WDW on a budget...

cap396 · Post by **cap396** » Feb Tue 19, 2008 12:38 pm

Iâ€™m trying to plan a trip to WDW and Iâ€™m thinking about camping in a tent at the Fort Wilderness campground. Has anyone reading this post done this? Are the camp sites pretty spread out or are they crammed together? My biggest concern is that it might be noisy when trying to sleep at night. Any advice on this or other suggestions on how to do WDW as cheap as possible would be apprectiated.

yodiwan1 · Post by **yodiwan1** » Feb Tue 19, 2008 1:07 pm

just curious, do they have showers for ya? i haven't camped in 6 years, but when i did phew did i smell!!! lol

Post by **Dr. Ravenscroft** » Feb Tue 19, 2008 1:51 pm

JS3901 and I did this back in Dec 06 and it was fine, I'm sure JS will go into more detail (about stuff I forgot) later. From what I remember it was actually relatively quiet, and that being next to a comfort station (bathrooms/showers) and having one of the main roads behind us. Granted it sometimes got loud, basically when the Bus dropped off a whole bunch of kids that wanted to run off and the parents had to yell at them, but heck you get that in any resort anyway. The campsites are kind of close together but honestly I didn't notice them.....usually I was pretty exhausted from walking around the parks all day so the heck if I cared.

I have a few questions for you cap396:
1. What time of year are planning on going?
2. what kind of camping equipment do you have?
3. Are you planning on staying in the parks for food or making it yourself?

Here is a picture of the campsite we had:

Post by **YZFDonor** » Feb Tue 19, 2008 2:12 pm

ahhhh..........

I spent MANY vacation on Bobcat Bend and Spanish Moss Lane!

cap396 · Post by **cap396** » Feb Tue 19, 2008 2:28 pm

Thanks for the info. That arial photo is great and helps me see how spread out everything is. My camping equipment is just a tent, sleeping bag, and air mattress. I don't have any cooking equipment so I'll probably buy food when I'm at the parks, except maybe breakfast. I'm hoping to go the second week of March, but it's not definite yet.

Post by **rdeacon** » Feb Tue 19, 2008 4:22 pm

I've never stayed at the campground..but here are some maps that might help you out:

Map 1

Map 2 - pdf

Map 3

Hope they help.

Rich

meticulus9 · Post by **meticulus9** » Feb Tue 19, 2008 5:57 pm

you might even want to look into ap discounts....buy an AP and get mad discounts on hotel during the slow seasons....

Post by **js3901** » Feb Wed 20, 2008 1:20 am

the camping at Ft Wilderness was great. here are my observations/recollections from our experience in December 2006:
-The sites are somewhat close together, but there are trees and bushes to (somewhat) block them from view.
-The sites are basically a big sandbox, but it's fairly packed, and easy to pound stakes into and have them stick. just be prepared for the loose stuff to stick to your shoes/be carried into the tent.
-The comfort stations are ok. it's a regular public restroom with a few showers on the other side of the wall from the "Throne". The showers are just a standard Stand-Up shower, no tubs.
-The comfort stations are open 24 hours, but from about 9 or 10 at night until about 6 or 7 in the morning, you need your resort pass to get in.
-If you're along the main roads, the buses can get a little loud, and they run fairly frequently (alot more reliable than the park buses). there are 3 lines within the resort - Purple, Yellow, and Orange.
-Speaking of noise, there are "Quiet Hours" between about 10PM until about 7AM, there the buses run a little less frequently and people are actually quiet.
-The sites are all set up with a water spigot/hose, and electrical sockets to power anything you need. They also have those charcoal grills (like in city parks) and a picnic bench.

You do still get all the benefits of being a resort guest (ie - free parking, EMH, etc) as if you were staying at an actual hotel.

that's all I can really think of right now. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll do my best to answer.

Post by **Dr. Ravenscroft** » Feb Wed 20, 2008 8:45 am

meticulus9 wrote:you might even want to look into ap discounts....buy an AP and get mad discounts on hotel during the slow seasons....

