Many empty sites at FW?

[Colson39]

FtWildernessGuy is right, the occupancy rate is going to ebb and flow, even during busy season. There are always last minute cancellations, perhaps there is a reason Disney wasn't filling those specific sites, etc... I'm sure Disney keeps quite a few sites empty throughout the Fort to handle any kind of contigencies.

But the chances of having every site filled while you're on an extended trip (more than just a weekend), even during peak season, isn't as great as you think it is. Most people do have problems getting reservations during peak times, but that's normally because their reservations cross over the weekends, and even though it might be more open during the weekdays, the weekends most likely will be booked.

 

[Camping Cat]

The only knock I could think of for the 700 loop is it doesn't have its own comfort station. But the one across the street in another loop was very close and there was even a walking path to it from the middle of the loop. We were concerned that the comfort station might be too crowded all the time given that it's shared but that was not the case at all.

The lack of a comfort station is the only thing that has kept us from trying the 700 loop. We stay for 15 nights and that means a lot of laundry. I like to be as close to the CS as we can get because of this. You would think that with a loop of this size, it would get its own CS. It doesn't make sense. The 600 loop is very small and rates a CS. What gives?

 

[Colson39]

I am staying in the 800 block all this week.

When I arrived I was intially put in the 1300 block but alas no sat signal so I moved to a preferred site with cable and I am now in 866. Go figure my sat works in this spot

Anyway when I pulled into initially 1324 and then to 866 I was hard pressed to find more than 1 or 2 "slots" open in either loop. This was on day 1 (Sat) and day 2 (Sun).

Late Sunday people starting pulling out and I would estimate that by my golf cart ride last night all loops are only 50% full.

Judging by your sig, I would LOVE to have your getup. Have a great time in the Fort, and give us a trip report!!!

 

[ZoomZoom22]

BTW when I came home from work today early to hook up with the family to go to a part the front gate was packed with people doing Thursday checkin I presume for a long weekend.

When I got home tonight at 1am, every single slot was full in the 800 loop. Earlier in the week I estimated 50% full, yesterday no more than 60% full, tonight jam packed.

Pretty neat.

 

[John VN]

BTW when I came home from work today early to hook up with the family to go to a part the front gate was packed with people doing Thursday checkin I presume for a long weekend.

When I got home tonight at 1am, every single slot was full in the 800 loop. Earlier in the week I estimated 50% full, yesterday no more than 60% full, tonight jam packed.

Pretty neat.

Weekend Warriors

Just wondering how your overall length of 72 feet gets past state length limits http://www.wecamp2.com/size.html for Fl and Ga?

 

[ftwildernessguy]

Yeah, we have found that over the last few years. Friday night really gets busy, then all is quiet on Monday.

 

[Colson39]

BTW when I came home from work today early to hook up with the family to go to a part the front gate was packed with people doing Thursday checkin I presume for a long weekend.

When I got home tonight at 1am, every single slot was full in the 800 loop. Earlier in the week I estimated 50% full, yesterday no more than 60% full, tonight jam packed.

Pretty neat.

Yea, that was exactly my point. During the week you might see occupancy, but on the weekends it will be jam packed. A lot of people trying to get reservations for a week or so will cross over a weekend, and they won't be able to get the ressies. That's why you sometimes hear about people having problems getting ressies at the Fort

 

[ftwildernessguy]

Yeah, reservations requests are tricky. The toughest to get are Friday arrival times, Easiest seem to be Sunday arrivals since the weekenders are vacating, but I have had very little problems with a weekday arrival crossing over a weekend. Believe it or not, it seems that if I want a Friday arrival and can't get it, I can if I arrive on a Wednesday or Thursday and cross over that weekend.

 

[ZoomZoom22]

Weekend Warriors

Just wondering how your overall length of 72 feet gets past state length limits http://www.wecamp2.com/size.html for Fl and Ga?

