We live very close to Walt Disney World and with that comes the opportunity to use our Disney adventures as learning experiences! We are able to fully enjoy what Walt Disney World has to offer and to expose our daughters to so much. It feels like we are all learning something new each time we go anywhere on property. You can find learning opportunities everywhere at the Walt Disney World Resort! I am starting this series of posts; Homeschool at Disney. As a homeschooling family who visits the resort area every few days, I am always looking for opportunities to take Lilly Belle out for a learning adventure. She never even realizes what I’m doing. It’s perfect.
My hope is that other families reading this will be able to find some of these experiences while on vacation or as a weekend adventure if you are a local family.
A few weeks ago, we went to Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground with one of my good friends and her son for a picnic playdate. We loved it so much that we decided to go back again to do school together in a beautiful place filled with learning opportunity right in our backyard! The best part is that it’s FREE.
We enjoyed parking at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and taking the trail walk over to Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. The trail is through the woods and it made for a great opportunity to be in nature. I would estimate that the trail is about a mile long from the parking lot at Wilderness Lodge to the Tri-Circle-D Ranch at Fort Wilderness. The walk is one of my favorite parts of this outing. I love that Lilly Belle gets to run and that she can collect nature along the way which is one of her new favorite things to do.
Once we get to the Tri-Circle-D Ranch, we love to look at all the horses. They keep all of the Disney horses here at the ranch and you can actually walk through the stable to see each of them in their stalls. They also have horses and ponies roaming freely (gated of course) for you to look at outside. We like to set out our school blanket in the middle where there is a grassy area. Lilly Belle and I worked on curriculum activities together and I read stories to the girls. She is always able to focus so much more when we are learning together outside.
Tri-Circle-D Ranch does offer pony rides as well. The cost is $8.00/ride. We have not done this yet, but maybe one day soon as a treat.
Another one of my favorite parts of this resort is the playground. It is 100% fenced in and has two sets of playgrounds; one for toddlers and one for older children. There are also swings which makes it Lilly Belle approved.
Homeschool at Disney | Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground Preschool Learning Ideas
- Count the horses in the stable
- Talk about the different colors of each horse
- Talk about the different sizes of each horse
- Listen to the sounds the horses make
- Go into the grass and pretend to gallop like a horse
- Take notice of what the horses are eating and how the cast members are taking care of each of them
- Bring art supplies and draw or paint what you see
- Read books on the lawn near the horses