Ft. Wilderness Cabins becoming DVC?

[Nursemanit]

I wouldn't touch that assoc as an owner. Dogs chew and scratch pillows, furniture, moldings, doors, etc. I would not want to pay for repairs from other crappy dog owners. People just leave their dogs regardless of their behavior.

Most would charge a pet fee per night - or a deposit to cover this.

 

[bama_ed]

Most laundry’s in condo style DVC resorts are by the pool with the thought being swim and do laundry.

I didn't realize DVC had such few laundry facilities. That's a lot of cabins (~350) to rely on one facility even if it has many machines.

 

[Nursemanit]

I didn't realize DVC had such few laundry facilities. That's a lot of cabins (~350) to rely on one facility even if it has many machines.

The cabins are not DVC so I don’t understand your comment

 

[bama_ed]

The cabins are not DVC so I don’t understand your comment

Your comment about condo style DVC is confusing. The DVC cabins won't be "condo style" so your answer is irrelevant. See below:

Most laundry’s in condo style DVC resorts are by the pool with the thought being swim and do laundry.

The Fort DVC cabins, when dropped on the existing resort cabin footprint, won't be a "condo style" DVC. So the answer above doesn't apply to the statement I made. If DVC relies on the existing laundry facilities at the current "quiet" pool, they place future FW DVC guests at a lesser level of service than the camper guests at FW get. So they need to either add more laundry buildings around (always a possibility) or go with some w/d means in the new DVC cabins themselves.

The math is pretty easy to do. Current resort cabin guest have less laundry facilities per cabin than campers do per campsite. By a wide margin. It remains to be seen if DVC will leave that as-is or try to bump it up with more laundry buildings (not just remove-and-replace) or place w/d facilities in the cabins to justify a higher price point (or more points) which I have advocated for on your behalf.

It's possible, of course, that length-of-stay could play a role here, of course. People who tend to stay longer will likely have a greater need to wash laundry, no? I haven't read many trip reports of 14-30 day DVC stays but there are plenty of camper trip reports doing so. And many 30+ day guests don't report such but we know of them because we meet them on the sidewalk in person or at their site in conversation (and sadly, Disney has closed this ability to stay longer than 30 for resort guests going forward).

We will just have to wait and see if Disney plans for the DVC FW cabins to be a "Moderate" DVC with lower expectations than the current "Luxe" DVC inventory.

Que sera sera.

Bama Ed

 

[Nursemanit]

Your comment about condo style DVC is confusing. The DVC cabins won't be "condo style" so your answer is irrelevant. See below:



The Fort DVC cabins, when dropped on the existing resort cabin footprint, won't be a "condo style" DVC. So the answer above doesn't apply to the statement I made. If DVC relies on the existing laundry facilities at the current "quiet" pool, they place future FW DVC guests at a lesser level of service than the camper guests at FW get. So they need to either add more laundry buildings around (always a possibility) or go with some w/d means in the new DVC cabins themselves.

The math is pretty easy to do. Current resort cabin guest have less laundry facilities per cabin than campers do per campsite. By a wide margin. It remains to be seen if DVC will leave that as-is or try to bump it up with more laundry buildings (not just remove-and-replace) or place w/d facilities in the cabins to justify a higher price point (or more points) which I have advocated for on your behalf.

It's possible, of course, that length-of-stay could play a role here, of course. People who tend to stay longer will likely have a greater need to wash laundry, no? I haven't read many trip reports of 14-30 day DVC stays but there are plenty of camper trip reports doing so. And many 30+ day guests don't report such but we know of them because we meet them on the sidewalk in person or at their site in conversation (and sadly, Disney has closed this ability to stay longer than 30 for resort guests going forward).

We will just have to wait and see if Disney plans for the DVC FW cabins to be a "Moderate" DVC with lower expectations than the current "Luxe" DVC inventory.

Que sera sera.

Bama Ed

As long as there are enough W/D it will be fine - Most DVC stays are less than one week - not going to be doing daily laundry. There are, for example, 4 washers and 8 dryers for 1800 guests at Swan and Dolphin, and they are empty most of the day. Poly has 300+ rooms with one laundry and it works.

DVC is and has always been "moderate" with no housekeeping, room service or even hallways in some resorts. It has Disney "deluxe" benefits and location - that is what people pay for

 

[10CJ]

As long as there are enough W/D it will be fine - Most DVC stays are less than one week - not going to be doing daily laundry. There are, for example, 4 washers and 8 dryers for 1800 guests at Swan and Dolphin, and they are empty most of the day. Poly has 300+ rooms with one laundry and it works.

DVC is and has always been "moderate" with no housekeeping, room service or even hallways in some resorts. It has Disney "deluxe" benefits and location - that is what people pay for

Why do you think most DVC stays are less than a week? Where are you getting that data from? The Swan and Dolphin are not DVC, not sure what they have to do with any of this.

I would think many people who typically stay in a DVC 1 bedroom are used to having a w/d in their room. We typically stay in 2 bedrooms and love having a w/d in the unit.

 

[Nursemanit]

Why do you think most DVC stays are less than a week? Where are you getting that data from? The Swan and Dolphin are not DVC, not sure what they have to do with any of this.

I would think many people who typically stay in a DVC 1 bedroom are used to having a w/d in their room. We typically stay in 2 bedrooms and love having a w/d in the unit.

The last time DVC reported the average length of stay was 5 days and change

 

[sethschroeder]

The last time DVC reported the average length of stay was 5 days and change

Which wouldn't account for things like split stay.

You see people on here changing and some even switching rooms every day or two.

Would need the actual dataset to know.

Also if you have 1 person stay for a single night you would need 5 others stay for 8 nights to get back to a 7 night stay average.

So 5 night would seem right to mean that the average family is around WDW for 7-8 nights.

