xtremely Disappointing Experience – Would Not Recommend to FamiliesI rarely write reviews, but this experience was bad enough that I feel obligated to warn other families—especially those traveling with young children.We have stayed at Fort Wilderness several times in the past and absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, this most recent stay was completely overshadowed by our experience with Escape RV Rentals. I don’t want anyone else to go through what we did.First, this rental is not inexpensive. Between the RV rental, campground fees, and additional charges, we paid over $600 per night, totaling more than $4,000 for four days. At that price point, you expect reliability, basic amenities, and professional customer service. We received none of that.Late Delivery & Poor Communication
We arrived at Fort Wilderness around 1:00 PM, yet the RV was not delivered to our site until after 4:00 PM. The person I was dealing with refused or failed to provide his name and stated this delay was “normal check-in.” That has not been my experience with other RV rental companies, which typically deliver the RV as soon as the site becomes available.Propane, Heat, and Hot Water Failures
Just two days into our stay, we discovered there was no propane to cook. We didn’t even complain at first and tried to make the best of it. That same night, temperatures dropped to 36°F, and the heater did not work.When I contacted Escape RV Rentals the next morning, I was told—without apology—that this was “normal RV stuff” and that we must have burned through all the propane in two days. That claim makes little sense, especially considering we spent one of those days entirely at Disney parks.A propane tank was later delivered while we were not present, but the delivery person failed to verify everything was functioning. When we returned with three children under the age of three, we discovered we had no hot water. While the company did attempt to troubleshoot over the phone, it could not be fixed remotely. They offered to send a technician around 9:00 PM, which was completely impractical with small children who were already cold, exhausted, and unable to bathe.Unacceptable Response & Lack of Accountability
The most frustrating part of this entire experience was the attitude. We were repeatedly told that these issues were “normal” for RVs—as if paying premium prices means customers should expect broken heat, no hot water, and empty propane tanks. That is unacceptable.Escape RV Rentals advertises the idea of “escaping your 9–5,” but after spending thousands of dollars, we were left stressed, cold, and dealing with constant problems. The owner was dismissive, rude, and showed no concern for the fact that our family—including very young children—spent multiple nights cold and without hot showers.Final Thoughts
If you are considering spending this kind of money, I strongly recommend staying in a Disney cabin or hotel instead. Disney will not allow these issues to linger, and they will make things right immediately.We have rented RVs multiple times in the past and have never experienced anything close to this. Unfortunately, Fort Wilderness now limits which vendors are allowed on property, which appears to reduce accountability.I will also be contacting Disney directly, as no family—especially one with young children—should have their vacation ruined this way. Please consider another company or alternative lodging before booking with Escape RV Rentals.
Respuesta de Brent
Hi Andrew. We take every review very seriously and we always appreciate the opportunity to work out any issues, regardless of severity, with the renters directly. Your issue was very simple…you ran out of propane on your fourth day of the reservation. You notified us of this at 7:28 am and your tanks were filled by 9:25 am, which is less than a 2- hour lead time on a holiday (that’s not a bad response time). We knocked on the door several times without an answer so we refilled and left (I don’t walk into RV’s without permission). Later that night you called and said that you didn’t have hot water, which is typical after running out of propane (which I explained). I attempted to walk you through resetting the water heater and dispatched my tech (45 minute lead time), which you declined service. All of your “issues” were pretty standard for camping in an RV during colder months, you will run out of propane if you are constantly running the furnace, cooking several meals, and showering for a family of 5.During our conversation, you demanded a refund and proceeded to insult me and cuss at me, using extremely foul language. Even after all of that, I decided to offer you a 20% refund out of kindness and you again insulted me, calling me stubborn. I am not sure what else I could have done to rectify the situation.As it relates to the cost, I am not sure where you are getting your numbers. Your rental, for 4 nights/ 5 days, was not $600 per night. It was about half of that. Of course, we can’t control any other costs for the site, tickets to the park, etc. We just want to make it clear that our rentals are not that expensive, as you made it seem.We are so sorry that you feel that this ruined your trip, but we feel that your demands for a full refund were not reasonable and you were not willing to discuss it any further. I do have our conversations documented and recorded, if you would like to review those with us.In my opinion, all of the approved vendors at Disney do a fantastic job. Sometimes there are issues that we all have to deal with and we do the best we can to remedy as quickly as possible. We certainly hope that anyone reading this will understand how hard my team works to make every stay as magical as we can.
