Help me decide where to stay

We've never stayed at Ft. Wilderness but POFQ is better just for the shorter bus waits. They rencently renovated some, if not all of the rooms.

We've stayed in the Fort Wilderness cabins/homes 18 times. We think they are great, but that comes with some conditions...

1. I think you have to have your own vehicle. Otherwise you are depending on the buses that only run inside of Fort Wilderness along with the WDW transportation system to get anywhere. There are exceptions, like you can take a boat to the MK.
2. Additionally, in order to save money on food, you have to go off-property to buy it, so having your own wheels makes sense.
3. While the cabin can sleep 6 people, there is only one bathroom (the toilet and tub/shower are not isolated). If someone is taking a shower, then everyone has to wait or head for one of the comfort stations.
4. My 4 kids are older (the youngest is 18), so not only do they consume mass quantities of food, they take up significant room. While they were small the cabin worked out great, but on the last trip we were all in each other's space. For part of the last trip we stayed in a 2 bedroom villa (with multiple bathrooms) at the wilderness lodge and everyone had plenty of room. Going from the villa to the cabin for a couple of nights really revealed how cramped we got.
5. Getting around inside of Fort Wilderness is not a problem. The internal buses run very frequently, the environment is very safe, so I didn't have any problem letting the kids go off by themselves when they were younger. You can also rent a golf cart to use inside of Fort Wilderness (teenagers and golf carts can give you a chance to meet the fine folks of Disney Security) Nothing bad happened, my son didn't have his driver's license on him and security followed him back to the cabin to get it. On an earlier trip, this same son was brought back to the cabin in a security vehicle because he had crashed while roller blading.
6. The restaurant, called the Trails End Buffeteria, is a huge favorite for breakfast and dinner. It's comfort food and it's all you can eat (see item 4 above). It's in the same building as the Hoop-Dee-Do-Review. Same goes for the bar, called Crockett's Tavern, except it's not all you can drink.
7. The resort is sort of divided into the areas with the cabins and the areas with the folks who are really camping. By camping I mean everything from pup tents to a $500,000 motor home with an inflatable outdoor theater showing the latest family movies. Invariably, the camping folks are the nicest people! I've had lots of invitations to stop by to sit for a spell when out for a walk.
8. Holidays are a great time. At Christmas, Disney does a beautiful job decorating the place. Then the folks in RV's and cabins do their own decorating and some of them are quite extensive. It's great to stroll around and enjoy the decorations. On the Forth of July, people decorate as well, and there's an organized parade of decorated golf carts. At Easter people decorate and there's an Easter egg hunt at Pioneer Hall.
9. There are two pools that are not elaborately themed, but they are big hit with us. Every night there's a campfire program with Chip and Dale and movie. You can rent canoes, fishing tackle, and bicycles for use inside Fort Wilderness.
10. One trip we were a group of 19 people (10 kids and 9 "adults"). We had 4 adjacent cabins and had a ball.

If you have any questions, just ask.

I'm a fan of POFQ for the grounds and theme. I was going to do POR this April, but switched it back to POFQ just because I like it so much and I'm afraid to try anything else

I'd check and see where they are with the refurbs at POR - can't remember if they are done there yet are still working on.

Where did you get that info about the 3 days for $99.00?
Joe

I also saw some info on it posted on the Orlando Sentinel online, Joe:

Link here

wow Buffalo Bill. you make me want to go stay at Fort Wilderness.... but I would want to be with one of those families with the $500,000 RV and inflatable movie screen. lol.

We stayed at Fort Wilderness ALL the time when I was a kid and I loved it. We didn't use our car, we stuck with Disney transportation and never had a problem. I have such wonderful memories of Fort Wilderness, and all of the little extra things that you can do staying there like biking and fishing and renting a golf cart. I haven't stayed at Port Orleans yet, but I can say that some of my favorite Disney Memories were from when we "camped".

I have great memories of POR when it was Dixie Landings. loved the cricket sounds coming out of the ground speakers! I grew up camping and tenting, staying in cabins, etc., and doing all the campground stuff. For that reason alone, Ft W has never been a draw for me. For us, Disney was supposed to be different than our regular 'vacations'.

I love POFQ. The bus waits are not long, the walk to the stops and food quart are short and the grounds are pretty!

We are staying POR for the first time in May and we are super excited! It looks like a beautiful resort. My husband asked me the other day where we were staying next year and I told him our son wants to stay at CBR. My husband wants to stay at the Cabins at Fort Wilderness so guess they are going to play rock paper scissors for the resort. But in reality its Disney every resort is awesome. Just pick something that meets your family's needs and then go and have a great time.

FYI Joe, thats only for the Park Tickets.

Hmmm..well..are they all the same price? I would think the cabins might be nice because you will have room to spread out. But I so love POFQ..the grounds are great and it is so peaceful. Since you are a FL resident and get to go back often--I would go for the cabin just for a different experience...but that's just me!