would you stay at KOA to save money, lots of money

[cypressaggie 0]

I am totally sold on Ft Wilderness, but the frugille side of me isn't. I get all the benefits of staying on property. I can stay at a KOA for less than $500 vs. $12oo plus for Ft Wilderness. The Koa has a shuttle to Walt Disney. I have emailed KOA for shuttle details. I am not trying to start a war, just wondering if others have done this and how it worked out for them.

Thanks,

Liz

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

No....but to each their own.

[caveat lector 181]

I agree with AC.

[BouncingTiggers 98]

That's a lot of money. But if you are staying that long then I'd definetly chose the fort.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

That is certainly a lot of money. For us, staying at the Fort IS our destination...even if we don't do parks. So I wouldn't stay off site at another campground to save money. But if the Fort was primarily a base camp to do the parks, then saving $700 is a huge incentive to stay offsite. You wouldn't take advantage of extra magic hours or free parking...but the shuttle negates the parking advantage if it is convenient to use, and you might not care about EMH.

I'll be curious to hear from people that have stayed at offsite campgrounds to hear their opinions. And no matter what you end up doing, I hope you have a magical trip!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

I tried the shuttle thing at a local hotel once back in 1998, unless the KOA itself runs the shuttle, it is NOT a good thing.

Most of the local shuttles are shared services with other hotels. There are two or three in the morning, and two or three in the evening. Rarely if any is there any service in the middle of the day.

I have never stayed at the KOA, so can't comment there.

I spend more time at the Fort than at the parks, so staying at the Fort is very important to me.

But then if a lot of Fiends decided to stay at the KOA to just hang, I'd probably join them :)

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

The Fort is just too much awesomeness to pass up for me!

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Probably not for the same reasons as above . We only come down once a year from NH, so it's our all-out, "this is it" vacation every year and the Fort is a big part of that.

That said.... if it came down to the savings allowing us to stay longer, spend more time at WDW or do things we maybe couldn't normally do, I'd consider it.

[bord1niowa......Curt 79]

It may depend on which KOA also. There are two I know of in the area and one of them I wouldn't put a horse up at.

[bord1niowa......Curt 79]

Check through one of the travel agents or AAA for discounts. I was saving over $200-$300 for 10 days to 2 week stays at Fort Wilderness. If you have young kids, stay at the fort! It's too big of an "adventure" to get them back to an outside campground for a break. I know the one KOA is a limited schedule of runs to Disney. Pretty much go in the morning and come back at night, but not real late. Could take a big chunk out of your day. Just my 2 cents. By the way, I am "frugal" too and I always stay onsite.

[cypressaggie 0]

ok, I have been reading reviews for the parks other than Ft Wildnerness, we are staying there, just had to investigate. Geez, it is still so much money to go to Disney,even staying in our trailer.

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

And that is what we can never get "resort" people to understand. You don't stay at the Fort to save money. You stay there because it is AWESOME!!

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

I think you are making the right decision. June is HOT and it is so nice to be able to take the boat or bus back to the Fort during the day to nap, swim and snack or eat. Then you easily go back to the parks late at night when it is cooler. I have stayed off-site at hotels and I can tell you, it is not fun at all trying to make that trip back and forth and paying for parking everyday!

[Brent... Just Brent 83]

I've stayed off site plenty of times. For short trips when it's really all about the parks, it's great. A lot of the hotels are quieter and have similar amenities. Usually the hotels themselves are cheaper than a partial site at the Fort. That said, I was getting up at dawn, heading to the parks and staying until they closed. Come back, have a beer, sleep, repeat. If that's what you're going to do, then it would be a good savings.

I think you made the right choice, though. Once you stay at the Fort, you'll compare everywhere else to it. There's nothing like it.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

But if the Fort was primarily a base camp to do the parks, then saving $700 is a huge incentive to stay offsite.

The fort IS our base camp to do the parks. We don't spend a lot of time there other than to eat, sleep, go looping, and see people.

But we still wouldn't stay offsite again because it just takes up too much time running back and forth to the parks. If we were staying for a month or longer, I would consider staying offsite. If we were spending the winter, we would definitely stay offsite just because we couldn't afford the fort for that long.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

ok, I have been reading reviews for the parks other than Ft Wildnerness, we are staying there, just had to investigate. Geez, it is still so much money to go to Disney,even staying in our trailer.

