We love trying out different Disney Resorts. Staying on property is always fun and offers great benefits like free parking and Extra Magic Hours (Each day of the week, resort guests can enter a park one hour earlier or stay in a park up to two hours later than normal park operating hours.) As Florida Resident Annual Passholders we are often able to get special discounts on rooms. For this trip of three nights we chose the Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness.
Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, opened on November 19, 1971 only a month and a half after the Magic Kingdom opened as the first theme park in Walt Disney World. Laid out in over 750 acres of pine and cypress forest on Bay Lake in the Magic Kingdom resort area, the resort contains 800 campsites of various types and 409 cabins. Buses run around the complex at 10 or 20 minute intervals, you can transfer to the Magic Kingdom by boat and all the theme parks by bus (Click on any of the pictures to see a larger version in a new window.)
Each Fort Wilderness Resort Cabin is a prefab log cabin of about 500 square feet with central air-conditioning, daily Housekeeping, one parking place, charcoal grill and a deck with a picnic table.
Bedroom with:
One queen bed
One pair of bunk beds
Dresser with 4 small-size drawers
Nightstand digital alarm clock
Hanging closet with in-wall safe
Medium sized flat screen HDTV
Bathroom:
Bathtub with a shower
4 drawers for storage
Full-length mirror on back of door
Hair dryer
H2O-brand shampoo, conditioner and bar soap
Kitchen / Dining Area:
Table with a bench and 3 chairs
Full sized fridge with ice maker
Microwave/Convection Oven combo
Coffee Maker
Dish washer
2-burner cook-top
A limited collection of pots, pans, plates, glasses and silverware.
Toaster
Living Room:
One double-size sleeper sofa
Large arm chair
Coffee table
Dresser with 6 drawers under TV
Large flat screen HDTV
WiFi wireless Internet access
Telephone
After three nights in our cabin here are some of our thoughts on the experience. Our family is now really four adults, since our two daughters are both over 20 years old. The cabin is much larger than the average hotel room and it is great to have an actual kitchen with a full sized refrigerator. If you fix at least one meal a day at the cabin that alone would make the cabin a good value. The table was useful for eating and planning. The living room is large and well laid out with plenty of room for the six people the cabin is designed for. We did not use the pull out sofa as the girls decided to sleep in the bunk beds. All the beds were very comfortable. It would be nice if the bunks were in the hall or another bedroom but we understand this layout is really geared at families with two small children. Either way the layout did work fine for us. The bedroom does have a dressing area with good lighting and a large mirror. It is a standing area with the counter top to tall to work at while seated. The bathroom was well lit with a large counter top but only one sink. We found the bus service to Settlement (at waterfront to Magic Kingdom) or Outpost (at main entrance: bus stop to theme parks) to be very good coming every 10-20 minutes. Buses were flexible to go to areas on the bus line which had passengers onboard. Overall the cabin was a comfortable alternative to a regular Disney resort hotel room. We would consider it again especially if there was six people in our group.