There are many different ways to do Disney World, but just as we did for Disneyland in California, we want to give you an estimate of what it can cost to visit Disney World in Florida. Disney World has more than 20 different official lodging options, four theme parks, two water parks, a shopping and entertainment district and more. The Campsites at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort: Great campground on Disney property - See 1,991 traveler reviews, 1,028 candid photos, and great deals for The Campsites at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort at Tripadvisor.

1. How Much Is A Disney World Campground Full Hookup Sites
2. Disney World Campground Prices
3. How Much Is A Disney World Campground Full Hookup Sites Map
4. Disney World Campground Cabins

1. Full Hook-Up Campsite The concrete pad in this campsite is 10 feet by 50 feet. Preferred Campsite Though the concrete pad in this campsite is smaller at 10 feet by 45 feet, it costs more than a Full Hook-Up Campsite because it’s closer to the marina.
2. The entire campground is fenced and gated so it is very secure. Orlando / Kissimmee (Kissimmee, Florida) This is one of the best-located oceanfront RV campsites. The reason why is because it is located on a beachfront and a short drive away from World-famous attractions such as Sea World, Lego Land, Universal Studios, and Disney World.
3. Wilderness Cabin – Sleeps 6 – $680. December 26-31, 2021. Partial Hook-up Campsite (Tent/Pop-up) – Sleeps 10 – $159. Full Hook-up Campsite – Sleeps 10 – $195. Preferred Campsite – Sleeps 10 – $215. Premium Campsite – Sleeps 10 – $222. Premium Meadow Campsite – Sleeps 10 – $250. Wilderness Cabin – Sleeps 6 – $701.

Going to Disney World was never on our radar when we started our van life trip. We had originally intended on leaving from New Jersey to head west, hugging all the northern U.S. states until we got to the Pacific Ocean, only to head south to California for the winter. But after a series of unfortunate events and only having gotten as far as Minnesota when the blizzards and subfreezing temperatures started, we abandon our original plan and booked it south as fast as we could. We got chased all the way to Florida, which was still unseasonably cold to the point that lizards were falling out of trees.

Our trip to Disney World started off as a joke to see if there was any way that we could do it cheaply, or if it would be like lighting a pile of cash in a suitcase on fire. It was more of an exercise to see what the cheapest possible way to experience Disney was, while still having a good time, even if we didn't decide to go in the end. Obviously, I put together a complex spreadsheet with multiple scenarios. I enlisted the help of every Disney super fan I know (because we all have at least one). This turned out to be a HUGE help because I found out that two of my friends were Disney-bound the week we were attempting to go, and it also just happened to be Humberto's birthday. So, we were in a splurging mood.

Festive head gear is a must!

Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground

But where to stay? With an RV and a dog, I looked into all the campground options in the area surrounding The Magic Kingdom and ultimately settled on Disney's Fort Wilderness. At $76/day + tax, it was a steal, considering we could leave the van at the site and use the free campground shuttle buses and/or boats to avoid the $20 parking fee at the parks.

Pet care

We were also excited that they had a kennel right down the street from the campground. But since it was December, it was booked; so we had to look for other options. After calling about six places near the campground, we finally found Woof & Whisker's Resort, which had space for Lucy. It was about 35 minutes from the Magic Kingdom, but it was the closest option we had, and they only charged $136 for three nights and one full day of daycare. Plus, they upload photos of the dog playpen every day to their private Facebook group for helicopter pet parents such as ourselves.

Leaving Lucy behind is always heart wrenching for us (it's one of our main reasons we decided to RV). Especially when we dropped her off and heard her crying in her pen as we backed away slowly. (Don't worry she was fine.) Fort Wilderness does allow dogs as long as you have a climate-controlled vehicle and there is a nice large dog park for them. But we knew we would be at the parks for 12-14 hours a day, and it would not be fair to Lucy to have her sitting in the van all day. So, she got four days of dog playtime, and we got a 4-day, 3-park marathon-of-fun at Disney. Off to Fort Wilderness we went!

Waggin Trails Dog Park at Fort Wilderness.

Campground check-in

I have never been to Disney, so I was really worried about coordinating everything, having the right tickets, and making sure I left enough time to get to places and see all the things we wanted to see. I was immediately put at ease by the woman who checked us in at the campground. The check-in area resembles a multiple lane toll-booth that looks long, but moves quickly since everyone in line is in an RV.

Luckily, it only took us about 10 minutes of waiting to get to the front, and the check-in woman spent at least 10 minutes to answer all my questions (and I had many). Plus, she prepared our Magic Bands and First-Time-Visitor/Birthday pins. All with a smile on her face, and a growing line of campers behind us.

Magic Bands

I had no idea that the Magic Bands were already preloaded with our information, ie: pre-purchased park tickets and credit card information. Convenient, but dangerous since you can just scan it to purchase anything in the park or campground. Only people staying at Disney properties get Magic Bands, or you can purchase them in the park. It's not a necessity, but they were really nice to have to help you forget about how much money you're blowing on a giant turkey leg.

