Camping at Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground

Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground is a great resort (and often overlooked) for campsites and cabins, in lieu of a stay at value or moderate resorts. Many guests and fans know the location for the Hoop-Dee-Doo Review or Trail’s End restaurants, but not many can say they have stayed at the campsites or cabins. Depending on the type of amenities that you are looking for, the campground can actually have a lot to offer for your stay in the Walt Disney World Resort.

Staying at a campsite doesn’t mean that you have to completely “rough it”. You still have many luxuries with full power (both 120 and 240 volt), water, Internet access, charcoal grill and picnic table. The standard size campsite, which is what our group chose to stay in, is large enough to accommodate two large eight person tents and a ten foot by ten foot easy up canopy. We were lucky enough that our site was right across from a comfort station, where there are full bathroom facilities including toilets and showers. Within each campsite loop the comfort stations are only a very short walk away.

My family and I stayed in a campground in the end of July, which here in Florida means 90 plus degree temperatures and high humidity. We were able to stay cool with the use of a single box fan and the two pools available for guests. We didn’t visit a single theme park! We only enjoyed what the campsite and surrounding resorts had to offer and had an absolute blast!

It was nice to see my son and his cousins running around the campsite and playing, due to the lack of electronic stimulation, and actually getting to spend time together as a family. We found that everything was easily accessible with the buses that run within the campground. However, if you have less patience, golf carts are available for rental.

We didn’t enjoy any of the major restaurants there at Fort Wilderness, but we did enjoy the pizza available at Trails End for carry out. We decided to eat our pies on tables available on the porch outside the restaurant, which provided us a great view of Bay Lake. And for those of you that are fans of Disney’s pizza in the parks, you will love the pizzas available here. They are the same great taste as the smaller versions but large enough to feed four people, for the same price you would pay a delivery company outside of property.

The Settlement Trading Post, near where the Trails End and Hoop Dee Doo restaurants are, is one of two great little shops for any small odd and end needs. There’s also a playground and sports courts available. Here is where you catch the boats to the Magic Kingdom or to Wilderness Lodge and the Contemporary.

Our families did sneak away one morning to grab breakfast at The Wave inside the Contemporary. It’s a restaurant that I highly recommend and it was a nice option, in addition to the other restaurants there, rather than having to rely solely on what’s available at the campgrounds.

My family and I have stayed in the campgrounds twice now, in the last year, and have greatly enjoyed our stays there. We have stayed at all levels of hotels available on property and enjoy the campsites just as much as any of the other options available. Depending on the size of your group, a Written by WDWParhopper Sarah-Irenecabin might actually be a great option for you with it being able to sleep six people and not having to have two rooms to do so.

Written by WDWParkhopper Contributor Ricardo Rodriguez

Ricardo Rodriguez is a married father who resides in the Greater Orlando Area. While he didn’t grow up near Disney, he has been a big Disney Fan and has spent the last 15 years sharing Disney with his friends, family and strangers he meets along the way. He’s spent several years on Disney property both as a Guest and Cast Member, in various roles getting to discover from the inside what makes the Magic.