Disney's FORT WILDERNESS CABINS & CAMPGROUNDS Information & Questions

[tlmadden73]

Thinking about a first time stay with the wife ... in a tent.

I cant imagine camping during summer, but does the first week of November seem like a good choice? Not too hot, not too cold? How is camping at Disney? We have been many times .. but mainly at the value/moderate resorts. Think it would be a fun (obviously not luxurious) trip with the wife to celebrate our anniversary and the final few days of our Annual Pass.

 

[dwigt]

I have 2 questions about the cabins/Fort Wilderness. We will be there at the end of June. We’ll be arriving around 9:30pm our first night. What are the hours for the pool by the cabins as well as the main pool? My son, 7, might need to work off some excited energy after a day of travel. Second question, I have bought tickets to Early Morning Magic at MK on 6/23. It starts at 7:45am. What time do the boats start running to MK in the morning? Thanks!!

 

[StageTek]

The Meadows pool closed at 10PM
We found that the Wilderness pool never locked the gates. On the low-down a CM told us as long as we were quiet and no one complained we could use it anytime. We found this to be true - we twice stayed in the pool and whirlpool until 1AM.

 

[G719]

I have 2 questions about the cabins/Fort Wilderness. We will be there at the end of June. We’ll be arriving around 9:30pm our first night. What are the hours for the pool by the cabins as well as the main pool? My son, 7, might need to work off some excited energy after a day of travel. Second question, I have bought tickets to Early Morning Magic at MK on 6/23. It starts at 7:45am. What time do the boats start running to MK in the morning? Thanks!!

The boat to MK starts 30 minutes before park opening. You can take the resort launch at 645 and get off at the contemporary and walk to MK.

 

[ejdmomma]

The boat to MK starts 30 minutes before park opening. You can take the resort launch at 645 and get off at the contemporary and walk to MK.

If the park opens at 9:00 but they start letting people onto Main St at 8:00, does the boat start at 7:30 or 8:30?

 

[dwigt]

The boat to MK starts 30 minutes before park opening. You can take the resort launch at 645 and get off at the contemporary and walk to MK.

Thanks!

 

[bama_ed]

Thinking about a first time stay with the wife ... in a tent.

I cant imagine camping during summer, but does the first week of November seem like a good choice? Not too hot, not too cold? How is camping at Disney? We have been many times .. but mainly at the value/moderate resorts. Think it would be a fun (obviously not luxurious) trip with the wife to celebrate our anniversary and the final few days of our Annual Pass.

I camped at the Fort for Halloween 2017 and the weather then is generally fabulous so I would think early November would be the same. Be advised that the Fort books up a year in advance for Halloween Day but nearly empties out on November 1 (unless it's a weekend and then they clear out on Sunday). Lots of locals come in for Halloween. So if you check in on any day after 11/1 (or on it) you should be able to book it reasonably in advance.

One more piece of advice - the locals tend to book up weekends well in advance during the spring and fall. So you might find availability for a Sun-Thur stay but not if you try to include a Fri or Sat night on either end.

But to answer your question, early November is generally very nice and perfect for tent camping then.

Bama Ed

 

[G719]

If the park opens at 9:00 but they start letting people onto Main St at 8:00, does the boat start at 7:30 or 8:30?

830 has been our experience. If there are extra magic hours, then it's a half hour before that. 730 for 8 am EMH. If we want to arrive earlier we boat to the contemporary and walk over.

 

[StageTek]

If the park opens at 9:00 but they start letting people onto Main St at 8:00, does the boat start at 7:30 or 8:30?

The boat starts a half an hour before the posted park opening - not when they start letting people onto Main Street.

 

[tlmadden73]

I camped at the Fort for Halloween 2017 and the weather then is generally fabulous so I would think early November would be the same. Be advised that the Fort books up a year in advance for Halloween Day but nearly empties out on November 1 (unless it's a weekend and then they clear out on Sunday). Lots of locals come in for Halloween. So if you check in on any day after 11/1 (or on it) you should be able to book it reasonably in advance.

One more piece of advice - the locals tend to book up weekends well in advance during the spring and fall. So you might find availability for a Sun-Thur stay but not if you try to include a Fri or Sat night on either end.

But to answer your question, early November is generally very nice and perfect for tent camping then.

Bama Ed

Now to talk my wife into it.
She isn't thrilled about camping in November for some reason despite it being in the upper 80s every day except the LAST day (where it was jacket weather) during our trip last November (mid November).

 

[Grumpy Bear]

I have 2 questions about the cabins/Fort Wilderness. We will be there at the end of June. We’ll be arriving around 9:30pm our first night. What are the hours for the pool by the cabins as well as the main pool? My son, 7, might need to work off some excited energy after a day of travel. Second question, I have bought tickets to Early Morning Magic at MK on 6/23. It starts at 7:45am. What time do the boats start running to MK in the morning? Thanks!!

