Christmas

[jwo1976]

So here is a big question. IF you couldn't camp at the Fort for Christmas where would you go? We live in the SouthEast (Birmingham, AL area) and have camped at the fort on Christmas several years ago and loved it. We actually have reservations for the fort this year (12/17 - 12/30). BUt may have to adjust our dates due to my work schedule this year. I know adjusting may be an issue with what has come out recently about fort reservations. So maybe thing of an alternative. Looking for something with a cool atmosphere and close to things to do.

 

[Stratman50th]

How far are you willing to drive to get to Disney property?
There's a place near me that just opened up about two years ago. I've stayed there once just to check it out... It's only about 10 minutes from my house, LOL. It's around a 30 minute drive to the Disney gate.
Check out @FtW Mike trip report. He does a good job of describing the place including pictures.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/at-fort-wilderness-for-the-holidays.3862681/

it's called the Cabana Club, but it's now affiliated with Margaritaville so the name might have changed.....
Here's the office:


Here's our site. I have more photos but Mike has posted a lot and they're already in his trip report above....

 

[jwo1976]

We are about 525 miles from the Fort, leaving this Friday for a Sunday check in. 2 nights on the road going down and 1 night on the return. When we have gone previously with our pop up we would make the drive in 1 day (a little exhausting but doable) but we have a new TT so going to break it up. Looking to stay with in that kinda range. The Cabana club looks to be the new Margaritaville resort. Looks nice and we do want to stay there. Will have to check the availability for our dates but not really holding my breath as most places are filling up.

 

[Narcoossee11]

The new Cabana Club is REAL nice . Check it out

 

[loves to dive]

A little off topic but do you know any decent RV parks in the Birmingham area? We will be there mid-June for Hubby's work. We've been in the past and stayed at Birmingham South RV Park. It was close to the office Hubby has to work at. While it wasn't the worst park we've ever stayed at, it was needing some love in the pull through spots. We have reservations for there again but was just wondering if you knew of a hidden gem.

 

[loves to dive]

We are about 525 miles from the Fort, leaving this Friday for a Sunday check in. 2 nights on the road going down and 1 night on the return. When we have gone previously with our pop up we would make the drive in 1 day (a little exhausting but doable) but we have a new TT so going to break it up. Looking to stay with in that kinda range. The Cabana club looks to be the new Margaritaville resort. Looks nice and we do want to stay there. Will have to check the availability for our dates but not really holding my breath as most places are filling up.

You want a quick in and out not too far try Eagle's Roost in south Georgia. It's about 4 hours or less away from WDW. We live in north Ga. and don't like to drive more than 4 or 5 hours a day and it's our go to stop. We stopped there on our trip to the Fort and still arrived at the Fort long before check in.

 

[Teamubr]

St. Thomas or Key West.

Although Key West is getting incredibly expensive around the holidays.

j

 

[Stratman50th]

St. Thomas or Key West.

Although Key West is getting incredibly expensive around the holidays.

j

Isn't it hard to drive to St. Thomas? Asking for a friend.
I'd rather go to Key West than Disney any day. Not exactly Key West, but Blue Water Key which is at MM 15 on the overseas highway.

 

[Teamubr]

Isn't it hard to drive to St. Thomas? Asking for a friend.
I'd rather go to Key West than Disney any day. Not exactly Key West, but Blue Water Key which is at MM 15 on the overseas highway.

If you believe the locals on the St Thomas Fb page, there is a tunnel from Miami.

@tigger92662 and I are going to be at Boyd's in KW in October. Come on down! You are a lot closer than we are. 1400 miles one way for me. Over 1500 for Joe.

j

 

[Stratman50th]

If you believe the locals on the St Thomas Fb page, there is a tunnel from Miami.

@tigger92662 and I are going to be at Boyd's in KW in October. Come on down! You are a lot closer than we are. 1400 miles one way for me. Over 1500 for Joe.

j

I'd love to join you all, but I tend to avoid coastal areas during hurricane season. I hate getting evicted due to storms. Especially when everyone else is getting sent away and there's only one way out.

