The 2024 Fort Wilderness Rack Rates and Analysis

[bama_ed]

Folks,

As I have done annually since the 2015 camping season, I have compiled the Fort Wilderness Campsite Rack Rate information into an easy-to-use table to estimate out-of-pocket costs (which includes tax) for a campsite stay in 2024. I apologize for the lateness of this information but we had a full summer and I have finally gotten around to doing this for the coming year. This tool is helpful to me as well as finding a time of year that fits my budget and the dates when rates change (value to spring rates, for example) if you have a flexible schedule as to when you can travel.

My source for this data was at www.mousesavers.com which is an excellent resource for planning a WDW trip.

As always, I have to outline a few caveats:

1. These are non-discounted full cost rates (known by the term "rack rates").
2. They include the total 12.5% tax applied to campsites and thus represent the full out-of-pocket, bottom line cost.
3. The rates are rounded to the nearest dollar so the number is an integer (easier to work with).
4. The source location pulled the data for 2024 earlier this year (2023) but you never know if/when Disney might tweak the rates.
5. Weekdays = Sunday through Thursday nights; Weekends = Friday and Saturday nights.

Price increases for 2024 were a modest 4.8-5.0% across the board overall (similar to last year) as well as across all types of campsites. Here is the table:



One thing I noticed is that from October 4 to the end of the year, there are "only" 10 different rate periods compared to 21 for the same time frame last year (which really chopped things up).

And the weekend up-charge in some time windows can be significant. We have a stay booked for late January in a Tent site and the weekend "kicker" ($43 extra per night ) is more by far than that for the other site categories.

Oh and the way I calculate the annual percent increase into a single number is to total up the cost if every campsite was booked for every night. At least that approach gives a high level number but in the details (as we all know) it's very dependent on travel dates and site level.

I promise when 2025 rates come out next year I'll get those out as soon as I can.

Bama Ed

PS - the earliest rates I have for all sites over an entire year is 2009 and in late January a Tent site was only $43+tax (no weekend kicker even). <sigh>

 

[StormyCA]

Thanks, Ed! I did a little 'ouch' when I saw the rates for our rescheduled (from Oct to early Mar) dates. But the dates we reserved are based on my medical treatment & avoiding Easter so we were kind of 'locked in'. It is what it is.

Our next trip will be 2026, I cringe to think what the rates will be then!

 

[John VN]

for posting. Remembering those Fl. Discount $36.00 site prices.

Soooo glad we sold RV and now cruise. No DCL for us because the cabin rates are way too high.

 

[bama_ed]

for posting. Remembering those Fl. Discount $36.00 site prices.

Soooo glad we sold RV and now cruise. No DCL for us because the cabin rates are way too high.

So you sold the RV, huh John? I didn't know that.

Yeah, the old days, they ain't coming back.

Ed

 

[jaredjohn4]

Glad you have taken the time to update your analysis of prices. A lot of tough decisions to make. DD is spending spring semester at U of Florida, Gainesville on an internship for her last semester of grad school. DS is going with his girl friends extended family to the cabins at the fort in the first week of June. We said we would be there if he needs a place to escape to. We don't know how many times we are going to get to the fort this year from Illinois, but the options are certainly open. I have a friend that is up in Ocala and thinking about parking the camper there between trips.

 

[cruising spud]

Ed,

I always appreciate when you do this. Now I'll know how much our 2024 trip is going to cost. Really though, at these prices, I just calculate--unbelievably expensive.

Thank you.

 

[SL6827]

I just wonder how high the rates of the cabins that are not converted into DVC will go?

 

[bama_ed]

I just wonder how high the rates of the cabins that are not converted into DVC will go?

Well, @SL6827, I think eventually ALL the cabins in the cabin loops will go DVC but some capacity will be held out for cash stays like the other DVC properties. It remains TBD to see what the new cabin DVC cash rates will be of course.

I had not looked at the "regular hotel resort" Cabin 2024 rates in the data source I use so I peeked over there after reading your post. For the few days around Halloween 2024, the rate is about $650 (includes tax). When we get around to Christmas, December 13-22 rates are $893 (includes tax) and for December 23-31 the rates are $920 (includes tax).

Wowza.

Bama Ed

 

[StormyCA]

Wonder if the cabin rates have been that high for some time or if the rates have been jacked up because the cabins will be new (and DVC) at some point in 2024 so they're raising them now.

I haven't looked at the cabin rates in forever, but I think when I took a gander probably 5-ish years ago (admittedly off peak) they were mid $300s per night.

 

[bama_ed]

I haven't looked at the cabin rates in forever, but I think when I took a gander probably 5-ish years ago (admittedly off peak) they were mid $300s per night.

The cheapest rates for 2024 are for some nights (but not all nights) in January from what I saw, @StormyCA. That was $466/night (includes tax). Backing out the tax, the rack rate for that time is about $414 now.

I don't think the rates were jacked up in advance for DVC because the cash night purchases for DVC cabins will book out of a different system. The hotel/resort cabin category at the Fort will disappear IMO once all the current cabins are removed and replaced with DVC cabins.

The current cabins, however, have been eligible for an early 2024 discount of 20% and I heard about one guy who booked a single cabin night at the end of his FW campground stay to say farewell to the cabins because he first stayed in them in 2001 with his DW and beautiful kids. That's how their Fort memories and love affair started.

