Wilderness cabins vrs. Port Orlean French Quater

[cstraub]

Which would you choose? We are staying for 5 nights and there are 3 adults and 2 young children DD5 and DS8.

We can get two rooms at POFQ for $1548 or one cabin for $1300. A difference of about $250.

Some of my thoughts:

My dad is 80 with walking problems (non wheelchair bound) but will not be able to get around easily if things are too spread out.

Transportation needs to be easy.

We all get along.

It would be nice to be able to eat in our cabin.

Please. Anyone that has experience with eith place please help me make up my mind!!!!!!!

 

[nanalisa]

Request the south ends of buildings 2 or 5 at POFQ. Tell them about your father and I'll bet it will work out for you. You would be close to the pool, food court, lobby and bus stop. I don't care for the cabins. Talk about spread out. They do have buses that run internally to take you to the pools and bus stop, which would help. I know a lot of people like them, but they are not for me. There are small refrigerators in the rooms at POFQ so you could keep some food in there.

 

[plutospup]

We stayed at the cabins in June and loved them! The separate bedroom is nice. We loved the kitchen area. Although we didn't cook any meals at our cabin, breakfast was so much easier than running off to a restaurant or food court. There are lots of activities at FW, and as mentioned there is an internal bus to get around. If walking is a concern, you might want to consider a rental car. You can park your car right at the cabin. Literally steps from your door. Does your dad plan on walking in the parks, or will he be spending more time at the resort?

 

[wldmtnflr]

I just spent 10 minutes giving my reasons for choosing the cabins and my reply didn't go through. I'm going to try again.

The cabins are a good choice because you have your own little home. It is quiet and peaceful. We haven't had any trouble with the buses or the boat to MK. There is a great place to eat at the Settlement...a buffet. The most walking we do at the resort is from the bus stop to the boat dock for the trip to MK. The kitchen is stocked with dishes,f ridge, dishwasher, etc. Mousekeeping does the dished if you leave them.

We stayed at POFQ in Feb. for one night to try a different place. The rooms were nicely decorated but the walls seemed thin. We could hear the neighbors talking and could hear their toilets flush. We did much more walking to get to the bus stops. Like the other poster said, you could request those buildings for better access to transportation, meals etc.

HOpe that helps

 

[Hugpug]

OK I would get the Cabin since there will be 5 of you. You can use your car to get around to resorts and also rent a golf cart to get around FW as you cannot drive from place to place within FW. There is a lot for the young ones to do at FW compared to POFQ. The money you save here would pay for the Golf cart and you can also save by making some of your own meals. You can park the golf carts near the boat dock and the two settlement posts as well as camp fire/main bus stops/etc. I would use my car for the parks other then MK use boat to get to MK. The boat also stops at WL as well as CS. The Cabins will give you a little more freedom.POFQ is an option as well. I am staying here this DEC. but it is just myself. I have stayed at FW a number of times and I just loved it. The Trails End is a great place to eat. At night you can see the Electrical water Parade from the beach at 9:45PM. Which ever you choose I am sure you will have a Great Time.

 

[dawgsgirl]

I have stayed at both POFQ and the cabins. I am NOT a motel person and prefer condos, etc. I would go for the 2 rooms at POFQ. The cabins are wonderful and we had no complaints with staying there. But transportation is difficult. We rented a cart, but those things are 45.00 per day!!! I would not want to stay at the cabins without a cart. I have also stayed off-site and found getting to the parks just about as easy as staying at the cabins. I took my mother in May and we stayed at POFQ. She is 72 years old. Things worked out great! The bus transportation was just what we needed and POFQ is so small she had no trouble getting around. By staying at POFQ your dad would have a little more freedom to go where he wanted. At the cabins, he would pretty much be stuck there unless you took him where he wanted to go. Just another opinion!

 

[betterlatethannever]

Could I get a confirmation please?

If you stay at the FW cabins, you can park your car at the cabin and use it to get to the parks every day?

Obviously I had some wrong information. I was told that you could only use your car to get to the cabin and then leave your cabin on the last day.

Ed

 

[sotoalf]

Could I get a confirmation please?

If you stay at the FW cabins, you can park your car at the cabin and use it to get to the parks every day?

Obviously I had some wrong information. I was told that you could only use your car to get to the cabin and then leave your cabin on the last day.

Ed

Yes. But even with a car you should use the boat transportation to the MK since you cannot drive directly to the MK; you have to park at the TTC.

