Horseback Riding at Fort Wilderness Review

My husband and I took trip to Disney World to celebrate our 10th anniversary December 2014.  We did several "horsey" things and I am going to review them over the next several posts.

First is Horseback riding at Tri-Circle-D Ranch
Check out the second post here (Carriage Ride at Fort Wilderness).

We ate at Crystal Palace at 9:55 am then spent a little bit of time in the park.  We had a reservation for the 1:30 pm ride (and were asked to arrive 30 min ahead of time).  We left Magic Kingdom at noon with the plan to take a boat to Fort Wilderness then the bus to the check-in station.  This was not the right choice, it took an hour and a half to make this trip.  We actually saw our ride departing as our bus pulled past the stables.  Not to worry Disney understands how this happens, probably much better than we do as visitors.

This is how Disney handled the situation, the check-in Cast Member called my cell phone while we were traveling to the check-in station.  I did not see the call until we were almost to the check-in.  The cast member told me at check-in it she had called to see if we needed assistance in finding the location or determining how to use transportation to get to the check-in area.  When we were late she just bumped us to the 2:30 ride without issue or financial penalties (before we even spoke with her).  Knowing this now, I would recommend not scheduling to do the last ride of the day in-case you have issues getting to the corral.  We did have to wait a while but it was fine, we took the time to get something to drink use the restrooms and watch the horses in the corrals.  There were picnic tables there to sit while we waited.

Picnic Tables in the waiting area

How we should have gotten to the check-in location, since the check-in location is at first bus stop for Fort Wilderness we should have taken the bus from Magic Kingdom to Fort Wilderness.  I am sure it would have been quicker.  Also check your phone periodically when you are trying to make it to a reservation and are behind, Disney wants to help you.

Once we checked in and it was closer to the time to ride we put our stuff in a free locker by the corral.  It's pretty small so just be aware of that, but there were multiple lockers so we could have used a couple if needed. They do not allow cameras to be used while riding.  They did take some pictures for use before the ride and I got some of my husband as he was on his horse before me. They utilize a very safe mounting area where the horses are lead up to a fairly high platform, the rider walks up about 3-4 stairs.  Then the rider just puts their foot in the stirrup and swings his/her leg a crossed, very safe for the horse and the rider.  Everyone in our group had helmets on, I can't remember if that is a requirement or a choice, as I never ride without a helmet and would encourage everyone to do the same.  There were maybe 4 other riders and 2 guides.

They will tell you more about the horse you are riding if you ask. My husband was lucky enough to ride the horse that plays Maximus.  Maximus had participated in a photo shoot earlier in the morning to be used during the Christmas parade on TV. Maximus has to start getting prepped for the shoot at 4 am that morning so he was still very white and super soft.  Don't worry, the horses have set work schedules like other cast members and they get days off,  I think they got about 2-3 days off a week.

The ride was a nice 45 min walk.  We saw some deer on the ride.  It a nice flat sandy trail that you ride.  The one thing I did not like was being told not to let the horses eat stuff along the trail, why is that so bad you ask?  Well the main reason is an invasive poisonous plant that can cause the horses to colic.  The guides indicated that they routinely trim the plants back away from the trail but having a horse that is colic prone at home, it was not relaxing trying to avoid a plant you did not know what looked like.  I think Disney might want to have a sign created with some images to help people know what the plant looks like.

When we got back to the corral we tipped our guide, like we would at any trail ride, patted our horses good bye gathered our things out of the lockers and headed by bus to the barn area near the boat dock, more on that in the another post.

Maximus