Nearby campground suggestion??

[karamac]

I have a night maybe two before before my reservation, wondering if anyone could recommend a nearby campground to most likely just sleep before we can roll into the fort?
Thanks

 

[PaHunter]

Depends on the time of the year. Right now and until April is Snowbird season, so reservations are tough to come by. We stayed out in Titusville the one year, about an hour to the Fort.

 

[2goofycampers]

Lake Magic and Thousand Trails are pretty close.

 

[bama_ed]

There is also a KOA in Kissimmee on Hwy 192 east of WDW.

 

[CDNCruiser]

I've heard good things about Bill Frederick Park at Turkey Lake, but we've never stayed there! http://www.cityoforlando.net/parks/bill-frederick-park-turkey-lake/

 

[loves to dive]

One of our favorite RV Utubers had this.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

As much as I like to save money, comparing lake magic to the Fort is apples and oranges. On some level you have to decide why youre even going to Disney ? I could just go to a local amusement park, its not the same as Disney but its cheaper.

 

[bama_ed]

I've heard good things about Bill Frederick Park at Turkey Lake, but we've never stayed there! http://www.cityoforlando.net/parks/bill-frederick-park-turkey-lake/

I stayed there one night at this time last year, Gary, on our way to the Florida Keys. It is not far off the Turnpike.

It is cheap and better than adequate in terms of restrooms and facilities. The sites are not that long and not as level as what some are used to. It is close to Universal but not terribly convenient to WDW.



Fuzzy picture because it was low light in the morning but you can see the small pad. To be fair, I was on a 30 amp no sewer site.



The bath houses.



Bama Ed

 

[Cmpg@theFT]

Last year at Thanksgiving we decided to leave early for the Fort but couldn't add an extra day because they were booked. We stayed at Tropical Palms RV Resort in Kissimmee and loved it. Very nice place and it's only 10 miles from Fort Wilderness. Their rates were VERY affordable too.

 

[beagles7278]

At Tropical Palms now. Whenever we are not doing Disney parks we always stay at Tropical Palms.

 

[MudQueen22]

We booked one night at Lake Louisa State Park the night before we check in at the Fort. This way, we can get groceries, etc. the day before we check in, and it's a safe, less expensive place to stay the night before. I also hear that it's a neat park.
I think it was about $30 per night with water & electric service (no sewer service).

 

[michelb]

As much as I like to save money, comparing lake magic to the Fort is apples and oranges. On some level you have to decide why youre even going to Disney ? I could just go to a local amusement park, its not the same as Disney but its cheaper.

I don't think anyone will disagree that there's a significant difference between Lake Magic and Fort Wilderness but there's also a huge difference in price. I think you can usually get a site for $40-$60 (or less) per night at Lake Magic (I believe they accept Passport America, Good Sams and AAA). If you are going for several days or make several trips per year, it might be worth looking into Thousand Trails membership (they have many different ones so do some research if you are contemplating this). For under $600, you can get a SouthEast Zone membership pass which will give you unlimited up to 14 days stay (followed by 7 days not at the resort) at Thousand Trails (e.g. we typically come to the area 3 times per year for 1 week so for us, it works out well and from my experience, it's easier to get a site if you are a member (e.g. if you call for "regular" availability, there might not be any but they have sites reserved for members available). (e.g. when we got our membership last spring, there was no availability for a "regular client" but by joining for around $560 (I think), we got a site for 13 nights and then we used the membership again this past XMas for 9 nights so so far, for $560, we've stayed 22 nights (equals roughly $25 per night).


Back to the original question, some have already been mentioned but the following campgrounds are nearby and are modestly priced:

Tropical Palms
Sherwood Forest
Outdoor Resorts Orlando
Lake Magic
Thousand Trails Orlando
Lake Louisa State Park

and others if you care to drive a bit more

If you search the forum, this question often comes up and you can find more related discussions.

Hope this helps

 

[SolNest]

As much as I like to save money, comparing lake magic to the Fort is apples and oranges. On some level you have to decide why youre even going to Disney ? I could just go to a local amusement park, its not the same as Disney but its cheaper.

Yes, for me, Fort Wilderness IS the main destination. With that said - for a short stay- my daughter recently visited the KOA on the other side of town (the one with the big lake), and said it was really very nice.

 

[scot@dvcstore]

Moss Park is a county park past Orlando International Airport. Great park but no cocktails or pets allowed since it is a county park. Also has dirt roads throughout the park so the dust can be bothersome at times. Lake Louisa State Park in Clermont is a great option. Great location and a beautiful park to visit before heading to Fort Wilderness. Enjoy your trip!

 

[LiteBrite]

Moss Park is a county park past Orlando International Airport. Great park but no cocktails or pets allowed since it is a county park. Also has dirt roads throughout the park so the dust can be bothersome at times. Lake Louisa State Park in Clermont is a great option. Great location and a beautiful park to visit before heading to Fort Wilderness. Enjoy your trip!

Just wanted to say thanks for mentioning Moss Park! We made a last minute decision to go to WDW in mid February. Fort Wilderness was not in the budget this time, and our usual off property choice, Lake Louisa, was completely booked, but we had no problem getting a site at Moss Park for the 5 nights we needed. If you hadn't posted this, we would never have known it existed! We thought it was a great park, a little farther from WDW than we'd like, but totally doable. We'll use this option again, if we can't get into Lake Louisa. Thanks again!

 

[trubgerg]

My parents spent 4 months last winter at Lake Magic and liked it a lot. I was there to visit a couple of times and I agree with them... it was fairly quiet, the neighbors were nice, and the facilities were clean.

They spent most of this winter in Arizona and about a week ago arrived in Kissimmee at Ponderosa RV Park. They are not thrilled to be there. Their site is about 50 feet from the Florida Turnpike and they implied that it doesn't have the highest quality of clientele.

 

[ShelliRenee]

We stayed near Ocala at Santos Trailhead State Park. It was $22/night which was cheap. The campground was very clean, but sites were very small and not very private. However, at all the places we have ever stayed, it had the most level site. It was just a place to stay one night so we didn't do anything else like hiking or bike trails (which is what the park is known for). Only downside to this park is there is a train track that is very close and very active all night. It didn't bother me, but I heard the trains come through every couple of hours.

 

[Carrie Ellis]

My parents will be pulling there RV from Texas. We all check in on December 14, 2019 (Saturday). If you were my 70 year old parents coming in from West, where would you want to stop a day or two before checking into the Fort? My dad likes ambience! Also they will have 2-3 dogs. At any age in is nice to have a level spot that is easy to get into....and especially when you are 70! When I see what is recommended by the pros on here, I will recommend to my dad to maybe book sooner than later if it might book up. They need to be 1-2 hours or less to the Fort so Saturday is easy for them to get to Disney. I will look at the Turkey Lake site.

TIA!!!

 

[Marshel]

Sherwood Forest has grass/gravel sites in their non permanent area, and when there's lots of rain as recently, apparently a lot of people were having trouble getting out of their sites and management wasn't too sympathetic, according to recent Trip Adviser reviews.