New Rules for RV Rentals & Golf Cart Liability at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground
Walt Disney World is instituting rule changes at Fort Wilderness Campground to ban third party golf cart rents and require insurance of owners, while also limiting RV rental providers. This lists the official new rules & regulations for vehicles, carts, RVs and recreation devices, along with our commentary about the potentially polarizing policies.
These changes come against the backdrop of Walt Disney World introducing New DVC Cabins to Fort Wilderness Campground, which will undoubtedly alter the demographics and average ‘guest profile’ of the resort. With this, more than 350 new cabins are replacing the existing cabins at the resort, turning the resort side of the campground into a Disney Vacation Club property.
To prepare for the influx of DVC guests, Walt Disney World reimagined the restaurants in Pioneer Hall. That work is now finished, and both Crockett’s Tavern and Trail’s End have reopened. Along with this, Walt Disney World has announced a “collection of improvement projects” at Fort Wilderness aimed at improving the guest experience, covering everything from pools to walking trail improvements. I don’t know if the new Disney Vacation Club cabins have anything to do with the RV and golf cart rule changes, but it kinda makes sense that Walt Disney World wouldn’t want its newest DVC resort to be the wild west.
Regardless, Walt Disney World has just made some adjustments to its policies for RVs and golf carts at Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. Here’s what you need to know before you go…
Renting an RV?
Several Disney-featured providers allow guests to rent an RV at Fort Wilderness. RVs can be rented by contacting a Walt Disney World Featured Provider, including:
- Meacham’s RV Rental – (941) 224-4939
- Escape RV Rental – (407) 374-3657
- Kissimmee Orlando RV Rental – (407) 368-7899
- Ohana Camper Rental – (386) 748-9328
When renting through one of these providers, you do not need to be present when the equipment is delivered to Fort Wilderness Resort. The provider will work with Cast Members at Fort Wilderness to manage deliveries, set-up and returns of the rented RVs.
Bringing an RV?
RVs are welcome and must be brought in by registered guests.
Renting a golf cart from Disney?
Golf carts can be easily rented right from Fort Wilderness. Guests can make reservations in advance by calling 407-824-2724, based on availability. After arriving, guests can visit the Outpost to pick up the golf cart right at the resort.
Bringing your own golf cart?
Golf carts are welcome, but beginning June 1, 2024, for the safety of everyone at the resort, guests bringing golf carts must be prepared to present proof of insurance and sign an agreement and waiver.
Renting a golf cart from a third party?
There are no authorized third party golf cart rentals or featured providers.
As a reminder, third-party companies may not conduct unauthorized business on Walt Disney World property. Disney rules prohibit unauthorized commercial activity at Walt Disney World. This includes unauthorized rentals brought onto the property by non-resort guests, such as RVs and golf carts.
Editor’s note: This means that the “loophole” of renting a golf cart via a third party and bringing it to Fort Wilderness is officially dead. Disney makes it clear from the above, and it’s also the case that you would not have liability insurance for a golf cart that you rented. So renting golf carts is no longer possible, period, and Disney will no longer be turning a blind eye to it.
Here’s a look at the refreshed rules courtesy of Walt Disney World:
Turning to commentary, I’m going to start with my potentially unpopular opinion that I might come to regret sharing: GOOD!
I will spare you a long rant, but I have had some near-misses with golf carts driven by children (against the rules in the first place) or irresponsible adults (guessing drunk driving was involved one of those times) on a few occasions. We’re not at Fort Wilderness that often, so I know if this has happened to me, I cannot be the only one.
My hope is that this isn’t even an unpopular opinion. That enough other guests have experienced this firsthand to know it’s a problem, and that Walt Disney World isn’t just making random rule changes out of left field. Like the hugely controversial oversized stroller and loose ice ban a few years back, there’s a very valid basis for this change–it’s overdue and occurring for good reason. Also, that enough campers have experienced a rule like this in the real world that they are familiar with and accepting of it.
Requiring liability insurance of $100k/$300k and requiring guests to sign an agreement and waiver should give some guests pause about irresponsible use/misuse of golf carts, while also weeding out some golf cart drivers. Again, at least that’s my hope.
