Loop 800

[Dakota Rose]

We've pretty much decided on RVing to the World when we go in January. I'm going to request Loop 800, though I know my request isn't guaranteed. We'll be traveling in a 40' RV with 2 slides (those remodled sites should be perfect!!) and have 2 small dogs. Loop 800 is a pet loop with full hook-ups (I'm pretty sure) and looks relatively central to both the pool and the boat launch.

Has anyone stayed in Loop 800? Thoughts?

And I'm not understanding the park bus system at FW. Is the p/u location at the front of FW? How long of a walk is it from Loop 800 to the p/u area?

[Janmac]

Dakota Rose, seems like the loop/site assignment is like the Stones song - you might not get what you want but you just might get what you need. Or something like that.

Anyway, we stayed in the 800 loop our first time at FW and it was not what I had in mind when I made our requests, but it turned out just fine.

I have heard that you don't want to make many requests and you want to have your most important request first. We faxed requests about 4 or 5 days before we were due to arrive. From what I understand your reservation isn't even at the resort until then, so no need to send requests before that. I think the fax numbers are in the resort section at the top of the page.

If memory serves, we requested a site that we could get into easily as our crew cab dually one ton truck had a turning radius of about an acre. We had no problem backing into our site. Next up was a request to be near the site of the rest of our family - we were right across the loop road from them. And last request was to be near the trading post and pool and we got the 800 loop.

You've probably already mentioned the size of your RV and the number and sides of the slides. And that you have dogs. I'd request a loop near the trading post and pool, etc., and let the FW CMs figure it out for you from there. They usually do a good job but if your RV is just not making it into the site, go back down to the Outpost (check-in) and let them know.

The other thing you can do is arrive as early as you can. We like to arrive about 1 pm. If your site isn't quite ready, you can still check in and park in the parking lot and go to a park if you'd like. You'll be given a card with a number to call to check on when your site is ready.

Fort Wilderness has two bus stop areas. One is the Outpost, near the road to FW, and the main parking lot. The busses to Epcot, AK, water parks, and Downtown Disney pick up here. The Outpost is quite a hike from the Meadows Trading Post area (and loop 800). It's a nice bike ride tho. We did use locks on our bikes when we parked at the Out post area.

The other bus stop area is near Pioneer Hall which is at the other end of Fort Wilderness, near the boat docks for the Magic Kingdom and the Wilderness Lodge and Contemporary Resort boats. The bus stop here is before you actually get to Pioneer Hall and this is where you'd get the Disney Studios bus. If it's too foggy for the boats to run, you'd get an Magic Kingdom bus here too.

The Pioneer Hall area is very walkable from the Meadows Trading Post area. I don't think it's more than a 10 minute walk. When we rode our bikes to the dock to get the boat, we didn't lock them. There are a gazillion bikes there, most of which were much better bikes than ours. Plus it's not near a road, as the Outpost is.

There are lots of internal bus stops, and 3 main bus routes, something like purple, orange and yellow routes. You'll figure them out easily enough as you will only use the one bus route. On our first FW trip we had long waits the first day or two but then we must have gotten in sync with the bus system because for the rest of the trip we usually got to the bus stop when a bus was coming.

Enjoy!

Jan

[Dakota Rose]

thanks Jan for all the info. :) Especially the info on the busses. I found so much conflicting info on the web that I just needed some first-hand knowledge.

I haven't yet made reservations for our trip because we're still figuring dates and all that.

The bikes are a great idea. I'm trying to figure if we can make that work being that we'll have to take a stroller into the parks too....But I'm pretty inventive, so all I need is time! :)


If anyone has more info on Loop 800 or pictures thereof, let me know. I'm kind of an info-junkie....

[NJ Camper]

If you want you can also consider renting a golf cart they rent them by the day ,week,or longer if needed but you will want to book this in advance also they can run out if you go during busy months or if you have one of your own you can bring yours but the bike idea is great if it works for you we have done both the cart is nice for site seeing and gets 4 people to the bus pickup spots for the parks pretty quick
oh yeah never stayed in 800 have stayed in 1600,1900,500 and 300 several times each some are tighter then others but with the new site improvements (wider and longer) it should help our last trip we requested the 300 loop and got it but make sure you tell them which loop you would like and they do the best to accomadate good luck and hope this helped have fun and enjoy the magic :mickey:

[Dakota Rose]

Thanks NJCamper :)

[Janmac]

Regarding photos or other info of loop 800, have you done a search on the Internet for Fort Wilderness info? I recall a site that had lots of information but I don't even recall what name it might have had.

As for photos from when we were there, that trip I didn't take the gazillion photos of everything that I usually take. I don't know what happened but my camera pretty much stayed in the camper.

Jan