Tell me all about the cabins & fort. Pleeze!!!!

[mousefanmichelle]

I am thinking of switching from our currently booked resort to a cabin. We are campers so I know about tent camping and 5th wheel campin as we had a 32ft Jayco 5th wheel until we totalled it on the Mackinaw Bridge . Long story... anywho I am thinking it might be more economical for us to switch to the Fort.

What can you all tell me about the cabins, the travel time to the parks (I have 8:05 adr's at CP for breakfast one morning and 9:00 adr's at CM for breakfast another morning) thought I read somewhere the boats don't run until 8am. How big is the place and what can I expect as far as walking to do when I want to go to the pool or the comfort stations or the store? I probably won't rent a GC - I think $54 a day is a little steep .

Thanks everyone for yer help!!!

Michelle

 

[Shan-man]

May I recommend you look into renting a 5th wheel from www.campatthefort.com instead of a cabin? Depending on the level of campsite you get and the rate season you are traveling in you will save anywhere from $58 to $174 per night! The camper is delivered and setup for you, linens and towels are provided, and you have the advantage of choosing what part of the Fort you'd like to stay in, rather than being delegated to the south end of the Fort (furthest from the marina). Also, there is a bathroom in the 5th wheel as well as comfort stations nearby, making mornings a bit less stressful. I think it is an enormous value over the cabins.

As for your other questions, many lengthy and well-informed responses have already been written, please look around the camping forums... there is a wealth of information here.

 

[Marshall Family]

well, we have stayed at the cabins for 4 straight years until this year we are coming in an RV so, what I can tell you for sure if for us, myself, my wife and 2 teenage daughters as well as a 10 year old all girls we absolutely love it, I find it gives you the freedom you don't have in a hotel room, there is seperation areas like bedroom and living area and kitchen, we sat down every morning to breakfast and coffee prior to adventrues in the park and went all day then came home to the cabins and made home cooked suppers saved a ton of cash on food, kids would nap or lay around watch TV or of course homewrok from school the deck provided some much needed breaks in the evening tons of room for sleeping, with the pull down murphy bed in the living room, bathrooms in my opinion were big nice tubs and shower combos, all in all I would pay the money to stay there in heart beat. one year we took buses to the parks and had absolutely no troubles at all. Last year we had our van with us so I am not sure about the times. As for golf carts we took the advice of many on this blog and rented our cart from Kenny @ tee time golf carts he is charging us $290 for a ten day rental that's a steal in comparison to Disney, it may be woth it for you to investigate as we find it is very useful we stayed in cabin 2528 every year and we were around the corner from the small wilderness pool, however would still use the cart to take laundry and such, and we were about a 3 min cart ride from the store.
It is quite an experience to stay at FW, and the cabins provide a wonderful home away from home feeling.
Chris

 

[clkelley]

Getting to your early ADRs will be no problem. Just proceed to the marina and get on the small launch to the Contemporary. It starts at 6:45am. Once you disembark at the Contemporary, you can just head upstairs for Chef Mickeys, and for Crystal Palace you can walk or take the monorail to the Magic Kingdom.

There are buses that run throughout the campground. For the cabins the best bus to take to the Settlement/marina is the purple bus to the Settlement (Purple Outpost to return to your cabin). To go to all other parks, take the purple bus to the Outpost. (Purple Settlement to return to your cabin)

If you want to go to the Meadows area (pool, Bike Barn, trading post, movie), take the Orange Settlement bus to get to that area (Orange Outpost to return)

 

[chskover]

We stayed in the cabins in Dec. 07, before we knew about renting points from DVC members. The cabins are nice and it is very quiet, but we will never do them agian. Transportation was terrible. It took for ever to get anywhere. One trip took over a hour to get back to the cabin. We ended up driving instead of waiting for busses or boats. Cost wise we couldn't afford the golf cart.