Honestly, I don’t understand why there need to be so many golf carts at Fort Wilderness in the first place. Yes, it’s a sprawling resort. But isn’t that part of the appeal? I’ve heard so many complaints from Fort Fiends in the last year who lament the character of the campground irreparably changing and it no longer being peaceful and calm as a result of construction or other assorted changes.
A lot is changing, but there also never used to be so many golf carts at Fort Wilderness back in the 1990s or earlier. When I think about tranquil places, golf carts zipping around everywhere is certainly not the first thing that comes to mind. Back when I was a kid, we walked around Fort Wilderness, rode bikes, or (heaven forbid) took the internal buses. Okay okay, I promised that I’d spare you from a long rant, and I now realize I’m fully in old man yells at cloud mode.
I’m not trying to be a hater. The vast majority of golf cart drivers at Fort Wilderness are perfectly fine and safe, and I know that for some guests, this is a huge part of the experience and adds to the fun. I can fully understand and respect that! I also know there are plenty of guests with mobility needs who are well-served by golf carts who couldn’t get around Fort Wilderness as well any other way. All of that is true.
It can also be true that it’s time to clamp down on some of the irresponsible minority of reckless golf drivers. Roving gangs of unaccompanied kids should not be zooming around a campground, like it’s Mario Kart IRL. I also think that the vibe of Fort Wilderness (something so many of us care a lot about) would be better with fewer golf carts on the road. To some extent, these ideas are conflicting; but like the evolution of Fort Wilderness itself, it’s about finding the right balance.
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Your Thoughts
Have you rented an RV or used a golf cart at Fort Wilderness? What did you think of the experience? What do you think of these rule changes? Had any issues with reckless drivers on the roads of the Fort? Anything else to add that we didn’t cover? 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!
Fully disagree with the very high liability minimum limits set by Disney on private owner golf carts at FW. It is very oblivious Disney is trying to stop golf cart owners from bringing them in order to boost their own golf cart rentals in which are out of this world too high.
I find the rule against electric bikes is unreasonable. My wife is handicapped and uses an electric 3 wheel bike which I assume could be a violation of their rules. And what is the difference between electric or manual, since manual bikes can generally go much faster than most electric bikes. For someplace that often likes people to feel they are about the future, they are certainly behind the times.
I’m not familiar with 3-wheel electric bikes, but I assume the ones for accessibility purposes are very, very different from regular e-bikes.
I live in an area with a lot of walking trails that just (finally!) banned e-bikes and is still dealing with the headaches of trying to enforce that. I can assure you that whatever the e-bikes the kids have these days can go much, much faster than manual bikes. They’re basically like a quieter version of dirt bikes.
Even though there’s a blanket ban on e-bikes, I’d imagine your wife could get an exception for accessibility purposes. Whatever she has is presumably quite different from what the kids are using.
Hi William!
I can not speak for Disney, but I live way up north and worked on Mackinac Island for many years. They do not allow cars, and when e-bikes first came out they allowed them, more or less. However, a few years ago e-bike batteries (that were charging in a persons home) caught fire. The fire department was able to save the home, but two firefighters were injured by the toxic chemicals given off by the batteries. Since then, Mackinac Island has banned the use of e-bikes, for the concern of fire hazard. According to their fire chief, there have been many incidents in other parts of the country where a fire has occurred, and the City of Mackinac Island is not willing to bear that risk. Again, I can not speak for Disney, but this is what has happened up in my neck of the woods.
Well, I guess I can see the concern. But fire departments are normally overly cautious about many things. Look at the insipid bans on fireworks in many (most ) cities. While the risk of fire caused by fireworks is not zero, it’s still very low (excepting the usual stupid drunk activities you find all over) compared to the outright bans. Especially on aerial rockets and the like. It is simply not possible for bottle rockets to start an asphalt roof on fire. Trust me, we’ve done tests of all kinds… And how does it make sense to push people, who are going to use fireworks no matter what anyone says, out into undeveloped areas where there is little to no fire protection at all? But I digress.
