Rv at Fort Wilderness

[CapecodRVer]

So we just bought our first RV this year. We have made a few trips out locally, Massachusetts. and have now booked our trip to Fort WIlderness. Few quick questions

1) Best way to get there from New England........not 95s. We have traveled 95 and wish to avoid it at all cost.

2) How private are the RV sites? Not that it matters, just curious.

3) If anyone has ANY RV tips for our trip to Fort Wilderness would love to hear them.

We'll be there september 22-28

 

[bama_ed]

CapecodRVer,

to the DIS Camping Board.

If you use the "Search Forums" link on the top left side and search for terms like I95, I-95, route, etc. and focus the search on the camping board, there have been many threads about the drive down. My favorite point is that the underwater tunnels do not allow propane tanks so plan a surface detour. (the cops pulled over one of our posters after he'd gone through the tunnel so don't try to ignore it). I'm from Alabama so I'm worthless answering your question directly (and some here would simply say I AM worthless).

2. Not very private, but enough. About 5 years ago Disney undertook an effort to clear out non-native plants which opened up a lot of the space between sites but it's not wide open. But it's not private either.

3. I have a little popup so I will leave RV tips to others. I will say, though, that the Fort is a gem to digest, enjoy, and explore. Some people treat it like a hotel room and are in the parks all day and only sleep at the Fort. The Fort is like a neighborhood of the old days - folks are outside, most are friendly and open to chats about weather, tow vehicles, the rv, or the campground. We have usually spent half our days NOT in the parks. We hang at the Fort and enjoy it while doing little trips to play Disney putt putt, hit the outlets or Disney Springs, or visit other resorts.

The Fort is to be sipped and savored, not gulped or passed over.

Bama Ed

PS - if we help you with Fort tips, can you give advice about camping up in the Boston-Cape Cod area? DW and I were talking this past week about going up there next summer on our way to Maine.

 

[Maligator]

Welcome! You'll probably be passing right by us on 195 on your way!

We usually use 95 until we get to the Tappanzee bridge and then grab 81 to 77 until we go back to 95 in the Carolinas. There are a few good threads here about the exact route a few of us northerners take as well as stopover recommendations. The Fort is our favorite trip of the year and we try to book one day of "Fort time" for every day in the park at a minimum.

 

[PaHunter]

You can come down 84S to 81 S to Interstate 77 to Interstate 26 to 95 and finally to I4. It is a nice scenic trip through the mountains. It is one way to get there.

 

[tigger92662]

Welcome in advance to The Fort. Route advice I can't help you with, I'm in the Chicago area. Driving advice since the rig is new to you and this sounds like your 1st long trip, take your time.

Short trips close to home, which you've done, will help you sort out what you need or not. What kind of RV did you get, new, used? Inquiring minds want to know.

Totally agree with bama ed, it's not just a campground. Definitely plan a few days to just enjoy the sights and sounds of it all.

There is a post to show you how to print disboards green Mickey ears to connect with other Fort disers if you want to.

Oh yeah, we like trip reports and pictures if you can. That way we can follow along too.

 

[Boopuff]

We just did the Fort in our "new to us" RV and it was fantastic! We have a 38' MH stayed in the 1000 loop. The premium sites are really the way to go if you have a MH. No problem navigating the loop or backing in. Our only issue is that the hookups were in the middle (?!) of the site so we weren't able to fully back in. (not long enough sewer hose - add that to our list!) I found the plant coverage to be adequate and didn't feel too close or crowded. Enjoy the ride! We came down from Chicago and took a few days to do the drive. Well worth it.