 

[lyncruiser]

We found transportation to be very inconvenient at the Wilderness Cabins. We would not stay there again. We like Port Orleans. However, if your father has trouble getting around and wants to do the parks -- consider renting him a scooter. I always rent one for my mom from Walkers. They deliver to the resort and pick up when your trip is over. The scooters from Walkers are much easier to use than the ones available for rent at the Disney parks. If you rent a scooter, then you really should consider staying at a monorail resort. The scooters are easy to drive on and off the monorail. It's much harder to get them on and off a bus. And, it's alot of work to transport them yourself. You really need to rent a van.

So, having said all that -- as someone who's been to Disneyworld often with a parent who can't walk for long periods, my advice would be rent a scooter and stay at a monorail hotel. I know it's more money, but you can sometimes get good rates at the Contemporary garden wings. The rooms there are very large and comfortable for 5 people, the rates are not that bad, and you will find it so convenient. Unless you want your privacy, you likely could stay comfortably in one room.

With someone who has difficulty walking, neither the Wilderness Cabins nor PO-FQ is a good choice IMO. Fort Wilderness is very large and spread out with difficult transportation. You have to have a golf cart, IMO, and that adds about $50 per day to your cost. Without a golf cart, you must take the Disney buses everywhere -- to the pool, to the restaurant, to get pizza, to get anything from the store. You can't drive your car around Fort Wilderness. You can only drive it in and out of the resort, not around it.

PO-FQ is smaller but it's bus transportation if you want to go anywhere.

Since your stay is short, the kids will likely want to spend most of their time at the MK and your father will slow you down a lot (not disparaging him, just speaking the truth from experience!), consider a garden wing room at the Contemporary and an electric scooter for Dad. Trust me -- I speak from experience.

 

[betterlatethannever]

Yes. But even with a car you should use the boat transportation to the MK since you cannot drive directly to the MK; you have to park at the TTC.

Thanks.

Time to resvise my information folder.

Ed

 

[My2Cinderellas]

between the two options you presented, POFQ wins for me hands down. for the main reason of 2 bathrooms. maybe it's only my elderly relatives, but they tie up a bathroom for hours on end.

 

[spoon full of sugar]

You can park one car at your cabin and drive were ever needed OUTSIDE of Fort Wilderness. There is no parking at the boatdock, the nightly movie with Chip & Dale, the resturants etc. You can however rent a golf cart for about 45.00 a day. Do this as far in advance as possible, we were there last October and could not get a cart. If you plan to drive to the parks but want to see the movie or do the Hoop de doo review one night just plan on having the cart for those days only. About the bathroom issue, while there is only one bathroom at your cabin, you can use the comfort stations that are all around the camp in case of emergencies, find out were they are first thing. I stayed at POR once, and I didn't think it was bad, but I wasn't overly impressed with it either. The rooms are pretty small IHMO. Also with a cabin there is a raised deck with a picnic table and a small grill at the foot of the decks stairs, it is a nice place to sit and get away from the kid's tv racket. I think your kids would like FW, it's like another vacation inside your vacation! Having said all this, if you can swing a monorail or Epcot resort I would do that, the convienance is wonderful, but if it's between POR and FW, I say FW.

 

[SueM in MN]

Yes. But even with a car you should use the boat transportation to the MK since you cannot drive directly to the MK; you have to park at the TTC.

You should also be aware that the boat is sometimes not accessible for scooters. Sometimes the water level means that the boat is floating too high or too low compared to the dock.
Here's a
link to a thread on the disABILITIES Board that explains this better.

As long as you are on the disABILITIES Board, you might want to check out the disABILITIES FAQs thread near the top of the board. It has a lot of infor about wheelchairs and ecvs (inlcuding how to get them).

 

[cstraub]

Thanks to everyone for you advice and tips! I'm still uncertain as to what I want to do. We have seen the cabins before and they look lovely but I am concerened about how spread out FW is. I have reserved 2 water views at POFQ but can still change that if I change my mind. As far as upgrading to a monorail resort, I doubt we will. We were just adding this 5 day trip on to our already planned 8 day trip. The whole point is for it to not be over the top expensive since we are already doing 8 nights.

Thanks everyone!!!

 

[JohnNJ]

I would choose the two rooms at POFQ over the campground.

 

[twinklebug]

I would choose the two rooms at POFQ over the campground.

I'm a HUGE fan of the FW cabins, however with a scooter I would suggest the 2 hotel rooms, try looking into renting points for 2 studios at resort such as Boardwalk or Beachclub. It'll be MUCH easier for him to get around with elevators, minimal bus transfers etc. All villas come with a kitchenette so you can do much of the smaller meals in-room. There is also boat service or a walkway over to Epcot & MGM. There will be little price difference between the 2 studios S-Th and a cabin.