Fort Wilderness Cabins???

[Mikey Piano 23]

Hey Everyone! Can anyone tell me a little bit about the Fort Wilderness Cabins? We have 5 adults we are looking for an inexpensive alternative for staying on site in Disney. I have a couple of questions:

Are there full bathrooms (toilet, sink, shower) in all of the cabins?

What are the sleeping arrangements?

How is transportation? Boats? Buses? Etc?

Any Food?

Anything else we should know before we book? Thanks!! :mickey::mickey::mickey:

[faline]

Each has one full bathroom. There's also a small sink area in the bedroom in the back.

Cabins have a full kitchen in the front (this includes full size refrigerators, stoves with ovens, microwaves, coffee maker, dishwasher and appliances). Off this, is a living area which includes couch, tv and a murphy bed (pull down out of wall).

In the back is the bedroom. In some models, this includes a bed and bunks; in others, no bunks.

To get to parks, you often need to take two forms of transportation. Internal buses and then a form of transportation (bus or boat) to your final destination.

Food is available at Trail's End in Pioneer Hall.

[KarenP]

The cabins are about 500 sq. ft. and they sleep 6. The bedroom has a double bed and a set of bunk beds. There is a Murphy bed in the living area. They have a fully-equipped kitchen, microwave oven, dining table, air conditioning, full bathroom with hair dryer, one color cable television and VCR. Each cabin also has an outdoor patio-deck with a picnic table and charcoal grill.

The resort has an internal bus system. There is a boat to Magic Kingdom.

Trail's End Buffeteria is the restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. They also have Crockett's Tavern which serves snacks, pizza and a few other things.

[JoDisney]

I believe there is an additional fee for each adult each day, beyond the original two. In your case there would be three additional adults. From what I understand, It use to be $15 a day per additional adult. I know someone here on the boards will know what the cost is for each additional adult beyond the two adults originally included in the reservation rate.

[A Big Kid]

The cabins are about 500 sq. ft. and they sleep 6. The bedroom has a double bed and a set of bunk beds. There is a Murphy bed in the living area. They have a fully-equipped kitchen, microwave oven, dining table, air conditioning, full bathroom with hair dryer, one color cable television and VCR. Each cabin also has an outdoor patio-deck with a picnic table and charcoal grill.

The resort has an internal bus system. There is a boat to Magic Kingdom.

Trail's End Buffeteria is the restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. They also have Crockett's Tavern which serves snacks, pizza and a few other things.


There is also a couch in the same area as the murphy bed. I have stayed there in the past and would not hesitate to stay there again if the conditions warrant.

[KarenP]

I believe there is an additional fee for each adult each day, beyond the original two. In your case there would be three additional adults. From what I understand, It use to be $15 a day per additional adult. I know someone here on the boards will know what the cost is for each additional adult beyond the two adults originally included in the reservation rate.

It is $5.

[Janmac]

Some of our extended family stayed in a Wilderness Home a year ago. We were right next door altho in another loop, in our travel trailer.

The bathroom is quite roomy, with a full sized tub, as well as plenty of counter space. There were some small shelves on the wall beside the sink. Plenty of storage space for everyone's stuff. We did not find a sink in the bedroom.

The Wilderness Home had a Murphy bed in the living room and a double bed and a bunk in the bedroom. Our DD and her DH had the living room - he is 6'5" and slept diagonally on the Murphy bed while DD took the couch which is almost an extension of the Murphy once it's down off the wall.

My sister, her daughter, and her granddaughter and DD's daughter were in the bedroom. We jokingly put up a shower schedule but that didn't turn out to be necessary.

There aren't a lot of places to sit in the living room area, other than the couch. But there is a nice deck outside, and we brought folding chairs for the Wilderness Home, since we had our travel trailer.

There is a lot in the kitchen, even two coffee makers. We didn't actually make anything other than coffee and maybe popcorn. I think we brought coffee filters, coffee, creamer, paper towels, etc. It seems that I did an internet search and found a detailed list of what is included and what's not.