Yup, it is. Cheap and Disney just don't exist in the same space.

Although we recently stayed at a campground in Foxboro MA whose off season rates were more than the Fort. It was a VERY nice campground, but nowhere near Fort caliber.

Sadly, for some people it's actually cheaper to stay at the value resorts than camp at the Fort. Although you miss out on all the Fort awesomeness... and being only a 15 minute boat ride from the Magic Kingdom!

On the plus side, camping allows you to save a bunch on your food budget if you eat at the camper. If you're in a resort you pretty much have to eat out most meals, and that adds up quickly.

And IMO it's definitely worth it to work with an experienced Disney travel agent to try and snag some discounts.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Just remember, you can't put a price tag on magic.

Well, technically, I guess you can....$1200. lol. But it's worth it!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

My big thing is the driving. I drive right at 700 miles to get there, and DON'T want to drive anymore. If you are staying offsite, it is a big committment to go anywhere, cause you either have to worry about the shuttle schedule or if you have a vehicle, then everyone has to go or not. If Rick doesn't want to leave the same time I do, no big deal, or if one of us wants to head back to the campground early, no big deal. We love each other dearly, but we are NOT joined at the hip.

Another thing that is a big deal for us is the charging priveledges on the room key. To me it is a security feature against losing my regular credit card or actually flashing it all over WDW. If you lose your regular CC, then it takes a minimum of 24 hours to replace, and is a big headache to change your CC number on many of your real life issues. If you lose your WDW room key, it can be cancelled immediately and replaced within a couple of minutes, and doesn't affect the rest of your at home world.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

My big thing is the driving. I drive right at 700 miles to get there, and DON'T want to drive anymore.

I'd definitely agree with that! If I'm going to get in my car and drive once I'm there, it's because we're heading out to Animal Kingdom and Lou told me not to take the bus. :rofl2:

Seriously, we're there long enough that we aren't ever in a hurry to get anywhere, so we DO take Disney transport most places because it's just more relaxing to not have to deal with the driving/parking/tram shuffle every time we want to go somewhere other than MK. Staying off site would make things a LOT less flexible there, as the frequency of off-site shuttles is nowhere close to Disney transport.

Just about the only place we consistently drive to is DTD - and that's less than 10 minutes from the Fort.

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

I agree with that....after 1200 or so miles of driving I am over it. My driving while there consists of a trip to Publix to buy groceries and DD.

[AuburnJen 772]

It may depend on which KOA also. There are two I know of in the area and one of them I wouldn't put a horse up at.

I second that. I have stayed off property and commuted to the Fort when the finances were tight. It is a PITA to say the least. I have stayed at the KOA on Seven Dwarfs Lane or something like that and it is crammed in between a Big Box Outlet (I think Home Depot) and a shopping strip mall. There is little or no scenery and you also have the people that stay there for the whole winter or summer to contend with. I am not saying they are bad, but they do have a lot more stuff out than normal campers because of their stay. That particular KOA is very noisy with just the hussle and bussle of the streets around it.

I have stayed at Lake Louisa state park, which is a little bit away and it was very nice, and cheap, but hard to get into. I have also stayed at Thousand Trails. Each time, it was a hassle to get to and from the parks and I also felt like I needed to go to the parks more instead of the Fort.

It is your choice and really must depend on your finances, but you must make the choice on how convenient you want your vacation to be.

[bord1niowa......Curt 79]

if it isn't convenient, it isn't a vacation...lol

[disneylitch......Debbie 61]

I would definitely stay at The Fort. Don't forget to check for discounts. We joined AAA just to get the 20% discount.

[Gots2pitt.. Jeff 64]

We go back to the Fort to eat dinner (normally an easy grill meal). Staying at the Fort can save you money if you don't want to eat meals in the parks. I don't blame you for looking at the $700 savings for staying outside. Ultimately it comes down to personal preference. Do you want to wait on the shuttle service? Will you use the EMH? Is the setting/themeing important to you? You are at a sight full of people crazy about the Fort. They can point you to great things to see and do at the Fort and why they prefer to stay at the Fort. Remember you have to do what is right for you and your family, which ever it is.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

if it isn't convenient, it isn't a vacation...lol

I agree!