camping at disney but not going to the parks? About This Page:

[Narnia]

I'm planning on going to florida with my whole family and driving down. Having a house full of boys who love to camp will help save$$ my question is if I camp out at disney and don't go to the parks will I be look crazy. I think we could go for a day to a disney park but there are so many things we want to do like visiting the beaches and universal's 14 day 5 park pass. Help!

[tinker_me_happy]

If you enjoy camping, I say go for it! I'm not sure if the rates are the best around, but if it is like any other part of Disney property, you know the facilities will be well taken care of and clean!

[Narnia]

for this year it was about $300 for a week but we might stay 2 weeks. I like the idea of having pools, night activities and disney's resteraunts avalible.

[B.M.]

I dont think it would be crazy, if thats what you want to do , go for it! Just a thought; If you'd prefer a hotel, I think you could get one off property for about the same amount it costs to camp at Disney. But if your boys love to camp, go for it!

[scottjs]

I think your vaction should be your vacation!! If thats what you want to do do it. Maybe you could check out some of the resorts if you want. We had fun just seeing some of them. I don't mean for staying. Do have fun.

[oldmom]

When I took down the group of scouts we camped. The sites are level, clean and awesome. The girls loved the pool etc. The sites look to be finely ground shell, not sand. Learn a little about the local wildlife if you aren't from around there. The girls woke me up at the crack of dawn because an elephant (or at least something huge) was sniffing around their tent. It turned out to be a little armadillo, but no one from here had seen one before. The girls were not amused.

[Narnia]

We would have to rent 2 rooms at a hotel(7 people) so I think in end money wise it's a great deal. I will miss a/c though.My kids are going to have a ball!

[obsessedwiththemouse]

I don't see a problem in this at all. Do what makes you and your family the happiest. Like you said, you still get all the Disney magic just by being on the property. Go camping!!

[Pax]

Originally Posted by Narnia

I'm planning on going to florida with my whole family and driving down. Having a house full of boys who love to camp will help save$$ my question is if I camp out at disney and don't go to the parks will I be look crazy. I think we could go for a day to a disney park but there are so many things we want to do like visiting the beaches and universal's 14 day 5 park pass. Help!

Yes, you'll look crazy, and that "house full of boys" might just lynch you! I mean, seriously, you'll be AT Disney World, and you're not going to do ANY of the parks? If I were a kid, and my parent(s) did that to me, I think I'd kill 'em. Slowly.

OTOH, there's nothing wrong with not making the parks into the end-all, be-all center of the vacation. Find what magic you can and want, really.

[Dave Marx]

There are a lot of campers at Fort Wilderness who stay for extended periods. Believe me, most of them are not in the parks on a daily basis. The resort has great facilities, and anyone who spends every day in the parks is missing out. Nobody will even know whether you're at MK or Sea World, and nobody will think you're crazy for just hanging around at one of the best campgrounds anywhere.

That said, Fort Wilderness is not easy to get in and out of. If you're going to be spending a lot of time driving to Universal and other off-property attractions, that driving time may start to get to you.

[simbarel]

We had to stay in Florida 3 extra days because of a snowstorm back at home...we stayed at Pop Century and had no park tickets, and no money for park tickets. We did a lot of strolling around DtD, FW, Boardwalk, etc. We were sort of miserable that we couldn't just hop into the park when they were RIGHT THERE. I don't think I could do 1-2 weeks of it.

[Pax]

Originally Posted by Dave Marx

There are a lot of campers at Fort Wilderness who stay for extended periods. Believe me, most of them are not in the parks on a daily basis.

Aaaaah, perhaps I misunderstood - I read the OP to mean "at all", not "daily". And I would think it kind of odd to pay on-Disney-property prices ... and never spend even one day in the parks.

Definitely, you're not crazy for choosing not to do the parks EVERY day. Even for our group, staying at POP, I've already said I really really really want to do something off-property - Seaworld, Universal Studios, Busch Gardens, something - and we're also allowing for a dy of "not doing anything much at all" ... maybe head to DTD for some browsing, one of us is keen on a waterpark, etc.

[Pris]

If camping is what you want then I say go for it. On the other hand, instead of 2 hotel rooms, have you considered the rental of a vacation home? They have plenty of room for 7 people and many have pools and such.

[GinaButtrfly]

Do whatever makes YOU happy. There's no law that says you MUST go to the parks. The kids, once there, might feel differently though. I think that's sort of rough on kids to be RIGHT THERE at WDW and not be able to go into the parks. There are plenty of campsites all around FL, closer to the Beach than FW.

[Colexis Mom]

Go camp and have a great time