Help needed for Motorhome & Ft Wilderness Newbie

lucyem

DIS Veteran
Joined
Nov 26, 2004
We bought a motorhome!

I was able to book a premium site at fort wilderness for the night before our resort arrival. We are DVC members so are experienced long time WDW guests. But the campground is all new to us.

I am reading up on recent threads but thought it was safer to ask as well since our trip is only two weeks away!

The motorhome is 25' long. We don't plan to go into the parks that night.

What do we need to know?
What should we make sure to have on hand?
Anything else?

Any advice is welcome!

Thank you!
 
We bought a motorhome!

I was able to book a premium site at fort wilderness for the night before our resort arrival. We are DVC members so are experienced long time WDW guests. But the campground is all new to us.

I am reading up on recent threads but thought it was safer to ask as well since our trip is only two weeks away!

The motorhome is 25' long. We don't plan to go into the parks that night.

What do we need to know?
What should we make sure to have on hand?
Anything else?

Any advice is welcome!

Thank you!

Congrats on the MH.

Depends on your interests, FW has plenty of activities and beautiful scenery, I like to do nothing at all but relax, take a GC ride, hit the beach for fireworks and a cocktail, enjoy the stay
 


If your motor home didn't come with them you need a hose for fresh water, a separate hose for back flushing black water tank, a sewer hose and cable to hook up tv. A 25 foot one should be enough however I carry 2 and a connector. At some point you will want a doggone for cases when you need to connect either 50 or 30 amps.
 
with only one night booked you might not want to hassle with sewer and water hookups. i’d focus on enjoying FtW including the campfire/movie and the pools. once you’re hooked (the Fort is highly addictive), book a longer stay and rent a golf cart.

any help you need backing into the site of hooking up don’t hesitate to ask a neighbor. Fort guests are Disney’s friendliest!

have fun!
 


with only one night booked you might not want to hassle with sewer and water hookups. i’d focus on enjoying FtW including the campfire/movie and the pools. once you’re hooked (the Fort is highly addictive), book a longer stay and rent a golf cart.

any help you need backing into the site of hooking up don’t hesitate to ask a neighbor. Fort guests are Disney’s friendliest!

have fun!
Dont forget your makings for s'mores and sticks to take to the movie at Chip n Dale sing along.
 
...At some point you will want a doggone for cases when you need to connect either 50 or 30 amps...

I'm assuming this is your first RV. If not, I apologize. If so, you may not know that rml0win meant to type "dog bone", a short length of electrical cord (RV specific) that will allow you to plug in your 50 amp coach to a pedestal that only supplies 30 amp. The plug configuration is different and many older campgrounds still have that service.
 
Congratulations on the purchase. Youtube is your friend, search RVs, RV newbies, etc and watch, watch, watch. Learn from others mistakes.
 
What motorhome did you get?
We bought a used Thor Vegas. We had limited options because we tow a car to race events and the Vegas (and its twin the Axis) are the only ones that tow up to 8000lbs that are not huge. Once we get things cleaned up it should be good. It's been sitting for months, has a few friendly ants and I swear when the "cleaned" it, all they did was spread smelly sticky stuff on everything.
 
But its a place to dump. I'm assuming the water system will get some use on the trip down and while at the Fort. If you don't dump there eventually you have to dump somewhere.

It will be our first night in a campground. We plan to hook up everything as practice.
 
We usually don't go into the parks the first night unless we get there early in the afternoon. There's so much to do and explore at the Fort!

As some have mentioned already, the campfire sing along is a good go-to, but bring the bug dope if they bother you (they love me!). The someores can be a sticky business and as far as I could see there aren't nearby restrooms to wash up, so you might want to bring hand wipes.

If you're not making your own dinners, be aware that Trails End, the restaurant at the Settlement is, in our opinion, one of the best restaurants on property. As such, reservations fill up pretty quick. Sometimes they can fit you in, but it can be a wait. Getting and ADR is worth it.

There are two swimming pools--the Meadows is the main pool. I don't know if you have kids, but they'll often have things for young'uns to do. [Edited to add] The "Swimming Hole" (I think it's called) is a smaller pool, and from what I could see, more quiet. I haven't gone there, but my s/o thought it was ok.

The Meadows store is the better of the two stores in the Fort, especially for extra camping/RV needs. The other store is the Trading Post at the Settlement. Both stores have selections of frozen foods, ice cream and goodies, basic needs, etc. If memory serves, I think the Meadows again is more well stocked with groceries then the Trading Post. You're going to pay a premium for these items, but they come in handy if you forget. Just as a heads up (because it was an issue for me), while they carry a pretty good selection of over the counter drugstore items, there are some things like Lactaid, Allegra they don't carry. They also don't carry Lactaid type milk. Your best bet is, as mentioned upthread, to buy as much as you can in advance.

There are carriage and wagon rides for an extra cost. I've never done that but they look like fun.

We love to simply walk around the Settlement at night when the weather is good; it can be a lovely way to relax and unwind after a long drive and setting up camp.

There's the fireworks and water parade at night too--don't recall the times, though.

There's so much to enjoy at the Fort, we've considered just going down there simply to camp until all the construction at the parks is over.
 
It will be our first night in a campground. We plan to hook up everything as practice.

So do you know everything you need? But think about i in systems.

You have the:

  • Water system, water coming in and waste going out.
  • Electrical
  • Cooking though for one day I would keep it simple
  • Sleeping
  • Bathroom
 
...There's so much to enjoy at the Fort, we've considered just going down there simply to camp until all the construction at the parks is over...

I'm with you on that. But, what century do you think Disney will be finished with construction at the parks? They will always have new and different themes to grow.
 
Ok, so first time out ever in the motor home? You do have a fresh water hose ( safe for drinking), a water filter, in the motor home or in line type, water pressure regulator( so you dont blow apart the plumbing, waste hose and conections, a seprate water hose to clean out the waste water hose or hook up to the black tank rinse, maybe a cable cord, leveling blocks, extention for the electrical cord, in case the hook up isnt close. Oh ,and dont forget medical gloves for handeling the waste pipe.
 

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