Fort Wilderness DVC: Rumour confirmed?!

[BabsBunny]

Don't knock it until you try it. We've stayed at FW several times--our first being in 1989. We've stayed in RV's as well as the Wilderness Homes. It's a very charming place. And while you could say people are camping there in tents and pop ups, many are roughing it comfortably in $200,000+ RV's. True homes away from homes.

"Campers" (in general) are some of the nicest people around. If you don't believe me, go over and visit the FW group on the DIS. As many have said, the resort has a very laid back feel, and the landscaping and growth is lovely.

I don't think the regulars would be too happy with a FW DVC. I'm assuming FW DVC would have a separate entrance. If I remember correctly, you can't go driving around the campground?

 

[lisareniff]

Someone on another forum posted that parking would be accessed via a road from WL and would be on that side of the building (not FW side). Also indicated that it was rumored to be 5 stories high.

 

[Dean]

I realize that not everyone wants a Pet Friendly DVC and I can understand that. But I find it somewhat interesting that some act like this is such a bizarre situation. As you do, we book Pet friendly places all over Southeast and have found within the last couple of years that more and more places are allowing pets.

I do agree that all wood, vinyl, or tile floors would be needed but other than that I really do not see such a issue.

I have stated many times we have no desire to add on but if DVC does ever build a pet friendly resort we will add on.

I would not even mind an additional pet fee as many hotels and resorts charge.

To those very much against a Pet friendly resort, what are you doing now, with dogs at the resorts. Am the only one seeing them? Our last 4 stays we have had at least 3 dogs or more at the resort with us at the same time.

From a timeshare standpoint pet friendly options are definitely a minority and the ones that I know of tend to charge a non refundable fee. From a hotel standpoint it's likely only a slightly larger minority. There are those that sneak in pets and there are those that claim service animal when they aren't. In more general terms this is one of the reasons that you need rules and enforcement. For every rule that isn't enforced there are that many more people that will take advantage and that many more rules that people will violate. From a philosophical standpoint it makes no sense to worry about violators from a pet standpoint and allow violators for pool crashing or room stuffing or any one of a number of DVC related rules we can think of.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

I like the idea of having a FW DVC with a Old Western Town as its theme. It turns into FW meets BWV. I would definitely stay there.

My issue with FW-DVC, and any new DVC is the point cost. I'm not willing to pay the going retail rate ($150/pt. - approx) for any resort, not even my beloved BWV.

 

[Sammie]

Don't knock it until you try it. We've stayed at FW several times--our first being in 1989. We've stayed in RV's as well as the Wilderness Homes. It's a very charming place. And while you could say people are camping there in tents and pop ups, many are roughing it comfortably in $200,000+ RV's. True homes away from homes.

"Campers" (in general) are some of the nicest people around. If you don't believe me, go over and visit the FW group on the DIS. As many have said, the resort has a very laid back feel, and the landscaping and growth is lovely.

I don't think the regulars would be too happy with a FW DVC. I'm assuming FW DVC would have a separate entrance. If I remember correctly, you can't go driving around the campground?

Sorry Babs I just found this funny. I have read some of the discussions on the camping forum about a possible DVC and I will agree that it was not a welcome idea.

 

[BabsBunny]

Sorry Babs I just found this funny. I have read some of the discussions on the camping forum about a possible DVC and I will agree that it was not a welcome idea.

lol. I haven't been over to the board since we sold our RV four years ago, but I figured it they wouldn't be feeling the DVC thing. But that aside, they are nice people.

 

[dvcdisney]

I will be the first to tell you I may be slightly off topic but here is my pet story:

While on a Disney cruise, we were at Serenity Bay when I happened to notice that I was sitting by a man holding a small dog. I got to talking about it with him and he said it was a service dog that could detect the onset of his wife's seizures . I found this amazing as his wife,as he pointed out to me, was about as far as you could get out in the water without going over the barrier ropes and had been there, at this time, for about 2 hours. (she was not too far from my DH and I always try to keep an eye out for him.). Really perceptive dog!

I agree!

Hmmm...Maybe the dog was on a break.

 

[IHeartTink04]

I love Fort Wilderness, the atmosphere is one of my favorites on property!

I would love to see a DVC resort there, believe me I would definitely stay there and maybe even buy more points there.

 

[Mirax]

I've yet to find a smell that Febreze will not get rid of...

I'm sure DVC will be conducting experiments before adding a pet-friendly resort. FW does sound like the perfect location for one. Perhaps they could go with rustic wood floors instead of carpeting?

I wonder what the fixed costs of a DVC resort are? Could they have a resort with only a limited number of units to preserve the small-town feel of FW?Also, I wonder how many FW guests would be interested in getting access to the new VFW resort amenities through a daily resort fee? This would allow DVC to defray resort expenses across a wider user base, which would allow them to break even at a lower number of units.

