happybratpack

OK people, I can do a REAL trip report....food, drama and all. I was just trying to be efficient for other curious campers. Now the gauntlet is thrown.

I wanted to share a few pics and our experience for our first Fort Wilderness trip. Everyone was such a help here over the past couple weeks while I tossed this trip together and it was a HUGE help.

We were originally assigned 2061 but once we arrived at the site w/ our luggage Chip said he was calling to see if he could move us to 2062 which he did end up doing. What a nice guy, he went and brought back our new cards too since our site moved. This ended up being much better since 2061 was next to the comfort station and we were now across from it. A few pics...

On arrival...

All set up...

I just can't say enough about investing in a good air mattress. SO much better than our last camping experience.

Our view of the comfort station...

From the comfort station...

For some reason before I went I was obsessed with bathroom pics so here are mine...they look like all the others. Note how clean everything was, it stayed this way the entire time. :)

Some random thoughts....

• I loved the resort, the grounds, everything and will definitely stay again.
  
• It was August, but with the fan in the tent we were perfectly comfortable almost anytime of the day. No issues at all at night.
  
• There was a HUGE difference in Friday/Saturday there versus the other nights. Starting Friday afternoon there was a pre-teen & teen explosion which wasn't a big deal, but a definite change in action/noise around the loop. I know the neighbors called in a couple times after 1 am when there were kids on carts racing around. Not Disney related at all, but geez, parents let their kids run crazy there on the carts.
  
• I admit it, I hated having to switch buses at first but after I got the hang of it didn't really mind. I thought the transportation times were great, even the longest wait for a bus (TL/DTD) was only 15 minutes. It did stink being the last of 4 resorts on Magical Express though. We were ready to be there!
  
• The kicker that kind of tarnished things for us was that starting Friday things started going missing. Beer from the cooler was gone during the day on Friday (it was outside the tent but under canopy), then the entire cooler w/ new beer in it the next day (from inside the tent). The neighbors were packing up their trunks Saturday morning, we went to say bye and they said they weren't leaving but two bottles of liquor had been taken out of their food tent on Friday so were keeping everything locked in trunk from then on. Security came by yesterday and was asking if anything was awry and that's when we noticed a few other things missing and some other people were complaining. They assured everyone they were increasing visibility, etc. Sooo...I'm not sure if that was just a random thing or a regular occurrence but it's something we will definitely keep in mind for next time. Hazards of only having a tent I suppose.
  
• CM's at the resort were all great and went out of their way for us...we didn't have one negative experience from anyone Fort related which is more than I can say from some other WDW stays.
  
• My newbie .02 - bring a good fan, a good mattress, extension cord/surge protector and light and you're good to go. When I posted about the trip on the DIS I had a ton of negative posts about it being August, camping, blah blah but really it was a great experience that I wouldn't hesitate repeating.
  

Thanks again to everyone...

Loving this! Plus your campsite is inspiring me.

Thanks! I was hoping this was the case, but the "official" stuff I read put the boats starting later. One less thing to worry about. :)

Thanks again for everything...

Our flight arrives at 9:55 am on Thursday...I've usually had good luck with ME'ing my stuff but I booked out the rest of the day so it would be a gamble if it arrived early or not so I'm torn.

We have two bags under 50 lbs we're checking so it's running us $100 round trip for baggage. I can definitely make a list of things I'd do differently on another trip but so far I can't complain.

It was the only time I could get and I reeeally want to take him. Is it possible to get there that early with WDW transportation or do I need to figure out something else?

Thanks!

Thanks again everyone...I'm making one last shopping trip today for a compact fan and am just going to hope for the best! I will say that prepping for this trip has been a ton more work vs just another resort but I'm excited.

It also occurred to me (thank goodness) that I couldn't Magical Express our checked luggage due to all of the camping equipment. Wouldn't that have been a lovely disaster it not showing up for hours?!? :rofl2:

Thank you, thank you!!

OK...the AC thing...unless I can fit something in a duffel I can check for $25 on the flight I don't see that happening. I'm assessing different fans but I'm beginning to get that overwhelmed feeling going on. I was thinking a couple regular small fans but that doesn't really cool anything, just move air.

You guys ROCK. I just was able to get back on and see all of this, now my list has grown by pages.

Seriously though, thank you all so much for the warm welcome and information. We have the basics...tent, canopy for over the tent but am trying to prepare for the heat. Plus we're flying in so trying to either compact everything enough to check on flight or ship a box this week to be there by the 2nd. I'm sure I'll get there and have some obscure camp item and no panties.

:rofl2:

Hi everyone...

I followed someone from the DIS over and was beyond excited to find this site/forum. I just booked a trip for the first week of August for 5 nights - tent site. I've been to WDW a bazillion times it feels like but this is a completely new experience. I'm trying to get my rear in gear and start compiling my pile of stuff to take but I'm hoping there is a list posted somewhere so I can attempt to get everything I should need.

If anyone could kindly point me that direction I promise not to ask the repetitive newbie questions. :)

Thanks!

Maryann