Treehouses?

[Aurora63]

This past trip, one day we rented a boat at DTD and took it up the river toward POR. On our way, we saw these round wood 2-story buildings...many of them. I am wondering what they are. A friend of ours swears she stayed in them once (over 20 years ago) and that then, they were called Treehouses. Anyone know? Wish I had taken a pic but oh well.

 

[mickey@dvc]

These "treehouses" were infact once rented out to WDW guests, under the name The Treehouse Villas. But for now and probbably forever they have stopped renting them and they have become houses for (and I qoute this from a POR boat driver) "VIP Professional Interns". So thats what he ment when he said that he stayed there.

 

[Aurora63]

Thanks!

 

[nicolem]

Another bit of trivia from a boat driver ...Disney wanted to tear down the treehouses and put up a new hotel, but because the land they're on is now protected (maybe it's swamp land? I'm forgetting the accurate geographical term) by federal law, if they tear down the existing structures, they aren't allowed to build anything new. That's why they kept them and use them for interns.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

On a boat trip to DTD this past week, the captain of our boat said that the treehouses were being used by CM's in the University Program. We could see lights on in the villas, but there were no cars present. Also, the gate near the bridge was closed and obviously locked. Perhaps it is used by interns in the summer???

 

[momof2inPA]

Our boat driver said they are being used by international students, and I thought, "Why not U.S. students, as well?"

 

[MyGoofy26]

Our boat driver said they are being used by international students, and I thought, "Why not U.S. students, as well?"

Disney already has two apartment complexes for US students - Vista Way (right by Vistana, you can see them from I-4) and Chatham Square in Little Lake Bryan. They do have The Commons for international students but I do know they used to house "overflow" in Vista Way and probably Chatham. . . my guess is that since the College Program keeps expanding, they needed all the space for US students and moved the overflow international students to the treehouses.

 

[maddhatir]

I remember staying in the location of the treehouses- we stayed in something like a townhouse/condo on the golf course- our "condo" had a golfcart we could use and we used to drive it over to the "marketplace"

i cant remember what the whole area was called-- this was back in dec 1989! and beleive it or not-- it snowed in disney that year! we were there from xmas through new years .

 

[Mrs Potato Head]

I remember staying in the location of the treehouses- we stayed in something like a townhouse/condo on the golf course- our "condo" had a golfcart we could use and we used to drive it over to the "marketplace"

i cant remember what the whole area was called-- this was back in dec 1989! and beleive it or not-- it snowed in disney that year! we were there from xmas through new years .

We stayed in these also - on our honeymoon in 1985! They were called the Golf Villas..and yes, you could rent a golf cart and use it to get to DTD while staying there. DTD was much smaller, but had a wonderful general store that is now the Home store, I believe. We were able to get snacks, sandwiches, etc to take back to our villa. It was a wonderful experience...my first ever in WDW!

 

[KimberlyC]

As you can see from my signature i stayed in them my first trip to WDW in 1983 when I was 11 yrs old. They were great! It was a good choice for families then. I was traveling with my parents and grandparents and my sis. There were 2 bedrooms I think, plus kitchen, dining area, laundry room in the trunk of the tree - a spiral staircase went downstairs. There were lots of stairs to get up to the treehouse. The golf course was right there. Lots of wooded area. It was so much fun except for the peacocks. I have said before on this board that the peacocks were evil. I was chased by an angry mob of peacocks and got lost. That i will NEVER forget

Now my understanding as other posters have stated is that the college interns stay there. The land is protected wetlands so if Disney knocks them down, nothing can be built in their place. I would love to stay there again for the nostalgia, but I don't see that happening.

 

[rigs32]

FYI - it's most likely wetlands that they're located on. Each state and the feds have definitions of what constitutes wetlands and what you can do with them.

 

[lizanne]

We stayed in both the Condo's and the Treehouses in the late '80's.

There were two types of condo's. The Golf Villas and The Vacation Villas. We stayed in the Vacation Villas and, as previously posted, we had fun riding the golf carts over to what was then called The Disney Village. It's now Downtown Disney Marketplace.

Where the Condo's used to be is now the newest Disney Vacation Club Resort, Saratoga Springs.

I wasn't so crazy about the treehouses. The area was very dark and too much foliage for me, and those spiral steps were really tough to navigate. While we were there our car was broken into at night and it was so isolated in the area that no one even knew it until the next day when we went to the car. I think it was a nice idea, just not for me. And I do remember the peacocks but never was chased.

 

[rparmfamily]

Any pics from their hayday?

I saw these (treehouses) when we were looking at SSR in March. We took the road between OKW and SSR and you can see the entrance. They looked quite overgrown, but there was a guard there and I think I saw a few cars.