walking round site 30th oct - can we eat somewhere

[libbylast]

I we are planning to take a trip over on 30th or 31st October to see decs but wondered is there somewhere to grab food and is walking round site doable. What time is best to have food and walk around.
Thanks

 

[North of Mouse]

I we are planning to take a trip over on 30th or 31st October to see decs but wondered is there somewhere to grab food and is walking round site doable. What time is best to have food and walk around.
Thanks

Not sure I completely understand what you are asking! Yes, there is a limited menu of 'take out' food available at Trails End. There is also a nice dinner buffet. As for walking around the 'site', do you mean the complete campground??
If so, no, it isn't 'doable' for most people. It is approx. 1 mi. straight through from the Outpost area to the Settlement area, plus two other loop roads. You can't just drive around, so would need a cart or bicycles to cover the complete campground.

If coming in by boat near the Settlement area, there are a few loops close by that you could easily stroll around and it would be relaxing, but that's about as far as you'd want to go 'on foot'!!

 

[bama_ed]

I we are planning to take a trip over on 30th or 31st October to see decs but wondered is there somewhere to grab food and is walking round site doable. What time is best to have food and walk around.
Thanks

libby, IMO you can walk around the Fort at Halloween and see LOTS of decorations. Will you see ALL of them? No, it's a pretty big resort.

As FYI here is the 2014 Halloween activities list (this was page 2 - page 1 was the movies and activities list) which I bet won't change much this year:



Choose your poison (10/30 or 10/31). This year Halloween falls on Saturday so the Fort will be ROCKIN' on 10/31 I'm sure.

You can get some food at Trails End through their "To Go" option. Of course, you can make a ressie and eat the buffet but the TOGO is an option too. There are 3 sets of doors in the Pioneer Hall/Trails End building. The left-most with the front porch is for Hoop Dee Doo; the right-most is for Trails End and has the CM podium stand. You want to go up the steps to the middle double doors to get some great (same) food.



Here is the TOGO menu available (plus drinks natch):



You can eat at the picnic tables on the side porch nearest the beach. The TOGO CM can supply all the paper plates, knife-fork-spoon, etc.



Halloween sounds like it's a zoo of people (never been). You can walk loops down by the beach/Trails End (the 100/200/400/700 area) or catch an Orange/Yellow bus up to the Meadow Trading Post and walk the loops up there. The Fort is a "destination" at Halloween so if you want to eat at TE, make a ressie. Want to cruise the loops in a golf cart? Reserve now. Otherwise, budget plenty of time and be prepared to walk a lot. But it sounds like it's worth it.

Bama Ed

PS - there are additional tables down by the beach/docks in case the picnic tables around TE are full. BTW, we like the Giddy Up and Go (the GAG as my family calls it) but you can do pizza, chicken meals, or other depending on how many are in your party and what ya'll prefer.

 

[libbylast]

Thanks, some great info.
Do you think hiring a golf cart just for that evening is doable.
Do you have any idea of what time we should head over to the fort and should we eat 1st then tour the site. Or shall we head over in the afternoon and spend a few hours there.
Thanks again

 

[bama_ed]

Thanks, some great info.
Do you think hiring a golf cart just for that evening is doable.
Do you have any idea of what time we should head over to the fort and should we eat 1st then tour the site. Or shall we head over in the afternoon and spend a few hours there.
Thanks again

All carts are rented on a 24-hour basis (pickup after 1pm and return by 11am daily to match the official Fort check-in and check-out times). A 4-seater is $65 per day when tax is included. It's certainly doable and if they're not sold out already for that weekend they soon will be. Personally I don't do golf carts and think it would be bedlam with so many people and carts about. The internal busses will be running and you should be able to get around with them or walk. My point was not to leave that option out for you.

I posted the schedule of events for you on the 30th and 31st so you could make an informed decision about when to go / when to eat / what to do. If you have kids then come on the 31st with/in costume and go ToT'ing from campsite to campsite as the campers do hand out candy. Plus there is the normal campfire singalong with Chip & Dale at 8pm and the nightly movie at 840pm at the singalong area in the middle of the Fort by the big Meadow Trading Post. It's completely up to you - the evening of the 31st will be a zoo so if you want to experience happy bedlam, come then and eat around 5-ish because folks said once the golf cart parade was over (starts at 5pm), the ToT started informally. Nobody shoots off a gun and it's hard to wait till 7pm from what I've heard.

I saw in the other thread you were asking what they did last year so hopefully you can get some feedback here or there from others.

Bama Ed

PS - golf carts are picked up & returned at the check-in end of Fort Wilderness which is referred to as the Outpost area. The end of the Fort down on the beach/boat dock is the Settlement area. And the area in the middle with the pool, Trading Post, and campfire singalong/movie is the Meadows area (or 'Meadow' singular as in some writings).

