Fort Wilderness - Disney's Friendly RV Resort!

Fort Wilderness – Disney World’s friendly RV Resort!

We are off to “Disney World” for Vacation! Hooray! I hope we won’t have any mistakes in all the pre-planning that we named “Enjoying the Anticipation”! After arriving at Disney’s Fort Wilderness, We pulled into the “Toll Booth” style Entrance and were pleasantly surprised when they had all our reservations, RV site number, and Special requests waiting for us in a Disney Packet. The check in process took less the 5 minutes while they gave us our personalized ID cards, Disney Park Tickets, maps, and Dinner reservation confirmations. Our site was amazingly roomy and had easy access. Each site gives you a feeling of privacy with all the moss draped trees and we even had the native wildlife (Deer and Owls) visit us regularly.

Fort Wilderness has a 3 route internal bus system which picks you up near your campsite and takes you to any of the Fort Wilderness Outposts where there are restaurants, supply stores, pools, and connections to the Boats or Buses to all of the Disney Parks and Downtown Disney. We never had to move our RV during the whole weeks stay!



We travel with our 10 year old Maltese and pre-planned a daily stay for her at “Best Friends” Doggie Daycare. We were able to make these arrangements on their website and with the Fort Wilderness Concierge’s desk to have us picked up each morning, transported to Best Friends (about 2 miles away) and returned to Fort Wilderness to board the Transportation System Buses. Each night, we would return to Fort Wilderness and the Concierge service would take us back to pick up our pet and return us to our campsite! What a great service they provide and a wonderful way for our pet to enjoy her vacation and not be left inside our RV for the Day.

Camping in Fort Wilderness during the Holiday Season is also a special Treat. Many of the RVers decorate their sites for everyone’s enjoyment. Our vacation time came during Halloween week and we were amazed at the creative ideas and lighted inflatables that many campsites displayed.
If you are planning your vacation to Disney World, make sure Fort Wilderness is your RV Resort of Choice!

Inaugural Tom Johnson Campfire Club Trip

We having often talked about starting a camping club for Tom Johnson Camping Center.  It is in idea to be an informal club of RV owners who like to meet and enjoy the RV lifestyle exploring different campgrounds.  Most of our trips will be used to explore the hundreds of campgrounds that are available to us in the course of a weekend but you never know where your travels will take you and someday we may do some more extensive traveling. 

RV travel enriches lives connecting families and friends to each other and nature.  So this weekend we decided to test the waters with a trip that will take us to the Tom Johnson Campground in Marion, NC and then Rutledge Lake RV Resort by Asheville, NC. 

Day 1

I am not sure who was more excited for the RV to get home, the kids or the parents.  For Nic (7) and Alex (4), it was a new adventure, a vacation to a new place in a traveling home and the first trip for the family in a couple years.  For the Tina and me, it was a return to a favorite lifestyle and an opportunity to expose the kids to something we love.  It was the kind of excitement that made me glad to be at work and not at home with the constant “Is it time to go yet? When is Dad getting home with the RV?” Of course, it then became 2 hours of non-stop excited chatter as we drove to the campground but you can learn a lot about your kids when they are chattering away like that.

Arriving at the Tom Johnson Campground in Marion, NC the sun was starting to hang low over the mountains and the contrast of the manicured lawns around the campsites was like a welcome home picture for Tina and I.  It has been 6 years since we have been out in an RV but arriving in a campground as beautiful as this is like seeing a well wrapped present that you were not expecting. You want to savor the excitement of wondering what’s inside but you also can not wait to tear it open and explore. 

Backing into our site surrounded by trees with a stream in the back we could barely contain ourselves and hooked up the RV as quick as we could.  The trees behind the site were ablaze with fireflies which triggered a firefly catching expedition.  It felt almost like being dropped into a magical place being surrounded by so many glowing objects floating around the air and was a great start to a camping weekend.  While there was still some light left we decided to go for a walk and were treated to a stunning display of the sun setting behind the mountains in a fiery display of orange, pinks and purples.  And while you would think that all that excitement and anticipation during the day would have been enough to tire everyone out, no one wanted to go to sleep on time this evening.  Maybe we all just wanted to continue to share more fun and togetherness; the kind that seems to be unique to the camping lifestyle.

Catching fireflies at the Tom Johnson Campground in Marion, NC