Just back from cabins!!

cinder1

Mouseketeer
Joined
Sep 7, 2002
Messages
465
We just got back this morning from our first stay at FW. We were in the 2600 cabin loop. I have a few observations/opinions.

The cabins were great!! One "problem" we encountered was a lack of storage space for clothes. We used the one small dresser in the bedroom and the cabinets in the living room on either side of the murphy bed. There were plenty of towels. One cabinet in the bathroom was marked towels and it contained tons of towels, washcloths and hand towels.

I had read the cabins were very dark. They were a bit but not bad at all; what you'd expect in a cabin.

Be careful when stepping out of the tub; it's further down than you expect. Of course, we could have used another bathroom, but it was not enough of an issue to worry about.

The murphy bed was very comfortable. The full size bed in the bedroom (where my 3 yr old DD and I slept) was very comfortable. I like very firm mattresses and usually hotel beds are way softer than I like, but this bed was wonderful!!

Mousekeeping was great. Cleaning up after a family of 6 is no easy task and it was well done.

We had a cart which, in my opinion, is completely necessary. Bus service to the parks (MGM, AK and Epcot) was the best we've had at any Disney resort, but the internal bus system (which we used a few times) was a pain in the rear.

Boat transportation to MK was the biggest disappointment. We like to be at MK early for rope drop. The boats don't get to FW until 8:30 am and then stop at WL. We got to MK only a couple of minutes before rope drop (say 8:58 am). We were never at the front of rope drop where DH and our older kids prefer to be. Also there is no bus transportation to MK. WL has boat and bus transportation to MK so why not FW? The boats don't hold enough people and at least one day, they were down one boat. We waited forever to get back to FW. And one more thing about the boats (at least the larger ones), why no ac or at least large wall mounted fans? It's freaking hot inside the boats!!

My 2 older kids (12 and 10 yr old girls) went on the trail ride which they enjoyed. My oldest is actually a very good rider so I was concerned that the ride would be too tame. Because she knew what she was doing, they put her on a harder horse. It was a tame ride, but my oldest just loves horses. She would have been happy just visiting with the horses. They saw lots of rabbits and deer on the ride and one of the wranglers told my oldest about a cool website where you "raise" your own horse (think nintendogs).

I think most of the food at Trails End isn't very good. Big exception for the baked goods you can buy. They were great. The takeout pizza is ok and a pretty good price for a very large pizza.

My DH and younger kids (7 and 3) loved the sing-a-long. The 2 oldest enjoyed it a bit on one night only. That was enough for them. The 2 oldest also did not enjoy the pools. They like slides and diving boards.

We loved having the extra space that comes with a cabin and no one above or below us. We worried a lot less about how rambunctious the kids were. My DH who loves camping did feel a bit more ambivalent about FW. He said the cabin was not quite camping, but not like the other Disney resorts in terms of amenities. I was worried I'd feel this way since I am sooo not a camper, but I loved it. The kids did too. We all loved having the cart. We really liked the trading posts. My DH's main problem was the boat to MK. He definitely would stay there again. He'd like to tent camp with the kids. I said fine as long as he understood while they were in a tent, I'd be at the GF!!!:lmao:

Oh, I almost forgot about checkin. Our cabin was ready about 10:30 am and our cart was available around 11 am. Absolutely wonderful. (We checked in on Sunday, July 8.) When we left yesterday, there was a sign up stating no carts were available until 1 pm and there were none available unless you had a reservation.

That's it. Let me know if you have any questions.

Paige
 
Thanks for the info! We are going to stay at FW for the first time in a few weeks. I have a question regarding the mugs. Did you buy the souvenir mugs at FW? If so, do they say FW or are they the YOAMD ones? Friends are staying with us at FW and then moving to POP when we leave. She's curious if she will need to buy mugs at both resorts.
 
