History of Fort Wilderness

Note: This article is a work in progress with more information, details and images to come!

Fort Wilderness opened November 19, 1971 as one of the original Walt Disney World resorts. The “Fort Wilderness” name comes from the name of the fort on Tom Sawyers island at the Disneyland park. The design architect for Fort Wilderness was Imagineer Dick Kline of WDI.

On opening day, Fort Wilderness had 232 campsites, located on 6 camping loops, with 3 comfort stations. Also included were:

• Settlement Trading Post
• Tri-Circle D Ranch
• Fort Wilderness Landing
• Nature Trail
• Reception Outpost
• Bike Barn

• Permanent Reception Outpost
• Meadows Trading Post
• Camping loops 700-1900 - adding 481 sites
• Fort Wilderness Railroad

Added in 1974:

• Pioneer Hall
• Trail’s End Buffeteria
• Campfire Snack Bar
• Treasure Island (renamed Discovery Island in 1978)

• Fort Wilderness Kennel
• Camping loops 2000 and 2100 - adding 113 sites (2100 loop was later converted from a camping loop to cabins)
• River Country

Added 1977:

• Trams (replaced Fort Wilderness Railroad)

• Creekside Meadow group camping area

Added 1985:

• Meadows Recreation Area (pool, snack bar, game room, tennis courts

• Cabin loops 2200-2800 - adding 383 cabins

Added 1989:

• Internal buses (replaced trams)

• Expansion of 600 loop – (#?) sites added

Pioneer Hall

Pioneer Hall, located in the Settlement area of the resort, opened on April 1, 1974. It’s architecture and theming was based on buildings of the late 1800’s.

Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Review

The now-iconic Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue debuted at Fort Wilderness on June 29, 1974. The show was based on a concept by Robert F. Jani and was co-written by Tom Adair, Paul Suter and Larry Billman. The original cast was comprised of All-American Musical Comedy Workshop students from the All-American College Band and the All-American College Singers. They were replaced on September 5, 1974 with a cast of professional performers.

If anyone has any information or images to add or corrections to the information here, please PM BradyBzLyn12.