Why I won't be staying at FW again...

[Mr. Bildo]

We planned our trip (7/1 - 7/7) only 3 weeks in advance, so FW cabins and DI bungalows was are only HAFH options. We decided to stay at FW, because we liked the layout better and the porch seemed nice as well. After booking, I went to this BB as well as others and never heard anything negative about FW.

When we arrived at our cabin we were very pleased. Everything is very clean and well kept, no problem there. Frankley, we loved the cabins.

What he totally hated was the resort itself. You can't get anywhere without making it a several hour trek. I'm used to the other resorts where I could come back from a park and jump in the pool. At FW, you have to find a wait for a bus, then wait for the ride, then walk half a block to a pool or restaurant or whatever, then when you're done, you repeat the whole process. Granted, you could rent a golf cart, but for $40/day, it is not worth it, unless you just don't do anything else except what is at the resort. I'm not renting a cart to just go to the pool for a half an hour to cool off.

Like I said before, the cabins are GREAT, and from what I saw, the camping is excellent as well. The internal travel, however, is very frustrating.

-Bill

 

[lisapooh]

I do believe you exaggerate coonsiderably. The pool for the cabins is within reasonable walking distance of all of the loops. You don't have to rent a cart from Disney. You can rent offsite for 150/wk. Its a gas cart and quite efficient.
You won't return. Your choice. Just leaves more spots for those of us who love Ft Wilderness and don't have a type personalities.

 

[TinkerbellRules]

Bill: I understand what you mean about the transportation although we didn't use it last Oct. I didn't like the idea of transferring here and there so we drove everywhere. We, too, were used to the ease of the buses at the resorts (All Stars). I understand the transportation isn't as good as it used to be.

 

[welovemickey]

lisapooh, are you having a bad day? The poor guy was just expressing his opinion!

 

[tcfreese]

I agree we stayed at the camp ground the first week of june. Everything was so spread out that you couldn't just walk to it you had to take a bus or drive to it. The camp ground was nice and quiet but the transportation was not very friendly..\

 

[Mr. Bildo]

Originally posted by lisapooh
I do believe you exaggerate coonsiderably. The pool for the cabins is within reasonable walking distance of all of the loops.

Not with two toddlers in July. It was about 89 - 95 degrees day and night. After getting back from a hot afternoon at a park, the last thing I want to do is walk some more.

You don't have to rent a cart from Disney. You can rent offsite for 150/wk. Its a gas cart and quite efficient.

I'm not afraid to spend money at Disney, but to go to the pool for a half an hour a couple of time during the week, this just seems like a waste of money to me. I just won't use it that much.

You won't return. Your choice. Just leaves more spots for those of us who love Ft Wilderness...

That's fair enough. Like I said before, I had never heard anything negative about the resort. I enjoyed my stay very much and the price was reasonable. I wouldn't not recommend staying there, I just was surprised at how difficult it was to get around the resort and found it frustrating not to be able to explore FW more because of it. I thought I might post about the transportation in case anyone wanted to hear an opinion that had some criticism.

...and don't have a type personalities.

I grew up in Mid-Michigan camping and RV'ing. I fish every weekend and take long hikes in the woods. Honestly, I don't go to WDW to "get away from it all" or spend quiet evenings with my family. I can do that at home. Maybe spending 15 minutes on a bus to go 4 blocks isn't that bad, but when I'm hot and tired and my kids are twice as hot and tired, those 15 minutes are a hassle. After the Buzz Lightyear ride, WDW resort buses just aren't that much of a treat to toddlers.

I'm not "knocking" FW. I just wasn't 100% satisfied and thought I would share that.

-Bill

 

[#1 TITANS FAN]

Bill, I'm in complete agreement with you. I thought the campground was gorgeous, and my site was far and away the nicest I ever stayed at; but the convoluted transportation system was just too much of a pain. If Disney is going to charge a premium price for a campsite and then not allow you to drive your car within the campground, they need to provide timely, adequete, not dangerously overcrowded transportation. I wasn't going to post this so as not to hurt feelings around this friendly very informative board; but you're right, people have a right to hear both sides.

 

[Camping Griswalds]

I have to agree somewhat about the transportation. In my opinion walking arounda campsite is pretty normal up here in the east, however there is no theme parks nearby that you walk around all day. My disappointment is the travel on disney transportation to other parks. We stayed at Coronado springs 3 yrs ago and a bus came by about every five min which took you right to any park or downtown disney. The longest we ever waited was 15 min and that was only bad timing.( like the one we wanted was leaving as we were walking up so we had to wait for the next rotation...12 min) I think that waiting to get on a bus which then takes you to wait for another bus which may then take you to the TTC to board another bus is yucky!! WE used a golf cart so it cut down on one bus, but really thought the only convenient thing was to ride our GC to the boat launch for MK or to ride it to the bus that takes you right to AK. Epcot was a couple of transfers and MGM was the worse!! One day it took us one hour from MGM back to the campground. We were there in Jan and there were no crowds anywhere except for those stinking MGM routes. Can't imagine what its like now that they've condensed the buses within the campground and even now the boat supposedly goes to WL too, not a straight shot to Mk...oh well

We loved the campground so much because of all the other wonderful things, and it is the nicest campground I've ever been to. They just need to do something about transportation....oh yeah the pool could use some imagination tooo, but that's another complaint for another day.

