Tent Camping at Fort Wilderness Info & Our Experience
The Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground is not exactly roughing it in the strictest sense of the term. Still, tent camping is pretty far from a posh Walt Disney World resort experience–or even staying in the reimagined value resort rooms. Regardless, it was likewise fun and memorable.
This was far from our first time camping or staying at Fort Wilderness. As adults, Sarah and I have stayed at the Cabins at Fort Wilderness several times, and it’s one of our favorite resorts for larger parties. However, prior to this we hadn’t done any “real” tent camping at Fort Wilderness, and my childhood memories were unreliable and hazy.
Growing up, Fort Wilderness was my family’s go-to up until Shades of Green opened in 1994, and we stayed in our truck camper there at least a half dozen times. I have a lot of nostalgia and fond memories for Fort Wilderness as a result, but I don’t really remember the specifics.
Unfortunately, details of a campground are not the kind of thing that makes a strong impression on a kid with the rest of Walt Disney World beyond its borders. Plus, my family camped a lot while I was growing up. Theme parks were our common spring destination, with state and U.S. National Parks being summer vacation.
Of those, my two favorite destinations were Fort Wilderness Campground and Blackwater Falls State Park, and my memories have probably blurred together over the years. That’s probably the first time in history anyone has had trouble distinguishing between West Virginia and Walt Disney World!
Sarah and I have done a good amount of camping, but we’re still pretty far from experts or even enthusiasts. For one, we hadn’t camped at all in almost 2 years prior to this (all of our nice gear is still in our California storage unit). For another thing, much of our camping is born of necessity.
We’re usually camping as a means to an end, not for the experience itself. We’ve frequently just slept in the back of the car if we’re stuck out in the middle of nowhere and it’s a viable alternative. This isn’t because we dislike tent camping, but because it’s easier and often more comfortable.
With that said, we’ve camped in a range of different places: Death Valley National Park’s Racetrack Playa, White Tank Campground at Joshua Tree National Park, and Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, to name a few places. Those, plus a variety of primitive campsites or random spots while hiking.
We mention these not because they’re directly comparable to the Campsites at Fort Wilderness, but because they are analogous. All of the above campgrounds are near iconic spots, and are in high demand. Consequently, you often have to book very far in advance or (in rare cases) enter a lottery.
Even then, the only campground in even the same ballpark as Fort Wilderness price-wise is Doheny State Beach, which is located on some of California’s most expensive real estate and has campsites with ocean views. Of course, it’s no surprise that anything at Walt Disney World is pricey, but these costs border on absurd.
In fairness, there’s an on-site location premium for everything at Walt Disney World, so inflated pricing does make sense. What bugs me (to a degree) is that the campsite costs are inflated by off-site guests booking for the perks but not actually camping. It’s unfortunate that Walt Disney World doesn’t do more to curb this behavior.
In terms of basics, Fort Wilderness Campground offers 5 categories of campsites: Tent or Pop-Up Campsite (what we booked), Full Hook-Up Campsite, Preferred Campsite, Premium Campsite, and Premium Meadow Campsite. The first category accommodates two tents, while the latter four all have space for an RV plus a tent.
Pricing is all over the place, but starting rates for most campsites with hook-ups are over $100 and can reach $200 per night. Our tent campsite cost a little under $100 per night, which was about the same price as a Value Resort for our dates. (Unlike Walt Disney World’s hotels, I know of no good hacks for scoring cheaper campsites.)
Tent campsites offer a paved parking spot and large area to pitch the tent(s). All Fort Wilderness campsites include electrical hook-ups, a picnic table, and a charcoal grill. Some are pet friendly.
All RV campsites at Fort Wilderness include a sewage hookup and paved pads ranging from 10 by 45 feet to 18 by 60 feet. Locations vary, with the most expensive spots being close to Meadow Trading Post, Meadow Recreation Area, Bike Barn, and the Campfire Area.
Comfort Stations are located throughout the Fort Wilderness Campground, and most campsites are probably within a 5 minute walk of one. These offer everything you’d find in a traditional restroom plus private shower stalls with changing areas.
By campground standards, these Comfort Stations are really nice and clean. They’re exactly what you’d expect of Walt Disney World and one aspect of the “resort” that helps justify the premium pricing.
Another advantage Fort Wilderness offers over other campgrounds is the entertainment and recreation options. The daily programming lineup is formidable, making it easy to see why so many “Fort Fiends” spend so much time at the campground and so little time (comparatively) at the theme parks.