 

[jwo1976]

A little off topic but do you know any decent RV parks in the Birmingham area? We will be there mid-June for Hubby's work. We've been in the past and stayed at Birmingham South RV Park. It was close to the office Hubby has to work at. While it wasn't the worst park we've ever stayed at, it was needing some love in the pull through spots. We have reservations for there again but was just wondering if you knew of a hidden gem.

Birmingham South is probably the best in the Birmingham area if you need to be close to here. Oak Mountain state park is a pretty park but the campground is in need of some serious attention. But about half the cost of Bham South. We have used the RV park at the Hoover Met, baseball stadium, as a place to get some work done and check stuff out but its basically a parking lot with hook ups. They will let you wash your rig/tow vehicle there as well. Again less expensive than the Birmingham South. BUt just depends on what you are looking for and where in town you need to be close to.

 

[Teamubr]

I'd love to join you all, but I tend to avoid coastal areas during hurricane season. I hate getting evicted due to storms.

I thought of that when I booked, but it is early/mid October, so hopefully things will be calming down a little by then.

j

 

[loves to dive]

Birmingham South is probably the best in the Birmingham area if you need to be close to here. Oak Mountain state park is a pretty park but the campground is in need of some serious attention. But about half the cost of Bham South. We have used the RV park at the Hoover Met, baseball stadium, as a place to get some work done and check stuff out but its basically a parking lot with hook ups. They will let you wash your rig/tow vehicle there as well. Again less expensive than the Birmingham South. BUt just depends on what you are looking for and where in town you need to be close to.

Thanks, that is what we thought. We tried to visit the State Park campground last time we were there just to see the spots. It was about 6 months into the bad times and they wouldn't let people even drive through the campground which made no sense to me since you are driving in your vehicle most likely with the windows up. We did visit the lake, which was jam packed and we walked through and got the heck out.

 

[jwo1976]

Thanks, that is what we thought. We tried to visit the State Park campground last time we were there just to see the spots. It was about 6 months into the bad times and they wouldn't let people even drive through the campground which made no sense to me since you are driving in your vehicle most likely with the windows up. We did visit the lake, which was jam packed and we walked through and got the heck out.

There is actually 4 lakes within the state park. One is for guests staying in one of the few cabins they have. There are 2 at what I call the back of the park (an upper and lower) These are good for fishing. The campground has its own beach on the lower lake and the far end has a ski jump park thing. The upper lake is good and quiet for kayaking and fishing. The beach you saw was the main lake at the front of the park and is usually crowded. This is where most of the trail heads are as well as the mountain bike trail heads. The park needs a lot of work but has some really pretty parts as well. But the campground has been neglected for years.

 

[yupikgal]

We are going to be at FW for the first time ever in December, only for 5 nights, and I didn't get the later dates that we wanted, so we have Dec 11, checking out the 16th. I've been checking periodically to see if the 16-18th opens up, but so far, no luck. We have a premium campsite reserved. We have a 35 foot 5th wheel and long bed truck, so I didn't think the regular site would accommodate us since we have a 101 inch width body but that isn't with the slides out. I hope I booked the correct one?

Anyway, one of the CM's I talked to said that we could book & park our RV at a resort for the next 2 nights, (although I hate to move for just 2 nights, I may end up extending it a bit) we have a 7 day single park ticket for the entire stay. So far I've made 5 days worth of reservations to the parks, trying to figure out which other days to book for. The hard part is going to be moving from FW on the last day and moving to the resort, which says the ck in time isn't until 3p! Hoping we will get early ck in, otherwise I'm not sure how that would work.

Also, FYI, we haven't been to WDW since the early 2000's so it's going to be overwhelming, I'm sure! Any suggestions, etc. are welcome! We are currently AP members with Disneyland, so we will be there for Halloween to use up our tickets, then we start heading East to FL to start our adventure there! It's going to be a long drive since my husband is the sole driver, and he wants to stop every 4-6 hours to stay for a few days in each campground. We always stay at places with FHU, and preferably pull thrus. So far I only have 3 campgrounds booked after we leave CA, two in AZ, and one in NM.

