Just returned from Disney..highlights and tips

[Nicol in MD]

Ok just came back from a week at Disney staying at the Fort Wilderness in the cabins.
First want to definatly recommend the resort. The cabins are awesome..much bigger than they look in the photos. The people there were great. We rented the golf cart boy was that fun and useful.
Just a few things. We had no problems with the buses or ferry to the parks. Never waited more than 10 minutes anywhere.
Definatly bring the ponchos..used them often as it rained every day for about an hour.
Go to the Hoop Dee Doo even if you are not staying in Fort Wilderness. Great show.
Recommendation...make reservations for lunch or dinner..either before you go or when you first get into town. We didn't have reservations..and after searching for a place to eat the first day(there were 7 of us) I got back to the room and called to set them up for the rest of the week.
We had the most fun at a dinner at the Wilderness Lodge. They have games for the kids during dinner...they make hats out of your napkins and use the straws to put in them as feathers in a cap. Whenever you need ketchup you need to stand up and yell I need ketchup and everyone from every table brings it to you..we had about 15 bottles of ketchup...
Fireworks were awesome. Epcots were definatly the best. Parade of lights fantastic.
USE YOUR FASTPASS...worked great and go see SOARIN at Epcot...WOW!!!
Anyway..while it is still fresh in my mind just wanted to give my tips..any questions I will try to answer them.

 

[daisylove]

Hi there
sounds like a great trip. Which cabin loop did you stay in? We are going to the cabins 1st time in October. Slightly nervous.

 

[Nicol in MD]

Well I will have to admit my mom and sister in law were smokers..so they put us in a loop where they could smoke in the cabin...but I made them go out on the deck. We were in the 2400 loop. It was great. I was a bit nervous too seeing those big hotels thinking I would be missing all the luxuries. Not at all. I loved the peace and quiet after a long day at the park. The kids loved it too. There is soooo much to do right there we didn't even get a chance to ride the horses or go to the campfire movies (some of that due to evening rain) but mostly there was so much other stuff going on. We even got groceries delivered from wegoshop and charcoal to cook out but never did get that in either.
I think any loop is good. I know the golf cart rental is pricy think it was about $240 for the week. There were 7 of us so we split the cost but it came in handy to run to the lil stores there..to the pool and to the buses at times.
There is also good transportation within the park to get you to the terminal to go to the theme parks or to the marina to catch the boat to disney.
I loved it and would definatly do it again.
The stores in the campground carry alot of the basic groceries and alot of disney souveniers.
The people couldn't be friendlier. Make sure you get to the hoop dee doo...great time.
When we arrived our suitcases came to the hotel straight from the airport..never saw them after we checked them before getting on the plane. The fort wilderness had them in the back and delivered them straight to the cabin. When we checked out just called them the night before and they picked them up and put them in a room. We had an 11 am check out and didn't fly out till 6. So they held them while we went to the pool during the day.
There are 2 pools. One is the basic with bathroom facilities regular pool. The other had a great snackbar (I recommend the daquiries haha) and a place where they did hair braiding (my nieces loved that). They also had games and crafts at the pool each day.
Any other questions I will be happy to help you.

 

[daisylove]

Wow. It sounds great. I am a little worried. We are taking a friend who has never been to WDW and I dont want to do her a disservice by not staying at a disneyfied type of hotel. You reminded me I have to call and ask for non smoking as my DD has asthma. Thanks for the report. I know I have a dozen questions but I cant think of them right now. Oh here is ine. How far was the cabin from the marina,pool, bus terminal to the other parks?
Thanks!!

 

[Nicol in MD]

Well it truly depends what loop you stay in. We booked ours thru a travel agent so we didn't get a loop number till check in. I am not sure if you get a loop till that time regardless. There are two pools spread on either side of the campground. It is a large site. if you google fort wilderness map you will get a map of the resort.
There are bus stops in front of each loop. Those stops will take you to either side of the resort. One side the Outpost is where you catch the bus to Downtown Disney, Animal Kingdom, and and the waterparks. The other side is settlement where you catch a bus to MGM, Epcot, and the marina where you catch the boat to Magic Kingdom.
We never had a long wait for any of the buses. All the stops are covered in case of rain.
It may not be fancy in as far as a snazzy lobby etc. But it is tremendously clean, each morning the maid cleans the cabin..throws any dishes you have lying around in the dishwasher and runs it. The restaurant is great even if you get carry out pizza and milkshakes. We spent most of the time in the parks but to make breakfast in the cabin and eat out on the deck in the morning listening to the birds chirping before the noise of the parks was definatly worth it. The cabin has 2 tv's on in the bedroom and one in the living room. Beds were comfy..Shower was great..nice big bathroom..

 

[daisylove]

Thank you for the info. you have been great to explain everything! I do have one more question. In the cabins do you have acess to the bathroom from the main room or do you have to go into the bedroom? this may be a dealbreaker with my group on the privacy issues. Thanks!!

 

[nluvwithmickey]

I would like to know if you ate at the Trails end buffet? are ADR'S required? We would like to go check the campground out on a non park day ( staying at Asmu) and we might want to eat there? I just don't know which day we will go depending on the weather mostly....That's why I didn't make any ADR'S.

I would love to go to the buffet before the campfire singalong.

 

[jeminni]

This might be a dumb question but are FW and FWLodge the same thing? I was there in May for the breakfast buffeteria ( was great btw) but didnt really see the resort at all. I might not mind staying in one someday if its not roughing it too much but my idea of roughing it is room service and a beach.

 

[kahluacream]

Not a dumb question.... This confused me, too. We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge (WL) in 2000, and really enjoyed it! The WL has room service and a smallish beach in a deluxe resort setting. Fort Wilderness resort and campground is located nearby. They are two separate Disney accomodations with similar names. HTH

 

[Nicol in MD]

Well there is no room service..but there is a beach with lounge chairs...And yes the bathroom is in the hallway so you don't have to go into the bedroom to get to it. In the bedroom there is a lighted area however to do your makeup hair etc without tying up the bathroom...

 

[Nicol in MD]

Oops didn't answer all the questions. We did eat dinner at the Trails End Buffet and we also got a take out pizza one night and milkshakes. The buffet was great. I have heard the breakfast one is even better but we ate breakfast in our cabin. I know it is very reasonable for dinner like $16 AUCE and even cheaper for kids. Plus the take out pizza was really good..large for $15..couldn't beat that. It is located right next to the Pioneer Hall. We didn't use any reservations. If you have to wait a bit they give you a beeper and you can sit on the rockers outside and they have shops (kiosks) out there to browse.

 

[daisylove]

Thanks! You have been so great to answer our questions.