Ft. Wilderness Cabins becoming DVC?

[nlenguyen]

350 cabins?

Will the point chart (using middle season) be closer to:

SSR Treehouses 322 pts/wk

Poly Bungalow 994 pts/wk

Copper Creek Cabins 777 pts/wk

(OKW Grand Villa 418 pts/wk - which is the most economical GV)

Previously Fort Wilderness cabins were in the moderate category. Rebuilding for DVC should put them in the deluxe category. Likely to be nicer and enjoy deluxe perks.

My guess is Occupancy 8 and mid-season not greater than 600 pts/wk.

I have a hard time seeing how many points this will be. Before I always saw them at $400-500 a night. I don't know how they would be able to inflate that to say these rooms are now going to be worth over $1000-4000 a night like the unique categories. I would place them at level of Treehouses, but these new DVC never cease to amaze don't they. Just don't have high annual dues or charge extra fees if they bring animals, maybe make a separate category for pet-cabins that members can book and it can cost more points

 

[CarolynFH]

I think this is a flip like Big Pine Key was — take underperforming rooms off of the resort’s books and put them into DVC owners’ budgets. DVC owners will pay for the construction costs when they buy points and will pay for ongoing operations and maintenance whether the resort is open or not.

Cabin costs now as part of Disney Collection. When added to Timeshare program, it SHOULD be less. Unless Disney thinks the new cabins are a substantial enough upgrade to justify higher prices.

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I agree that hopefully points would be lower than these, but even at these rates they’d vary from 274 points for the cheapest week to 469 points for Christmas - cheaper than a 2BR for a family of 6, right?

 

[Chili327]

One more restricted property at WDW.

More incentive to have direct points

And another nail in resale value... which is what makes DVC different than a timeshare.

if everything eventually becomes fully or partly DVC then what is it that makes DVC special???

Now that everyone is hooked it can just be a regular timeshare in a "special" location.

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.

Is there no coffee at BRV.?? (now i'm regretting my contract purchase. lol)

Again I think it’s a mistake to assume this says anything about the Poly tower. Likelihood is the cabins will open before the Poly. Polynesian Tower could still be the 18th resort.

^ This.

 

[WxKristin]

My first trip with our kids (before buying into DVC) was split 50/50 first at the FW cabin and then in a standard view AKL-Kidani 2 bedroom (rented points). I cannot explain how much of an upgrade that switch to Kidani felt like. It absolutely sold DVC to me. The internal bus system at FW alone keeps this down the list. Add an extra half hour to any travel time to any park. Not as big of a deal if you have a car, but I enjoy not needing one.

Also, while the kids loved the bunk beds in the FW cabin, I found that I really prefer having them out of our sleeping space. It would make sense to me if these were set up with a 1 bedroom (king) then a separate loft and pull down sleeper/murphy in the living room area. Those cabins currently only have single (small!) bathroom - that will need to change a bit if they expect to compete with other DVC properties.

I can't see the points per night being as high as the Saratoga Treehouses, probably closer to the CCV 1 bedrooms.

 

[pinkxray]

I have to say I am totally surprised by this. I had to do a double take to make sure it wasn’t a fake post. Cabins are usually around $500 when I look to book, so what kind of points charts will these be? And Disney is just going to convert them all to DVC? I know cash guest can book dvc rooms but they are going to lose all of the cabins? Aren’t they pretty popular for cash?

I will definitely book them. We haven’t stayed at FW yet bc I always have a hard time spending over $500 a night on a cabin when I can stay at Copper Creek on points. This solves that issue.

I really don’t get what Disney is doing though. Building multiple new DVC rooms, cutting jobs, barely expanding parks. Seems like this is a weird time to be pushing dvc so much. I guess they figure dvc addicts like me will pay to redo the cabins but wow that’s a lot of points to sell in the next few years.

Cant wait to see the layout. I’m wondering if there will be a little loft or something with those high windows on top? No bunk beds, instead kids get a loft with a ladder or something.

 

[nlenguyen]

I have to say I am totally surprised by this. I had to do a double take to make sure it wasn’t a fake post. Cabins are usually around $500 when I look to book, so what kind of points charts will these be? And Disney is just going to convert them all to DVC? I know cash guest can book dvc rooms but they are going to lose all of the cabins? Aren’t they pretty popular for cash?

I will definitely book them. We haven’t stayed at FW yet bc I always have a hard time spending over $500 a night on a cabin when I can stay at Copper Creek on points. This solves that issue.

I really don’t get what Disney is doing though. Building multiple new DVC rooms, cutting jobs, barely expanding parks. Seems like this is a weird time to be pushing dvc so much. I guess they figure dvc addicts like me will pay to redo the cabins but wow that’s a lot of points to sell in the next few years.

Cant wait to see the layout. I’m wondering if there will be a little loft or something with those high windows on top? No bunk beds, instead kids get a loft with a ladder or something.

