Reservations

[ms2058]

I'm trying to book a reservation at Fort Wilderness during the month of October, 2015. I have been there the last 3 years and at times, book as early as July (I know, not really that early) and as late as 30 days out and have never had an issue getting a reservation. I have been online and gave reservations a call, and they are telling me that there are no availabilities during the month of October. When we do visit in the month of October, there always seems to be enough sites available to make me believe they are completely booked up. Is this possible or is there a secret I should know about. Thank you for any input.

 

[staceyrhood]

October is a VERY popular month at Disney, one of the busiest anymore depending on what days you visit. You can book 499 days out. October at the Fort fills up very quickly for Halloween week and during fall breaks. Keep checking though, things open up sometimes especially around cancellation dates such as 60 days, 90 days, and 5 days prior to a visit.

 

[ms2058]

Thanks for the response. The last three years we have visited the week before Columbus Day and while it is busy, there are always campsites open that week. Reservations is telling me more or less the same thing. I'll just keep checking. I can't imagine staying anywhere else but Fort Wilderness.

 

[bama_ed]

ms2058,

I checked day-by-day on the WDW reservation tool starting on Sunday October 4 and each night up through Thursday night Oct 8 are available at all levels as I type this (Full on the 8th is the only exception). On Friday night October 9 only Tent level is available. Saturday night shows nothing. Neither does Sunday.

I've said it often but in the "nice weather" times of spring and fall, the weekends (especially 3-day holiday weekends) get booked up quickly as opposed to the other 5 days of the week. That leads me to believe that "locals" (folks who can drive in after work on Friday night even if it's several hours) book the weekends well in advance.

So you might want to take what you can get (Sun-Thurs) nights and try to add on and just keep checking.

Bama Ed

 

[ms2058]

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated.

 

[peg110]

I agree with Ed. The one time we ended up doing this for a "Thanksgiving" trip. My DW booked what we could get and as others opened up we added them on. Just know that you might have to take a "Shorter" trip if it comes to it, but I think your chances will be good that you won't have to worry.

 

[ms2058]

I believe that's what I'm going to do. I believe in the end we'll be able to book the full trip based on the past several years that we've been down there.

 

[bama_ed]

I believe that's what I'm going to do. I believe in the end we'll be able to book the full trip based on the past several years that we've been down there.

Folks who book a long time out for a short-term trip may end up cancelling in the end. If I lived within a couple hour drive of the Fort, I would book a couple Fall and Spring weekends well in advance just to hold a place. As time would draw closer, I might have to cancel because of weather, family activities, etc. Cancellations made more than 5 days before arrival get a full refund (or I would move my date to make a new reservation in the future and roll the deposit over, so to speak). So I think there will be opportunities coming open for you to get if you are diligent. So yes, take what you can get now and keep checking for openings.

Good luck! Bama Ed

 

[peg110]

Just to CONFIRM what Ed is saying. We are in this situation now (Albeit not at the Fort but Pop Century). We have booked a trip for November, we are all but certain we will not be going there and going to an alternate vacation location (closer to home, less expensive, etc..) but we have not yet cancelled our reservation and asked for our deposit yet. Why? because as things change in our lives, so do our plans, and it's still possible to that we could end up at Disney. So the motivating factor here is where do we get penalized? Depending on how you define being Penalized (It could be having to pay for your reservations in full by the 60 Day Mark or it could be not getting your Full Refund at less than 5 days. In either case, we still have time for both. For us, I suspect we will cancel it prior to the mandatory "Pay in Full" date. (which for us would be in time to schedule the FP+)

 

[sweet maxine]

I have had good luck lately with checking early in the morning. I wanted to grab the late summer discounted rate, and after several tries was able to find the dates I needed.

Keep trying! Perseverance pays off!