I am not 72 feet long, I am 77 with the trailer tongue

I cannot remember at the moment the correct provision to quote, however I am legal up to 80' in GA and FL. I seem to think if my memory serves me correctly that there are only some roads in GA that are restricted to the 60' rule. I have never run into any issues and I do not have to stop at weigh stations. I do stop though at DOT inspection stations and the agriculture stations etc. I have been asked before at a station in FL what length my units were and I replied "77 sir". Another racer gave me the info on the length and some exclusion info in case I ran into a problem. His rig is 80' long and he lives in Florida He said he got hassled only 1 time and it was in California although no ticket etc.

 

[Singapore Bob]

I found out, based on how long I wanted to be there, what day I'd have to arrive on even if I had to arrive or leave in the middle of the week - which I did end up having to do. Some would also settle for 5 days if they couldn't get 6 vs. staying off-site or not going at all. We had several sites on our loop alone that were vacant long enough for a decent length stay byt someone.

We often look like this or try to look for days that are vacant but the Disney reservation system is set to only let you look for a specific date you want. I hope that eventually they move to a system kind of like the State Park reservation system that basically gives you a calendar that says which days are available and/or how many sites. I often have to spend an hour or more on the phone with reservations trying out different date scenarios whereas if I had something available on the web that would show all the dates that are truly open, I could plan more efficiently.

 

[John VN]

We often look like this or try to look for days that are vacant but the Disney reservation system is set to only let you look for a specific date you want. I hope that eventually they move to a system kind of like the State Park reservation system that basically gives you a calendar that says which days are available and/or how many sites. I often have to spend an hour or more on the phone with reservations trying out different date scenarios whereas if I had something available on the web that would show all the dates that are truly open, I could plan more efficiently.

It would be nice to see that calendar like the ones for SPs but I doubt that we will ever see that for FW or the other resorts. When you make a resie for FW or another resort you do not reserve a specific site or room like you do with the SPs.

We will just have to work with the system that is available.

 

[clkelley]

Yeah, reservations requests are tricky. The toughest to get are Friday arrival times, Easiest seem to be Sunday arrivals since the weekenders are vacating, but I have had very little problems with a weekday arrival crossing over a weekend. Believe it or not, it seems that if I want a Friday arrival and can't get it, I can if I arrive on a Wednesday or Thursday and cross over that weekend.

I had that happen to me before when I was able to snag a discount for weeknights, but not the weekend. I then tried booking Wednesday to Monday and got the weekend. Then went back later and cancelled the extra nights that I already had at a discount. I had to checkout and back in twice, but didn't have to move.

 

[mommamoo]

WE go to FLorida every year at Christmas. THe last time we were at FW was in 2004. There was a lot of wood debris due to storms, so there was less cover between sites. I do not remember our loop ( it was a dog loop), but we were on the very end which was nice. I loved that most of the campers were decorated with lights, or those huge snowballs out front. The golfcarts were decorated also. The main problem we had with the campsites was the difficulty of backing in with SOOOOO little space. I suppose after we were in, the fact of little space did not matter.
We are going again in 2008

 

[John VN]

WE go to FLorida every year at Christmas. THe last time we were at FW was in 2004. There was a lot of wood debris due to storms, so there was less cover between sites. I do not remember our loop ( it was a dog loop), but we were on the very end which was nice. I loved that most of the campers were decorated with lights, or those huge snowballs out front. The golfcarts were decorated also. The main problem we had with the campsites was the difficulty of backing in with SOOOOO little space. I suppose after we were in, the fact of little space did not matter.
We are going again in 2008

Welcome to the group.

Backing into a site can be challenging but most of the time, once in and set up, the difficulty of doing so seems to disappear.

 

[christinou]

I am at the fort right now, and it is packed, we have been coming down for the past few years at the same time, and it seems a lot busier this year. I am wondering if it is because value season started on Sunday.

 

[Millermouseketeers]

We will be there Aug.3rd!!! Back to packing!