Just back from 10 days at Fort Wilderness

[babsaroo53]

We have just returned from our ten day stay at Fort Wilderness. Any questions?

 

[campingcorgi]

Did you have fun? How are the mosquitoes with all the rain? Have they finished the golf cart parking area at the Outpost?

 

[daughtersrus]

How were the buses? Do you know if the H2O level was high enough for wheel chairs to use the boat to MK? Is it still raining there? I think that's about it for now. We'll be there July 22!

 

[babsaroo53]

This was our second trip but our first to Fort Wilderness. We were expecting the usual afternoon showers but it was amazing amounts of rain. We checked in during a torrential downpour which was interesting. A wonderful man came from his camper across the street and helped us get into our site.

We had heavy downpours every day. Many of the sites were almost completely covered with standing water. Some campers stepped out of their RV into a small pond...for several days. Many tenters were rained out. Our site was surrounded by water but not next to our RV. I can only imagine the mosquitoes in a couple of weeks after all the standing water. The sand area will keep water so dig a small tunnel under the timber outline for the water to drain.

The water was up and wheelchairs had boat access.

Transportation was fine. Each loop has a bus stop with a transportation board with all the info. Your loop is assigned a orange, purple or yellow bus. The internal buses run from the Settlement to the Outpost stopping at each loop. You then transfer to the bus needed for Animal Kingdom, MGM, EPCOT, Downtown. The boat is the quickest way to MK. We don't recommend the boat after E Night. We waited in line over an hour to ride the boat. They had one boat at first and then brought in two boats to help out.

One warning....if you have an early morning priority seating breakfast and need transportation make sure you call the Front Desk....not transportation. I would call the day before your ressie. We had an Cinderella Breakfast. There are early buses from the resorts but the Fort Wilderness buses do not run before 7:00. Our breakfast was next morning of our arrival and I wasn't sure about the transportation. I had received info to call transportation approx. 45 min before you need a ride. I did that. Transportation said I should have called 24 hours in advance and recommended we take the Boone Bus. I told them there was no longer a Boone bus and now buses were color coded...the CM at transportation was not aware of the new system. Needless to say I was in a panic at 6:30 with no transportation to Magic Kingdom. I called the front desk at Fort Wilderness and they came to our rescue and sent a van for us that took us to MK. I think the front desk is up to date on info and direct you in the right direction. Oh yes, it did take our friends 1 1/2 hours to get to Downtown Disney but I'm not sure why.

We went prepared for mosquitoes and "No Seeums" but I think they were rained out as well. We didn't have a problem.

Just an FYI...no citranella torches or citranella "glazing balls" ( I'm not sure what that is) are allowed. You can use citranella buckets though. And of course no wood fires. A couple of campers tried to have wood fires but were quickly informed of the rule and the fire extinguished.

We did have a wonderful time even if we are all now webbed-footed. Fort Wilderness is a very nice campground. We were in loop 1600 which was near the meadows for swimming and campfire activities. It did look like the 300 loop had less standing water.

The golf carts were parked at the settlement on paved walking areas.

If you have any other questions...let me know. Ya'll helped me so much with the planning, I want to return the favor.

 

[karensi]

Did you go to the campfire movie at night? This sounds like a fun thing to do,but I have some questions W are staying at the CR, can we still go to the campfire? Do we need to make any kind of ressie? Do you actually sit on the ground (OK for my 2 grandchildren but I dont know about me ) Any other info would be greatly appreciated. We will be staying for 9 days and will therefore have some time off from the parks some evenings.How long does the whole thing last, that is the movie and the campfire ?

 

[js]

karensi, hi I belive you do not have to be staying at FW to participate in the movie and campfire. I wanted to do this with my two children last October and then again when we went in August but just never got around to doing it. It sounds like a lot of fun. If you are staying at the Contemporary and do not have a car, I would though suggest giving yourself enough time to get from your hotel to FW since it is rather large. If I remember correctly too you can purchase ghram crackers, marshmellows and chocolate to make your own s'moors. With nine days, you will, I'm sure, have enough time to plan for an evening at FW.
Your grandchildren sure are lucky to have such a wonderful grandmother taking them for nine days....but then again.....so are their parents

 

[Memph1s]

I would like to through in my 2 cents on a couple of things. We were in the 800 loop 7/4 - 7/7.
We had a LOT of mosquitoes in the camping loop and standing water as well. However, the mosquitoes were not a problem at the pool or settlement area. We did not make it to the campfire this trip so I don't know how they were there. They were a problem there last July. Most of the water was gone by the time we left but I'm sure it will be back with the next rains. It rained 3 of the 4 days we were there.
Anyone can come to the campfire and movie and there are seats so you do not have to sit on the ground but I would get there early for a good seat.
The parking area for golf carts at the outpost is finished I guess. It is just crushed shell I think kind of like the pads on the campsites. It did not look like they were doing any work in that area anymore.
Mid June through August is our rainy season and this year is proving to be a record maker for rain. The lakes around our house have come up about 3 1/2 feet in the last month and that's a very good thing.
There were wheelchairs on the boats but the captain did suggest that they wait and get off last so the boat would be more level with the dock.

 

[babsaroo53]

The movie is on a large screen. There are bleachers to sit on and some room if you want to bring your own chairs. Guests from different resorts are welcome to come to the campfire programs. The marshmallow roast and sing along are dependent on the weather so I would call before you come.

 

[Tigger1]

What did the tenters do that were rained out? Is it traditionally like this in July? We camped out last year in early June and had a downpour as we were setting up our tents. It was dry latter though.
We have ressies for the 4th next year. I would hate to be rained out.

Tigger

 

[babsaroo53]

I think this was an unusually rainy spell not the usual afternoon showers. I met some of the tenters in the comfort station doing laundry. They were frustrated but determined to make the best of their trip. One of them mentioned that they "contacted the front desk for a tarp but they were out of them". I'm not sure if the front desk was providing tarps on an emergency purchase basis or what. I think I would pack a couple of extra tarps just in case. It did not appear to me that those camping in tents left because of the rain.

I have to admit it was very wet but not as hot as usual. And the parks cleared out with the rain so was easy to get on major rides.

 

[karensi]

js and babsaroo53, thank you so much for your quick replys The campfire program sounds like something that we will definately do on our Oct. trip

 

[dgaston]

karensi: You can take a boat from the Contemporary to Ft W. It may stop at WL first, but you don't have to drive over.