Planning rv trip to Disney World?

Unfortunately, the time we will be going will be during the peak time. We are planning on going at the end of winter 2017. I have looked at some other RV parks and they are close to Disney World and a great deal cheaper. Passport America was one. We have stayed at one of there RV parks before and enjoyed it greatly. Also Thousand Trails, but they limit you greatly. We have stayed in the Disney park before, in a hotel and did enjoy it because it was all inclusive. We could travel wherever we wanted to go with there bus service. One once you figured out where to eat, it was actually fairly cheap. The problem I see with the RV is I am paying a lot to park my rig and only get the bus service? Thanks for all the suggestions as I am still in the planning stages.

I spent a week at Disney with my grandkids the first week of April. Like you, I always thoght Fort Wilderness was way too expensive to stay at, but decided to give it a try this time. I was impressed and surprised with how nice Fort Wilderness is and how relatively inexpensive it can be. Yes, you can get cheaper sites away from the park, but I'm not sure how much you're really saving. Parking is $21 a day, and you pay it every time you enter the park. Fort Wilderness is a short boat ride from the Magic Kingdom and I was able to go back to the camper for a nap when I got too tired. The oldest kids (18 & 19) were able to take care of the 2 younger ones. My daughter stayed at one of the cheaper Disney hotels, and still paid $200 a night!

There's really some advantages of staying there. You get the extended hours at a different park every day, free Magic Bands (which are personalized wristbands that get you into the parks, let you take advantage of the FastPass+ attractions, and you can link a credit card to it and use it to pay for food and stuff within the park.

The Disney meal plans are a bargain too. You get 2 meals and a snack, plus unlimited drinks during the day, for around $30 each. We all went to Mickey's BBQ show right there on Fort Wilderness and it was included in the meal plan. My daughter paid $190 for 3 adults!

If you got admission to the park with your hotel reservation, it must have been as part of a package deal. If you're active or retired military, go to ITT on any base and buy the 4 day park hopper pass. It's $196 each and you can get up to 6 of them. Doesn't matter if the other 5 are military or not, just the person buying the passes. That's less than half price if you buy them at Disney.

Whatever you decide to do, have a great time there!!

And don't forget the "Shades of Green" which is a military hotel on Disney property. It used to be a Disney hotel. We use their cafe/restaurant for meals when we're there in our RV. Holiday meals are wonderful and about 1/3 the price of other Disney restaurants.

Forget about Shades of Green. You can also get the discount passes for Disney and Universal there too!

Thank you for the information. I noticed that you went in April, which is not the peak season and may save money as opposed to January through March. I was planning on going in March, but it may be worth it to go in April.

I just talked to Disney and I found the conversation interesting, to say the least. To stay at the RV park in Disney World during their down time, March 11 - March 31, the rate is $138 a night with full hook-up. That includes nothing, except that I do not have to pay to park daily. Prepaid food card starts at $45 daily. I have never paid more then $38 a night to park my rig and that was on the strip in Vegas on New Years Eve. i see what you are talking about being in the park, but there must be commercial transportation that take you into the park from a central location. Sorry, but I have found that through planning, I can hopefully save some of that precious money we use in our retirement days. Thanks again.