So... how many years of Fort Wilderness and describe first trip

[DL1WDW2]

Apparently lifelong friendships have formed on Disney Fort Wilderness property.
When did you first arrive as a camper and anything descriptive of fond memory...
And does anybody recall this for Thanksgiving 2009 once upon a time ?
I guess some were native Americans camped on property and roasted Turkey in the ground ? can t find that source of information but I remember reading about this a long time ago once upon a time .

 

[bama_ed]

I was at the Fort for Thanksgiving 2009, DL1WDW2.



And I remember seeing those teepees in the Creekside Meadow group camping area on that trip. I've seen similar teepees at other campgrounds around Florida. They're just people who want to camp in a teepee.

My first trip was in March 1981 also camping in Creekside Meadow with the Boy Scouts. Epcot wasn't open yet but Magic Kingdom was. It was magical camping among the spanish moss covered trees. Attending the Chip & Dale Campfire Movie Singalong even back then. The Fort Wilderness Railroad tracks were still in the ground all over but the trains were no longer running. Our group was only there for two days and 3 nights (each day half of us went to MK and half hung out at the Fort). My parents weren't along on the trip (just our Troop leaders) so I had some independence and I was 17yo back then.

Good times. As you can see in my signature I keep going back.

Bama Ed

PS - another teepee at Fort Desoto in 2015:

 

[Teamubr]

My first trip was in March 1981 also camping in Creekside Meadow with the Boy Scouts.

How young are you?!?

I was planning my wedding in March 1981.

Great story though. I wish I had gone to the Fort back then. My parents owned condos up and down from St Pete Beach to Clearwater. We would go down there for a couple of weeks and drive over to WDW for the day. Usually went to EPCOT and then HS when it opened. MK was the "kiddie" park. We had never been until we got Ian and then realized everything we had been missing.

j

 

[DL1WDW2]

Love the memory ... starting to worry about mine

So I googled and found this:

Tour de Turkey
Spokesemen Review
Nov 18 , 2007
.... native Wampanoags more commonly know as Pilgrims and Indians .... Fort Wilderness tradition for Thanksgiving
but when I follow the link , the article does not include this information.

 

[DL1WDW2]

So bama Ed represents the native Fort Fiends , I see many tall tales around the campfire .
Nov 27, 2009 photo

 

[morrik5]

Our first trip to The Fort was Oct. 1995. We stayed in the 100 loop in our '92 Royal Classic 28' Class C motorhome. I remember we could hear Hoop-De-Doo every evening and loved the proximity to the boat. I remember this trip vividly because we went to Universal for a day on the eve of Hurricane Opal. Little did we know back then the seriousness of that storm but were lucky it went up the Gulf Coast to Panama City area. Being from Canada what do we know about hurricanes?

 

[bama_ed]

So bama Ed represents the native Fort Fiends , I see many tall tales around the campfire .
Nov 27, 2009 photo

That was 2009 of course.

Things are just fine in 2021.

And Teamubr, I am just young at heart.

Bama Ed

 

[tiggerdad]

Started looking into camping at Disney in 2009. No lie, I lurked mostly for about 2 years. The few times I posted back in those days got quickly derailed into threads discussing wine and cheese and thus I didn't come back to look around again until about 2011. By that time I was set on getting a camper and the desire to return to Disney was too much thus I began researching site pics on here and began getting some helpful information that time around.

June of 2012 found us on only our 2nd camping trip in the then new Jayco 32 BHDS and the 2001 Ford F-250.

Site 420




That first trip also found me finding my calling card for all these years since then. You see, that oak tree that provided us with so much shade also was home to at least 5 squirrels that spent the entire time dropping on the roof, eating bread and Froot Loops out of our hands, stealing slices of bread literally just feet from me, and I swear once we came back and found one trying to pick the lock to the outdoor kitchen.

The first squirrel pick I ever posted that started the legend:


Of course DW and I will still talk about the major storm that blew through on that Sunday evening when we at HS. When my ignorant self learned a very valuable lesson: Never leave the camper with the awning out!




I also found out my outdoor kitchen sink was plumbed into the black tank, not the grey tank. Imagine my surprise when the outdoor sink was overflowing but the grey tank indicator still said the grey tank was empty.

On our way home we also camped at Gulf State Park for the first time. Funny how the two locations have easily become our most frequent places to camp away from home and discovered both for first time on the same trip.

 

[FtW Mike]

My 1st trip was 1988. We stayed in what were then known as a Fleetwood Trailer. The idea was borne from a relative that had stayed in one, 2 years prior. We did a 7 night night stay on a Stay and Play Package offered through The Magic Kingdom Club. Highlight included Hoop Dee DOO ( I got shamed by Miss Josephine our server that evening for wearing my 15 year anniversary Sweatshirt), Chip and Dale Breakfast at Pioneer Hall, Spending a neat afternoon in RIVER COUNTRY and one night at the Campfire Program
I believe that was also the trip we saw Minnnie Moo at the Petting Zoo near Pioneer Hall.

 

[Stratman50th]

First stay was 1976. I was 16 and went with my girlfriend and her family. Her sister's boyfriend went also. He and I stayed in a pup tent, the family was in their pop up. It was for a week. The only thing open was Magic Kingdom and River Country. Still fun as I recall.
The next time we went to WDW was 1989 and stayed at the Tree House Villas. We went at least once or twice a year after that staying in the resort hotels. Last trip was 2012.
We moved to Florida and didn't go again for several years. Disneyed out.
Next trip was in our own coach at the Fort, Dec. 2018. Went in May 2019, and again in Oct. 2021. The last trip was primarily to meet these great people on the camping forum at DISboards.

