Non park days / non park trip

To be fair, CouponGirl:

Part of the Fort magic is not available right now.

The campfire singalong with Chip & Dale (and bring your own marshmallows to roast at the Campfire Singalong) is not being held in these covid times.

The fireworks over Magic Kingdom with the music piped in to the FW beach is not available in these covid times.

The Electric Water Parade (which inspired the much loved Main Street Electrical Parade) is not available off the Fort beach in these covid times.

The golf cart parades for July 4, Halloween (likely), and Christmas (possibly) may not all be available in these covid times.

Halloween trick-or-treating from site-to-site by WDW guests (a long standing tradition done by Fort guests and NOT centralized/operated by WDW) may not be available in these covid time at the end of October (remains to be seen).

But Fort campers are some of the nicest, most approachable folks you will meet at your WDW resort. Campers are that way outside the WDW bubble (happy to talk camping with other campers). I can't say EVERY camper is friendly and outgoing (some can be grumpy and inhospitable) but your "batting average" will be fairly high if you see a camper outside his site and ask them a question (decorations, rv/camper, golf cart, a posted sign, other) that they will engage you civilly and in a friendly manner.

In my limited experience off-site at WDW and other places while I travel, guests are afraid/reluctant to approach other guests with an inquiry, conversation, or a question. But you'll have the best luck of a good encounter at Fort Wilderness.

Again, not guaranteeing 100% success rate in your experience but the odds are high you'll have a good time. Which is why we all keep coming back to FW.

Bama Ed

Thanks for all of this! I’m hopeful that some of those magical things will return sometime next year, but realize it’s impossible to know if and when that will happen.

Love that overall it sounds as though there is a real sense of community at the fort :)
 
I would suggest you book ASAP either by phone or online if you want Halloween/Christmas timing as reservations will be difficult to get even considering it's for next year.
Thanks for the heads up. As far as I know, they are only allowing reservations until near the end of September. Unless something just recently changed.
 
Our favorite time to go is Jan & Feb. Since we are retired now, we normally stay 3 weeks. Many a day we hang at the Fort. Too many things to see & do. As Bama Ed said 99% of the campers are friendly, helpful and love to visit. We love looping thru the other sites to see all the cute neat decorations. Have a great time & be sure to let us all know the fun you are having when you can.
Do people decorate at times other than holidays?
 
We went last year in July for 5 days and did not go to the parks at all. A lot of what we did last summer is not currently open. Such as renting water craft or the campfire sing a long or hoop dee Doo and we also went to Disney springs and saw a movie, and the theater is also currently closed. But we did ride bikes, road around on our golf cart, movie under the stars, went to the pool, played basketball, grilled, lounged, played plenty of games at our camper. And some things we didn’t do that’s currently available includes archery lessons and horseback riding, canoeing and I believe you can still do a fishing excursion. Oh and we also explored Wilderness Lodge and Contemporary Resort. In usual times there is definitely more than enough. I was fulfilled with 5 days but could absolutely have stayed longer. When we go and go to the parks too we usually are there for 9-10 days and plan at least two full resort days and plenty of resort afternoons.
Sounds wonderful!
 


I went halloween last year. And will try to go the same time in 2021. I have a 8 yo , and we went mostly for halloween. We did about 2 weeks at the fort. Only had 8 days of tickets. So 6 days at the fort. We did the late night movie, halloween parade, trick or treating on Halloween and did the hoop de do , among other stuff. Seeing the decorations qill blow your mind. Lol. Amazing what people can fit in there campers to set up. So, if you want the full experiance i would try to wait it out.
 
I think that only when Florida has the COVID situation more in control and has the numbers here in Ontario, Canada are seeing, Halloween and Christmas light viewing at The Fort would not be an option for me. That is only my personal opinion and should not reflect on anyone's own personal choices but having seen videos of the crowds at the Fort during those times it's going to be hard to control others from coming by the boat over somehow just to see what the hoopla is all about. At least masks are mandatory outside of your own site.
 