 

[Southern Bell]

When not camping at the Fort my husband and I have just driven our car through the campground not stopping except for 10 minutes at trading post besides the pool. Second, we have parked at the front of campground and took a bus, up to the settlement by boat dock area(when spending much time there) and 3rd we were at Magic Kingdom and rode the boat over for an hour or so, looked around, etc., From boat dock area you can walk around loops 100, 200, 300, 400 and 700, without cost of a golf cart. You can eat at trails end, sit in chairs on the beach, catch a bus running around the Fort to see the rest. That will probably satisfy you without spending much.

 

[Flametamr]

We were at the Fort for Halloween week in 2013 and are going again this year Oct 30 to Nov 8. We rented a cart last time and plan on buying our own for this trip. I recommend you go on Oct 30th if you are just visiting for the day. Like Ed said on Halloween it is bedlum with the hundreds of kids trick or treating and all the carts running around. If we don't go to the MK Party that night I would be happy to give y'all a ride around the fort in our cart.

 

[libbylast]

We were at the Fort for Halloween week in 2013 and are going again this year Oct 30 to Nov 8. We rented a cart last time and plan on buying our own for this trip. I recommend you go on Oct 30th if you are just visiting for the day. Like Ed said on Halloween it is bedlum with the hundreds of kids trick or treating and all the carts running around. If we don't go to the MK Party that night I would be happy to give y'all a ride around the fort in our cart.

Thanks so much, there is 6 of us though.
I do plan to come on 30th I've just gotta work out how to manage it from Okw and get the most out of our visit.

 

[libbylast]

When not camping at the Fort my husband and I have just driven our car through the campground not stopping except for 10 minutes at trading post besides the pool. Second, we have parked at the front of campground and took a bus, up to the settlement by boat dock area(when spending much time there) and 3rd we were at Magic Kingdom and rode the boat over for an hour or so, looked around, etc., From boat dock area you can walk around loops 100, 200, 300, 400 and 700, without cost of a golf cart. You can eat at trails end, sit in chairs on the beach, catch a bus running around the Fort to see the rest. That will probably satisfy you without spending much.

Thanks for advice

 

[Flametamr]

Thanks so much, there is 6 of us though.
I do plan to come on 30th I've just gotta work out how to manage it from Okw and get the most out of our visit.

Okay that is too many. I could ride maybe 4 or 5 if there were kids.

 

[chartle]

When not camping at the Fort my husband and I have just driven our car through the campground not stopping except for 10 minutes at trading post besides the pool.

I thought you couldn't get inside, aka past the front parking lot, without staying at the Fort. Also I had heard, to cut down on locals coming to the fort and partying on Halloween, they put some restrictions on who could even get into that lot that day.

 

[bama_ed]

When not camping at the Fort my husband and I have just driven our car through the campground not stopping except for 10 minutes at trading post besides the pool. Second, we have parked at the front of campground and took a bus, up to the settlement by boat dock area(when spending much time there) and 3rd we were at Magic Kingdom and rode the boat over for an hour or so, looked around, etc., From boat dock area you can walk around loops 100, 200, 300, 400 and 700, without cost of a golf cart. You can eat at trails end, sit in chairs on the beach, catch a bus running around the Fort to see the rest. That will probably satisfy you without spending much.

I thought you couldn't get inside, aka past the front parking lot, without staying at the Fort. Also I had heard, to cut down on locals coming to the fort and partying on Halloween, they put some restrictions on who could even get into that lot that day.

Both of these are correct but at different times.

Chartle's answer is correct for Halloween time. The Fort is so full of campers, golf carts, and people that Security at the front of the Fort doesn't allow visitors/guests in as they normally would simply because there is no place to put all the cars. Libby would certainly want to take Disney transportation to the Fort. Do something like bus from OKW to DTD or a theme park, then catch a bus bound for FW from there. Or you can park at the MK lot (don't DVC folks get free theme park parking like resort guests do?) and monorail to the Contemporary or MK and then boat over (or bus from the TTC). You MIGHT be able to get into the Wilderness Lodge parking lot and then bus over from there to the Fort.

Southern Bell's answer is correct for any time there is not an event or major holiday at the Fort. Normally any guest at another on-property resort can come over, park, and look around. If the lots at the Fort are full they will direct you over to Wilderness Lodge. July 4th is another busy time they might not allow drive-ins.

Of course, anyone with a horse ride reservation, Trails End or Hoop Dee Doo reservations are allowed in but Security supposedly has a list of those names to know who really does have a ressie and who just claims to trying to get in.

So libby, plan on using Disney transport over and back in some way.

Bama Ed

 

[chartle]

Bama_ed the part I was wondering about was the driving around the campground in your own car if you are not actually staying at the fort, not just parking at the front gate and then either just walking around or taking the internal bus.

This is the first time I had ever heard of this being an option.

