National Smile Day: 17 Happy Facts About Fort Wilderness

Today is the day that we turn off the bad news, and try to turn our sour-lemon faces into smiles. We can moan and fret about change, prices, and the heat on another day. Here’s 17 amusing or cheerful things related to Fort Wilderness. Honestly, the list could go to infinity and beyond.

Dogs are allowed at every campsite.

For many years, dogs weren’t allowed at all in Fort Wilderness, and had to be boarded at the kennel that was once on site. The policy evolved to allow dogs on certain loops, and more recently at every campsite (tents are an exception).

People leave fire pits behind to share with others.

Open flames aren’t allowed at Fort Wilderness, and many people invest in covered fire pits that can run close to $100 or more. Not wanting to haul them back home, some kind souls leave them behind, offering them up to arriving campers through social media. Known by some as Wandering Fire Pits, their number tends to fluctuate between zero and four.

Hoop Dee Doo is the longest running Dinner show in the USA.

Originally planned to be temporary entertainment, the Hoop Dee Doo dinner show at Fort Wilderness’ Pioneer Hall has been going on non-stop since June 1974. It features an old-west silly skit with sing-alongs that bring diners belly-laughs – along with their unlimited chicken, ribs and adult beverages.

The trash cans are bear proof.

These are super nifty, and scattered through the campground. Trying to figure out how to open them can be a fun game unto itself. Taking a video of someone trying to open one for the first time is even better.

Fort Wilderness turns 50 in November 2021.

Since Fort Wilderness opened a few weeks after the Magic Kingdom, Polynesian, and Contemporary, it won’t have to share its birthday cake with the others. Happy, happy, happy!

the first white Shetland pony ever born at Disney (Cinderella pony) came into the world at fort wilderness in March.

Lillie, named after Walt’s wife, lives at Fort Wilderness and is preparing for her role in helping to pull Cinderella’s coach. She is available for visits on most days.

A group of chipmunks is called a scurry.

In addition to Chip and Dale, you’ll see an abundance of wildlife at the Fort, including chipmunks, squirrels, deer, and wild turkeys. And they look much happier than do their urban counterparts.

There’s a checkers set in front of the Settlement Trading Post.

Known in Britain as a Game of Draughts, a checkers set adorns the porch of the Settlement Trading Post. You can exercise your brain while training one eye on the interesting people who will pass by.

You can rent a golf cart at Fort Wilderness, and Disney allows you to decorate it.

There may be no better way to get in the holiday spirit than riding around the loops of Fort Wilderness and looking at the incredulous amount of decorations on both the campsites and golf carts. Tackiness has no limits, but it is all in good fun. When you rent your cart, the kindly CMs will tell you that you can decorate it anyway that you want.

Just being near water makes you feel less anxious.

With Bay Lake, four miles of canals, and two swimming pools, all the Fort Wilderness lacks is an ocean (okay, it lacks River Country, too). Walt Disney knew something when he incorporated so much water into the parks and resorts. So maybe that boat ride across the lake won’t result in a big grin, but it will at least make your heart happy.

There’s a Disney movie under the stars every night.

Yes, most resorts do have movie showings each night, but none compares to the Fort. And of course almost all of the movies have a happy ending. No Iron Thrones in sight.

Disneyland Paris also has a davy crockett ranch that is very similar to fort wilderness.

Even though there are no campsites, there are nearly 600 log cabins, a Crockett’s Tavern, and an area that looks surprisingly similar to the Settlement Area. Here is a fantastic video tour made by Pixiedust Disneyland Paris Fan Media.

Campers far and wide come together to help find escaped pets.

Just when you think that the whole world has gone to the dark side comes along a woman named Donna who extended her Fort stay last winter to help look for a lost dog. With no relationship to the family who owned the dog, she and others actively engaged in a Facebook group set up for the dog. People made calls to Disney, sharing sightings of the dog, and offered to drive down to coordinate a search party. In spite of some strange obstacles, goodness prevailed, the dog was captured, and a very happy homecoming ensued.

There’s a picture of Jed Clampett in Trail’s End.

I’m among those old enough to vaguely remember watching The Beverly Hillbillies, usually with my grandpa. Seeing Clampett’s picture in Trail’s End was always comforting, and in Jed Clampett’s words, made me “as happy as a gopher in soft dirt.” Many moons later, I figured out that actor Buddy Ebsen also played in Disney’s Davy Crockett series. Duh.

The Meadows pool Has a River Country relic.

We’ve arrived at the time when our newly-minted adults (age 18) never went to River Country. We can point to the tower by the slide at the Meadows Pool and tell them all our tall tales of adventure, celebrity encounters and summer romance down at our old swimming hole.

Gullywhumpers

Crockett’s Tavern at Fort Wilderness serves a special cocktail made up of Ole Smoky White Lightnin’, peach schnapps, pineapple juice and cranberry Juice. The Gullywhumper was also a former boat at Rivers of America in Disneyland. I’m not sure how many Gullywhumpers it takes to reach a state of happiness, but just saying the word makes me unreasonably gleeful.

Pioneer hall was built like lincoln logs

To ensure authenticity, Pioneer Hall was built with more than 1200 pine logs brought in from Montana. Construction crew hand-fitted each piece much in the way that Lincoln Logs are put together. So if putting together Lincoln Logs makes one happy, does putting together a jumbo set make one exponentially more happy?