Newbie - Crunching numbers and trying to pick a resort - Comments on the cabins?

[Piglet99645]

Hi all,

I've been lurking here for a few days....... ready and (I think) educated enough about WDW to ask some intelligent questions.

Background: Our family did Disneyland as a kid. My last trip was in 1992 (can you say "withdrawal"?) I know, I know... WDW is different. I've never been. Hubby has never had the Disney experience AT ALL. We are going with our almost 5 yo son and another adult relative (hubby's sister - great babysitter).

Silly me, I thought since we weren't going during the "peak" season there would be no trouble getting resort rooms. Our dates are Nov. 8-12. (I also didn't realize I would want more than a week to see it all.... this WDW trip is a last-minute add-on to a visit with family in the area.)

Anyway, I can't turn back time, so we are stuck with our dates and the fact that many of the resorts (including Animal Kingdom and All Star Movies) are sold-out.

So, I need suggestions on how to proceed.

Since we are three adults and one child traveling, we don't want one tiny room. So I was leaning toward another Value resort, and getting two rooms.

All reports seem to be that the Pop Century is the newest of the four, so I was leaning in that direction.

We are going to do the dining plan, b/c it seems to just make good sense. (Especially at $10 per day for a child).

And of course we need 4-day tickets with park-hopper passes...... (thought long and hard about the park-hopper option, and it makes sense for us b/c hubby and I will probably go out in the evening together to a different park than where we 4 spend the day together.)

So - a TA has quoted me a package for all of this plus trip insurance for about $2300.

Fine. But now I have stumbled across the Ft. Wilderness Cabins. On the WDW site, a package with everything above, with one cabin, is $2,600 - and MUCH closer to the Magic Kingdom action, where I suspect we will spend more time than any other park with our 5 year old. (It also appears to be centrally located b/n MK and Epcot - am I right?)

So I came back here looking for reviews of the Cabins, but haven't found any.

ONE MORE THING: We will have a rental car to get to Orlando from Georgia.... and we are trying to decide whether to keep it or dump it when we get there. Thoughts?

THANKS!!

Piglet

 

[califred]

If you stay in teh cabins you will need the rental car.

Also, the cabins only have one bathroom, so you still might be better off with two in a value resort.


Check the camping board for reviews of the cabins http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=24

Have a great Vacation (that week is busy b/c a lot of schools in the NE have hte week off of school)

 

[Florida_Mom]

The camping board on DIS is great...lots of posts about the cabins. We camp at FW and LOVE it, there is so much to do. Not sure why you would need to keep your rental car if you were at the cabins, but there is a place to park one right in front of each cabin.

Have fun!

 

[Pats Dragon]

I LOVE the cabins because there is so much to do at FW. Although it looks closer to MK it really takes longer because you take a bus to the boat dock area and then a boat to the MK. There are canoes and fishing and campfires and a woodsy feel and it really is pretty.

HOWEVER...if I were choosing I would pick 2 rooms at POP. Since you haven't been to DW you will need to go to all 4 parks. The bus service is awesome at POP. Also there is a really neat goofy fountain that your child will love. The courtyards have a traditional playground, a twister game and lots of neat things for children. There are surries to ride around a lake. If you want quiet get a 3rd or 4th floor room facing the lake with a view of illuminations. There are giant icons of lady and the tramp, roger rabbit, mickey mouse and the jungle book. pick out your child's favorite and stay there. the pools are really neat too. The refillable mug section has icees too. Have lots of fun and get to the parks early.

 

[sarah4770]

I stayed at the cabins several years ago. They have a bedroom and a separate sleeping area in the living room. I went with bf and my teen daughter and her friend, and my son who was around 10. I enjoyed the space in the cabins, also the fact that you had plenty of room to be away from the others in your party. They were really nice.
They have a nice deck and grill, a full kitchen, and utensils.
We really enjoyed bike riding and we were near the quiet pool, it was a short walk. The only drawback I found was the bus transportation was a little inconvienient. you don't necessarily need a car, depends on what you are going to be doing. If you don;t have a car, you can rent a golf cart to get around the resort. You can watch the electrical water pagent from the beach at fw and I believe you can see wishes.
I thought it was fun,ecomical, esp. with the group I was traveling with. and we saved a lot of money by cooking in the cabin.
But now that I am a little wiser, I am not so keen to cook to save money.... it is my vacation too!

 

[Swimnoid]

The Cabins are our place of choice now. We have stayed in all the all-Stars and some of the mods as well. Lots more room in the cabins. It has a seperate bedroom so if DS needs a nap he can while you guys have happy hour or whatever. Great to have kitchen even if you just use it for snacks. But you may find that after a busy day you are just too tired to wait around in a restaurant and welcome sandwiches or something easy when you get back. Since you are only there for a short time you could probably do without a car but they are nice to have around. Lots of stuff for the little guy to at FW as well.

Have a great time! 80 more days for me!

 

[Piglet99645]

Thank you all for your comments. (And thanks to whomever for redirecting my thread to the right place).

We live in Alaska, so the whole camping/cabin/wilderness thing is not that exciting........ I'm in it for the Disney! But I was trying to figure out a place for us all to stay that would be the most comfortable. Sounds like we will be pretty happy either way.

Will forward all this info to my hubby and will probably be back with more questions. Thanks again!

P

 

[mamatojon]

We live in Alaska, so the whole camping/cabin/wilderness thing is not that exciting........ I'm in it for the Disney! But I was trying to figure out a place for us all to stay that would be the most comfortable. Sounds like we will be pretty happy either way.

P

That's funny that you say this because my husband said almost the same thing, since we live in the Northwest he wanted the more "disney" type of hotel experience. We were going with family too and didn't want to get two rooms at all stars so we ended up getting a cabin. We were so glad we did! He commented that it was more of a "Davy Crockett" type of theme and not at all what we were used to when we thought of wilderness. Long way of saying I think you will appreciate the theming - think Frontierland at disneyland, more that type of thing.

We shared a cabin with my MIL and FIL and had plenty of room when we just had one child. This past trip our family had grown and with the addition of our daughter it was a little cramped. We didn't have any problem with one bathroom, but my MIL and I are not really prima donna or anything, there is a separate vanity in the bedroom as well - no sink, just a counter, outlet and mirror, but it works to blow dry your hair while somebody else showers.

Have a great trip!!! One other thing to consider with your son's age is that Ft Wilderness has so much to do with the pony rides and the petting farm - the water recreation, the campfire and movie... if you think you will have any time at all for that, it is a lot of fun!

 

[TnTWalter]

ASMo and it was less expensive too [we're going Jan '06]. Plus, with the dining plan, I won't utilize the grill or kitchen. We camp 3-4 timesin the summer so I'm glad not to have cooking myself as an option. ;o)

They do sound nice and people love them though.

I think you'll be happy either way.

Trish

 

[Piglet99645]

Thanks, everybody, for your responses.

I have "earmarked" (haha) the cabins for some future date when we will make better use of them. This trip is all about the parks for us, and since it is so short (really only 3 1/2 days), we are going to do it as cheaply as possible on site. Hence, 2 rooms at the Pop and the dining plan - no cooking for me!!

I'll be back in November to post a review!

Piglet