Melissa, my Oh MY how your kids have grown. You and Dan's baby isn't a "baby" any more.
The change is overwhelming down behind Pioneer Hall. The construction cranes stand over the old River Country property like storks in a lagoon tracking fish in the water. The coming DVC (which many of us think will follow the old R* construction plan but will have different wallpaper and throw pillows to implement the Tiana theme (she's the heroine from the movie, "Princess and the Frog" and is getting a big intellectual property push - she is the new theme to the Splash Mountain ride in MK).
The cabin changeouts are occurring (old legacy cabins out, new DVC cabins in). The old legacy cabins operated in late November or early December 2024 and now are finally closed. They are being removed as construction moves through the other loops. The DVC cabins are pre-assembled in parts/section and then put together in the loops. Oddly, the decks (all scratch built) seem to take the longest.
The cabin sales are going poorly. The reason is that despite the low number of points required to stay (and buy) at the Cabins at Fort Wilderness (CFW DVC resort), they have a very high annual dues/maintenance fee per point (the highest in all DVC at $12.16 per point). Dues grow an average of about 4% a year (CFW is a 50 year contract). 175 points will cover a week at the cabins in all seasons except Easter and Christmas and that means $2,140 each year for dues growing at 4% per annum.
The cabins were getting old and had to be replaced anyway so Disney decided to let DVC pay to replace them (and pass the cost onto the DVC buyers). There are 7 cabin loops and 3-4 are fully converted but Disney only "releases" cabins for DVC sales as contracts are sold. Cabins get completed but with lack of sales demand, Disney holds on to the completed cabins and rents them out for cash (like a Deluxe Grand Floridian room). Oddly enough, though few want to buy the CFW contracts (which gives the buyers an 11 month in advance booking window), there is a surprisingly large number of current DVC owners who want to use their EXISTING points from the other DVC properties at CFW but they have to wait until 7 months booking. So poor sales means not many completed cabins are "released" to DVC so reservations have been hard to get at times for the 7 months people. People want to try out the Fort (most love it) but not many want to buy there because of the dues cost.
The thought is that the new resort behind Pioneer Hall will be joined somehow with the CFW cabins and might allow some cost sharing (reducing the dues for the cabins-big maybe). Also the construction behind Pioneer Hall means the Exercise Trail from the new TCD Horse Barn to Wilderness Lodge remains closed due to the nearby construction although it has been fully repaved. Although a bus does run between the Fort and WL.
There has also been a filing to build something in the field on the side of the tennis courts where they play field games (toward the canal). No idea what it will be - I predict a sewage pump station for the 900 room DVC resort.
The big grass field on the cabin side of the main road near the Hitch/Un-hitch pull-overs is a huge construction zone for staging the people, parts, and machines for the cabin conversion (which should wrap up in the March-May 2025 time frame). They'll re-seed the field probably and keep cars off it all summer and hope it recovers.
The cabin replacements don't bother me so much (one cabin out, one cabin in). However, the 900 room R*-type DVC resort (may have cabins down on the beach) will add SO many people who will want to explore the Fort and enjoy its amenities that I'm afraid it will overwhelm the Fort camper culture.
But time will tell.
Great pics of your western adventure. I'm sure those will leave wonderful memories for your kids.
Bama Ed
PS - some of the 900 rooms at the new DVC resort behind Pioneer Hall may be traditional hotel rooms so the 900 may be split - part DVC/part resort.
