Questions about FW Cabins

[avic77]

My family of 5 went to Disney about 2 yrs ago and stayed at POR in 1 room. It was NOT a dream vacation (at the hotel) We all kept it each other awake with our night time noises. Last year we pulled a cheap off site universal trip and stayed in a condo style hotel. It was much better. Now I want to return to Disney and was going to run with an offsite condo. After talking to DH he said "This is likely the last time we will be going for a very long time (5+ yrs). And staying on site with the dining and transportation was great. If we are going to do it lets do that again." he hates driving in Orlando and the kids really enjoyed the character meals so he wants to do those again (i was gonna skip em LOL).
So i got price quotes for 2 rooms at All Star Music and a FW cabin. Im pretty sure we are booking the cabin but im a little concerned. Renting a golf cart at $50 a day is not happening. Is the transportation really THAT bad? Is it going to take us an hour to get from the cabin to a park each morning? Also can 2 adults sleep on the Murphy bed? Id like to put the kids in the room with the double and bunks and DH and I on the murphy bed or is it really uncomfortable and not suitable for adult sleeping?

 

[m1tchells]

Sure...sometimes it seems like you are waiting FOREVER for an internal bus, but IMHO it is really not that bad. And staying at the Fort is so fabulous that it is worth any minor inconvenience that you may or may not experience with the buses. Also - the next best thing to a golf cart is bicycles. They are a little pricey to rent as well. So, if you can bring them...then do so!

I have never stayed in a cabin myself, but I have a friend who did just what you are talking about...kids in bedroom and adults on the murphy bed. It worked perfectly for them!

Stay at the Fort! You will be so glad you did!

 

[Tri-circle-D]

I doubt that there will be many folks on the camping boards who would recommend a family suite over a cabin.

But, you have raised two valid concerns.

1. If you are going to rely solely on WDW transportation, you are going to have to deal with an internal bus plus either a boat (to MK) or bus (other WDW destinations). Depending on the timing of things, it could take you an hour to get from your cabin to a theme park. Will you have a car? The nice thing about the cabins is your car will be right outside your door. At the All Stars, it will be somewhere in a big parking lot. If you can drive to the parks, it is much easier to do so from a cabin. And, you know that parking is free for resort guests, right?

2. Yes, two adults can sleep on the Murphy bed. It is narrow. Maybe equivalent to a full size? Not real comfortable. But are the beds at the All Stars any better?

At the cabins, you will have a full kitchen, and a nice big porch and picnic table. You will only have one bathroom. I assume you would have two in an All Stars suite. Also, your kids can walk to the food court at the All Stars, and there are a lot of food choices. The Fort does not have that. Is the kitchen important? Are two bathrooms important? Decide which works best for your family. I am sure you will have fun whichever you choose.

TCD

 

[clkelley]

While I have never actually stayed in one, I am not a fan of the cabins.

The price point for the number of folks they sleep is just too high for me. They are extremely far away from all the activities at the Fort, and there are no quick service options at the Fort. (You said something about dining plan).

Personally, I would go with the connecting two rooms at All Stars (not the family suites either).

With two connecting rooms at All-Stars, discounts are usually pretty easy to come by.

All-Star Sports is first on the bus and first off the bus if the resorts are sharing.

You get two full baths.

I find the new beds at All-Star Sports and Music to be very comfortable.

You will still get the advantage of putting the kiddos to bed in one room and being able to stay up or leave the room without passing through their area.

The food court is close by and convenient even in the most far away rooms.

I LOVE the Fort, but I prefer to experience it in my camper. When we don't bring the camper, we stay at All-Stars.

 

[disneymami]

I have yet to stay at the cabins. But my plan is to rent one when we return to the world in feb 2011. Our last stay was the WL with the bunk beds. That was fabulous. But two kids with us in the same room was a little hard trying to stay quiet. The kids love the bunk beds. Disney does not offer this anywhere else but FW (I'm fairly sure about this.)
As for the cart rental, I was afraid about this too. But I'm reading alot about renting off site. There are rental companies that will deliver an electric cart to your cabin. They must be competitive with disney rates.
DUring our last stay I ordered groceries from gardengrocer.com. Even though our WL room did not have a kitchen, I still ordered supplies which was convenient to have. NExt time around I'm ordering eggs, bacon, milk, cereal....I'm planning on only dining at FW for two occasions. The other meals would be at the parks.
If you plan your activities for each day of your stay, that should determine if you need a cart and also how often you will need to buy meals at the fort.
As for the murphy bed, I've already put my dibs on that one. I'm going to leave DH with the girls in the official bedroom while I have the rest of the place all to myself
I can't wait to have my coffee on my porch while everyone else slumbers....