Also right now I have us booked at a KOA about 45 minutes from the parks starting after we leave the WDW bubble until after Christmas. Not sure where to go after that? Any suggestions about rv parks that have FHU and not too far from Orlando would be good, in case we do Universal or want to go back to Disney for a few days.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Stratman50th]

Delete

 

[Stratman50th]

We are going to be at FW for the first time ever in December, only for 5 nights, and I didn't get the later dates that we wanted, so we have Dec 11, checking out the 16th. I've been checking periodically to see if the 16-18th opens up, but so far, no luck. We have a premium campsite reserved. We have a 35 foot 5th wheel and long bed truck, so I didn't think the regular site would accommodate us since we have a 101 inch width body but that isn't with the slides out. I hope I booked the correct one?

Anyway, one of the CM's I talked to said that we could book & park our RV at a resort for the next 2 nights, (although I hate to move for just 2 nights, I may end up extending it a bit) we have a 7 day single park ticket for the entire stay. So far I've made 5 days worth of reservations to the parks, trying to figure out which other days to book for. The hard part is going to be moving from FW on the last day and moving to the resort, which says the ck in time isn't until 3p! Hoping we will get early ck in, otherwise I'm not sure how that would work.

Also, FYI, we haven't been to WDW since the early 2000's so it's going to be overwhelming, I'm sure! Any suggestions, etc. are welcome! We are currently AP members with Disneyland, so we will be there for Halloween to use up our tickets, then we start heading East to FL to start our adventure there! It's going to be a long drive since my husband is the sole driver, and he wants to stop every 4-6 hours to stay for a few days in each campground. We always stay at places with FHU, and preferably pull thrus. So far I only have 3 campgrounds booked after we leave CA, two in AZ, and one in NM.

Also right now I have us booked at a KOA about 45 minutes from the parks starting after we leave the WDW bubble until after Christmas. Not sure where to go after that? Any suggestions about rv parks that have FHU and not too far from Orlando would be good, in case we do Universal or want to go back to Disney for a few days.

Thank you in advance!

First off, the Premium will be fine. In fact, there aren't any larger than that. You'll fit fine.
I'm only good for about 6 hours on the road these days so I'm in agreement with your husband.
As far as staying at a cool place that's close you might give the Cabana Club (now Margaritaville) a look. Very nice place with a lot of amenities.
https://www.margaritavilleresorts.com/camp-margaritaville-rv-resort-auburndale

 

[yupikgal]

First off, the Premium will be fine. In fact, there aren't any larger than that. You'll fit fine.
I'm only good for about 6 hours on the road these days so I'm in agreement with your husband.
As far as staying at a cool place that's close you might give the Cabana Club (now Margaritaville) a look. Very nice place with a lot of amenities.
https://www.margaritavilleresorts.com/camp-margaritaville-rv-resort-auburndale

Thank you, I'll look into that. We are looking forward to going to WDW after all these years, but frankly I'm a bit intimidated at the thought of it, since you guys have so many parks and it's HUGE compared to the CA original. We are used to it, and know every square inch!

 

[yupikgal]

So here is a big question. IF you couldn't camp at the Fort for Christmas where would you go? We live in the SouthEast (Birmingham, AL area) and have camped at the fort on Christmas several years ago and loved it. We actually have reservations for the fort this year (12/17 - 12/30). BUt may have to adjust our dates due to my work schedule this year. I know adjusting may be an issue with what has come out recently about fort reservations. So maybe thing of an alternative. Looking for something with a cool atmosphere and close to things to do.

So did you keep your reservations for Ft. Wilderness? I am looking to extend our stay a bit, if you will be cancelling let me know please, I don't know that it would work out, but I would love to extend our stay for at least 2-3 nights, I've been trying to get 12/16 for either 2 or 3 nights added onto our 12/11 for 5 nights, cking out the 16th as of now. Thank you!