Wilderness Night Wildlife Excursions at Fort Wilderness
Fort Wilderness at Walt Disney World is a unique experience that has never been duplicated anywhere else (honestly, it probably wouldn’t be built today). With over 650 acres dedicated to campsites, cabins, recreation, and entertainment, it’s easy to see what keeps it so popular. I ran across an interesting blurb that I’ve only seen referenced a few times: the Wilderness Night Wildlife Excursions.
The January 1973 Walt Disney World News offers the following information:
Wilderness Night Wildlife Excursions in four-wheel drive vehicles leave the campground each evening at 8:30 to explore the surrounding woodland. The trip lasts two hours and affords guests an opportunity to see a variety of wild creatures in their natural state. The cost is $3.00 per person.
The excursion was listed in the November and December 1972 issues, but not in the May 1973 issue. Either it was discontinued or no longer advertised. There is scant information available online.
There is a brief mention of the excursion in the Spring 1973 edition of Vacationland. This was a seven-day “journal” of a family vacation at Fort Wilderness. The article focuses heavily on the recreation available. Surprisingly, the “family” only spent two days at the Magic Kingdom with their first visit to the theme park on day four. Seriously?
From the “journal”:
Tonight we go on a wildlife excursion in a swamp buggy of all things!
What happened to these nighttime excursions?
With the limited information, I can’t identify whether single-person ATVs, Suzuki’s 1982 quads, or larger four-wheeled vehicles carrying multiple people were used. Wikipedia has an article on swamp buggies, but they still don’t sound like something Disney would allow guests to drive themselves.
Could it have been something like this?
I’m always surprised to discover things that aren’t well documented. Due to technological limitations of travelers (cheaper cameras and film stock in the 1970s) and the gas crisis, there simply isn’t as much documented history as Disneyland. Also, there was so much ephemeral material that hasn’t stood the test of time.