Camping at Disney World; Advise and suggestions.....

[savage99ss]

We have a trip planned to stay at Ft Wilderness in October. We will have three kids with us. 9,7,3. We are staying 6 nights and have 4 tickets purchased. We will probably eat lunch and dinner in the park. Any tips, suggestions, and prior experience comments are welcomed.

[livinthelife]

We have a trip planned to stay at Ft Wilderness in October. We will have three kids with us. 9,7,3. We are staying 6 nights and have 4 tickets purchased. We will probably eat lunch and dinner in the park. Any tips, suggestions, and prior experience comments are welcomed.

This site might be helpful: https://www.disboards.com/forums/cam...sney-world.24/

[utexplore]

We have always enjoyed having a golf cart while at fort wilderness. If you are going in the last two weeks of October, Halloween decorations will be in full bloom as most people go crazy with their own camp decorations, inflatables, etc. Many people decorate their golf carts. A golf cart is ideal for viewing all the decorations in each loop after dark. Our last two visits to fort wilderness did not involve a park visit. It is a fabulous campground. Fort Wilderness is very large and spread out. There is no car parking at the pool or the restaurant, but they do allow cart parking. Walking is the only alternative. There is a boat at the North end of fort wilderness that will take you directly to the Magic kingdom. Drive your cart to the boat dock and take the boat. Much more fun than the bus. The trails end restaurant is very good. It is located near the boat dock. The hoopdeedoo revue is just ok in my opinion. Have a blast.

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[FT4NOW]

Fort Wilderness was our first stop on the way home from taking delivery, we had a great time! Are you looking for advice for the campground or Disney in general? We are also DVC members, so I have plenty of general Disney tips.

We were at the campground the first week of Nov 2016, and we were able to swim outside. We rode bikes to the pool since there is no vehicle parking. You will def want to bring some Halloween decorations.

If you have a 4 leg buddy coming with you, make sure it's on your reservation, only certain loops are allotted for pets and there is a pet fee.

The bathhouse is one of the cleanest I've seen for a campground and the laundry was setup nicely as well.

When people checkout, cast members hose down the sites to ensure they are clean for new guests.

The sewer connection is set in the ground in a "sink" type enclosure.

We had a loose tv cable connection on our pedestal and told the front desk. We said no rush since to fix it since we weren't planning on using it. They had someone at our site in about 20 min to repair it and they gave us 3 extra Fast Passes for our "troubles".

Make sure you have some practice backing in, the road is very narrow and there isn't a ton of room between sites. We were in a premium site which is one of the larger ones, I didn't have any trouble getting in and I'm about 43' long not counting the truck. As long as you have some confidence and a good spotter you'll be fine.

Don't forget for eating in the park, you can make dining reservations 180 days out from the day you check in. Also, staying at the campground allows you to make Fast Pass reservations 60 days out.

If within the budget, I highly recommend Mickey' s Not So Scary Halloween Party. We went to it this year and really enjoyed it, although we didn't stay at the campground for our most recent trip.

If you want any other Disney advice, feel free to ask.

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[savage99ss]

Thanks for all the comments so far. We are going the second week in October. This is the first time taking the kids. We last went on our honeymoon in 2006. We had the meal plan and it seemed to be better than the current. You used to be able to swap two quick service meals for a sit down dinner.

We are looking for any suggestions at the parks too. Thought about the Halloween party at the park but was thinking of letting the kids experience the park in it’s original glory and maybe doing the Halloween party another year.

Ft4now. I would like any tips you could give me on Disney advise. Do you recommend a travel agent or just book everything myself? We have a reservation and 4 days of tickets.

[utexplore]

There is a travel agent that lives in her 5er in the 400 loop of Fort Wilderness. Her name is Hilda 302 598 8892. She knows more about Disney than most Disney agents. She can get you a golf cart. She knows all the angles. She specializes in RV visitors to Disney World. I highly recommend her.

