Is a Golf Cart Really Necessary?

[jdk5672]

Hello!



We are planning on staying at Fort Wilderness in June for our first ever trip to Florida and WDW. I've been reading and reading, but I am having a hard time deciding if a golf cart is necessary. If it's not, I'd rather save the $ and spend it on something else fun. We are a family of 3, M, D, and 10 yo DD. All of us are fit and can handle walking well. I run a mile a day and DD also runs daily and walks 1.5 mile home from school. So, it seems that the walking in FW shouldn't be a problem physically. But, on vacation, time is money so I don't want to spend so much time and energy on getting to the boat dock and bus stop that we're wasting the day. We plan on visiting the parks daily, taking advantage of early hours and then returning to FW for afternoon rests. We will return to the parks each evening. We are renting a car and may wind up driving to the parks if the bus is difficult/time consuming. We may also wind up with dad taking the car back to the cabin to rest while DD and I take in some extra shows, etc.

I'm willing to invest in the golf cart if it will be necessary, but I just can't tell if it will be.

I'd appreciate any thoughts and/or advice you can offer.

Thanks!

 

[GIOny]

It's probally not really necessary but they are fun and convenient. According to the FW fact sheet http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/faq_fw.htm it is very much a time wise advantage (look about 1/2 way down the page in the section about golf carts. Do you know the loop your in, you may want to find out and check out this map http://home.hiwaay.net/~jlspence/fwmapnew.jpg to see how far away you are from things. Good luck and Happy Camping!!!

 

[LMC]

You probably will not need a cart given your particular situation. We use one sometimes with our kids (10, 6, 4) but it's hard to do alot of walking with three small kids in tow! Save the money and splurge on a nice meal one night.
Are you taking your bikes? If you have a way I would suggest that you do.

 

[mrsgus06]

If dd is 10, the bus should not be a problem (no small child with stroller) and the golf cart would be a waste of money, especially if you are going to spend all your time in the parks. I think we may have waited 5 to 10 minutes for the internal busses. We do drive to the other parks because it is a lot faster, but I take 5 kids ages 10 and under with a stroller. Here is a tip, when checking in, asked to be placed at the front of your loop. Some of the loops are pretty large so that would save some time on the walking. (the 2700 loop has 72 cabins in it, we asked for the front of the loop and got 2772, imagine the walk if we would have been assigned to 2735! ) We will be there in June also (one of my girls is 10 also) so we may run into you. Have a safe and wonderful trip!

 

[disney_family_1247]

We just spent Spring Break at FW ( do not ever go during that time of year!!!). Our campsite was the furthest away from the bus stop. We had my 4 year old dd, 2 year old ds, and 6 year old nephew with us, and it was hard. Last October, we had a spot right across from both the comfort station and the bus stop, which was awesome.

Even though your dd is 10, I would recommend the golf cart if you end up being far away from the bus stop. The extra walking may not seem like a lot, but it does take up time, and if you've spent the day walking several miles the last little bit can be a killer.

The added benefit is that if you want to head to dinner or shopping at the Settlement, you don't have to wait.

If you've got the money, I would really go for it

Leyla

WDW more time than I can count as a child, many stays at FW
June 1994 Offsite
June 1996 Honeymoon at the Wilderness Lodge
December 1996 Contemporary
December 1999 New Years Offsite
December 2000 All-Star Movies (first time with dd)
April 2001 Offsite
February 2003 All-Star Music (first time with ds)
November 2003 Contemporary
October 2004 Fort Wilderness
March 2005 Fort Wilderness

 

[tim5055]

I agree, you will probably not need a cart. If you plan a day at FW (I suggest this to everyone) a cart for the day would be nice.

As far as driving to the parks, that is the way to go in my opinion. Except for MK where we take the launch from the marina we drive to all parks. The parking is free and a lot less stressfull.

 

[FWCamper]

I have been camping at the fort since my kids were babies and have never rented a golf cart. We have always used bikes or walked. the only time i have a problem is at night it is dark coming back from the campfire, i wish they had a little more lamp posts. But otherwise if you are fit and healthy you do not need a cart if you don't want to spend the money, and they are alot of money.