The proliferation of things like e-bikes, scooters, etc with questionable QC on cheap Chinese batteries is a concern. Hence why airlines now prohibit any ‘loose’ lithium batteries in checked bags. And why Amazon now no longer allows shipment of things with lithium batteries in the box. Of course, you can still buy lithium batteries on Amazon. Ebay has also tried to ban their sale for the same reasons. You can buy all kinds of batteries with no name brand, no labels, fake ratings, etc. We replaced our golf cart battery with a single lithium-ion unit which seems to work great, and it’s 500# lighter! We’ve bought other Li-ion batteries with less impressive results, some which just fail for no reason, some where a single cell goes bad and some where they do get far hotter than they should. no fires yet, thankfully! But I do not see the battery issue as a legitimate reason to ban them at FW. A viable lack of control over them, on the other hand is a reason I could see. Look at the FAA’s futile and very late to the game rules on UAVs. I think Disney is just trying to nip the problem early.
I’ve never stayed at Fort Wilderness, so I don’t know what the rules used to be, but I was surprised to see no e-bikes as a rule. Why are e-bikes a problem?
Here’s a good article about the problems e-bikes are causing elsewhere: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-01-16/mayhem-on-the-boardwalk-orange-county-cities-tackle-e-bikes-with-varying-results
If I had to choose between Fort Wilderness allowing any e-bikes or an unlimited number of golf carts, I’m 100% taking golf carts. E-bikes are the worst.
How about the electric scooters all over cities? I wonder if Disney has considered bringing those out…
So I rent an RV in NY and do a cross country trip doing 22 states and ehen in Florida I want to stay at Disney but now cannot? I dis this in 2018 for the Entire Summer spending 17 days at campgrounds but now cannot because I rented an RV in NY?
I could be mistaken but I think this refers to local companies that bring the rig in set it up for you. They are rental in place sort of thing. If you rent an rv in New York and drive it yourself – it’s like you own in! And should be no issue.
So many of these arguments are just silly — legally and practically. The problem with non-golf cart style vehicles (using that term loosely) being at the Fort ie because Disney did not enforce their existing rules and apparently let them in and didn’t enforce against those who might have snuck them in. The problem with kids driving and people driving recklessly with golf carts is because Disney did not enforce their existing rules that already prohibited such actions.
While annoying, I don’t have an issue with insurance in the big picture, but we get back to the fact that if Disney does not enforce the rules, that won’t make much if any difference. People were always liable for what happens on their carts — and I suspect that most people that live in the Disney bubble will still gladly let their teens take their carts to give them some freedom and the adults some quiet time. Golf cart problems only stop when Disney enforces their own rules. Everyone who says Disney is doing this because of liability does not understand how the law works. Sure there will be another pot of money to go after beside Disney, but if its on Disney property, Disney will be sued — and if they aren’t enforcing their own regulations, they should worry extra.
Also, if Disney just had more golf carts, this issue of outside golf carts would probably solve itself. I haven’t compared rates, but I suspect that many golf cart renters from the outside do so because they can’t get carts from Disney because they are regularly sold out. I would guess with the logistics of bringing in a cart under the old rules, the only people that really would want to still bring in outside carts would be those that were staying on property for a good amount of time where that difference in pricing is worth the hassle.
We became Fort folks during the pandemic and love it. We have always rented and RV and golf cart from Kissimmee Orlando Rv rental. I don’t mind Disney essentially introducing a “good neighbor” type policy for RV rental companies and can even appreciate the attempt to control bad golf cart behavior. My issue is that if they are going to restrict the supply of carts to exclude external rentals, then they need to make sure they have enough units in their own fleet to meet demand. Too often they run out of inventory far too quickly.
Tom, I am in the completely ban golf cart group. I believe they have no place in a campground. I have stayed at Fort Wilderness every year for the last decade and never had the need for one. You can walk, bike and bus to anywhere you need to go.
I might agree with you if this were a primitive campground or in a National Park, but it’s at Walt Disney World. There are already RVs the size of small cruise ships, decorated campsites, and more. To be clear, I’m not knocking any of that (I LOVE the decorations!)–just pointing out how Fort Wilderness already differs from some campgrounds where nature is truly front and center.