I can’t think of any other resort with as much to offer as Fort Wilderness in terms of “things to do” on a daily basis. Maybe Animal Kingdom Lodge?
Throughout Fort Wilderness Campground there are playgrounds, sporting areas (basketball & volleyball courts, jogging trails, etc.), a marina for boat rentals, and much more.
There are also two pool areas, one of which is a feature pool that’s on par with other Walt Disney World resorts. (It’s a bit on the bland side, but far nicer than what you’ll find at other campgrounds.)
Arguably, the biggest advantage and disadvantage offered by Fort Wilderness Campground are the same: its sprawling size. Situated on 750 acres of a pine and cypress forest, Fort Wilderness feels worlds apart from the rest of Walt Disney World.
We’ve seen deer every single stay, turkeys on occasion, and Disney claims there are also armadillos roaming around (Sarah’s dream is to have one creep into our campsite–she’s weird.) It’s a serene and blissful escape from the hustle and bustle of the theme parks.
The downside to this “blessing of size,” is one that mirrors Walt Disney World as a whole: convoluted transportation. Getting around Fort Wilderness requires long walks, renting a golf cart, or using the internal transportation. The bus transportation can be confusing and cumbersome, and is not for the impatient.
There have definitely been some trips where the bus transportation at Fort Wilderness bugged us. The last time we stayed in a cabin with my parents, our trip was more theme park-centric. It was thus probably a mistake to stay at Fort Wilderness then.
In general, the (Walt Disney) World and life move at a slower pace at Fort Wilderness. It’s a simpler time and place, and that really needs to appeal to you and also mesh with the priorities for your Walt Disney World vacation. If you’re theme park commandos, it’s not for you. If you’re fine with a more leisurely experience, it could work.
This campsite stay for us was all about Fort Wilderness–we had no agenda in the parks or anywhere beyond the bounds of the campground. Moreover, we really enjoy long walks in the woods, so the size of Fort Wilderness was all upside. (We’ve never rented a golf cart and didn’t use the internal buses at all this time.)
Our campsite was (more or less) across from the Meadow Recreation Area, but was not a preferred or premium site. The walk there was under 10 minutes, which we felt was reasonable (you could easily be that far from the lobby at almost any hotel).
We were a moderate distance from the Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge construction site (closer than the cabins, farther than some campsites) but couldn’t hear or see a thing. The construction was only really evident to us from the Settlement area.
If you’re primarily spending time at the Meadow or your campsite, it’s pretty much a non-issue (for now, at least). Still pretty far from ideal, and we’re not fans of Disney Vacation Club expanding to a rustic area with some of the oldest-growth trees in all of Walt Disney World.
On an odd and random note, one of the highlights of our stay was a stop at the Meadows Trading Post (no joke!). I was hit with a blast from the past walking around in there–I swear it smells exactly the same as it did when I was a kid.
Now I need to update my Top 10 Scents at Walt Disney World with “the musty old wood from the Meadows Trading Post.” I’m guessing that’s not one many others will share.
While at Meadows Trading Post, I spotted one of my absolute favorite pieces of Walt Disney World merchandise from the last decade–the art pictured above. I meant to go back and buy this before we left, but totally forgot. Hopefully it still exists next time we’re at Fort Wilderness.
Continuing with the nostalgia-trip, I recently stumbled upon this awesome Fort Wilderness shirt design that my mom had (in sweatshirt form) when I was a kid. Definitely going to be keeping my eye out for one in my size that’s not so outrageously-priced!
Our experience camping at Fort Wilderness was otherwise fairly uneventful. Sarah didn’t have her dream of seeing an armadillo fulfilled, and I didn’t get to gorge myself on fried chicken and ribs at Trail’s End. (Did you even stay at Fort Wilderness if you didn’t eat there?!?!?) Despite these massive shortcomings, it was mellow and relaxing–a nice change of pace from how we normally do Walt Disney World.
In retrospect, the memory has aged like a fine wine. This stay at Fort Wilderness was the perfect intersection of being outdoors while still being a part of civilization. Those are two things that we’d absolutely love to be able to do right now, and have camping at Fort Wilderness at the top of our “things we can’t wait to do again at Walt Disney World” list. Funny how that works!
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Your Thoughts
Have you camped at Fort Wilderness? What did you think of the experience? Anything else to add that we didn’t cover? Do you agree or disagree with our thoughts/review? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
My only beef is that I didn’t see you write about Tri-Circle D! We absolutely adore the horses and ponies, especially little Lilly the new white miniature horse. She is so incredibly cute and if you are lucky you’ll get to see her when you go. Right now they are doing construction on the barn (I wonder if it’s related to the [not thrilled about this] construction of the new DVC hotel here. Fort Wilderness is one of the most peaceful areas of WDW and we adore it!
