Only Available Accommodations Fort Wilderness Cabins - what's your opinion??

[SimplyMagical]

We are booked to stay at HHI from 08/24-08/31. We are from upstate NY and had originally planned to drive to HHI. Southwest came out with some excellent rates -- $49 each way, $135 roundtrip including all taxes. However, the fare is only good to Florida. We booked the flight to Jacksonville, the closest location to HHI, and rented a van to drive the 179 miles to HHI (the 16 hour ride from upstate NY was really worrying me!). While checking for directions, just for the heck of it........I asked for the mileage from Jacksonville to Orlando....and found that it was approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes away. That started me thinking......maybe we could change our reservations to go to WDW for a few days and then spend the rest of the week at HHI. When we called to check on availability, the Fort Wilderness Cabins was the only thing available (we are traveling with 6). Has anyone else had the opportunity to experience the cabins???? If so, what are your thoughts???? Stick with my original seven days at HHI, or stay three nights at Fort Wilderness and enjoy the WDW for a few days????

 

[disneydawn6]

I've stayed there and thought it was great.. Though I didn't have 6 people. You have a full kitchen, VCR, porch with picnic table and grill. You park right next to your cabin. A Murphy bed in living room. There is a full and two bunkbeds in the bedroom. They have campfires and movies at night and you can see the fireworks from the beach and the water pageant. The only problem would be only one bathroom...There is lots to do there, though it is spread out...

 

[colleen costello]

HI there. If you decide on the cabins, here is what to expect. My family has stayed lots of times. They are lovely. Cute like little log cabins. Lovely kitchen, all stocked, nice bathroom, a bedroom (with 1 full bed and a set of bunks) and a "Murphy bed" in teh living area that pulls down. The cabins have a nice deck and a BBQ grill. They are in loops that are paved but there is "woods" between each cabin. Really, they are a lot like a smallish DVC unit, except housekeeping does come every day.

My husband and I travel with our two kids and my parents. We stayed at a cabin in March. The children (8 and 4) LOVED it. They hung around outside while the adults got ready each am. Fort Wilderness has SO much to do -- it is a little resort unto itself. There are pony rides and a petting zoo, bikes for rent, fishing, campfires ... the whole place is wonderful.

Here is what I would consider. You are 6 people. How many adults? What SIZE are the adults? My parents slept in the Murphy bed and they were squished. Can your group realistically share one bathroom? Also, transportation at FW requires a lot more than a quick hop on a monorail. If you are renting a car, great -- you can park one at the site. Otherwise, buses run inside the campground and a bus or a boat takes you to parks. Overall, keep in mind that the "pace" at FW is slower.

If you do decide to stay, you might ask for loop 2100, Bobcat Bend. The cabin loops don't have public restrooms as all the cabins have baths. Bobcat Bend is the ONLY cabin loop that is adjacent to a "real" camping loop, so you can use the public restrooms (called Comfort Stations and they are pristine) just a short walk away. We did this -- asked to be close to the Comfort Station -- and on busy mornings our men used the showers there so we could all get out a little quicker. This helped as we were a large group.

Hope this helps. I LOVE Ft. Wilderness and would never consider staying there a "problem." We camped there every summer when I was a kid and I have such fond memories. It really is peaceful and there is such a good feeling about the place. If your group can manage with 1 bath, I would imagine you would love the cabins.

Deb's site (WDWIG) has great photos of the cabins. Click on "resorts" then go to Ft Wilderness. Somewhere in there is Jeff Somebody's photo gallery. The photos can give you a great idea about what the cabins are like.

Good luck and safe trip!

Colleen

 

[sandieb]

Hi - We stayed at Fort Wilderness in a cabin for 9 nights last May, and we enjoyed it very much. There were only four of us though. If it is two adults and four kids, you should be OK. Actually, we enjoyed it there so much we really had to think it through before we joined DVC...it was the main reason we hesistated, we liked it so much. Sandie B.

