Yes, you can camp at Disney World. But here’s what you should know first.

The cheapest place to stay at Walt Disney World isn’t a hotel.

It’s a tent or pop-up trailer at Disney’s Fort Wilderness, a sprawling resort with campsites and cabins near Magic Kingdom.

With fully equipped campsites, plenty of nearby restrooms, on-site dining, and loads of outdoor recreation, Fort Wilderness makes camping easy even for first timers. Fellow campers who decorate their campsites and golf carts and "pixie dust" guests with treats add to the charm. But camping is not for everyone, and there are costs to consider beyond nightly rates, as my family discovered firsthand.

Here’s what you should know about camping at Disney World.

How much is Fort Wilderness per night?

Campsite prices vary by date and type. The cheapest option is a tent or pop-up campsite. Larger RVs require different, more expensive sites. You can also pay for premium locations.

One way to find the cheapest rates is to look for dates with the lowest starting price for single-day theme park tickets, which you can find on Walt Disney World’s website. This year, those dates include Aug. 25 through 28 and Sept. 9 through 11.  On those dates, the non-discounted price for a tent pop-up campsite is $73 per night. A “Stay Longer and Save More” promotion available for most dates from May 1 through Sept. 30 brings the starting price down further to just over $62 per night with a one-night minimum stay.

We paid $113 for our tent site over the holidays, a popular time at the resort.

Inside the Disney bubble: Is staying on-site at Disney worth the cost?

How much does it cost to camp at Disney World?

It depends on how much gear you have. Fort Wilderness does not rent tents or campers, but RVs are available to rent from third parties. I bought a new tent, two new air mattresses, and a new sleeping bag, which totaled $114. Combine that with the $113 I paid for the campsite and that would have been more than enough for a hotel room with actual beds for the night.

You can save money on meals by cooking while camping. There’s a charcoal grill at each campsite. I brought a few snacks, including s’mores fixings, from home, but we decided to dine at Trail’s End, an onsite restaurant, for our main meals. Whole pizzas start at $20.99 and family meals with a shareable entree and three sides start at $28.99.

Golf cart rentals also cost extra but are not required. I paid $70 for a one-day rental. The resort also offers free internal buses.

What’s included in the Campsites at Fort Wilderness?

“Each campsite is equipped with privacy-enhancing landscaping, water, cable television and electrical hook-ups, a picnic table and a charcoal grill. Most campsites also include a sewer hook-up, and some even permit pets,” according to Disney World’s website. Pets are not permitted in tents or pop-up trailers.

There are clean public restrooms with private shower stalls, called comfort stations, within footsteps of every campsite. There’s also free parking, free internal bus transportation, and free ferry and bus transportation to the parks and Disney Springs shopping, dining and entertainment complex.

Free recreational offerings include pools, playgrounds, trails, Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Campfire Singalong, movies under the stars, and visiting Disney’s horse stables, Tri-Circle-D Ranch. Guests can also play checkers and trade pins at the Fort’s two Trading Post shops. Horseback riding, wagon or carriage rides, fishing, bike rentals, archery, and the long-running Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue dinner show are available for a fee.

Guests also get free early entry to all four Disney World theme parks and new this year, free entry to a Disney water park on their check-in date.

What’s it like to camp at Disney World?

Our experience was a mix of magic and misery, to no fault of Fort Wilderness.

Every cast member we encountered was lovely. Our family loved Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Campfire Singalong. It’s such a treat seeing characters outside of the parks and character dining venues. We enjoyed driving our rented golf cart around, admiring fellow guests’ decorations and placing trinkets in holiday stockings they’d put out for their kids. We also took part in an unofficial scavenger hunt initiated by fellow guests. There is a real sense of community at the Fort.

But we didn’t sleep well. Our campsite was right next to a bus stop and comfort station. Even though fellow guests are generally respectful, it was noisier than we would have liked. It was also cold, with lows in the 40s. All the blankets I’d packed couldn’t compare to a climate-controlled hotel room. Worst of all, one of our air mattresses deflated early on, and my youngest and I wound up sleeping on the hard ground.

Who shouldn’t camp at Fort Wilderness

If you don’t like camping, you’re probably not going to like camping at Fort Wilderness, even with all its conveniences and perks.

It would also be tough to tent camp if you aren’t driving a car to Disney World, though theoretically, you could check your gear in on a plane.

You can still stay in Fort Wilderness, though, in a cabin or third-party rented RV. Our family has previously stayed in the cabins and would definitely do that again.

Can you drive to Fort Wilderness without staying there?

Generally, you can’t park at Disney World resort hotels unless you’re staying there or have some sort of reservation, like dining or recreation. However, you can take free resort transportation to the Fort to enjoy its activities.

Are they getting rid of the cabins at Fort Wilderness?

Yes and no. The older log cabins at Fort Wilderness are being replaced with modern cabins that are also Disney Vacation Club properties.

They are still open to the general public for stays.

(This story was updated with additional information, a video and photos.)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The cheapest place to stay at Disney World isn’t for everyone