Report on Cascade Cabin 8025
General description of the Cabins -The Cascade Cabins are part of the new Copper Creek DVC Resort that opened in July 2017. As seen in the map below, there are 26 Cabins along the shore of Bay Lake. The Cabins are built on land within a few feet of the Lake. 12 Cabins are located to the west of the main Lodge building and 14 to the east. The Cabin numbers start at 8001 at the far west end and go to 8026 at the far east end. The Cabins are accessed by way of sidewalks from the pool area at the Main Lodge Building. There is also access from 2 dedicated Cabin parking lots, a side entrance on the west side of the Lodge building to the west group of Cabins and walkways to the bus stops and Boulder Ridge building to the east side cabins. There are 2 parking lots just for the Cabins, one for the east group and one for the west. The front desk of the Wilderness Lodge is the check in point for the Cabins as well as the other Copper Creek and Bolder Ridge rooms. Online check in will let you bypass the Lodge Building and drive directly to one of the 2 parking lots. An activated magic band is required for access into those parking lots
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The dedicated parking lot – Since our stay was in one of the east side cabins, we only got to visit the parking lot that service those Cabins. The dedicated Cabin parking lot for the east side Cabins is fairly close to the last 6 Cabins in the group but not so close to Cabins 2013 – 2020. It is fine for coming and going but not so much when you first arrive with luggage. If you only have 1-2 bags each (on wheels), the “check in” walk is fine. If you have coolers, multiple bags, boxes of food, etc, the process of getting everything to the Cabin by yourself is a bear (get it?). Bell Services is available to help with luggage and is a good idea for heavy packers (like us). We parked and took our luggage to the Cabin ourselves needing several trips. Next time, I’m calling Bell services. The dedicated parking lots have gates at their entrances and require a magic band to get in. They are not fenced.
The grounds, landscaping and walkways – since the Cabins are brand new, so is most of the landscaping around them. Disney retained as many trees and natural areas as possible and planted a lot of new landscaping around the Cabins. Cabins 8021 an 8022 are actually farther apart than the others because of mature trees that they didn’t want to remove (you can see this in the video). Although the new landscaping is young, I was impressed with the quantity and type of foliage planted. In the years to come, I can see the cabins looking like they were put down in the middle of the Central Florida wilderness. An interesting side note is that the landscape design is not the same at every Cabin. Some cabins have low ground cover, some have Pampas Grass and some have other types of plants. This is a really nice and creative touch and is a testament to DVC’s quality and attention to detail (look at the Biking video for a better understanding of the different landscaping). All species of plants used are Florida native and blend in perfectly with the surroundings. Regarding the area between the Cabins and the Lake, Bay Lake was a natural element when Disney originally purchased the property (unlike the Seven Seas Lagoon which was man made). Since Bay Lake was natural, the shore of the lake has a marshy area that extends out from the dry land about 60 feet. This is a beautiful and natural environment and is home to a number of animals and indiginous plants (see the pic below of this area). The sounds made at night by the animals is pretty cool (even though can’t see them). Speaking of wildlife, we saw owls, hawks, egrets and heard a report of a deer around our group of Cabins. Pretty special. The lake side of the cabins are fenced off with a sturdy, metal, brown painted wire fence. This fence goes from Cabin to Cabin. There is no way to get to the lake front (unless you hop the fence). The marshy areas on the entry side of the walkways are also fenced. As is the case at all other resorts, there are warning signs about possibly dangerous wildlife. There are 2 nice gas BBQ stations in the center of each group of Cabins which is really nice. These BBQ stations are well lit so you can use them after dark. The walkways that access the Cabins are very well done. From the entrance archways to the lighting, to the exposed aggregate concrete with animal footprints, the walkway meanders beautifully through the area to get to the Cabins. Again, great attention to detail. Each Cabin has its own lighted stone identification sign that looks like it was chiseled from a boulder and has a lighted lantern on top. Those short walkways have low height lighting to get to the Cabin entrance. The main walkway is well lit and you feel safe using it at night.
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Our Cabin Location - We requested a Cabin located on the east side of the Resort and as far east as possible toward the Wilderness Campgrounds. We did this to experience a quiet and secluded type of vacation, away from the noise and bustle of the pools and main building. We wanted to spend a lot of time enjoying the Cabin. I requested one of the cabins from 8022 – 8026. We were assigned Cabin 2025 which is 1 Cabin from the end of the line. It is a great location, just what we were looking for. From our living room and patio, you could all the other Cabins in our group as well as the Contemporary Resort and The Bay Lake Resort. The video below shows me walking from the Cabin parking lot, to the building and a brief tour inside the Cabin. The map above shows our cabin location.
Condition – The Cabins are almost brand new and the condition of our unit was excellent, No wear or tear on anything
Furnishings and Design elements – I have read that some folks do not like the Copper Creek interior design and furnishings. We found the Cabin furnishings and fixtures to be very nice and the quality of everything was very high.
