Stratman50th
Loving all things Fort Wilderness!
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2019
I've seen people ask about the possibility of renting a cart for the day during Halloween and or Christmas to check out decorations. I thought I'd write a short report on our day. I reserved the cart about two months out for December 8th as some friends were coming down for a visit and wanted to check out decorations.
We got to the Fort around 10:45. I knew you couldn't pick up the cart officially until 1:00pm put I'd done it as early as 10:00am before so it's always worth a shot. There weren't any available so we decided to bus over to P&J's takeout for a light lunch. We lucked right into a bus that went straight there so no waiting.
The bus back was quick as well! Got to the cart rental pickup just before 1:00pm and there was a pretty good line. The carts were sold out that day so some were turned away. Got our cart and headed back to the marina. We parked in front of Trails End. I just found out that there are electric receptacles to plug your cart in to while parked so I took advantage.
Took the boat over to the Magic Kingdom and got on the monorail to the Grand Floridian. Checked out their tree as well as the gingerbread house. Very nice as always but pretty crowded. We walked the grounds and did your basic tourist thing till it was time to move on.
Rode the monorail back to the MK and got on the boat to Wilderness Lodge. I'll say here that my wife and I were resort hopping at Christmas last year and the Wilderness Lodge had the best tree and decorations. We wanted to check out WL's gingerbread house entry. The lobby didn't disappoint! The tree was gorgeous. I'm not sure the tree is so special in the big scheme of things, but it just goes so well with the general lobby decor. It just fits in really well. We saw the gingerbread house and to me it was a bit underwhelming. I'm glad that they jumped in and joined the gingerbread crowd, but it was very basic in my opinion. I chalked it up to being the first year and hope they up their game next year. Toured the grounds, did some shopping and our friends went up the balcony to get some pictures of the lobby.
Got back on the boat and arrived at the Fort around 5:30. We had 6:00 dinner reservations at Trails End. Got in a little early and had the typical buffet stuff yourself till you pop dinner. My wife and friend both had birthdays in December so they were able to wrangle a strawberry shortcake from the Hoop D Doo.
Waddled out to the golf cart around 7:15 and started the decoration viewing in earnest! I think we covered most of the loops. There were a lot of decorations up, but you could tell people were still setting up. We missed a few that were there last year since we were so early but no complaints. Visited with some friends who had been there for a week and they had a good time as always. Finished our tour around 10:30, dropped of the cart and headed home.
First, a big thanks to everyone who decorates their site for the pleasure of others. I know some of you are on here. It's a lot of work and appreciated!
Next, as I said in the beginning, I've seen people asking about renting a cart for a day even if you aren't staying at the fort. Yes you can do it and it can be a great time!
Golf cart rentals aren't cheap. It's $67 a day (24 hour period). Look at it as anything else at Disney it costs a bunch but you have to decide if it's worth it to you. We have our own cart and I have wanted to trailer it over when we stay there as well as just for a daily like this trip. My dear wife so far hasn't let me bring it as she "doesn't want to get it messed up". We'll see.....
Thanks for reading.
We got to the Fort around 10:45. I knew you couldn't pick up the cart officially until 1:00pm put I'd done it as early as 10:00am before so it's always worth a shot. There weren't any available so we decided to bus over to P&J's takeout for a light lunch. We lucked right into a bus that went straight there so no waiting.
The bus back was quick as well! Got to the cart rental pickup just before 1:00pm and there was a pretty good line. The carts were sold out that day so some were turned away. Got our cart and headed back to the marina. We parked in front of Trails End. I just found out that there are electric receptacles to plug your cart in to while parked so I took advantage.
Took the boat over to the Magic Kingdom and got on the monorail to the Grand Floridian. Checked out their tree as well as the gingerbread house. Very nice as always but pretty crowded. We walked the grounds and did your basic tourist thing till it was time to move on.
Rode the monorail back to the MK and got on the boat to Wilderness Lodge. I'll say here that my wife and I were resort hopping at Christmas last year and the Wilderness Lodge had the best tree and decorations. We wanted to check out WL's gingerbread house entry. The lobby didn't disappoint! The tree was gorgeous. I'm not sure the tree is so special in the big scheme of things, but it just goes so well with the general lobby decor. It just fits in really well. We saw the gingerbread house and to me it was a bit underwhelming. I'm glad that they jumped in and joined the gingerbread crowd, but it was very basic in my opinion. I chalked it up to being the first year and hope they up their game next year. Toured the grounds, did some shopping and our friends went up the balcony to get some pictures of the lobby.
Got back on the boat and arrived at the Fort around 5:30. We had 6:00 dinner reservations at Trails End. Got in a little early and had the typical buffet stuff yourself till you pop dinner. My wife and friend both had birthdays in December so they were able to wrangle a strawberry shortcake from the Hoop D Doo.
Waddled out to the golf cart around 7:15 and started the decoration viewing in earnest! I think we covered most of the loops. There were a lot of decorations up, but you could tell people were still setting up. We missed a few that were there last year since we were so early but no complaints. Visited with some friends who had been there for a week and they had a good time as always. Finished our tour around 10:30, dropped of the cart and headed home.
First, a big thanks to everyone who decorates their site for the pleasure of others. I know some of you are on here. It's a lot of work and appreciated!
Next, as I said in the beginning, I've seen people asking about renting a cart for a day even if you aren't staying at the fort. Yes you can do it and it can be a great time!
Golf cart rentals aren't cheap. It's $67 a day (24 hour period). Look at it as anything else at Disney it costs a bunch but you have to decide if it's worth it to you. We have our own cart and I have wanted to trailer it over when we stay there as well as just for a daily like this trip. My dear wife so far hasn't let me bring it as she "doesn't want to get it messed up". We'll see.....
Thanks for reading.
