Info on the TreeHouse Villas

[HitchhikingGhost]

Just curious if anyone knows what the story is. Last word I had is they were closed, but when we were at WDW last month I saw activity at the front guard house and traffic (security, construction, etc.) in and out of the entrance. I keep forgetting to ask. Thanks.

And while I am at it, same question basically for the POP Century expansion. . . buildings up and painted brown now for over a year. Any info? Thanks again.

 

[ForTheLoveofDisney]

I'm interested in some info about this too. We were there 11/24-12/3. We first stayed at Pop and saw the buildings you're talking about and then we moved to OKW. One night we took the boat from OKW to DTD and we went right by the treehouses. Not only did we notice the guard manning the guard shack when we drove by but on this night there were lights on in several of the villas and in one villa the door was propped open and someone was in there moving around. Could have been a painter or something. But, we were wondering the same thing--"What's going on?"

 

[mitros]

I posted a thread last week about the tree houses. They are being used at this time to house Brazilian exchange students that are part of the Disney training program {the name escapes me at the moment} I noticed the guard house being used when we were there in December, so we asked around and we were told that they were being used to house these exchange folks, and apparentley, while the tree houses are still owned by Disney, there is an outside concern running them.

 

[HitchhikingGhost]

Thanks for the info, Mitros.

One down, anyone for the Pop question? Thanks.

 

[disneygemuk]

Went on boat last week from POR to DTD and was told that treehouse villas being used at present to house brazilian exhange students. Said that could not re-open villas as do not comply with disability discrimination legislation and cannot tear them down due to florida law (something to do with design/swamp - can't quite remember). Would be very expensive therefore to do anything with them - very low down on disney's priorities therefore!

 

[tmt martins]

POP has been put on hold due to 9-11 backlash but they are to be starting them again soon they say.

I would think they might make them into the suites' that they are talking about for the values .2 room up to 6 people.

 

[TSR6]

The TreeHouses house the International College Program. It is not nessisarily restricted to Brazilian students.

 

[mitros]

At the time of my post it was.

 

[TSR6]

At the time of my post it was.

They just happened to open it for housing when the Brazilians started to arrive.

 

[mitros]

Do you know how many of the tree houses are actually being used at this point?

 

[budbeerlady]

It looked like most of them were lit up and used on the way back from DTD to POFQ in Dec. We were told the same thing about the exchange student housing. I jokingly said to Dh "This looks creepy, I dosent seem like anyone is really in there." And then the last house had a guy on the steps going down. But they all had the shades open and the lights on. What are the odds that everyone was gone from thier housing that night and all left the shades open and the same kitchette light on?

They do look cool to stay in though!!!!

 

[cree]

My family stayed in one when I was about 14 or 15, they were pretty cool. My brother and I had the downstairs for ourselves, which was nice because, on a day when we didn't go to the park, we didn't feel like we were crammed together; my parents could be in their room, I could be in the den area, and my brother downstairs. They were comfortable house/rooms.
The downside was transportation to/from the parks took forever.
Saw the houses when we were down on our honeymoon in november, they looked a little worn out. One appreared to be in the process of getting cleaned out. Hopefully they'll open them to the general public again one day.

 

[Jackie H.]

We were at POFQ Jan1-7. We passed by the tree houses many times. I decided that is was Disney's attempt to make them look used. We never actually SAW any live person. Just the lights on and some curtains closed, some open. But our last night there, we saw people in several of them. We saw a male eating, a female moving around in the kitchen area. And a couple of people watching TV or reading or something. And quite a few had a Brazilian flag hanging on the wall. So it does appear they are actually being used. The boat driver on that trip said they were for the international college program.

 

[AprilLizbeth]

My dad does a lot of security work, like systems, cameras and such for WDW, and he told me there is still a posibility that they may be opened to the public eventually. If they ever do, you can count my husband and I in. My family stayed in houses like this on Beech Mountain in NC and loved them. Very unique use of space. They feel very big for small houses.

 

[DisneyGerry]

They were active this past weekend on our PO cruise to Downtown Disney. Boat driver said they were being used for the international college students but not too be confused with the many international workers, ie South Africans at AKL, etc who stay in the APT complex near Lake Bryan off property.

 

[TSR6]

They were active this past weekend on our PO cruise to Downtown Disney. Boat driver said they were being used for the international college students but not too be confused with the many international workers, ie South Africans at AKL, etc who stay in the APT complex near Lake Bryan off property.

If they stay in the Little Lake Bryan complexes, then they are International College Program - same as the Treehouses.