Fort wilderness or a value resort

[gbrooks135]

If you have a choice would you stay in an RV at Fort wilderness or at Valve resort?
Will be taking my 6 year son on his first trip Disney
if we stay in a valve resort we will have extra food cost of having to eat out, if we take the RV we will have extra Gas Cost. I calculated about a $250.00 difference
so list your pros and cons to each choice

 

[networkpro]

Location, transportation, and food, that's our deciding factors always.

How much time do you expect to spend in which parks?
What time of day will you get up (average) ?
Do you need nap times?
Are you going on vacation or are you taking a vacation (cooking vs purchasing meals) ?

With the current Covid restrictions in place, transportation from Resort to Park and back at the denser populated locations like Pop or All-Stars, expect to take more time with long lines.

Ft Wilderness is spread out, you might need to take a bus to do anything.

 

[Schneewittchen]

I've stayed in both FW and All Star Movies and Pop. I'd take FW in our RV anytime.

The value beds are garbage.
The value food courts are trash.
The value pools are not great.
The bus situation at a value, even before covid, was awful.

Your RV bed might be good. That's up to you. How's your RV bed? OR are you planning to rent an RV?
Your own food might be good, that's on you.
FW has a decent pool with a nice slide and a hot tub. Values have neither.
At FW, you can at least take a boat to MK. And before covid, you could boat to Contemporary and then monorail to Epcot. That's not an option right now. In the past, the buses at FW weren't bad. For my upcoming FW trip, we'll be staying in our new travel trailer. So we plan to drive the pickup truck to Epcot, HS and AK. And spend a lot of the evenings just hanging out at MK. (We have hopper tickets.)

 

[MMFanCipher]

I would choose the Fort. Nice place to watch the Electrical Water Pageant, Chip & Dales sing along, pool and movie nights. Even
when the kids were smaller we walked everywhere. Golf cart rental seems high to my frugal wallet. We try to stay near Meadows
Trading post. Near the pool and other things. Not too bad of a walk to the pier from there and you can look at how people have decorated there sites. I personally LOVE the boat ride to MK. We also drive to the other 3 parks. Don't need to worry about the
buses. Needless to say a very BIG fan of the Fort.

 

[Hakunamatata]

I would choose the fort. Its a different atmosphere. However if you have never stayed there consider you may want to rent a golfcart to get around the fort complex. Thats about $65 a day I believe.

 

[Schneewittchen]

I forgot to mention another thing about the Fort. You don't have to rent a golf cart, bring your bike to get around. There's places to lock up your bike at the docks, the pool and down at the bus depot.

 

[networkpro]

as you see, locations have fans and critics. Pop and AoA are also highly themed with brightly colored figures and have large centralized pools, The Meadows is basic concrete with a slide. The shops at the values are larger and carry more merchandise than the Settlement and Meadows. If crowds and lines are not your thing, Fort Wilderness is your best option IMHO. If theming is what you're after, Pop, AOA is better.

 

[Buck Wheelie]

I'm not big into camping but I would still goes with FW.

 

[aliceismad]

I'm gonna go against the grain here, because I think staying at the Values are "more Disney" to a 6 year old. I actually quite like the big statues at Movies, and it would feel more special for me. That said, I grew up camping a lot, so camping (even in an RV) would not be a special vacation for childhood me. If you can swing the extra $, I'd upgrade to Art of Animation, but if not, I'd go with All-Star Movies (which also had the rooms refurbished recently). (I like the Toy Story area of Movies the best personally.)

 

[ppet]

I would definitely do PoP or AoA especially with the Skyliner. I wouldn't be over concerned about the dining options at either. The food Court at AoA is decent but you can always make a quick trip to DS for more options. The biggest drawback to FW is transportation. As aliceismad stated above the over the top themeing is made for a 6 year old.

 

[JIMINYCR]

I'm not so much a fan of the values, but only since its his first time at WDW I think I'd go that route this time. Give him the theming and experience of staying in a resort setting. Food costs can be lessened if you bring some of your own snacks or food items. Overall a $250 difference in cost isnt that big of a deal to sway me. If hes been RVing with you before, it might not be as special. Whats his feelings about which way hed like to spend his first trip? I'd show him some videos and pics of each so he could decide what would excite him most. Either way, at 6yo, hes got lots of time for you to do return trips and get different experiences.

 

[Dave B]

If it is his first trip, ( like you mentioned ) I say go for the values, he will be immersed in Disney and it will be an unforgettable experience for him on his first trip, The beds are fine and the hotels are a lot of fun for kids that age

 

[ELG13]

I LOVE the fort. We consider it our home resort. However, we recently did a quick trip with our 6yo and 9yo and stayed at pop century and loved it!! If it's a shorter trip id probably say to stay at a value but if it's a longer trip I'll always vote for the fort just because there is so much to do while there. Something to consider if it hasnt been mentioned is that at the fort most people rent golf carts as the way to get around since you can't drive cars to certain spots like the marina where you catch the boat to MK. It's an extra expense that isn't necessary but always worth it but may not be worth it for a shorter trip.

