Tri-Circle-D Ranch

One of the things that I have loved since starting this blog is it forces me and my family to take in things we would have never heard about before or taken the time to discover. Friends, there is truly so much to see and do at Disney and so much is beyond the gates of the 4 parks. We have implemented more and more non-park days to our vacations. For a number of reasons, yes one is because we have small kids and doing parks each day is just too much for them. But another is because it gives us a chance to spend time in these other truly magical places. On our last family vacation, last January, I was determined to take in the Chip’n’Dale Sing-A-Long Campfire.

This sweet family evening event is found at Fort Wilderness Resort. We were staying at Boulder Ridge Villas at Wilderness Lodge for part of our multiple resort stay, which neighbours Fort Wilderness. So it made sense to fit this into our stay. Because we would be heading over to this resort I figured we might as well take in a few of the other unique things this resort has to offer. We dined at Trail’s End Restaurant, the kids played at the beautiful playground they have there and we spent some time at Tri-Circle-D Ranch.

Tri-Circle-D Ranch is found in the northern part of Fort Wilderness Resort. You can reach it by taking the internal Fort Wilderness bus service or by taking the boat service between the Contemporary Resort, Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness. This is open to everyone and anyone. There are 2 areas of the ranch. One area is the home of the beautiful horses you see on Main Street U.S.A.

Each of their stalls state their name and where they’re from, just like any other cast member.

In this barn, you can also see a gallery of pictures of Walt and the horses he loved. A beautiful nod to the man behind the vision.

Also on display is a beautiful carriage. The ranch is home to upwards of 80 horses, of course you only see a small group when you visit here because they are in high demand with their responsibilities on Main Street.

They also take out guests on carriage rides at Fort Wilderness, a popular activity over the holiday season. From the ranch you can also take a horseback ride. Costing $55 per person, guests must be 9 or older, reservations are recommended so call 407-939-7529 if you’re interested. The ride last approximately 45 minutes.

The other part of Tri-Circle-D ranch is the pony rides. There’s a small ring of ponies within a stones throw of the barn. Here children can grab a pony ride under the supervision of a cast member, in a roped in track. The cost is 8 dollars and the rider must be lighter than 80 pounds and shorter than 48″.

Visiting the ranch wasn’t the most impressive thing I’ve ever done at Walt Disney World and it wouldn’t be high on the priority list to do again, but it coincided perfectly with our time at Chip’n’Dale’s Campfire. Which if that’s something you would like to do or you plan on heading to the Hoop-De-Doo Review than I would recommend heading to Fort Wilderness by 4:30pm so you can walk around this ranch and admire the vast impact these horses have on the park as a whole. The easiest way to get here would be to grab the Fort Wilderness Boat from the Magic Kingdom, it’s the transportation recommended for those attending the Hoop-De-Doo Review which is in the area of the resort. Happy Planning, Friends.