They actually completely demolished Tri Circle Ranch and are constructing a brand new one closer to the new DVC resort.
As a regular reader from WV .. you have warmed my heart once again… Blackwater Falls is lovely year round . You should come back!
Always get a golf cart when you stay there so you don’t have to take those buses. Like staying in the cabins and actually got one of the two right next to Hoop Dee Doo (which also needs to be done every time). Saw armadillo next to our cabin and got some photos and video of him rummaging around.
Like most campgrounds, neighbors make a huge difference in experience there and it’s luck of the draw. That said, we love camping there and can’t wait to bring our kids. Biggest piece of advice is if you’re driving, or can rent them for the length of the stay, bring a bike if you’re able! We loved biking around and never needed a bus, unless we park hopped and came back on the ferry but bikes were at the bus stop.
We only ever saw armadillos in the middle of the night on the way to the bathroom. It was rather startling haha.
Sorry-don’t know why this ended up as a reply! Thought I’d moved it out. â€â™€ï¸
Tom, I would love to hear news on DCL. Seems they keep pushing the restart of cruises out.
Thanks for your reports!
During both of our stays at Coronado Springs, we saw armadillos several times during our late night strolls around the resort. If you are quiet and move slow, you can get pretty darn close to them, especially when they are rooting around in the manicured landscape.
I know I appear to be in the minority here but I’ve never gotten the complaints about FW transportation. I’ve had to wait much longer for buses when I’ve stayed at WDW hotels than at the campground. Not to mention that being able to go by boat to the Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge and Magic Kingdom are a big plus.
One complaint I do have is that Disney doesn’t take care of the tent pads as well as they used to. Have had a couple of times in recent years when we visited after a rainy spell and the gravel had not been refreshed.
We stopped at Blackwater Falls on our drive down to Disney a few years ago from Canada and it was a beautiful spot. We’ve never camped at Disney, i’m afraid of the huge snakes i’ve seen there crawling into our tent! But we would definitely try out a cabin. Great report and thanks for all the interesting posts during all this. We were supposed to be at Pop Century this week.
Fort Wilderness is wonderful. Lots of childhood memories from our stays. Heading to the Meadow from our cabin was always fun! We’ve rented gold carts, bikes, canoes, went horse back riding over the years. Also saw Song of the South at the campfire one year. We also used to frequent River Country, of course! Trail’s End continues to be my father’s favorite restaurant in all of Disney, only second to the Hoop-dee-doo Review!! Oh I have been lucky enough to come across an armadillo or two during our visits. There’s more than few favorite memories from our stays at Fort Wilderness, thanks for bringing smiles our way!!
We had an armadillo under our cabin when we stayed at Fort Wilderness! Even got a pic or two! Was awesome. Love your blog and hope Sarah gets to see an armadillo soon!
“What bugs me (to a degree) is that the campsite costs are inflated by off-site guests booking for the perks but not actually camping.”
Wow, that’s something I would have never thought about.
Staying at Fort Wilderness is something I’ve briefly considered for the handful of times we’ve visited WDW. My main drawback would be if it is during a rainy period I would probably rather stay elsewhere and when making reservations many months out you don’t know what kind of weather you will get.
We might give it a try someday but I’ll have to break my taste of stepping out of my room and on a monorail that goes right through my resort or walking out the lobby entrance and hopping on a Disney bus that comes by every few minutes.
Yes, I was shocked to read that too. Given that camping prices start around $100, once you add that cost to an offsite hotel, wouldn’t you just be spending as much as if you stayed at a value resort? This never would have crossed my mind – surprised to hear that it’s “a thing”. Huh.
Fort Fiend here!! 16 visits in tent, RV, cabins. Transportation not so bad if you bring bikes. Learning to “do” FW right leads to a really unique Disney experience. Many pictures of my kids playing checkers on the porch at Meadow Trading Post. As AVID RVers, off-season pricing has been ok. Thanks for the post! Now hide it so no one else can read it!!!
We â¤ï¸â¤ï¸â¤ï¸â¤ï¸â¤ï¸â¤ï¸ Fort Wilderness!!!! We have done every type of stay from tent to cabin. We have an RV and have reservations for January soWe get to go. Don’t know if readers are aware you can rent an RV in Orlando and they will set up at FW with groceries if wanted and pick it back up.
