Ft. Wilderness Cabins becoming DVC?

[MyDogTink]

It would be nice, but given both CCV and BRV are at Wilderness Lodge and the WL to Contemporary route has started back up I wouldn't bet on it.

Wait. There’s a boat from WL to Contemporary? We’re staying at BRV in June but my 4 year old will want to eat at Chef Mickey’s every night. (Big difference from when DH and I were DINKS eating at California Grill). I couldn’t get into BLT.

 

[BamaGuy44]

If that were true, they could have sold it, including to themselves, as they could any DVC property. Covid gave them an obvious excuse.

Well sure, they can do anything they want pretty much. But they'd have to weight the benefits vs the backlash it would cause, etc. Not as easy to put the genie back in the bottle vs just building it as a cash resort. I have no idea if they regret it or not. Most likely they're just fine with it being a slow selling DVC that they can easily keep full at exorbitant cash rates.

If it was slow selling, and sitting half empty or couldn't command Disney+Hawaii pricing, that would be a different story.

 

[MarkNC2Disney]

This I am excited for. I believe this would be the first dog friendly DVC units. Perhaps my greatest Disney Trip was 2007 with my wife and 4 kids (7,7,5 and 2) in a Wilderness Cabin. Only reason we have not gone back is it’s a poor use of points on a cabin now that we are DVC.

How far of a walk is it from the cabins to the boat dock? I’ve never been.

 

[Nursemanit]

Even with this, THV sleep 9 and have 3 bedrooms, these will only sleep 6 and have one bedroom. I don't think these are comparable.

Also, if they are selling this property, if you made all these units in the 300-400 point range for a week's stay, how do you convince people to purchase that size of a contract? I mean, I am sure that some will, but many won't be able to do that, dropping $60-70k at one time...

But if they build a themed pool - and keep up the ranch and other activities- people will pay more for less …. If size was the factor OKW would cost way more than BCV

 

[Bo1203]

I like the idea of a lower point chart (moderate dvc). Family’s can buy less points initially, have a place to stay and dinsey can still hold back the direct membership benefits until they buy more points. I don’t think it devalues dvc at all.

If deluxe resort owners spend points here, Disney probably rents the deluxe room on cash.

 

[Nursemanit]

How far of a walk is it from the cabins to the boat dock? I’ve never been.

It’s a big place - they use an internal bus - some are walkable some are not

 

[gmi3804]

Even with this, THV sleep 9 and have 3 bedrooms, these will only sleep 6 and have one bedroom. I don't think these are comparable.

Also, if they are selling this property, if you made all these units in the 300-400 point range for a week's stay, how do you convince people to purchase that size of a contract? I mean, I am sure that some will, but many won't be able to do that, dropping $60-70k at one time...

These are still going to be "moderate"-type accommodations, like they are now, even if they're new. These will likely be priced in line for a 1BR and aimed at those who want a 1BR anyway, and that's not 300-400 points for a week.

 

[Nursemanit]

I like the idea of a lower point chart (moderate dvc). Family’s can buy less points initially, have a place to stay and dinsey can still hold back the direct membership benefits until they buy more points. I don’t think it devalues dvc at all.

If deluxe resort owners spend points here, Disney probably rents the deluxe room on cash.

This would not be a moderate anymore than RR

 

[W4WaltDisney]

I think we'd give it a try too. Owning at BRV, if they re-opened the Wilderness Trail as part of this renovation, it would be perfect.

Love that trail!!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Wait. There’s a boat from WL to Contemporary? We’re staying at BRV in June but my 4 year old will want to eat at Chef Mickey’s every night. (Big difference from when DH and I were DINKS eating at California Grill). I couldn’t get into BLT.

No. That boat route has not restarted since the Covid shut down. It's a big big disappointment for the 3 Bay Lake resorts.

 

[DonMacGregor]

It would be nice, but given both CCV and BRV are at Wilderness Lodge and the WL to Contemporary route has started back up I wouldn't bet on it.

Has the WL to CR route opened back up? We were at BRV just last month and it wasn't running, and we were told it wasn't going to open up again.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Love that trail!!

I could see us doing a split stay between BRV and FW Cabins. Maybe pop over to the cabins for a couple of nights.

