Help calm my transportation fears

[sgfun]

We will be arriving 1/15 for 6 days, have reservations for a cabin with 2 adults, and 3 kids (6, 5, and 3). We have had great transportation experiences in the past at the CBR and WL, but am panicking now about this choice.

I'm thinking requesting something close to the harbor and boat transporation might be our best bet. We will be spending most of our time in the parks, comming home changing for dinner and back out again. The thought of telling my spouse he has to use two busses, to get anywhere is not something I'm looking forward to.

I'm looking for words of encourgment and/or any words of advise if get there and want to change resorts.

 

[Lisa P.]

There are no cabins near the boat transportation. Here is a resort map for FW. The cabins are in loops 2100-2800, where you will note that there are no comfort stations for campers. The is the area to the left, as you first enter the campground at the bottom of the map. The lake is at the top of the map.

Here is another website with lots of info about FW and the FW Cabins. Here are Guest Comments by past guests at the Cabins.

Your concerns about the transportation are understandable, especially if some family members are not patient with bus shuttles and waiting for transfers. We found it best to use the bus & boat combo for MK and drive our own car everywhere else. It's also a pretty dark walk along your loop, back from the bus stop at night. Some people bring a pocket flashlight so they can see and be seen more easily while walking along the wide lane road of their quiet loop. If your cabin assignment is at the back of a loop, this would be a bit long in bad weather, so requesting a cabin near a bus stop is a pretty good idea.

If you are pretty relaxed about getting places, the transportation is fine because the area is green, shady and pretty. We didn't mind it really but do prefer more direct transport (so prefer our car much of the time). Only you know your family and what would appeal to them or annoy them. HTH!

 

[Lisa P.]

If you arrive at any Disney resort and want to change resorts, just go to the front desk and calmly explain what you want to do. They will explain your options to you.

Look over the information above and make a choice. But don't stress too much over this now. The important thing is that you are going on vacation to enjoy your family time together in a fun place. Keep the main thing, the main thing.

 

[FredS]

In my experience, the transportation at FW is as good, if not better, than that to WL. Things can always change, but in our two stays camping we really had no problems. For what it is worth, some people think that I am more impatient than most!

 

[risy]

The FW internal buses run very regular (in my experience) through Ft. Wilderness.

To get to MK you just take the internal bus for a quick ride to the Marina. The boat delivers you to the MK turnstiles.

For Epcot, you jump on the FW bus that goes to the Ticket & Transportation Hub. Then ride monorail to Epcot.

It's the same as Wilderness Lodge, except the buses come to pick you up right in front of your loop. Request a cabin close to the bus drop-off so you will have a very short walk!

 

[sgfun]

Thanks for the advise everyone. I think we will give it a try and see how it goes.

 

[dgaston]

When you get to FW, be sure to learn about the colors of the bus system. That will help make sure you're on the right bus. And keep in mind flexibility. If you're going to Epcot, another option is to take a boat to either Contemporary or MK and transfer to monorails to Epcot.

We usually drive to AK, and sometimes MGM, but we've become familiar with the area.

The cabins have provided us with some of our primo Disney memories. I love the kitchen and having some room to spread out. But watch out for marauding chipmunks (of the small variety, not Chip and Dale). They ate all the apples I had left on the picnic table!!! LOL

 

[sgfun]

Well we stuck with the cabins and it worked. We got off to a rocky start our first full day, trying to be creative getting to Epcot for dinner, and headed for Magic Kingdom on the boat to get the monorail, just as Magic Kingdom was closing. It was just one mistake after another and took us an hour longer then it should have, but we learned a couple of things. First pay attention to when things close. That if you want to take the monorail to Epcot, you can take what ever boat comes first (resort or MK) because your going to have to go to transportation center either way, and did I mention pay attention to when things close.

We enjoyed the extra room of the cabins. Did find they could have had more light, but that was really it as a negative for the cabins.

The internal busses ran very regularly and the bus drives helped us figure out the fastest way to get to where we wanted to go infernally. I have to admit though getting back at 10 PM with 3 young kids and having to get on another bus and then walk a block back to the cabin was not fun.

I have two years to think about if we would do it again, but it worked out fine.

 

[pathoov]

My advice...rent a car and a golf cart. Both are worth the money if staying at FW.

 

[originalrabbit]

We are looking forward to our first FW experience beginning June 15 after many camping experiences off-site with our children when they were much younger. We have also stayed on property at the Swan and Dolphin (teacher discount), Carribbean, and just last December at Pop Century. What a difference between on-site and off-site! The bus service and rail service were superb during our December visit. We did use the water transportation on two explorations - once for brunch at Trail's End and the other for the Hoop-Dee-Doo. Unfortunately, we could not use the water transport for our return trip after Hoop-Dee-Doo. Our question/concern is this: How late does the water tranportation system operate between FW and other sea and lagoon areas during the month of June? Keep in mind that we are new to the discussion board and may be asking questions that have previously been answered.

 

[campingcorgi]

The large boat from FW to MK via WL runs till about an hour after MK closes. I believe that the small launch (it runs from the Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge, Fort Wilderness in alternating directions) runs till 10 p.m. Don't forget that you can get off at the Contemporary and hop the monorail, too. Or vice versa!