A Recreational Activity Is Now Banned at This Disney Resort
Disney is known for having many recreational activities. However one resort just banned this particular activity.
Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground
Feel close to the magic by camping near the magic! Guests will take in the American frontier with all different types of wildlife including deer, rabbits, ducks and armadillos that will roam the resort. Can you believe that this resort takes up 750 acres? You can relax in the great outdoors with only being minutes from Magic Kingdom!
At Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground you will find trails, two pools and entertainment and activities of all kinds! This resort is unique as you won't find any other resort like it at Disney. The resort opened on November 19, 1971. It consists of both campsites and cabins for guests to enjoy.
Read HERE for our complete guide to Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground.
New Rules in Place
Campers at Disney's Fort Wilderness are known for bringing lots of their own recreational activities. This includes things like chalk, bikes, and even their own golf carts.
One new rule has gone into affect recently and that is Electric Bikes are no longer allowed at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. It has been reported that people have been stopped while riding and given these updated "Vehicle, Carts and Recreation Devices Rules and Regulations" handouts.
Electric Bikes are no longer allowed at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground.
The handout now reads:
Prohibited items include (but are not limited to):
- Electric/electric assisted bicycles
- Recreational devices such as drones, remote-control toys, skateboards, scooters, incline skates or shoes with built-in wheels
- Personal watercraft
- Wheeled mobility devices with less than 3 wheels or devices that cannot maintain stability when stopped, unpowered and/or unoccupied. Training wheels and/or modifications are not permitted. Devices must be manually or electrically powered and operated at a walking pace. Devices should be singler rider and not exceed 36" (92 cm) in width and 52" (132 cm) in length.
What do you think of this change? Does this affect you? Let us know by leaving a comment below and share this post with a friend who stays at The Fort, too!
We were really looking forward to going to Fort Wilderness but now we are going to cancel since we cannot use our ebikes to get around. Not going to spend $70 a day for a cart and we're too old to ride bicycles.
Fort Wilderness has become a campground for 55 and older. Good luck supporting attendance by disgruntling families. I think the plan is to close the campground anyway. Disney wants to turn everything into vacation club properties. Just spend your money elsewhere and remember the fun times you had at Fort Wilderness because once again Disney has ruined one of its most beloved places.
We got stopped by security today when we were just sitting on our e bikes and were lectured by security as golf carts at a high rate of speed were whizzing around the security officer. Shame on Disney. We will not be back!
Here's a thought. Security could restrict usage by campers who violate ebike rules as opposed to restricting use of the ebike to those who do follow the ebike rules.
You don't take away use of a car for all if you have a few people who think a yellow light means go faster "through a red light. Take care of the offenders.
Feb 23, 2023. Yup we got stopped by security. No more electric bikes, but we could pedal. So we lowered the speed and faked pedaling. Just ridiculous . They have made me rethink where I spend my camping funds.
As an e-bike owner and having been to the fort last year I can honestly say I am not surprised. If parents of young children would have done their jobs and set rules for their kids this would probably never happen. Instead they turned their kids loose on these electric bikes, scooters and skateboards and turned our loop into a racetrack. It’s easy to make an argument that the elderly use the bike to get around but I guess they can’t make this age specific so it became a blanket policy. This policy is intended to make the campground enjoyable for the thousands who stay here, not for a few hundred people with health issues who are probably old enough to legally operate a golf cart. Good for Disney, I will rent a golf cart for the week and enjoy not having to worry about getting run over when walking around the campground.
This is so upsetting. We go to Ft Wilderness and camp 2-3 x’s a year and this is the one family activity we can all do because the older people of the group can keep up with the younger ones by riding an e-bike. This doesn’t make sense at all.
Very upsetting. Having had many vascular surgeries my legs need the assist our ebikes provide. I suspect too many folks with ebikes have been going too fast. Fair would be banning golf carts also as some folks go too fast on them too; but cart rental is a money maker for them so I doubt that will happen.
No more camping for us there unless the ebikes are allowed.
These are not “new” rules. Somewhere from a past trip I have picture of a sign posted at all the bath buildings. It showed pictures of all the banned items and so far what I have heard these are the same items that have always been banned. The only difference was they were always very lax at enforcing the rules.
