Jknezek

On 3/22/2017 at 2:49 PM, WannaBeImagineer said:

On 3/28/2017 at 11:04 AM, geoffdaddy said:

Maybe it's nice, I dunno... but we drive past that place most times on the way to the Fort, and the whole place for the most part is plainly visible from I-10. I think the Fort would beat it hands down for being more secluded looking. I'd have a hard time paying a premium price for it based on location alone.

You aren't paying for the location. You are paying for all the things available at the campground. Frankly, there is simply more there than even at Ft. Wilderness for families to do (campground only obviously!). But you are right, you can see most from the interstate and it's not the same quality for sites. There is no real perfect comparison for Ft. Wilderness, but there are other campgrounds that have tons of family amenities. Most that are in the same realm as The Fort cost close to $100 a night. Which was the point. The Fort is expensive, more expensive than the comparable campgrounds you can find, but not necessarily obscenely more expensive....

Hmm. Seems like a pretty bad rumor considering those are AP blackout dates. What's the point of doing AP previews with the AP people? 4/8 through 4/21 is a no go... 

I would like to be contrary, but at this point I think Fort Wilderness has about pushed the envelope on the value of the campground as far as it can go and I'm of two minds. At roughly $100 a night for a Preferred spot in the off season of the first week of December, it is the most I've ever spent on a campsite in 10 years of camping. But does that mean that it is overpriced? Here is my comparison.

The Tallahassee area Jellystone (actually Madison FL), has a 60' water slide, a lazy river, a splash pool, a zero entry pool, a putt putt course, a place to rent kayaks, jump pad, a couple playgrounds, walking and bike trails and a bunch of outdoor sports courts. It's a very nice, family friendly campground, with some large, shady spots and some that aren't. When everything is open, in the summer, a campsite for 4 costs $85, $12 for each additional guest. So for my family of 5 it would cost within $10 a night of what The Fort costs in the offseason for a preferred site. Now personally, I think Jellystone has more things to do, for free, than The Fort itself has, but it doesn't have a restaurant (there is crappy pizza), a show (Campfire), or quite the same level of clean and comfortable sites and bathrooms. Overall, I consider it somewhat of a wash campground to campground, but I think Jellystone is better as a place for a family to spend a few days, if all you are doing is hanging out a family friendly campground. However, if we are talking about prime season to prime season (and not holidays, as that is a whole different animal at both), Preferred costs around $135 a day (mixing a weekend day or two to the weekday rate). Now we are talking almost $40 extra per day. There is no way it is worth it, campground to campground.

But is Fort Wilderness worth it for a totally different reason? Is that extra $40 worth the convenience associated with $100 a day tickets to the parks? The benefits to staying on property are pretty large if you are spending serious time in the Parks, and you can't access those benefits cheaper than you can at Fort Wilderness. So here is my simple formula. I won't stay at Fort Wilderness as a campground. It simply makes no sense to me. There are other campgrounds that have similar amenities for less money. Are there some trade-offs? Absolutely. But the sheer money difference has thrown the calculation out of whack. Will I stay at The Fort as the best way for me to get On Property benefits? Yes I will. Fort Wilderness has lots of amenities of a moderate resort like a sit down restaurant, pool slide, special transportation, dinner show, easy access to the monorail resorts, etc. But it costs less than a value resort (unless you can find discounts or dining incentives, but that's not really happening if we are talking high season). That makes perfect sense to me. 

As with all things, your mileage may vary.