Long Term Campers....Should it be allowed?

Everything depends on where you are in life.
Completely agree. DS is 21 now and out of school. A few promotions and a job change for DW and we are in a position to travel far more than we did 10 years ago. 10-15 years ago, we stayed at the Fort because it was the cheapest way to do WDW. Now we stay at the Fort, well, because it's The Fort!

j
 
Completely agree. DS is 21 now and out of school. A few promotions and a job change for DW and we are in a position to travel far more than we did 10 years ago. 10-15 years ago, we stayed at the Fort because it was the cheapest way to do WDW. Now we stay at the Fort, well, because it's The Fort!

j
 
Being at the Fort for about 70 days this year makes our AP's pretty cheap. 970.00 ÷ 70= not so much. We get some FP's for every 4th or 5th day and spend time walking around parks for exercise and do spur if the minute meals mid day. Afternoons/evenings are for cards and cocktails on the patio. We were only up twice for MK fireworks, mostly hear them while falling asleep. Mornings are for coffee in a rocking chair watching short timers rushing to the boats for RD and thinking I'm glad I have 4 more weeks.
 


Being at the Fort for about 70 days this year makes our AP's pretty cheap. 970.00 ÷ 70= not so much. We get some FP's for every 4th or 5th day and spend time walking around parks for exercise and do spur if the minute meals mid day. Afternoons/evenings are for cards and cocktails on the patio. We were only up twice for MK fireworks, mostly hear them while falling asleep. Mornings are for coffee in a rocking chair watching short timers rushing to the boats for RD and thinking I'm glad I have 4 more weeks.

That would be us racing to RD to squeeze in as much of the parks as we can in the few days we are there. I can't wait for the days when we spend enough time at the Fort where we wont be rushed to squeeze in everything in a weeks time... I been hinting to my wife about doing 2 weeks at the fort with only a week at the parks... every other day... In the 20 some odd years we have been going to WDW, we have never NOT gone to one of the parks every single day (not counting arrival and departure days).. i have mentioned spending a day (mid week) at the resort or fort and she simply looked at me as if i had lost my mind! :scared:
 
I been hinting to my wife about doing 2 weeks at the fort with only a week at the parks... every other day... In the 20 some odd years we have been going to WDW, we have never NOT gone to one of the parks every single day (not counting arrival and departure days).. i have mentioned spending a day (mid week) at the resort or fort and she simply looked at me as if i had lost my mind! :scared:

Our APs are weekday only, so when we stay two weeks, our weekends are just at the Fort. Haven't experienced a bored moment yet!
 


Our APs are weekday only, so when we stay two weeks, our weekends are just at the Fort. Haven't experienced a bored moment yet!

We have never stayed longer than 7 or 8 days. We usually arrive on Fri/Sat and leave the following Fri/Sat/Sun. I would imagine that 2 weeks would make it much easier to convince my wife of a resort/Fort day... but i don't see 2 weeks off in a row on the horizon for us at least not until we do retire. My job is so demanding that taking a week off puts me way behind. I know a few folks in my department took off 2 weeks in a row this year which was surprising to me.. not that they couldn't but its just so hard to catch up.. :(

I think i will look into taking 2 weeks in a row next year. I know that our slow time is late spring and summer.. i can always bring my laptop to keep on top of email. What's the Wifi like at the Fort?.. i never bring my laptop so i wouldn't know.. ?
 
I just completed another trip to the Fort last week. Beautiful as always. Many times now, we have come across people who are basically living at the Fort for several months, if not longer. I'm slightly upset by this. I know to Disney the money is the money and they don't care who they get it from, but I feel these long term residents are chewing up sites that regular vacationers could be using. I've found it harder and harder to find the dates and type that I'm looking for and can't help but think that this is partly why. Now, with "throw-away" sites and long-termer's, they're squeezing out the families who really can only make this trip once in a while. It just doesn't seem fair. Fort Wilderness was not designed to be a retirement community or a part-time residence. Is anyone aware of Disney's official stance on this?

I'm sure some folks will argue that if someone can afford it why shouldn't they, but I say that the opportunity for others who can only afford Disney by camping, or who must travel with pets is being severely limited by these others. I think there should be some sort of limit to these types of long term campers. What does everyone else think?
 
We have never stayed longer than 7 or 8 days. We usually arrive on Fri/Sat and leave the following Fri/Sat/Sun. I would imagine that 2 weeks would make it much easier to convince my wife of a resort/Fort day... but i don't see 2 weeks off in a row on the horizon for us at least not until we do retire. My job is so demanding that taking a week off puts me way behind. I know a few folks in my department took off 2 weeks in a row this year which was surprising to me.. not that they couldn't but its just so hard to catch up.. :(

I think i will look into taking 2 weeks in a row next year. I know that our slow time is late spring and summer.. i can always bring my laptop to keep on top of email. What's the Wifi like at the Fort?.. i never bring my laptop so i wouldn't know.. ?

