Help! Fort Wilderness Cabins or POR?

[jzensky]

Ok, we need help....

A little about us. We are a family of five. This will be our fifth trip in five years. My kids are 6,8 and 10. We have always stayed off property as my in-laws have a timeshare.

This will be our first year staying on property! I am so excited!!! We are all booked and ready to go, with the room only discount at the cabins. (we are homeschoolers and are super thrilled to be attending homeschool days this year for our tickets). I was looking online last night and it looks like I could save $700 by staying at POR rather than the cabins at Fort Wilderness.

Now, I have always wanted to stay at the campground, we are a camping/outdoors family. We have always made dinner in our room at the timeshares, thus saving ourselves lots of money, so the kitchen was important to us. We are excited about seeing the sing-along and exploring the campground.

But, the savings of $700 is very tempting! would I be happy at POR? will there be enough room for the five of us to be comfortable? I figure now that my kids are getting older a big, spacious room is less important, we will be spending less time in the room. I figure I could still do breakfast in our room (cereal and milk, etc) and I usually pack in a lunch, which I could still do, and we will just have to do more dinners out than usual. I know that there are not microwaves in the room, but are there any available anywhere to use?

We will be arriving mid-January.

Thanks so much for any help!

 

[Disneyhenry]

If the kitchen is something that you will use, then go for that. If you are going to cook meals, even if it is just breakfast and dinner, for 5 people that will save you more the $700. Also you have always wanted to stay there, sounds like this is the time for you to take advantage and stay at the campground cabins. All the activities sound fun too!

 

[sharadoc]

You could consider a family suite at All Star Music. It's mid-way between the two prices and you'd get a bedroom for the parents, and each kid would have their own bed to sleep in - a sofa, chair and ottoman bed (which is plenty big for a kid).

You'll also have a kitchenette which is great for breakfast and sandwiches. Lots of activities for kids around the pool every day and a movie every evening.

We stayed there in January 2009 and really liked it. We've tried DVC one-bedrooms and a Ft. Wilderness cabin and we're totally spoiled by the DVC 1 Bedroom!

Personally, I would think if you're used to the space of a timeshare you'll be frustrated in one room for 5 of you. I say go cabin or family suite!

 

[fla4fun]

I agree that a cabin or family suite would be the best choice.

Pros for the family suite would be two bathrooms instead of one, the food court and only one bus to catch. You would have a microwave in the room, and an under counter refrigerator, which is larger than the fridge in the moderate resort rooms.

Pros for the cabin would be all the extra activities in the Fort for kids, extra privacy since you are in your own separate building (kids can make all the noise they want without disturbing the neighbors) and the full kitchen.

Only you know which amenities would be of the most value to your family, but to be honest, after living in Florida for many, many years, I would not put one of my family members on the floor on one of those trundles to sleep.

There are microwaves in the food courts at the moderate resorts that you can use.

 

[AuroraMeansDawn]

Not sure if the dining plan or free dining would factor into your decision but something to consider if it does, the Family Suite at the ASM would only qualify for the QSDP versus the DDP if you're going during a free dining period.

I had a terrible time making up my mind too! Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[Incredimom3]

We stayed in FW during our first family visit to WDW. It was lots of fun and the space was nice. The drawback to staying at FW is the bus system. The resort is so large that you have to take an internal bus to either the ferry for MK or to another bus stop to pick up a bus to the other resorts and DD. If you have your car, it wouldn't be so bad getting to the other resorts, but you aren't allowed to drive around the resort to go to different locations within. There is no food court. We are returning to POR in a few days. We have stayed offsite at all suite hotels and the extra space is great for a family of five, but we love the free dining and the Disney feel of the resorts. We stayed at POR in an Alligator Bayou room and had a blast. My middle daughter who is about 5" slept in the trundle. It was a little short, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It felt a bit like a crib mattress (firmness). Although we were on the first floor, we never saw a bug. So, I don't think the bugs were a problem. We did have a lizard who joined us for a few hours. The food court was great and they did have an available microwave. Much of the meals could be shared between two people. Back to the room, it wasn't real spacious, but we brought a collapsible shelf that velcroed to the closet rod. That gave us girls extra places for our appliances, make up, etc... Also, we had small Dollar Tree baskets which we placed on the AC unit. We'd put our bags, keys, lanyards, etc... in them. The pools at POR were fantastic. Also, you have the boat to DD. Years ago, when staying at FW, we took the buses to DD. It took us forever to return as the buses are shared with WL. We took our bus from DD to WL then to FW. Then, we had to wait for an internal bus to take us to our group of cabins. We were in transport for over an hour.

We are homeschoolers, too. We're headed to WDW in a few days with a homeschooling group. Hope you have a blast on your trip.