 

[cindycastle30]

We stayed at the cabins for the first time in August. It was me and my husband and our 4 kids ages 13, 12, 11 and 7. The kids stayed in the bedroom and we stayed on the murphy bed. Everything was great. By the time we got back from the parks each night we were so tired it wouldn't have mattered what we slept on but the murphy bed was actually very comfy. It was so nice to sit out on the deck after the kids were in bed and just relax. We brought down folding chairs from home so we would be comfy outside. We did not rent a golf cart because the price would have been to much, we stayed for 10 days. We figured that after walking so much at the parks who cared about a little more. Plus we had the dining plan so we needed to walk off all those calories! The bus transportation was just fine, in fact we talked alot about what a waste a golf cart would have been. You hardly ever wait more than a few minutes for an internal bus and having a golf cart isn't going to cut the wait time for a bus to the parks or a boat to them. Another thing to remember is that you get to park your car right outside your cabin big plus in our book. We put all our suitcases back in the van so this freed up space inside the cabin. We also drove to the water parks and downtown disney since we would be carting alot of stuff with us and didn't want to deal with the busses. It was under 10 minutes to drive to these places. We never felt cramped in the cabins like we did when we stayed in ajoining rooms at the all stars. The cabins were much more spacious than we thought they would be.

We did request a cabin near the front of the loop since one of our sons is special needs and we got what we requested loop 2200, this is also within walking distance to a comfort station so the kids could shower there if we were pressed for time. Not having a food court didn't affect us since we brought cereal and milk for the kids to have in the mornings and we had tons of leftovers from the dining plan for them to eat later if they got hungry. One morning I did run to Port Orleans for beignets and two breakfast platters, a five minute drive, would have taken me that long to run down to a food court at the allstars and make it back to the room.

Sorry this is so long but we love the cabins and won't stay anywhere else from now on. We booked free dining bounceback before we left and can't wait to go again. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Liz

 

[Skyw]

HI
I have stayed at the All-stars a few times and the cabins 4 times. ONce we started going to the Fort, we never looked back. First of all, we always manage to get some discount. (mil, 4/3, free tickets etc). So the price is not usually the deciding factor. We like the quiet compared the chaos of the All-Stars. We enjoyed the extra outside space. Especially if you are going when it is cold at home. We love the kitchen to cook a few meals and eat breakfast. We love having my son in one room and we could still move around without waking him.

This is my short list---
FW, Quiet, wilderness, fishing, boat ride to MK, nice campers, pool.

A/S- Great theme, Decent bus system (but crowded), Food court.

As for FW transportation- We drive to most parks. Even if we stayed elsewhere. We found it was easier with a tired kid.

 

[avic77]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! You provided answers to all the questions in my head. Adults on the Murphy, the internal buses, food court issues...
I booked a cabin for us and am really excited. DH and I honeymooned at a campground in a cabin (but not at Disney) so I hope it will spark memories

What size bed is the Murphy? Is it more a double or Queen or is it smaller then a double?

We stayed at the cabins for the first time in August. It was me and my husband and our 4 kids ages 13, 12, 11 and 7. The kids stayed in the bedroom and we stayed on the murphy bed. Everything was great. By the time we got back from the parks each night we were so tired it wouldn't have mattered what we slept on but the murphy bed was actually very comfy. It was so nice to sit out on the deck after the kids were in bed and just relax. We brought down folding chairs from home so we would be comfy outside. We did not rent a golf cart because the price would have been to much, we stayed for 10 days. We figured that after walking so much at the parks who cared about a little more. Plus we had the dining plan so we needed to walk off all those calories! The bus transportation was just fine, in fact we talked alot about what a waste a golf cart would have been. You hardly ever wait more than a few minutes for an internal bus and having a golf cart isn't going to cut the wait time for a bus to the parks or a boat to them. Another thing to remember is that you get to park your car right outside your cabin big plus in our book. We put all our suitcases back in the van so this freed up space inside the cabin. We also drove to the water parks and downtown disney since we would be carting alot of stuff with us and didn't want to deal with the busses. It was under 10 minutes to drive to these places. We never felt cramped in the cabins like we did when we stayed in ajoining rooms at the all stars. The cabins were much more spacious than we thought they would be.

We did request a cabin near the front of the loop since one of our sons is special needs and we got what we requested loop 2200, this is also within walking distance to a comfort station so the kids could shower there if we were pressed for time. Not having a food court didn't affect us since we brought cereal and milk for the kids to have in the mornings and we had tons of leftovers from the dining plan for them to eat later if they got hungry. One morning I did run to Port Orleans for beignets and two breakfast platters, a five minute drive, would have taken me that long to run down to a food court at the allstars and make it back to the room.

Sorry this is so long but we love the cabins and won't stay anywhere else from now on. We booked free dining bounceback before we left and can't wait to go again. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Liz

 

[bouncycat]

I think the murphy is a full size, so is the one big bed in the bedroom. I slept on the bottom bunk in September, and even that was pretty comfy!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the cabins, and won't stay anywhere else on property, even Shades of Green, that's cheaper! I loved the convience of the dining plan too, not having to save this much for this meal, etc. And we had breakfast in the cabin. The HUGE plus for us was having the car there, I liked that idea, and it was very quiet. We even had a couple of birds sleeping on our patio area first thing in the morning. I loved all the wildlife, and everything about the fort. The transportation wasn't bad at all. Never waited too long, and wasn't usually crowded.

 

[tloveswdw]

real kitchen, easy washing facilites, we squeezed with the baby between us on the murphy bed , great fun around the the Ft., great porch, feels much roomier than two ASM rooms to me, (though sq footage might not be), and the bathroom is a good size/with a door