Fort Wilderness transportation.

[pauljriley]

My family and I are looking at visiting WDW next year. We are a large family (two adults, two teen's 14 and 16 respectively, and two kids 5 and 6 respectively), and we're visiting from the UK.

We are interested in staying at the Fort Wilderness resort, we have however heard disturbing comments about getting to and from parks and other resorts using the Disney transportation. In general the complaints are about how spread out the resort is and the additional time it takes to get to the parks. Lots have mentioned that "golf trolley's" are essential, and queue's at the bus stops can be massive resulting in having to wait for multiple buses before you can catch one.

So I would like some advice as to whether these comments that we have read are just scare stories, that we should go and have a whale of a time, or that we should stay anywhere but FW.

 

[DisneyJunkie]

I've stayed at Ft. Wilderness once and I can say that your ride times on the bus are a bit longer than at other resorts simply because of how large and scattered the campground is. You may take a bus ride from the local stop to a few others before it even leaves Ft. Wilderness to head out to your destination. It's the same thing that happens at the moderate and value resorts. Going out and coming back can be a bit trying on those who are exhausted with sore feet and just wanting to get to their room/campsite.

Of course, that was a while ago that I stayed there. They could have made some adjustments in the bus loops and stops out there.

 

[JaneGood]

Following, as we are looking at staying there too. Ive been to the resort, just not stayed there, and it is huge. We are factoring golf carts in, I wouldn't stay there without them, its just too spread out and the idea of taking the boat back to the resort (yay) and then having to cram on a bus just to get to the cabin (boooo) doesn't work for me.

I think if time is a serious issue for you, Art of Animation suite might work, thats our other alternative. But there is no boat option, or kitchen.

Having gone a few times now, its easier for me to just kind of accept that there are travel times involved, unless I want to spend 1 billion dollars and stay at contemporary or Poly Bus waits are a PIA at any of the value or moderate resorts really. But on the plus side, you aren't driving or paying for parking

 

[Master Yoda]

@DisneyJunkie is pretty much spot on. The only real additional time added to your commute to the parks is the commute from your campsite to the bus stops and boat launches at the front and rear of the campground. That additional time in most cases might be 10-15 minutes on average. I would say it is just slightly worse that what you find at pretty much any other resort.

Some people do rent golf carts to avoid having to rely on the internal buses, but I have never found them to be a necessity. If you are driving down and can bring bikes, those would be nice to have, but you can rent them as well.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

If you are driving down and can bring bikes, those would be nice to have, but you can rent them as well.

Are those priced somewhat reasonably? Do they have length-of-stay rentals or do you have to return them every evening? I don't imagine they offer baby seats / trailers. We rent bikes when we go to Hilton Head and love it.

 

[Master Yoda]

Are those priced somewhat reasonably? Do they have length-of-stay rentals or do you have to return them every evening? I don't imagine they offer baby seats / trailers. We rent bikes when we go to Hilton Head and love it.

Last I heard they were about $20 per day. Not too bad for a couple there for a weekend, but a little nuts for a family of 4 there for a week. ( A comparable bike from Wal-Mart would cost you $100 to own)

The golf carts go for about $65 per day and seat 4.

I am not sure on the baby seat.