Fort Wilderness Cabin question!

[petsaregreat]

Hi!
BRAND NEW to this board so I would greatly appreciate any advice! Looking to take my family to Disney in march 2013 so I have just begun researching. I believe the Fort Wilderness cabins would best suit our needs. The kids will be 4 and 5 years old and it will allow us to have a little family room space as opposed to a traditional hotel room. Sounds like the villas cost a great deal of money. I have yet to see a deal on the Fort Wilderness cabins. Do they ever have a deal? Where/ When should I be watching?
THANKS!

 

[Sprite74]

Can't help you with the deals part but I can say we stayed at the Cabins 3yrs ago with 7 people (youngest 2 were under 2) and it was great, we went when they had the 4/3 deal, haven't seen that deal since. The convience of a kitchen and room and the outdoor area(yard) around the cabin was what the kids needed for a break. We are going a cheaper route at POP this year with joining rooms. Hopefully you can find a deal!!

 

[Mirax]

We went with the 4/3 deal as well and stayed at the cabins, loved them!!! They were so quiet, you never heard a door slam. We had three adults and two kids at the time, there was plenty of room. The full kitchen was well worth it. You do have to catch a bus to get to the park buses, and the boat to MK. If you don't like boats(our extra adult didn't), you may want to rethink it. The cabins only have one bathroom. Art of Animation has two bathrooms and only a partial kitchen, small refrigerator and microwave. We are planing our trip for October 2012, so far we are making plans to stay in the cabins. It really depends on deals available, not going to make any real plans till Feb.

Mirax

 

[Sandi]

We stayed in a Cabin last April and enjoyed it. We had 3 adults and 3 kids. I was able to get an Annual Passholder rate which made it more affordable.

 

[sharadoc]

The Fort Wilderness cabins are considered moderates, so they would qualify for a discount at that level.

 

[pooh4me]

We have stayed at the cabins for the last eight years and have gotten a discount each time. Watch this forum for info on new discounts and call to have a discount applied to your already reserved dates. In other words book what you want then wait for discounts. The discounts I have used have been annual pass discounts which have been from 45% tops to 30% average, general public discounts 15% to 30%, AAA insurance and free dinning. Go to www.mousesaver.com for lists of past and present discounts and prices. You can change room only rates up to 6 days before checkin, packages must be changed up to 46 days before to avoid a penalty. Have a great trip, you will love the cabins and Fort Wilderness.We won't stay any place else.

 

[aubldr]

I'll be going there in two weeks and am staying with the free dining promotion. Whenever free dining, room only discounts, etc. are available they are available for the cabins just like any other moderate resort.

You mentioned that villas are very expensive, but if you rent points through a DVC owner you can get a villa for much less than what booking them through Disney costs. This trip was last-minute, but if I hadn't been so late planning I probably would have gone that route. There are several 1-BR DVC villas that would have been roughly the same cost as the cabins if I had gone the renting points route.

 

[SunnyP4Disney]

The cabins are a moderate resort and right now they fall under all promos out there. That includes broad offer room only, AAA, FL resident, Passholder, military, etc.

I've stayed at the cabins no less than 15 times over the years. My girlfriends and I are staying there for the MK Leap Day. I love the convenience of having four beds and a kitchen. I also love the activities at the Fort and renting a golf cart.

 

[petsaregreat]

HI,
Thanks for all the great advice! How do I score myself an annual pass holders rate?
When might they release next years' dates and prices?
Does anyone mind explaining to me what renting DVC points means? Or sending me link to the answers
THANKS!

 

[aubldr]

As far as renting points goes, DVC (Disney Vacation Club) owners buy membership into the club, and in return they get a certain number of points every year. These points are used to book the different resorts, with number of points per night varying by resort, size of room, and time of year. If an owner doesn't use their points they are free to rent them to others just like someone might rent out their beach house. You pay the DVC owner whatever rate you agree to, and they make the reservation on your behalf.

This can be a very good way to save some money. For example, we are going to WDW in 2 weeks for 6 nights (1/25-1/31). If I had booked a standard view studio at Animal Kingdom through a DVC member, it would have cost 70 points. At a reasonable rate of $10/point, that would have cost me $700, or just over $100/night.

Renting points though is not perfect and does have drawbacks. See the link below for far more information than I could ever give you:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-vacation-club/RentTrade-FAQ.htm

 

[Goofy4]

More on APs and discounts at: http://www.wdwinfo.com/discounts.html , and http://www.mousesavers.com/

 

[Nicole&Becker]

You can usually use the same deals for the Cabins as you can with any Moderate resort. So just keep your eyes out. You can add a discount that comes up at any time. Deals come up all the time. I usually see the deals start for 3-6 months ahead of time for the different time frames. March is a good time to go. Weather is great that time of year. There are also usually great deals around that time to help them get back more numbers after the holidays.

 

[Annal606]

The cabins are a moderate resort and right now they fall under all promos out there. That includes broad offer room only, AAA, FL resident, Passholder, military, etc.