 

[MDM]

We are also a family of 6. Kids 17,15,12 & 5. We have stayed at the FWC and loved it. It was bigger than what I had expected. Transportation was fine. It was very quiet and very relaxing.


MDM

 

[Beth]

My DH and I wanted to spend 2 nights at WDW during our October vacation this year, and decied to give the Cabins a try - as we've always wanted to stay there.

The only thing I wanted to mention is...

I assume you are using points for your stay. We used points, also - 54 for two nights! Ouch!! But, we thought - "we bought the points to use them..." Then I found out about the great AP rate they've got going right now - $149/night. Oops! in retrospect - I would have been SO much better off renting points and paying cash. Check out www.mousesavers.com for the rate - and consider the cash route - while the rates are so low.

Have a great trip! Even though it's costing us a bunch of points, we're still looking forward to it - even made a Hoop De Doo reservation for the first night.

 

[RobinMarie]

We stayed there for a week in May this year and I had no idea that by being on the Bobcat Bend we were fortunate to have the bathroom fairly close - because we used it from time to time.

There was no second TV in the bedroom, which we found disappointing. I slept alone on the Murphy Bed and found it comfy. After the conference for work was over, my family joined me and my coworker took the Murphy bed and we slept in the bedroom. I found it could get pretty stuffy back there with the door closed. I'm not sure if others experienced this.

I never figured out the bus system properly - we had a car and used it. I thought it was a nice, woodsy, camp-like place that a family could really enjoy. I think we paid 160/night which prompted me to think it would be affordable to take my parents next time!

We didn't cook much aside from eggs one morning but it sure seemed convenient to be able to have microwave popcorn, a refridgerator and coffee in the morning!

 

[CarolMN]

It could be too late to book the cabins with points. To book one of the Disney Collection options, you have to do it 60 days or more ahead of the end of your use year.

Is your stay at HHI booked with points? If so, just wanted to make sure you knew that if you cancelled some days now, the points will go into a holding account. Points in the holding account can only be used to book a trip to a DVC resort 60 days or less from the planned arrival day. They can also be used for an exchange through the Disney Collection, the Adventurer Collection, the Conceirge COllection or the World Passport Collection BUT ONLY IF you are making the reservation 60 days or less before the new arrival date, and yet more than 60 days from the end of your use year.

Also, points in the holding account can't be borrowed or banked. That means they will expire at the end of your use year if you are unable to use them.

Depending on your situation, spending a few days at WDW this trip could result in losing points as well as costing you $$$ for the stay at the cabins.

Wherever you end up, hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[PamOKW]

CarolMN is right that you have to stop and think about how one actions effects the next.

To book one of the Disney Collection options, you have to do it 60 days ahead of your arrival date.

That's true if you are going to use the points from the trip you are cancelling (now Holding Points). If you have additional points, you could book less than 60 days out as long as you are more than 60 days out from the end of your Use Year. Of course, your HHI points from any cancellation would still be Holding Points.

You mention that you didn't want to make the 14 hour drive. Well, you'll be doing a lot of driving if you are going to go JAX-WDW-HHI-JAX. It's about a 5-6 hour drive from WDW to HHI and then 3 hours back from HHI to JAX. You'll be losing 2-3 days of your vacation to travel. Of course, being "close" to WDW is awful tempting.

 

[CarolMN]

Pam - I think I may have confused things. I edited my post because what I really meant to say in that first sentence was that you cannot book AND travel within the last 60 days of your use year (unless you are using points already in reservation status. That means you cancelled a reservation for a non-DVC option). If you are early enough in your use year, you can book a Disney Collection option less than 60 days from your arrival (subject to availability of course).

If SimplyMagical's use year isn't September or October, she could cancel part of the HHI ressie. Those points then go into the holding account. She could use those points to book the cabins because she is booking less than 60 days before arrival and it is more than 60 days before the end of her use year.

I did want to remind everyone that you can't always use the non-DVC resorts as a last minute option/back up, though. It depends on your use year as well as availability.

Sorry for the confusion, and hope this post makes my point a little easier to understand.