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c_lewis77 · 12-12-2011, 08:05 PM

I am taking the Wife and my 4yo daughter to Ft. Wilderness/ Disney for the first time. We have reservations in the premium loop near the marina somewhere. Any advice?

rebelstand · 12-12-2011, 08:46 PM

what do you need to know?

dznf0g · 12-12-2011, 09:17 PM

There ain't no bad stuff there. Just have fun!

c_lewis77 · 12-12-2011, 09:22 PM

@rebelstand: I am trying to make the most of the trip! My little girl is really excited about camping in the AS and going to disney. I just want to make the trip as fun as I can! We are looking forward to it!
My wife has never camped in the AS before.... what an adventure we will have! LOL!

dznf0g · 12-12-2011, 09:43 PM

I guess my point is......ok...it's been just a "couple" of years since I did it with my little ones. They're all well into their twenties now. Don't overthink it. Let the 4 year old run the show. It is, afterall, really HER magic kingdom, isn't it?

clancy_boy · 12-13-2011, 12:20 AM

Uh, where to start? Going primarilly to MK? The boat shuttle is the way to go. Leaves from the Marina at FW. It's fast and also is the easy way to return. The Camp Store prices are fair for most common suff - milk, eggs, bread, but for larger grocery buying have a GPS and go the 15 minutes to Walmart. Walmart also has the Disney stuff there for much less (towels, trinkets, hats, toys) and is where we gift shop - it's all Disney licensed stuff and found for more at the parks.

Any specific questions? Are you on your way now? Good time of year to go, lines should be low and access to the parks is good.

You said you are in the Premium loop - that's good for WiFi, and TV cable. If you have a TV, the Disney information channel is a way to keep on top of Disnay specific events, lots of movies for the kids and the weather. Sites will be very clean all over the campground. Level and ready for you to hook up. Facilities are some of the best - laundry is in every loop. Have lots of quarters.

Skater · 12-13-2011, 05:37 AM

We're going in January. Not the premium loop, though.

87MH · 12-13-2011, 06:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by c_lewis77

I am taking the Wife and my 4yo daughter to Ft. Wilderness/ Disney for the first time. We have reservations in the premium loop near the marina somewhere. Any advice?

You might consider some "cheapie" bikes....golf cart rentals are expensive in the park.

Find some inexpensive bikes (garage sales?) - there is a lot of sand areas in Fort Wilderness and grit easily gets into the chain and gear bearings. No sense taking an expensive bike there when you are only going a quarter or half mile.

Consider taking the family during a theme time - Mickey's Not So Scarey Halloween Party is a must do at least once for a youngester...IF you do do the MNSSHP decorate the Airstream to the max and prepare to dispense LOTS of treats...Halloween night at the Fort is what Halloween is supposed to be - lots of youngsters and oldsters on the roam for goodies. Also a good place to dispose of recycled Mardi Gras beads.

rebelstand · 12-13-2011, 06:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by c_lewis77

@rebelstand: I am trying to make the most of the trip! My little girl is really excited about camping in the AS and going to disney. I just want to make the trip as fun as I can! We are looking forward to it!
My wife has never camped in the AS before.... what an adventure we will have! LOL!

All good advice here.

For our first trip the kids were 5 & 7. I researched the attractions everyone could participate in (age & height) for each park, then we sat down with our kids and looked at those attractions online then let them pick the ones they wanted to see. This way I knew exactly what we wanted to do and skipped the stuff we didn't.

We did Early Morning Magic hours (any guest of a WDW resort is eligible). Early Magic Hours are a really good way to avoid long lines.
AT the Magic Kingdom we managed to ride all the Fantasy Land rides (Dumbo, It's a small world, Carousel, Peter Pan, & Buzz Lightyear over by Space Mountain) all before the park opened to the general public. After that with most of our agenda met, we wandered around and rode or watched things as we liked. It also allowed us to return to the trailer if we wanted then return later to see the parade and fireworks. Our first trip we did 14 full hours at Magic Kingdom but it was a very long day!

Plan a day for the fort, if you can. I usually do our Fort Day on Wed to rest everyone. There is plenty to see around there. They have several playgrounds, heated pool (if it's cold don't go to the meadows.. use the other one by the cabins. The slide in the meadows cools the water below a comfortable level).

If you are planning on doing Character Dining you need to make your advanced dining reservations (ADR) asap. We skipped this the first time as we just wanted to enjoy our time. We also don't wait in long lines for Character Meets. If it's less than 10 minutes then it's ok...if not, then we skip it. Except for Mickey and Minnie but that was only a 35 minute wait.

c_lewis77 · 12-13-2011, 06:42 AM

Taking good notes... Thanks everyone!

