Live from THV 6/7 to 6/12

[lugnut33]

http://www.disunplugged.com/2009/06/03/disneys-new-treehouse-villas-nice-but/

 

[tjkraz]

How are the bunk beds? Are they adequate for a teen/young adult?

I am 6'3" and I can just fit on the beds. I assume they are regular twin size. I don't know that someone my height would be comfortable on the bottom bunk since it's more enclosed. On top you could stretch out a bit more.

While I'm thinking of it, each of the bunks have their own private reading light. I thought that was a nice touch.

How many ethernet hookups are in the Treehouse Villas, and in which room(s)?

It appears the only hook-up is at the desk of the master bedroom. I brought my own wireless access point and it hooked-up easily. It was an older unit and as soon as I did a master reset (reset to out-of-the-box settings) it worked with no further adjustments.

Enjoying the update on THV's. The updates are helping me decide if we want to stay there next trip. Do the internal buses just go between THV and SSR?

Yes. The shuttle bus (simply says "Treehouse Villas" on the marquee) runs between the two Treehouse stops and The Springs at SSR. At least one poster on the DIS claimed that it stopped at The Grandstand as well during certain hours, but I cannot confirm.

The shuttles are plentiful--I'd say every 10 minutes. If you are headed to the Carriage House (main pool, spa, restaurants) it appears to be a very efficient form of transportation. But for the parks you'll have to transfer to a second bus at The Springs.

Incidentally there is also a boat dock here. We took that to DTD last night. The boats run every 20 minutes and hit the Treehouses, SSR and then DTD. Going to DTD we waited about 3 minutes for the boat to arrive. Coming back we couldn't get on the first boat because there were too many people waiting at the dock so it took us about 25+ minutes to get home.

Photos coming soon!

 

[tjkraz]

Here are a few photos:

The pathway to THV is well marked. I timed the walk. My starting point was midway between the Carriage House and The Grandstand pool. It took me 6 minutes to reach the outskirts of the Treehouse area (figure 8 minutes from the Carriage House itself.) From there it just depends on how much further your room is.

Treehouse bus stop. Bench...soda machine...AED...trash cans. Basic necessities.

I guess you could call this one of the little touches I referred to. Every single grouping of 3-4 treehouses has garbage and recycling cans positioned right outside and clearly marked. No trash bags rotting outside Treehouse villa doors from guests who don't know what else to do with their stuff.

Regarding housekeeping, these little buildings are positioned at a number of locations in this area. They appear to be housekeeping staging areas (note the towel carts to the right.)

Quiet pool

Restroom, towels, vending, Umbrella table in the foreground.

Frog fountain

Spa

Here is the walk-up to our building. As I said, all of the buildings are in groups of 3-4 and the directional markings are very clear. Note the BBQ grill on the right and the bright lampost just to left of center.

Here are some of the things that I thought were above-and-beyond in the villas:

Vaulted ceilings--about 15' high. This is the master bedroom. The wood trim throughout is very nice.

This didn't photograph well but it's the view from the master bedroom. It faced the LBV golf course. The windows are nearly floor-to-ceiling and the three panes are about 8' across total.

Very nice fixtures in the bathroom.

Large Jacuzzi tub.

Frosted bathroom window with tree image.

More fixtures.

 

[tjkraz]

The floors are all stone/ceramic (whatever these materials would be called.) Not laminates or other cheap substitutes. The top is the master bathroom and the bottom flagstone runs from the front entry into the kitchen.

Corner storage in the bunk bed room.

Reading lights above the bunk beds. There is a small toggle switch on the bottom of the light.

Each bedroom has a closet. Several full-length mirrors throughout the unit.

Artwork in second queen bedroom.

iPod compatible radios in the two queen rooms.

Nice scuplted door handles throughout. Note that the doors do NOT currently lock. There was another poster on the DIS who claimed that the locking mechanism did not go over well during cast previews and was removed. I have no idea if they will be replacing the locks or not.

The second bathroom is surprisingly nice. Here is a photo of some of the artwork and the wrought-iron towel bars.

Edge of the tub in second bathroom with a small ledge/seat.

Opposite angle on tub/shower.

Vanity - note the side shelves.

Two full shelves under the vanity and two drawers. The master bath is even larger.

More high ceilings in the kitchen.

Artwork and lighting in the kitchen.

Other living room artwork.

"Hidden Mickey" end table in living room.

Living room TV. TV swivels. DVD player below. The panel beneath that has two surge-protected outlets and connector ports for HDMI, VGA (you can coonect your laptop computer to the TV) and standard component (RCA) video/audio inputs. This set of ports is replicated for all of the TVs, but there is only a DVD play in the living room.

Hope that helps reveal some details that you haven't seen on the web yet. No these aren't groundbreaking things but I consider them all areas in which Disney could have easily skimped and nobody would have batted an eye. Instead they chose to go the extra mile and we're all the better for it.

 

[tjkraz]

And if you have anyone sleeping on the pull out couch or sleeper chair how comfortable are they?

Our 14-year old says the sofabed is pretty good. Just a small step down from a normal bed quality-wise.

Also is there room for a full sized crib in either the room with the bunk beds or the second bedroom with the queen bed

Probably not the second bedroom but it should fit in the bunk bed room. Here's a photos of the open space at the foot of the beds.

 

[Muhlenberg]

Very nice pictures!!!