 

[Skyw]

I have stayed at the cabins 3 times. There is only one bathroom....it was never a problem for us. There is a mirror and a small area in the bedroom to get ready. Since we were all family no one cared. The kitchen is a really nice benefit. It is fully stocked with dishes etc. We enjoy having a inexpesive meal in the morning and coffee before heading out. We ate many dinners there too. The maid service does your dishes too!!! I know!!!

We took the buses many times and just started to drive the last time. It was just easier with a 5 year old. We could park right next to the door of the cabin and go in. We also get a golf cart. So that helps. I would suggest getting a cabin close to a bus stop to get rid of some of the time. I saw a chart one time and the FW times to the parks was about 10 minutes longer then other places. Let me know if you want it. It is in one of my books and I can give you another resort times too.

We really enjoy the quiet at FW. It is just lovely and full of fun nature things to see and do. Honestly, you will have to move your body more at FW to get to places but in my opinion it is worth it. No one running down the hallway. You have a deck to enjoy. QUIET!!!!!! It is so nice.

My husband wont go anywhere else....He loves to fish and you can do that at FW too.

I am very biased!!!! I love FW.

 

[mousefanmichelle]

Thanks for all the good tips. I think we would really enjoy staying here. I would like to eat breakfast outside on the picnic table and having my own space while the kids have their is so important with 3 kids ya know!

My biggest concern I guess is the internal transportation and the pools. I don't like ho-hum pools we like slides and the kids like deep ends and I like hot tubs! I understand there is a pool re-hab going on though and that might be a good thing.

I do wish you could do 2 things - 1. would be to swim in the lake - up here in MI we have the best lakes - that you can swim in when you camp and 2. would be to have fire rings at each site. Would be nice to sit by your own place with your own fire and relax. Oh well. Still sounds like a lot of fun and some cost savings over the deluxes.

Thanks again!
Michelle

 

[Skyw]

They have the campfire sing a long thing at FW. I believe the real campers can have fires during certain times of the year.

When are you going? The pool should be rehab by April.

I am from Mi originally. Oakland County area. Where are you from?

 

[mousefanmichelle]

I read somewhere about the large campfire so that would be fun for my kids.

We arrive on May 5th and leave on the 12th. Only 82 more days! ahh.....

I grew up in Troy and I work in Troy but I now live near Port Huron - so quite a commute to work each day!

Always nice to hear from the Michiganders out there!! It's a nice state just too bad it is struggling so bad.

 

[BradyBz12]

From AllEars...

The campfire program has no admission fee and is open to all WDW resort guests. It generally begins around 7 p.m. during the fall/winter season and 8 p.m. after the time changes in April through the summer. It is held near the Meadow Trading Post in the campfire area. The program begins with a sing-along led by a Disney CM and a marshmallow roast around two campfire rings. You may bring your own marshmallows or buy them at the Chuckwagon (roasting sticks and marshmallows are $2). You may also buy pizza, hot dogs, candy, nachos, juice, popcorn, sodas, coffee, beer and other refreshments at the Chuckwagon. While this is going on, Chip and Dale make an appearance to visit with guests and sign autographs. The sing-along lasts about 40 minutes. Next, one or two Disney animated features, depending upon the season, are shown on a large outdoor screen. Seating is available in bleachers or on benches. There is also plenty of room to lay out a quilt or blanket. The movie schedule is posted at all comfort stations. In the event of rain, the sing-along is still held on the porch of the Meadow Trading Post.

Not a lot of campfires allowed at sites these days since they're in the middle of a really long drought. I've heard that some campers have gotten the ok for enclosed fire pits (there are actually no fireplaces/pits on the site), but as of December they still had the "no fires" signs up.

 

[Shan-man]

The pool rehab will be done by then, and will include a feature slide and a hot tub. There is supposed to be a kid's splash zone, but there is some question as to whether that will be phase 2? Deep-ends seem to be going the way of the dodo at Disney.