Phil & Stacy in front of the Fort Wilderness sign

We spent four days at Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground, and it was a blast! Everyone always wants to know if Disney is worth the money. So we thought we would provide a complete Fort Wilderness Campground review and let you decide!

Fort Wilderness Campground Check In

When you arrive at Disney's Fort Wilderness, you will stop at the reception outpost to check-in. During the check-in process, you will receive a site assignment, Disney bands, activities schedule, and campground map.

The Disney MagicBands are pretty cool! Your Disney passes will be attached to the bands, so you will use them to enter the parks. You can also use them to open the gate to enter Fort Wilderness, pay for anything in the park (if you attach a credit card), and, most importantly, fast passes!

Hitch & Unhitch

Fort Wilderness Campground hitch and unhitch area

If you are towing a vehicle, you can stop in the hitch & unhitch area before getting to your campsite.

Fort Wilderness Campsites

The campsites at fort wilderness are beautiful! The sites are paved and long enough to take on those long 45 footers! They include 30 or 50 amp, sewer, water, and cable. The sites also provide a picnic table and a grill. The best part is Disney treats their campground just like a hotel. As soon as someone leaves their site, a Disney employee will sweep it and make sure the table and grill are clean before the next rig arrives. It was great to watch.

Fort Wilderness Bathhouse

Each campground loop has its own bathhouse, which was very clean. They definitely live up to Disney standards! The bathhouses also have adequate laundry rooms. But they are Disney prices at $3 to wash and another $3 to dry!

Transportation at Fort Wilderness Campground

There are many transportation options on Fort Wilderness. You can park your car until it's time to leave Disney!

Busses

Three bus lines run continuously throughout Fort Wildnerness. You never have to wait for long before the next bus is there to pick you up! Bus stops are conveniently located throughout the campground.

Outpost Depot is near the entrance of the campground. The depot is a large bus stop that connects to most of Disney's theme parks, including Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and both water parks. The Outpost Depot has a monitor that will list the arrival times of the buses. The buses depart to the different theme parks approximately every 20 minutes.

The busses begin running 45 minutes before the parks open and continue 2 hours after the parks close.

Ferry

If you are headed to Magic Kingdom for the day, the ferry will take you. It is a pleasant 20-minute boat ride to the entrance of Mickey's House. The ferries start running 30 minutes before Magic Kingdom opens and stops running an hour after the park closes.

Before boarding the ferry, check the flag on the front of the boat. The ferry with the green flag will take you to Magic Kingdom. The ferry with the blue flag will take you to the Contemporary resort and Wilderness Lodge.

Golf Carts

You can rent Golf carts at the reception outpost, and they can be used anywhere within Fort Wilderness. Parking is available for golf carts at all the activity areas, marina, and the Outpost Depot. You can also bring your personally owned golf cart to use throughout the campground.

Activities at Fort Wilderness Campground

Disney's Fort Wilderness is packed full of activities for all ages! You will receive an activity schedule at check-in. The schedule will provide information on many of the activities, including if there is a fee attached. These are just a few of the activities available at Fort Wilderness.

Fort Wilderness Activities

Basketball
Volleyball
Swimming
Arts and crafts
Boat rentals
Beach
Kayak rental
Fishing
Nightly Campfire Sing a Long
Nightly Disney movie under the stars
Miles of trails for walking, running or biking
Bike rentals
Tennis
Shuffleboard
Archery with instructors
Arcades
Horseback riding
Segway behind the scenes tour
Family trivia night
Organized poolside activities: frisbee toss, dance party and more

Need a little adult time? There is a great activity just for adults. It's called Woodworking and Wine. During the activity, you can create your own Disney sign.

As you can see, if you never leave Fort Wilderness, there is plenty to keep you occupied!

Overflow Parking

One of the benefits of staying at Fort Wilderness is arriving before check-in and staying a few hours after check out. If arriving before a site is available, you can park in the overflow parking lot and explore Disney before heading to your campsite. Parking is also available if you need a few more hours at Disney after leaving your site. This area is also available for trailer or dolly parking during your stay.

Benefits of Fort Wilderness

There are a few benefits to staying on Fort Wilderness instead of driving into the parks.

Parking Fee

As of this blog, the parking fee at Disney is $25 a day! That's right! Before you hit Magic Kingdom, you are already forking over a hefty sum! Thankfully, you can skip this fee while staying on Fort Wilderness.

Magic Hours

Anyone staying at a Disney resort, including Fort Wilderness, will have the benefit of Disney's Magic Hours! Magic hours allow you to enter the park an hour before anyone driving into the parks and stay up to 2 hours after they leave. Disney's Magic Hour schedule will be provided at check-in. One park a day will have magic hours.

But so that you know, not everything will be open during Magic hours! We thought we would eat and drink around Epcot during the evening magic hours but no such luck! All of the restaurants were closed. Only the rides and a few quick-service items were available. Be sure to check the list of participating attractions before making your park plans.

Naps

We really love how fast and easy it is to return home during the day for meals or naps! Instead of killing ourselves in the park or spending a zillion dollars on food, we zipped back home whenever we needed to. Disney's transportation makes it very convenient!

What does it Cost?

I know what you are really thinking is what's it going to cost me? This is everyone's question. Of course, it is Disney so it will be Disney prices!

The first time we stayed at Disney's Fort Wilderness was June of 2018. We were there to spend time with family that was also staying at Fort Wilderness. Of course, June is the heavy season for Disney, so we paid $125 per night plus tax and fees.

This visit was in February, which is the slow season, so we were cut a break! :) Our site was $100 per night plus tax and fees, which made the nightly total $112.50.

One thing we were not aware of is the pet fee. We were charged $5 per night for Gizmo. Not sure why! They didn't walk him, feed him, or provide poop bags! :)

Have You Been to Fort Wilderness?

We would love to know about your experience at Fort Wilderness. What did it cost you? Did you have a great time? Was it worth the money? Would you return? What loop did you stay in, and did you have any problems with your site? Please share your Fort Wilderness Campground review in the comments for everyone.

Is It Worth the Money?

This question is one that can only be answered by YOU! Was it worth it for us? Absolutely!! We had a great time, and we may even return in the future. So do you think it would be worth it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Complete Fort Wilderness Campground Tour!

Fort Wilderness Campground Review

We hope this Fort Wilderness Campground review was helpful and packed full of information for you! Enjoy your time at Disney even if you decide not to spend a few nights at Fort Wilderness!

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