I think that Disney is doing this because DVC members will eventually come back. They know deep down inside that the fans are the ones going to sustain the company. The once in a life guests are starting to think of other vacations. If they can make their resorts DVC then they know that each room is going to be occupied every night of the year. I rarely see rooms available the week of, unlike cash stays which can have a lot of availability still. If there is a recession or a pandemic, who were the first to come back, DVC

 

[CarolynFH]

If they can make their resorts DVC then they know that each room is going to be occupied every night of the year.

And even if the room is not occupied, the DVC owners at that resort will be on the hook to cover maintenance and operating costs. Disney Parks and Resorts won’t have to.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Do we know for fact that these new Ft. Wilderness cabins will open before Poly2?

 

[nlenguyen]

Do we know for fact that these new Ft. Wilderness cabins will open before Poly2?

I assume they are having to remodel all the cabins, 350 of them, this would seem to take longer than the poly2 tower which is almost to the half way point of cement structure

 

[Sandisw]

Do we know for fact that these new Ft. Wilderness cabins will open before Poly2?

They didn’t announce a date, but Poly tower was listed as late 2024 and these are slated for 2024. I think that implies that they will open sooner..especially if these are simply premade tiny houses that just need to be brought in and set up.

 

[kes601]

Is there no coffee at BRV.?? (now i'm regretting my contract purchase. lol)

There is no "dedicated" coffee shop. Roaring Fork makes really good drinks but I like my 6:00 in the morning Joffrey's at Contemporary.

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

The internal bus system at FW alone keeps this down the list. Add an extra half hour to any travel time to any park. Not as big of a deal if you have a car, but I enjoy not needing one.

Also, while the kids loved the bunk beds in the FW cabin, I found that I really prefer having them out of our sleeping space. It would make sense to me if these were set up with a 1 bedroom (king) then a separate loft and pull down sleeper/murphy in the living room area.

I agree with all of this 100%. The only thing that would make FW more “fun” to explore (& less of a pain) would be renting golf carts. Maybe they will offer rentals at a significant discount as part of membership extras to entice direct purchases there??

With the modern tiny home design in the concept art, I can definitely see a loft of some sort being incorporated & a more traditional bedroom with a king bed.

 

[CarolynFH]

I assume they are having to remodel all the cabins, 350 of them, this would seem to take longer than the poly2 tower which is almost to the half way point of cement structure

The cabins are actually manufactured housing (trailers). It will be much easier and faster to move them out than it was to demolish the CBR buildings for RIV. And the new cabins will probably be manufactured offsite too and simply moved in - the announcement says they’ll use the same foundation footprint, so probably not much ground work or moving of plumbing/electrical to be done. So the flip could happen pretty quickly.

 

[princesscinderella]

Or if this Ft. Wilderness villas open before Poly2, then May lend one to think Poly2 could be a separate associate. The question is, what new resort opens first?

Poly tower is going up really quickly I wouldn’t be surprised if it opens first. These cabins will be built offsite most likely by a prefab trailer company and trucked in so that can go quickly too all they would need it hookup to the existing utilities at the pads.

 

[Wedgeout]

Thinking they might do the area in phases, allocating points as they go. Making the opening that much quicker.

 

[Buzzsgramma]

We stayed in the Ft. Wilderness cabins about 1979....also in 1998 I think....They slept 6 back then...2 in queen bed, 2 in bunk beds (in bedroom) and 2 in living room on the Murphy bed...there were 2 exits out of cabins which really looked like trailers...also full kitchen...

 

[BWV Dreamin]

We stayed in the Ft. Wilderness cabins about 1979....also in 1998 I think....They slept 6 back then...2 in queen bed, 2 in bunk beds (in bedroom) and 2 in living room on the Murphy bed...there were 2 exits out of cabins which really looked like trailers...also full kitchen...

Would have liked to seen a pic of the kitchen….

 

[tom1944]

T

The cabins are actually manufactured housing (trailers). It will be much easier and faster to move them out than it was to demolish the CBR buildings for RIV. And the new cabins will probably be manufactured offsite too and simply moved in - the announcement says they’ll use the same foundation footprint, so probably not much ground work or moving of plumbing/electrical to be done. So the flip could happen pretty quickly.

They might have a lot of them already built.

 

[CarolynFH]

Would have liked to seen a pic of the kitchen….

LOL, we stayed in one on our very first visit back in 1994. I don’t think we have a photo of the kitchen but it was a full kitchen with full size range, refrigerator, dishwasher, etc. Very nice and saved us some money on meals!

 

[tom1944]

I agree with all of this 100%. The only thing that would make FW more “fun” to explore (& less of a pain) would be renting golf carts. Maybe they will offer rentals at a significant discount as part of membership extras to entice direct purchases there??

With the modern tiny home design in the concept art, I can definitely see a loft of some sort being incorporated & a more traditional bedroom with a king bed.

It might be a good resort only stay. Do the outdoor stuff.

Combine it with SSR and Disney Springs