I was there last month and we did EMM at MK and HS. For the MK one we were at the boat dock at 6:50ish. We took the boat to the contemporary (it was sitting there when we got there) and then took the monorail (because my son is obsessed with the monorail) to MK. However, despite what everyone says as we were taking off on the boat there was one pulling in that was going to MK so they do actually run super early.

We got to MK in plenty of time. We had time to have a bunch of pictures taken and play around for a bit before they let everyone in.

 

[dwigt]

I was there last month and we did EMM at MK and HS. For the MK one we were at the boat dock at 6:50ish. We took the boat to the contemporary (it was sitting there when we got there) and then took the monorail (because my son is obsessed with the monorail) to MK. However, despite what everyone says as we were taking off on the boat there was one pulling in that was going to MK so they do actually run super early.

We got to MK in plenty of time. We had time to have a bunch of pictures taken and play around for a bit before they let everyone in.

Great, thanks for the info!

 

[StageTek]

Twice in Jan 2018 and twice in Feb 2019 we headed to MK early. Not once did a boat arrive super early to MK. We took the resort boat each time. CM's told us the MK bus wouldn't arrive until 30 minutes before MK opened but we wanted to be there when they ushered people up Main Street.

 

[MaggieBags]

I was there last month and we did EMM at MK and HS

Hi Grumpy Bear - what was your experience with the buses for the HS Early Morning Magic? What time did yours depart (if you remember)? Thanks!

 

[Grumpy Bear]

Hi Grumpy Bear - what was your experience with the buses for the HS Early Morning Magic? What time did yours depart (if you remember)? Thanks!

We actually drove to HS because it was my first time at Disney and our first full day there and I was worried about being late.

I did check the bus times on the app and there was a very early bus. I can't remember the exact time but it was between 6:10 and 6:30. The next one wasn't for some time after that though and wouldn't have gotten us there until 7:15.

We got there about 7:10 in the car and by the time we checked in and walked to toy story land (around 10 minutes, we were dawdling and oohing and ahhing at everything) everything was already running so it's definitely worth getting there early.

I loved the HS emm and would 100% do it again.

 

[MaggieBags]

We actually drove to HS because it was my first time at Disney and our first full day there and I was worried about being late.

I did check the bus times on the app and there was a very early bus. I can't remember the exact time but it was between 6:10 and 6:30. The next one wasn't for some time after that though and wouldn't have gotten us there until 7:15.

We got there about 7:10 in the car and by the time we checked in and walked to toy story land (around 10 minutes, we were dawdling and oohing and ahhing at everything) everything was already running so it's definitely worth getting there early.

I loved the HS emm and would 100% do it again.

Thank you. No car for us so we'll be at the buses at the crack o' dawn!

 

[MelOhioDis]

Thank you. No car for us so we'll be at the buses at the crack o' dawn!

Hi there!
I did EMM at HS when we stayed at Caribbean Beach last October. We were told that the buses would start early for that park, I think around 6:30am, however or bus didn't arrive until closer to 7. That really cut down on our time in the park. I had read the Early Morning Magic thread on here beforehand and a lot of people said they were going to take an Uber. I really wish we would have. You may want to think about that as an option too. Maybe check the HS EMM thread on here to see if anyone has taken a bus from Fort Wilderness to HS for EMM successfully.

Have fun! We loved HS EMM!

 

[MelOhioDis]

We are saying at Fort Wilderness for the first time September 16!! I'm really excited to stay here. My boyfriend isn't the biggest Disney fan (GASP! ) but he loves the outdoors. I thought this would be perfect. He camped there when he was young, so probably close to 30 years ago! I think my daughter will love this resort too! We stayed at Wilderness Lodge previously and really enjoyed taking the boats to MK. I'll definitely be following this thread! Thanks ahead of time for all of the information!

My only question right now is on the refillable mugs, are there really only two places to refill them? Hoping I can get my hands on the Halloween mugs

 

[TangledHairDon'tCare]

We are thinking of adding a night at the beginning of our Sept trip and staying in a Cabin. We are new passholders, do the cabins ever have ap rates?
Also, we are a party of 5 (4 adults, 1 child). Are there golf carts that hold 5 people? We’d like to spend the day checking out FW for a future trip in my parents fifth wheel before checking into AKV.
Thank you!

 

[Lehuaann]

We are thinking of adding a night at the beginning of our Sept trip and staying in a Cabin. We are new passholders, do the cabins ever have ap rates?
Also, we are a party of 5 (4 adults, 1 child). Are there golf carts that hold 5 people? We’d like to spend the day checking out FW for a future trip in my parents fifth wheel before checking into AKV.
Thank you!

Yes, the cabins offer Ap rates. I believe around 20-25%. The lowest we paid last year per night (July) was $252.50.

6 seater golf carts will fit 5 comfortably, but are first come, first serve. The 4 seaters, which can be reserved in advance, fit 4 + child small enough to sit on someone’s lap.