the fort wilderness railroad

In 1973, WDW opened a glorious 4/5 steam train in Fort Wilderness. Its 3.5 mile track made it twice as long as the one in the Magic Kingdom, and it was a wonderful way to get around to various parts of the campground, and also to see the wilder sides of the forest and fields. Unfortunately, the train sometimes stopped because it ran out of water (it had to be refilled at the end of the loop every time), and fussy mothers and their little princes and princesses didn’t like the wait for the tow car, particularly on hot summer days. As the campground grew, the likelihood of a train-related injury grew as well, as the tracks came very close to some of the campsites, and there was no barrier between people and the tracks. Finally, Disney closed the train, and most of the cars were left to rust for a couple of decades, until a group of train enthusiasts bought and restored them. Most are now owned privately.  A fun activity at Fort Wilderness is to go and try to find the wood cross ties still in place – some are near Loop 700.

RIVER COUnTRY – 1976-2001

One of the most magical places in all of the Disney kingdom was right outside of Fort Wilderness – River Country. The epitome of an old fashioned swimming hole, River Country opened in June 20, 1976, less than three weeks before America’s bicentennial. Okay, so here’s where  things get messy. Part of going to Disney is about the nostalgia. And just because you add three or five new things doesn’t make up for that one that you abandoned/deconstructed/replaced. (Okay, I’ll try to calm down and do that seek-to-understand thing because it’s supposed to be good for my soul.)  Continue reading “Ode to River Country” →

Opening Day – 1971

Fort Wilderness opened on November 21, 1971, just a few weeks after the Magic Kingdom, the Contemporary Resort, and the Polynesian Village Resort opened. It initially had about 230 campsites, with an additional 1000 planned to be available in the following years. The original nightly campsite rent was $11 per night, and included access to air-conditioned shower facilities, land transportation to other parts of Disney World, and steamboat transportation to the Magic Kingdom. Early materials promoted nightly campfires, fishing, canoe rides in the canals, a Western town, bridle trails, games and watercraft rentals.  Continue reading “Fort Wilderness Opened in November 1971 at $11 Per Night!” →

 

Neither Disney World nor Fort Wilderness sprang up overnight, but rather took nearly 20 years to come to fruition. Following the success of Disneyland in California, Walt Disney and his brother scouted locations in Florida for his “Disneyland East.” Allegedly, he selected Florida due to its warm climate after first considering New York. After viewing sites near Tampa, West Palm Beach, and Ocala, Walt made one more trip by plane to areas near Orlando. This was on November 21, 1963, the day that John F. Kennedy died.  Continue reading “Fort Wilderness When Disney Arrived – 1963” →