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We're seriously considering staying at the Fort for the month of November.  We are not full-timers and have made maybe 10 or so trips in our rig at all - most of them to WDW! ? The longest we have stayed at FW is about two weeks.  Any thoughts on what we could expect jumping up to staying for a month? My husband would work from "home" so my mother and I would have to find some thing to do that are just "normal" - it wouldn't be park hopping every day.  Pros?  Cons?  Thanks for adding to the madness of considering it!

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This isn't madness at all!  We stayed at the Fort four weeks last fall and have reservations for a full month in September/October.  There are several fiends who stay a month or more

We went to a park all but about 5 days.  And one was to visit my aunt near Tampa and another was because our dog was in the veterinary hospital.  Sometimes, though, those visits were just long enough to get ice cream at MK.  And believe it or not we didn't have nearly enough time to do everything we wanted to do!

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If all goes to plan, we're hoping to experience this same madness at the end of the year.  :P

I work from home and will likely be spending some of that time working from my lounge chair, and I expect DH will spend a lot of that time looping or just relaxing.

We've done 3 week trips for the past bunch of years.  At first we wondered if it would be too long, but it only took one trip for us to realize it went by way too fast.

We usually have APs and pop in and out of the parks most days - sometimes for a meal or just to walk around a bit - but not all.

What we like about having the extra time:

  • We don't really have to worry about FPs or lines for attractions.  If the line is too long for something we want to do, we come back another time.
  • Time to explore other resorts and Disney Springs
  • The ability to bug out to Universal, or the beach, or wherever, without feeling like we're missing out on WDW time
  • No pressure to spend all day in the parks, so we can hang out with the pups and make sure they're happy and exercised when we do go out
  • Being able to not just enjoy the parks and all of WDW, but R-E-L-A-X also
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You may not want to spend or plan to spend every or all day in a park but if you have or are able to swing annual passes it is nice to just be able to pop into one of the parks for a ride, show, or attraction then back to the Fort or off to someplace else. For me it is much more enjoyable that way. There's plenty to keep you as busy as you'd like or a lazy as you'd like.

Depending on when you arrive you may be able to catch the end of food and wine. When we were there for food and wine I'd go over just to catch the concerts in the evening. Also all of the Christmas stuff should be up during your stay and we enjoy checking out the decorations at all the resorts.

If you want off property there are plenty of outlet malls to wonder, old town and other things around Orlando.

But the best is just relaxing around the Fort.

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I really have nothing to add. My family just recently spent 3 weeks at the Fort. We are fulltimers, but it doesn't really change things. Some days were spent doing laundry, or running errands, or just living life. We didn't do like the other and go into parks every day- we had quite a few days where we didn't go in (but that was also partly due to the plague and surgery recovery).

It's a beautiful campground and a nice place to stay and spend for a while (if you can stomach the price, that is!).

I do also recommend annual passes to the parks- not feeling like you're "wasting" a day by just going in for a couple of hours is really nice. It definitely changes your outlook on park days.

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Thanks everyone for the thoughts. We are Annual Passholders so we would have the opportunity to go to the parks as we wanted. I think I jinxed us though - the day I posted this question was the first time that I checked on availability and it was not available. ? I had checked time and time again up until then and it was always available... Anyone know any travel agents who book the Fort?!

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November can be tough for the whole month with Thanksgiving but my best suggestion would be to book as much as you can get and then work to expand and add on the days or get multiple reservations for the same site level and have them connected as continuing travel. If you would like assistance feel free to message me on here or at [email protected] and I would be happy to help. Same cost as going direct with Disney but I do the hunting and work for you. 

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Yes... Jason is the man :)

As for the OP, a month at the Fort... how awesome!  Our longest for us was last fall and that was 17 nights.  Loved it.  We did not spend every day at the parks but I agree with the other Fiends on the AP.  If you can do it, it's worth it for such a long trip (even more worth it, if you're able to squeeze in a week next year before the pass expires! ;) ).  It's nice to only spend a few hours at a park, when you do go.  The Fort is a great campground.  I have no doubt that y'all will have an amazing time.  Enjoy!

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A month would be great if you go into it with the right mindset. Do you want that to be a vacation month, or are you looking to just live life?

 

i stayed at the fort for a year and a half. The only reason for leaving is the cost. But we set out guidelines too. We had lives to live that did not involve Disney. We paid bills, ran errands, worked, etc. but we were able to enjoy everything the fort had to offer when we wanted. The hardest part was everyone around us was there to vacation and we had to separate ourselves from that. We couldn't rush off to the beach for fireworks every night because we had to work early the next morning. Or we had to plan ahead of time when there was a golf cart parade to be sure we didn't get caught by it. But it was a great experience. 

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We've spent the past 15 or so Decembers at the Fort.  Some times we only go into the parks 4-5 times, rarely more than 10-15 times.  We do a lot of looping and just looking around.  The kids love it with an occasional trip to Winn Dixie or WalMart.  A trip to a Trading Post for a newspaper and some ice cream makes their day.  Some days we just ride some Disney transportation and look for deer or whatever.  A month at the Fort is awesome with or without the parks.

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The longest we have stayed is 3 weeks, but I would love to spend a month.  We have AP'S and visited one of the parks almost everyday.  With a stay of that long, you can go to the parks for just a few hours and not feel like you are wasting your time or ticket.  I'm sure you will have lots of fun!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

20 years ago my wife and I were there tent camping for 5 days. We decided to stay another 4 days as we were having a great time. Anyway when we went to the desk, the lady in front of us was paying for another 4 months, no kidding. My wife and I were floored, that is until the cast member was going over the existing reservation and check in at the beginning of january. This was the end of May.

 

I don't know what the limit is, but 9 months? We still joke about that overtime we pull into the entrance to check in.

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I've never before of a limit. I know that a reservation can only made for 30, but I don't know of anything saying you can't have back to back reservations. Maybe travel agents can book for longer or maybe there's another way. I know theres at least one Fiend that has lived at the Fort and other people who do.

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15 hours ago, mouseketab.....Carol said:

Perhaps there was a long term thing 20 years a go. Nowadays, there is a limit of a 30 day reservation, but you can have as many of those as you can afford.

The "old" settlers rates could be made continuous, but as you said there is now a 30 day, repeating, window.

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18 hours ago, Grumpy and Grandma said:

The "old" settlers rates could be made continuous, but as you said there is now a 30 day, repeating, window.

 

Does the rate stay at the rate that applies the first day of the reservation, or do they have to add up each day's rate as it changes over the 30 days?

I'm not sure I asked that right, did that make sense?  LOL!

 

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30 minutes ago, Avatab.... Steve said:

 

Does the rate stay at the rate that applies the first day of the reservation, or do they have to add up each day's rate as it changes over the 30 days?

I'm not sure I asked that right, did that make sense?  LOL!

 

Yes, it makes sense. Now the rate changes on a daily basis depending on weekday, weekend, season.

Up until about 5 years ago (maybe even longer, time flies!), the day you checked in was the rate you payed throughout the stay. Lot's of folks were checking in during value season and getting that rate for their entire stay, even over Christmas!

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