We didn't buy the mugs at FW, but I believe they were the new YOAMD mugs that are everywhere now. My 2 oldest DDs and I were at POP for a few days prior to everyone else arriving at FW and we did buy the mugs there. They still say the mugs are for this stay at this resort only, but the mugs all look alike.
 
I've stayed in the cabins several times... around 14 trips over the last couple of years- the only thing I disagree on is the food at Trails End. We love the food there.

I can't wait to go back in 5 weeks! :banana:
 

If it were me, I'd take a good look around the campground before I'd buy the mug. Its huge. I don't know where they sell them or where you fill them. Unless you have a cart, you'll likely need to take some water with you to make so that you can make it so that you can fill the mug. Seriously, the place is really spread out. If you're staying in a cabin, you get a full-sized refridgerator. Buy plenty of Cokes and put them in the fridge. It will be a lot cheaper and far easier.

Also in terms of pool advice, neither pool is anything special. They're both just rectangle pools. The big pool has a lifeguard. And while that might seem nice, its a PITA since it rains every day and they close the pool when it rains "in the area". So, you wind up sitting there waiting to be allowed to swim because its raining somewhere. What I saw was some clouds and clear skys overhead and a lot of frustrated kids and parents. Also a lot of arguing. I even watched a guy return beer at the trading post because his plan was to sit and have a beer while the kids swam. By contrast the small pool (which is not that small anyway) has no life guard. Its open 24 hours and you're free to swim in the rain, etc. We swam watching some distant lightining and listening to thunder. I eventually pulled the kids out of the pool, but you're not stuck with the "storms in the area" argument when you can see clear blue skys. You don't get a game room, but I consider that a positive.
 
We love the cabins too. We really have never had an issue with the boats to MK but we dont go at the most crowded times either, well, actually we were there on Christmas one year but didnt go to MK.....:goodvibes

A tip for storage space if you are driving...DD and I pack our clothes in an under the bed box. It fits in the car great and we dont really have to unpack, just get what you want and shove it under the bed. That frees up storage space for other people.
 
What we do to avoid the hassel of waiting for the MK boat first thing is get to the dock early.....around 7:30-7:45 and catch a boat to the CR and from there hop on the monorail and ride to the MK. No last minute rush to the rope drop then!:thumbsup2
 
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Catching the boat to CR at 7:30 am would work but I still think it's a bit ridiculous that you have to go through that when the boat to MK could start earlier. The buses start running at least 45 min to an hour before each park opens. Why should it be any different with the boat to MK? And it's only the boat to MK that's a problem. Like you said, the boat to CR starts way earlier. I think that's weird. We had no problem with getting a seat on the boat. It just came later than we wanted. Now at night, there simply weren't enough boats for all the people trying to get back to FW. Again, there is a bus to MK from WL. Why not make a bus available to MK from FW too? Don't get me wrong, I loved FW and will stay there again, no problem. Every resort has some sort of problem/irritation and you work around it if you like the resort.:)
 
Thank you for your excellent review!

I agree about the MK transportation. One of the reasons we thought we'd like FW is because it's close to MK, but we ended up using our car, which worked very, very well. The boat to CR is something we'll try next time.

It's a shame about the pools being so plain, but FW fills up anyway, and there isn't much incentive to add more ammenities.

We bought the FW mugs as souveniers, not for the refills, I'm not so interested in generic mugs.
 
If it were me, I'd take a good look around the campground before I'd buy the mug. Its huge. I don't know where they sell them or where you fill them. Unless you have a cart, you'll likely need to take some water with you to make so that you can make it so that you can fill the mug. Seriously, the place is really spread out. If you're staying in a cabin, you get a full-sized refridgerator. Buy plenty of Cokes and put them in the fridge. It will be a lot cheaper and far easier.

