paulmlac

I want to fax in a loop / sites request.  Only problem is I can't find the FW fax number.  Does anyone have it?  Thanks!

We are making our 2nd trip to FW.

Last year (our 1st trip), upon the advice of this site, I requested a specific loop (actually a range of sites within a loop).

I did that by faxing a request to FW about a week before arrival.

Is that still the correct process to make a request?

Thanks!

2013 Forest River Sunseeker 3100 with a gas engine & no toad.

MPG:  Depends on a variety of factors.  Diesel / gas.  No toad / toad.  Highway / city.  Flat / hills.  Speed has a LOT to do with it.  I've tracked 3 longer trips.  Got a 7.7, 7.7, & 9.2 depending upon the combination of factors above.  Around an 8 is what I use for planning purposes.  Sounds expensive but you need to do the math.  Works out for longer trips better.  We spent $800 in gas to go from Cincinnati, OH to the Fort & back last spring break.  Way cheaper than airline tickets.  Takes longer though.  Also allows you to stay onsite without a rental car which is better than staying offsite with a rental car (in our opinion at least).

Pros:  You didn't say if you have anything now.  We had 2 pop ups for nearly 20 years.  Setup / teardown is way faster vs a pop up. Comfortable.  As for me personally, MY clean shower & toilet are the biggest positive factors!

Cons:  Not a cheap hobby.  I mention setup / teardown as a positive but the offset is there is more ongoing maintenance such as oil changes, exercising the generator, etc.

Layout:  Are you talking 2 beds in the back bedroom or two bunks apart from the bedroom?  If you are talking the former, it isn't popular so it might make resale difficult.  Just something to consider.

Regarding a Coachmen Leprechaun:  I don't know if I'm supposed to steer you to another website but...  I know you said used, but if you are considering a newer used ('13 or later), you may want to take a read through this thread on RV dot net.  In fact, that website in general & specifically the class C forum will have a lot of great info to read as you consider this purchase.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27253634.cfm

(Mods:  I apologize in advance for directing someone to another website if I'm not supposed to do that but it's in the spirit of informing them prior to such a large purchase.)

Clarifying question...

You say to get off at Hartzog Road/Western Way.

Mapquest says what I copied & pasted below from the turnpike.

Is Hartzog Road / Western Way the same as CR-535?

• If you reach SR-429-TOLL S you've gone about 0.5 miles too far

• Winter Garden Vineland Rd is 0.1 miles past Lake Cawood Dr
• If you are on Ficquette Rd and reach Fossick Rd you've gone about 0.2 miles too far

• Vista Blvd is 0.3 miles past Mystic Cir
• If you reach E Buena Vista Dr you've gone about 0.1 miles too far

• 0.1 miles past Golf View Dr

• If you reach Peacock Pass you've gone about 0.2 miles too far

• If you reach Vista Blvd you've gone about 0.1 miles too far

 

Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground and Resort

1510 N Fort Wilderness Trl, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830

 

(407) 824-2900

Carol -

Very helpful.  Thanks.  A couple follow up questions:

When we were at FW last Spring Break, we took the boat from FW to MK.  Can we catch that same boat from FW to MK then monorail to the TTC - or do we boat from FW to Contemporary then monorail to the TTC?

Also, looks like it may be possible to just bus from FW to Downtown Disney & then catch the Lynx to SeaWorld (although guessing that may be more congested to find the Lynx stop at Downtown Disney)?

Thanks again!

Also try booking for much longer than you really need - two to four weeks with your dates somewhere in the middle. If availability in a premium shows up, then book it, cancel the original site, and call back a few days later and cancel the dates you don't need.

OP Here...  OK.  This is the weirdest thing.  Disney is supposedly smart & all but I don't get it (why it works this way).  If there's "no room at the inn" (in the spirit of the season) for nights A / B / C, there shouldn't be room if I try to book nights A / B / C / D.  However, I took my original dates, added 2 extra nights on the end, & a premium site was available then, so I booked it.  I will do as you say & cancel the reservation I made last night for the full hook up site.  Then call in a couple days & cancel the last 2 nights at the premium site.  Are you sure they won't say it isn't available then?

There is an app for iPhone and Android that has the dimensions of all the sites. I think it might be called Fort Wilderness Sites, but someone in the know will respond.

 

When is your Spring Break? I'm surprised all the premiums are booked since Easter is late this year.

Kelly -

I should have guessed you would be the first to respond.  I recall you were very helpful last year when I was asking questions then too.  As a side story, coincidentally, you were just a couple sites down from us last spring break.  I recognized all the GA stuff & the name sign that you had out.  I would have introduced myself but we pulled out early in the AM after you must have come in the day before when we were out & about.

