Tried the Treehouse!

[Boopuff]

Just got back from a great trip stayed at the Treehouse villas. I read as much as I could find here on the boards prior to making my decision. The treehouses are great!
Plusses :
We had 5 adults and plenty of room.
2 full baths!
full kitchen, washer/dryer.
Quiet location (well except for boat horns!)
empty pool/hot tub. We'd take a nice soak after touring and every evening we were the only people!
SSR pools are very nice


Minus:
Although they are quiet, they are far from the SSR.
Bus service is kooky. The shuttle to the main resort runs 20min in a loop (we sat on the deck and for fun timed it!)
Parking - each treehouse has one spot allotted and you know people and cars... they multiply! We had one car for our family. But every day the resort put messages out repeating the parking "rules" They should number the spots...
Boat horns... either you find them charming or annoying...

Overall: if you choose the treehouses bring/rent a car. Makes life much easier. (bus is doable) They are great to just hang out on the deck in the evening, quiet, great retreat from the bustle of WDW.

 

[dmea10]

I have always wanted to stay in one of the tree houses. Glad you had a good time. Transportation can be a pain at any resort I suppose.

 

[AndiSlamberg]

Transportation sometimes can be iffy I've been on trips where we get a bus every time we walk outside and other times where we are always waiting 20+ minutes so it happens. Sounds like the Tree houses were amazing otherwise!

 

[RustManFan]

I have always wanted to stay there too but never enough people traveling to justify the cost.

 

[Micca]

Looking forward to trying it out some day. Thanks for the review

 

[Pink Pajamas]

I've considered staying there but I have concerns about it being inconvenient or boring. We have always limited our resort choice to the ones where everything is in one building- YC, BC, BWI, WL, CR, and GF (main building only). The treehouses look so cool and they look like a great option for extended families, but how does bell services work? If I do Garden Grocer for arrival or need all luggage to go to airline check in on departure day, how long does it take bell services to respond? Do they walk across the entire property with a cart? What if it's raining? What if I need additional items from housekeeping? Is the response immediate? What if we need something from the convenience market in the lobby? For example if I need an additional case of water mid-trip do I have to carry it all the way from SSR's main building? What do the kids do when they're fidgity? Where can they go to burn off some steam for a few minutes? At the places we usually stay there is so much going on all the time. How do you and your kids stay occupied at the treehouse? Is there any interesting place to walk that is on par with the boardwalk lake area, that is located right outside the door? I'd love to try the treehouses but I'm afraid we'll regret the choice in comparison to where we usually stay. Thanks in advance to OP and/or anyone who can give more detail.

 

[Hopefully]

I've considered staying there but I have concerns about it being inconvenient or boring. We have always limited our resort choice to the ones where everything is in one building- YC, BC, BWI, WL, CR, and GF (main building only). The treehouses look so cool and they look like a great option for extended families, but how does bell services work? If I do Garden Grocer for arrival or need all luggage to go to airline check in on departure day, how long does it take bell services to respond? Do they walk across the entire property with a cart? What if it's raining? What if I need additional items from housekeeping? Is the response immediate? What if we need something from the convenience market in the lobby? For example if I need an additional case of water mid-trip do I have to carry it all the way from SSR's main building? What do the kids do when they're fidgity? Where can they go to burn off some steam for a few minutes? At the places we usually stay there is so much going on all the time. How do you and your kids stay occupied at the treehouse? Is there any interesting place to walk that is on par with the boardwalk lake area, that is located right outside the door? I'd love to try the treehouses but I'm afraid we'll regret the choice in comparison to where we usually stay. Thanks in advance to OP and/or anyone who can give more detail.

Reading your lists of questions and seeing your concerns, I think your gut is right - doesn't sound like the choice for you. The attraction is the peace and quiet. No there is nothing like the Boardwalk outside your door. Families entertain each other, there is no entertainment outside your treehouse Villa.
If an outer building at the GF is not for you , this is eons more remote than that. I don't think you would be happy.
Not everything is for everybody.

 

[Pink Pajamas]

Reading your lists of questions and seeing your concerns, I think your gut is right - doesn't sound like the choice for you. The attraction is the peace and quiet. No there is nothing like the Boardwalk outside your door. Families entertain each other, there is no entertainment outside your treehouse Villa.
If an outer building at the GF is not for you , this is eons more remote than that. I don't think you would be happy.
Not everything is for everybody.