Also in terms of pool advice, neither pool is anything special. They're both just rectangle pools. The big pool has a lifeguard. And while that might seem nice, its a PITA since it rains every day and they close the pool when it rains "in the area". So, you wind up sitting there waiting to be allowed to swim because its raining somewhere. What I saw was some clouds and clear skys overhead and a lot of frustrated kids and parents. Also a lot of arguing. I even watched a guy return beer at the trading post because his plan was to sit and have a beer while the kids swam. By contrast the small pool (which is not that small anyway) has no life guard. Its open 24 hours and you're free to swim in the rain, etc. We swam watching some distant lightining and listening to thunder. I eventually pulled the kids out of the pool, but you're not stuck with the "storms in the area" argument when you can see clear blue skys. You don't get a game room, but I consider that a positive.

They really aren't trying to ruin your trip by keeping you out of the pool. The worst lightning from Florida storms is often found several miles out from the storm itself. If you can hear thunder, you are in danger of a lightning hit. Now if they were keeping you out and there was no audible thunder, that's another story . . . .They don't call us the lightning capital for nothing!
 
Hi Cinder1!
We were at the Fort in the 2600 loop last week also, but we were only there from the 9th until the 13th (not long enough in my opinion, but hubby couldn't get more time off of work, and he likes to relax a day or two before having to go back to work off of vacation...)
We were in cabin 2636.
I liked the location. Close to the small pool and close to the laundry. Surprisingly we ended up doing laundry while there(I really hadn't planned on it, but the girls seemed to go thru soooo many clothes......)
It was nice being able to do the laundry while they were swimming....

We didnt have too bad of a problem with the boat ride to the MK. We went on Wednesday to the MK on the boat. We were at the dock by 8 or so, and were like the 2nd or 3rd family in line for the boat. Our boat didnt go over to the WL---just made a quick stop at the Contempory for a handicapped passenger who was heading there. We were at the gate by 8:45 or so.... We werent at the front, but not too far back.

We are ready to go back soon!!!!!!!!!!
 
That's one of the only things I hated about the FT was the transportation, it took freckin forever to get anywhere. One night at MK we waited in a queue for the boat for an hour and a half, after that we drove to all the parks, it saved us major time.
 
After reading all these useful posts, I now have a question. Do the boats to MK (or CR) run earlier during Morning Magic Hours, or Little One Magic Hour (or whatever that's called)? We are staying at FW Cabins for the first time in Sept, and will be with friends and their 4 YO.
 
Jennifermae,

We were on that boat on Wed that went to the CR!! We were the 2nd family in line, I believe. I have 4 kids...3 girls (12, 10 & 3, who was in a stroller) and 1 son (7). My 10 yr old DD has long red hair. Maybe you saw us. That was the only time we stopped at the CR. The other times we stopped at WL. Also, for whatever reason, we got to MK quicker stopping at the CR than the WL. My DH and older 3 kids like to get to the parks AT LEAST 20 minutes early to get to their favorite rides as soon as the CMs allow. The 3 yr old and I don't try to keep up with them!! My complaint about the boats isn't that they stop at WL, but they don't start running until at least 30 minutes later than the buses, but the boats take as long to get to the parks. (The captain of the boat we were on Friday morning said the boat to MK from FW did not start running until 8:30 am. No other transportation method waits until 8:30 to start running:confused3 ) We left by 8 am everyday and were at the other parks well before we got to MK. We like to get as many rides in as possible before it gets too crowded and too hot!!!

We had a great time anyway and the boat problem sure wouldn't keep us from staying there again. We've had monorail problems and bus problems on other trips. Our bus trips to and from MGM, AK and Epcot from FW were the best we've had in 6 trips to WDW.:thumbsup2
 
Wow Cinder, Small world, isnt it????

I think I do remember you. I was there with my hubby(he is filipino) and three girls--16, 14 and 7.They are the ones that look perfectly tanned without even trying...LOL.... Me and the little one rode up in the front open area of the boat....

We drove to all of the other parks. I just hate driving to the MK and having to park, then get on the monorail or boat at the TTC.

We do the same thing, get to the parks as early as possible.....We got to ride all of the major rides we wanted to during the first 2-3 hours each day. It is definitely worth getting up early.
 

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