I wonder if it's feasible to have the units be faux-camper units? Or as someone else said, treehouse or cabin units would also be pretty unique. From the plans, though, it looks like more condo-style units.

1. Fabreeze stinks!
2. I bought a house in Sept, the previous owner had cats and smoked, she sprayed Fabreze everywhere. Could still smell the smoke and the cats.
3. A lot of people are allergic to formaldehyde, not sure but I'm guessing Fabreze is loaded with the stuff.


I'm not a camper but I have stayed in the cabins and love them. However the next time we go to Disney we are renting DVC and staying at VWL. It was a lot less money than staying at the cabins. Even with any kind of discount. I already decided if we ever buy DVC, we would buy the min amount for the owner perks and then buy resale for the cheaper prices. Going to wait and see what happens with FW dvc before I buy.

 

[zavandor]

I already decided if we ever buy DVC, we would buy the min amount for the owner perks and then buy resale for the cheaper prices.

There are no owner perks that are available only to direct buyers. Only points bought direct can be used for the Disney collection or DCL. So if you buy 50 points direct and 1000 resale, you can use only your 50 points to book a cruise (not that you can book any cruise with 50 points).

 

[DebbieB]

There are no owner perks that are available only to direct buyers. Only points bought direct can be used for the Disney collection or DCL. So if you buy 50 points direct and 1000 resale, you can use only your 50 points to book a cruise (not that you can book any cruise with 50 points).

For the member cruise, you could pay cash instead of points but only if you are a direct buyer. So those 50 points would get access to it.

 

[nuts]

Check this out...looks like Disney is doing line of site tests at the potential new FW DVC?

http://www.epcyclopedia.com/2012/04/10/up-up-and-away-in-the-best-kept-disney-secret/

 

[Camping Cat]

As a former pet owner I would NOT like to see a pet friendly DVC resort. Sounds a little strange, but that is how I feel. Don't get me wrong, my cat was a member of our family for 18 1/2 years. She was so much a part of our family that we bought a camper just so she could travel with us to WDW. That is how we fell in love with FW and it became our all time favorite resort. We didn't buy into DVC until they started letting people use their DVC points at FW campsites. Once we lost our fur baby, we started staying at DVC resorts but we still miss FW.

For years now, I have hoped they would build a DVC resort between FW and WL. My greatest wish would be to see a DVC resort that had campsites and cabins just like FW but that used DVC points. Using DVC points at the current FW cabins is a very poor use of points but I would be so happy at a DVC version of FW!

 

[patsal]

I have yet to find anything that completely removes the smell of our cats urine. Have tried everything to include natures miracle. Febreze was actually one of the least effective.

Me too, had to rip up the floor boards and down to the studs on the bottom half of the walls in the dining room after we bought our house. I tried everything, but nothing worked and febreze was among the worse options!

 

[twinklebug]

Check this out...looks like Disney is doing line of site tests at the potential new FW DVC?

http://www.epcyclopedia.com/2012/04/10/up-up-and-away-in-the-best-kept-disney-secret/

Pretty cool, thanks for the link. Not too obtrusive, but then we don't know how many trees they're planning on knocking down. With luck they'll keep the resort subtle and play up some of the natural features that make the fort so perfect.

 

[Mirax]

There are no owner perks that are available only to direct buyers. Only points bought direct can be used for the Disney collection or DCL. So if you buy 50 points direct and 1000 resale, you can use only your 50 points to book a cruise (not that you can book any cruise with 50 points).[/QUOTE

DH has no desire to ever do a cruise, so no problem there, we would use the DVC membership for the discount perks, pool perks and the observation tower at BLT. Recently DVC took away a lot of perks for the resale market. I already have RCI so all of the non park properties don't look as inviting to me as it may look to those who own DVC.

 

[mjc2003]

There are no owner perks that are available only to direct buyers. Only points bought direct can be used for the Disney collection or DCL. So if you buy 50 points direct and 1000 resale, you can use only your 50 points to book a cruise (not that you can book any cruise with 50 points).[/QUOTE

DH has no desire to ever do a cruise, so no problem there, we would use the DVC membership for the discount perks, pool perks and the observation tower at BLT. Recently DVC took away a lot of perks for the resale market. I already have RCI so all of the non park properties don't look as inviting to me as it may look to those who own DVC.

What discount perks, pool perks and observation tower perk? Direct contracts and resale work the same way, you can pool hop if you buy resale the same as buying direct, you can go to Top of the World with resale memberships and get the same discounts. The only difference is that you cannot use resale points for some very expensive tertiary options, such as cruising or ABD. When you say "recently DVC took away a lot of perks for the resale market", this is an incorrect statement. No perks were taken away. You can even still trade into RCI with resale contracts. If you are not going to cruise or spend 1000+ points on an Adventure By Disney, then there are no differences between resale and direct. I would be curious to know what you are referring to when you say that recently perks were taken away? Did somebody tell you this?