Fort Wilderness Questions

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by Lowmiler

Sooo, we decided to return to Disney in 2021.

Went to book our end of March 2021 trip, and they were basically booked!

I settled for a "preferred" campsite, and 3 days later than when we wanted to go.

Disney's reservation system is a joke especially for the FORT and we never used it. We always contact a travel agent who knows the ropes and worked to find the dates we always wanted. No extra charge for you at all the Mouse pays him. You might want to contact him.

Jason Adams
Mouse Counselors
(800) 936-3183 ext. 704

jason@mousecounselors.com

[Lowmiler]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

Disney's reservation system is a joke especially for the FORT and we never used it. We always contact a travel agent who knows the ropes and worked to find the dates we always wanted. No extra charge for you at all the Mouse pays him. You might want to contact him.

Jason Adams
Mouse Counselors
(800) 936-3183 ext. 704

jason@mousecounselors.com

Thanks, I pinged him, but he's having the same issues.

Any other recommendations?

[Midnightmoon]

Did you call disney directly?

[Lowmiler]

Originally Posted by Midnightmoon

Did you call disney directly?

Yep, that's how I made the "placeholder" reservation. It's not the exact dates we want, and it's not a Premium site, but at least it's something.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by Lowmiler

Thanks, I pinged him, but he's having the same issues.

Any other recommendations?

But he will continue to work on looking for them that way you don't have to. Did you ask him to do that since that is what he does all day?

[Bones1]

We are heading down this Feb. Does anyone know why they never give us campers free dining or even the free quick service dining plans for camping at the Fort? I never even see any type of dining deal if you stay at the fort.

[Midnightmoon]

Originally Posted by Bones1

We are heading down this Feb. Does anyone know why they never give us campers free dining or even the free quick service dining plans for camping at the Fort? I never even see any type of dining deal if you stay at the fort.

I feel it is because they have no problem ever filling those RV sites.

We will be there in June. At the time we booked, they were offering a free kids dining plan for every property except Ft. Wilderness campground. It would apply with the cabins though.

[Lowmiler]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

But he will continue to work on looking for them that way you don't have to. Did you ask him to do that since that is what he does all day?

I did, but I'd like to put some other balls in play, too, so as to increase my chance of success.

Didn't someone mention a facebook group resource previously? I guess I could go search this thread.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by Midnightmoon

I feel it is because they have no problem ever filling those RV sites.

That and the fact each campsite can have 10 guests at no additional charge as the Resorts and Cabins charge extra for over 4, 2 adults & 2 under 12 or something similar.

[BeachRetreat]

Originally Posted by Bones1

We are heading down this Feb. Does anyone know why they never give us campers free dining or even the free quick service dining plans for camping at the Fort? I never even see any type of dining deal if you stay at the fort.

It might be because they know campers will do what we've done for three last two years. At the end of our stay, we cash out 100% of the remaining dining plan for PJs take out and snacks at the store. When you're traveling with your own fridge it's easy to take home 10 strawberry short cakes and 50 Mickey ice cream bars. Been gone 2 full weeks and still eating and drinking the stuff we got.

[Midnightmoon]

Originally Posted by BeachRetreat

It might be because they know campers will do what we've done for three last two years. At the end of our stay, we cash out 100% of the remaining dining plan for PJs take out and snacks at the store. When you're traveling with your own fridge it's easy to take home 10 strawberry short cakes and 50 Mickey ice cream bars. Been gone 2 full weeks and still eating and drinking the stuff we got.

Lol. That is so true. I need to take a picture of our pantry. I bet there is at least a dozen or more packs of Mickey chips or snacks left from last summer in there.

[Bones1]

I was hoping to at least get a Quick dining plan, For lunches. Even just buying lunch there gets expensive. I emailed them But I highly doubt anything will come of it. I am still looking forward to our trip. We even moved Thing down south to my in-laws just in-case it snows here. I figured I would get out with the truck not so much truck and trailer if we got a bad storm.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by Bones1

I was hoping to at least get a Quick dining plan, For lunches. Even just buying lunch there gets expensive. I emailed them But I highly doubt anything will come of it.

Don't hold your breath....

[Bones1]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

Don't hold your breath....

LOL I'm turning blue

[Midnightmoon]

We have purchased some type of dining plan for probably the last 12 years or so. Sometimes, it was the standard dining plan. The last few have been the deluxe.

My kids really enjoy the character dining and things like the Hoop Dee Do Review. We have found that the dining plan saves us about 30% overall vs. the cost of paying for those meals outright. It is still crazy expensive, but for people that plan on doing multiple table service meals (especially the signatures), the dining plans are probably a good deal.

[RedHorse1]

Originally Posted by Midnightmoon

We have purchased some type of dining plan for probably the last 12 years or so. Sometimes, it was the standard dining plan. The last few have been the deluxe.

My kids really enjoy the character dining and things like the Hoop Dee Do Review. We have found that the dining plan saves us about 30% overall vs. the cost of paying for those meals outright. It is still crazy expensive, but for people that plan on doing multiple table service meals (especially the signatures), the dining plans are probably a good deal.

That’s our opinion too. The $$ jump for the delux plan is pretty big but if you use all the credits we think it pays off. We also like to eat a couple of “stand up” meals out of pocket or in the 5th and use 2 credits for a premium meal.
Paying $150-ish a night for 5 people (and sleeping in my own bed) vs $300/night each for 2 rooms will ease the budget quite a bit.
That little rodent always has his hand in my pocket but I’ve always got a smile when we’re there.

And like “Beach” we love raiding the shops for “treats” with our snack credits as we’re getting ready to leave.

[Jopopsy]

My DW has been hard at work getting the first week of November booked. We had to string together 3 separate reservations as she has slowly added to the overall nights. We’re just about there but its been a slog.

Our school district gave the kids off the first week of November. Real hard to turn down that time slot to camp.

However we did get the 1st week of April 2021 booked easy peasy.

The mouse continues to milk every dollar out of me. We’re ‘Meadow’ campers and now we pay even more.

[Midnightmoon]

It is amazing how addicting that place can be. Glad you were able to get everything booked.

[TCNashville]

I thought I read somewhere they increased prices this year and it's now $200 per day at Disney?

[Midnightmoon]

Yes, the prices did go up. I am paying the same for 11 nights this year as I did for 12 nights in 2019.