Hi Julie! It sounds like you are planning an exciting date night during your Walt Disney World vacation coming up in December.
If you would like to enjoy a
Carriage Ride at the Fort Wilderness Resort I would recommend you do not drive but instead head to the Contemporary Resort and park early for dinner. Then walk out to the marina and hop on a boat which docks at the end of the pier. This will be a nice and interesting ride to Fort Wilderness and takes about 10 minutes.
For timing reasons my suggestion is to make a reservation for a 7:30pm carriage ride. The rides are approximately 30 minutes long and you will find them near Pioneer Hall which is just a few short steps from the boat marina. If you drove your own car there you would still have to park in the front and hop on an internal bus to reach the carriage rides. I like boat rides over buses!
Once you have finished you just need to repeat your steps to return back to the Contemporary Resort. The small boats on the right side of the Fort pier are the ones that take you back. The larger boats on the left side are those used for the Magic Kingdom.
To have a relaxing carriage ride and then end with a wonderful dinner at the California Grill be will a date night to remember!