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Subscribe NowLast updated: December 1, 2024
Some of the nicest campsites you'll find, with water, electricity, and cable TV hookups, plus clean, comfortable comfort stations. Picnic tables, waste containers, grills, and free WiFi are standard. We've camped here several times and had a blast.
Cost Range
$82 - $348
Lodging Area
Magic Kingdom
Category
Campground
Transportation
Boat, Bus
Room: A-
Pool: B
Informality
Children's play areas
Best recreational options at WDW
Special day and evening programs
Campsite amenities
Shower and toilet facilities
Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue show
Convenient self-parking
Off-site dining via boat at the Magic Kingdom
Isolated location
Complicated bus service
Confusing campground layout
Lack of privacy
Very limited on-site dining options
Crowding at beaches and pools
Extreme distance to store and restaurant facilities from many cabins and campsites
The RV sites are roomy by eastern-US standards, with the Premium and Full Hook-Up campsites able to accommodate RVs more than 45 feet long, but tent campers will probably feel a bit cramped. On any given day, 90% or more of campers are RVers.
Sites are level and provide picnic tables, waste containers, grills, and free Wi-Fi. Fires are prohibited except in grills.
It's a hike to most dining locations. There's also a general store, a lounge, full-service restaurant, and dinner theater.
Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue Hoop-Dee-Doo is the longest-running show at Walt Disney World and a nostalgic favorite for many families. If you’ve ever thought Country Bear Jamboree would benefit from free-flowing beer and wine and barbecue, this is the show for you. The songs are folksy and the humor is corny, but it is so earnest and charming that it's hard not to enjoy yourself. The prices shown here are for the least-expensive seats - those in Category 3. If desired, you can pay a bit more for better seating.
Meadow Snack Bar Snack bar adjacent to the Meadow swimming pool.
P & J's Southern Takeout To-go quick service restaurant with barbecued ribs, fried chicken, and burgers.
Trail's End Restaurant Trail's End operated as a buffet until April 2023, re-opening in July 2023 as a quick-service restaurant. Trail’s End offers family-sized entrees like pizzas topped with brisket and other meats, racks of pork ribs, whole chickens, burgers and other barbecued favorites.
Crockett's Tavern Howdy there, partners! Looking for a place to hitch up the horse and belly up to the bar before you head back out on the dusty trail? Stop on by Crockett’s Tavern, serving the finest ale this side of Bay Lake! Fill up your saddlebags, shine your boots, maybe even partake in a hootenanny, but please, no gunplay in the saloon. As fun as it would be to continue the Old West shtick for this entire review, that was probably enough. We are, of course, speaking of Crockett’s Tavern, located in the only place at Walt Disney World where you really feel like you are in a simpler time: Fort Wilderness. The massive Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground is quiet, peaceful, and seemingly a world unto its own. The Pioneer Hall area evokes a town center from an old west town with its log-built structures and horse ranch. Nestled in this town center is Crockett’s Tavern, obviously named for American hero (and Disney television hero) Davy Crockett. It was because of Davy that people can wear a raccoon on their head and not look completely insane, so we should be thankful just for that. The tavern is made primarily of natural wood and glass, making it a bright, cozy space with ample seating at several tables. Sitting inside cannot be recommended at Crockett’s however, because out on the covered porch nearby are a handful of rocking chairs. If those oversized rocking chairs are unoccupied, it is your duty as an American (or a visitor to America) to enjoy your drink rocking on the porch. Specialty cocktails and drinks are available, including a handful of domestic beers and wines. Lounge-style snacks are on the food menu, but there's nothing too substantial. You'll finder pulled pork sliders, a charcuterie board, and chicken bites with a selection of dipping sauces. It is a little hard to recommend a special trip just to visit Crockett’s Tavern, but the instantly calming atmosphere of Fort Wilderness itself is something that is always recommended. If you decide to mosey on over to the campground, grabbing a beer and rocking some time away on the porch looking out towards Bay Lake can melt away any vacation- related stresses. Just remember, no gunplay in the saloon.
Chuck Wagon Snack bar that serves up vittles during Chip 'n Dale's Campfire Sing-A-Long.
Refillable Mugs Allows guest self-service soft drink refills from quick-service locations in hotels (NOT in theme parks) for $22.99 for the length of stay.
Amenities
SWIPE TO EXPLORE
The Meadow Swimmin' Pool includes a waterslide and whirlpool spa (you know, for after the waterslide), plus a fort-themed play area for kids. And the Wilderness Swimmin' Pool is a quieter experience for those looking for a little rest and relaxation.
The Daniel Boone Wilderness Arcade, by the Meadow Swimmin' Pool, has a good selection of modern video games to play.
As part of Campfire Cinema, a free Disney Movie is shown most evenings, weather-permitting, following the Chip 'n' Dale's Campfire Sing-A-Long
Bike and canoe rentals are available at Fort Wilderness, along with wagon rides, pony rides, and fishing options. Jogging trails are options, too.