I just want to see better balance and the roads and pathways be a little safer for pedestrians. It’s not all or nothing IMO.
That reminds me of camping southwest of Denver and the buffoons out there on their obnoxious two-stoke dirt bikes. I have zero appreciation for hearing that noise when camping! Other than the radio, golf carts are mostly very quiet at least. Ours has a 6 inch lift, 22 inch tires, PV panels on top and by replacing the lead-acid batteries with a lithium-ion one, it shed 500 pounds of weight. Yeah, it’s fast!
In theory, under these rules you could be sold liability insurance for a golf cart that you rented, the same as a rental car. In practice, the added costs of doing so *and* having guests pick up and drop off carts off-property has got to be more than a lot of these business and/or their customers are willing to do. More likely, WDW will update their rule sheet to make it clear that third party carts are completely banned, especially if they’re concerned about more than liability. (WDW carts don’t have to carry insurance because the golf cart owner, Disney, is unlikely to sue to the campground owner, Disney. The agreement/waiver should cover the rest of the liability.)
Speaking of non-liability reasons, the sheer demand for Fort Wilderness golf carts has increased so much over the years that some time in the past decade, non-FW guests were banned from renting them so that they’re (more) available to FW guests. Years ago, you could rent one for the day as easily as a bike from the Bike Barn.
That loophole still theoretically exists, but there’s also this: As a reminder, third-party companies may not conduct unauthorized business on Walt Disney World property. Disney rules prohibit unauthorized commercial activity at Walt Disney World. This includes unauthorized rentals brought onto the property by non-resort guests, such as RVs and golf carts.
I thought there used to be day rentals but wasn’t completely sure.
I fail to see how forbidding people from renting golf carts offsite will help prevent children or drunk people from driving one. It DOES ensure that Disney a) controls how many carts are out at a time, and b) makes all the money from the rental of said carts. I rather suspect ECVs are next.
It also means you have a ‘reminder’ of the rules at the point of the transaction and hopefully that would help reduce abuse.
I think/hope the same is true with the insurance/agreement in the first place. I could see many golf cart owners thinking that they make the rules, and their kids can drive their cart if they (the owner) wants. When in reality, that’s against Disney’s rules even right now–it just isn’t communicated very well. Having owners sign/show something could be a nice reminder that rules do exist, and it’s not the wild west.
You’re right about Disney making money from the rental, but they could just as easily shift to a ‘featured’ system for those rentals and take a cut for the relationship in the first place (as I assume they do with the RV companies).
I really hope they do start requiring insurance for ECVs and proof of training because of the capacity for serious injury to others, whether the operator is drunk or just careless. Those things are heavy on their own and if one were to run over someone’s toes it would ruin their whole trip, and then some.
I have been going to the Fort since the early 90s and golf carts have always been a part of it. I’d like to know when Disney security stopped enforcing the rules. There was a time that Disney security was very prevalant and enforced the rules. Not only related to golf carts. There was a time when all 4 tires of your tow vehicle had to
be on the pad along with your RV. You could not park your utility trailer on the campsite. Use of approved fire pits were enforced, and many
other things. Security drove through the loops multiple times during the say and night. If someone didn’t look old enough to be driving a golf cart. They stopped them to verify same and if they weren’t and they were in a rented cart from Disney, use of the rental was immediately revoked with no refund. If it was a private cart, it needed to remain parked for the remainder of the visit and security monitored it. Rules are in place to make sure the happiest place on earth doesn’t end in a tragedy for anyone. If you don’t like the rules, don’t camp there. I will ensure I have liability insurance for my cart, as the cost of an annual policy is cheaper then renting one of their carts for a week, but Disney needs to step it up and enforce all rules.
I’m not saying golf carts are a new thing–I know they’ve always been there to some degree. I’m saying the number has proliferated in the last few decades. That, or my memory is bad. Also a possibility!
Otherwise, agree with everything you say. Disney does need to step it up and actually enforce the rules. These changes will end up being meaningless if they’re just CYA for legal liability and Disney doesn’t follow through.
