By Pink Diva
There are many benefits of staying on property. You get to make dining reservations and Fast Pass selections before anyone else, you have free access to the bus system, extra magic hours, and a magic band. You also get all that the resort offers. There is almost always something going on-fun activities at the pool, arts & crafts, and nighttime movies. Fort Wilderness Campground is no different! While there are many daytime activities, nighttime can be quite an adventure! Passholder Diva wrote an extensive review on Fort Wilderness, you can read Part 1 and Part 2 here to find out more about the resort!
Our stay at Fort Wilderness was for three days and two nights. We went with three other families to celebrate birthdays and the end of the school year. We live close, so we hardly ever stay on property. I was super excited to see what the campground had to offer!
We promised the kids we would go swimming on the first night after we had everything set up. Well, that ended up taking much longer than we expected. By the time both campsites were ready, dinner was made and eaten, it was almost 9pm. Determined to still have fun, we all put our bathing suits on and headed to the bus stop to find the pool. We had a hard time finding pool hours, so we were hoping for the best at this point. Our wonderful bus driver informed us the smaller pool, Wilderness Swimmin’ Pool was open 24 hours. We practically had the pool to ourselves. There were a few other adults in the hot tub (which is perfect after a long day walking around the parks), but the pool itself was empty.
Doing some late night swimming.
TIP: Make sure you wear your Magic Band after hours. It’s the only way the gates and pool bathrooms will open after 11:00pm.
The second night we wanted to have s’mores with Chip n’ Dale at the sing-a-long and see the fireworks from the beach. We brought our own s’more supplies, but they do sell kits at the bonfire. I suggest getting to the sing-a-long early if you can. There are games, singing, and of course Chin n’ Dale. We all enjoyed the singing and s’mores. The Chuck Wagon also sells other snack items if you want something other than s’mores. After the singing there is a movie at the campground. We opted to sneak out from the movie and head to the beach to catch the Magic Kingdoms firework show.
Giving Chip a big hug
They enjoyed the s’mores!
We rode the bus to the Settlement Depot and walked over to the beach. There are beach chairs, but they were full by the time we arrived. We sat in the sand, but you may want to bring a blanket or towels. You won’t be able to see the projections on the castle, but it is a great view of the fireworks. No crowd and very relaxing. There was music piped in, but I’m not sure if it is the same as what is played at Magic Kingdom.
Watching the fireworks from the beach
Wait around after the fireworks to see the Electric Water Pageant. It starts shortly after the fireworks end. The start time was much earlier from what the Disney App said it started. I’m not exactly sure why, but we figured the time is based on where you can see it at a particular location (Magic Kingdom maybe?). Either way, stick around for this fun water parade! The kids were excited to see the animals and flags made from lights. It brought back memories from when I saw the pageant on my very first trip to Disney roughly 30 years prior.
Electric Water Pageant
We had a wonderful time enjoying the nighttime activities at Fort Wilderness Campground. The two nights we spent were definitely not enough to see and do all that is available. Luckily, you do not need a reservation to enjoy the sing-a-long or fireworks. Next time you are visiting and have a free night, consider spending it exploring Fort Wilderness!
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