs a cottage at Margaritaville.

Check out Margaritaville closely, I've heard some complaints that the water park was not included and they had to pay for it.

NO car? Personally I don't stay off if no car, and with 7-8 of you that complicates options.

Virtual Queue for Guardians and Tron make no difference if offsite. If BUYING $ILL$ off site you won't be able to do until the park opens.

Def disadvantages either way you have to compare total costs at each factoring space & amenities. We have stayed at Cabins, they are tight, I can't imagine with that many, especially teens. But without a car I wouldn't stay offsite.

And note GOOD NEIGHBOR HOTELS provide NO Disney perks.


I totally agree with @EllieJedi

 

[EllieJedi]

If your 16 year old brings a friend and your mom and your sister join you, I would look at maybe renting DVC for something larger. Maybe a 2BR at OKW? Nice and relaxing for you but still gives you on-site benefits. Or BRV for your husband?

I love the cabins at FW, but I normally stay there with a party of 4.

 

[jimmymc]

I think your group is a little big for one of the cabins. 5 is the most I would want to go with in one of them. Fort Wilderness is amazing and I think you'd have a fun time there, but renting 2 cabins and not being able to guarantee they're next to each other isn't a great situation for a big group.

If you have enough cars for everyone, then Margaritaville is a great option. The parking situation is really only annoying at Magic Kingdom. Plus the villas can include things like private pools and hot tubs.

The other option people have mentioned is a 2 bedroom DVC villa, and that's where I would personally start looking. Something like a 2 bedroom at Copper Creek or Boulder Ridge has both the cabin theming and on-site perks. A week at one of those rooms is about 360 points, which would be $8640 if renting points.

 

[tjmw2727]

I don't want to quote the entire post but to confirm what hopperfan said the water park is not included in Margaritaville cottage reservations and the main pool and other facilities are only included if you book directly through Margaritaville. Sometimes they run a special including waterpark tickets or other add ons but otherwise the water park is never included.

100 % agree about a car, we were two families with two cars, and we really did need them both!

Again, we did our non/less park days at MGV and moved onsite for the park heavy part of our vacation.

Honestly, we like the cabins but I would also hesitate to stay here without a car or at least a golf cart, otherwise you can end up needing two buses to get the parks.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Having a large group, or potentially even larger, if you bring your child's friend, and bring your mom, et al; you need to prioritize your trip values or what you really want in the hotel. Will you be at the hotel more than the parks, will you want to swim (which in March can be iffy, one day is 90, the next 55), will you need a kitchen, which parks will you visit the most, what's the budget, etc? All these factor into where we stay.

Having stayed at both, neither are ideal when it comes to transportation but if I had to pick one, I'd choose FW since it's all disney transport. It never feels like a vacation to me having to sit in Orlando traffic in my own car and if I had to do that for several days, Margaritaville would be a hard pass for me. Especially when you have other non disney properties closer to the parks that would accommodate large groups like the Wyndham bonnet creek and a few others or even renting a house that's closer. It just seems really out of the way unless you plan to be at the resort more than at Disney.

The cabins at FW are fine for 5. I don't think they're that small and considering you can put 5 in some DVC studios that are even smaller, it's plenty of space imo, plus you have the deck and outdoor areas. FW is pretty and definitely it's own disney vibe but if your cabin is not near your mom, that could be a point of contention. Just be mindful that it takes a while to get around FW. So if you do stay there, just know it's big and build in some extra travel time. And it's helpful to rent a golf cart too. That's my major negative with FW. As long as you're good with that, than you might love it. March is spring break and will be busy but by 2024, GOG and other rides may not be VQ anymore so I wouldn't necessarily base on or off site on that just yet since it's so far out.

Margaritaville, I have more negatives for...it's outside of the disney bubble so while it's nice, it's not the same level of service/feel as a disney resort and of course, you'll be dealing with traffic to get to/from WDW. Depending on where your cottage is you may need to drive to the main lobby as it's fairly spread out once you're not near the main building. There's dining options in the lobby and also next door in a nice, plaza, and while it's not far from WDW, ORL traffic is finicky and very unpredictable. For us, I see no reason to book a property like margaritaville unless we're planning to spend a good bit more time there than at the parks. Just gotta figure out if you'd rather be on or off property. Also, the cottages are on top of each other as far as privacy. I found it odd to be chilling in a hot tub right next to your neighbor, it's a strange set up and is just not really like renting a house. I know FL homes are zero lot line but these are less than zero lot line.

For some other options on property, you might also want to take a look at the All Star Music family suites or even the AofA family suites. The ASMu suites are usually less money than AofA and have been more recently remodeled and afford you sleeping space for 6, two queen pull down murphy beds and a regular queen. The other nice feature is you get 2 full baths and a small kitchen. The AofA suites are not as nice imo but have unique theming. They also have two full baths and also get sleeping space for 6 with a slightly different configuration. But you get the skyliner so that is another cost driver. Good options to keep you on property if you prefer to stay onsite.

There is always renting a villa using a DVC point reseller. We don't do that for the simple fact that we don't plan our trips very far in advance so it's hard to get anything just a few months out that fits your travel times. You have to be fairly flexible and we're not. I also don't love the lack of flexibility for the reservations so you're pretty much locked in and even the ones that have cancellation clauses, you may have to pay extra for that whereas booking elsewhere has more flexible change/cancellation policies. Even if you book far in advance, the prices are not that great so it's never really been an option for us. We've had better luck booking DVC rooms via disney directly that have been discounted.

You all definitely have options, you just need to decide on what's most important to you and go from there. Good luck!

 

[fla4fun]

You are going to struggle finding one room that accommodates 7-8 people on property. The cabins and value resort suites max out at six. Most of the other rooms max out at 4-5. You could go with a two bedroom DVC villa, which typically accommodates eight) but those are usually on the expensive side (although sometimes you can find a discount).

My normal recommendation for a group of your size would be two rooms at a value resort, which provides sleeping for eight (four queen beds) and two bathrooms. You can get two rooms for the same or less than one cabin. However, I know the theming would not be the same as staying in a cabin. I am not familiar with Margaritaville, but if you can all stay in one cottage, that might be the better choice. If their occupancy would require two rooms/cottages as well, then I would go back to recommending on property with two rooms/cabins.