FW Cabin Transportation Difficulties?

[JFlorkow]

Hello, me, my wife and our four kids (12, 10, 6, 1) are planning a trip to WDW. Currently, we have a reservation at PO - RS but are tossing around the idea of switching to a cabin at FW. The only negative that I have heard about FW campground/cabins is the transportation/bussing. How bad is it? We have a lot of early morning plans and I don't want to miss out on those. Any advice is appreciated! TIA.

 

[HopperFan]

For us it was a big problem. Sis and I had side by side cabins, each with 2 adults and 3 children. It was a pain in the neck. The walk from the cabin to the end of our road to wait for an internal bus. Internal buses were crowded at all times. Then at boat to MK, we walked from bus to boat where we waited again for the slow boat ride to MK. One trip from MK to FW between wait and travel = 1 hour dock to dock. To get to other parks you take the internal to the front gate where you transfer again to another bus to the parks. Both families decided (we didn't do everything together) to drive to the parks (other than MK just due to logistics of getting to the toll booth). It was much faster and dependable to drive ... certainly more enjoyable ... than the system there. It is honestly the main reason we don't stay there. I simply don't want to spend that much time and effort on transportation, I prefer direct. I can stay offsite, in bigger lodging for much less ... and drive to parks faster than I can from FW.

 

[absolutmey]

Stayed in the cabins last year and had a WONDERFUL time. Have you considered renting a golf cart? This allowed us to have freedom to come and go as we pleased w/in the fort. We never took the internal buses and I think this is what saved us from having the transportation difficulties described above. We absolutely LOVED having the cart. The ferry to and from MK was very nice as well. We used that for our MK days and one of our EP days too; just hopped the monorail. The second EP day we took the bus and it ended up being the same amount of transport time, either way. The fort is really a relaxing place to stay - "fort time" is kind of like "island time". Just know that going in, if you decide to stay there. Good luck!

 

[familyman123]

We stayed last year at a cabin and had a car. With a car it is very quick to HS, EPCOT, and AK. Magic Kingdom was substantially longer because we couldn't drive and therefore had to do the walk-bus-boat combo referenced above. So if you are unluckly, you may wait for a bus, and then wait for a boat. I think having a golf cart alleviates part of that issue.

To the OPs direct question - we used the Disney transportation to rope drop MK on two different days, and we made it both times. We just had to make sure we left early enough (an hour early or so). So I don't think the transportation would ever prevent you from rope dropping, but you may have to leave more time and be a more patient then other resorts.

(FWIW - We really liked the Fort. We are glad we chose it).

 

[Kaytie]

One trip from MK to FW between wait and travel = 1 hour dock to dock.

Dock to dock? Or cabin to dock? Aren't there multiple boats running simultaneously? I'm genuinely confused how a set of boats with three relatively close stops can take an hour, even it stops at WL on the way?

 

[HopperFan]

Dock to dock? Or cabin to dock? Aren't there multiple boats running simultaneously? I'm genuinely confused how a set of boats with three relatively close stops can take an hour, even it stops at WL on the way?

We arrived at the boat dock at MK to go to FW. We waited 20+ minutes for the boat. We loaded on the boat and sat there another 20 minutes while they filled the boat (large one). We went to WL first and it was slow to unload because the boat, then we headed to FW. We sat out in the water about 10 minutes waiting to pull into the dock. It literally took an hour from the time we arrived to MK boat dock to us getting off at FW.

Other trips were not as long but still not worth the hassle.

And to other posters, yes the golf cart makes a huge difference, our family that camps there brings their own ... but renting pushes that daily price up much higher, especially if you are using it just to get to a boat or pool. Our family loves it there but they take their own campers, their dog, spend lots of time at their site.