We went a couple weeks bf Christmas once and it was not crowded at all, found it a nice time to go. Went Christmas time once and hated it but that is also bc we are not real big planners and you must have every single detail planned out waaaaaaay in advance or you are out of luck, can't get food, horrible. If you are a planner and like crowds may be nice and this year may be a good time with lower attendance. We go a lot couple weeks past Easter, find not as crowded when we are so sick of the weather where we live and find it nice. Have gone Halloween, it was fun but crowded. Have gone early in May wasn't bad, lower crowds, a little hot but wasn't bad and prices were cheaper. Past that wouldn't do it, too hot. We have gone in Feb and loved or hated it, once it was so cold and dreary and wet, like what we were trying to escape up northeast lol, well not as bad but weren't too happy, find that time either hit or miss. But my dad would go to Florida for golf trips every year that time in Feb and loved it and would never go another time.
 
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I went halloween last year. And will try to go the same time in 2021. I have a 8 yo , and we went mostly for halloween. We did about 2 weeks at the fort. Only had 8 days of tickets. So 6 days at the fort. We did the late night movie, halloween parade, trick or treating on Halloween and did the hoop de do , among other stuff. Seeing the decorations qill blow your mind. Lol. Amazing what people can fit in there campers to set up. So, if you want the full experiance i would try to wait it out.
I’m so eager to go ASAP, but not everyone in my group is quite as excited about the idea of camping as I am so I am thinking holding out for the full experience will be best. During your two weeks there, did you feel that more people decorate right at Halloween or was it pretty decorated the entire time you were there? This may be a silly question, but is the Halloween parade only on Halloween or do they do that throughout the Halloween season?

ETA - I’ve seen a few pictures of the decorations and couldn’t believe it. I bet it really is mind blowing to see in person!
 
I think that only when Florida has the COVID situation more in control and has the numbers here in Ontario, Canada are seeing, Halloween and Christmas light viewing at The Fort would not be an option for me. That is only my personal opinion and should not reflect on anyone's own personal choices but having seen videos of the crowds at the Fort during those times it's going to be hard to control others from coming by the boat over somehow just to see what the hoopla is all about. At least masks are mandatory outside of your own site.
Crowds from all the people staying there gathering around for activities or crowds because people are resort hopping?

I’m hoping to go sometime next year if I’m able to get a reservation and some of the things currently not happening are up and running again.
 
The parade is a few days before halloween. Only once. Most have decorations up a week prior and a week after halloween. Some start decorating weeks before. People used to rent sires just to store all there stuff. Lol. Its really cool, and more then just window decorations. Maybe , like macys at Christmas time on steroids.
 
Crowds from all the peolle stating there, the overflow parking lot even fills up. Everyone wants to trick or treet at the fort.
 
We went a couple weeks bf Christmas once and it was not crowded at all, found it a nice time to go. Went Christmas time once and hated it but that is also bc we are not real big planners and you must have every single detail planned out waaaaaaay in advance or you are out of luck, can't get food, horrible. If you are a planner and like crowds may be nice and this year may be a good time with lower attendance. We go a lot couple weeks past Easter, find not as crowded when we are so sick of the weather where we live and find it nice. Have gone Halloween, it was fun but crowded. Have gone early in May wasn't bad, lower crowds, a little hot but wasn't bad and prices were cheaper. Past that wouldn't do it, too hot. We have gone in Feb and loved or hated it, once it was so cold and dreary and wet, like what we were trying to escape up northeast lol, well not as bad but weren't too happy, find that time either hit or miss. But my dad would go to Florida for golf trips every year that time in Feb and loved it and would never go another time.
C
We went a couple weeks bf Christmas once and it was not crowded at all, found it a nice time to go. Went Christmas time once and hated it but that is also bc we are not real big planners and you must have every single detail planned out waaaaaaay in advance or you are out of luck, can't get food, horrible. If you are a planner and like crowds may be nice and this year may be a good time with lower attendance. We go a lot couple weeks past Easter, find not as crowded when we are so sick of the weather where we live and find it nice. Have gone Halloween, it was fun but crowded. Have gone early in May wasn't bad, lower crowds, a little hot but wasn't bad and prices were cheaper. Past that wouldn't do it, too hot. We have gone in Feb and loved or hated it, once it was so cold and dreary and wet, like what we were trying to escape up northeast lol, well not as bad but weren't too happy, find that time either hit or miss. But my dad would go to Florida for golf trips every year that time in Feb and loved it and would never go another time.
Crowed and couldn’t find food at the fort or the parks or both? I don’t mind planning in advance.