Excellent. Thank you so much for the reply.

 

[Perelandra]

I've considered staying there but I have concerns about it being inconvenient or boring. We have always limited our resort choice to the ones where everything is in one building- YC, BC, BWI, WL, CR, and GF (main building only). The treehouses look so cool and they look like a great option for extended families, but how does bell services work? If I do Garden Grocer for arrival or need all luggage to go to airline check in on departure day, how long does it take bell services to respond? Do they walk across the entire property with a cart? What if it's raining? What if I need additional items from housekeeping? Is the response immediate? What if we need something from the convenience market in the lobby? For example if I need an additional case of water mid-trip do I have to carry it all the way from SSR's main building? What do the kids do when they're fidgity? Where can they go to burn off some steam for a few minutes? At the places we usually stay there is so much going on all the time. How do you and your kids stay occupied at the treehouse? Is there any interesting place to walk that is on par with the boardwalk lake area, that is located right outside the door? I'd love to try the treehouses but I'm afraid we'll regret the choice in comparison to where we usually stay. Thanks in advance to OP and/or anyone who can give more detail.

I agree with the above poster. My home resort is SSR, and we stayed in The Springs location this last September, which turned out to be a super convenient location, and the stay actually far exceeded my expectations. I bought at SSR planning on rarely ever staying there, however after this stay, I would move it much further up my list.
Anyway, to get to your question, we drove through the Tree House Villas loop during our stay, because I thought there was a strong chance that we would stay there, and after driving through, I think it's the last DVC resort place I would stay. I can see why people would love the quiet and calm, but it was so remote and the parking and the bus system would drive us crazy, because even though we've been to Disney World 3 out of the last 5 years, I still love to go to the parks and this has to be the least convenient location to do that from in my opinion. It felt like the worlds most expensive camping trip to me, and judging by your tendencies, you wouldn't care for it.

 

[Pink Pajamas]

@Perelandra, thanks. Very helpful.

 

[Boopuff]

Bell services was quick. They take you to the treehouse via golf carts. There is a walking path to the Grandstand location. About a 10 min walk. The main building is walkable but far. The bus is your best option. They do have a small grocery type selection at the food court. There is a small square pool dedicated to the tree houses. As far as kids buring off steam I don't think there is any "open space" or playground type area around the treehouses (again we didn't have kids with us).

 

[SeaPic]

Hi, I just book a treehouse for February, searched the boards and here you were! Gotta love it. I hope you don't mind a few questions?

Are there parking spots for additional cars? My sister may be driving up from Tampa to join us.
Can you really walk to Disney Springs? Google maps shows the bridge at the WAAAyyy other end of SSR.
Do any of them have a view of the 'river'?

I remember seeing these as a kid and am excited to finally get to try them. It's a non park trip (except for the DVC MK thing) so we are there to relax and check out whats new with Disney Springs.

Thanks!

 

[yaksack]

My family of 5 stayed there a few years ago. We loved it, but it was too big for us. The only bad thing was the distance from the main areas.

We would go back.

 

[yaksack]

We had a view of the river.

 

[Boopuff]

Are there parking spots for additional cars? - nope extra cars have to park at the main resort in fact during our stay we got phone messages daily to remind us that only one car per treehouse (we only had one the call goes out to all!)

Can you really walk to Disney Springs? Google maps shows the bridge at the WAAAyyy other end of SSR. - We never walked. But you can! We took the boat, the dock is right in the middle of the treehouses
Do any of them have a view of the 'river'? -yes the one we stayed in was on the river but the foliage is very thick and you have to peek through!

Hope that helps!

 

[Boopuff]

HI

 

[Hopefully]

HI

Over 2 years old,!!! What is your points?

 

[Darklord77]

We stayed in a THV for a week back in 2012. We had a party of 9 people so the THV was the best option. You definitely need your own transportation. Another trick is to request a TH near the Grandstand walkway. It's easier to walk to the Grandstand and catch the regular SSR bus from there if you don't want to drive your own car. I had very few complaints on that trip as far as the THV or SSR goes.

 

[TheBigErn]

Can you get 6 adults in one?