Disney Institute Treehouses

[Ajax]

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Long ago, my wife and daughter spent a week with an evil aunt and her somewhat likeable husband at WDW. What made the non-park portion of the trip tolerable were their accomodations at the Treehouses at the Disney Institute, which may have been called something else back then. The place was a big hit with my family. Alas, I never was lucky enough to lodge there.

Anyhow, a friend who recently spent a week at POFQ said that on the boat shuttle to DTD, she noticed that the Treehouses looked as if they'd been hit hard by one of the hurricanes.

Are they still open? And if anyone's memory banks are still functioning after todays feast, what was the original name of the resort? Thanks!

 

[Geoff_M]

The Tree Houses aren't currently open to the public. I believe there are plans afoot to refurbish and re-theme them at some point and make them part of SSR. One apparent consideration is that the area around the homes is now considered a wetland and no new development of that area may be conducted, so they will have to use the extisting structures as part of any plans. Do a search on the "rumors" board and you may find some details.

 

[momofmikey]

We passed by it too on the boatride. I could be mistaken but I thought I heard the boat captain say that the college program uses the treehouses. I did see some downed trees from the hurricane.

 

[WDWDennis]

Yeah, I saw LOTS of downed trees on those house when I was there in August! They are not currenty open, but I sure wish they would reopen them. Although, after being down for more than 5 years now, I'm sure they are in less than good condition!!

 

[disneydebi]

we also were told by the boat driver to DTD that the treehouses are currently being used as a perk for the college program (for those who'd been in the program for a few years).

 

[kajohn]

We just got back from POR last night. We took the boat to DTD a few nights ago, and there were some lights on in some of the treehouses. The boat driver said that there was extensive damage to the treehouses during the hurricanes, and that they were closed for now. It was very dark, but we could see trees that had fallen on some of the roofs. Since there were lights on in some of the units we could see they were still furnished, with pictures on the walls etc.

 

[BevS97]

we also saw them on the boat from POFQ, and where told that they were used for the college program before they had been damaged by hurricanes.
Apparantly they are not handicapped accessible so they can't be used for the public, and they can't be altered due to the wetland restrictions, so they are somewhat stuck with them

 

[BCV23]

And if anyone's memory banks are still functioning after todays feast, what was the original name of the resort? Thanks!

Years ago they were just called the Treehouse Villas. They were part of The Walt Disney World Village Villas which also included Vacation Villas, Club Lake Villas, Fairway Villas and the GRand Vista Suites.

 

[Pluto2003]

The boat captains said they are used for storage and lights on were for security purposes. They had central spiral staircases, we were told, so they did not meet and could not be changed to meet the Disabilities Act for public rental any longer. I had also heard that some were used for the college program housing. I don't think there are any plans to tear them down or refurbish them. Too much money for something the public does not come into contact with.

 

[SueM in MN]

we also saw them on the boat from POFQ, and where told that they were used for the college program before they had been damaged by hurricanes.
Apparantly they are not handicapped accessible so they can't be used for the public, and they can't be altered due to the wetland restrictions, so they are somewhat stuck with them

My husband had heard from the bartender at OKW that they were being used for the college program and other people on Disney business for long periods of time.
They actually renovated some of them a few years ago. Over a 2 year period, we saw them being worked on when we took the boat from OKW to DD. They gutted them to bare framing and then totally rebuilt them. I don't know how many they did, but at least a lot of the ones visible from the river were redone.
I have heard the rumor that they can't be used for the public because they are not handicapped accessible, but I don't think that is true.
If they were being newly built now, they would have to make some accessible. They would only have to make a few accessible though - I don't know how many Treehouse units there were, but according to the ADA websites, if they were buiding or doing extensive renovating, they only have to make one accessible room for each 25 rooms. They could add an elevator shaft onto the outside of the buildings for access to both floors (they could do a ramp, but it would be an awfully long ramp). So, it would not be that hard to do, especially iof it's only a few rooms out of the total.

 

[disneymom71]

Wow! Memories and More Memories When I Was 13 I Stayed A Whole Week At Those Tree House Villages (1983)!!! I really enjoyed staying there....Hoping I can see them again during my next trip with my family....

 

[hezzie]

Same for me DisneyMom71! My family stayed in them in 1978 when I was 8 and it was great!! It truly felt like we were living in a tree house. Do you remember the tub in the Master bath that was round and you sat on a seat and the water totally covered you? I loved that bathtub!!

Too bad they can't be used for the public.

 

[BCV23]

I asked our son's fiancee. She is an intern at WDW currently. She said that a couple of years ago some CPers were housed in the Treehouses but that they are empty now.

 

[disneymom71]

Of course I remember the master room that huge "JACUZZI"....For those days it was awesome to have a JACUZZI in your own bathroom.....