Why You’ll Love The Cabins at Fort Wilderness Resort

When is one of Disney’s oldest hotel dwellings also one of its newest?

This isn’t a riddle, my friends. Instead, it’s the oddly accurate description of some rooms at one of Disney’s most storied locales.

Here’s why you’ll love The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort.

The Campground

Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground didn’t technically open with the rest of Walt Disney World. It waited six weeks.

In November 1971, Disney unveiled this new vacation option as a way of demonstrating how different this place was.

Tourists could visit Disney World to experience all the rides at Magic Kingdom.

Then, they could return to the campground, where they’d participate in a rustic lifestyle in between park visits.

The allure of this duality delighted guests from the beginning.

Some fans have legitimately visited the campground since the 1970s, loyally returning as often as possible.

You’ll even find annual events here like July 4^th and Halloween “parades” that didn’t even start with Disney.

Instead, fans of the place started dressing up golf carts as floats for the holidays, and the idea stuck.

That’s how devout people are about Fort Wilderness Campground!

The Cabins

Still, Disney believes in plussing everything. Over time, The Cabins at Fort Wilderness Resort fell into disrepair. 

Nobody did anything wrong. It was just that cheap cabins built in 1971 weren’t made to last for 50+ years.

So, Cast Members are currently in the process of removing the various Cabins and replacing them with entirely new dwellings.

I’m dead serious about this. If you know where to look, you can buy the old cabins online!

In their place, Disney has designed these luxurious 500-square-foot Cabins. That’s where you’ll stay now.

The new spaces provide much more utility for guests and are energy efficient.

More importantly for you, they’re 100 percent Disney in spirit in tone, with images of your favorite characters on their own camping adventures.

In short, the Cabins perfectly marry the Disney aesthetic with the feel of a wilderness getaway.

The Cookouts

Of course, since you’re in the wilderness, you’ll need to fire up the grill. What’s more American than that?

Thankfully, you’ll find a grill outside every Cabin. And since Disney has revamped the place, they’re new and fresh, too!

You will literally be cooking with gas (or charcoal) during your visit. But that’s not all.

Let’s say that you’d rather not cook on vacation. You’ll still have a cookout option.

Disney hosts Chip ‘N’ Dale’s Campfire Sing-A-Long, a free nightly show where you can roast marshmallows and watch the show.

If you’re hungry, you can find all your favorite cookout goodies like hamburgers and hot dogs at the Chuck Wagon Snack Bar.

The Activities

That’s far from the only activity you’ll find during your stay at Fort Wilderness, though.

Fans of outdoor activities will be blown away by the sheer volume of options available.

For example, kids can take archery lessons at Fort Wilderness.

Meanwhile, adults can hop on a Segway and take a tour of the wilderness area.

Some of the available activities are free, while others come with a modest/not-so-modest price.

So, you can use the jogging trails, volleyball courts, and playgrounds for free.

The Segway tour and archery lessons will cost some money, as will boat rentals. Speaking of which…

The Location

Logistics are one of the marvelous parts of Fort Wilderness.

Even though you’ll feel secluded in the middle of nowhere, this is far from the truth.

In actuality, you’re just a ten-minute boat ride from Magic Kingdom! Here’s a video if you don’t believe me:

Disney has built this majestic campground in a carefully hidden location in the Magic Kingdom area.

So, it’ll seem like an odd combination of camping and going all-in on Mouse Ears during your visit.

The mix is intoxicating. That’s why so many Fort Wilderness tourists have become loyalists and evangelists over the years.

You’re at Disney, but you won’t remember that until you see Magic Kingdom approaching.

The Ranch

I’ve said this a lot over the years, yet it’s somehow one of the hardest things for people to believe.

You should think of Fort Wilderness as a dude ranch. I know that doesn’t make sense at Disney, but it’s absolutely true.

When you visit Fort Wilderness, you’ll head to the Tri-Circle-D Ranch, the home for all of Magic Kingdom’s horses.

Yes, you can follow home the horses from Magic Kingdom’s parades and attractions.

At Tri-Circle-D Ranch, you can even ride these horses. Or, you can take a carriage ride just like on Main Street, U.S.A.!

All these activities and more are available at the ranch, which makes it a destination location even when you’re not staying at the campground.

The Restaurants

Are you familiar with the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue? I’d hope so since it’s been a Disney tradition for more than half a century!

In 1974, some Disney interns put together a raucous show that celebrated all the hijinks famous in wild west shows of yore.

While those tales have largely fallen out of favor over the past 50 years, Hoop-Dee-Doo most assuredly has not.

This dinner show remains one of the most enjoyable, memorable things to do at Walt Disney World.

Guests will eat campfire foods from buckets while the Cast Members put on a show that relies on crowd participation.

I don’t want to spoil the fun, but when planning your birthday or anniversary, you should consider the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue.

Disney will make you feel special.

Also, you should try Crockett’s Tavern. They serve legitimate Ole Smoky Moonshine. It’s the stuff that has made me a Secret Santa legend.

Friends of mine around the country hope I get their name so that they get hooked up with the good stuff.

Remarkably, Crockett’s Tavern serves the same hooch my ancestors used to traffic illegally across county lines!

The Vibe

When Disney built Fort Wilderness in the early 1970s, nobody could have envisioned the growth of glamping.

While some argue glamping has existed for centuries, it has only become popular in the past twenty years.

In fact, Oxford didn’t even add it to the dictionary until 2016.

So, you’ll discover an odd dichotomy at the campgrounds. Disney originally designed them with a rustic sensibility.

However, the new cabins and some of the more modern amenities.

So, roaming through the campground and ranch facilities will feel like a throwback vacation.

Then, you’ll enter your Cabin and feel like you’re glamping.

It’s an intoxicating mix and one of the many reasons you’ll love The Cabins at Fort Wilderness Resort!

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Feature: Disney