This has been our scenario as well. We have generally taken Fort afternoons, mornings or evenings, but not entire days. With our stays generally at a week or so, and the structure of FP+ where a day out of the parks means three fewer FP+ reservations, we can't seem to get ourselves to skip a day entirely. In the old FP structure, and before we were mostly travelling on AP's, a day or two off for a 7-8 day trip was normal. Now, we generally get into the park most every day. I dream of the 14 day visits but, like you, expect that those are a retirement (or at least post-kids-at-home) reality!
 
What's the Wifi like at the Fort?..

I read lots of people complain that it's slow, but in my experience, it's been great. We have been able to play PS4 games online on it and stream movies. We live in the boonies and have terrible internet at home, so Disney's wifi is great to me!
 
We were in 2100 during February and the wifi was awful until they dug the cable up behind the bus stop and replaced it. It was much better afterwards. I was told by a CM (working on our cable on our site) that the limiting factor would be that the underground cabling was old.
 
I read lots of people complain that it's slow, but in my experience, it's been great. We have been able to play PS4 games online on it and stream movies. We live in the boonies and have terrible internet at home, so Disney's wifi is great to me!


I agree with tallis, we had no problem in March, DD 1 & 2 always stream, no complaints
 
Something to remember why FW tends to attract bigger crowds is families can stay on property in what amounts to their own homes for a reasonable rate per night. Yes the throwaways are annoying, but they're not in the majority.
 
I will agree with Tigger Dad, reservations should be made in a timely mater. We have always stayed 10 to 14days. Reservations were made at the 499 days mark. Our last trip was for 21 days at the Fort, with Thanksgiving in the middle. I think you will need to plan farther out for site reservations and fastpasses.
 
We once booked 14 nights at the Fort. I distinctly remember on the 10th night feeling Disneyed-out, looking at my DH over dinner in the fifth wheel and saying, “Should we leave?” He said something to the effect of that being a good idea. My daughter said, “Noooooo!” The next morning we got our second wind and in the end we were all sad to leave at the end of the two week stay.

Yep, my dream is to stay long-term.
 
We once booked 14 nights at the Fort. I distinctly remember on the 10th night feeling Disneyed-out, looking at my DH over dinner in the fifth wheel and saying, “Should we leave?” He said something to the effect of that being a good idea. My daughter said, “Noooooo!” The next morning we got our second wind and in the end we were all sad to leave at the end of the two week stay.

Yep, my dream is to stay long-term.

We said the same thing, except we did leave! Love Disney, but 10 days is our limit and then we're happy and done. Could never, and have no desire, to stay longer and yes, we're retired. Have so many other places we enjoy. But, good vibes to those that do want to stay longer.
 
Last edited:
We said the same thing, except we did leave! Love Disney, but 10 days is our limit and then we're happen and done. Could never, and have no desire, to stay longer and yes, we're retired. Have so many other places we enjoy. But, good vibes to those that do want to stay longer.
Been retired 20 years this month and still driving the beast around the country. Been to all 4 corners of the USA and love it all. Plenty to see and do between Arizona and the Fort. 30 days at FW is our rest and turn around point. Everyone needs a little porch time to prepare for the return trip to the Wild West. See you all in Oct.
 
I distinctly remember on the 10th night feeling Disneyed-out.
If we go full "park-ninja", 10 days will wear you down. We used to go as long as we could with school and work schedules, typically 8-9 days. That wore us out, but I always left feeling like there is more that we wanted to see and do. Last year we had annual passes and made 3 trips down in that year for a total of 22 days. Each trip was far more relaxed. We had days where we would resort hop (love the atmosphere of the Epcot resorts), spend some time at DS and take time in the parks to see the things we "didn't have time for" on prior trips. I think we were in a park everyday, sometimes 2 or 3 parks in a day, but we weren't rushing to do "everything".

Going with a more relaxed plan, not spending full days in the parks, I could easily do 30 days and likely longer.

j
 
If we go full "park-ninja", 10 days will wear you down. We used to go as long as we could with school and work schedules, typically 8-9 days. That wore us out, but I always left feeling like there is more that we wanted to see and do. Last year we had annual passes and made 3 trips down in that year for a total of 22 days. Each trip was far more relaxed. We had days where we would resort hop (love the atmosphere of the Epcot resorts), spend some time at DS and take time in the parks to see the things we "didn't have time for" on prior trips. I think we were in a park everyday, sometimes 2 or 3 parks in a day, but we weren't rushing to do "everything".

Going with a more relaxed plan, not spending full days in the parks, I could easily do 30 days and likely longer.

j

This is basically what we have been doing - AP's for 3 trips a year - 8-10 nights per trip, then we usually take a year break. It will be 2 year break this time as our next ressies are Apr. 2020. We also go at a more relaxed pace now, but unlike you, no longer than 10 nights per trip.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top