Staying At The Fort Without Doing Parks??

[rdancemom... Pam 113]

Just deposited FW for August. It's been awhile, mostly b/c of medical issues and the fact that DH usually refuses to use an ECV even if it's sitting right there in the van waiting. Also, park passes are a huge chunk out of a budget for someone who enjoys going but has mobility issues.

I reserved 18 days at the fort for under $55 a night - considerably less than we paid for a nearby CG last summer - so I'm feeling pretty good about that. Of course, we'll still have the added fuel costs but we'd be paying to drive and camp no matter where we went. I figure there's as much, if not more, to do at the fort as at the other CGs on our list and wondering if that's enough. With the exception of last year, we've done wdw at least once a year for the almost the entire 34 yrs we've been married so it's not like we've missed a lot. Taking DD10 to the Potter world for a day or two is a possibility but I'm thinking it'd do him good just to get away and relax a bit.

So... have you stayed at the fort without entering a park? If so, did it seem odd? Did you feel like you were missing out on the magic? I'm looking for the pros & the cons if you're willing to share them...

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

We haven't done it yet, but that's the plan when we are there for the 4th. Of course I won't have any kids with me but I'll let you know what we do. It should give you some ideas :banana:

[MLM5.. aka Judy 97]

Hi Pam! I havent done it yet, but we know that if we go to the fort more than once a year, our budget doesnt allot for us going to the park both trips. I had to cancel the July trip because of the storms in Alabama. Didnt seem right for us to plan a vacation when so many around us need help so our money is going for that. Our first trip to the fort was last year and that was all it took to hook us! We know that FW will be our annual family destination spot from here forward, we have no desire to go elsewhere. ANYWHO back to the topic at hand. My kids 12, 11, 10, 2 (and baby but she didnt go last year) had a BLAST doing the activiites that went on daily at the pool. As a matter of fact, on our last day there, THEY made the decision to stay at the fort and not go back to MK. We had a golf cart and looping was awesome, they played theather (SP?) ball for hours and of course the pool. Your going at a time that generaly seems to be less crowded which in my opinion is great for your DD. It seems like when we were there, the CM's paid extra attention to my kids and I think that was because the weren't so busy. My kids were totally ok going and knowing they werent going into the parks in July. They genuinely love FW and all it offers. Between the daily activities, pool, playgrounds, water activities you will have more than enough to keep you entertained.. not to mention the nightly campfire and movie. We will all be there in October, bringing dear baby and hubby for the first time for Halloween. We are debating now what type of tickets to buy but all we are sure of is that we have to work in a few days of down time at the FW!

[AuburnJen 771]

I have done many trips to FW without stepping foot in the parks and we have annual passes! :rofl2:

Since we have met Fiends since 07, sometimes it is hard to get "away to the parks." I hope you find that to be true as well. The more Fiends you meet, the more time you will spend in the Fort visiting with Fiends. The absolutely weird thing is, you start talking to them like you have known these people for years, like you have continued a conversation you started on the telephone, or in person earlier. It is so strange that you don't even realize it until you lay down in the bed and say to yourself, "I had never met that person in my life, yet I just talked to her for four solid hours like we were at old home week."

Fiends do that to each other. It is an affliction, curse, whatever you want to call it.

We have also just spent the weekend by ourselves at the Fort and watched our son play and do activities all weekend and totally came back to real life relaxed. Either way, it is totally worth it. :parrot:

[Ok Grumpy AKA Cindy~~ 9]

We have done this and really enjoyed our trips! We use to get Annual Passes every year but with the price increase and realizing that they really don't change that much in a year we have gone actualy a couple of years now with just visting FW. Last time we went we stayed 5 days and only did one park. Theres other things to do like DownTown Disney & Boardwalk and just relaxing at the Fort!

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

Out last trip I did not go to a park and this trip o have only been to epcot for the evening go see davy jones. W have been oodles of times though. I enjoy not feeling like we have to go.

[rdancemom... Pam 113]

Thanks everyone. DD10 & I didn't have a problem enjoying ourselves alone at the fort on our solo tenting trip but then we'd just spent more than two weeks at the BC/YC and had already done everything park-wise that we cared to before checking into the fort.