Yeah but the cheapest AP in world is $477 after taxes. Granted a lot of the benefits outweigh the cost but still if you are doing things on a budget then you might not be incline to spend that kind of money.

Post by **js3901** » Feb Wed 20, 2008 9:23 am

I think the AAA discounts are better than the AP, what with the cost of the AP over the MYW packages. with AAA, you get about 20% off the room/site, up to 15% off all tours, discounts on merchandise and food with the AAA "Diamond Card", Preferred parking at all the parks, right behind the handicapped spaces at the front entrance (voucher required, but works anywhere with some blackout dates), a free meal voucher at Planet Hollywood at DD.

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » Feb Wed 20, 2008 5:44 pm

There's a buffet-style restaurant at the "settlement" area and also a couple "trading posts", where you can buy somewhat overpriced supplies. Hitting the supermarket before you arrive for a few snacks is a good idea (the same applies to the WDW hotels too, come to think of it).

The petting zoo doesn't have any pettable animals any more, but there's a blacksmith that's worth watching for a little while. You can't swim in the lake any more (and River Country is all locked up and rotting away), but they still do the Electrical Water Pageant every night (weather permitting), which is not spectacular, but is kinda cool and relaxing.

There are also outdoor movies screened, which I believe are free. Check when you arrive to see what movies are playing during your stay.

Post by **YZFDonor** » Feb Wed 20, 2008 7:21 pm

There's a buffet-style restaurant at the "settlement" area...

The buffett is actually very reasonable and good (unless something has happened) and if you time it right, after dinner and relaxing for a bit, walk down to the boat landing and watch Wishes! and then the Water Pageant (which isn't "spectacular" but it is very nice).

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Feb Wed 20, 2008 11:01 pm

YZFDonor wrote:The buffett is actually very reasonable and good (unless something has happened) and if you time it right, after dinner and relaxing for a bit, walk down to the boat landing and watch Wishes! and then the Water Pageant (which isn't "spectacular" but it is very nice).

I try to make a point of going to the Trail's End (the buffet) every trip. We went for breakfast in December and it was great ... although it was subject to the price gouging 'holiday pricing' all buffets were so it wasn't as reasonable as usual. Still veryvery tasty though. One of my faves on property.

jcodirewolf · Post by **jcodirewolf** » Feb Thu 21, 2008 8:18 am

js3901 wrote:I think the AAA discounts are better than the AP, what with the cost of the AP over the MYW packages. with AAA, you get about 20% off the room/site, up to 15% off all tours, discounts on merchandise and food with the AAA "Diamond Card", Preferred parking at all the parks, right behind the handicapped spaces at the front entrance (voucher required, but works anywhere with some blackout dates), a free meal voucher at Planet Hollywood at DD.

A few comments on this. First I always check both the AP, AAA and the DVC cash rates, I would say it's a toss up. I'm not a 100% sure about this. But I think each group has a allocation of rooms at a discount and the discount varies.

Second, you only get the AAA parking with a AAA package. Which is rooms, transport and tickets all though AAA.

So for us being AAA and AP, and DVC we can "shop" around per trip and see what works out the best.

johno

ambiguity123 · Post by **ambiguity123** » Feb Thu 21, 2008 11:46 am

I love the Trail's End Buffet. Last time I was there, it was also the cheapest buffet on property. It'll still cost you in the neighborhood of $20 per adult, though, probably more now.

When we stayed at the campground, we found it fairly quiet. If you have the type of vehicle you can fold down the seats, you may even want to sleep there if noise is a problem.

Bring your own food to cook while you're there, and, like Captain Schnemo said, stop by the supermarket on your way in.

The campfire movie is great, but again, bring your own s'more making ingredients and equipment. It is still free of charge as far as I know, its not like they play first run movies. Go early, too so you can get a good seat, have fun at the sing-along, and make some s'mores!

One more thing, 2nd week in March may be a little on the cool side, be sure to bring a good insulating blanket to place on top of the air mattress. Then sleep in your sleeping bags on top of that to minimize heat loss.

Have fun!