 

[yensid67]

For me the deciding factor of which way to go is SAVINGS! Secondly, is where I would like to stay?

Since you are in SC, you will probably drive? BUT as an option that your 6 yr old would enjoy is riding the train! Amtrak leaves from Myrtle Beach International Airport and it would be approx $152 per person!

If staying at FW is something you like to do and it would save money, I would choose that

But if staying at a Value and eating out would save even more money, I would opt to that.

BUT if you are all about saving as much money, and having extra money for souvenirs, etc...I would look at staying offsite at a nearby hotel! My reasoning...you are paying for the theming of the resort. If you are only going to use it as a place to sleep and shower, I would suggest staying offsite. But if you are planning a RESORT DAY and spending a day or two at the resort ONLY, I MIGHT consider the resort.

It's really up to you and your preferences!!! But that just some food for thought!

P.S.
I would love to stay on property ONCE, but I am only using the hotel room as a place to seep and shower, so why pay for theming!?

 

[Jimschick13]

I would choose the Fort. Nice place to watch the Electrical Water Pageant, Chip & Dales sing along, pool and movie nights. Even
when the kids were smaller we walked everywhere. Golf cart rental seems high to my frugal wallet. We try to stay near Meadows
Trading post. Near the pool and other things. Not too bad of a walk to the pier from there and you can look at how people have decorated there sites. I personally LOVE the boat ride to MK. We also drive to the other 3 parks. Don't need to worry about the
buses. Needless to say a very BIG fan of the Fort.

 

[Jimschick13]

We are staying family of 6 at ft wilderness cabin I’m trying to find a golf cart or decide if I must have it figuring I will not have a cabin with a preferred location. Thoughts on not having a golf cart) we are staying 5 days parks are MK HS AK MK EP but we will try eat breakfast most days and want to let kids swim after day at parks?

 

[ELG13]

We are staying family of 6 at ft wilderness cabin I’m trying to find a golf cart or decide if I must have it figuring I will not have a cabin with a preferred location. Thoughts on not having a golf cart) we are staying 5 days parks are MK HS AK MK EP but we will try eat breakfast most days and want to let kids swim after day at parks?

The golf cart is always one of the best parts of the trip for us. You don't HAVE to have it but it definitely makes it easier to get around. I'm not a huge fan of the internal system just because it can make a short trip to the front of the property much longer than if you just hopped in you cart and went. We always rent from an off property vendor because it's cheaper and we need a 6 seater and the fort can't guarantee a 6 seater (which is so weird to me since the cabins hold 6 people). I think especially if you want to go to the pools a lot I would get one so if it's not a convenient walk you can drive the cart. We also love early morning drives with our coffee and kids in PJs looking for animals!!

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

FW. Not even close. If I were you I'd plan an entire day there and forgo the parks for that day. The activities from canoes to bikes to just walking around the Pioneer Hall area (especially if the petting zoo and pony rides are open), the campfires, the hay ride. There is no substitute for that bonding experience. It's something your 6 year old son may have issues remembering in it's totality 20 years from now. For you - It's something you will never forget.

 

[mpaulam]

We just stayed at POP. Only 3 nights as it was a last minute, quick trip. We have a 2 week trip reserved for next winter at the Fort. As mentioned earlier, POP has the big icons for theming. But that's just outside. The room we were in was one of the refurbished ones. It was nice, but I did mention to DH that I couldn't imagine staying there for much more than 3 nights and it was just the 2 of us. I also said that I couldn't imagine staying there with kids. I feel the rooms are too small. They do, however, have lots of storage and counter space! And if it was the only way I could take a trip, I would stay there in a minute! We really enjoyed taking the Skyliner to Epcot.
Sooooo, probably didn't help, but maybe some more things to think about. Have a great time whatever you do!

 

[ELG13]

We just stayed at POP. Only 3 nights as it was a last minute, quick trip. We have a 2 week trip reserved for next winter at the Fort. As mentioned earlier, POP has the big icons for theming. But that's just outside. The room we were in was one of the refurbished ones. It was nice, but I did mention to DH that I couldn't imagine staying there for much more than 3 nights and it was just the 2 of us. I also said that I couldn't imagine staying there with kids. I feel the rooms are too small. They do, however, have lots of storage and counter space! And if it was the only way I could take a trip, I would stay there in a minute! We really enjoyed taking the Skyliner to Epcot.
Sooooo, probably didn't help, but maybe some more things to think about. Have a great time whatever you do!

This was us. We did a 2 night quick trip in January with our 7 and 9 yr old. It was totally comfortable with the kids especially since we would lift the Murphy bed every morning so we had that table. It was very roomy. But we said the same.... anything more than 2 or 3 nights we would do the cabins if we could afford it. I think the cabins definitely have a few added expenses depending on what you want to do (golf cart and other added activities) but the space you have at the cabins with kids cannot be beat anywhere! We leave in 43 days for our 8 night stay and I can't wait!! It's definitely our happy place