 

[jeffrey1966]

We just returned from a trip to Fort Wilderness. We live in upstate NY and travelled on 87(NY),287(NJ),78(PA),81(Shenandoah Valley),77(NC),26(SC),95,I-4. It was a good ride with only two very short slow downs caused by accidents. We paid tolls only in NY.
On a previous trip we travelled South on the route I mentioned but tried to stay on 95 for the return trip north and experienced much stopped traffic. It ended up taking longer when staying on 95 even though I know it's a shorter trip. I am not a drive through the night kind of person so I can't take advantage of the better hours to travel through Washington.
There are a lot of campground choices along 81. A very easy on/off stop is the Lexington/Natural Bridge KOA in VA.
There are some pretty big hills on this route around Fancy Gap VA but these hills make for a much more scenic ride. Hope this is helpful. Have a great trip in September!

 

[2goofycampers]

Welcome CapecodRVer! My best tip is to just relax and enjoy The Fort.

 

[KristinU]

Welcome neighbor! We're in the Hartford area.

We do 84 out to Scranton and pick up 81. From there we pick up 50/17 near Winchester, VA and take 17 over to 95 at that point to drop in around Fredericksburg, just north of Richmond. That gets us out of NYC and DC, but gets us back on 95 to hit Raleigh to visit family on the way. We don't mind 95 from there on down.

 

[sippican]

Welcome!
We make frequent trips to the fort and FWIW, don't feel the need to book a premium site. We have a 35 footer with 3 slides and tow our golf cart. The full hook-up loops are more than adequate size-wise for a big rig, we are even able to park the trailer behind the MH. We love the 1700 loop. To date, the 300 (preferred) loop has been our least favorite for size and ease of getting into sites. If there's a "bad site" at the Fort, we haven't found it!

 

[CapecodRVer]

Welcome in advance to The Fort. Route advice I can't help you with, I'm in the Chicago area. Driving advice since the rig is new to you and this sounds like your 1st long trip, take your time.

Short trips close to home, which you've done, will help you sort out what you need or not. What kind of RV did you get, new, used? Inquiring minds want to know.

Totally agree with bama ed, it's not just a campground. Definitely plan a few days to just enjoy the sights and sounds of it all.

There is a post to show you how to print disboards green Mickey ears to connect with other Fort disers if you want to.

Oh yeah, we like trip reports and pictures if you can. That way we can follow along too.

We bought a 2016 Freedom Elite 22FE with one slide out. Small, and just right for our needs. We are certainly looking forward to Disney in the fall. We have driven it in the car in the past. I told the wife the same thing you mentioned. It certainly wont be as quick as the car ride. But heck thats why we bough the camper. To take out time and see as much as we can!!!

 

[FtW Mike]

Like so many others have said WELCOME I have been a fan of Disney and devotee of the FORT from my first trip in 87. Not until we bought our 1st RV 3 years ago did we ever camp there ( all other times in a cabin ) As we got our camper to bring our Furbabies with us and not send them to camp we had our trael agent recommend sites certain sites and loops that are pet friendly and we checked them out the trip prior to us making our purchase when we booked we asked her to try for a site in 1600 thru 1900 loops and she came thru site 1811 Great for us and our dogs, We hope she can do as well this year for Christmas Site was easy to back into and more than enough room for our 39 Ft 2 slide Ambassador.
As fo travel well being in Delaware we do 95 for the ease. I find going 350 to 400 miles a day about just right for a days travel. We tend to need to let the dogs out to walk around and calm down a bit after like 2 hours. We fuel up once a day Think Pilot/ Fly J in Va and SC and Fla and stop once to eat each day Think Cracker Barrel Normally Breakfast. So we do trip over 3 days Last time stayed last night on the road outside Jacksonville and did last 190 miles in just about 4 hours
May ask for recommendations later in the year as my sister has a house in Chatham and she wants us to up this sumer

 

[Judyfun]

The Fort spoils you for other places. We have stayed in the 1400 loop 3 times in the last year and have another trip in July. We love it there. I could not see the neighbors RV from my site. Looking to do a quick get away in 2 weeks and every other campground we loop at, it looks like there is not a tree to be found.

