What was that?

[bytheblood]

When you take the boat ride from POR or POFQ to DTD, you pass by a resort that is mixed in with the swamplands. They look like bungalows above the trees and are brown. They are to the left on the way to DTD.

The lady who drives the boat said that if they tear them down, Disney will not be able to use that property again because it is Florida swamplands. She said that Disney either has to use them or lose the space.

The rooms looked like they could be used. There were ceiling fans in them which were going, I saw some people in several of the rooms (looked like maintenance crews) as we passed by and there were quite a few with lights on.

What resort were they are part of?

 

[bgirldeb]

Treehouse Villas

If you do a search on the dis of "Treehouse villas" you'll learn more about them.

 

[bgirldeb]

Actually, here is a recent thread about them http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=966466

 

[fivefordisney]

Maybe the "Treehouse Villas" ??

 

[RoyalCanadian]

Officially, they are now a part of Saratoga Springs Resort but are not available for the public to use.

 

[bytheblood]

Thanks, I recall that now. I appreciate the link. I wish I could see what the inside of them look like.

 

[kirbsam]

we stayed there when i was a kid. remember this really cool bathtub, and a peacock on our porch every morning.

 

[TiggerInLBV]

What you saw are the Treehouse Villas. They were originally part of the Disney Village Resort, then The Disney Institute. Now, I think they are being used by the International College Program. I think one of the reasons why they aren't being used for Guest use anymore are that they are not exactly ADA accessible. The bedroom located downstairs used to have a double bed that looked like it was made of the rigging off a sailing ship and also the washer and dryer were located downstairs as well. There was a spiral staircase that brought you upstairs into the living room/kitchen area. The most unique feature was in the master bath; a circular metal bathtub. There was a Queen size bed in the master and direct access to the wrap around balcony. I have many fond memories of the Treehouse Villas. Whe3n I worked Graveyard at The Disney Institute it was kinds spooky delivery express check outs in the dark to all of the Treehouse's; you had to be constantly on the lookout for mean peacocks!

 

[3princesses4us]

How funny, we were wondering the same thing when we were there. Luckily on one of our last trips from DT Disney to POR we sat up front and asked the boat driver. He explained it to us of course, but I think it's interesting enough stuff that they should all make sure and tell everyone on the short ride to and from. I would love to see them all fixed up again.

 

[SueM in MN]

I think one of the reasons why they aren't being used for Guest use anymore are that they are not exactly ADA accessible.

I've read that before, but don't think it is true.
If they renovated them, they would have to make a few of them accessible. If they just do upkeep and "cosmetic" renovation, I don't believe they would have to do anything to make them accessible.
I don't have a link since I got a new computer, but the ADA "formula" amounts to about 4% of hotel rooms need to be wheelchair accessible. Only about 1 room out of 100 needs to be totally wheelchair accessible, with a roll in shower. Since I think there were only between 50 and 75 Treehouse villas, that's very few they would have to renovate for accessibility.

There would be ways to do that, such as putting an outside elevator that takes you from the ground to the deck. From there, you could just roll in. There would not be a requirement to make the spiral staircase accessible and they wouldn't necessarily have to make both levels accessible without going outside. They would need to do some reconfiguring to make a roll in shower, but they can take out walls, as long as they are not load bearing walls, so I don't think that would be too hard.

In the last few years that they were open, we were on the OKW bus a couple of times when it was shared with the Treehouses. One of the things that struck us was how far apart some of the Treehouses were. Cleaning them would have been a nightmare. As we drove thru, it appeared that only a few of the villas were occupied, which would make all of the "costs" even higher. You can see from the pictures that the pool is not exactly a feature pool, so that would need extensive renovation.
I think they decided, based on low occupancy, that it just did not make sense to stick money into them for rental.

 

[mommykds]

Oh wow! We saw them in October & also wanted to know what they were..looked spooky to us. (like the rooms in a horror movie) Ok I guess it's just mean peacocks you have to worry about!

 

[Syrreal]

I doubt they are being used as housing for the intl college program (otherwise they would all be filled up all the time). Also part of the experience for teh intl students is living with everyone else

on another note...I always thought it would be so cool to stay there. They look awesome

 

[SueM in MN]

They were being used for college students and also for some longer term internship type programs as kind of dorm housing.
That was according to the bartender at OKW about 4-5 years ago when we had noticed some of them were being renovated. When you went by in the boats, you could actually see some were being gutted down to bare framing.

After that, some got damaged by a hurricane (I forgot the name) from a few years ago and were not repaired. So some are probably in good shape and some really bad (there was roof damage from the hurricane knocking down trees.

 

[bgirldeb]

I got to stay in them for a weekend back in 1989-1990 with my family when I lived in FL. They were really nice, and because of the distance between them they seemed private. It was just my parents and my sister with me, so my sister and I each got our own bedroom

 

[Matt]

I got to stay in them for a weekend back in 1989-1990 with my family when I lived in FL. They were really nice, and because of the distance between them they seemed private. It was just my parents and my sister with me, so my sister and I each got our own bedroom

Yeah, just to add to everybody, they are definitely being used by international students right now.

 

[Got Quattro?]

When you take the boat ride from POR or POFQ to DTD, you pass by a resort that is mixed in with the swamplands. They look like bungalows above the trees and are brown. They are to the left on the way to DTD.

The lady who drives the boat said that if they tear them down, Disney will not be able to use that property again because it is Florida swamplands. She said that Disney either has to use them or lose the space.

The rooms looked like they could be used. There were ceiling fans in them which were going, I saw some people in several of the rooms (looked like maintenance crews) as we passed by and there were quite a few with lights on.

What resort were they are part of?

You have to be kidding me. you have over 2,100 posts on here and you ask this question?

It's cool. Every board needs someone to "troll" for conversation.

 

[Mysteria]

You have to be kidding me. you have over 2,100 posts on here and you ask this question?

It's cool. Every board needs someone to "troll" for conversation.

Didn't take your happy pill today? It is not hard to have that many posts here and not know about the treehouses. Even if they were just trying to make conversation. At least it was polite conversation.

Myst