 

[Nursemanit]

Which wouldn't account for things like split stay.

You see people on here changing and some even switching rooms every day or two.

Would need the actual dataset to know.

Also if you have 1 person stay for a single night you would need 5 others stay for 8 nights to get back to a 7 night stay average.

So 5 night would seem right to mean that the average family is around WDW for 7-8 nights.

Gee is that how averages work ?

Split stays are somewhat of a factor - I don’t know how common they are probably enough to skew DVC - average stay cash is 6 days so very similar.

 

[Dcgc28]

We are wanting to try Ft Wilderness Cabins in 24, I know it's almost impossible to answer this question for sure...but do you guys anticipate we will have to rent points in order to do so?

Is there any chance they sell some cabin stays on the website still? Just trying to get a plan together, if anyone wants to give an opinion.

 

[Traveling on cc points]

We are wanting to try Ft Wilderness Cabins in 24, I know it's almost impossible to answer this question for sure...but do you guys anticipate we will have to rent points in order to do so?

Is there any chance they sell some cabin stays on the website still? Just trying to get a plan together, if anyone wants to give an opinion.

In 2024,You should have no problem renting one directly through Disney because it will take a while for them to sell all of the points.
Even in future years, you should still be able to get one because Disney keeps a small percentage of points and people trade their points into Disney's other products.

 

[DebbieB]

I didn't realize DVC had such few laundry facilities. That's a lot of cabins (~350) to rely on one facility even if it has many machines.

That’s how Poly is. The room is always busy.

 

[Dcgc28]

In 2024,You should have no problem renting one directly through Disney because it will take a while for them to sell all of the points.
Even in future years, you should still be able to get one because Disney keeps a small percentage of points and people trade their points into Disney's other products.

Eventually we want to join DVC so it shouldn't matter as much going forward. Thank you for the response though

 

[han22735]

Posted today over on WDWmagic. That was quick. Updated...False alarm...this was a guest's custom camper...Geez.

 

[PBandJFamwich]

Posted today over on WDWmagic. That was quick. Updated...False alarm...this was a guest's custom camper...Geez.

Dang it! I’m antsy to know more info/timeline for the cabins. We just bought RIV and VDH contracts but want to add on at CFW. Probably should take some time on our trip in a couple weeks to visit FW and the Poly to help us decide if we want to add on at Poly2 as well. That will be us owning all restricted resorts.

 

[Boba(not-so)Fit]

Posted today over on WDWmagic. That was quick. Updated...False alarm...this was a guest's custom camper...Geez.

Welp, looks like we are going to have to stroll around when we are @ the Hoop-Dee-Doo in August!

 

[Simba's Mom]

I just looked up the cost of a golf cart rental and it's $300 per week. Does FW have a cost for a weekly bicycle rental? There's just two of us, and since I use an ECV, DH would probably be the only one using it. And since he did the Dopey Challenge a few years ago, he'd better not mind riding a bike around. If he can, what is the cost of a weekly or LOS rental?

 

[CarolynFH]

Posted today over on WDWmagic. That was quick. Updated...False alarm...this was a guest's custom camper...Geez.

It does resemble the concept art - in general style at least.

But does anyone have a rough estimate of how much this one cost? $200K? $300K?

 

[bama_ed]

I just looked up the cost of a golf cart rental and it's $300 per week. Does FW have a cost for a weekly bicycle rental? There's just two of us, and since I use an ECV, DH would probably be the only one using it. And since he did the Dopey Challenge a few years ago, he'd better not mind riding a bike around. If he can, what is the cost of a weekly or LOS rental?

The Disney golf cart rental rate is, IIRC, $63 per day plus tax for a 4-seater (more for a 6-seater). There is no discount for a multi-day rental. So that would be $441 plus tax for a week not $300. You can work with an off-site vendor for a golf cart (at a lower cost) but there are more angles to that to consider. They cannot deliver to the Fort (in most cases).

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/recreation/cabins-at-fort-wilderness-resort/golf-cart-rental/

I think the $79 daily rate shown is for a 6-seat golf cart.

Fort Wilderness does do bicycle rentals from the Bike Barn but only on a daily basis. As in 'you have to check them out in the morning and return them every night'. You can't keep it overnight. Thus no discounts for multi-day use either.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/recreation/bike-rentals/

The rate last time I paid it was $20 a day (for a few hours in one day). I think the kid bike rate is the lesser $9 a day rate. You are subject to the hours of the Bike Barn. You can only pick it up when the BB open every morning and you must return it before the BB close each night. Obviously Disney does not want you to do a multi-day or Length-of-Stay rental. Again, for those you would have to make arrangements for an off-site rental, delivery, and pick-up from vendor. They put more work on you to get details worked out so you can pay less. Typical Disney, no?

They don't want to be easy, convenient, and affordable to work with. They will offer a service but try to flush as much cash out of you as they can. That's their method-of-operation.

Bama Ed

PS - we bring bikes from home for the record or walk. The internal bus lines can take ECV's but run "infrequently" in the early mornings and late evenings (not 24x7) but are frequent during the day/nights inbetween.

PPS - this post is not really DVC-related but if you want to post it instead on the Camping Forum, there are more folks happy to help and relate their experiences.

https://www.disboards.com/forums/camping-at-disney-world.24/

I came back to check on this thread since I had posted in it but I have a camper I use to vacation at just about everywhere (not just WDW) and I am not a DVC owner (for the record).

 

[DackAtak]

Have stayed at Fort Wilderness once before and wanting to get back there sometime in the not so distant future. Really wondering if anyone has heard when cabins will start getting swapped out?

Worried about being there when a lot of construction is going on.

Not currently DVC and don't think we could afford to be. I am happy to see that it still will be possible to stay there without it.