There is no food, but there are a lot of dishes, pans, etc. I don't think there are quite enough of everything for six, like six mugs but there were six of something to drink out of. The fridge, stove, oven, dishwasher are all full sized.

The Wilderness Home is a bit dark. We brought some nightlights.

We used Disney transportation exclusively, even tho we had our truck, as we had towed our trailer to the campgrounds. The only time we used the truck was at 6 am one morning when we took our two grandkids to Typhoon Lagoon for surfing lessons. Disney busses aren't running that early. I think we were waiting a bit long for internal busses the first day but then we got in tune and hardly ever waited for a bus after the first day or so. One pretty much arrived when we got to the bus stop.

Disney busses to Epcot, AK and the water parks leaves from the Outpost area, which is where you check in. The bus to the Studios leaves from the Pioneer Hall area, which is at the other end of the campground. Just past the Pioneer Hall area is where you'll get the boat to MK, unless it's foggy. We got a bus to MK from the same stop as the Studios bus.

There are 3 internal bus routes, serving different areas of the campground, to get you to the Outpost or Pioneer Hall areas. The info at check in was clear enough that we had no problems getting around.

Since my sister's granddaughter was 2 years old, we rented a golf cart, to get to the external transportation stops. The cart didn't accomodate all of our group, even all the ones in the Wilderness Home. Sometimes some of us would walk and sometimes someone would bring the cart back for the rest of us after dropping the first load off. We were nearer Pioneer Hall than the Outpost and it was a short walk to the Studios bus or the golf cart parking area for the MK boat. We also brought bikes in our truck and biked to the Outpost during the day.

We also brought some Christmas lights and decorations for the exterior and interior of the Wilderness Home and for the golf cart.

Those staying in the WH used Disney Magical Express which dropped them at the Outpost. From there a CM brought them and their luggage to the WH. Our SIL's golf clubs arrived a day later for some reason but everything else arrived about an hour after our family members did.

There is probably more but I can't think of it right now. You can do searches here and also find out more info at Trip Reports.

Enjoy!

Jan

[BelleCiavo]

Hey Everyone!
How is transportation? Boats? Buses? Etc?

Any Food?

Anything else we should know before we book? Thanks!! :mickey::mickey::mickey:

We loved our stay in the cabins back in 2005, but transportation and food were the only downsides. It takes a while to get anywhere, including MK, in fact after a few days we drove ourselves. As far as food goes, I missed having a counter service option. It was fine having a full size kitchen, but I don't want to cook when I go on vacation so it didn't see much use.

We very much enjoyed the extras a FtW. We probably would never have gone horse back riding or to the campfire if we hadn't stayed there.

Karen (spoiled by the Poly)

[Buttercup]

Each has one full bathroom. There's also a small sink area in the bedroom in the back.
They have actually removed the sinks from the back bedroom. Those were only in the old "Wilderness Homes", not the new cabins that have replaced them. Now it's just a countertop with mirror in the back bedroom.

The cabins are absolutely fantastic - I've stayed in them many times. Here's what you can expect to find:
BEDROOM: One double bed and 2 bunkbeds, closet with safe, vanity countertop, television, and a back door that exits onto the large wooden deck.
BATHROOM: Tub, sink, toilet, large vanity and storage cupboard for all your toiletries.
KITCHEN: Full size fridge, stove, microwave, dishwasher and sink, plus all the dishes, cookware and cleaning supplies you'd need. They supply dishsoap, dishcloths, etc. There is also a kitchen table that seats 6 (four chairs and a bench seat). This is also where the main door to your cabin is located.
LIVING ROOM: There's a couch, (more like a love-seat size) small end tables and chairs, television, telephone, storage cupboards, VCR/DVD and a pull down double murphy bed that folds up nicely into the wall during the day!
OUTSIDE: The wooden deck outside is very spacious -- it has a large picnic table on it and that's it. There is a charcoal barbecue just below the deck, but charcoal is not provided. You have to buy that at one of the settlement depots (or bring your own from home). Then there's a driveway at the front of your cabin as well as an outdoor power outlet which is great for charging your golf cart at night if you rent one.