We just returned from a week at the Fort, 23 of us together. We have been RV campers for years but as we get older found it tough to set up, so now we do cabins. It was easy to bring bicycles when we were bringing the RV set up, but now we just have a car with no hitch, so we purchased folding electric scooters instead, specifically to use in Fort Wilderness. We have used them at the Fort for several years and love riding them. When we arrived this trip we had no idea the rules had changed, and security was quick to stop my husband and inform him. It seems completely ridiculous to us, I get that some people can abuse them, but the same can be said for golf carts, cars, bikes...any device used to get around. We spoke to a cast member who said that a letter writing campaign was the best way to get WDW to rethink this policy. Perhaps the author of this article could source out a good email address for the readers to write a letter to?
“Electric assist bikes are allowed”. This is part of a response from Disney. Can you clarify and explain where these measurements are found? I can’t find them anywhere.
The Fort has released new guidelines for recreational vehicles and devices. Guests over the last few weeks have reported new flyers being posted and handed out during their stay. Unfortunately, Disney's site is not up-to-date on their current policy that they are enforcing in the campground.
Even remote control toys? I thought it was a family place? What a bummer.
I was surprised by this too.
i think it is time to close all the disney parks they are all totaly ruined by the regulations that are now being put out
My husband and I were at WDW Fort Wilderness Campground in December 2022. We rode our ebikes everyday up to the bus stop. No one stopped us. When did this go into effect?
This went into effect within the last few weeks.
Were in our 70.s and use ebikes to get around.goodbye Disney
Yep my son was just riding his electric scooter which we have brought for years and just got in trouble by security, he was told to put it up and they better not see it again. I honestly didn’t even know about this change and they don’t say anything when you check in.
It's disappointing that they aren't letting Guests know upon check-in. I know plenty of people love using their e bikes when there.
We go to Fort Wilderness every Christmas. This is the final nail in the coffin. Will be canceling our reservation.
My husband rides a recumbent because he is a 100% disabled veteran. Bye Bye Disney.
So you can have battery operated golf cart but not an e-bike with pedals? Ridiculous!!
Who ever made this rule must of had a brain fart. Disney is the one that needs to change and build a bike lane.
I’m so sad! My son and I had a lovely time there in Sept and extensively used our electric pedal-assist bikes to get around. They look and behave just like regular bicycles, I’m not sure I understand why they are prohibiting them now? They don’t go any faster than a teen/younger adult could pedal and my older parents find them much more comfortable to get around the larger acreage of Fort Wilderness. My dad is immunocompromised and doesn’t feel safe in most indoor areas (and would not take a Disney bus around) but in his own camper and riding bikes outdoors he felt comfortable and was the only vacation he has taken in years. I’m also with the poster that said can we bring them in even? That would be a huge issue if not as many people can’t find a local locker to leave their bikes at if they’re long term travelers. Please reconsider, Disney .
I get it, but how is my e-assist bike included? I could see the throttle bikes, they can go pretty fast, but I still have to pedal.
Well, that will piss off a bunch of RVers. Although it says nothing about gas powered assisted bicycles. So, my little chainsaw engine powered assisted bicycle is still allowed. However, the ones I see RVing most of the time with assisted power bikes are older people that like to ride bikes but no longer can pedal up hills or for long distances.
So does this mean that all the prohibited items you are not allowed to have them at all or is it just you can' use them. There is a big difference because if I am traveling in my RV, I will most likely have all those items except the last one as that doesn't even make sense the way it is written. I am not going to dump them somewhere for Disney. If I don't use them there, then no issue.
I must remember that this is Disney and is not operated like a regular RV park and they don't want you bringing in anything that they can charge you high prices for there. I wonder how they would react if I came in with my horses and wagon for a week.
So, along this line they claim they are pet Friendly. However, I bet I would get denied if I pulled in with my horses in the horse trailer with Sleeping quarters either heading to or from a show and taking in some R&R at the WDW resorts. By the way my horse trailer is nicer in the sleeper quarters than many RVs out there.
At the end of the say though it is WDW, you have the final choice to go or not and if the ask the reason why you're canceling you state the rule change doesn't match your camping style and that you will spend your money elsewhere that are more accommodating to the camping community. Some of things about are for fun but the Horse Trailer is an interesting one as I have not pursued it yet as I have not had any shows in Florida, but we are considering a couple in Ocala in the next couple of years and possibly in Sarasota as well. It will be interesting to see if Disney wants my money as we will probably need to buy hay if we go after the shows limited space for storage. Anyways, if anyone knows or has done please let me know.
Silly
Why?