What's the earliest you've arrived at the Fort?

[YodaGirl]

We've never been able to leave early enough to arrive very early (we usually get there early afternoon).

I'm pretty sure that check-in is at 1pm, but on the rare instance we've gotten there before 1, we have occasionally been given a site before 1.

This time around, we want to leave early enough to get to WDW in the morning. If everything goes to schedule, we'll be hitting central Florida around 6am. We'll have time to freshen up a bit before we actually hit WDW.

Does anyone know what time early check-in starts?

For lack of a better term, I'll call it a guard shack (the gate or whatever that lets you in to get to the reception outpost)...how early would we be able to get in?

Has anyone else ever tried arriving at the Fort prior to 7? We thought about trying to catch breakfast at Trail's End when they open at 7:30am, but before that we weren't sure what else we could do except stare at the gate. Not sure what would be worse...not being there, or being there, staring at the gate, and not being able to get in.

Anybody have any ideas as to early morning activities or a more appropriate arrival time?

 

[clkelley]

You can arrive anytime. You will be let through the guard shack and directed to checkin, you can then pick up your parking pass and Key to the World cards. You "might" be given a site right then, but if not, you can go park in overflow, then take an internal bus to get breakfast (or ride your bikes or golf cart if you bring your own.). Then when your site is ready, they will send you a text message with your site number and you can then go set up.

 

[des1954]

You can check in at any time. Whether you get a site assignment before 1pm is another story. If the site you've been assigned is open & ready to go, they sometimes will send you right back. Most of the time, they will tell you that you can park your gear in the overflow lot, give you a card with a phone # to the front desk, and tell you to call after 1pm for your site #.

So, the long and short of this answer is: it's a crap shoot.

 

[YodaGirl]

Thanks for the responses. My dad will be relieved to know that he won't be locked out.

I didn't know about the text messaging alert. That's pretty cool!

 

[John VN]

What's the earliest you've arrived at the Fort?

4:00AM

 

[ftwildernessrick]

If we get there early & our site is not ready, we will pull over to the overflow area and go ahead & get our showers in the RV. If it is still not ready, we may take a bus to TE and get a bite of breakfast; or, eat, then shower.

Remember, the check out time is at 11:00 & they will not release the site until it is checked & cleaned (if need be) and have seen it take until 1:00 before they released our site, but that is the gamble you take.

If you have done all the above, just leave the rv in the lot and head into one of the parks, then come back after lunch.

I have gotten there as early as 5:00, and as expected, the site was not ready.

 

[my3princes]

We arrived around midnight several years ago and were turned around at the gate. there were no empty sites so we couldn't pay for an extra night and they wouldn't even let us into the parking lot. We ended up parking in a small mall parking lot that said no parking. Thankfully no one bothered us though I couldn't sleep worrying about it.

 

[LONE-STAR]

I have backed into my site at 2 a.m. I felt bad for everybody in the loop.

 

[m1tchells]

We usually always leave late the nite before, just too get the most out of our trip, plus we (DH) enjoy driving at nite. So we usually pull into the overflow parking at 3-4am, go check in and wait for them to call us to let us know site is ready. There have been a couple of times we have been able to go right in.

 

[Robert6401]

We were the first arrival of the day on our trip back in September. We got there at about 8:00am and got a site in the loop we requested. That was awesome! But like has been said, it varies greatly depending on the state of the Fort.