Fort Wilderness hosts the Chip 'n' Dale's Campfire Sing-A-Long most nights, which includes a marshmallow roast. It's really great during the cooler months of the year.
Four playgrounds are scrattered throughout Fort Wilderness, including one near Bay Lake and Pioneer Hall.
Disney resort guests get into each theme park 30 minutes earlier than off-site guests, every day.
Performed at nightfall on Bay Lake, this show is a stunning electric-light show aboard small barges and set to nifty electronic music.
Practical Matters
Check-in is 3:00pm
Check-out is 11:00am
All Disney resorts participate in Disney’s Online Check-In program. If you’ve checked-in online and provided a mobile phone number or email address, you will receive your room number electronically. Then you can go straight to the room and use your smart phone or MagicBand to open the door, skipping the lobby altogether.
These rubber and plastic wrist bands can function as your room key, park admission, charge card, and more! MagicBands cost money, but if you'd like a free option you can use the official Disney World app on your phone or request an RFID-embedded card at the front desk.
Park tickets are best purchased online in advance either directly through Disney or via our Least Expensive Ticket Calculator. However, if you arrive without park tickets, head to the concierge desk in the hotel lobby.
Dining reservation are best made online in advance or on your phone or tablet during your visit. You can also use our Disney World Reservation Finder.
Washers and dryers are availabile in laundry facilities at each Disney World hotel. Cost is $3 per wash, and another $3 per dry cycle. A small selection of soap, fabric softener, and dryer sheets are also sold, for around $1 each. Only credit/debit cards can be used for payment. For more information, see our Disney World Laundry Facilities page.
If you lose something in a theme park or during your stay at a Disney-operated hotel, visit Disney's Lost and Found website or call (407) 824-4245.
Disney hotels have gifts shops near their lobbies with a decent collection of Disney-branded souvenirs. You will also find basic pharmacy items such as sunscreen, aspirin, allergy and cold medicine, baby diapers and formula, shampoo, and the like. Resort hotels with Deluxe Villa rooms offer an assortment of groceries, as well.
Disney recommends a third party company, Kid's Nite Out, to provide babysitting services at the resort hotels. See our Disney World Child Care page for more information.
Transportation
Fort Wilderness is in the Magic Kingdom Resort Area. All modern GPS apps, and Google Maps, will have clear driving directions to it. As a backup, look for Disney road signs directing you toward the Magic Kingdom once you're on property, and then look for signs for Fort Wilderness once you're close to the Magic Kingdom. Note that Fort Wilderness and the Wilderness Lodge are two separate hotels - make sure you follow the correct signs!
Destination | Boat | Bus | Car |
---|---|---|---|
Magic Kingdom | 16 min | 17 min | 37 min |
EPCOT | – | 19 min | 18 min |
Hollywood Studios | – | 29 min | 19 min |
Animal Kingdom | – | 31 min | 24 min |
Disney Springs | – | 28 min | 11 min |
Disney provides free bus service to the theme parks, water parks, and Disney Springs from an internal bus system around the resort. Because it's a two-bus process, it can take longer to get anywhere by bus rather than by car.
Except for the Magic Kingdom, it's faster to drive your own car than to use Disney bus transportation to get anywhere.
Boat service is available to the Magic Kingdom at the Fort Wilderness boat dock. It fills up quickly in the morning, especially on days of high attendance, so get there about 30 minutes before service starts to ensure a spot on the first launch. Boat service may not run during thunderstorms.
The easiest way to get to the Magic Kingdom monorail resorts is to take the boat from Fort Wilderness to the Magic Kingdom, then either walk or take the resort monorail. For all other resort destinations, the fastest option is an Uber, Lyft, or taxi. Disney's bus service is free but slow, and will probably require you to use the internal bus system and then an intermediate destination like Disney Springs, to get to your destination. And that can take a couple of hours each way if you're unluckly.
if you have a car, the easiest way to get to Universal Orlando, SeaWorld, and other tourist destinations is to drive. Alternatively, Mears Transportation operates shuttle services between the Disney hotels and other theme parks.
Driving to the Resort
Getting to the Parks
and Disney Springs
Getting to Another Hotel
from Fort Wilderness
Getting to Universal Orlando
Fort Wilderness is in the Magic Kingdom Resort Area. All modern GPS apps, and Google Maps, will have clear driving directions to it. As a backup, look for Disney road signs directing you toward the Magic Kingdom once you're on property, and then look for signs for Fort Wilderness once you're close to the Magic Kingdom. Note that Fort Wilderness and the Wilderness Lodge are two separate hotels - make sure you follow the correct signs!
if you have a car, the easiest way to get to Universal Orlando, SeaWorld, and other tourist destinations is to drive. Alternatively, Mears Transportation operates shuttle services between the Disney hotels and other theme parks.
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