Treehouse Villas

[Knit1Purl2]

We will be staying at the Treehouse Villas for the first time next month. I'm really excited about staying there, but am concerned about the bus service. Would it be faster to drive to SSR and board the bus there?

 

[supersuperwendy]

If you have a car you could drive to the parks too!

 

[skylynx]

I second that. If you'll have a car, I'd recommend bagging the bus riding. You'll waste too much precious time standing around waiting for buses as the frequency to THV is less. We only ride buses when there's a high frequency and short ride (like from MK to VWL). I don't love parking either, (or the phenomenon that no matter what, the parking CM will send you down to the farthest end of a new row so you have to hike all the way back up) but depending on where you are trying to go, you could spend a couple hours of your Disney time waiting for/riding buses.

 

[DisneyDetective]

Where Treehouse Villas/Saratoga Springs is situated, you're pretty much at the centre of the parks so instead of waiting for buses and having them stop at many places it would be just as quick taking your car.

 

[MEK]

We will be staying at the Treehouse Villas for the first time next month. I'm really excited about staying there, but am concerned about the bus service. Would it be faster to drive to SSR and board the bus there?

Yes - But I would only take the bus when you are going to MK. Drive to the Grandstand Section and park there. If the weather is nice and you are in a villa near the path to the grandstand section, then walk over. Drive to all the other parks. Not kidding. It takes 20 minutes to circle that resort. Still not over it.

The THV pool was closed for 4 of the days I was there in June. I found the walk to the Grandstand pool very manageable and its a great pool with a bar, mug refill station, and splash area.

I have posted multiple pictures of the treehouse and the pools in my most trip report - see link below.

Also - after one particularly bad bus ride from AK (cause you know that bus stops at BB), I went to AP to get my son food (teenager home in the villa with a bad cold). Bell Services took me back to my villa because at 1:30 in the afternoon I was not about to wait for another bus and I was not relishing the thought of walking. So, in a pinch you can get a ride from Bell Services.

Hope you really enjoy your stay. the villas are great and the scenery throughout the entire resort is gorgeous.

 

[CarolAnnC]

If you are heading to Downtown Disney, there is boat service from THV. We never did have time to try it, but the dock was close to where our villa was. It was strange, we would see the internal bus sometimes, with a second internal bus right behind it. Not sure why it worked that way, but seems like the first one must have been delayed for some reason?

I would also drive if I had a car..

 

[DisneyMim]

LOVE the Treehouses, but as others have said the only way I would stay there is with a car.

Enjoy The Magic!!

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

We've done the THV both with and without a car. It was certainly easier with the car, but not inconvenient without.

In general, I find the buses at SSR to be the most consistent transportation of any DVC resort. (At other locations, there's great transportation to a few parks and terrible service to others. A shiver just came over me thinking about the buses to MK/AK at BWV and BCV.) There's good service to all locations from SSR.

That said, when we have a car, we will drive to every park except MK. I really hate dealing with the T&T Center, so we almost always use Disney transportation for the MK. We'll drive to all the other destinations. (Sometimes we'll do the boat to DTD.)

Now, to the specifics of the THV. Drive when you can. If you do take the bus, consider walking to the Grandstand. It isn't extremely inconvenient to use the THV buses, but you can probably walk to Grandstand quicker than waiting for the bus. It's not far at all. This also puts you at the first bus stop on the theme park route instead of the last.

Others have recommended driving to Grandstand to catch the theme park buses. That works, too. There's plenty of parking near the Grandstand bus stop, and it is the parking lot Disney designates for THV guests with more than one vehicle. For me personally, though, I'd rather keep my parking spot at the THV and take the quick walk.

 

[VAfamily1998]

We've done the THV both with and without a car. It was certainly easier with the car, but not inconvenient without.

In general, I find the buses at SSR to be the most consistent transportation of any DVC resort. (At other locations, there's great transportation to a few parks and terrible service to others. A shiver just came over me thinking about the buses to MK/AK at BWV and BCV.) There's good service to all locations from SSR.

That said, when we have a car, we will drive to every park except MK. I really hate dealing with the T&T Center, so we almost always use Disney transportation for the MK. We'll drive to all the other destinations. (Sometimes we'll do the boat to DTD.)

Now, to the specifics of the THV. Drive when you can. If you do take the bus, consider walking to the Grandstand. It isn't extremely inconvenient to use the THV buses, but you can probably walk to Grandstand quicker than waiting for the bus. It's not far at all. This also puts you at the first bus stop on the theme park route instead of the last.

Others have recommended driving to Grandstand to catch the theme park buses. That works, too. There's plenty of parking near the Grandstand bus stop, and it is the parking lot Disney designates for THV guests with more than one vehicle. For me personally, though, I'd rather keep my parking spot at the THV and take the quick walk.

Hi! I'm not the OP, but I'm considering the Treehouse villas for our next trip. I read somewhere else on the DIS that not everyone abides by the "one car per treehouse" rule...and that the CMs don't always enforce it? Does each Treehouse have an assigned spot? And if so, what happens when you arrive there after a long day in the parks, and someone else's car is there? When you complain to a CM, do they really just shrug their shoulders and say "Oh well"? This is truly the one thing giving me pause at the treehouse villas...or at least at not takign the bus everywhere so that no one else would take my spot!!! Thanks!

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

Hi! I'm not the OP, but I'm considering the Treehouse villas for our next trip. I read somewhere else on the DIS that not everyone abides by the "one car per treehouse" rule...and that the CMs don't always enforce it? Does each Treehouse have an assigned spot? And if so, what happens when you arrive there after a long day in the parks, and someone else's car is there? When you complain to a CM, do they really just shrug their shoulders and say "Oh well"? This is truly the one thing giving me pause at the treehouse villas...or at least at not takign the bus everywhere so that no one else would take my spot!!! Thanks!

There are not assigned parking spaces for each treehouse. It's open parking, first come/first serve. With that said, though, we never had a problem finding a spot. It wasn't always right in front of our villa, but we always found one.

 

[VAfamily1998]

There are not assigned parking spaces for each treehouse. It's open parking, first come/first serve. With that said, though, we never had a problem finding a spot. It wasn't always right in front of our villa, but we always found one.

Thanks!

 

[CarolAnnC]

We had a THV 9/13-9/17 and never had a problem parking near our villa. We took our car out each day, and the area closest to our villa always had openings, even after we parked there. I was worried about this too, before arriving, but alas no issue for us at all...