The Cabin, Layout and Functionality – You enter the Cabin into an entry foyer/hall with a large wall mounted, thick, natural wood entry table on your left. That is a great idea and it held all outgoing items so we didn’t forget them. The hallway leads to the 2 bedrooms, the master on the left and the 2nd bedroom on the right. The master suite has its own separate master bathroom including separate toilet room (with door), shower with hand spray and overhead rain shower head and separate aerated tub. The Master bathroom has a double sink dark wood cabinet with plenty of storage. The bathroom fixtures are all coordinated both in style and color with the rest of the finishes. The door separating the bedroom from the bathroom is a barn door type with full height/width mirror on it. The master bedroom is spacious with a dark wood dresser opposite the King bed, a 65” Samsung Smart TV over dresser and a matching wood cabinet closet next to it. There is not a typical recessed closet in the Master. The bed was very comfortable (we love all Disney beds) and there is night tables on each side of the bed with lamps along with small built-in recessed LED reading lights in the headboard. We didn’t even notice these lights until our second day. The Master has a door leading to the screened outside patio and fireplace sitting area. The second bedroom is roomy and has a typical closet as well as a bay window that looks out the front of the cabin with padded seat. There is storage below the window seat in the form of drawers. There is a fold down twin bed opposite the Queen bed under the 65” Samsung Smart TV in this bedroom. The second bedroom does not have direct access to a bathroom. The bathrooms for the second bedroom as well as the rest of the Cabin are located directly adjacent to the second bedroom via the hallway. These bathrooms are made up of 2 separate rooms. The first bathroom has the toilet and a sink, the second has a sink and a shower. This layout works well as someone can shower and someone else can use the toilet at the same time. Also in this area is the Laundry closet (over/under) and hall closet. Storage space in the hall closet is good. Moving on to the living room, dining room and kitchen; These 3 rooms are combined into one “great” room which is really awesome. The kitchen and dining areas are directly adjacent to each other on the right with a nice stone top island with 4 bar seats separating the 2 areas. The stone matches the kitchen counter top and all stone has “natural” chiseled edges. The dining room table is dark wood, heavy, well built and square shaped. The table seats 8 and with the island, you can sit 12 for a meal. The kitchen is laid out well with the fridge on the right side with plenty of food storage found in a tall vertical cabinet next to the fridge. On the left side of the great room is the living area. The living area includes a couch, 3 chaise chairs and a coffee table all centered around the fireplace. The fireplace is natural gas, has a floor to ceiling stone chimney and as a 65” Samsung Smart TV above it. The fireplace is 2 sided and can be enjoyed from inside the space as well as from outside in the screened patio. More info about the fireplace and TV’s in the technology section. The flooring throughout the Cabin is a porcelain wood look plank and fits very well with the décor. The patio is large and actually wider than the living room/dining room. It is L shaped and has 2 seat for enjoying the fireplace. There is a large heavy wood table with connected bench seats (like a picnic table) that will seat 8. The floor in the patio is a simulated stone. There are 2 outside speakers that play “Wilderness Lodge” music which are controlled by an on-off/volume switch. I don’t think the music is matched to the MK fireworks. We spent a fair amount of time in the patio but we were there in February when the weather is nice. For those of you who have stayed at the Polynesian Bungalow, the layout is very similar to the Poly Bungalows. Some distinctive differences are; The wall on each side of the fireplace that separates the inside from the patio are glass windows. That same wall in the Bungalows is solid. This glass really opens up the Cabin and provides nice outside visibility. Another big improvement to the Cabins is that the exterior wall on the lake side of the building has a gable end roof (peak in the center) and there is glass from the floor to underside of the roof on that wall. Talk about opening up the living room, what a great design element that is! All exterior glass in the great room has motorized shades that open and close with the flick of a switch. There are 2 rolling blinds on each window, sun shade and opaque shades. These are individually controlled. These rolling blinds are on the upper windows as well. The outside tub in the Cabins are “hot” unlike the tubs at the Bungalows which are “warm”. There is a blue LED light in the tubs that is controlled by a time clock which is on from dusk to dawn. The biggest difference of course is that the Bungalows are “over water” and the Cabins are not. Both are fantastic. The construction costs of the Cabins had to be lower because of this with that end result being a lower point per night than the Bungalows. The bedrooms, bathrooms and closets are the same. Overall (and in my opinion), the Cabins took a great design from the Bungalows and made it even better. The video shows all these items.