Thing with rules – they have been there for a long time and if not enforced – more rules won’t help. And yes I remember getting chewed out by a cast member because my car tire was on the grass. Thank goodness that went away.
If Disney isn’t going to allow outside rentals, they need to start offering golf carts that seat 6. It has been my understanding that they do not have that option.
They do have larger carts!
They do have golf carts that seat 6. They are few and hard to get. When you reserve a golf f
Cart do it well in advance and tell them you want the 6 seater. If none available tell them to put you on call if cancellation list. This has worked for me. Granted 2-3 years ago, those long ones are for short drivers. Sit too close to pedals
A long time coming…and welcomed by me. Not so much the part of limiting the carts, but the behaviors. These things can be huge liabilities and it is responsible to have such guidelines.
We just stayed at FW over spring break (1st week in April, so fairly busy). We also rented a golf cart (from Disney) and that ended up being one of the highlights of the trip for my daughters. It also helped tremendously getting around the resort, such as to/from external busses. I did not regret this decision at all. We normally don’t rent or have access to one, so this was a novelty for us. But I’d say, not necessarily for camp grounds: I have been taking my kids camping from early on, and I have seen golf carts at pretty much every campground we stayed at (i.e. state / national parks). So, the sight of (more?) golf carts did not strike me as out of place here. I also value the relative tranquility at FW, but I don’t think golf carts threaten that noticeably. (To me, the DVC conversions and construction seems much more of an impact.)
As to the policy changes, they make sense to me. From my observation, highly anecdotal of course, I noticed instances of clearly underage and reckless driving. They were all in obvious, non-Disney golf carts. So, if the policy helps to reign in some of that, I’m all for it. Otherwise, I don’t have an issue with golf carts at FW. They make a lot of sense here, more than other places I saw them.
Just to be clear, I’m certainly not suggesting a ban of golf carts or anything coming close to that. In my view, this rule change will probably be enough to ‘thin the herd’ of golf carts. It’ll hopefully eliminate the 5% or so that are driven by children or reckless drivers, which is all I really want.
Ok so now I am really going to disagree with you. Been there many many times- only very few occasions have I ever witnessed misuse of any private or Disney owned golf carts. Those little carts are a major part of our enjoyment. During the holidays- we ride abound and see all the beautiful decorations campers bring in! Can’t really do that in your private vehicle – think of the traffic mess that would cause! When we were younger we would bring our small grandchildren. Easier to get back and forth to the play ground areas that way. And let’s talk the mad rush for emergency toilet runs – no place to park a car. Those golf cars do come in handy. Now my husband is gone! I’m alone and not so mobile. Walking long distance at the park – I have to rent a cart or wheelchair Getting to bus stops can be a bit of a chore. They are taking my most favorites resort and ruining it – I’m still angry with what they did to the restaurant – it will never be good again!! Just because of DVC members. And those new cabins are frankly quite ugly!! Leave us campers alone. We pay very high prices, including our equipment and nightly stay. We deserve some thanks from Disney. Not restrictions and reducing our benefits!!
My family and I are latecomers to the Fort, but once we fell, we fell hard. I’m fairly devastated over the DVC conversion, for many reasons, but golf cart menace wasn’t one of them. Perhaps it’s sentimental – the very first trip my kids and I took in the Covid world was to Fort Wilderness in April 2021. We had almost lost my mom after she was amongst the first patients in NY placed on a ventilator and we had spent a year being deeply freaked out by viral risks. We felt we had to pay a visit to a terminally ill family member in Florida and stopped at the Fort (no parks) on the way down. The pure joy of being back in Disney World was transformative for us, and the three of us still say “driving a golf cart around Fort Wilderness” to one another when we want to remind each other of one of our happiest memories. We spent another 11-nights there in August 2022, and the golf cart was clutch. Maybe it’s lovely to walk around the Fort for a couple of days in winter, but it’s a 25-minute walk from the marina to the 2600 cabin loop, and that internal bus service can be a loooong wait. Perhaps I am an example of “if you don’t see the problem, you are the problem,” but I promise we complied with all the rules, used our hand signals, and strove to be considerate on every drive. It would not surprise me to hear of misbehavior by a minority of guests, unfortunately. I guess, like sporks in Galaxy’s Edge, this is yet another case of “this is why we can’t have nice things.”