 

[Epcot Forever Forever]

The obvious retort is "why not?"

Disney rents out unsold villas for cash. It's not like they are sitting empty and losing money. Especially when it's a zero sum game like this; overall, this doesn't represent any growth in accommodations at Walt Disney World. They're simply being...reclassified

That’s all well and good as long as the economy is humming along and interest rates are low, but there’s a reason timeshare developers try to unload as fast as they can. I know you know this but their margin is greater if they can turn the sites faster because they pay less in carrying costs.

Hotel rooms come with risk, risk of needing to discount, lack of interest risk (those rooms at GF weren’t getting booked for cash, that’s specifically why they converted them), recession risk, pandemic risk, whatever. Better to shove all of that onto someone else 1-2 projects at a time, and move onto the next project much sooner. It’s not like they’re going to sell that many more points because they have 4 WDW offerings vs if it was just Aulani, VDH, and 1 WDW offering.

I think it’s a weird call. I’d rather do the WDW projects sequentially if I were in charge. I’m not so

 

[Jayunit09]

A surprised indeed! I had to double check the calendar date as it does sound more like an April fools joke.

With some road and boat reopenings it wouldn't be completely inconceivable that they could roll into the CCV association. Otherwise contrary to the Reflections being dead conclusion it might be a toe in the water to determine if they should resurrect it.


Depending on the opening it's very possible that VGF will be done selling by that time or close to it. It seems like Disney is looking more and more towards the cash cow that DVC has been for them and if they're seeing a decline in hotel bookings then selling off the lodging for 50 years is a tried and true way to compensate.

I am excited to check this out!

However, as a CCV owner, I would be pretty upset if they rolled this into our association. We bought CCV over AKL strictly to have the 11 month window for rooms during the holidays. I would not want to compete with a whole new group for those rooms.

 

[Matty B13]

I am excited to check this out!

However, as a CCV owner, I would be pretty upset if they rolled this into our association. We bought CCV over AKL strictly to have the 11 month window for rooms during the holidays. I would not want to compete with a whole new group for those rooms.

Welcome to what us VGF 1.0 owners are going through.

 

[mamaofsix]

Seems like Disney being smart - the cabins were tired and needed a refurb anyway. Now DVC buyers will be footing the bill for this refurb / replace and will pay for any maintenance going forward. Similar to VGF2. No brainer Win-Win for them.

Stylistically, these look mid-century modern. Funny that everyone seems thrilled so far with the concept. When the art for a very similar-looking Reflections style was leaked, many were up in arms about how the style didn't fit with the Fort. (I loved the Reflections concept art and was sad to see it canceled, but find the overall positive reaction this time around humorous)!

Agree with others that the dog factor makes this a non-starter for our family. We love camping, but usually prefer somewhere secluded that is not close to barking dogs all night.

 

[kes601]

Has the WL to CR route opened back up? We were at BRV just last month and it wasn't running, and we were told it wasn't going to open up again.

Nope, that is why I was saying I figured it was unlikely we would see it re-open because of the new cabins. I wish it would open up. We are going to be staying at BRV for 8 nights in a 1 BR in June. Would love to jump on an early morning boat to CR and get some Joffreys.

 

[Jayunit09]

Welcome to what us VGF 1.0 owners are going through.

100%

I feel for you guys completely. Didn’t think that was fair for you either.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Nope, that is why I was saying I figured it was unlikely we would see it re-open because of the new cabins. I wish it would open up. We are going to be staying at BRV for 8 nights in a 1 BR in June. Would love to jump on an early morning boat to CR and get some Joffreys.

Ok, well your post read:

"given both CCV and BRV are at Wilderness Lodge and the WL to Contemporary route has started back up"

So that's where the confusion arose. I doubt it will ever open back up. It had to be shared, cost-wise, with CR, and CR sees no benefit.

 

[gmi3804]

Agree with others that the dog factor makes this a non-starter for our family. We love camping, but usually prefer somewhere secluded that is not close to barking dogs all night.

While I like the idea of bringing my dog with me on vacation, I can't see being gone all day from the room and her, which happens often enough on a Disney vacation. Maybe the more leisurely DVC traveler won't mind this.