ECV and the Treehouse Villas?

[mom3sonstt]

I am hoping to be staying at the Treehouse Villas in August - I say hopefully because right now I only have 3 nights booked because I only had enough Saratoga points to book that many, I am hoping when it is open to all DVC members and I am able to use my other points that there will be availability for the rest of our trip. But I was so excited about booking and trying to figure out what I could and couldn't do that I didn't think to ask how they were set up for disabilities. I can go up the stairs - I won't like it especially after a day at the parks, but I can do it - but I will be renting an ECV - I wonder if there is a "garage" on the ground level that I can plug in to and store it overnight. I know nobody had stayed there yet, but I'm hoping somebody maybe knows someone who has visited or had the foresight to ask

I will ask when I call back in two weeks - if I don't get all excited about booking and forget again!

 

[SueM in MN]

I have not stayed there (obviously, since it's not open yet).
The pictures and plans that are available don't show any living space/garage on ground level at all. There is kind of a 'stalk' that is part of the foundation of the Treehouse, but it appears to be for the mechanical equipment of the villa. There are some drawings on this page.

According to the last announcement, there will be 4 handicapped accessible Treehouse Villas. They will have a ramp to get from ground level to the level of the villa. You should call back and ask MS to check with the Special Needs Department about availability of one of the accessible units for your stay. Special Needs are the group that coordinates the availability of the accessible rooms/villas. Special Needs is on a different computer system than MS, so you can't call them directly for a DVC stay. Once they have your stay on their log, you will be able to call Special Needs directly if you need to make any changes.

 

[mom3sonstt]

I have not stayed there (obviously, since it's not open yet).
The pictures and plans that are available don't show any living space/garage on ground level at all. There is kind of a 'stalk' that is part of the foundation of the Treehouse, but it appears to be for the mechanical equipment of the villa. There are some drawings on this page.

According to the last announcement, there will be 4 handicapped accessible Treehouse Villas. They will have a ramp to get from ground level to the level of the villa. You should call back and ask MS to check with the Special Needs Department about availability of one of the accessible units for your stay. Special Needs are the group that coordinates the availability of the accessible rooms/villas. Special Needs is on a different computer system than MS, so you can't call them directly for a DVC stay. Once they have your stay on their log, you will be able to call Special Needs directly if you need to make any changes.

But I wouldn't want a handicapped room - I wouldn't want the rails, or special tub or any of that, all I want is a place to park the ecv - I had "issues" with convincing myself to actually get an ecv last year, so while it's not an absolute necessity - until my health issues change I will be getting them, but if there were a place to put it I can climb the stairs with no problem (relatively speaking)


I will ask more when I call back - we may wind up at OKW again after all

 

[SueM in MN]

But I wouldn't want a handicapped room - I wouldn't want the rails, or special tub or any of that, all I want is a place to park the ecv - I had "issues" with convincing myself to actually get an ecv last year, so while it's not an absolute necessity - until my health issues change I will be getting them, but if there were a place to put it I can climb the stairs with no problem (relatively speaking)


I will ask more when I call back - we may wind up at OKW again after all

There won't be a protected place to put it outside unless you park it under the villa itself. The problem I could see with that is that there might be landscaping that would make it hard to get the ECV there.
You would be taking the key with you, but it would be possible for someone to put the wheels into a freewheeling position and push it away.
The other problem is that there probably will not be an electric outlet underneath the villa where you can plug it in to charge.

That's why I suggested you would need an accessible unit; to be able to drive the ECV into the villa for protection and for charging it.

 

[mechurchlady]

http://allears.net/acc/faq_treehouse.htm#photos
AS you can see you will have to climb a flight of stairs to get to the rooms. You talk about giving up and getting and ECV well why not concede and get the room. You will have fun in the trees.

 

[McCall]

This is the first I have heard of this, so they are rebuilding new Tree houses like the ones they used to have? That is kool they were so neat before they fell into ruin and were used to house workers.

Where are these new ones going to be? one of the neat things was they were along the "river" from Port Orleans to DTD area. Where are the new ones?

 

[mechurchlady]

http://www.laughingplace.com/Lotion-View-762.asp
Photos and videotape

Waves to McCall, hi there, my previous link is a start with press release photos from Disney.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrasVJifLoU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoH1mWwkk1U&feature=related

The old villas
http://www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/wdwguide/4_Accommodations/VDI_photo_tour_treehouse_villas.htm

http://www.netcot.com/thesite/2008/...laced-by-new-treehouses-at-walt-disney-world/
This has a typical floor plan and there should be more drawings somewhere.

http://dvcnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&Itemid=1&id=325
great coloured floorpland is featured.