I have no idea who that guy is.

Bama Ed

 

[DL1WDW2]

I kept this for some reason …. Still interesting to dream about living at the Fort …oh the tales you could tell us around the campfire would make for quite an evening .

 

[SL6827]

Well, @SL6827, I think eventually ALL the cabins in the cabin loops will go DVC but some capacity will be held out for cash stays like the other DVC properties. It remains TBD to see what the new cabin DVC cash rates will be of course.

I had not looked at the "regular hotel resort" Cabin 2024 rates in the data source I use so I peeked over there after reading your post. For the few days around Halloween 2024, the rate is about $650 (includes tax). When we get around to Christmas, December 13-22 rates are $893 (includes tax) and for December 23-31 the rates are $920 (includes tax).

Wowza.

Bama Ed

Absolutely insane pricing!

 

[bama_ed]

I kept this for some reason …. Still interesting to dream about living at the Fort …oh the tales you could tell us around the campfire would make for quite an evening .

View attachment 805085

@DL1WDW2 , it is a wonderful thought.

When we first started bring our kids to the Fort in the early 2000s, there was a special discounted rate for long-term stays (months in the winter) when back then the Fort had a hard time filling campsites. (those days are indeed LONG gone). It was the Pilgrim's Rate or Settler's Rate or something like that.

During one of my cabin stays, we had a multi-family trip with enough youngin's who wanted to sleep in a tent in a campsite while us old folks filled the cabins. I was booking the sites so when I took the young people (and me) over to the campsite after checking in, we met a neighbor lady who was in the site next to us. She was a widow but her recently deceased husband and she had stored the trailer around Orlando and had it brought out to the Fort every winter for them to spend a month (or two or three) at the Fort at a discounted rate. The year I was there was the first year she was trying to carry on the tradition by herself since DH had passed away recently. This was either in 1200 or 1300 loop.

They got to stay at the Fort for MONTHS at a time at discount. How SWEET was that.

Then Disney cut the discount off but allowed folks to stay months on back-to-back reservations.

Then recently Disney cut the back-to-back reservations.

All because demand has grown over the decades while supply has remained very limited (no expansion of Fort campsites).

There is an attraction to paying for a campsite year-round (and several have done it per past reports). "Rent and utilities" are covered so you need food, gas, and insurance money plus play funds (annual passes, dining out costs). Tradeoffs? Sure but it could work for a while.

Bama Ed

PS - I often tell people who don't have a trailer, rv, or camp that it's not just a vacation option - it's a way of life. And for some folks, that's how they want to live for the time being. So I get the desire for a long, LONG term stay someplace if you want to pay that price; just keep in mind it doesn't mean "forever".

 

[NCDisNut]

We booked two in mid-December this year for mid 300s/nt with a passholder discount.

 

[bama_ed]

We booked two in mid-December this year for mid 300s/nt with a passholder discount.

That's wonderful for you! Any discount is WIN.

I think the economy is putting a drag on bookings/cancellations for the end of 2023 and early 2024. I know there are/were discounts available for early 2024 which I, personally, have taken advantage of. And you mention late 2023 discounts for you which is no surprise.

Disney will pull any lever to get folks to the resorts: annual pass, Florida resident, general public, (Cast Member is also possible but not available to the 'rest of us'). Throw in Disney Visa, Disney+, and who knows what else and they will try to get 'heads in beds'. For any of us who can qualify and travel on the available dates, that's a WIN for us.

I am happy for you.

Bama Ed

PS - @NCDisNut, I don't now if your rate is for a cabin (that's my guess) but that's close to what I have for January 2024 (at a general public discount rate).

 

[NCDisNut]

That's wonderful for you! Any discount is WIN.

I think the economy is putting a drag on bookings/cancellations for the end of 2023 and early 2024. I know there are/were discounts available for early 2024 which I, personally, have taken advantage of. And you mention late 2023 discounts for you which is no surprise.

Disney will pull any lever to get folks to the resorts: annual pass, Florida resident, general public, (Cast Member is also possible but not available to the 'rest of us'). Throw in Disney Visa, Disney+, and who knows what else and they will try to get 'heads in beds'. For any of us who can qualify and travel on the available dates, that's a WIN for us.

I am happy for you.

Bama Ed

PS - @NCDisNut, I don't now if your rate is for a cabin (that's my guess) but that's close to what I have for January 2024 (at a general public discount rate).

Yes, it's for cabins. I think it's a tad cheaper than we had last December. From memory, the nondiscounted price is higher but with the discount it's lower. We ended up going a little earlier last year because of how the rates rise aggressively as you get closer to Christmas. I have Disney Visa and Disney+ and they did offer a public discount rate.

 

[StormyCA]

Now if they'd just run a special on the campsites. Sigh. I think I've seen that ONCE since our first trip in 2015.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

Folks,

As I have done annually since the 2015 camping season, I have compiled the Fort Wilderness Campsite Rack Rate information into an easy-to-use table

Thanks for the table.
Would have been easier to print "BIG BUCKS" on a Post-It-Note, instead.

1. I worked at The Fort, when a site was relatively inexpensive.
2. I worked at The Fort when getting a site was easy.
. . . (Easy except for major holidays - July 4th, Halloween, Christmas)
3. I visited The Fort when the railroad was still running.

AHHH, the fond memories and good ole days !