We did take the boat over to MK to visit our brick in the walkaway out front, which ended with us inside the gate to watch the parade and grab an ice cream, but we've always had annual passes so popping in and out for just an hour or two has never mattered much before.

DH, on the other hand, has only had MYW tix lately and has had more than half of his days left over the past few trips. While he's been having increasing difficulty for the past ten years, he was able to work until last year. We're all still adjusting to the whole disability thing and the lifestyle changes that come with it. It's a wonderful blessing that he's off now to enjoy things he couldn't experience while working, but a mixed blessing of sorts too, as he isn't physically able to do some of those things we'd dreamed of doing after he retired.

I've read folks say they'd never go to FW just to camp... that the parks were the attraction... and I understand that too... that's why I posed the question...

[Lou... 3,118]

I think it was Marty, MomOfSix, posted a huge list of things you can do at WDW for free. Maybe she can post it again.

[Avatab.... Steve 124]

Our last trip was 2 weeks in January. We had our 9 month old w/us and decided to not trade this years AP vouchers in till the next trip. We spent time exploring the Fort (inspired by TCD reports :) )

We also practiced taking the little one and his stroller on and off the buses,boats and Monorails. We went to the MK by boat walked back to the Contemporary, then to the Poly by mono, etc etc. Spent a lot of time at Downtown Disney and the Boardwalk, took the boat to Epcot and back again, went to eat at places and resorts we hadn't even known were there, and also went to the AKL and walked around downtown Celebration for the first time :)

No problem finding things to see and do w/o going into a single park

Either way, it is totally worth it. :parrot:

Jen, are you trying to start trouble??

:) :) :) :) :)

[datgrt@fw .... Doug 1]

So... have you stayed at the fort without entering a park? If so, did it seem odd? Did you feel like you were missing out on the magic?

Hello Pam ......... We have stayed at Fort Wilderness many times without going to the parks and we have always had a great time! We love just being at the Fort and enjoying everthing it has to offer! The magic for us is being at the Fort! We have been to the parks so many times I think for us some times we just enjoy taking a break. We still do visit DTD and other Disney Resorts and also like to eat out at Disney Restaurants during our trips! For us we have found that there is so much to do at Disney even without going to the parks that we never feel like we miss anything if we don't!

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

I am really thinking we are going to enjoy our trip in July. I love the parks but not crowds. This time it's going to be great just relaxing and meeting Fiends :banana:

[Sunshine Camper 1]

We've just camped for a week without going to the parks. We live here though. I have 2 kids 13 and 11 and hubby isn't a fan of crowds. We enjoy the Ft., DTD, the resorts and so much more. So much to do.

[stefa70 205]

We've just camped for a week without going to the parks. We live here though. I have 2 kids 13 and 11 and hubby isn't a fan of crowds. We enjoy the Ft., DTD, the resorts and so much more. So much to do.

You just camped for a week, and you have no pictures to show us? :dropjaw: It's ok, we'll wait.

I agree with all of the above. We have AP's but sometimes we only go into a park one or two days. Once I get into the Fort, I don't want to leave!

[campingpixi 11]

funny thing is that is what we planned on doing for our july trip but hubby cannot stay away from the parks so we went from $300 to $2000 for 2 days of tickets, dining plan for 5 nights! Shocking how much we are willing to put out for Disney trips!! Oh and thats not including the extra day we are adding when we get there and the golf cart!

[Lou... 3,118]

We've just camped for a week without going to the parks. We live here though. I have 2 kids 13 and 11 and hubby isn't a fan of crowds. We enjoy the Ft., DTD, the resorts and so much more. So much to do.

Ah, excuuuse me. You were at the Fort and didn't tell us ahead of time. Oh wait, your brand new here. OK, we'll let it go this time but don't let it happen again because you're interfering with my goal of meeting every Fiend that comes to the Fort.

Welcome aboard and post, post, post.

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Ah, excuuuse me. You were at the Fort and didn't tell us ahead of time. Oh wait, your brand new here. OK, we'll let it go this time but don't let it happen again because you're interfering with my goal of meeting every Fiend that comes to the Fort.

Welcome aboard and post, post, post.

Lou , you forgot to mention PICTURES, LOTS AND LOTS Of PICTURES :banana: And before I forget

[AuburnJen 771]

Jen, are you trying to start trouble??

