Disney Trip

[petew]

Just made reservations at Fort Wilderness in Disney for the week of May 22, 4 nights actually.
Very excited, we are Disney veterans and DVC members but have never stayed in or even seen Fort Wilderness.
The other new thing is that we will be taking our little toy poodle with us . It will be her first rv trip.
We will be staying in the 300 loop at Fort Wilderness which is pet friendly and looks to be very convenient to everything.
Any tips or advise ??

Pete

[DOMINO]

We've stayed there many times and love it.

I have this site bookmarked as it has all the info you could want... Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground Fact Sheet

[Larry]

We stayed at Fort Wilderness a little over a month ago and enjoyed it very much. Stayed in the 500 loop which is directly across from the 300 loop. Very convenient in catching the bus transportation to the other transportation areas around Disney and within walking distance from the free boat ride transportation and various places to eat there.

Fort Wilderness is very easy to get into and out of. Just inside the entrance gate, hang a right and you're almost there.

The Hoop De Doo Revue was quite fun though somewhat pricey. It is also within walking distance from those loops.

Enjoy your stay!

[scottb34J]

Stayed last year. If you time the boat ferry just right you can watch the fireworks from the middle of the lake.

[bevedfelker]

We have Florida Resident annual Passes for Disney World and we go over to Fort Wilderness about every 2 months. Super convenient. There are 3 bus shuttles in the Fort that run about every 10 or 15 minutes.

At the Outpost Station (at the entrance to Fort Wilderness) the Disney Buses run to all the parks and Disney Springs (old Downtown Disney). At the opposite end of the Fort is the Marina, Hoop-Dee-Do-Revue Theater, and the marina dock. At the marina dock there is a boat (water taxi) that goes to the entrance to Magic Kingdom. There is no need for a car to travel to any of the attractions in the entire acreage of Disney World. The Disney buses and Monorail will take you to anywhere on the Disney property.

Be sure to do Breakfast and one Dinner in the Trails End Restaurant down near the marina in the Fort. The food is great.

Hollywood Studio has a new Star Wars Galactic fireworks that is really good. The Epcot fireworks is spectacular. The Soarin' ride in Epcot was completely redone and is wonderful.

Did you get Magic Bands when you sent your reservations? It really helps to do the Fast Pass + and put them on your magic bands before you arrive. You can make 3 reservations in 1 park each day of your stay. The Fast Pass allows you to go ahead of the standby line for an attractions. The attractions for which you ought to have a fast pass are:

Rock & Roll Rollercoaster (Hollywood Studio)
Tower of Terror (Hollywood Studio)
Soarin (Epcot)
Test Track (Soarin)
Space Mountain (MK)
Thunder Mountain (MK)
Splash Mtn (MK)
Killamenjaro Safari (Animal Kingdom)
Everest Rollercoaster (Animal Kingdom)

Be sure to see the Festival of the Lion King at animal Kingdom. It is an outstanding performance. Also in May the new Pandora World of Avatar is supposed to open in Animal Kingdom. You would definitely need Fast Past for Pandora because I'm sure the crowd will be HUGE for the new attraction.

That said -- usually late May is a good time for smaller crowds at Disney World.

Enjoy!!!!

[petew]

Originally Posted by bevedfelker

We have Florida Resident annual Passes for Disney World and we go over to Fort Wilderness about every 2 months. Super convenient. There are 3 bus shuttles in the Fort that run about every 10 or 15 minutes.

At the Outpost Station (at the entrance to Fort Wilderness) the Disney Buses run to all the parks and Disney Springs (old Downtown Disney). At the opposite end of the Fort is the Marina, Hoop-Dee-Do-Revue Theater, and the marina dock. At the marina dock there is a boat (water taxi) that goes to the entrance to Magic Kingdom. There is no need for a car to travel to any of the attractions in the entire acreage of Disney World. The Disney buses and Monorail will take you to anywhere on the Disney property.

Be sure to do Breakfast and one Dinner in the Trails End Restaurant down near the marina in the Fort. The food is great.

Hollywood Studio has a new Star Wars Galactic fireworks that is really good. The Epcot fireworks is spectacular. The Soarin' ride in Epcot was completely redone and is wonderful.