Our site

The campground is huge, but is broken into pods of campsites, each with their own Comfort Station, which include restrooms, showers, and laundry. We paid for a 'tent' site, which came with a level pad, charcoal grill, picnic table, and water and electric hookups, but no dump station.

Our site, the power & water hookups are built into a faux-stump (not shown).

On our last day at the campground, we were able to call the front desk and have them direct us to an empty full-hookup campsite for dumping. If you do the same, make sure you call the actual front desk of the campground, and not the main Disney helpline, who does not work on site and hence has no idea what a dump station is.

Campground shuttle

The campground has its own shuttle system with multiple routes, which can get you to the off-site park shuttles or the various camp activities within 5-10 minutes from your site. Shuttle boats to the Magic Kingdom operate every 20 minutes from the campground marina and run for at least an hour after the park closes. The ride is smooth and only about 10 minutes long, but if you don't want to take the boat you can always take the shuttle buses to the parks.

Taking the boat shuttle to the Magic Kingdom on the first night of our Disney trip was one of the campground highlights. We had tickets for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, which is a night event, and saves you a little on park admission, since its only from 4pm-midnight. Since tickets are capped at a certain amount, there are a lot less people in the park than normal, especially after the day crowd leaves.

We were able to ride Space Mountain at 11:30 p.m. three times in a row before the park closed! Plus, there are TONS of free Christmas treats (to save on food costs), a Christmas parade, and the always magical Disney fireworks show that come with your ticket. After the park closed, we had the Fort Wilderness shuttle boat and campground shuttle bus almost all to ourselves. The bus driver even changed his route to take us directly to our campsite. Now that is good service!

Disney World: The most magical (and crowded) place on earth!

Other Fort Wilderness perks

We didn't spend a ton of time at the campground because we were at the parks the whole day, but if I were to go back to Disney, we would 100% stay at Fort Wilderness again. If the close proximity to the parks, the Magic Bands, and the whimsical Electrical Water Pageant you can watch from the campground marina are not enough reasons, the cost savings of not having to book a Disney hotel, but still enjoy all the Disney benefits are really worth it.

Fort Wilderness all decked out for Christmas, even the shuttle stops!

There are also tons of activities for people who don't use the parks, including: archery, swimming, boating, horseback riding, biking, movie nights, dinnertime shows, fishing, and tennis, and there is also a shuttle to Disney Springs, the Disney-themed entertainment and shopping complex. One night we had some down-time and took the shuttle boat to the Contemporary Hotel just across the lake and had drinks at the California Grill which overlooks the Magic Kingdom. It's a great spot to see the nightly fireworks from a different perspective.

Overall, Fort Wilderness was one of the cleanest, most festive campgrounds we have ever been to. Even the bus stops were decorated, and some campers went all-out to spread the holiday cheer at their individual sites. The customer service from everyone we encountered at the campground, from the 1 a.m. shuttle drivers to the maintenance crew went above and beyond to make everyone's experience enjoyable and it was a worthwhile splurge. Disney will definitely be on our radar next time we even come close to Orlando.

Tips for getting the most out of your Disney tickets

I find that the more expensive an outing is, the more we have to plan it out beforehand to get our money's-worth. Luckily, our friends already had a game plan to get the most out of the expensive Disney Park tickets. I also enlisted the help of undercovertourist.com to figure out what events were going on each day in each park, and which days would be the least crowded, therefore, most optimal to visit. They have itineraries based on how much time you have in each park, with color-coded maps on which rides to hit up first! We also downloaded the 'My Disney Experience' app to our phones so we could see real-time park maps and ride times and obtain fast passes for certain rides.

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Get a taste of the American Frontier as you drive on winding pathways through the pine and cypress forest with wild turkeys, squirrels and deer roaming throughout. The sounds of birds singing, children playing, boat horns blowing, golf carts buzzing by and fireworks exploding all add to the experience of camping at Disney’s Fort Wilderness.

Camping at Disney’s Fort Wilderness

Below is a collection of all the information we gathered camping at Disney’s Fort Wilderness along with a few tips and videos.

Type of Sites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness

There are four types of sites:

• Tent or Pop-up – loops 1500 & 2000, water and electric (no sewer)
• Full Hookup – loops 1600-1900, one RV plus one tent in the sandy area
• Preferred – loops 100-300, located close to marina otherwise same as a full hookup site
• Premium – loops 400-1400, only for RVs, no sandy area for tents, it can be as wide as 24ft and as long as 60ft to accommodate large RVs.

We’ve camped at Disney’s Fort Wilderness twice. Once in a full hookup site with a Class A motorhome and the second time in a tent/pop-up site with a Class B camper van. Both sites had tall trees that provided shade, cover and easy access to the comfort station.

Don’t have your own camper? Search for a rental RV.

This is the full hookup site (#1904) we camped in. Yes, we stayed at Fort Wilderness with our dog Leo. Learn more about RVing with dogs.

The paved site was very clean and had a picnic table and charcoal grill. The picnic table was not tied down which allowed us to move it around. A trashcan was conveniently placed outside our site that was emptied multiple times a day. This site wasn’t as wide as some of the others we saw, but we were able to put out all our slides and the awning without any issues.

