How do you book a site?

[chindog]

I've been trying to figure out how in the world to book an RV site at Fort Wilderness. We are quite flexible on dates, and can go just about any time, but I can't find a way on the website to find available sites with a calendar availability grid. We have a big class A, and need a large site. The only booking options I've found require you to input check in and check out dates. Everything I try results in no sites available. I can't find a way to see what dates are available. Any suggestions?

 

[bama_ed]

Sites at the Fort are hard to book almost ANY time these days, @chindog. What dates are you currently looking for?

The Fort has the same number of RV/trailer/tent sites as it did in 1977-ish. In the mean time, the number of campers and rv'ers and Boomer Babies and all have skyrocketed in the intervening decades. Since the supply of campsites has stayed the same and the demand has grown, prices have shot up and booking a site is tough.

Used to be that you could book your arrival day up to 500 days in advance (for a max 30 day stay) but Disney is currently restricting that (500 days now goes into 2023 and 2023 arrivals are restricted and not available yet per Disney).

So it helps to book WELL in advance (a year during slack times) and at/around the 500 day mark for holidays, spring break, busy times (summer is suprisingly not busy other than July 4th week because it is so hot).

The other dynamic to be aware of is that folks near WDW ("locals") book weekends at the 500 day mark BECAUSE THEY CAN so often you can get weekdays (Sun-Thur nights available) but can't get Fri and Sat nights.

I don't like it - it's changed so much over the last 20 years I've been going to the Fort. But that's how you have to play the game if you want to book ahead.

The alternative is to select the level of site you want (if you are long then a Premium Meadow or Premium) and book what you can get in your time frame window. A day here, two days there. You can string them together and later get them combined into one reservation (same level and consecutive dates).

Disney doesn't make it easy. It is what it is. But that's what you need to know going forward.

Good luck!

Bama Ed

 

[morrik5]

Sites at the Fort are hard to book almost ANY time these days, @chindog. What dates are you currently looking for?

The Fort has the same number of RV/trailer/tent sites as it did in 1977-ish. In the mean time, the number of campers and rv'ers and Boomer Babies and all have skyrocketed in the intervening decades. Since the supply of campsites has stayed the same and the demand has grown, prices have shot up and booking a site is tough.

Used to be that you could book your arrival day up to 500 days in advance (for a max 30 day stay) but Disney is currently restricting that (500 days now goes into 2023 and 2023 arrivals are restricted and not available yet per Disney).

So it helps to book WELL in advance (a year during slack times) and at/around the 500 day mark for holidays, spring break, busy times (summer is suprisingly not busy other than July 4th week because it is so hot).

The other dynamic to be aware of is that folks near WDW ("locals") book weekends at the 500 day mark BECAUSE THEY CAN so often you can get weekdays (Sun-Thur nights available) but can't get Fri and Sat nights.

I don't like it - it's changed so much over the last 20 years I've been going to the Fort. But that's how you have to play the game if you want to book ahead.

The alternative is to select the level of site you want (if you are long then a Premium Meadow or Premium) and book what you can get in your time frame window. A day here, two days there. You can string them together and later get them combined into one reservation (same level and consecutive dates).

Disney doesn't make it easy. It is what it is. But that's what you need to know going forward.

Good luck!

Bama Ed

And I'll probably be hearing flack on this comment, but sites are also being booked during holiday seasonl times like Halloween and Christmas especially, as non-occupied sites for their display blow-ups and lights. This too makes it harder for people to find available sites to actually occupy and camp on.

 

[loves to dive]

You just have to keep plugging in different combinations of dates, there is no site that has an availability calendar. My step-daughter is an authorized Disney travel agent and I asked her about it for booking a resort room and she said nope, she sees the same thing I do.

 

[StormyCA]

And I'll probably be hearing flack on this comment, but sites are also being booked during holiday seasonl times like Halloween and Christmas especially, as non-occupied sites for their display blow-ups and lights. This too makes it harder for people to find available sites to actually occupy and camp on.

Wait, what?!?!?! People are booking sites for the express purpose of using them as 'display space' for their personal holiday decorations? So, they'd book 2 side-by-side and use the 'extra one' for display?

Wow. That's crazy! And pretty inconsiderate (IMHO).

 

[Stratman50th]

Wait, what?!?!?! People are booking sites for the express purpose of using them as 'display space' for their personal holiday decorations? So, they'd book 2 side-by-side and use the 'extra one' for display?

Wow. That's crazy! And pretty inconsiderate (IMHO).

Not to mention expensive.

 

[chindog]

Specific dates aren't important, as we are retired and can go any time. It's just frustrating trying to book a site when you have to select a date range, only to find out after going through the process that there are no openings. It would be so much better to be able to look at a grid that shows when there are availabilities. I guess I'll just keep plugging away, entering random dates until I hit the jackpot.

 

[bama_ed]

It would be so much better to be able to look at a grid that shows when there are availabilities.

Sure. Several state park systems (or rec.gov) show availability by specific camp site number by date which makes it easier to plan based on what you see. But ....