You may have gotten something different than I did out of the golf-cart policy change, but the insurance requirement applies only to non-Disney golf carts (I called and asked, because I’ve already rented and paid for a third-party golf cart for my stay in early June; I assumed you just had to have car insurance with the required liability limits; they said that was part of it but that the golf cart has to be listed on your car insurance, which a Disney-provided golf cart would not be). I believe they also disclaim responsibility for injuries caused by other guests on Disney golf carts.
I’ll add that I live in a golf cart community (though I don’t own one myself), and I’m well aware of the dangers of unsupervised/reckless golf car use. I live it every day. Also, while I’ve only been there once, I observed plenty of reckless golf cart operation at the campground, almost all of it involving Disney golf carts.
For me the bigger issue is the RV restriction. I booked my campsite months ago and my RV just a couple of weeks ago (due to the more restrictive cancellation policy), and according to Disney I will not be able to use my existing rented RV at all (the vendor is not allowed on property, and I do not have the equipment, ability, or inclination to tow an RV into the campground myself, even if the vendor allowed that, which as of now they do not). This means that whether I cancel my campsite, or keep it and rent an RV from another vendor, I will lose the money on my existing rental. I have not spoken to my RV vendor yet (even the staff at Fort Wilderness just learned about this policy yesterday; I’m sure the various RV vendors are just beginning to digest the implications and trying to get their own questions answered).
Furthermore Disney is giving conflicting answers when you call for info. The first two people I talked to said I could still have my vendor come and set up my RV, I just had to be with him. That evidently is not true, the higher-up people said the vendor will not be allowed on property at all. The more typical guest, having accepted the first or second answer they received, would be learning this when they check in on the first day of their visit. THAT ought to be interesting.
Correct that no additional insurance is needed for a golf cart rented from Disney. Insurance is required when you bring your own golf cart.
Third party golf cart rentals are now prohibited in part for the reason you identify–you’re not going to be able to have them listed on your insurance. But Disney also made that clear in the rule change, too.
You’re also right that this is going to be confusing for a bit and cause problems for guests (part of the reason why we’re sharing this!). I don’t know why this always happens, but some of the people at the call center seem to be using old info or making assumptions. Even there’s new internal documentation that makes this all pretty clear. Communication definitely needs to be improved.
Seems like Disney has had issues with informing CMs both onsite and in call centers on a lot of things over the last few years. Conflicting info seems to be the norm!
It’s been a loooooooooong time since we stayed there. early to mid 1980s, in fact. One of the times we drove the motor home from southern NM, maybe 1983 when we saw the Challenger launch. So I can’t comment on the numbers of golf carts then or now. BUT having seen guest behaviors of late, I agree this change is a good thing.
Now, they need to extend these requirements to mobility scooters, ECVs, whatever you want to call them. I know that will be an unpopular opinion but it’s far past time. While most folks tend to to cognizant of their surroundings, there are always those who don’t care, are mentally or physically incompetent to be driving anything at all, much less a heavy motorized vehicle in dense crowds of tens of thousands of people. My brother was injured when one of these people ran into his ankle with one in a shop at DHS, causing bleeding and the ‘driver’ didn’t even apologize. The minority group I am referring to are a bonafide menace to guests in the parks and elsewhere! I know, this is a tough topic, just like the DAS abuse, etc. but it needs to happen.
There are explicit ADA rules that protect ECVs, and they aren’t going to leave room for a crackdown as hard as this one on golf carts.
“ Covered entities must allow people with disabilities who use manual or power wheelchairs or scooters, and manually-powered mobility aids such as walkers, crutches, and canes, into all areas where members of the public are allowed to go.
Covered entities must also allow people with disabilities who use other types of power-driven mobility devices into their facilities, unless a particular type of device cannot be accommodated because of legitimate safety requirements. Where legitimate safety requirements bar accommodation for a particular type of device, the covered entity must provide the service it offers in alternate ways if possible.” https://www.ada.gov/resources/opdmds/