Please Help!!!

[jrandtysmom]

I currently have reservations for All Star Movies for the week of Oct 26th-Nov1st. After reading this board I am thinking of switching to FW either a cabin or from renting a TT from someone. I will be traveling by myself with my 2 young sons and I have honestly never camped before but would like my boys to experience it and I thought what better place then WDW. Good idea/Bad idea?

We are flying in and will not have a car. Seems like ME goes to FW but we have a late flight out on our departure day, will FW hold our luggage same as the hotels do until it's time to depart on ME while we go off to a park?

I really didn't want to cook too much while there, just maybe some breakfast/snack stuff. How convenient is having the Dining Plan and being at the Campsite? At ASMo we have the food court but I'm not sure if there is anywhere at FW to use the Dining?

Also, is there usually anything special FW does for Halloween? Do you NEED a golf cart from the cabins or is it just fun to have?

Sorry for so many questions....can you tell I'm excited. This place looks awesome and it's our first trip to WDW so I want it to be really great for the boys.

 

[JCJRSmith]

With you having never camped before, I would recommend the cabins. They are handled like any other resort, I believe.

As for the cooking thing: just because there is a kitchen in the cabin does not mean you have to use it.

I believe they will hold your luggage for you if you request it.

LOTS of folks decorate their campsites for Halloween.

 

[AlyLynn]

Hi! The cabins are awesome. We stayed at the cabins so many times that we finally bought a tt! I wanted to give my kids the camping experience, too. I have 4 kids, ages 2-13, and we have stayed in almost every Disney Resort, from the Values, to the Deluxe. Fort Wilderness is our favorite, hands down!

The first time we went, I didn't get a golf cart, because I was trying to save a few dollars... We ended up getting one the second day there!! You don't have to have it, but it's a "kid favorite", and makes touring the campground so much easier! (We lucked out getting one on such short notice!)

I can't help you with the air transportation question, we hardly ever fly, 'cuz the kids hate it! And now that we own a tt, it's 22 hrs. in the car each way! (Well worth it!)

You'll get lots of great answers to your questions on this board!
Good luck in your decision, hope to see you at the Fort!

 

[jrandtysmom]

Thanks for the replies!

Another opinion question for all of you that have stayed at FW and resorts, what if I split our trip, say 2-3 nights at FW and then move over to a resort? That way they get to experience both. Would it be better to start or end our trip at FW?

 

[LarryJ]

Thanks for the replies!

Another opinion question for all of you that have stayed at FW and resorts, what if I split our trip, say 2-3 nights at FW and then move over to a resort? That way they get to experience both. Would it be better to start or end our trip at FW?

FW second since if first you will have a fight on your hands when you say you have to leave FW. What kid wants to stay in a motel, when they can camp.

Also for those dates in Oct you might find it hard to get anything but cabin ressies at this late date.

Larry

 

[werfner]

Hi I am new to this too, but I recall being told that if you book at 2 different resorts that the meal plan is for each and can only be booked with your Disney my way tickets, which from what I understand causes you to have to split up your Park tickets which makes them more expensive (eg: 3 and 4 day sets of tickets instead of 7 day).
Somebody please correct me here if I am misunderstanding these 'Goofy' rules.
Of course if you are not planning on taking the dining plan that my point is moot.

werfner

 

[auntie]

I currently have reservations for All Star Movies for the week of Oct 26th-Nov1st. After reading this board I am thinking of switching to FW either a cabin or from renting a TT from someone. I will be traveling by myself with my 2 young sons and I have honestly never camped before but would like my boys to experience it and I thought what better place then WDW. Good idea/Bad idea?

We are flying in and will not have a car. Seems like ME goes to FW but we have a late flight out on our departure day, will FW hold our luggage same as the hotels do until it's time to depart on ME while we go off to a park?

I really didn't want to cook too much while there, just maybe some breakfast/snack stuff. How convenient is having the Dining Plan and being at the Campsite? At ASMo we have the food court but I'm not sure if there is anywhere at FW to use the Dining?

Also, is there usually anything special FW does for Halloween? Do you NEED a golf cart from the cabins or is it just fun to have?

Sorry for so many questions....can you tell I'm excited. This place looks awesome and it's our first trip to WDW so I want it to be really great for the boys.

I see you mentioned possibly renting a tt. There is a woman here on the boards named Tina who rents out a 5th wheel and will place it on site in FW. Several people here on the board have rented from her. We have a trip planed for August ourselves. It's set up for a nice sized family. 2 bedroom sleeping areas. Comes complete with all your bedding and linens, and also any tableware or cookware you might need. The national chains don't offer you all of that. You might want to take a look at her web site. http://www.campatthefort.com/index.asp





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[disney4dan]

We split our reservations between a resort hotel and a cabin at FW in 2003; did the hotel first and finished at the cabin.

I think switching locations ruins the better part of a day (check out of one, pack everything, check in at the other, unpack everything) and would probably not waste precious vacation time with that.

As another posted above, if you are risking the possibility of splitting the reservation into 2 short packages instead of one, you will also increase the $$$ quickly on park admission.

So what to do??? Like any WDW fanatic should suggest - either stay longer or just start planning that return trip! In all seriousness, we have stayed at most of the value resorts and three of the moderates (CB, POFQ and POR) and preferred the cabins at the Fort. We'll be camping in our own TT from now on, so the Fort will always be our choice now (as long as I can afford to drive down).

 

[AlyLynn]

When we split our stay at the cabins, we stayed there last. I would do that again in a minute. It is just so much more relaxing. I don't know anything about the dining plans, but you could do without one by eating a meal or 2 in the cabins.

 

[seabee]

Welcome! I personally enjoy FW better than the hotels. I am much more relaxed there. I can't help you on the dining plan because we purchase our tickets through the military and so we can't use it. Golf cart- I have never stayed in the cabins, we take our TT down, but I would think if you don't plan on doing much "roaming" around the campground you would probably be fine saving the money and using the internal bussing system to get where you need to be. We didn't use a golf cart but were somewhat centrally located. If I remember right there were some cabins up closer to the marina? Someone could probably answer that better than me. You could always request this,though it isn't a gaurantee. If you want to be able check it all out at your leisure than I would get a cart. I would suggest since you have never camped before you get a cabin, nothing is more stressful than not knowing what to do and having to deal with a "waste" issue. Believe me, been there. But that is a whole other thread! Ever seen the movie RV? I could have been Robin Williams' stunt double. Anywho, your boys would probably LOVE the fort. There is so much to do right there, I tell everyone to at least try it once(then they are hooked) Have fun planning, that is one of my favorite parts of the trip!! Oh, if you can check out the Hoop Dee Do at Pioneer Hall. Awesome show!

 

[Sinclare]

I would say that the cabins are your best bet as well and don't split; it's a lot of work packing up and moving. One year when we flew down my son and I stayed one night in DTD, then moved to the Contemporary the next night for the halloween party, then moved to an All Stars for the rest of the week. It was a real job hiking with all that luggage from place to place.

As for special things at FW during October; I've never done it but they have a Haunted Hayride around the fort with the Headless horseman showing up and chasing the wagon at one point.

Here is a youtube video of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lGhwZhjhsw