:) :) :) :) :)

Who me? Never. :rofl2:

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Like others, we've done Fort trips without doing parks, and I remember those as my favorite trips. More relaxing, we take time to visit the other resorts and walk around, we ride the monorail and grab a drink at the Poly, we go to the WL for lunch, we hit DTD for an evening....and most importantly we enjoy all that the Fort has to offer! Rent a canoe, fish, ride bikes, ride the boats, look around the trading posts, ride the ponies, check out the barns, visit with the blacksmith, loop, check out decorations...the list goes on and on! :banana:

I don't think you could possibly get bored there in a couple of weeks. I think you could get relaxed, but not bored.

[TnBob 311]

I don't think we have spent more then 5 hours in the parks in the last 3 trips to the fort, and we have annual passes. I am wondering if we are going to renew them this year with the price of everything and the little we go to the parks anymore.

[Otter Spotter aka Debbie 58]

We have spent many trips to the Fort without going into any parks both before and after becoming a Fiend - and like Jen - we have annual passes.

We resort hop, take a bus to the studios and then take the boat from the studio over to Boardwalk and walk around the whole lake (that's good for an afternoon). You can get to any of the resorts by taking a bus to DTD and then transferring to a resort bus. Or, take the launch to the Contemporary, hop the monorail & do the monorail resorts, get off the monorail at the MK and catch a bus to any resort. You could spend your entire time just exploring the resorts and keeping a picture journal of all the hidden mickeys at each resort.

There's also a guy that owns a business called "Owners Locker" and he had a wonderful thread on "the place that shall not be named" showing all the unique items each resort has to offer. The thread was called "Adventures of the Purple Van" and I loved it - until WMPete shut it down. :argh: I've looked to see if he has a blog or anything but turned up empty. I can only find random pictures on other Disney themed websites. Maybe an invite to our board is in order? I mean .... he already has the right color and everything!

Anyhow - there are a lot of things to occupy your time without going in to a park. You'll have a ball and see things others tend to overlook.

[Sunshine Camper 1]

Oops, sorry guys-we camped the week after New Years-the kids didn't have to go back to school until the 10th of Jan. We took FULL advantage of the Ft. with the rest of the kids in our county doing the same thing. It was like we had the ft. to ourselves. The management at the snack bar-which I was surprised it was open since the holidays were over-said we couldn't use our brown FTW mugs for refills anymore. We were bummed-but it was on our last day there.

Anybody have any insight on this matter?

[Avatab.... Steve 124]

Oops, sorry guys-we camped the week after New Years-the kids didn't have to go back to school until the 10th of Jan. We took FULL advantage of the Ft. with the rest of the kids in our county doing the same thing. It was like we had the ft. to ourselves. The management at the snack bar-which I was surprised it was open since the holidays were over-said we couldn't use our brown FTW mugs for refills anymore. We were bummed-but it was on our last day there.

Anybody have any insight on this matter?

Hi SC! We got there on the 9th I think, It was nice and quiet until MLK weekend when all H-E-Double Hockey Sticks broke out....

Can't help you with the mugs, but our host here AuburnJen is the resident mug expert.

oh and BTW: :insanity:

:) :) :) :) :)

[campingpixi 11]

[Avatab.... Steve 124]

There's also a guy that owns a business called "Owners Locker" and he had a wonderful thread on "the place that shall not be named" showing all the unique items each resort has to offer. The thread was called "Adventures of the Purple Van" and I loved it - until WMPete shut it down. :argh: I've looked to see if he has a blog or anything but turned up empty. I can only find random pictures on other Disney themed websites. Maybe an invite to our board is in order? I mean .... he already has the right color and everything!

I agree, he needs to come and post here. I enjoyed that thread very much, it was fun to see what I hadn't noticed before esp when in some cases I had walked right by it many times.

Our last trip, we went to the AKL for the first time and we went to the "Trophy room" because we saw it on the "Adventures of the Purple Van".... Never would have known it existed otherwise :)

Why did the DISfunctional Boards close it down after it had been going for so long?

:) :) :) :) :)

[mikeymouse1 25]

We have stayed at the Fort many times without doing the parks. We even have been there with family that are doing the parks and we still just sit around the campground. We might go to the pool and people watch or ride our bikes and explore. Its just nice to be there!