We love the Fort and I grew up staying there and hope to be able to continue that with my kids. I may be the oddball, but we prefer the Fort even when commando touring. Nothing sets you up for a night of good rest like the peaceful walk back to your site in the dark. Many resorts are teaming with people even after park close, lots of energy still buzzing & the chance of noise from every wall, floor & ceiling once in room. We almost always are pulling sleeping children from a stroller at Fort after that nice dark walk.
My family loves FW! I’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve stayed there over the years, especially when our children were younger. Its partly for the lower cost as compared to other onsite properties, especially when you consider that you can cook all your own food it you want, and partly because we just love the look and feel of the place. Its such a relaxing change from being in the Parks, we would typically only do half days in the Parks and the rest in FW.
FW is probably the only Disney property I know as well as you,lol. Maybe better!
Unless you just hate the outdoors, or as you mentioned, are a theme park commando. Then its probably not for you. But personally its probably my favorite place to stay at Disney!
Side note: I’m pretty sure my younger daughter is the reason all the wood railing around Meadows Trading post are all now “fake” wood. When she was 7 liked to run her hand along railings when she was walking and got a GIGANTIC splinter in her hand at Meadows. The first aid choices in the store were very small then and it took us forever while she bawled her poor eyes out to dig out the splinter with a needle. (The staff felt really bad and did their best to help) The didn’t sell tweezers than either and I hadn’t thought to bring any. The railings were all changed the next time we visited and the first aid section was larger (now with tweezers!), so I’m pretty sure it was because of us, lol!
I had to comment on the armadillos. I went camping a few times for school trips at Camp Chowenwaw and remember seeing quite a few armadillos. Thank You for the article on the campsite, I still never tried it but I know people really love it. Thank You Tom and Sarah.
We LOVE FW. Fly down every winter from Wisconsin with our tent in our luggage. Cheapest way to stay on property, I think! The smells, the music playing everywhere, the cast members….and ONCE I saw an armadillo! During a canoe ride. Found the old train tracks last time we were there. My hubby always says “this feels like WDW the way Walt intended it to be.”
This is a great review! We stayed here one night on our first “blended family” trip and it was and still is one of our favorite memories! The recreation here is amazing! It’s like you want a whole day just to check it all out!! Don’t get me wrong, we are more about the deluxe or moderate resort experience but if you like camping and the outdoors, this is like the best of everything!!
I’m with Sarah!! I would have loved to see an armadillo wandering around! (They remind me of home!) Maybe she will get her wish next time! 🙂
Great post!
Our family’s favorite theme parking camping experience is at Knoebel’s in Pennsylvania. It’s rustic to say the least, and not anywhere near Disney quality (emphasis on not even close). That being said, it’s good fun especially with a big family group.
You can snag a campsite in the shadow of one of the old wooden coasters. I know our kids will have great hazy memories of running around with their cousins there.
For once I’ll say Disney’s pricing doesn’t seem outrageous (if you are at the low end). The sites at Knoebel’s (which have less amenities, and the grounds don’t look near as nice) are about ~$60 per night. I’d say ~$100 for the Disney experience, and the access to the amenities seems reasonable.
I wish we lived closer so we could camp here for a different experience.
Timing perfection. I’ve been researching tents, and possible alternatives to hotels for our September National Park trip sans air travel. This gave me an inspirational boost. I would LOVE to stay at wilderness campground one day. And, the first pic is over the top cuteness.
You’re wrong about “the musty old wood from the Meadows Trading Post” not being a favorite Disney smell…my whole family loves it! Meadows Trading Post is the first place we head after checking in, because “that smell” confirms that we’re at DISNEY rather than some other campground. We’re reserved for early September (in the cabins) and are really hoping that it all works out and we can experience the Fort again in health and safety!
Haha, fair enough!
Is it just me, or does the Settlement Trading Post not have the same smell? It has never triggered any ‘scent-evoked nostalgia’ for me, and I swear the Meadows Trading Post has its own distinct smell. Maybe I’m just imagining things…
You would do a FW post the week we are supposed to leave . If Disney is my happy place, then FW is my HAPPY happy place. I think we have fonder memories here than we do at the parks simply because we feel more connected at FW. At the parks it’s almost a job (but a super awesome job!). We have seen a family of deer (buck, doe, and baby) on one of our late night golf cart rides home, lots of doe and babies, tons of wild turkeys, armadillos, a fox… everything! We are hoping to be there next may since this year is a bust! It’s the only place we stay. Seriously. Tried to plan a trip once at another spot and my husband was like….no. not gonna ever happen!