Golf cart, Minnie vans, both, neither?

herdadditions

Bluegrass Mama Mouse
Joined
May 15, 2011
Still traveling with 4 people, 1 of whom uses a wheelchair.

Since we have heard a Minnie van will come directly to the cabin door, should we use that instead of a golf cart? Will we need both to enjoy the fort?
 
I havent been yet , but depending on what you want to do , the golf cart may be good to have. The fort is said to be huge!
 
Well a golf cart is for travel INSIDE the Fort Wilderness Resort (cabin to pool, campfire to cabin, cabin to boat dock for MK, Trails End restaurant to cabin).

The internal bus system can also provide service around the Fort for someone in a wheel chair (busses have ramps, they kneel down, etc.).

Minnie Vans can come to the cabin door and pick you up to take you OUTSIDE the resort to the parks or Disney Springs (both which have busses that kneel and roll on/off if you want to use those).

One key difference to be aware of is that the Minnie Vans can come directly to your cabin door or campsite while other ride services cannot (Uber, Lyft, etc.). If one of the ride services drivers are caught past the FW check-in building, they will be stopped and fined. You have to meet ride services up at the check-in building (getting there via walking or taking an internal bus) and be dropped off there. Disney is trying to demonstrate a competitive advantage of the Minnie Vans over the ride services by who can come directly to your door (and who can not).

So a cart can cover you inside the resort (as an internal bus can) but it's up to you if the cost is worth the convenience of not having to wait a minute or more for a bus. And a Minnie Van for internal use seems redundant since you still have to wait for them but the cost is not near a cart per day but then again, how many times per day will you be moving? Technically, all three options work internally.

Good luck. We stayed in the cabins years ago and thoroughly enjoyed them. As long as you are not in a hurry, the bus system can move you around FW internally just fine.

Bama Ed
 
we used the Minnie Vans from HS to DS in late March, very convenient. For some reason the Bus stop cattle gates to DS were over flowing, we knew it would be at least a 2 bus wait, MV beat the first bus arrival.
 


Well...if your party needs the wheelchair to get around- the golf cart would not help much because you can't take the wheelchair with you I don't think...unless it is a folding type and you rent the 6 person cart...we tried putting the stroller on a 4 cart and it was so hard.

The internal busses for getting around to the different places in the Fort are good, like Ed said. We just hopped on our specific color and rode to the stop by the pool, or the marina, or wherever we were heading. From there, we transferred to a bus to the parks we headed to for the day. (Or onto the boat for our Magic Kingdom days).

If you worry about getting to a specific park on time, the Minnie Vans would be great- especially for those parks that have quite a walk (AK and HS)...you would need to get a wheelchair accessible Minnie Van if you need to transport it to the parks, but I think you can request that on the app. It would not be worth it to call a Minnie Van to take you from your cabin to anywhere inside the Fort and pay the $25 or whatever it is.
 
If its only to get around inside the campgrounds then I would rent a golf cart. As long as the wheelchair folds up. If a golf cart is too pricey for you then I would go with the internal bus system.
 
The internal buses have an unfounded bad reputation due to issues many years ago that have long since been resolved, imho. With so many people using golf carts, they're actually running even better since they're mostly empty and are able to skip stops at a lot of loops because no one is either getting on or off a lot of the time. I use a mobility scooter and have had real good luck using them. Depending upon the size of the people, you might have difficulty fitting 4 and a folded wheelchair in a standard golf cart.
 


Our question is about the internal buses. We have to get to Sanford Airport for a 6am flight when we leave the Fort. We've contracted a transport company to pick us up around 3:30am. Will there be internal buses running that early to get us to check-in?
 
Our question is about the internal buses. We have to get to Sanford Airport for a 6am flight when we leave the Fort. We've contracted a transport company to pick us up around 3:30am. Will there be internal buses running that early to get us to check-in?
Contact the front desk, they will get you a shuttle van. We had the same situation a few years ago.
 
Our question is about the internal buses. We have to get to Sanford Airport for a 6am flight when we leave the Fort. We've contracted a transport company to pick us up around 3:30am. Will there be internal buses running that early to get us to check-in?
Yeah like 2goofycampers said call or go to the front desk they will get you a van
 
As you have seen here, it's all about priorities. Having a cart around the Fort can be a blast, and it makes it very easy to get to and from the various internal locations. If you want to take the time to truly explore the Fort, various loops, etc... the cart would be a big need. If you plan to spend most of your time at the parks, however, you'd probably be better off using the WDW system and then calling for a Minnie Van at those times where timeliness is especially important to you.

For us, having the golf cart and spending time around the Fort is a big part of the enjoyment of the Fort's charm, so the cost is somewhat 'baked in,' for us. For others, the approach is very different and it would be a waste of money. Consider how you'd use it and consider, perhaps, only renting for a couple of days instead of the entire trip.
 

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