Wintering in Disney World

[hbrother]

My husband and I stayed at Ft. Wilderness campground and overheard a group of retirees. It sounded like they spend the winters at Disney. I wondered if anyone out here has done this and would be willing to pass along details/tips.

Thanks!

 

[Disneypeach]

I'd love to do it but can't afford it! My understanding is that you'd have to make several reservations as Disney limits consecutive days on one reservation at 30 days. Boy, I'd love to have that problem...

 

[hbrother]

I am just wondering at this point, retirement dreaming. I have a few DVC points, so I thought maybe a month at Ft. Wilderness, a week at Saratoga, another month at Ft. Wilderness, a week at BoardWalk, another month at Ft. Wilderness. I expect that it is over 2k per month to stay at Ft. Wilderness.

I do wonder how others afford it. My plan would mean figuring out where to keep the camper while staying at resorts.

 

[bama_ed]

I am just wondering at this point, retirement dreaming. I have a few DVC points, so I thought maybe a month at Ft. Wilderness, a week at Saratoga, another month at Ft. Wilderness, a week at BoardWalk, another month at Ft. Wilderness. I expect that it is over 2k per month to stay at Ft. Wilderness.

I do wonder how others afford it. My plan would mean figuring out where to keep the camper while staying at resorts.

Your camper can be parked at the other resorts' parking lot while you stay at another WDW property. It happens frequently.

Peach is absolutely correct that people DO winter over at the Fort on a series of 30-day reservations (the max limit) booked well in advance back-to-back. A few campers have been there for MONTHS and even YEARS. They pay what we all pay in terms of daily rates, etc. There is no discount for long term stays. Disney doesn't need it.

However, just for yucks I was curious too about the cost so I plugged in the January and February 2016 rates and ran the numbers. Using rates from the excellent MouseSavers website for a Full campsite (the cheapest with full hooks) January was $2,669 (rack rate + tax) for 31 nights (avg $86.10). For February the total was $3,488 for 29 nights (avg $120.28). For the two months it was $6,157 over 60 nights for an average of $102.62.

So it is well over $2k per month. Closer to $3k on average. What with all the holidays in the fall (Nov Thanksgiving and Christmas Dec) then peak rates hit mid-Feb to start catching the spring breakers like myself) it's $100 per night ballpark for a Full. And lot of long termers are in more expensive sites (Preferred or Premium).

I think the longest I could last is about two weeks myself.

Bama Ed

 

[jgdsoarin]

I wonder if many of them work seasonally for Disney? One of my co-worker's parents do that. They full time in their RV and spend their winters working there.

 

[hbrother]

I wonder if many of them work seasonally for Disney? One of my co-worker's parents do that. They full time in their RV and spend their winters working there.

I wondered the same thing. I'm not sure what the deal with that would be. Can they stay longer or for less?

 

[Cousin Ed C]

We do it. Number one tip save up plenty of money. Be prepared to make friends with people all over the country and Canada too, who will be in your life forever. Save more money. They used to have some special rates but now you pay the daily rack rate. They do not have any seasonal employment (there are a few seasonals left). It was great working there for the fun and discounts NOT THE MONEY!

 

[mouse driver]

We have a number of friends that are seasonal but they are a dying breed.

As Cousin Ed above said, save your money and expect to make a lot of friends with people you don't know. When my wife and I worked there, we heard from several "friends" from back home that all of a sudden wanted to catch up with us. LOL It was fun listening to the different ways people would bring up..."Uh, can you get me in for free?"

And not to derail the OP's subject...The last time we were we ran into a lady who did stay at the fort full time and had , according to her and a CM, for a couple of years. Not questioning whether it's true or not but considering her rig, I would say money would not have been an issue for her. According to her, she and her husband were there when he passed away and she never left.

 

[bama_ed]

I have met a few of the long-timers.

I also have a few family members who do the long-term visit to Florida (Dec-Mar) not at the Fort but at other places in Florida.

Disney has cracked down in the past years to only allow folks long-term who deserve to be there. There have been abuses of special discounts for short-term stays that were applied to long-term stays (through multiple reservations) that Disney has addressed. Those threads still exist but some posts have been hidden/removed to protect the guilty.

One interesting aspect to me are the rules for becoming a legal Florida resident. For those that don't know, Florida has no state income tax for legal residents. That state income tax amount, hypothetically, could be used to help offset the cost for a long-term stay. Cash outflow is cash outflow. You could pay it for income tax to your home state. Or you could stay one more night and pay it to Disney for many nights at the Fort. (FOR THE RECORD I do NOT give Financial nor Legal Advice).

I knew a guy who used the "Florida legal resident" rules, although he was not a full-timer, to have a Florida Drivers License with the Fort Wilderness street address on his Driver's License. Obviously that requires a certain level of commitment.

Not that I would do it (or would WANT to do it). But for those that spend a SIGNIFICANT amount of time away from home, there are ways to justify it on paper.

Me, I love my home state and my parents (and my in-laws the out-laws) are still kickin' strong so I have reason to be a Bammer. But there is more to it than just justifying the daily rack rate for a site in the fall-winter-spring months.

Bama Ed

PS - FOR THE RECORD: Always follow the law.

 

[mouse driver]

I knew a guy who used the "Florida legal resident" rules, although he was not a full-timer, to have a Florida Drivers License with the Fort Wilderness street address on his Driver's License. (Maybe I guess the site number could be the Apt. number). Obviously that requires a certain level of commitment.

Becoming a FL resident is very easy. And I could see how your friend could use FW as his address. When we became full timers based out of FL, even though our "address" was in Pensacola the state of FL used our tag number on our truck as our address on our license. FL called people like us "Travelers"

 

[peg110]

PS - FOR THE RECORD: Always follow the law.