Treehouse Villas?

[officer tigger]

Anyone ever stay in the Treehouse Villas? Can you give me some pros and cons af staying there. Thinking it may be kind of neat for the kids but it seems out of the way from everything.

 

[skylynx]

We've stayed in the Treehouses three times and just loved it. We had a rental car each time so did not have to rely on the bus system, which some folks who have reported on Treehouse stays found lacking. It is a place you stay if you want to feel like you are in your own house (because you are!) It is not the best place to stay if you want to spend a lot of time at the SSR main pool, shops, eateries, etc. because you are a ways away from everything and thus will have to take quite a hike or drive. We felt the layout was really superb for adults traveling with not-so-small kids in that the adults have a really big master suite on one side of the Treehouse and the two smaller bedrooms are on the other side. If you had toddlers, the distance might be an issue, as would the bunk beds in one of the smaller bedrooms. My kids couldn't get enough of it (tvs in every bedroom plus the main living area). The washer and dryer were handy and the open kitchen/bar/dining area surrounded by floor to ceiling windows was a great place to share a family meal cooked out on your own grill if it was too hot to eat outside on the huge private deck. It's the only place in Disney we have ever grilled out our dinner, and we did it at least once each time we stayed, just because we could! We asked for a water view Treehouse and got it each time. At night if you shut your master bedroom lights out and open the curtains over the huge windows you can look out through the treetops and see the lights of the boats that go to OKW and Disney Springs. After a day tackling the crowds and noise at parks, it was truly a respite to come back to the Treehouse and then start each morning peacefully with coffee out on the deck. Like everywhere else in DVC, each property has its lovers and unlovers, but we sure loved the Treehouses!

 

[socababy]

We are trying to decide the same thing! Right now we have 10 nights booked at a 1bdrm AKV CL. Boyfriend was asking if I wanted to do a few of those 10 nights at Treehouse Villas. Not sure what to do!

 

[officer tigger]

Thanks Skylynx that was what I was looking for from a review!! I like the idea of being away from it all and would love to cook on the grill. Not sure if my family would like not being able to walk over to a lobby or pool. We like to return mid-day and relax at the pool. Shame we live to far away to drive there, sounds great to ride a bike over to SSR.

 

[skylynx]

Thanks Skylynx that was what I was looking for from a review!! I like the idea of being away from it all and would love to cook on the grill. Not sure if my family would like not being able to walk over to a lobby or pool. We like to return mid-day and relax at the pool. Shame we live to far away to drive there, sounds great to ride a bike over to SSR.

Hi, Officer Tigger
You actually can request to have a Treehouse that is the closest to the path to walk to the SSR lobby and large pool and if you got your request, the walk would not be more than ten minutes unless you are carrying a two year old, beach pails, flip flops that keep falling off, etc. ;-) There are only a couple that close, and because they are kind of on the edge of SSR's landscaped lawns and the golf course, you lose a little bit of the "surrounded by woods" feel. If you drove to WDW and had bikes with you, it would be an easy ride. There is a quiet pool at the Treehouses that is a reasonably short walk, but it's just a traditional pool with a couple frog squirters (if they are still there) and nothing like the big pool at SSR. Still, it is close and the times we were there we were the only ones in it. Lots of things to factor before you make your decision!

 

[modisneychick]

We stayed there earlier this year. I agree, if you have a car, it is wonderful! My trip was with a large group of friends and it was really nice for everyone to have their own bed. Some of the ladies did use the bus on occasion and found it did eat up a lot of time. You can also take the boat over to the main resort. We were right near the boat dock and it was wonderful. The pool was fine for me, but it is very small. If your kiddos just want to be in the water, it would be fine. The pool is somewhat shaded by trees, so not all areas are good for suntanning. I would definitely stay there again!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

It is a place you stay if you want to feel like you are in your own house (because you are!) It is not the best place to stay if you want to spend a lot of time at the SSR main pool, shops, eateries, etc. because you are a ways away from everything and thus will have to take quite a hike or drive.

^^^This is really all you need to know!

We stayed at the Tree houses this past winter with myself, husband, my brother, my brother's friend, and my five year old son. My brother's friend shared the bunk beds with my son. The layout is what it is, and it either works for your guests or not, but the killer for us was the distance to quick service food and a pool with a water slide. We walked over to the Grandstand pool one day to grab lunch (we had just about the furthest tree house from there) and it just about killed my six year, there was no way we could walk all the way to a water slide pool if we wanted to keep him alive. For adults and older children who are good walkers the walk is not bad. You can walk all the way to Disney Springs in about 30 minutes. We had a car and found it very helpful, but you never realize how often you want to walk some place until you really can't. We would go back if the bed setup worked well for us, but we won't even consider going back until our son is older and a better walker.

One thing that also disappointed us was the overall theming of the rooms. There was really nothing special about the tree houses to us, so it was a heck of a lot of walking and inconvenience that wasn't offset by "wow" accommodations. The tree house was fine, just nothing to write home about.

 

[disneynutz]

Anyone ever stay in the Treehouse Villas? Can you give me some pros and cons af staying there. Thinking it may be kind of neat for the kids but it seems out of the way from everything.

Isolated, quiet, dark grounds, can be buggy, feels like camping.

