I've tented and rental 'pup' t with lots of Fort-loving kids, and we would (will!) do both, again. (Long
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We love it much better than rooms at the AllStars, or even the large, homey and lovely Windsor Hills condo we tried out during our split stay last year. I do have fishing/camping/nature-loving kids, and last year was their first visit to the World. We stayed 7 days at the Fort in loop 1500, and the last 7 days at the condo.
While the security and washer/dryer of the condo was welcomed during the last half of an unseasonably wild tropic storm system that settled in for most of our visit, (end of Apr-early May), and it was amazing to finally feel dry, everyone felt something significant was missing. If you take all the experiences that the Fort offers, in with open arms and ample time, the Fort feels like home and Disney in a way no other hotel, even on property, ever will.
We bought 6 day MYW tix, and found, even for teens, that was too much park versus Fort/Downtown Disney/hotel hopping-down time for us. we tend to go full speed, pack-it-all-in-and-then-some, park/ride commando style, so we were in bed around 1:00 and up by 5:00 on park days...and loved it, but at the same time, wished we had less days on our tix! We all wanted to enjoy the Fort more, in between park visits!
So this fall, we have an 8 day Fort trip planned that coincides with DH's conference, and only have 3 park days planned. That way, my kids can feed more hot dogs to the fish and gators, watch more herons from their canoes, play the games at the pool, rent bikes and water mice, see the electrical parade float by with a bucket of Giddy-Up chicken, watch almost every campfire movie, make sand canal waterworks at beach edge, play tether ball and basketball while making lots of new friends, survey all the playgrounds, wave to the carriages, visit the horse stables (tons of times), and talk with the cast members at the pin trading boards.
Yes, all these things may be available in other places at less $ invested, but nowhere else do my kids feel so much 'magic' that they want to help 'make' it, be a part of it, for someone else...over and over again. They have been very successful at it, and feel 'invested' in the Fort like nowhere else. I know tenting during Sept. with younger kids is going to be a whole lot less easy than a different method, but it still will have it's bits of awesome...maybe even all be awesome, and I would do it in a *heartbeat* , sooner rather than later, because there are traditions in the waiting for the making! Just go with the backup plan attitude that there is a way to get through anything, nothing may be just like you expect, and everything can be wonderful.
I do have a serious food tip, though. We were trying to go real frugal on food, making and taking all our own, and discovered, especially with kids, that cooking and fixing the way we would on a regular tenting trip -even using crock pots- was not very compatible with the way we tour the Disney Parks. And it turned out that I just didn't have the energy to follow through with much of my menu plans. Too much from scratch stuff planned. Less is Better.
What worked best was the 'grab healthy packables to load your fanny packs, let's go!' meals of carrots, peanut butter, bagels, string cheese type stuff, and cooking our own hot dogs at the movie campfire. Even economical sandwiches were a bit of a challenge, as bread and tortillas *go moldy super fast* in humid heat, and we could never get enough cooler space, cold enough, long enough, for everything.
We spent too much time buying everything at a not so close, but cheap Aldi's, and ended up throwing a lot of spoiled groceries/produce away and eating more pizza and take out chicken than we planned. We spent too much time in the car at night, scoping out off-site cheap eats as our back up plan, which were not worth the time and money spent, and not memorable for the kids.
I'm beginning to plan meals for this trip... and here are changes I am making. The only meals worth spending on are either those my kids are likely to find memorable, or just plain 'enough to stay happy and moving' sustenance. They are based on canned non perishables, sack lunch food, and a much shorter grocery list, with shorter grocery pick ups more often. It's so easy to read Disney blogs and boards and get caught up in the "Disney food experience" marketing, and think you can replicate that on the cheap, while tenting in Florida summers!
Even RVers can have crock and grill menus go more successfully, for longer than pup and renters. IMO. I say, when you are tenting with kids, unless you plan to pay out of pocket for quick service In-park,and not cringe(and you would do this for the supreme convenience-because it is one! ) plan to separate the 'food' totally from "the Disney experience".
Food spends that are still memorable, good spends for us, on a tight budget- afternoon Dole Whip in Magic Kingdom, sharing 'tastes' of single orders Around the World in Epcot, sharing appetizers at T-Rex cafe (paid for with a swagbucks gift card), and several meals of Giddy-Up-And-Go chicken bought at Fort take out. Foodie me, hates the monotony of pb and j, but we are doing much more of it this trip, because food, in a tent and on a budget at the Fort and Disney, can be the very least important thing! Just be sure to budget enough cash for some quick service meals as a back-up plan to your 'eat in' plans, and plan to make your visit amazing on the most important packable: flexible, full-of-wonder, and wonderful attitudes!
So happy for you! We waited too long for our family's first trip, and cancelled many Fort reservations in times past.
Do it!
!
) have always been the basic sandwiches and summer meals, no surprises there: Sloppy Joes, Italian Pepper Steak, French Dip, BBQ pulled pork, Roast Beef, Spice Rubbed Chicken and shredded seasoned chicken for tacos and taco salads, or for sandwiches. Slow cooking was also good for 'gourmet' (bribe,bribe) versions of oatmeal in the morning, but nobody really likes oatmeal in my family, we just eat it' amuse we ought to, so I can't count that a success! 