Did you get Magic Bands when you sent your reservations? It really helps to do the Fast Pass + and put them on your magic bands before you arrive. You can make 3 reservations in 1 park each day of your stay. The Fast Pass allows you to go ahead of the standby line for an attractions. The attractions for which you ought to have a fast pass are:

Rock & Roll Rollercoaster (Hollywood Studio)
Tower of Terror (Hollywood Studio)
Soarin (Epcot)
Test Track (Soarin)
Space Mountain (MK)
Thunder Mountain (MK)
Splash Mtn (MK)
Killamenjaro Safari (Animal Kingdom)
Everest Rollercoaster (Animal Kingdom)

Be sure to see the Festival of the Lion King at animal Kingdom. It is an outstanding performance. Also in May the new Pandora World of Avatar is supposed to open in Animal Kingdom. You would definitely need Fast Past for Pandora because I'm sure the crowd will be HUGE for the new attraction.

That said -- usually late May is a good time for smaller crowds at Disney World.

Enjoy!!!!

Geez Ed , it's always very difficult to get info out of you !!
Great info on eating at Trails End , we also figure to take the boat over to the Contemporary and the Magic Kingdom for a meal or two.
No Magic Bands yet , I usually order our tickets from Underground Tourist since they are a little cheaper than Disney. Once I have the numbers I can get the Fast Passes .
We generally stay at The Boardwalk Villas which are a short walk from the International Gateway at the back of Epcot. We see the fireworks every night from our room.
Your info also matches what I have found on the internet regarding park attendance in late May. We will depart on Friday morning the 26th which coincides with the start of Memorial Day Weekend. I imagine the the crowds will be rolling in that afternoon as we are leaving.
We have seen the new Soarin ride and it is great, I look forward to seeing it again.
Those Florida resident annual passes are a great thing , I wish we qualified .

Thanks to Scott,Domino and Larry for your input as well.

[Mattie1]

Originally Posted by petew

Just made reservations at Fort Wilderness in Disney for the week of May 22, 4 nights actually.
Very excited, we are Disney veterans and DVC members but have never stayed in or even seen Fort Wilderness.
The other new thing is that we will be taking our little toy poodle with us . It will be her first rv trip.
We will be staying in the 300 loop at Fort Wilderness which is pet friendly and looks to be very convenient to everything.
Any tips or advise ??

Pete

We camp there often. You will love it. I have not seen any mosquitoes there. We do use bug spray. They have cable hook up so have a cable cord with you. We love the fact you don't need a car. Transportation is easy or they rent golf carts for use in camping area. Enjoy the happy place.

[petew]

Thanks I carry 2 cable cords , a short one and a long one .
But I fear that the Disney cable won't work with my Thor Seiki tv's

What's the story Ed , or anyone else , do the Seiki tv's work on cable when you are at Fort Wilderness ?

[bigben]

petew - on the Seiki tvs, the answer for us was NO. But gotta say, I believe there are work arounds and having your motorhome at Fort Wilderness - INCREDIBLE.

[petew]

Yeah , I don't plan on watching much tv but having the Disney tv stations is kind of fun for us when staying in the hotels.
I remember years ago that you used to be able to tune into a "welcome to Disney " radio station in the car when you got the entrance arch . My kids loved that , dad enjoyed it too .
Oh well , I'm sure there are plenty of area stations that the antenna will pull in for morning news.

[SuperD]

Originally Posted by petew

Thanks I carry 2 cable cords , a short one and a long one .y
But I fear that the Disney cable won't work with my Thor Seiki tv's

What's the story Ed , or anyone else , do the Seiki tv's work on cable when you are at Fort Wilderness ?

There are several threads on the Sucki tv's not working on cable, bottom line I went to Best Buy and bought new Samsungs when they were on sale. Very happy now!

[bevedfelker]

The 2 Seiki's in my 2015 Vegas will not scan at Fort Wilderness. The Saikyo in the bedroom has a QAM tuner so it scans fine. If you have all Seikis the antenna will pickup about 50 channels.

[petew]

Thanks Ed , that should work just fine. At some point I'll change out the two inside tv's but that's low on the wish list right now. Unless of course my wife complains about it !

[Mattie1]

Originally Posted by petew

Thanks I carry 2 cable cords , a short one and a long one .
But I fear that the Disney cable won't work with my Thor Seiki tv's

What's the story Ed , or anyone else , do the Seiki tv's work on cable when you are at Fort Wilderness ?