Bill

 

[disneynutz]

We are trying to decide the same thing! Right now we have 10 nights booked at a 1bdrm AKV CL. Boyfriend was asking if I wanted to do a few of those 10 nights at Treehouse Villas. Not sure what to do!

IMO 10 nights at CL is way overkill for us. A few nights to experience the novelty is more than enough especially since the views from the rooms are the worst at the resort.

Bill

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

..... but it seems out of the way from everything.

They are. And for us that was one of the nicest things about them!

 

[skylynx]

There's been a sad sort of untheming of some of the DVC resorts as it becomes more cost effective to make everything look like a Hilton Garden Inn. Wilderness Lodge used to look waaaaaay more "lodgy," in fact, when they renovated years ago we bought two of the wonderful rustic bison and arrowhead bedside sconces from Mousesurplus for our own log home. Everything's now kind of going all pale, with generic light fixtures. Animal Kingdom and the Polynesian rooms still have some strong theming in their colors and design, but some of the others are sort of morphing into this innocuous ho-hum after renovation. At least the treehouses have some granite countertops and some very cool bathroom fixtures that look like old fashioned pumps and sluices. I was actually quite impressed by them, and besides, you are in a TREEHOUSE on stilts and that in itself is pretty different as DVC units go. A unit that is over 50% floor to ceiling windows is not dark if you draw the curtains, and for us, we were grateful for the restful-to-the-eye decor inside after blazing in the sun all day. That's why we love DVC, right? Because you can sample other styles and then be happy to concentrate your stays at your favorites!

 

[socababy]

IMO 10 nights at CL is way overkill for us. A few nights to experience the novelty is more than enough especially since the views from the rooms are the worst at the resort.

Bill

I can see 10 days being too much. Where to do a split stay is the question though! I'm not excited about packing and moving but if it's worth it, we will. Staying at GFV Thanksgiving week. Never stayed at a monorail resort so that should be fun. Maybe I need to look into a resort that has a really fun pool?!

 

[disneynutz]

I can see 10 days being too much. Where to do a split stay is the question though! I'm not excited about packing and moving but if it's worth it, we will. Staying at GFV Thanksgiving week. Never stayed at a monorail resort so that should be fun. Maybe I need to look into a resort that has a really fun pool?!

A split stay can feel like 2 different vacations. How about BCV or BWV since you will be at an MK resort Thanksgiving week?

Bill

 

[ssxa]

We stayed there in 2014 and loved it. Yes, transportation can be a bit of a hassle with the busses etc... But we were on vacation and the extra 10-15mins didn't bother us.

 

[PoohBears#1fan]

We have 12 nights in the THVs next month, can't wait. It's the quiet, out of the way location and the set up / 3 beds that is just perfect for us

 

[NS8VN]

Here is my experience I wrote up in another thread:

We stayed with a group of 8, 6 adults and 2 children, and it worked out just fine. The kids loved the bunk beds and my wife and I enjoyed the master suite. The only minor complaint was the couple sleeping on the pull out bed, which was as comfortable as any pull out bed. Some of the benefits to having a separated building was the wifi worked well and the kids being loud did not bother anyone else. It feels very secluded, sitting on the deck at night and watching the boats go by on the river was great. The Treehouse pool is very quiet as well, a basic pool but only for use by Treehouse guests. The other SSR pools are also available if you want more than a small pool and spa.

There is a boat launch for Disney Springs that we took advantage of several times. If you are driving you can park right at your Treehouse. If you are flying after you check in at the Carriage House they will drive you over on a cart. A tip, if driving request a place near the entrance and if flying request one further back so you can walk to the bus stop rather than rely on the shuttle. We flew and stayed 1 house away from the walkway to the bus stop. The only time we took the internal shuttle was departure day since we had to go back to the Carriage House to catch DME.

Furnishings were cozy, plumbing worked and had plenty of pressure even with 2 showers going at once. The main area feels a bit small since it is arranged in a circle instead of lengthwise like most villas but when the sofa bed was put away we never felt crowded. We are going back and staying at BLT this time, but I consider the Treehouses a permanent backup if our resort of choice isn't available.

 

[js]

Thank you all for this thread. We are a family of four and kids 18 and 22 and staying at THVs between Christmas and New Years.
We booked since we wanted the bedrooms. My kids and dh didn't want a one bedroom and there were no 2 bedrooms available at the
seven month mark (with exception of AKL). Anyway, I'll put my dd-22 in the bunkbed room and my ds-18 and 6'5" in the second bedroom.

Can I please ask you when and where do I send my THV location request.

Thanks so much!

 

[GrumpyInPhilly]

Thank you all for this thread. We are a family of four and kids 18 and 22 and staying at THVs between Christmas and New Years.
We booked since we wanted the bedrooms. My kids and dh didn't want a one bedroom and there were no 2 bedrooms available at the
seven month mark (with exception of AKL). Anyway, I'll put my dd-22 in the bunkbed room and my ds-18 and 6'5" in the second bedroom.

Can I please ask you when and where do I send my THV location request.

Thanks so much!

I've had very good success making requests using the contact via e-mail form on the member site. I usually send my request 3 - 4 weeks before check-in.

 

[js]

I've had very good success making requests using the contact via e-mail form on the member site. I usually send my request 3 - 4 weeks before check-in.

Thank you so much. Ill put my request in the Monday or Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Thank you again.