They took out the bottom floor area and put everything on one upper floor. This allowed them to legally build and have tiny footprints compared to the old days.

 

[SueM in MN]

This is the first I have heard of this, so they are rebuilding new Tree houses like the ones they used to have? That is kool they were so neat before they fell into ruin and were used to house workers.

Where are these new ones going to be? one of the neat things was they were along the "river" from Port Orleans to DTD area. Where are the new ones?

They are in the same place as the old ones. The old ones were actually pulled down and new ones were put in the same spots. The new ones were prefabricated off-site and then lifted into place on the site.
They are similar to the old ones in that they are raised up off the ground and have a raised in the air deck.
The old ones had room on ground level. The new ones do not - from what I have read, it was because ground level is in a flood area.

 

[mom3sonstt]

I am replying to my own message - but I have new information. I called yesterday and was able to complete my reservation So now we will be staying at the Treehouses Aug 2 - 10 While talking to the guide I asked if there would be some place on the standard units to park an ECV down below - maybe pulling in under the stairs or something - we even thought about bringing a large tarp and an extension cord if there was only a place to put it. She told me that there would be a utility room in the base and, even better news, an outlet She did warn me that there would be stairs to climb - which I am ok with. I will check back in June once they are open to see if anyone with first-hand experience can verify this (then we will go back to the tarp and ext cord if necessary) because I know that at WDW you get a different answer from each different cast member but she did seem pretty confident that she knew what she was talking about - even told me where the outlet was - which I immediately forgot because I was celebrating the existance of the utility room
But I thought I would share what I know now in case anyone else was interested

 

[clkelley]

FYI Gas Grill Covers make great covers for ECVs. We use one when parking DHs ECV at Fort Wilderness all the time!!

 

[cb196]

If you are renting your ECV you can rent a charger and take out your battery and charge it in your room. Leave your EVC outside and cover it up like someone else said. Hope this helps.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

If you are renting your ECV you can rent a charger and take out your battery and charge it in your room. Leave your EVC outside and cover it up like someone else said. Hope this helps.

This really will not work well.

First of all there are two batteries in a full-size ECV. Depending on the type, they weigh either 25 or 32 pounds each.

And I don't know where to get a separate charger for the batteries; they often have special connectors on them. And you would need a charger for each battery.

Before I got my current ECV I got my repair service to make me a special cord so I could charge the batteries without having the ECV assembled. Since I got my new car with the lift I do not disassemble the ECV.

 

[mom3sonstt]

I talked to the place I rented from last year - actually I emailed them. Last year I got an ECV that all I had to do to charge it was attach a cord to the back and plug it in. I emailed her about that this is her reply

"Do you plan to disassemble the scooter?

If you do, then we can deliver a small charger with the scooter which is about 8 x 4 inches. If you do not plan to disassemble the scooter, we can send you an internal charging scooter which is the small cord you can fit in the back pocket. This scooter does not disassemble though.

Let me know which way you would like to go."

Last year we flew and relied on buses, this year we are planning to drive - I asked hubby if he thought we would need to haul it anywhere in the van - he didn't think so - we don't drive to the parks, and since we are staying at Saratoga I can either take a boat, or just roll down the path. If we want the van there in order to haul stuff back I can meet them there.

So for now I told her I would prefer the cord. I will be checking with people in June who are there and ask if someone can verify the utilty room and outlet - if it's not there then I may switch to the removable charger, then we can haul it up to the room each night to charge it.

 

[SueM in MN]

I talked to the place I rented from last year - actually I emailed them. Last year I got an ECV that all I had to do to charge it was attach a cord to the back and plug it in. I emailed her about that this is her reply

"Do you plan to disassemble the scooter?

If you do, then we can deliver a small charger with the scooter which is about 8 x 4 inches. If you do not plan to disassemble the scooter, we can send you an internal charging scooter which is the small cord you can fit in the back pocket. This scooter does not disassemble though.

Let me know which way you would like to go."

Last year we flew and relied on buses, this year we are planning to drive - I asked hubby if he thought we would need to haul it anywhere in the van - he didn't think so - we don't drive to the parks, and since we are staying at Saratoga I can either take a boat, or just roll down the path. If we want the van there in order to haul stuff back I can meet them there.

