lynzi2004
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2016
We are just back from our first trip to WDW and the Fort! Wanted to give some thoughts for others who may be looking for ideas, help and info! This board was invaluable to me in planning!
We were in 1600 loop, full-hookup, pet friendly. We weren't in an RV though, we only had a tent and there were several other tents in our loop. My first piece of advice is if they stick you somewhere you don't like or that won't fit your setup, just ask to move! They had first put us in 1700 loop on the only site with no tent pad...obviously wasn't going to work so we made a loop went right back to the front and was back at our new site (1629) in less than 10 minutes. No hassle and happy to accommodate us.
We were very impressed with the comfort stations. Always clean and many times, we were the only ones taking showers. The only time it was remotely busy was on our last morning I stopped in about 9am to use the restroom and there were a few people getting ready for the morning. The ice machines are located right outside the comfort station.
We were a stroller walk away from the Meadows pool. The full-hookup 1600 and 1700 or 1500 tent sites were all an easy walk to the pool. There were lots of other loops on the other side of the pool that also would have been an easy walk but I didn't take the time to see the numbers. We did have a couple chemical issues (aka someone pottied in the pool most likely) that shut the big pool down for about 2 hrs one day and the kiddie waterslide down for about 2 hrs the next. Aggravating but obviously not Disney's fault. We never had trouble finding pool seats and the line for the slide went quickly. We were at the pool on a Friday and a Sunday during the middle of the day. We also never had trouble getting a spot for a few minutes in the water slide. One perk we learned about was you could pay for a soda ($3) and fill it unlimited all day poolside. We would take our snacks and then share a soda. The refillable mug (18ish?) might be a good option if you were there all week, but just paying the couple days we were at the pool was great for us! The pizza is a great value to feed a family of 4!
Chip and Dale Campfire Sing-a-long was a hit with the kids. Side-note...if you know you are going to be going a certain night. Have an adult go the night before and ask if you can be the family that introduces Chip and Dale. You get some fun pics and I think they give you a Chip and Dale plushie animal. We got there about 15 minutes before it started, many of the benches were full but there was plenty of seating on the bleachers.
Tidbits: Our wi-fi worked perfect the whole time. We were in a pet loop but didn't have any animals with us. But, we had no problems with barking or anything so that was nice. There is a water hose at the site. There are about 5 parking spots right outside the meadows pool....very limited but we were able to get one early on our last day when we stopped by the trading post for some last minute souvenirs. I'm not sure if there is a similar set up at the Settlement or not.
Now for the biggest con of our whole trip....TRANSPORTATION!! I know many people have had great luck with it but it was a total flop for us. First, we did not rent a golf cart and I'm sure it would have made things easier. But the only time it mattered was our 2 MK days and we didn't want to pay $60 for a quick ride to the launch and then the golf cart sit there for 16 hrs. The boat directly to the MK doesn't run till 30 minutes before park open. We had BOG reservations both mornings around 8:00 so the direct boat was a no go. That left the boat to the Contemporary. But, in order for that to work we would have had to have caught a bus (and collapsed a stroller that we needed to use to walk to the bus stop in the first place) which translates to an unknown wait (maybe 5 or could be 15 minutes) then go to the boat launch and if for some reason you had just missed the Contemporary boat (maybe another 10-20 minutes) we didn't want to risk missing our reservations. And with a 2 and 4 year old, getting away from the campsite much earlier than 6:30 was tough. So we opted to drive (had our own car.) But even that took forever!! We could not make a right turn out of the fort which would have taken us directly to the parking lots. We had to drive the complete opposite direction and loop back around. We left both morning by about 7:00ish and were not at the MK turnstiles till 7:45. One morning the ferry boat wasn't running and the next the monorail wasn't running. I don't know if this is normal or not but less than an hour before the park opens and not all transportation to the park open is nuts! Needless to say, once we made it to the parks, we just stayed put. Our kids were troopers and went from 8:00am to 12am both days. The typically fell asleep right after the fireworks. The signs all over Walt Disney World did a good job getting you were you needed to go, except there was no sign for Fort Wilderness as you were leaving MK. We ended up in Kississimee the first night bc we missed a turn. The transportation by no means ruined our trip and we are already planning our next trip back, but it was definitely the main headache of our trip.
MAGIC KINGDOM: This is the only park we visited. Crowds were predicted to be 6s and 7s, but touring plans put their actual levels closer to 9s. Now, the last time DH or I was there was when we were kids so we were expecting crowded. I honestly wouldn't have known whether they were a 5 or a 9. A good touring plan was key! Josh at easyWDW was spot on! We didn't rush but moved methodically thru the park. If the kids wanted to ride something twice, we told them we would come back later and kept moving. If not we would have rode teacups all day
DD4 is a princess lover and the princesses were completely spot on! If you have small kids, rider swap is your friend! We actually had to give away a couple swaps (Space Mtn) bc we just ran out of time. The parades, especially FOF was fantastic! We ate dinner at Cinderella castle as a special surprise and we loved it. Our waiter, food, and interactions were really good! Probably my only complaint in all of MK was the lines for food/water. There were a few times where I had to wait 15 minutes or more just for ice water! We also had no trouble getting extra FPs (party of 3, as DS2 didn't need one). Mostly for second tier style rides, but I even managed to score a 2nd set of FP for 7Dwarfs!
