Ft Wilderness and a 5th wheel???? About This Page:

[coasties]

We are planning on purchasing a 5th wheel this Spring and staying at Ft. Wilderness during our next WDW trip. We have tent camped at Ft. Wilderness once ; which was wonderful and only sold us on the resort. Can anyone pass on any tips on RV camping at FW. Loops you prefer, cannot do without supplies ect. Do you still do DDP? Why or why not?
Also along the same lines, if you were going to purchase a 5th wheel what would be the have to have features? It will be the 4 of us (me, DH and two DD's 11 and 5) We are planning on purchasing a used 5th wheel. This will be our first RV purchase. Thanks in advance!

[eawsmom]

We have never camped at Fort Wilderness, so I can't give you any tips on that; we stayed at a private campground for our honeymoon in 1988.

"Must have" features for any RV are pretty subjective, but I will make these recommendations: 1) slideouts are vital, especially with four of you, two of whom are still growing! Make sure they are flush to the floor when extended so you don't trip on the edge. Also try to make sure they operate independently--some manufacturers (Montana springs to mind first) have only one slideout switch so if you have three slides, they all go out at the same time. It's hard to watch three places at once if you're not sure that all the slides are clear. Plus, if you want t stop at a rest area and eat lunch, it's easier to do if you can just put out one slide. 2) If you would like to eat lunch at a rest area, make sure you can get to the refrigerator when the slides are closed, or else make sure you can put out a slide that will let you get there. 3) Check the shelf space around the bathroom sink. Some of them have so little space you can't even set a toothbrush down beside the sink without risking it falling off. 4) Believe it or not, a washer/dryer! We had camped for many years before purchasing our current 5th wheel and deciding to "splurge" on the washer/dryer. However, after our daughter was born, I decided that was the best investment we'd ever made, especially when we passed by a laundry room on a rainy day and saw sopping wet kids playing in the drain on the floor...ugh! Besides, you save a ton of time and money over going to the laundromat. I will never purchase another 5th wheel without a washer/dryer. (It's also a big help now that my husband is pretty much living in our trailer down in Ohio on a permanent basis--but that's a whole 'nother story!)

If you have a short-box pickup, I highly recommend Pull-Rite's automatic-adjusting 5th wheel hitch. This will let you make tight corners without worrying about hitting the cab or popping out the back window, and since it's automatic you don't have to remember to get out of the truck, pull the lever, get back in the truck and do the manuever required to move the hitch manually...or forget to do these things and pop out the back window of your truck, like my father-in-law did (on a Saturday night, no less, so he got to drive around the rest of the weekend with no rear window)!

Otherwise, my recommendation is to check out RV shows, RV dealers, pick up brochures, study floor plans, and look at lots of trailers to get an idea of what you do and don't like before you make a commitment.

[coasties]

Thank you sooo much! I am printing all that out for future reference!

[KathyL]

We have never camped in Fort Wilderness (though it is on our list of things to do; for us, we don't have enough time to go down and back and enjoy Disney as we would come from CT) but we do have a fifth wheel type camper.

Here is a little advise!
*Don't make a splurge and purchase the first one you see. Do your research.
*If the area that you live in any has upcoming "RV shows" do plan on going to one. They are great, because you can go into a lot of fifthwheels and check them out.
*I highly recommend a fifthwheel with a "bedroom" that slides out. Our first one didn't, and we did not enjoy it as we had no storage and no room in the bedroom area.
*We prefer a kitchen area that is not in the back/end of camper. When you pull a fifthwheel, the back gets a lot of movement. So, a lot of times, all your cabinets may open up back there and things can fall out!
*Talk to everyone you know who has one. See what advise they can off.
*Finally, if you already have a truck that you plan on pulling your camper with, know how much weight you can pull. That could make a difference in the size, weight of what you can pull.

Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions. Good Luck and have fun choosing what fifthwheel is best for you.

[RobinKay6573]

Make sure the camper isn't pushing the pick-up bed down. When towing everything should be horizontal. This is VERY important because towing something that pushing down on the pick-up or if the camper isn't being pulled horizontally it can cause some MAJOR damage to both the pick-up and camper. I suggest not buying through private treaty sale...go to a dealership. Often they can tack on a warranty that might save you a bundle in the long run.

[Wendyismyname]

Those are great tips on the RV. You are very lucky!! Definitely don't purchase the first one you see, until you've seen quite a few!
I agree that if I had a 5th wheel, I'd see about splurging on the W/D. I have 4 kids, so it would be a great purchase.

I don't think I'd want to do the DDP if I'm in my camper. My Fridge is nice sized for a 25ft camper(sleeps 7)(cherokee lite travel trailer). You can store quite a bit of food in there.

If I were to pull the camper down to WDW(maybe in a year or two), I'd be sure that I brought my little grill plus gas tanks. I'd plan on having most breakfasts in my home and most of my dinners at the restaurants.

Feel free to PM me with any questions also. We're fairly new to this camping business and so far so good.

[coasties]

Thank you everyone for the tips . Keep them coming!

[tndisneyfam]

I just wanted to wish you luck on finding the perfect fifth-wheel. We have been shopping around for awhile now. There are so many out there. We wil be buying a Coachman trailer, we found a style we loved and looked at it at person at the dealership. We are waiting until the new models come out and then see what they will be asking for last years models. We are in no hurry, but can't wait to head to FT Wilderness. We rented a cabin there in May and fell in love! Good luck!!!

[shadowpup]

We don't have a 5th wheel, but we do have a pop-up. We did the dining plan, and it was great! We had breakfast & snacks at the camper, but who wants to cook & especially clean-up while on vacation? We will definitely do the dining plan again (not the new deluxe version), but we always take a few meals to fix ourselves to save a little money.

FW is great for camping! The sites are well-kept & quite large. With the trees, you really can feel isolated. The comfort stations are clean & climate controlled. I think you'll love having a 5th wheel at FW!

[eeyore8484]

I can't give any advice about the 5th wheel other than to do some research. We just traded our pop-up for a Class C RV. We camped at Fort Wilderness back in May in the pop-up. We were in loop 200, which is a preferred loop (full hook-up with cable) that is close to the marina. The campground is the nicest one we've ever stayed at. Depending on the time of year, it can be tough to get a reservation, as it is a very popular place to stay around the holidays. We couldn't get a site for our December trip and are a little disappointed, but at least we get to go to WDW!