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[FT4NOW]

Sounds like you should give Hilda a call and see what she has to offer. We've never used a travel agent, so I'm not sure exactly what they have to offer as far as trip planning.

First figure out what parks you want to visit. We have kids same age brackets as you and we usually do Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Epcot; we have done Hollywood Studios, but not super impressed. Although Toy Story land should be open by the time you go, might be worth checking out. Epcot is geared more for adults and based off food, we usually limit that to one day and split up any other time between MK and AK. The food and wine festival will be going on during your time there, it is worth checking out, but don't plan on getting to try everythhing in one day, prob won't happen. There is a kid scavenger hunt for the food and wine festival, you have to purchase a special map for them to do it and they get a prize at the end, our kids enjoyed it.

AK has Pandora land now which is great, the two new rides are only worth it if you have a FP, I wouldn't wait in a long line for them; wait times were 3 hours when we went in Nov.

AK also has a ranger scavenger hunt that is educational and fun for kids, our kids liked it more than some of the rides.

MK has a hidden card game you play throughout the park. Stop at the Firehouse on Main Street (left side of the circle when you get in the park). Our kids really enjoyed that game, each person with a ticket can receive cards even if they don't play, get as many as you can.

I've done dining plan and no dining plan. I feel you end up getting too much food with the dining plan. I track $ when not using dining plan and always come up paying less for the whole trip than if we got the dining plan. Remember, you can bring your own food, snacks and drinks in the park.

Whatever food route you decide, make dining resservations 180 days out for any table service meals you choose and make your FP reservations at the 60 day out point.

If you have time, stop by Saratoga Springs DVC resort, if you sit through their preview they will give everyone with tickets 3 FP's each which are good at any park for almost any ride. The sales people are not pushy like a typical timeshare place.

If you haven't gotten the My Disney Experience app, you need to get it. It allows you to make or change dining, make or change FP's, gives you directions in the park, tells you wait times on rides. Also, after you use your 3 daily FP's, you can get more on the app one at a time. You can also see the pictures taken by park photographers on the app. If you want those pictures, you need to purchase the memory maker ahead of your trip. We always buy it and maximize the pictures we take there, they will take pictures with your camera if you ask them. Ask for magic shots whenever you can, they are special.

Wear shoes that are meant for walking, you will walk at least 6 miles in the park throughout the day.

Our kids like penny crusher machines , we get tubes of mini m&m's and eat them of course. Then we fill the tube with stacks of sets ( 2 quarters, 1 penny) and then the kids can be ready to pick out their pennies. We did buy a crushed penny book while there for them to put the pennies in.

We keep some ponchos with us in a backpack, it usually rains at least once while we are there. Buy some disposable ones on Amazon, much cheaper than purchasing in park if you desire.

Leave the stroller at home if you don't need it. We have a carrier that our 2 yr old fits in if she gets too tired, but she usually walks everywhere with us. Strollers get in the way and get moved while you're on a ride or eating somewhere. We brought umbrella strollers the very first time we went, never again after that.

If you have any other questions I'd be happy to help, I think I covered a wide variety of tips.

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[savage99ss]

There is a travel agent that lives in her 5er in the 400 loop of Fort Wilderness. Her name is Hilda 302 598 8892. She knows more about Disney than most Disney agents. She can get you a golf cart. She knows all the angles. She specializes in RV visitors to Disney World. I highly recommend her.

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Have you used her before? We have a large group going with my sister, her kids, plus my parents.

[utexplore]

Yes, I have used Hilda before. Highly recommend. She is an annual pass holder at every park in Orlando and is in the parks several times a week. She is a miracle worker.

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[Agpopp]

Fort wilderness is our favourite camping spot and we will be there in March. I make my own cnc camp sign specifically for the Fort. I could tell you all of the things we do like getting a gag meal the first night there, hitting the trails end at least once, taking bikes is a must for us. Not sure if I can mention it but join us over on fortfiends.net for all of the answers. I'm there as Pghfiend.
Have a good time