What a bummer to be trying to escape the wet and cold only to go there and it ends up being the exactly the same.
 
CG - there are number of theories of how to approach time and activities in and out of FW/wdw. Major determining factors include distance travel to FW, family vacation time/kids in school, kids age and budget.

Our trips included a 1100 mile drive one way(with only me driving) this meant we had 4 days of travel, 1 long first day 700 miles , then somewhat shorter day 400 miles w/ camper setup and first night FW magic. Reverse on the trip home.

First trip we parked every day and boy that whooped us - left Friday or Saturday and got back home week later on Sunday. So 5 park days, 1 person driving, young kids. It was totally awesome, but I quickly realized, like day 2 or 3 at FW, this approach was not a sustainable yearly weekly trip.

We progressed this plan, once we broke travel down over 3 days, late afternoon departure 250-300 miles, then northern fl/ then sleep in and short drive to FW. The last 2 or 3 FW trips were at around 2+ full weeks with 13-17 days at FW. Working in national holidays and weekends is critical, IMO.

During these longer trips, we would only park 5 to 7 days and explore in and out a WDW other days. Gatorland is awesome. BYB hotdgs, we would also go to to coco beach, water park, golf, fish, resort hopping based on season.

If you can avoid prime time, do it. Our theory, when kids were young, < 6 grade, missing a few days, week or two of school was ok. June can be hit or miss on weather and school being in or out. We found our favorite times to be Halloween and preChristmas. Yes, dusk comes earlier, but the festival feeling all round makes up for that. One Christmas trip was 2 wks, we parked the week before with last day in park Christmas. Although busy, this was one of if not the best park day I or my family has ever had.

If you are looking for advice or help PM me. all my trips were planned using an excel sheet, there are number out there. This helped me with planning flow to trip and if I needed to pivot I could look at the sheet and know park hours, extra magic hours, events, sunrise/set, fast passes all on one sheet.
 
We went to Disney for the very first time in early May 2019 and stayed ten days, with a split stay at Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge and Fort Wilderness cabins. The weather was very wet, with short rain storms most days. The temperatures were never unbearably hot, and most nights it cooled off nicely. We really enjoyed this time of year, and especially loved Fort Wilderness. We loved the quiet escape from the hustle and bustle of the parks, and loved having our own picnic table on our own porch, and our own "yard" to escape to each evening. We spent our downtime looping on the golf cart and just soaking up the quiet on our porch. In fact, we loved Fort Wilderness so much, we are returning this November for a 7 day trip, three days in the parks and the rest of the days as non-park days. We plan to do a little fishing, check out the new horse barn, try out the new gem mining, maybe rent a canoe, swim at the pool if the weather is nice, and spent lots and lots of time looping, relaxing, and grilling. Definitely a much more low-key vacation this time around.
 
We went to Disney for the very first time in early May 2019 and stayed ten days, with a split stay at Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge and Fort Wilderness cabins. The weather was very wet, with short rain storms most days. The temperatures were never unbearably hot, and most nights it cooled off nicely. We really enjoyed this time of year, and especially loved Fort Wilderness. We loved the quiet escape from the hustle and bustle of the parks, and loved having our own picnic table on our own porch, and our own "yard" to escape to each evening. We spent our downtime looping on the golf cart and just soaking up the quiet on our porch. In fact, we loved Fort Wilderness so much, we are returning this November for a 7 day trip, three days in the parks and the rest of the days as non-park days. We plan to do a little fishing, check out the new horse barn, try out the new gem mining, maybe rent a canoe, swim at the pool if the weather is nice, and spent lots and lots of time looping, relaxing, and grilling. Definitely a much more low-key vacation this time around.
I love the idea of having our own picnic table and “yard” area to gather in and hang out!

Have a blast in November!
 

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