Abandoned resorts

We stayed at POP in 2005 and I thought the Legendary Years side looked creepy then...but then we were on the bus to MK, we passed an an area on the side of the road that was filled with semi truck trailers and overgrown weeds. My husband asked, "If we are staying at a Value, what's that? An Extreme Value?":crazy2:
 
The treehouses sat empty for years - at one point we were told that they were used for interns. To reopen, we were also told they would have to do some handicap-accessible remodeling. I believe it is correct to say that only a certain % of the rooms need to be handicap-accessible. Anyway, they just (or are about to) reopen as part of the Old Key West resort.
Handicapped accessibility is often mentioned as a reason they could not be re-opened or why they closed.

That is not correct though. There is a formula for how many handicapped accessible rooms need to be provided at a resort. It is based on the number of total units and I believe for the Treehouses it was 4 or 5 that would need to be accessible.
There have also been some posts indicating that some of the Treehouses were accessible. I don't think they were when they were originally built, but there was a remodel (not like the current one) in about 1998 (not sure of the date, but it was between hurricanes). It was after 1991, so they would have had to make some accessible Treehouses at that point, if there were none at that time that were.
The tree houses were used for interns/college program for a while. I think after one of the hurricanes, they suffered too much damage. Due to Disney’s building laws, they didn’t knock them down or they could never rebuild there—or at least that’s what I read. They have remodeled them and they are about to re-open as part of SSR (NOT Old Key West).
It was rules related to wetlands preservation. Whatever they built had to take up the same or less space than the original Treehouses and they had to take down and build in a way that preserved the trees on the property.

You beat me in posting that the new Treehouses are part of SSR, bit part of OKW.
 
Pop was not built post 9/11, it was in the process of being built when the 9/11 tragedy occurred. Tourism came to an almost grinding halt. There was a huge decrease in attendance to WDW. Therefore, continuing to finish all of the buildings wasn't feasible.

The Treehouse Villas were run-down and unusable. For a while they were used for interns. Yes, they are on wetlands and there are strict federal regulations regarding building on wetlands. They are now being rebuilt in pre-fabricated sections. It is a really cool process the way they are bringing in the pieces of the buildings and placing the together with cranes. They will be part of SSR.

Discovery Island was once available for tours. However, it is now a bird sanctuary, which it kind of was when open....Birds are very dirty and carry many contagious diseases. The island is not suitable for humans anymore.

River Country was the best. We went there as kids. It was the first Disney water park. Wet 'n Wild was also around, but not owned or operated by Disney. River County too was closed. Rumors are that the water was no longer deemed safe for humans to be in. Typhoon Lagoon was already open when RC closed, so I don't know how the attendance figures were at RC or if that had anything to do with it closing.

Regarding not building Pop and continuing to build DVC resorts. Do you have any idea how much money people are paying to join DVC? They are essentially paying for the building of those resorts. Renting rooms at a value resort will take much, much longer to pay for the construction than the sale of ownership in the DVC resorts. Minimum investment for a new DVC contract purchased through Disney is over $16,000. Add to that annual maintenance fees, and these resorts are much more feasible for Disney to build than value resorts.
 
Pop Century - in all likelihood - construction will get going again this spring to take advantage of lower construction costs while the economy is 'down' and they will be ready to open just as the economy is likely to get going again.

Treehouses - they're getting ready to re-open in the next 12 months or so.

River Country - is closed for good I'd say.
 


Thanks for the info on POP. I remember after 9/11 what a hit Disney took. Everyone was fearful of travel and crowds.

My first trip occurred the Spring of 2002 while they were having the other 4/3 deal. I wan't aware of it though and stayed off property.
 
I was SO excited by the idea of the treehouses...until someone posted that they saw a huge snake in that area! I have a reservation at CSR so if we don't end up having to cancel I will probably stick with it.
 


I was SO excited by the idea of the treehouses...until someone posted that they saw a huge snake in that area! I have a reservation at CSR so if we don't end up having to cancel I will probably stick with it.

I wouldn't worry about snakes. They're probably everywhere at WDW, you just don't notice them. We actually saw one last May in MK. And in all places, it was slithering down the wall at the haunted mansion. It was about 2 feet long, skinny and black. :crazy2: Scared a lot of people!!
 
River Country will eventually be something else, I'm sure. Just what? Who knows!
 
I loved River Country and Discovery Island. When we first went as a family when the kids were little, we stayed at Fort Wilderness for a little over a week. AK wasn't open yet, and MGM didn't have TOT or RNRC, so we had a lot more free time to do things like RC and DI. My kids were especially fond of Discovery Island, and we ended up spending half a day there.
 
I had never heard of discovery island before. If it's abandoned and sits across from WVL, what does it look like today???
 
those treehouses are visible from the river if you take the boat from port orleans to downtown disney
 
Discovery Island was a nice little sanctuary.

http://www.solarius.com/dvp/wdw/discover.htm


wdw-guide-page55.jpg
 
I've heard that one too. But with the current economy, I am betting that if that plan is real, its going to be shelved for awhile. To me, they've been standing there looking sad and creepy for long enough. I'd like to see them torn down. Unless they can do something with them (family suites would be great) in the near future.


I'd be willing to bet they do something sooner than later. In such a depressed economy, construction prices are wayyyy down. Now is the time to capitalize on the market and build up.
 
It sounds like Discovery Island was a less structured version of Sea World's Discovery Cove aviary. Discovery Cove's all-inclusive admission price is a bit off putting, but if you can make it happen it's well worth it.
 
Found a link to a video of the Legendary Years on Google Earth http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSc1fG0ETeY&feature=channel_page

We are staying at POP in Sept 09 and interested to see it in person



What a SAD video. Here's another video that is also unbelievable:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSLW9xNGMhU&NR=1
Hard to believe it's in the Disney we all see. :guilty: Such a waste - what about recycling?


Here's a trip down memory lane for a lot of people: The skyway at Disney:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOu51pILixg&feature=related
 
Is it possible that some of the tree houses are already in use? In August of 2007 I stayed at POR and took the boat to Downtown Disney. We passed by what I thought was the tree houses, there were people in them and they weren't construction workers. We could see beds with clothing items on them and food on tables.:confused3
 
We were told they were being used by college students. (Until Disney decided to upgrade/restore them.) They also installed a fence and blocked off a bridge, if my memory serves me correctly, because after the grandstand section was finished at SSR, kids were leaving the treehouses heading over to there and doing damage. On one of the boat trips the captain told us a whole bunch of info. Apparently there were incidents with stealing golf carts and ruining the lawn. But who knows? Maybe this post should be on the rumor thread. :confused3
 

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