Watch video of our first time at Fort Wilderness.

This is the tent/pop-up site (#1517) we camped in.

Note: tent/pop-up sites do not have sewer hookup, only water and electric. There is no dump station at this campground. Fortunately, each loop has a comfort station with toilets, showers and laundry.

Watch video of our second time at Fort Wilderness.

Reservations at Fort Wilderness

Based on our experience, the best way to find a reservation at Fort Wilderness campground is to book months in advance, check for last minute cancellations or be open to a tent/pop-up site.

When we had a bigger RV, we looked for availability online as early as four months in advance, but only found tent sites. As luck would have it, we checked again the last week of December for dates the first week of January and found a full hookup site for three nights. We booked online through Disney and immediately received our confirmation. We had a much easier time booking a reservation the second time because we could camp in a tent site.

Tip: Call the reservation department after your booking if you have special requests such as a preferred loop, location of site (close to comfort station or trading post), number of pets, size of RV to make sure the site can accommodate it.

Tip: The resort can old your MagicBand at check-in if you are on the roam like us. All you have to do is call the reservation department. Otherwise you can customize your MagicBand online and have it shipped to your location.

Fort Wilderness Campsite Rates

Cost of camping at Fort Wilderness fluctuates quite a bit depending on the time of year. MouseSavers will publish a chart of the lowest rates for each calendar year. Costs continue to increase so I would recommend a visit sooner than later.In 2016, our full hookup site was $69 per night Monday through Wednesday. We paid the same rate for a tent pop-up site in 2018.

Save money by splitting the cost. There is a 10 person max per campsite.

Pet fee is $5 per night and collected at check-in.

Camping with Pets

Make sure to request a pet friendly loop (300-900, 1600-1900) when staying at Fort Wilderness.

We camped in loop 1900 with Leo and next door in loop 1800 was a lush green dog walk along a creek.

The campground has a small park where dogs can run around and stretch their legs.

Clear signs are posted throughout the campground on where pets are not allowed, such as comfort stations and trading posts. Pets are also not allowed in common areas, on buses or boats.

Check-in and Check-out

Official check-in time is 1 p.m. Each time we stayed at Fort Wilderness campground we were able to check-in early. On our first visit, we were setup at our full hookup campsite by 10 a.m. and on our way to explore the campground.

Official check-out time is 11am. Late check-out requests can be made by calling the front desk, but are not guaranteed. Complimentary late check-out can be extended to 1pm and verified the morning of.

How Much Is A Disney World Campground Full Hookup Sites

In this video you can get an idea of what it’s like to camp at Disney’s Fort Wilderness. Note: WiFi is now available throughout the campground without the use of a modem.

Disney World Campground Prices

Overflow Parking at Fort Wilderness

Past the check-in gate, to the right is an overflow parking area where RVs can park until the last Disney park closes. This is provided for campers who arrive early and their campsite is not available or for those who need a place to park their RV after check out.

For example, on the day you check out, if you want to visit the Magic Kingdom, you can leave your RV in the overflow parking lot until the park closes. Note: overnight parking is not permitted.

Tow Vehicles

On the way into the campground is a hitch and unhitch area to disconnect and connect tow vehicles. There is one area on each side of the road for those entering and exiting the campground.

Groceries and Supplies

Trading posts offer groceries and RV supplies at an inflated rate. It’s best to stock up before heading to the campground. However, if you do run out of drinks or snacks they are available for purchase. A piece of fruit was going for $1.69 each during our visit in 2018.

Entertainment and Activities

Guests receive a recreation calendar at check-in or you can check Disney’s activity calendar for Fort Wilderness. We didn’t participate in any of the activities, but they are included with the stay at no additional charge.

If you have time, take the Wonders of the Lodge Tour at Wilderness Lodge. Ride the boat from Fort Wilderness to the Wilderness Lodge and meet at the fireplace at 9am Wednesday thru Saturday for a guided tour of the lodge. No reservation is required and the tour takes about one hour concluding with a viewing of the lodge’s version of old faithful which erupts every hour on the hour. We enjoyed learning about the history of the lodge and the fun facts.

Tip: There is a hidden Mickey hunt at the Wilderness Lodge. Ask the concierge for a clue sheet to get started.

Transportation Around Campground and to Parks

The great thing about Fort Wilderness is the ease of getting around. Shuttle busses and boats are available throughout the day.

Take the campground shuttle to the transportation hub to catch a ride to Disney Springs and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Take the campground shuttle to the settlement bus depot and walk to the marina to catch a boat to Magic Kingdom.

How Much Is A Disney World Campground Full Hookup Sites Map

Whether you’re camping at Fort Wilderness Resort in a tent or glamping in an RV, I hope you have an magical time!

If you’re not able to get a reservation at Fort Wilderness, check out Thousand Trails Orlando.

Don’t have your own camper? Search for a Rental RV.

Disney World Campground Cabins

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on January 11, 2016 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.