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Technology, lighting and Appliances – There is wifi in each Cabin which worked well in most areas. All TV’s are Samsung Smart TV’s which will pair up with a Samsung cell phones/tablet to play pictures, videos and music on the TV wirelessly from your device. I use this feature often and when I come back to the room after a day out, we all watch the videos and pictures of that day’s fun. I also use Pandora and play the “Best of Disney” channel for background music. The TV in the great room is 65” and is mounted above the fireplace. I liked this location and it was easily viewable from anywhere in that end of the Cabin including the hot tub. All lighting is controlled by on/off push button switches with dimmers. There is nice ambient lighting overhead in the great room as well as wall mounted reading lamps in the bedrooms and living room. The chandelier in the foyer is a great touch and the patio is well lit with 2 separate lights. All exterior doors have a beautiful wall mounted sconce light illuminating the outside. There is single AC unit for the Cabin with the control in the hallway just outside the bedroom doors. The AC worked fine although the weather wasn’t very hot during our stay. I’ll put the fireplace in this section because it was pretty high-tech. There is an on-off switch for the fireplace and another switch that controls lighting under the hearth. This second switch turns the hearth light on-off as well as changing the color of the light. The colors are white, red and green. The fireplace is a great addition to the Cabin although it doesn’t produce much heat and is protected on both sides with glass. When the Cabin lights are low/off and the fireplace is on, that’s pretty cool. There is a Serenity TV installed behind the mirror in the Master bathroom. When the TV is off, it looks like any other mirror. When its turned on, you see the TV through the mirror. The kitchen appliances are all GE Monogram. The bathroom fixtures are all Kohler. The master bath tub is a Kohler bubble message unit and the shower has a hand held kit and overhead rain head. The telephones are wireless, have 2 lines and capable of doing a conference call. There is also a phone in the patio area inside a weatherproof case.
Getting around while staying in a Cabin – The walking distance from the Cabins to the main Lodge as well as other locations in the resort will vary with which Cabin you stay in. The first few Cabins on each side of the main Lodge are fairly close to everything and only involve a short walk. The first few Cabins on the east side are actually
really close to the Bolder Ridge Pool and Geyser Point B&G. The further Cabins on each side are a different story especially Cabins 8020 – 8026 on the east side. The bus station is on the east side of the Main Lodge Building and therefore closer to Cabins 8013–8026. To give you an idea of the walking distance involved with the Cabins, the distance from our cabin (8025) to the Geyser Point B&G is 1,056 feet. That would be 422 steps at a 30” stride. The distance from our cabin to the Wilderness Boat dock is farther and worked out to be 1,795 feet. The only form of non-walking transportation available are bicycles which you rent at the Lodge or bring with you. There is no golf cart service available. The walk to and from any of the Cabins is enjoyable especially in February and dry weather. The grounds are absolutely beautiful. The problem would be in bad weather or if you have a physical limitations. We have folding bikes so we brought them with us and what a great idea that was. We rode over to the Campgrounds and explored that area, rode each morning to get breakfast (2 different restaurants) and had fun just riding around the resort. The Wilderness Lodge Resort is definitely a great place to bring bicycles . There is 1 umbrella assigned to each Cabin and is located at the front door in case of rainy weather. We brought 2 from home. The video below shows us biking from our Cabin to the Roaring Fork quick service location and back to our Cabin. The music in the video is the same as what is played inside the Wilderness Lodge Lobby (courtesy of
YouTube and an app that lets you save audio as a MP3 clip). The music ran longer than the video and it is beautiful so I just let it go. Please enjoy the music while reading the rest of my report.
Which Cabin should you request - There are several considerations for selecting (requesting) a Cabin location – do you want to be close to the Main Lodge and main pool? If so, the first few Cabins on the west side will do that (8009 – 8012). These cabins are also close to the boat dock making it convenient to get over to the MK. Do you want to see the monorail and Contemporary Resort from your Cabin and also have a view of the MK fireworks? Then the furthest west Cabins are for you (8001 – 8004). Do you want to be close to the Boulder Ridge pool, Geyser Point B&G and Reunion Station? If so, the first few Cabins on the east side of the side are for you. If you want to be “away from it all” and have a secluded, quiet environment, the furthest east Cabins will do the trick (2022 – 2026). All east side cabins have an unobstructed view of Bay Lake and therefore can see the Electric Water Pageant as it proceeds toward the Wilderness Camp grounds. These Cabins also have a limited view of the nightly MK fireworks. The 12 cabins to the west are located where the boats that travel to and from the MK pass right in front of them (see map). Consequently, the boat horns and privacy may be an issue. The route for the Electric Water Pageant passes on the other side of the Shipwreck Island just off shore from the west group of cabins (see map below) which means they have a limited or no view of the water parade. There is a maintenance and cast member parking lot not too far from the west group of Cabins. This isn’t a big deal but just know that the west side cabins don’t have the same secluded feel as the east cabins. The east group of cabins starts a little further away from the Main Lodge Building and is definitely further from the boat dock to the MK. All 26 Cabins are identical in their size and layout. Having said all this about the locations, you can’t go wrong with any of them.
In Closing – The Cabins are an extraordinary place to stay in an already extraordinary resort. For those who enjoy the accommodations as much as the Parks, the Cabins can be the perfect place to stay. Points for the Cabins start at 87 per night and get up to 195 depending on the time of year. As the low points are found in the winter months, this plays into the full utilization and enjoyment of the Cabins. In comparison, the Poly Bungalows start at 115 points per night and go up to 197. That makes the Cabins even more attractive. We love all DVC resorts but these are special.
Thanks for reading my report. If you have any question, let me know and I can update it with additional information
Randy