We had a fantastic trip and I would recommend staying at Fort Wilderness to anyone. Our favorite thing about the Fort was the peace and quiet after a long day and all the activities to fill our down day that was available at the resort. Thanks to all who helped answer my questions the last few months! I will try to get some pics up soon. Got back at midnight last night and at the office first thing this morning
We were in 1600 loop, full-hookup, pet friendly. We weren't in an RV though, we only had a tent and there were several other tents in our loop. My first piece of advice is if they stick you somewhere you don't like or that won't fit your setup, just ask to move! They had first put us in 1700 loop on the only site with no tent pad...obviously wasn't going to work so we made a loop went right back to the front and was back at our new site (1629) in less than 10 minutes. No hassle and happy to accommodate us.
We were very impressed with the comfort stations. Always clean and many times, we were the only ones taking showers. The only time it was remotely busy was on our last morning I stopped in about 9am to use the restroom and there were a few people getting ready for the morning. The ice machines are located right outside the comfort station.
We were a stroller walk away from the Meadows pool. The full-hookup 1600 and 1700 or 1500 tent sites were all an easy walk to the pool. There were lots of other loops on the other side of the pool that also would have been an easy walk but I didn't take the time to see the numbers. We did have a couple chemical issues (aka someone pottied in the pool most likely) that shut the big pool down for about 2 hrs one day and the kiddie waterslide down for about 2 hrs the next. Aggravating but obviously not Disney's fault. We never had trouble finding pool seats and the line for the slide went quickly. We were at the pool on a Friday and a Sunday during the middle of the day. We also never had trouble getting a spot for a few minutes in the water slide. One perk we learned about was you could pay for a soda ($3) and fill it unlimited all day poolside. We would take our snacks and then share a soda. The refillable mug (18ish?) might be a good option if you were there all week, but just paying the couple days we were at the pool was great for us! The pizza is a great value to feed a family of 4!
Chip and Dale Campfire Sing-a-long was a hit with the kids. Side-note...if you know you are going to be going a certain night. Have an adult go the night before and ask if you can be the family that introduces Chip and Dale. You get some fun pics and I think they give you a Chip and Dale plushie animal. We got there about 15 minutes before it started, many of the benches were full but there was plenty of seating on the bleachers.
Tidbits: Our wi-fi worked perfect the whole time. We were in a pet loop but didn't have any animals with us. But, we had no problems with barking or anything so that was nice. There is a water hose at the site. There are about 5 parking spots right outside the meadows pool....very limited but we were able to get one early on our last day when we stopped by the trading post for some last minute souvenirs. I'm not sure if there is a similar set up at the Settlement or not.
Now for the biggest con of our whole trip....TRANSPORTATION!! I know many people have had great luck with it but it was a total flop for us. First, we did not rent a golf cart and I'm sure it would have made things easier. But the only time it mattered was our 2 MK days and we didn't want to pay $60 for a quick ride to the launch and then the golf cart sit there for 16 hrs. The boat directly to the MK doesn't run till 30 minutes before park open. We had BOG reservations both mornings around 8:00 so the direct boat was a no go. That left the boat to the Contemporary. But, in order for that to work we would have had to have caught a bus (and collapsed a stroller that we needed to use to walk to the bus stop in the first place) which translates to an unknown wait (maybe 5 or could be 15 minutes) then go to the boat launch and if for some reason you had just missed the Contemporary boat (maybe another 10-20 minutes) we didn't want to risk missing our reservations. And with a 2 and 4 year old, getting away from the campsite much earlier than 6:30 was tough. So we opted to drive (had our own car.) But even that took forever!! We could not make a right turn out of the fort which would have taken us directly to the parking lots. We had to drive the complete opposite direction and loop back around. We left both morning by about 7:00ish and were not at the MK turnstiles till 7:45. One morning the ferry boat wasn't running and the next the monorail wasn't running. I don't know if this is normal or not but less than an hour before the park opens and not all transportation to the park open is nuts! Needless to say, once we made it to the parks, we just stayed put. Our kids were troopers and went from 8:00am to 12am both days. The typically fell asleep right after the fireworks. The signs all over Walt Disney World did a good job getting you were you needed to go, except there was no sign for Fort Wilderness as you were leaving MK. We ended up in Kississimee the first night bc we missed a turn. The transportation by no means ruined our trip and we are already planning our next trip back, but it was definitely the main headache of our trip.
MAGIC KINGDOM: This is the only park we visited. Crowds were predicted to be 6s and 7s, but touring plans put their actual levels closer to 9s. Now, the last time DH or I was there was when we were kids so we were expecting crowded. I honestly wouldn't have known whether they were a 5 or a 9. A good touring plan was key! Josh at easyWDW was spot on! We didn't rush but moved methodically thru the park. If the kids wanted to ride something twice, we told them we would come back later and kept moving. If not we would have rode teacups all day
DD4 is a princess lover and the princesses were completely spot on! If you have small kids, rider swap is your friend! We actually had to give away a couple swaps (Space Mtn) bc we just ran out of time. The parades, especially FOF was fantastic! We ate dinner at Cinderella castle as a special surprise and we loved it. Our waiter, food, and interactions were really good! Probably my only complaint in all of MK was the lines for food/water. There were a few times where I had to wait 15 minutes or more just for ice water! We also had no trouble getting extra FPs (party of 3, as DS2 didn't need one). Mostly for second tier style rides, but I even managed to score a 2nd set of FP for 7Dwarfs! We had a fantastic trip and I would recommend staying at Fort Wilderness to anyone. Our favorite thing about the Fort was the peace and quiet after a long day and all the activities to fill our down day that was available at the resort. Thanks to all who helped answer my questions the last few months! I will try to get some pics up soon. Got back at midnight last night and at the office first thing this morning
here. 
it has a sofa in the back that folds down into our bed and a dinette table at the front that folds down into a bed for DD (who is our last child at home but is going off to college this summer). So we will be empty nesters and I plan to tell the kids if they want to come with us, we have about 8 different tents at home they can choose from. 
