[PrincessJill]

I haven't done a TR in forever!! I hope I remember how this works...

The "Back To Nature!" Fort Wilderness Camping Trip
Cast:
me, PJ
my brother, Tim
my mom, Mom
my dad, Dad
our new trailer, Shep Deux

My family used to camp in Fort Wilderness ALL THE TIME when my brother and I were younger and Disney was cheaper. We had a pop-up (named Shep, for the way it followed our truck down the highway) which was loyal and sturdy, but it took hours to set up and exhausted my dad before he ever set foot in the parks. The pop-up got old, we all got busy, and our camping trips gradually ended.

Recently, we decided that we all miss camping way too much and we need to go "back to nature"! So we upgraded to a Trailmanor, which still folds down to pull easily behind our truck, but expands MUCH bigger and is MUCH easier to set up. Our longest set-up time to date, from unhitching the trailer to having it bedtime-ready, is 4 minutes. (!!! ... 4 minutes!!!!) So now after set-up Dad is ready for park-hopping rather than a nap.

We decided to break in our new trailer (named Shep Deux) at Fort Wilderness, since we knew the bathhouses would be clean, the sites would be decent, and the trading posts would have any emergency items we might need. (This turned out to be paper towels and charcoal. )

So, without further preamble, let us begin Day 1!
(warning: I took lots of pictures!!!)


Day 1 - Thursday, June 27

After missing a turn and ending up at the gates of the Magic Kingdom, we took some backroads and arrived at Fort Wilderness around 1pm.


We're here!!


We were in the 500 loop, which is on the left and towards the top on this hard-to-see map.

We did a little sight-seeing as we made our way back to our loop...


This is a little path by the bus stop at the front of Fort Wilderness. Pioneer Hall is off to the right, and you can almost see the stables there on the left.


We passed the new Meadow Swimmin' Pool on the way to our loop. It was kind of hard to see from the road...


Here we are! 500 loop, Buffalo Bend. Let's go check out our site...

[PrincessJill]

We pulled into our loop and got *almost* to our site... but there was some kind of road block going on with a trailer that couldn't get into its site, because someone else was in their site, and those people were parked in THAT site because some was parked in THEIR site... Eventually we found the person at the front and kindly asked them to inch up a bit... everyone else in line followed suit, and we managed to pull in to our site! yay!


This is a picture of the empty site next to ours, just to show what the sites look like before they're occupied. Nice little charcoal grill and picnic table (made out of recyclable materials ). The sites have been widened and lengthened since our last stay 10+ years ago.


This was taken standing on our own site and looking behind us - our site backed up to the canoeing river! Canoes came by less frequently than we expected... maybe because it was so hot.


The river continuing along its way, to the left of our site...


Wildlife sighting!! Over the trip, we collected a pretty good list of wildlife sightings...
- woodpeckers
- cardinals
- a roadrunner-type bird... it ran instead of hopped.. we have yet to identify this one
- bunnies
- cranes
- herons
- this duck

[diofthesouth]

How wonderful! Thank you for sharing!
My Mom, 2 kids, and I did Fort Wilderness back in 1997...rented a motorhome with a lock that didn't work, a roll out awning that never rolled out, and a shower that only trickled. Despite all that, we had a marvelous time...my kids, now 22 and 19, still talk about that trip. We've been back 10 times since that trip and have always stayed in one of the WDW resorts...locks and showers work, but those trips just haven't been quite the same.
Looking forward to more pics!

[PrincessJill]

Originally Posted by diofthesouth

How wonderful! Thank you for sharing!
My Mom, 2 kids, and I did Fort Wilderness back in 1997...rented a motorhome with a lock that didn't work, a roll out awning that never rolled out, and a shower that only trickled. Despite all that, we had a marvelous time...my kids, now 22 and 19, still talk about that trip. We've been back 10 times since that trip and have always stayed in one of the WDW resorts...locks and showers work, but those trips just haven't been quite the same.
Looking forward to more pics!

I couldn't help laughing at your description of that motorhome... I'm glad you had a good time anyway! I agree, there's just something different about a FW stay.

oh don't worry, I've got plenty of pictures...

[tinkerbelle24]

Welcome Home! Cant wait to hear all about FW as I plan to try it out when we get a camper.

[WishUponAStar]

OooOoO, YAY!!! A Fort Wilderness TR, these are so rare! I can't wait!

[WishUponAStar]

Originally Posted by PrincessJill

My family used to camp in Fort Wilderness ALL THE TIME when my brother and I were younger and Disney was cheaper.

It kinda makes me wonder if we ever crossed paths or did any activities together at Fort Wilderness back then? I know you are probably several years younger than me (I'm 30) but I did go to Fort Wilderness several times a year from ages 5-15.

Did I tell you that a friend I made at Fort Wilderness, his family stayed there in the same loop as us TWICE found me on Facebook recently. So cool. My Grandma & his Mom were really friendly.

[johnkimv]

Yeah!! A FW trip reort!! Keep it coming!! FW is MY Home away from Home!!

[timkelmom]

Love, love, love a FW TR. We haven't been able to stay there in recent years, I can't wait to see all your pics.

[dancing4disney]

I can't wait to see more. I hope you got pictures of the trailor. I am curious to see what it looks like.

[PeterPansPixie]

Fort Wilderness is one of my favorite places in all of WDW. All my childhood memories of WDW are staying in my parents RV at FW at least once a year. Before my DH and I were married we were able to tag along on a trip with my parents there and to this day he makes fun of me for calling that camping.

I can't wait to see the rest of your pics as they are bringing back a lot of good memories.

[cowanfamily]

Oh, so exciting! I have never read a FW TR, I can't wait!

[leslieh]

Wow! We are all so excited for your TR PrincessJill!! You're off to a great start!

[PrincessJill]

Thanks for all the nice comments already!!! I'm so excited to work on this TR... I'm reliving the trip all over again. But of course as soon as I sat down to start it, a thousand other "family time" obligations came up... I'm hoping I can get some time tonight to add a little more!

Originally Posted by WishUponAStar

It kinda makes me wonder if we ever crossed paths or did any activities together at Fort Wilderness back then? I know you are probably several years younger than me (I'm 30) but I did go to Fort Wilderness several times a year from ages 5-15.

Did I tell you that a friend I made at Fort Wilderness, his family stayed there in the same loop as us TWICE found me on Facebook recently. So cool. My Grandma & his Mom were really friendly.

I wonder if we did?? I remember going to a lot of campfire nights, where they played the Chip & Dale cartoons, and quite a few hayrides. I'm 23 and when I was younger I was super intimidated of older kids, so I don't know if I would have been brave enough to approach you.. That's so awesome that your FW friend found you on facebook! I still remember I made friends with a girl named Aislinn when we were camping in North Carolina one year... camping folks are the best.

Originally Posted by dancing4disney

I can't wait to see more. I hope you got pictures of the trailor. I am curious to see what it looks like.

I certainly did, inside and out! Including the bathroom... so you may be seeing more than you want to see.....

Originally Posted by PeterPansPixie

Before my DH and I were married we were able to tag along on a trip with my parents there and to this day he makes fun of me for calling that camping.

It's camping!! Fluffy, comfortable camping... but camping nonetheless.

[allirella]

Oooh. I don't think I have ever read a FW TR either. I can't wait to hear all about it.