As far as food goes, you can either grocery shop at one of the 2 settlement depots located throughout Ft Wilderness, but selection is sort-of limited and the prices are probably a little more expensive than the regular grocery store. But it's good for odds n' ends you might have forgotten. You can order groceries to be delivered to your cabin from Garden Grocer and you might find their prices better. There is the Trails End Buffet restaurant if you want to go out for dinner, and you can also order pizza there. There's also the Hoop Dee Doo Revue if you want a dinner show experience.

You will also find neat activities at Ft Wilderness like the nightly Campfire Singalong with Chip n' Dale, the Electrical Water Pageant, bike rentals and trails, golf cart rentals, 2 pools, horseback riding, boat rentals, a beach and more!

Ft Wilderness is really big. So big, in fact, that it has it's own internal bus transportation system. So it sometimes takes a while to get around. You've gotta take a bus from your cabin to another bus depot (or the beach to catch the ferry) just to get out of the resort. But I can tell you it's definitely worth it! :)

[drhama]

The previous post pretty much cover the lay out, transportation and goings on. Just wanted to add that our family loves the cabins. The separate bedroom is great for the grandkid. Other resort choices meant that everyone went to bed at 9pm. We would stay at the cabins again anytime.

[CU Tiger]

We have stayed in the cabins each of the past four years and LOVED IT!! :thumbsup: I think this is the best-kept secret at Disney. FW may not have the best pools, but there is an entirely a different type of magic there.:magic: It is like being at Disney and not at Disney!? You are removed from some of the commercialism, but are still deep into the Disney spirit. If it is all adults, two will have to sleep in bunk beds. I guess this might bring out the kid in you. :D We like to be able to make our own breakfasts and some other meals to get away from the restaurant food. This also a way we like to save some cash.

I would recommend the cabins to anyone! :mickey:

[busterthebronco]

the cabins are our favorite!
weve stayed everywhere but this is the best.
call EARLY and reserve a golf cart.
(if we cant get a cart we stay somewhere else)
we load up on groceries before we leave home and since you just park right out front its a snap to load up the place!
we cook out oin the grill every other night.
mousekeeping even cleans the grill!
we chill out on the deck at night and chow down at trails end.
the hoop de doo is awesome and the boat ride to the MK for some season is special.
we dont mess with the buses since we can hop right in the car.
it takes no time to get to another park.
no walking across whole hotel campuses and through huge lobbys.
lastly we like having two tv's and each in its own room.
great for escaping into ballgames and soap operas at the same time!
anyway, we'll be there spring break!!!!

[Llamaface23]

Since there is so much activity here I figured I'd add my own question about FW. I am a little worried about the internal bus system. I plan on going at the end of July or beginning August 2008 --FW is a possibility for my group of all adults. What is the average wait time for internal buses and also, how long of a wait is there when transferring to the external buses? I am concerned that time spent waiting and transferring buses could be time spent in the parks!

Thanks!

[Buttercup]

Since there is so much activity here I figured I'd add my own question about FW. I am a little worried about the internal bus system. I plan on going at the end of July or beginning August 2008 --FW is a possibility for my group of all adults. What is the average wait time for internal buses and also, how long of a wait is there when transferring to the external buses? I am concerned that time spent waiting and transferring buses could be time spent in the parks!
Thanks!
It depends on where your cabin is located, and which park you want to go to that day. If you take a peek at the resort map (look in Intercot's Info Central) you'll see where the cabin loops are located in relation to the various bus stops.
Generally speaking though, you'll only wait 5-10 minutes at the very most to catch one of the internal busses -- they have stops very close to each cabin loop. Then, depending on which park you want to go to that day will determine how long from there, but it's really not too bad at all.
I remember on my last trip, we had 8:30am reservations at the Contemporary Resort (Chef Mickey's). So, we left at 7:45am... took an internal bus from our cabin to the beach, hopped on the ferry to the Magic Kingdom, got off the ferry and hopped on the resort monorail, and we were at the Contemporary in plenty of time for our breakfast. And that was during a VERY busy time of year (Easter) so you would expect there to be lots of waiting around, but it wasn't bad at all!