In any event...

Thanks for the app suggestion.

Our spring break is the last week of March.  We really would prefer premium again but it's not available.  I went through the reservation day by day & it's just a couple nights that are making it not available.  So we debated between preferred & full hook up.  We opted for full hook up.  Last year we only went to the back a couple times (once to go to MK on the boat & once for Hoop Dee Doo).  In looking at the loop map & as best we can remember we think the full hook up might be walkable to the middle recreation area (pool, campfire, etc) which would be more appealing to us.  So we'll give that a try.

Question from a relative newbie...  I got on this website a year ago to help plan our first trip to the Fort.  I am back on now as we are thinking about going again.  My general sense was that people were very positive to the Fort a year ago (unless I totally missed something).  Has that changed over the past year or so?  If so, why?  Seems like (from reading this post at least) the group is very negative now.  Just curious.

Made our first trip to the Fort last spring break.  Thinking about going back this spring break.  We had a premium site last year.  Per the website, only a preferred site is available this year.  Two questions:

- Would a preferred site fit a 32 ft class C?  Seems like they're in the back & we liked being by the meadows pool, etc last year but "it is what it is" as the saying goes.

- If we book now, decide later not to go, is there a cancel charge?  We would have this figured out over the next couple weeks; not the day before we were supposed to check in.

Thanks!

We are here now.  Heading home this morning.  Son has what appears to be an ear infection.  Does anybody know where there is a pharmacy drop in clinic by the Fort (we are heading north on the Turnpike, 75, to the Atlanta area tonight & then Ohio tomorrow)?  I see some in Google but just don't really have a good sense of what's close or on the way.  Thanks!

Making our first trip to the Fort. Check in next Sunday. I've read on here you can make loop requests. Have a few questions about that:

- For a check in on Sunday, what day could I request a loop?

- How do I do it - i.e., do I call them, e-mail them, fax them, what's the e-mail address or number?

- Any loop suggestions?

Reserved premium classification.

Using Disney trasportation to do Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, day off (FW pool, Downtown Disney for lunch, & Hoop Dee Doo for dinner), Epcot, & Magic Kingdom - all on different days.

Class C, 32 ft.

No toad or golf cart, just bikes.

No pets, slight preferance for a non-pet loop but not a big deal either way.

Prefer sites that are larger, shadier, & close to comfort station (not as a primary but as a backup).

Shiny - Sorry, confused by your answer. As long as I have what? The old account which had one set of numbers was closed. The new account which has a different set of numbers is now open. Are you saying I should save / bring the old card in case I need to show it even though nothing could be charged to it?

Making our first trip to FW next month. We have prebooked our camp site, Hoop Dee Doo, Mama Melroses Lunch Fantasmic Package, & a Via Napoli dinner all on our Bank Of America Visa card.

Does anyone know if you need to show the credit card that you used to pay for the tickets in order to get in or get the tickets? I know that is sometime the case for sporting event tickets being picked up at will call.

Here's why I ask: We just received two new Bank of America Visa cards. They have new numbers. Apparently, there was (another) data compromise that you always hear about on the news anymore. They closed our old account.

I guess the good news is we could no-show & skate by without any charges (just kidding!!!).

Is it that you can't get through or that they can't get the info either?

I can get through. The first two reps I spoke to said they would send me an e-mail confirming the changes. The rep I spoke to this morning said they don't have a way to send e-mails confirming changes.

We talked to "tech support" and they also said you need to clear your "cookies" and the "cache" since it may be taking you into the old site or some such thing.

Also did you check "add a missing reservation"?

The reservation is showing up in the list. It's just when I click on view details from there.

I tried logging in after reading your post and it was fine.

I go directly to the "My Disney Experience" page, is that where you start?

Right. I have no problem logging in either. I can log in just fine. What I can't get to work is the link to "view reservation details". Here's step by step what I'm doing:

1 - go to www.disneyworld.com

2 - click on "mydisneyexperience"

3 - sign in

4 - click on "my reservations" under "mydisneyexperience"

5 - click on "view details" for the reservation in question

Oddly enough, it's just this one reservation that the details don't come up for (the one that I changed), & repeated calls to Disney are yielding no results either.

I have made reservations and checked some existing reservations within the past week with no problems. In fact, I just made a dining reservation. It worked great. What are you using to access the site?