 

[tjkraz]

Thank you so much for posting! Can't wait to see your photos!! Can you post one of the view from your deck?

Here is our deck:

It faces inward--even though our villa is along the golf course, you can't really see it from the deck. There are two other buildings to the left and right (you can sort of see the one on the left) but the trees provide some privacy.

How long does it take you to walk over to SSR itself?

From our villa it is about 12 minutes to the Carriage House on foot. It's about 8 minutes from the CH to the Treehouse area walking along the marked paths. Then it's just a question of how much further you have to go to reach your assigned villa.

Is there anywhere you can refill your mug at the quiet pool?

No, I don't believe so.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Great Pics! Not my cup of tea, but glad to see another choice for members.

 

[liznboys]

Woohoo!! Thanks for the wonderful pictures!!! And the helpful info. for we future THV stayers too!

 

[Cee]

The pictures are wonderful. Thank you so, so much for posting them. I am so excited for our Sept. visit to the THV that I can hardly stand it.

 

[FindTheMickeys]

Pictures are great!! I am waitlisted for THV for our trip in September but most likely will have to wait until 2010 to stay in one. I guess we'll settle for a 2BR at SSR instead. But we can still walk around and take in the abience of the area Enjoy the rest of your trip

 

[LIFERBABE]

Great pics and report! We are staying at AKV. Is there a model open or a tour of the real units? Would love to see them in person.

 

[DVC Mike]

great pics! Not my cup of tea, but glad to see another choice for members.

ita.

 

[mom3sonstt]

Couple more questions if you don't mind

1. What are the dimensions of the nightstand in the Master bedroom (I usually use one to set up my dialysis machine - they look smaller than usual in some of the pics)

2. I will also be using an ECV and intend to park it underneath and cover it with tarp - will that be possible or do they have landscaping to prevent getting under the treehouse and/or deck. Also are there outlets outside that I can plug it in to (with an extension cord)

3. Typically how full are the park buses once you get to that stop (Again - with the ECV I am picture full buses and long waits)

 

[lugnut33]

tj, after reading your responses and seeing the photos I'm very happy with our decision to stay at THV in August.

 

[tjkraz]

Couple more questions if you don't mind

1. What are the dimensions of the nightstand in the Master bedroom (I usually use one to set up my dialysis machine - they look smaller than usual in some of the pics)

I'd say it's about 18x18". There is also a dresser very close to the bed. It's off to the side with about a 30" walkway between. The dresser is about the same depth but twice as wide.

2. I will also be using an ECV and intend to park it underneath and cover it with tarp - will that be possible or do they have landscaping to prevent getting under the treehouse and/or deck. Also are there outlets outside that I can plug it in to (with an extension cord)

There is only mulch under the buildings but I understand that is part of the flood plain and could be covered with water under certain conditions.

There are outlets up on the deck. If you have a handicapped-accessible room with the ramp, I would think you could just drive up and leave it parked on the deck to recharge.

3. Typically how full are the park buses once you get to that stop (Again - with the ECV I am picture full buses and long waits)

We haven't taken park buses so I don't know. But my instinct says that the idea of SSR buses being worse/fuller than other resorts has probably reached urban myth at this point. Disney has much larger resorts (AKL/AKV is bigger, values are bigger, even the BWV/BWI/Dolphin/Swan bus loop probably services more rooms.) So I don't know why Disney wouldn't be capable of providing adequate service to SSR.

 

[stlrod]

Thanks. You've done an excellent job of not covering areas previously covered. We're set for 6 nights beginning July 4 and keep going back and forth on whether we should go to AKL two nights and split the stay. Every time I read more about THV, it makes me think we should feel fortunate we got THV and just stay there the whole time.

 

[robinm1215]

Thanks so much for the thorough review! Glad you are enjoying your stay. Reading this makes me even more excited for our stay in August. We are splitting our stay with Kidani. We could only get 3 nights at the THV but I was kind of glad since I really wanted to stay at Kidani, so we'll be there for 5nights too.

Could you answer one other question -- are there any other mirrors in the master bedroom (aside from the bathroom itself)? There will be 8 of us and I am hoping there will be other mirrors available to use so we don't have to hog up the bathroom ones too much while getting ready. Thanks again!

 

[lugnut33]

Hey tj, do all the rooms have a ceiling fan or only in the Master bedroom?

 

[mom3sonstt]

There is only mulch under the buildings but I understand that is part of the flood plain and could be covered with water under certain conditions.

There are outlets up on the deck. If you have a handicapped-accessible room with the ramp, I would think you could just drive up and leave it parked on the deck to recharge.



We haven't taken park buses so I don't know. But my instinct says that the idea of SSR buses being worse/fuller than other resorts has probably reached urban myth at this point. Disney has much larger resorts (AKL/AKV is bigger, values are bigger, even the BWV/BWI/Dolphin/Swan bus loop probably services more rooms.) So I don't know why Disney wouldn't be capable of providing adequate service to SSR.

Thanks for the info - we are not getting a handicapped accessible room, so was hoping for an outdoor alternative. I was afraid maybe they put small shrubs or big rocks or something to keep people like me from trying to store stuff underneath. I guess we will just watch the weather for potential flooding issues.

As for the buses - we have always stayed at OKW and have occasionally encountered too full buses. Since it sounds like we would have to board at the last stop I thought the odds would be against us as far as having the spots to load the ECV available by the time it got to us.

Thanks so much for help!