 

[Kay1]

I think the transportation situation is a shock the first time one stays there - I know it was for us. We always use our cars to drive to the parks and our bikes for going anywhere inside the resort. We used to rent golf carts but that can be a hassle, too. Thanks for the honest review.

 

[Yvette Q.O.D.]

I think FW should have a couple of trams or more, like the ones they use in the park parking lots(maybe a bit smaller). CM's could drive them around FW between certain hours of the day. Stops could be at the pools, trading posts, restaurants and marina. This would take the burden off the busses for internal FW transportaion.

Oh well! It's just an idea!

 

[DaddyDon]

Yes i so much agree !It is so much a hassle with the transportation in the fort! We either take our truck or bikes and sometimes we rent a golf cart.I love the fort so dont get me wrong, some much needed improvements could help all who spend there hard earned money at wdw.I m sure there, will be some who do not agree but thats okay ,

 

[HuckFinn]

In celebration of our daughter's graduation from high school in June 2000, we decided to make this a "Disney year". We bought annual passes and reserved a campsite in FW for June and August of 2000, and January and May of 2001. This was our first time staying on site. Although the transportation system had some drawbacks, we generally found it to be far superior to driving from offsite locations and dealing with the parking lots and traffic. That is, until our last trip this past May. The abolishment of the Chip and Dale buses, and the subsequent rerouting of the Boone and Crockett buses, has diminished the transportation experience to say the least. The buses are more crowded, and it seems to take forever to return from the parks. I hope the FW management reconsiders this "cost-saving" measure.

 

[lisapooh]

That's precisely why we get a golf cart. So we don't have to use the buses internally. The Golf carts can actually get closer to the places like the restaurant and trading posts and I can use my sticks instead of depending on my wheelchair. I get sick of riding the bus all the time and for me the boats are not accessible. Riding in a wheelchair 24/7 gets really tiring. There would be no way I could walk from the bus stop to the restaurants and the tradingposts.

 

[lisapooh]

Btw, my girls walked for blocks as toddlers in 90 and above heat every summer. No biggie. We deal with it all the time. If the didn't want to walk there was always their stroller. Walked every day 5 blocks to the local public pool.

 

[TinkerbellRules]

Lisa While I fully understand your need for the golf cart, I don't think the rest of us like the idea of having to rent one to get around the campground. No one should have to. We didn't want to spend the extra money for the golf carts. However, we walked to the Trading Post and the pool with no problem. But, we didn't get to other areas of the campground (beach, petting farm, etc) because we couldn't drive there, didn't want to take a bus, and just plain didn't have time. I even walked from our campsite to the dog walk over to the pool (that was a walk!). I have back and hips problems so sometimes walking is painful for me. I really sympathize with your being in a w/c. I used to work in a physical rehab unit in the hospital as well.

That said, it sounds like the current transportation needs to be addressed. As I stated in Oct, we drove everywhere anyway since we know our way around WDW, but not everyone can or should do that (imagine all the lost people!!)

Hopefully, WDW will go back to at least the old way of transporting the FW guests. Actually, would like to see it improved
The tram idea might work.

 

[lisapooh]

They used to use trams instead of internal buses and I can tell you they were darn cold in the winter. Like to have frozen a few times. I would love to see a tram that could load a power chair on it, but I am a dreamer. Used to be my dh would drop me right at the step of the trail's End but they don't allow that anymore.

 

[Disney Campers]

Personally I don't think the trams will be coming back, I think the buses are cheaper to operate, I feel the current routes of Boone & Crockett are actually better that the Chip & Dale, but more buses need to be added to the route, especially during peak times.

Nothing will be done if guest do not make comments to disney, if you feel strongly about this issue i recommend contacting disney - send a quick letter or e-mail, i do believe that disney takes this feedback very seriously.

 

[TinkerbellRules]

I didn't think about the trams being so cold in the winter. I guess I'm just thinking "summer" right now

Speaking of a w/c, once we were waiting for the buses for ASMo after Ecpot and the lift got stuck! A guy in a w/c was on board and they couldn't get the lift to go all the way up. They tried and tried. I felt bad for the guy in the w/c. I don't know what ever happened, but they could only use one bus instead of the usual two.

 

[Mr. Bildo]

Why is it that the trams would be too cold in the winter? I mean, they run the trams in the parking lots in the winter. People ride on rides outside in the winter. It's not like its snowing or anything. I don't know that the trams are the greatest thing, but they might work better than the correct bus system. I don't know why they just don't add some parking lots and let you drive there. That would probably cut down on the volume of people using the buses and help out a little.

-Bill

 

[lisapooh]

Why is it too hot for you to walk in the summer?
They do let you drive there. You can drive the golf carts within 50 feet of the restaurants. There is not place that you could put a parking lot to allow that with a car. You would still need to walk. The trams are not a good option as they would only go the same place as the buses and would not have lifts for the handicapped guests. You can drive your car to the Meadows trading post. And as I said before, the pool for the cabins is within walking distance of all the loops. My kids used to walk it as kids and we were normally in 2800 once they places the homes there. Before that we walked to the main pool and we didn't get golf carts until I started needing sticks to walk any distance. We've been going to Ft Wilderness for 23 years now.