Amid lights of Disney campsites, revelers shine

As darkness falls in a wooded corner of Walt Disney World, lights begin to flicker. Artificial trees start shimmering, stealing the spotlight from the natural splendor as inflatable Mickeys and Minnies bounce to life.

Elaborate, densely packed holiday decorations installed by Fort Wilderness campers give the campground a homey home-away-from-home feel for Central Florida visitors.

Mike Bronchik surrounds his large black RV with more than 50 inflatables, representing reindeer stables, a 15-foot-tall toy soldier, the “Frozen” characters inside a snow globe, penguins plus Santa Claus in a camper. Other props include a downsized version of Cinderella’s carriage and a Disney World monorail set, including the Epcot line.

Bronchik uses rope lighting to form a pathway for fellow Fort Wilderness dwellers to walk through his sparkling collection. He’s made the late-year trip from his home in Pennsylvania for years, and decorated here since 2004, he said. He started with three inflatables.

“My neighbors [in Pennsylvania] basically stopped me from doing something this elaborate,” he said. “They said it was a nuisance.”

Now kids frolic through his lot as his chihuahuas yap inside his motor home. Popular additions this year, he said, are “Star Wars” figures, including a Santa-ized version of Chewbacca holding a “milk and wookiees” sign.

“I never get tired of that,” he said of the onlookers. “I’m not doing it for my health.”

A couple of campsites down stand Stacy and Kelly Waldrep, a married couple who have been visiting from their home near Montgomery, Ala., annually since 2000. After three days of unpacking their Christmas decorations — including maybe two dozen flickering artificial trees — they say they still have 2,000 lights to plug in.

“We’ve got stuff that’s 20 years old here,” said Kelly Waldrep, pointing out a Minnie Mouse phone that she received as a girl. It’s underneath a tent that’s also home to two life-size Santas and a faux fireplace. There have been three marriage proposals over the years there, Stacy Waldrep said. He expects to add a snow machine to his scene this year.

There’s no extra fee from Disney for the decorations, Kelly Waldrep said.

“They don’t charge us, but they don’t give us a discount either,” she said.

Disney World offers horse-drawn carriage rides that wind through the grounds during the holidays. They rent for $79 for a 25-minute ride. Fort Wilderness covers 700 acres and has about 800 sites plus 400 cabins. Disney has regulations about how close the decor can be to roads and how long into the night the lights can be illuminated, campers say.

Although not everyone participates, it’s common for Fort Wilderness guests to wander through the campground, which opened 45 years ago, either by foot or by garlandtrimmed electric golf carts.

Along the way, they may spy inflatable versions of dinosaurs, polar bears or Santa in an outhouse. Some folks outline their lots with white lights. Mickey Mouse appears in many forms: wreaths on windshields, peppermint-striped fence posts, atop lamps, as a snowman.

Bryan Whitaker, who has made the Christmastime trip to Fort Wilderness annually since 2008, went a more traditional route. Big balls of lighting dangle from tree branches and the edges of his RV, connected by coat hangars. They are common at his home in Greensboro, N.C., he said.

Disney World is a suitable site for his extended family and his grown children, who also wanted a bit of back home for their holidays, Whitaker said.

“They wanted stuff we would normally have at home,” he said.

Leslie White and her husband Joe Sheikh, staying at Fort Wilderness for the fifth December, said they were not longing for their snowy home near Toronto. Their Florida lot includes a half-dozen inflatables, including a big screen (topped with mouse ears) where they can project movies. Another projector displays a countdown to Christmas on the front of their camper.

“You’ve got the outdoors, you’ve got Disney. It’s a good mix,” White said.

Like many of the Fort Wilderness crew, their homes are dark now. And White said the inside of their RV has no holiday decor. She, her husband and four children will be living in there for nearly four weeks.

“We need every bit of space,” she said.

DEWAYNE BEVIL/STAFF Mike Bronchik of Pennyslvania surrounds his large RV with more than 50 inflatables and other props during his stay at Walt Disney World's Fort Wilderness campground.