 

[peg110]

We are in NEPA and have done the 81 to 77 (and then back to 95) to go around the DC area. We have also done 95 through DC (both at good and not so good times). For us we aim to leave NEPA in the early evening (5-6 PM ish) so that we can get to DC beltway as things are dying down. Not so bad then.

The 81 route is a bit longer mileage-wise but can be shorter time-wise as a result of DC traffic. Our next trip in August, I do believe we are going to shoot for the 81 down to 77 route.

The fort is awesome. I'd like to spend more time visiting around the fort but the DW wants more park time. Oh well. Enjoy, and as @tigger92662 said, pictures and details... Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[sirenia88]

What you don't want to sit in the Cross Bronx expressway traffic? What about the Ct Turnpike? Sheeesh! 84 out of New England to 380/81 to Scranton, and continue down to 77/ 26/95/4 is a really nice ride. Make sure you have plenty of time for this route. Due to the hilly terrain make sure your brakes are in good order. The long grade down 77 in VA is beautiful but will work out your brakes. You might want to try a few trips locally to the Northern NE for the hills to get use to driving them with an RV. This is going to be a different experience than driving the family car. Get use to the feeling is what I am going for. Knowing how to approach hills and turns can only help you deal with this route.

Have fun and good luck.

 

[tigger92662]

We just did the Fort in our "new to us" RV and it was fantastic! We have a 38' MH stayed in the 1000 loop. The premium sites are really the way to go if you have a MH. No problem navigating the loop or backing in. Our only issue is that the hookups were in the middle (?!) of the site so we weren't able to fully back in. (not long enough sewer hose - add that to our list!) I found the plant coverage to be adequate and didn't feel too close or crowded. Enjoy the ride! We came down from Chicago and took a few days to do the drive. Well worth it.

We are Chicago area also. We usually take 2 days to get down as well. Except for the Spring Break when we left Thursday evening, and the wife woke up Friday morning and said "did that sign just say Atlanta? Are we in Georgia?". Truckload of Pixie Dust dumped on us that trip, we were able to get the extra day and check in a day early.

 

[drdisneygirl]

We purchased our first travel trailer with the intent of taking it to the Fort. The Fort was our first trip in our camper and we fell in LOVE!!! It almost ruined me for other campgrounds. The sites are relatively private. Our favorite was when we were in the loops near the marina. So easy to walk to the boat to MK. Fort Wilderness is still my all-time favorite campground because of the "feel" of it. Can't help with the routes there other than 95. Congrats on your new RV!

 

[Aerin75]

Just found this thread - thanks so much to the OP the question and others for the quick tips. We are in the process of getting a new to us RV and although we have no WDW trips planned, I'm starting to go through to see what the experience will be like camping.

Like a PP, we are also planning a trip up to Maine, through other New England states first, this summer (part of our bucket list to hit all 50 states!), so I'll add my hope for any tips getting up there as well. I'm seeing that whatever I can do to get from Indy into Connecticut and avoid 95 is well worth it. If I'd have thought about it for five seconds I'd have come to that conclusion, but I'm only looking at map sites so, well, didn't think yet.

Again, many thanks!
Aerin

 

[peg110]

@aerin A bit but, in regards to your trip, I cannot speak to all of 95 as I haven't been on it all, but If you are hitting 95 going from Indy (Do you mean Indianapolis?) to Connecticut, you are going the LONG way! Work you way over to 81 in PA to 380 and then 84. 84 will take you right into Connecticut. If you go across PA (and then NJ) to to get on 95 and go through NY City.... You are asking for trouble if you have a Camper.

Also while you might hit 95 on your ventures up towards Maine, if you are going to Acadia National Park, you may want to consider the 295/95 route the majority of the way as opposed to US 1. US 1 is definitely more scenic and VERY much slower. Me and a friend took a venture up there one year (for spring break) and as another friend described it, consider a highway that has 6 lanes going down to 2 lanes. It's not a pretty sight.

Now back to your regularly scheduled topic!

 

[Aerin75]

Thanks @peg110!!