Even when we first visited more than 30 years ago they discouraged driving at all.

 

[bama_ed]

Bama_ed the part I was wondering about was the driving around the campground in your own car if you are not actually staying at the fort, not just parking at the front gate and then either just walking around or taking the internal bus.

This is the first time I had ever heard of this being an option.

Even when we first visited more than 30 years ago they discouraged driving at all.

Driving around to look at stuff sounds okay in theory but you are right, chartle, it is discouraged. As I said, I've never been at the Fort for Halloween but with all the people and carts, getting around would be a problem. You might want to stop and linger in a loop but you'd be blocking traffic (guests trying to leave, get back to their site, etc). There are about 4 car parking spots at the Meadow TP (rest are for carts) and the parking along FW Trail for the Meadow TP between 800 and 900 can accommodate 8-10 cars.

Driving around to see the decorations would slow a guest down. When there are not decorations up, I can see where it's easier to roll through and rubberneck. So it might be possible but not a good idea at Halloween IMO.

Bama Ed

 

[chartle]

Driving around to look at stuff sounds okay in theory but you are right, chartle, it is discouraged. As I said, I've never been at the Fort for Halloween but with all the people and carts, getting around would be a problem. You might want to stop and linger in a loop but you'd be blocking traffic (guests trying to leave, get back to their site, etc). There are about 4 car parking spots at the Meadow TP (rest are for carts) and the parking along FW Trail for the Meadow TP between 800 and 900 can accommodate 8-10 cars.

Driving around to see the decorations would slow a guest down. When there are not decorations up, I can see where it's easier to roll through and rubberneck. So it might be possible but not a good idea at Halloween IMO.

Bama Ed

I think what I'm trying to say is that I have never heard of anyone, not staying at the Fort, at any time of the year, being allowed to bring their car onto FW property at all for any reason. Not even to get to HDDR to park even for wheelchair users. Its always been you had to park at the front lot and take FW transportation.

As for the Halloween issue, its my understanding that up until maybe 5 years ago anyone could park at that lot without going through a guard gate. Then at some point they redid the area and now you have to go through a gate just like I guess every other resort. One reason cited was that locals had almost taken over the resort on Halloween because it was good spot to party and still be on property. Also Disney stopped many of the festivities like ToTing at DTD so the Fort was the next best thing and probably easier to get to. So now on Halloween the only cars allowed in the lot are those with ADRs for dining or maybe carriage rides (do they still do them?).

 

[chartle]

Very odd dup.

 

[Southern Bell]

Yes, Fort Wilderness let us drive around the fort in our vehicle, because we were a Disney resort guest with a pass, October 2012. My husband told them he just wanted to drive through and they said OK. There may be times they do not let you in, I do not know! It doesn't hurt to ask if you are just driving around looking like we were that day! We drove around several resorts that day just to see them, in case we were ever interested in staying at one.

But...once inside the fort there is NO where to park, except at the trading post by the pool if you are not camping there. I think only 10 minute parking. You cannot take your car inside and stay. Only parking is those with a campsite. I did stop and see the Pool and went into the trading post there for just a few minutes.

So...if you want to spend any time inside the Fort, the best choice is to drive over and park and take a bus up to the Boat Dock , or we went over last year from Magic Kingdom, walked around a few of the loops. Anyone that is a Disney Resort guest can come over to the Fort and look around, stay all day , bring their Disney refill cup, kids play at the playground, see the free movie, visit the horses, walk, fish, and not have to rent a golf cart. I was just trying to share that cheaper option with you, in case you were interested, because I have just visited there last September 2014 and then in October 2012.

 

[Southern Bell]

Well, what I posted kind of bothered me, because I did not want to post something misleading to someone but I knew we had driven inside the campground. So.. I checked with my husband about the information I posted about driving inside Fort Wilderness. He said yes we did do that BUT... we had only driven inside the Fort 1 time and it was NOT during Halloween like I posted, but in JUNE. I looked back at pictures and he was correct. There I was on a boat! He said he did agree that The Fort did discourage people driving inside with their vehicles, because you have people camping there with their belongings. He drove up and ask Fort Wilderness, while we were out looking at other resorts, because he wanted to look at some loops, and campsites, that he planned on camping on in the future and they said sure. We weren't there to spend time, eat or whatever, so we were allowed to drive in and come right back out. Other than this 1 time he said we had always took a boat from Magic Kingdom, or a bus. He agreed with the others above and that this would be best! SO... I just wanted to correct myself in my above information.

 

[chartle]

Its just this is the first time i had ever heard of anyone not staying at FW being allowed inside the campground with their cars.

I'm going to assume you got some sort of pixie dust and no one should assume this is normal policy.

 

[Southern Bell]

LOL! Well I must of used it all up for this one time! I sure don't get any for anything else! LOL!