This is Disney IT we are talking about and they have worked AWFULLY hard for their bottom-of-the-barrel IT Reputation that is better than NONE (think about it). The low tech IT system helps THEM and doesn't help US which is the way things are slanted. And I wouldn't want to steal their bottom-of-the-barrel reputation from them that they have worked SO HARD to earn. Because over DECADES they have consistently delivered less-than-expectations. Consistently. That's what we expect - and they have fallen short of even THOSE expectations.

I'm retired too. Can travel anywhere almost any time. You can "keep plugging away" but for a stay of more than 2-3 nights you have to either book WAY early or patch together multiple reservations. Of course, you could hit the motherlode and and find a full week available on short notice for a holiday/popular period but that is a VERY low probability hit. But I'm sure it can happen.

Rational thought and expectations have no place in planning a Disney camping vacation. The Fort itself is great (once you are there) but the park side and all the garbage that goes with it is a deterrent. But I love the Fort - but that is just my opinion.

Worth what you paid for it, @chindog. I'm not trying to be a pain in the rear. But I AM trying to tell you the reality of the present.

Bama Ed

PS - so high demand and limited supply means even WITH your flexible travel dates it's STILL a tough reservation (unless you can use a Tent site which I don't think will help you).

 

[StormyCA]

Not to mention expensive.

That's for sure!!

You know, there are quite a few CGs and RV parks that specify that a site must be 'occupied' by an RV or tent. I'm surprised Disney doesn't have that requirement.

I've seen that requirement on more than a few reservations websites and there was one Natl Park CG we wanted to stay at in which the sites were too short for our TT + truck. We asked about reserving 2 (one for the TT, one for the truck) and were told 'no go'.

 

[bama_ed]

And I'm not going to down the rabbit hole of how Disney plays games to discourage shorter stays (no availability) and encourage longer stays (hey, whadya know, availability) because they know guests will continue to spend the longer their stay. Or how they discourage the orphan night practice.

I think everyone would be happy with a grid of individual sites by dates showing availability (or not). But it does not exist.

Bama Ed

 

[StormyCA]

And I'm not going to down the rabbit hole of how Disney plays games to discourage shorter stays (no availability) and encourage longer stays (hey, whadya know, availability) because they know guests will continue to spend the longer their stay. Or how they discourage the orphan night practice.

I think everyone would be happy with a grid of individual sites by dates showing availability (or not). But it does not exist.

Bama Ed

That's interesting! I've never tried to book a short stay so had no idea that Disney 'discouraged' it. Based on that alone, it sounds as if they'd have no interest in posting availability by grid to avoid people 'picking off' random 2-3 night slots during the year, thereby breaking up potential longer time periods. I'd like a grid a lot, but generally we've already narrowed down when we want to go & we're retired so I only have to fiddle around with dates within about a 4-5 week period to find a 9-10 night slot.

 

[bama_ed]

I think there is a time line related to it, Stormy.

Under NORMAL conditions ....

At the 500 day window, you can book shorter periods like the weekends as the locals tend to do in the long spring and fall periods when the weather is nice in Central Florida.

At some point when more has been booked and the overall percent of the Fort still available goes down, we start to hear people say, "hey I can't get a 2-night reservation (Fri/Sat for example). Shows no availability". Then they add a few nights onto the END (or front) of that prior request and it becomes, "hey I CAN get a Fri-Tue 5-night reservation. So Friday and Saturday nights were available in the first query but Disney's IT algorithm suppresses offering it. Over and over and over we have heard it through the years. They want you to stay longer and spend more. And longer stays mean lower labor costs because there aren't as many site cleanups between visitors I suppose. And this is true for the hotels too I assume.

Moving closer to arrival time, people try to modify a reservation to drop a night or two and Disney hasn't always let them because it may sit unbooked (an orphaned night or two stuck between two longer reservations). Closer still to arrival time is when folks can snag a night here, two nights there, and piece together a reservation. Maybe those were nights never ever booked or those that could/did get dropped.

I don't know WHEN these can/can't timeframes are but I get the general sense I described above. As I've said we hear it CONSISTENTLY from year to year (normally).

Since things shut down in early 2020, nothing has been "normal". But Disney IT HAS been at work adding functionality. Recently I was able to add a person to our existing room only reservation on-line which had not been available the last time I wanted to (I had to call the reservation number and have a CM do it over the phone). But CM's cost money so Disney is probably chipping away looking at cost of an IT update versus CM labor savings. So I will give them SOME credit and say while they ARE behind the times, they are still working on it.

Bama Ed

PS - But we're not in a NORMAL condition period with 2023 blocked out still. And a lot of pent up demand.

 

[StormyCA]

PS - But we're not in a NORMAL condition period with 2023 blocked out still. And a lot of pent up demand.

Thanks for the intel @bama_ed

2023 (in the Fall) is our next trip. I had no idea they're 'holding up' all bookings for 2023.

I had considered booking our stay as 'site only' in Spring 2022 once we figure out our Fall dates (not Halloween/Thanksgiving season) to get the time locked in then converting to package once those are released in (hopefully) Summer 2022. Assuming they'll convert from site only to package. But sounds as if we're still in the "Who knows that the heck is going on" stage.