Avatab.... Steve

I'll second Fort Desoto, been there many times. Get a waterfront campsite, bring kayaks/canoe to launch from your site. Bring bicycles for the short ride to the Fort and one of the best beaches in the country. Plan ahead though, the best sites fill up months ahead...

Thanks, now I have to clean milk and cheerios off my screen.....

Exactly. This is the heart of the matter. At some point, someone somewhere decided it was Ok to sell family campsites to large groups of unrelated people. Then someone somewhere decided that those same groups would be exempt from the rules even though they would be disturbing those around them that also paid top dollar to be at the Fort....

Fort Security can use Rangers like you guys! The Fort will be a very safe and quiet place again. Especially quiet..... everyone will be scared to come out of their campers!

Well there's your problem right there!

Don't forget Snarky! That's a hat design I'd like to see

I wish I didn't, but I have to agree. It seems every decision now is made strictly according to the bottom line as opposed to what is right or wrong, or even what makes for a better "guest experience". Only when the numbers add up will anything change for the better. And when something truly bad does happen it will probably just speed up plans to replace the Fort with more waterfront "cabins" and ugly DVC towers as the path of least resistance and higher profits....

Some of you are starting to sound like Rabid Anti-Dentites.......

I can see it now! "MAFGA" MAke the Fort Great Again I'd wear that hat.... In Purple of course!

I know the "DVC Fort sites" have been discussed quite a bit, and apparently won't work in the DVC system. I still like the idea though. It would give the current Disney bean-counters a concrete reason to finally build more campsites to meet the crazy demand. Another idea that might work that I've brought up before (besides re-opening River Country! LOL) would be to extend the Value-Moderate-Deluxe idea to Campsites as well. Value: Build a large, simple, No-frills CG that could be Affordable above all else. A large parking lot with electric, a few water spigots and one or two dump st

Yes, that actually describes us (and probably many here on FF). I was trying to keep it simple and wrapped it all in the "Average Families who want to camp and/or want to save money" But your description also works. There is also some crossover/overlap with the first two categories as well. Not everyone fits neatly into one or the other. The larger point is that the price increases, value-per-dollar, and the uncontrolled groups will always affect the "Average" families the hardest. They are the least able to justify paying more for less. And as a result the percentage of groups and m

I did the Fort Wilderness Segway Tour a few years ago and I had PF in my left foot at the time. I was wearing that special boot to bed everynight during that time. (it really helps). Most of my issues were when my feet hit the floor first thing in the morning. After a few minutes of hobbling around it would get better. I didn't have any issues on the Segway, in fact I was having so much fun that I didn't even think about my foot at all. As Travisma said, you can move your feet around and flex your knees as well. Your feet are not strapped in and there is enough room to turn your

No one else mentioned this but it jumped out at me. Why on Earth would they get mad at someone that was trying to help them?? Wouldn't the appropriate response be "Thank you for letting us know that before we wasted even more of our time"? Is this yet another example of emotionally immature self-centered idiots that seem to be everywhere at the Fort these days? Or just a tired stressed family that was having a bad moment? I know which one I would guess....

Even a Fort Manager is at a loss to explain why people keep paying the higher price..... I think TCD and Travisma have hit on it above, there are Three basic demographics that come to the Fort: 1. The relatively well-off older or retired couple in the big RV's 2. The Groups or extended families who can pack 10 (or more) people on each site 3. The average Family who want to camp and/or want to save some money by driving to Disney and pitching a tent, Pop-Up or camper. Number One doesn't mind the higher prices too much as long as they can get a site (Not saying they are

WOW. Just WOW. 100 plus people on 6 sites. But God forbid you get caught parking with one wheel off the pavement....

Couldn't agree more. Walt's idea of an affordable place to park the station wagon, pitch a tent, and take the family to the Parks has been slowly disappearing. And it seems like the trend is accelerating.... I've said before that given the choice I would much rather stay at Fort Wilderness circa 1975-85 or so than the Fort Wilderness of today. I would gladly give up WIFI and one hundred cable channels for a return to the days when you could get a site whenever you wanted, you could take the kids to the pool without fear of drowning or having nowhere to sit, you could walk over to Ri

First of All, Welcome!! As noted above, you can keep checking but with a small trailer I can't see them telling you no. The rules about those loops don't appear to be enforced any longer so I would say you are Ok. Worst case tell them at check in that it has Pop-Out ends on it, I doubt they would know the difference..... If you have very small tanks either bring one of those Blue portable tanks to empty yours on an empty full-hookup site or try not to use your camper sinks, toilet, and shower too much.

Wow, so all those times I tried to get a site and the only ones available were "Tent or Pop-Up Campsites" I should have gone ahead and booked it?? All this time I assumed that those sites were for Tents or Pop-Ups only..... silly me! I guess the new rule at the Fort is there are no real rules.

When we went from our 30amp MH to our current 50amp I had the same questions. I ended up getting the Camco one this time around and here is how Camco describes the difference between their two Surge Protectors and why one is so much more expensive than the other: What is the difference between this one and the $200 priced Camco Defender? Answer: The Power Defender Voltage Protector provides three functions. It monito

I would bet that they (Four Seasons) would love to offer boat service to their guests, but I would also bet that Disney has or would said no. Disney probably assumed that the market for that hotel would be a few high-end Golfers only and now that Disney sees them as a competitor there is no way they will give them access to the Lake. I wonder if Disney was thinking the Hotel wouldn't do very well and they could buy it back cheap in a couple of years for a ready-made DVC resort?

Exactly. And I would have said the same thing then. If anyone is going to pay that big a premium for a WDW hotel room it would HAVE to be within spitting distance of the Magic Kingdom/Monorail Loop/etc. As you say, we were all wrong.

I agree with this, but a slight modification: I'll bet that Disney never thought someone would build a Five-Star hotel on "their" property.... They probably assumed that for people to be willing to pay 5-Star rates that they would need to be right next to the MK / Monorail Loop. I would be very surprised if Disney of all companies didn't have multiple provisions on the use of the property. So there must be more to the story.

Second that. Never use batteries when electricity is available. Walmart sells the inexpensive Box-style 3-speed window fans that are powerful and quiet. I would get a couple of those and put one blowing in and one blowing out on opposite sides. I have used bungie cords to keep them from tipping over, or even to hang them from above. Even if you don't have room to take them home, it would be a cheap way to make sure you can sleep well each night. Besides, if you do buy them it will almost guarantee that the nights will be chilly.... so either way, cheap insurance....

I have a picture somewhere I took a few years ago on the Dog Path along the canal behind the 800 Loop. I posted it on one of TCD's threads I think. It showed a large group with several sites that had tents all over the place. So many in fact that they had some set up ON the dog path that runs behind the loop. They also had a bag toss game set up in the middle of the path. They had other tents set up in the woods between the actual sites and the path. It looked like they had cut back some of the bushes/tree branches to make little paths between the tents. They literally had big and small

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