Horseback riding goes back to the earliest days of Fort Wilderness 50 years ago. At $55 a person, one might wonder if it’s worthwhile. Well – mostly, but it all depends.

for beginner cowboys, it’s perfect

If you haven’t been in the saddle too many times, I can’t imagine a safer experience. The horses at Fort Wilderness are so gentle and obedient that it seems they must go to some sort of debutante manners school. It’s a single-file line with a guide in the front and another one in the back. And it’s a sloooooooow walk along the trail. No cantering or nearly no distractions.

On the other hand, for more experienced buckaroos, you’ll likely find Carousel of Progress more fast-moving. It’s like being on the Turnpike and the car is front of you is going 35. And while the guides are peppy and experienced and there to keep you safe, the constant repetition of the simplest of instructions may become just a little bit grating.  Okay, let me get off my high horse here.

Your greatest challenge, it seems, is to keep your horse from stopping to eat long grass.  Move along, neigh-bor.

A road less traveled

If you’re in love with Fort Wilderness – and I assume you are either in love with the campground or in love with me if you’re reading this (hopefully, both) – the treat is that you’ll see some areas you wouldn’t see otherwise.

After leaving the Tri-Circle-D near the Outpost, you’ll cross the main road and head to the forest. One of the guides will open the gate and you’ll go along a trail that’s not open to anybody else. It basically makes a giant circle and you’ll initially pass along the backs of some of the cabin loops closest to the Outpost.

For the 45-minute ride, the scenery stays pretty much the same. You may encounter deer and other wildlife. But the best part of all is when you are nearly back. On the right, you’ll see some old giant totem poles randomly hanging out in the weeds. I’m not sure if these are original to Fort Wilderness (from back in the day), and the young guides are clueless on this question.

those pesky little rules

What I don’t like is that you can’t take your camera or even your cell phone. That’s why we have no pictures of the random, giant totem poles in the forest. I wanted to stirrup some trouble and sneak mine in, but c’est la vie.  It’s for everyone’s safety, right?

You also need to know that if you’re over 250 pounds, this isn’t happening for you. And yes, they will put you on a GIANT scale (but other people can’t see your number). Also, kids will have to be at least four feet tall to ride.

This is one of the easier reservations to get. There are four to six rides a day, with the last one usually being at 2 pm. I’ve called as late as a day ahead of time and been able to get a reservation. It’s possible your group may even be the only one on that particular ride (along with the guides). But your biggest challenge of this entire bucket list item is going to be the wait on the telephone. Call (407)WDW-PLAY to reserve.

Related: A Defense of the Plain Ol’ Swimming Pools at Fort Wilderness – 7 Things to Love