We have the same tv. Our freedom2017 has a control area where the DVD is kept. There is a green light on that is on when antenna is on. There is a small button puts it to allow cable one used. You want to disengage the antenna.
We also use Roku and have portable wifi from Verizon. Works great.
Hope I have made sense. Enjoy Disney.

[ArrrV]

The 300 loop is right next to the dog park. The negative of that loop is that your pup will be tracking in all sorts of clingy to the fur things not present in some of the other loops. We too are DVC members (we own at Beach Club, great for Food & Wine) and regulars at Ft Wilderness, where we bring our two mini goldendoodles. We have the benefit of also being Florida residents, but as a DVC member you can purchase annual passes at the Florida resident rate from the DVC member site:
https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go...ey-world-pass/
They are running a special now--13 months for the price of 12!!!! Still a small fortune.
Usually mid to end of May is pretty quiet BUT this year that time will be more crowded, at least at Animal Kingdom, because of the soft opening to DVC members and annual passholders of the newest adventure--Pandora. All the annual pass preview times are gone, but you might be able to snag a DVC slot for your week--it requires you to be staying in a Disney resort to qualify, and you are. Go back and check your emails on March 22nd and 23rd.
We will be book-ending you, the week earlier we are at Beach Club, and Memorial Day weekend we are at Ft Wilderness. Your Seiki's will not work on cable, but the over the air reception (sports anyone?) will be just fine.
Have a blast and do not miss Hoop De Doo Review. We all still sing the songs....

[Mattie1]

We love Disney also. We will be there next week😃

[bevedfelker]

When we go to Fort Wilderness with our Bichon we always ask for the 400 or 700 loops. They are both at the end of the main road in near the marina. We ask at the gate during check in (regardless of what loop/site they has us scheduled for). We have never not been able to get the 400 or 700 loops.

[petew]

Originally Posted by Mattie1

We have the same tv. Our freedom2017 has a control area where the DVD is kept. There is a green light on that is on when antenna is on. There is a small button puts it to allow cable one used. You want to disengage the antenna.
We also use Roku and have portable wifi from Verizon. Works great.
Hope I have made sense. Enjoy Disney.

Thanks for the tip on the antenna , I actually learned that one on our first trip.
We also travel with a Fire Stick (similar to Roku) and a bunch of DVD's

[petew]

Originally Posted by ArrrV

The 300 loop is right next to the dog park. The negative of that loop is that your pup will be tracking in all sorts of clingy to the fur things not present in some of the other loops. We too are DVC members (we own at Beach Club, great for Food & Wine) and regulars at Ft Wilderness, where we bring our two mini goldendoodles. We have the benefit of also being Florida residents, but as a DVC member you can purchase annual passes at the Florida resident rate from the DVC member site:
https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go...ey-world-pass/
They are running a special now--13 months for the price of 12!!!! Still a small fortune.
Usually mid to end of May is pretty quiet BUT this year that time will be more crowded, at least at Animal Kingdom, because of the soft opening to DVC members and annual passholders of the newest adventure--Pandora. All the annual pass preview times are gone, but you might be able to snag a DVC slot for your week--it requires you to be staying in a Disney resort to qualify, and you are. Go back and check your emails on March 22nd and 23rd.
We will be book-ending you, the week earlier we are at Beach Club, and Memorial Day weekend we are at Ft Wilderness. Your Seiki's will not work on cable, but the over the air reception (sports anyone?) will be just fine.
Have a blast and do not miss Hoop De Doo Review. We all still sing the songs....

ArrrV , I learned that last night regarding the DVC discount for annual passes. So as of this morning we are "Gold" pass owners.
As you said it is still a small fortune but this year we will save $490.00 this year compared to what we would normally pay for passes.
This is the first year that we will be making two Disney visits within 12 months so now the annual passes make perfect sense.

[ArrrV]

It is nice that Disney treats its DVC owners as FL residents for the lower cost annual passes. As a new passholder you should be aware that til the end of this year passholders get 20% off merchandise in most Disney shops (excludes specialty ones) and some Disney restaurants, including ones at Disney Springs, so always ask before you pay.
Now that you have a pass, go forth and reserve your fastpasses! The Disney app works great for that.
Have a blast, Ft Wilderness has so much going on it will be hard to decide what you want to do most!