As a native South Floridian and avid traveler to the Walt Disney World resort, I have visited numerous times and stayed at all tiers. As this trip included three adults and two young children staying for 5 nights/6 days, I was looking for a cost and space effective option for our party, and the Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground easily fit the bill.
First, the cabins are basically like a free-standing hotel suite, albeit, a bit more rustic. The layout of the cabins is very smart, in my opinion, with an attached deck complete with picnic table and charcoal grill, an open kitchen with a full-size refrigerator (with ice maker), range/oven, built-in microwave oven, and dishwasher. There is also a good deal of cabinet space, a full-size Murphy bed in the living room, as well as a sofa, dining table with chairs and booth seating, a smaller table in the living room with two chairs for kids, a full bath with tub/shower combo, a good deal of cabinet space in the kitchen and living rooms, a closet in the bedroom, and a full bed and twin bunk beds in the bedroom. A nice touch is having a pack n' play complete with mattress already in the bedroom so you do not have to request one. When the Murphy Bed is stored, it leaves a nice play area complete with rug on the living room floor.
The transportation system is very efficient, and in my opinion, a golf cart is not mandatory. However, a cart is a nice addition if you plan on having one or more full days at the resort and wish to explore. Disney charges $60+ to rent a cart per day, so I would recommend calling Kenny's Tee Time Golf Cart Rentals ahead of time. This company charges about half the price, and they deliver the carts to you. Disney does not permit this, so it is basically a "don't ask don't tell" situation. The resort is quite sprawling, however you can request a cabin that is close to an internal bus stop, which will take you to all of the amenities. We stayed in loop 2700, which was also within walking distance to the quiet pool, however we did not visit that pool. The Meadows' Swimming Pool is great for kids with a larger pool complete with a water slide, a jacuzzi, and a small kiddie pool. There is an arcade at this area, however it is quite small with not many options. A definite plus is that there is a gated pirate-ship themed water play park for toddlers, with plenty of seating for adults around it. There are also piny rides ($5.00 each), two general stores, the Tri-Circle D Ranch where you can visit the Clydesdales, a marina with boat rentals, a "beach", horse trail rides, group and individual horse-drawn carriage rides, archery, a nightly campfire and sing-a-long featuring Chip N' Dale, and nightly Disney movies under the stars.
Although the kitchen is stocked with the basics needed to prepare meals, there are definitely some items you will want to bring from home. For example, the cabin has flatware, plates/bowls, Mason jar mugs, a coffee maker, coffee mugs, a toaster, one rubber spatula, a couple glass serving dishes, a glass measuring cup, manual can opener, dish liquid (for hand washing dishes and the dishwasher), two saucepans with lids, and a saute pan, I would strongly recommend bringing additional kitchen tools/ gadgets if you plan to prepare meals in the kitchen and/or grill. I would recommend the following:
-coffee and standard round paper coffee filters
-sugar/sweetener
-coffee creamer
-wooden spoons, sharp knife, dry measuring cups, measuring spoons, a whisk
-grill tools
-charcoal
-flashlights/a battery-operated lantern
-Citronella candles
-a radio/cd player
-hand soap
There is a list in each cabin that you can reference to order groceries, however if you have a car, I would recommend traveling to either Publix, Super Target, or Super-WalMart to save a ton of money. If you are a Florida resident, I would recommend purchasing dry goods in advance, and then stop at one of the local grocery stores to purchase perishables.
Out of all of the Disney resorts I have stayed in, this one seemed to have the best customer service and Mousekeeping. Our kids received unique towel animals daily, they scrub the grill, leave plenty of extra towels, and do a nice job of cleaning up. There was only one day that they did not clean our grill, and when Mousekeeping arrived before we left on two mornings of our stay, they did not seem to mind at all when we asked them to return a couple of hours later. When we called to request something, it was delivered within minutes, which was not the case at two of the deluxe resorts we previously stayed at (i.e., the Contemporary and Polynesian).
Although there is parking for one car and a golf cart at each cabin, you cannot park your car at the recreation areas/stores, aside from the Meadows store where there is limited 15-minute parking available. The internal bus system was reliable, and although they say the buses run every 20 minutes, we never waited more than 5-10 minutes for a bus. To get to the Magic Kingdom, you take a short internal bus trip to the marina (or drive your cart to the marina and park it there for the day), and then take a boat to the Magic Kingdom. My only complaint was that on a return trip on a busy Saturday night, the boat to take us back to the resort involved an approximate 30-minute wait, and they added a stop at the Wilderness Lodge. If you are not traveling to Magic Kingdom and you have a car, I would recommend driving to the other theme parks, as you can park there for free by showing your room key.
All in all, I believe this is now going to be our go-to Disney resort for our family's annual trip. The grounds are pristine, and the cabins are definitely relaxing. I would recommend requesting a corner cabin that is located close to an internal bus stop. I would also inquire about a cabin that does not have areas of standing water behind it. It does ran quite a bit in Florida, and although it did not rain much during our stay, there were large areas of standing water behind and around the cabins which made it hard for the kids to play.