I think the website problem started midweek. Last weekend it worked OK. It still works to make reservations. It's when I tried to view an existing reservation's details that it didn't work (My Disney Experience, My Reservations, View Details). Here is the message that comes back:

Server Is Busy

Sorry, but the server is temporarily unavailable due to maintenance or scheduled downtime. Please try again later.

I just tried again this morning. And got it again so now it's on day #3. I've tried from 3 different computers. 2 at home running Internet Explorer & my work laptop running Firefox. I got the same message from all of them. So it definately appears to be more on Disney's end that my end.

And, the root cause is that Disney hasn't done what they said they would do 2 times now - put a credit on my credit card & send an e-mail confirming the change.

Honestly, not a happy camper right now.

What is up with their website?!?!?!

Since last night (for over 24 hours now), I have been trying to view a dining reservation & I keep getting a message that the server is down.

I only want to view the reservation because we changed Hoop Dee Doo categories (A to B in order to get a different time). Category B is less expensive. Last I looked, the higher category A price was still showing in the reservation. I've called Disney 2 times over the last 6 days. Each time they tell me the price will be changed, we'll get a credit on our Visa, we'll get an e-mail, etc. Nothing. Just curious if their system still shows the higher category A price in the reservation after our most recent call.

I travel for work a lot. I honestly can't recall a more frustrating experience booking reservations online be it airlines, rental cars, or hotels. It's amazing to me that a company that sells travel online can't have something a little better.

Two questions from a soon to be first timer...

1) Disney's website says each site can park one motorized vehicle with additional in the overflow lot. If I am coming in a Class C motorhome, does that count as my motorized vehicle? Can I also park a car on my site (Grandma's car actually)?

2) Proabable different answers for different folks but any thumbs up or down for either category 2 or category 3 at HDDMR (unfortunately category 1 is sold out for the date / time we want)?

Very confusing. We are making our first trip to the Fort next Spring Break. We have a 2013 camper. There is a cable jack connection in a storage compartment outside. There is also a plate inside where I need to push a little button turn off the antennae amplifier if on cable. And there are two TV's that I would assume are digital since the camper is all of 6 months old. If I take a normal coax cable, hook it to the cable jack connection, push the little button, set the TV to cable vs air, shouldn't the channels come in?

We're planning our first trip to FW.

Just curious why people rent golf carts. Is it for practical reasons such as the place is huge, the Disney bus system in the campground isn't reliable enough, etc? Or is it for fun reasons such as looping, etc?

For the people who do rent carts, do they use them to go from their site to the outpost up front to catch a bus to the theme parks (is there cart parking up front)?

Is it practical to use bicycles rather than a cart?

Note that we are bringing a class C without a toad so won't have other transporation.

We are asking because the cost for a week rental through Kenny / Tee Time, while cheaper than Disney, is still a chunk of money.

Just sent Judy an e-mail.

GaDawgFan - We'll be passing each other. We will be checking out on 3/30 & driving back up 75 to Cincinnati. Perhaps you know about 75 around Atlanta? We are going to try to stay in the KOA just south of Atlanta in Forsyth on the way down & then the KOA just north of Atlanta in Cartersville on the way back home. We tend to be more state park people but figure the KOA's will be open that time of year & close off of 75. Are they safe areas, decent places, etc?

OP here.

Thanks to all for the help.

Our mistake on the boat launch. We saw Wilderness Lodge & thought that was the one in Animal Kingdom.

We have rethought some things. We are going to book a premium site. Staying in the back doesn't seem to make sense since we'll be going out the front more than the back. The boat at the back really only goes to MK. We'll use the bus at the front for Epcot, Hollywood, Animal Kingdom, & Downtown Disney.

Here are the loops that we have eyeballed & will try to request about 5 days before: 1100, 1200, or 1300 on the front side so away from pool noise on the back side.

Avoiding 1400 since it's closer to the dog park.

Avoiding 1000 since it appears to be closer to the main road with a semi circle shape vs a road back.

We have pretty much decided against the dining plan. We would have only done the basic plan (2 quick service, 1 snack, refillable mug option). Seems like conventional wisdom on the net is that it's harder to recoup your investment with that plan & it takes more planning for restaurants / meals which we don't really want. Plus our DD at 12 would pay adult prices & tends to eat mostly smaller portions & / or non-mainstream foods (i.e., she is happy with a cheesestick app for dinner).

We are looking into the golf cart (through Kenny / tee time).

Another question: Is there a AAA discount on sites? If so, do we need to go through AAA or call Disney to get it? Guessing there isn't a way to get it on Disney's website.

We'd be looking for a 4 person cart late March 2013 from a Sunday night late (after dinner) to the following Saturday morning (first time he could take it back as we'd be hitting the road)?