Greetings from loop 1400 of Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground! The sky is a velvety black, the breezes are warm and gentle, and my backside is quite comfortable in super-cushy armchair in a luxury RV!
Back in January I blogged about how I was going to try something new: RV camping at Fort Wilderness. I’m pleased to report I have now experienced RV camping and I’m afraid I’m quite spoiled for all future camping adventures. We’ve had a phenomenally wonderful time in the RV and we enjoyed the experience more than we thought we would. And it’s all thanks to the beautiful RV we got from FloridaCamperRental.com (well, to be fair, Fort Wilderness itself contributed greatly to our experience, too!). The quality of their RV — and their service — is Disney-level.
So, how does it work? You book your campsite and your RV, then you let Disney know that Florida Camper Rental will be coming in to set up the RV for you. And they do — they had ours set up by 1:00 pm on check-in day, and they they texted us to let us know it was ready (and even what site number we’d been setup at). When we arrived at check-in, we simply went to our site and — voila! — there was the RV we’d reserved, waiting for us: a 34 ft. Keystone Avalanche RV.
Everything was ready for us — a camp rug, camp table, and four camp chairs were setup outside, the keys were inside on the table, and the ceiling fan and air conditioner were on. Even the TVs were on — three of them, to be exact! One outside, one in the main living area, and one in the master suite. We took a LOT of photos, and I’m unable to upload them all tonight due to the Fort’s slow Internet connection. Check back later for more photos. In the meantime, here’s one of my favorites showing the main living area (click on it to see it larger):
Our RV had everything we would need for our stay (well, aside from our clothes and food). Not only did it have a fully-stocked kitchen with plates, utensils, cooking tools, paper towels, salt & pepper, etc., but there was also a bag of charcoal and grill tools for us to use as well. It was completely hooked up to water, sewer, electricity, and cable. Toilet paper in the potty, towels near the shower, and a heater standing by in case we got chilly (which we did a couple of nights).
Sleeping in the RV was quite interesting! The bed was a super-comfy memory foam mattress, which was positioned in a slide-out section with two little windows on either side — I kept my window open and loved the fresh air and pretty views. As this was my first experience in an RV, I did not know that the RV would move ever so slightly if anyone in it also moved, but I got used to this quickly and it helped me know when Alexander was awake in the morning, too!
Our RV also had a great sound system, which we used one afternoon to listen to some favorite tunes on our iPhone. We didn’t use the stove or microwave, but the full-size refrigerator kept our sodas and foods chilled nicely. We used all three TVs, including the one outside that we watched the various Disney channels on (including a memorable viewing of Steamboat Willie).
The potty served us well — even Alexander got the hang of flushing it pretty quickly. It was really nice not to have to walk to the Comfort Station in the middle of the night. The shower was also surprisingly good — plenty of hot water, a skylight above the stall, and a curtain/door to make it private from the rest of the RV. There are also two sinks, both of which seemed entirely too nice for an RV!
There was quite a bit of storage space in our RV as well. A nearly full-size closet, tons of cabinets, drawers, and cupboards, and a wardrobe. There’s also some storage on the underside of the RV, where the outdoor RV is located.
Basically, everything we needed was here. When we decided to do a cookout at our campsite on the spur of the moment tonight, all we needed was to go to the trading post and pick up some frozen burgers and buns. When we got back, we were lighting up the grill with the provided charcoal and enjoying our outside TV in no time. It was simple and amazingly fun!
The RV we rented sleeps four people, but Florida Camper Rental has a lot of other RVs and popups that sleep more (or less) and come in different configurations and different amenities. The owner, William, was really easy to work with and super friendly. I would not hesitate to recommend either FloridaCamperRental.com, or camping in an RV for the first time at Fort Wilderness, to anyone — even the camping-shy. This was easy peasy.
It’s now time for me to go to sleep for the last time in the RV, for tomorrow we board the Disney Magic ship. Watch for lots more photos, and tips/tricks I learned from my time here at Fort Wilderness, when I return home!
If you have questions, leave them here and I’ll answer them. If you’d like to see a analysis of how renting an RV compares with staying in a Disney resort money wise, check out my blog from back in January!
Glad you enjoyed your “camping” experience at FW! We live full time on an RV and try to get there a couple times a year. One of our favorite things to do is ride the boats over to the other MK resorts to explore, it’s free and fun. FW has boats running to the Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge and MK. You can then hop on the monorail or other boats to get to the other resorts. Also there is a really great paved walking/biking path between FW and Wilderness Lodge and a gravel path along the lake. Last time were there we watched the blacksmith re-shoe a couple of horses. The pace is slower here and a great place to relax.
Wow! Great article Jennifer-thank you for “taking one for the team.” HA! I’m not one for “roughing it” in the woods, and enjoy camping in style. It looks like the folks at FloridaCamperRental.com do an outstanding job. I will check your earlier post as I am very interested to know the difference in pricing vs. a traditional resort stay. Looks and sounds like you had a great experience!
This sounds SO COOL! Do you still get all of the resort perks………..EMH, dining package, etc?
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It looks like a terrific experience! How does the golf cart rental figure into your experience at Fort Wilderness? Is it an absolute necessity? How much does it cost? Do you rent the cart directly through Disney? What would have been your camping experience had you not been located in a preferred loop?
It seems like your experience was more in line with comparing the Fort Wilderness Cabins. Would you put them on par with each other?
Thanks for your observations,
Janice
We rented a golf cart from Fort Wilderness. I could have rented one for cheaper from FloridaCamperRental.com, but for research purposes, I stuck with Disney (next time I’ll go with Florida Camper Rental though). The cart was fine and FUN. It’s a big part of the experience for us, though you certainly don’t have to have it — it certainly made things more convenient. I think we would have been fine had we not been on a preferred loop, especially since we had the golf cart. I would put my experience on part with the cabins, though we felt more centrally located and we had neighbors that we saw doing camping stuff — you don’t see that in the cabins because everyone stays inside their cabin.
So excited to read this! I can’t wait to hear more. I have always said that I would love to camp at Ft. Wilderness if someone would come and set up the RV for me… LOL…. I had no idea this was actually an option! Glad to hear you had a great time!