 

[team bradfield]

2003, DW & Kids had to talk me into it, once she explained there was a campground, I agreed, totally hooked now. First few years were when the kids got out for summer, June is painful but we managed for 3 years, then wised up and took the kids out of school and did fall trips. Fast forward to DD's college years, had to do spring break season, also painful. Now DD's graduated and we are 1 year retired, we are booked this coming November (full month) and again for March 2022

 

[WeLovePluto]

Our was the week after Labor Day 2016. we stayed somewhere in the 200 loop. And clearly had no idea what we were doing. We'd only used the camper a handful of times prior.

The month before, DW and I went on a trip to Blue Ridge, GA to do some white water rafting. Passing through Meridian, one of the wheels fell off of the camper and we had to get that repaired and continue to the campsite. That broke the electric brake on that wheel too. So I had to find a place to repair that in a less than a month prior to driving to Disney. And every towing experience for a while after that made me extremely nervous.

So, anyway, we did think ahead and booked an overnight stop in Tallahassee, as we figured it was too far for one day of towing. (I actually did something smart!!). Unfortunately, a hurricane went through Tallahassee right before, so that campground was empty. We found a state park (Three Rivers) that had a 'first come first serve' spot available when we left home, but that was a long drive away and we just had to hope no one took it. We had 1 (almost 2) and 3 y/o's, and had to stop a lot for them. And I was still terrified after the lost wheel, so I stopped any time road bumps made something feel funny. We made it to the state park as it was getting dark. They were nice enough to leave the gate open for us, and we had a place to stay for the night.

The drive to Disney the next day was also an adventure, as it rained hard. and a lot. and we learned when we got there that there were definitely still roof leak problems with the camper. But we made it. And my backing in job was probably entertaining for anyone around.

It was a whirlwind trip that we definitely packed too much into. We had dinner at Hoop-De-Do one night. Mickey's Backyard BBQ one night, a breakfast at the castle, Chef Mickey's, the Halloween party (probably more that I've forgotten). And for the most part stayed in the parks from open to close for 5 straight days.

We've gotten much smarter about taking down time in the trips since. And utilizing our kitchen more.

We've done 3 FW trips since and I'm sure more are on the horizon (though I'd hate to compare campsite costs to the first one. I'm pretty sure they've escalated a lot since then)

 

[2DIZNY]

First time was 1987. Me wife, 4 sons, MIL in a Shasta bunkhouse trailer. Site 1424. Remember they were running the parking lot trams as the transportation within the Fort. Great memories.

 

[jaredjohn4]

In the late fall of 1975 I was student teaching in Fort Lauderdale. On a whim I rode my motorcycle up to the Fort and asked if they had any vacancies. The gave me a site where I camped with my motorcycle and a back packing tent between two large motorhomes. I didn't know much about Disney other than Sunday night TV. It was a great experience that I will not ever forget.

 

[Bishoparc]

I actually ran across the pictures tonight for our first stay at the Fort. It was April 2015 in a camper we rented. After that, we were hooked. There’s just nothing like the atmosphere of the Fort anywhere that we’ve been to yet. Most of my Fort friends are folks from the boards, many of which I met the first time at either Gulf State Park or the Fort last year. Great group of people in the Camping at Disney Forum here and thankful to call them friends!



Also found my first “Kickin it at the Fort” picture from that same trip.


So thankful for my extended DISboards family. Have learned a lot over the years from you all and have shared some great times!

 

[LuvMyEAR]

2003, DW & Kids had to talk me into it, once she explained there was a campground, I agreed, totally hooked now. First few years were when the kids got out for summer, June is painful but we managed for 3 years, then wised up and took the kids out of school and did fall trips. Fast forward to DD's college years, had to do spring break season, also painful. Now DD's graduated and we are 1 year retired, we are booked this coming November (full month) and again for March 2022

A whole month... how wonderful!!!

 

[team bradfield]

A whole month... how wonderful!!!

Its our retirement trip, postponed a year due to the virus.

 

[proudmomof4]

Sometime in the late 70’s with my dad. I don’t remember too much about it. Started going with my own family in 1994 and have been going every year, sometimes more than once a year, since.
We started out tent camping. Got a popup in 2006, then moved to a hybrid travel trailer in 2018.

 

[breick]

Summer, 1997. We bought a brand new Coleman popup camper and drove 1300 miles just to Camp at Fort Wilderness. We were able to get a discounted rate of $29 per night. However, we have been "visiting" Fort Wilderness and the Trail's End since 1985.

 

[BarbLynnM]

We first visited the Fort 2007ish. We tented (something my then 58-year-old back has never forgiven me for) and stayed in the 2000 loop which I will always think of as Spanish Moss Lane. It was love at first look.

It took us 8 years to get back due to life intervening, but after we bought our T@g (Fe@rless McT@ggert) it was Katie bar the door. Our first stay in our new mini was Christmas and New Years for two weeks and since then we visited pre-covid twice a year.

I'm going to miss Trails End, but hopefully they'll bring it back in some iteration in the coming year

( how Fe@rless earned his name )