Has the Fort "ruined" you for any other campground?

[musicmama]

Just got back from a campground in south NJ - near the shore, part of the campground group to which we belong. Not naming names because it's part of a private, membership-only organization (not KOA, not GoodSam, not AAA). The last time we were there, we rented a cabin. This time, we took the RV - the last trip was Fort Wilderness for Christmas. What a difference:
-- No concrete pad for your rig, just dirt; impossible to set up the stabilizer jacks in the soft ground
-- Only 1 of 2 bathhouses was actually working (the other had been vandalized and was under repair)
-- Trading Post had very restricted hours
-- They were not ready for pre-Memorial Day weekend campers even though the campground opened 3 weeks earlier
-- No paved roads; 1 stone/shell-covered In/Out road
-- Hard to tell where the sewer connections were; MANY FEWER sites had sewer
-- Pool didn't open til Saturday (we arrived Thursday)

Anybody else think that anything less than Ft. Wilderness is a big letdown?

 

[minkydog]

Well, FW is the creme de la creme, but I still love our State Parks. Georgia has a wonderful state park system and the sites are clean, the bathrooms are usually updated, the pools and lakefronts are delightful. Sounds like you need a new campground

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

I think most of the frequent FW guests will use FW as the gauge for quality.

We use the MI state parks in the summer. Most do not have full hook ups and very few have gravel or pavement, making for a muddy mess if the weather is bad. Unfortunately with the state economy being what it is I dont see any improvements coming soon.
Most of the parks are in prime locations and could easily be made much nicer.

Scott

 

[michelle9343]

I agree after staying at the Fort it is really hard to find a campground that comes close .

 

[ftwildernessguy]

Although no other campgrounds come close to FW as far as amenities and location for us, we still enjoy camping and have a few other campgrounds we like going to. We will be trying a new one in our area in August for a week.

 

[disneyophile]

We also have found that we use Fort Wilderness as the standard that we measure all other campgrounds by. None come close, especially when comparing comfort stations

 

[PenskeSth1]

Fort Wilderness is our favorite, But Cherry Hill RV park in Maryland comes in a close 2nd...

 

[hapinowagain]

I can't wait to get to Fort Wilderness. Generally, in all other campgrounds are lacking in decent accomodations.

 

[hatchmo]

Nothing else comes close. Good and acceptable, but not close.

 

[toytowner]

have stayed in a lot of campgrounds since 1966 and they have come a long way. because it's disney i don't think it's fair to try to compare all other campgrounds or expect that most could even come close. not very often have i been to a real bad campground state or private i guess it all depends what you are looking for at the time. seen some with lower ratings that i couldn't understand why and some with high ratings that were a let down. some of the best i've been to are in P.E.I.,ONT, PA, VA, NC,SC,NY,GA,TENN,FLA,IND,MI,MINN,DEL,NJ AND NEW ENGLAND AND QUE.when a campground charges $18.00 or even $40.00 you can't expect it to be like the fort so no it's not a let down just a state of mind.

 

[disfanRN]

We love the fort, but we love all Disney!! MacGregor Pointe in Ontario is also an awesome campground, for different reasons. MacGregor has awesome mountain bike trails, nature and hiking.

 

[Gillian]

It's just like hotels, IMO. Some have better bathrooms (beds, carpets, sound barriers,etc.) than others.

Stabilizer question - can you get sand pads generally, if you don't already have them?

 

[toytowner]

camping world south jersey lol

 

[leprechaun]

FW is an enigma. If it could be copied or improved upon somebody would have done it by now. There is no place quite like it. As Penske said earlier, Cherryhill is nice but it is no Fort Wildeness
Can I get an Amen?

 

[loriandmatt]

AMEN! (camped at cherryhill before)

we love to camp. been to some VERY nice places and have been burned by some stinkers. (generally we won't stay at a place if they don't get at least a 4 from Woodalls - but even then we have been let down. we swear some of those folks must be paying for an extra "W" from those Woodalls folks, cause they don't all deserve all the W's they have!)

Yes, the Fort is the top of the heap for just about every category in a campground. even price in my opinion.

We pay more for just about every other campground that we stay in than we do for the fort. Case in point - we stayed at a South Jersey campground last year - $52/night. We also stayed in the Poconos - $48/night. We stayed in maryland for $45/night. I just made ressies for FW in Aug - $39/night before taxes, and just 43.50/night inc tax. How can you beat that?!?!? Sssshhhhh - don't let the fort know that everyplace else is so darn high - they will raise their rates too!!!!

- lori