So for now I told her I would prefer the cord. I will be checking with people in June who are there and ask if someone can verify the utilty room and outlet - if it's not there then I may switch to the removable charger, then we can haul it up to the room each night to charge it.

The one with a cord is called an 'on board charger'. This means that the charger is built into the scooter itself. So, to charge it, you plug the cord into a place on the scooter that is attached to the batteries. Some of the scooters with on-board chargers have the charger built into the battery case itself, so the batteries and the charger can be removed and charged apart from the scooter.

She may not be talking about a separate charger meaning that you could take the batteries out and charge them. My DD's power wheelchair has a separate charger. It is a box about 8 by 4 inches with a power cord to plug into the outlet on one side. The other side has a different type of plug that goes into a power port on DD's wheelchair. But, the batteries can't be removed and charged with that removable charger. That is how the separate charger works on many ECVs. The reason some people don't like that kind is that you need to bring the kind of bulky charger with you if you need to charge during the day. It's much easier to just have a cort to bring with for an on board charger or some ECVs even have retractable cords.

Regarding the Utility room, my assumption is that the utility room is for staff use, not for guest use and would not be accessible to guests because it would be locked. The Treehouses have a washer and dryer inside the unit according to the plans, so there would be no reason for a utility room to be accessible to guests. The old Treehouses had a staff utility room where they stored supplies, etc for cleaning. There would be some sort of path to that utility room and you would probably be able to park on that path and have the ECV fairly protected because it would be underneath the overhang of the floor of the Treehouse.

So, I think you need to make very clear to the ECV rental lady what you need to be able to do (remove the batteries and charge them outside of the ECV) so that you get what you think you are getting.

 

[mom3sonstt]

Regarding the Utility room, my assumption is that the utility room is for staff use, not for guest use and would not be accessible to guests because it would be locked. The Treehouses have a washer and dryer inside the unit according to the plans, so there would be no reason for a utility room to be accessible to guests.

I explained to the cast member when I made my ressies specifically why I was asking. I told her I would be renting a scooter, did not need a handicap facility, and asked if there was somewhere I could park the scooter outside. I suggested maybe under the steps or something. She volunteered the information that there would be a utility room I could put it in - and said there would be an outlet.....somewhere (she said - I forgot )

So, I think you need to make very clear to the ECV rental lady what you need to be able to do (remove the batteries and charge them outside of the ECV) so that you get what you think you are getting.

I told her I prefer the cord - if the set-up is like the cast member told me I will be ok.

That said, I also told the rental place that come June when the Treehouses are actually occupied, I will be trying to find out from someone with first-hand experience whether it will work and since that is still 2 months before my trip I will let her know whether I would need to switch. I would rather not have to remove the charger each night and put it back on each morning

 

[SueM in MN]

Usually the ones where you can take the battery out to charge have that as an option, not as the only way you can charge it. You can verify that with the rental place, but having one that can be charged in or out of the ECV would give you the most flexibility.

I think it's good you will have someone who can look in June. The CM you talked to may have seen it in a plan or even in real life empty and assumed it would stay that way. My best guess is that it will be full of something and will be locked.

 

[mom3sonstt]

I think it's good you will have someone who can look in June. T

Well I dont actually have someone per se, but I figure can come to the boards and find someone who is there or will be going then and can report back what the situation is. This latest CM seemed more knowledgeable than the previous one, but I won't take their word for it until I hear from someone who has actually stayed there

 

[mom3sonstt]

Ya' know - sometimes something hits me and I can't believe I couldn't figure it out before. I have been scanning these boards looking for someone who was going to be in the Treehouses in June or July - but it's still March and that's a long time to wait. Well, yesterday I had another question and autmatically went to the DVC "contact" page and sent an email inquiry. As soon as I did I thought - "Well, dummy, why don't you ask them about the Treehouses!"

So the official word is that there are two outlets outside - one in the pedestal and one on the porch. They recommend bringing an extension cord because the one on the pedestal wouldn't be accessible to pull the ECV up to it. As for the utility room - well, it is locked - it houses the water heater and access to the plumbing So it looks like I will be bringing a tarp and an extension cord. I was also told that a grill cover would fit over the ECV pretty well. They offered to check availability for a handicapped accessible room - but that is not something I am interested in.

 

[SueM in MN]

Well, at least you know now.
Since it will be outside, I would suggest getting an extension cord that is rated for outdoor use. You don't want to end up getting a short circuit because your extension cord is only for inside.