@clancyboy
I guess i forgot to mention we are going mid february. I am trying to plan ahead!
Just enough time to finish polishing the airstream! 34' is alot longer than it looks!

rebelstand · 12-13-2011, 06:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clancy_boy

Uh, where to start? Going primarilly to MK? The boat shuttle is the way to go. Leaves from the Marina at FW. It's fast and also is the easy way to return. The Camp Store prices are fair for most common suff - milk, eggs, bread, but for larger grocery buying have a GPS and go the 15 minutes to Walmart. Walmart also has the Disney stuff there for much less (towels, trinkets, hats, toys) and is where we gift shop - it's all Disney licensed stuff and found for more at the parks.

Any specific questions? Are you on your way now? Good time of year to go, lines should be low and access to the parks is good.

You said you are in the Premium loop - that's good for WiFi, and TV cable. If you have a TV, the Disney information channel is a way to keep on top of Disnay specific events, lots of movies for the kids and the weather. Sites will be very clean all over the campground. Level and ready for you to hook up. Facilities are some of the best - laundry is in every loop. Have lots of quarters.

Do you still have the link to the FW map? That could probably help him get the lay of the land down.

It's water to Magic Kingdom and bus to the rest. No matter what anyone tells you, you can't get to EPCOT from the fort directly via monorail. You will have to switch at the Transportation center and it takes longer than by bus(this is a good way to get back to the fort if your little one is interested).

seldencove · 12-13-2011, 03:56 PM

Golf carts are expensive but well worth it. They due have busses that run through the park, but the carts are lots of fun. Its a huge campground and we love taking the cart through every loop checking out everybody's setups.
We didnt bother with the park hopper passes because we could only due one park a day with 9 and 11 yr olds.
Use the fast pass system as much as you can, it helps with long lines.
Early Magic hours are great, its like having the park to yourself.
Have fun!

rebelstand · 12-13-2011, 04:52 PM

Bikes can be used for riding through the loops (looping) as well. We have not done park hopper passes yet because we haven't been enough times to get bored with one park in a day.

The bus system is good but if he's in the premium loops he should be in reasonable walking distance to most things.

We also buy the refillable resort mug. You can fill it with coffee, hot chocolate, water, or sodas. We typically fill it up before hitting the parks, when empty we stick it in a back pack or large purse for rides and shows, and refill from our lunch drink. Clancy boy tells me that you can request they put water in it at any drink locations.

clancy_boy · 12-13-2011, 05:28 PM

Bikes are reasonably safe in the campground. We arrived once without locks - now we don't have the most expensive bikes either. We just left them at the boat dock all day when we took the boat shuttle and at the bus pickup and never had an issue for 5 days. It was summer too.

rebelstand is correct - water refill your own cup for the asking at the drink kiosks in DW. Just ask and have cup ready - and wait in line.

Premium loops are typically smaller (some of the oldest but very modern - closer sites too) but very easy to get to the attractions at FW.

Make reservations at the parks for sitdown dinners or lunches now - they fill up. Crystal Palace in MK with Winnie and gang is our favorite and the food is excellent. Makes a great late b'fast or early lunch. Keeps you going all day.

clancy_boy · 12-13-2011, 05:30 PM

Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground map - wdwinfo.com

LINK TO MAP

Farmer Dan · 12-13-2011, 08:12 PM

One thing we found that will help avoid some of the crowds is to go the back of the park you are visiting and do those attractions first. Kind of a "reverse psychology" thing. There will be a lot of people almost any way you choose to visit the parks, though. But, I've got to give Disney credit, they really know how to move the people through the attractions efficiently!! Front to rear, rear to front, it will be the trip of a lifetime!
Dan

Tinkstream · 12-14-2011, 08:42 PM

I would like to thank all of you for your posts. Our family is headed down from christmas eve - New Years. gma-gpa, 2 siblings/spouses and 7 grandkids. Really looking forward to the trip of a lifetime. Any frequent attendees? Interested in passing on any further knowledge? We are signed up for the bipity, bopity, boutique for the girls and several dinners.... I wrote down the crystal palace(thank you) and we will be visiting Pooh and the gang.

c_lewis77 · 12-14-2011, 08:55 PM

Tink:
you will have to let me know how it turns out (and post some pics)! We have reservations for cinderalla's royal table one of the nights we are there and are thinking about thr bipity bopity botique before we go to dinner. My little girl is getting so excited.
We went to seaworld last year, I made the mistake of telling my little girl where we were going before we left. she didnt get to sleep until 4 am at the hotel the night before... she turned into a pumpkin after lunch! we still had a lot of fun. I think I will try a different strategy this time!

Tinkstream · 12-14-2011, 09:20 PM

LOL.... Our strategy is all are packed in one large truck away from the kids. kids will be in 2 of the 3 vehicles. We will pull out 4am, tell them we are on a short trip, pray they sleep for a bit. Halfway down, fill'em in on the real destination, and ride the wave of excitement in.... all the adults are past the point of excitement. Can't wait to see the looks on our kids faces, ranging from 17-1 yoa.