Stephanie

 

[Incredimom3]

Whoops! I meant that my middle daughter is about 5 feet tall.

 

[gillep]

I would go with the cabin if I were you it sounds like it would fit your family perfectly and I think you would save a good deal of money being able to use the kitchen to cook your meals. Eventhough you don't plan on being in the room too much I think POR (which I love) would be too small for you and the savings would be greatly diminished by needing to eat out more.

 

[WDW1979]

Tough choice! I have stayed at Port Orleans Riverside (formerly Dixie Landings) six times and the Fort Wilderness Cabins twice, and I am considering each of them for my family's next visit to WDW in March, 2011.

The less expensive rates available at Riverside vs. the cabins is certainly a consideration for me, and even more so since we would rent an electric cart at Fort Wilderness should we choose the cabins. The electric carts at Ft.W are around $60 a day - steep (though at that crazy price we are considering, for the first time, looking into renting an electric cart from a non-Disney vendor in the Orlando area).

But it is not just the financial savings that draws me to Riverside. In my opinion it is the prettiest WDW resort hotel; it even beats the "deluxe" level hotels in terms of landscaping. The vast grounds are a pleasant mix of wide lawns, well-set trees, bushes and flowers. Numerous walkways twist and turn through the landscape, and several little bridges cross small creeks. A calm-water river winds through the middle of the resort grounds. I love walking around the resort in the early morning while others are still waking up. At that time, the resort is calm and quiet and feels like a preview of heaven. I also enjoy walks after sunset, when the resort shows off a different kind of pretty, lights that accent the beautiful buildings and twinkle as reflections along the river.

I also love the counter-service restaurant, "Riverside Mill". It is open from 6am to midnight. It is very convenient and offers a good variety of both fast food and healthy selections. Lunch/dinner menu at: http://allears.net/menu/men-ccld.htm.

The three words that best describe Riverside are: pretty, relaxing, pleasant.

Problem is, I also love the cabins in Fort Wilderness (a little bit less so since Disney started allowing yapping dogs to accompany guests in some of the tent loops - sounds that can be heard in the evenings when walking about, but maybe that would not bother you). The cabins are wonderful and cozy. They offer a full kitchen, which is fantastic and convenient, and the separate bedroom provides much needed extra space. The cabin has four beds: the separate bedroom contains two beds as part of a bunk-bed, plus a double bed, and there is a pull down "Murphy bed" in the living room. The amenities and size of the cabin easily trump a room at Riverside.

The grounds of Fort Wilderness are very nice - just as you would expect at a great campground. It is not as amenable to walking as Riverside - things are much further apart (though there is an internal bus) and there can be some traffic on the main roads of the campground. A good map of Fort Wilderness is available at: http://allears.net/acc/fortwmap1.jpg. In the middle of Fort Wilderness are the Meadow Trading Post and the Meadow Recreation Area. The trading post is a nice store and modest grocery. The recreation area is lots of fun; a couple of years ago the pool was upgraded to include a large twisting slide. And in the evenings, Disney hosts a campfire program in the Meadow Recreation area. The free campfire program has seating for several hundred, though usually it is never full. It starts out with two campfires for roasting marshmallows, then a guitarist/singer arrives on stage for entertainment. Finally, a Disney movie (different each night) is projected onto a large outdoor movie screen. It is wonderful.

Another bonus of staying at Fort Wilderness - the boat to Magic Kingdom. A pleasant, relaxing ride with nice views.

It is difficult for me to recommend one over the other to you (Riverside vs. Fort Wilderness cabins), as I am facing the same choice. But I hope I have provide some information to assist your decision.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1979 (Jun) Days Suites Kissimmee; 1991 (Aug-Sep) rental house; 1997 (May) Dixie Landings; 1998 (May) DxL & Poly; 1999 (July) Wilderness Lodge; 2000 (May) WL & DxL & Grand Floridian; 2002 (April) DxL; 2003 (May) Residence Inn LBV; 2004 (April) Villas at WL & Beach Club Villas; 2005 (Jan-Feb) Fort Wilderness Cabins & Royal Pacific & Hilton GVC; 2005 (May) Hampton Inn & DxL; 2006 (Jan) Ft.W Cabins & BCV; 2007 (March) POR; 2008 (Aug) Embassy Suites; 2009 (Dec) Homewood Suites LBV& WL

 

[jzensky]

Thank you WDW1979 for your great response! I do think that we are going to try to go with POR.....

I think the biggest factor is that this will be our first time every to take advantage of extra magic hours and having a park hopper. We take each day at a very leisurely pace and I don't anticipate getting back to our room until bedtime, nice and exhausted.

I did have to promise my kids though that we could still go spend an evening at the Fort to check out the sing-along and movie and watch the water parade from the beach.... I think that these are still things that we can do even though we wouldn't stay there.