I finally have a few minutes...
3/22/06: We were excited to begin our four night adventure. Our family Me, DH, DS 15, DS 13, and DD 7 usually stay at the Shades of Green or another WDW deluxe hotel. I like room service, the pools and location of the deluxe hotels. This time we let our boys plan the trip and they chose FW. I nixed the idea of camping though...there is just so much I can take (I work full time and wanted to relax. We don't have a camper and I could not be comfortable in a tent with my back!
) So I found a great rate for the cabins, Annual pass discount of $185 per night. I also reserved a golf cart for $45 per night. (This is adding up!)
When we checked in I immediately fell in love with FW. I had only been there once to see Hoop De Do years ago and forgot how beautiful and rustic it is. The weather was cold but sunny and I immediately began to trust my boy's choice. The CM who welcomed us also scared me. You see I am in graduate school and had to have high speed internet access so I could keep up with my work. The CM insisted that they did not offer this (even though I had phoned to confirm) and of course by then it was too late to change our plans. Turns out they do, in fact, have high speed access so all was well. The cabin we had (2100 loop) was great. It seemed roomy, well maintained and so adorable. The beds are not the most comfortable but adequate. Only complaint I had was the bottom bunk. The top bunk was not that high above it and it seemed very scary, claustrophopic! My boys kept hitting their heads when they woke up. We loved having the kitchen too, it was great to make a quick breakfast and then hit the parks. The best part of all, to me, was the convienence of parking our car right at the door to the cabin. This made driving to and from the parks so easy. My kids loved the golf cart the best, there is a strict rule about having to be 16 with a drivers license to drive one, so we did have that dissapointment. It was funny because as we drove around we saw many, many teeny, tiny, sixteen year olds (if you get my drift)
Around FW: It was cold, cold when we were there. The pools are heated so they remained crowded. No towels at the pool, by the way, which made the first swim a very cold one when everyone had to hop on the golf cart and drive back to the cabin at night. Did I mention it was 40 degrees??
They have a lot of fun activities at FW. Games, contests and Bingo. My 7 year old developed a "gambling" problem that I thought was only reserved for our cruise vacations! She did win once though. Bingo at FW is fun, but takes over an hour for three games,so seems a bit drawn out. Pony rides and the animals are great, the staff at the pony ride area are so friendly and great with the kids. We did not trail ride this time because you have to be 9 years old and there would have been drama if you know who had to stay behind!
Trails End: Got a little flack about my review of this restaurant on another post, so I will be gentle. I was not thrilled with the Trails End. It was adequate, the CM's were friendly, but the food was so-so. It cost over $90 for our family of five to eat dinner... I know this is a bargain at WDW, but I thought the selection was very limited (ribs, chicken, buffalo and one kind of pasta). The breakfast was a bit better but again, limited and the setup was difficult to manuver. Not my favorite, but not horrible either.
Finally, our mousekeeper was amazing. Every day we came back to the cabin she had cleaned up our mess (five people in about 600 square feet!). She even cleaned up our pots and started our dishwasher. I left her daily tokens of appreciation but we also called the housing supervisor to express our gratitude. She really did a wonderful job.
More soon about our WDW activities...including how I almost had a fist fight with a man on tower of terror..(and I am a very gentle person
)
We are currently in a cabin at Fort Wilderness and it is fantastic. I was nervous but we love the privacy, cabin and all the things to do. I will be posting a trip report after we get back. I can't believe that after a gazillion trips to WDW I have never stayed here before. It is a wonderful place for kids. I really liked that we can pull our car right up to the cabin (makes driving to the parks SO easy...and no buses). And the golf carts are a blast, we zipped right up to the campfire last night. More later. 
