Honest Review: The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort | DVC Newest Addition - Must-Watch!
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- Welcome Foolish Mortals! We're diving deep into The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort, the newest addition to the Disney Vacation Club (DVC) lineup. This review covers everything you want and need to know to decide if this unique resort is the perfect fit for your next Walt Disney World vacation. 🌲✨
🛏 Cabin Layout & Sleeping Arrangements:
We'll give you our thoughts on the cabin layout, focusing on the sleeping arrangements. With the ability to sleep 6, this may seem perfect for larger families, but there's a lot you need to consider before booking.
🏞 Resort Vibes & Transportation:
Let's chat about the environment that is Fort Wilderness and the various transportation options available to you. We'll share our thoughts on the overall vibe of the resort and how it compares to other Disney properties.
📉 Our Experience - The Good & The Bad:
We'll share our personal experience staying at The Cabins, including what went wrong and how Disney's staff handled the situation. This was one of our most challenging reviews to make due to the unique nature of this resort.
🏰 DVC Insights:
Is The Cabins at Fort Wilderness really up to the DVC standard? We'll discuss why this resort feels more like a Moderate Resort with a DVC sticker slapped on it, rather than the Deluxe experience DVC Members expect and pay for.
💡 Key Takeaways:
Our final thoughts on whether The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort is worth considering for your next trip or DVC investment.
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Great review. Thank you for presenting both perspectives. We’ve seriously been considering buying into the cabins, and all of your insight as someone who already owns DVC is so valuable. Thank you again!
Thanks! We're so glad that you found this helpful. 😄
Very informative series, well done!!
I love how in depth you go on all of it!
Seeing the cabins, I have a dream now of bringing my daughter and a couple of her friends for a milestone birthday or something similar - bedroom with bunk beds for them to have a sleepover, I sleep on the murphy bed, we all have a blast. But as soon as the dues were announced I knew it would absolutely not be a buy-in for us; the dues alone are more than the yearly per-point cost of most of the resorts on resale. And because we're most likely going to get a resale contract when it comes down to it, it's unlikely we'll ever stay there unless we're swapping reservations with someone else.
It looks like a really neat, unique place to stay, and I feel like your reviews have solidified that for me. It's a serious shame they didn't put more attention to detail in especially given that the cabins are pre-fabricated and trucked in. Very disappointing.
That would be an AWESOME milestone birthday/getaway idea! The bedroom setup definitely feels perfect for that type of thing too. The dues though. . . coupled with the fact that it doesn't really grow with your family. . . it's a hard pass for me.
This is possibly your best review. I appreciated hearing everything. Those quality and amenity topics really matter to me.
I completely agree.
Thank you. 😄❤️
I kinda feel the same about this as I do about a few of the other new/refurbished things at Disney world right now. It seems like it opened too soon and that the quality of the product isn’t really there. I wish they had gone with a slightly larger trailer so that the space would better accommodate a washer and dryer. I also wish that the bunk beds weren’t in the bed room, I know that was part of the previous layout but I didn’t love that before either. I personally don’t love the wall of windows (my mom jokes that I’m a mole person) but I can see why most people would like that better. It never really made sense to me to make the cabins a DVC property, and if they were going to go in that direction it feels like it should have been more luxe. Even if this was just a refurbishment for the cabins it seems like the quality isn’t there and that’s disappointing. I still love Fort Wilderness and I hope that with this type of feedback they can make improvements.
Oh yeah! 100%! The same thing could EASILY be said about Tiana's Bayou Adventure. It's like the focus was on the deadline and not the quality. . . which is a shame.
Thank you for the great detailed review. This is sad though. We're seeing the decline in quality across the parks and resorts, despite ever increasing prices.
We're glad that you enjoyed the review! 😄 Yeah, the decline in quality overall is certainly disappointing to say the least.
The placement of the bathroom is an issue and I will not stay here for that reason alone. You have to walk past where the murphy bed is and thru the kitchen to use the bathroom or take a shower when there are 2 people sleeping on the murphy bed. Strange they would put it there instead of beside the main bedroom and murphy bed.
It's definitely odd and not well suited for a room that sleeps 6 in our opinion.
Excellent assessment. We are currently DVC Members with a different home resort. I used to love camping at Ft Wilderness Campground and wanted to stay at the cabins, now that we are older. We may still do so one day. I like the interior of the new cabins, but the exterior is not themed very well. I was hoping for more of the old log cabin look from the exterior. These new cabins resemble backcountry lean-tos found on the Appalachian Trail, with the floor to ceiling windows functioning as the 4th wall on the lean-tos. The game changer for us against ever adding on the Cabins to our DVC contract is the lack of dining options. The changes Disney made to Trails End, from full service buffet to this quick service hybrid is both poorly conceived and poorly timed. It makes it look like one part of Ft. Wilderness management was not in sync with what DVC planned for these new cabins. Given the isolation of Ft. Wilderness, which is part of its charm, you have to drive somewhere to eat, and this can compound the inconvenience of the transportation issues already cited. This project was not well executed and it was a disappointment. Disney has done far better in the past, and we expect more. I understand that these DVC cabins are not selling well.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I don't have any experience with Trail's End as a buffet, so I can't speak to that. I have heard a LOT of people express their disappointment over the change though and I can definitely understand that.
I agree, Disney has absolutely done better and most of us expect more. They're pushing the limits of what they can cut back on quality wise much more in recent years and I think The Cabins is a step too far for many.
Thank you for the honest review, we were thinking of booking the cabins for a family vacation. I did not love the bunk beds in the bedroom situation. Now after watching your videos I think the cabins are a hard no for us. Just not the type of accommodations we are looking for in a family vacation.
Glad you found this helpful! Yeah, it's a place that REALLY needs to be your vibe in order to be enjoyable. Hope you find a place that will be a better fit AND that you have an awesome vacation!
Thanks!
THANK YOU! 😊
I think it is clear Disney is flipping these to DVC as another money grab. The amount of money they get by selling all of the points allocated to a cabin must absolutely dwarf the cost of constructing it. Then they are passing on the maintenance, and probably part of the cost of the shuttles, to the DVC members. Really makes you stop and think if buying these is a good idea. Even guides I talked to before they opened didn’t seem very high on the cabins.
Absolutely!
Perfect assessment of the business economics and drivers behind making these cabins a DVC property.
Great review! Thank you!
Thanks!
I love the Epcot loop music so much.
Me too!
I love the Epcot music ❤
Old cabins are in my opinion better just cause you don’t have to walk past the kitchen/ living room to go to the bathroom! And the stove is right next to the fridge no space in between??
Yeah. . . I still can't wrap my head around why they went the route of having the bathroom way at the other end of the cabin.
We LOVE the Fort but, you have to love camping. We just bought OKW and have a stay in the cabins booked for Oct. I DO NOT think the Fort is DVC quality. We own a park model which is what the cabins are and you can design them in all sorts of ways. Ours has a double loft. Some have 1.5 baths, some 2 bedrooms. These were designed awful in the sleeping arrangements. Kitchen and bath in the middle to separate the pull out bed. These were designed with the big window in mind. You really need a golf cart to get around. We have NEVER went to the quiet pool because we have grands with us and want the big pool. The cabins are not NOT close to anything. The two that were they are using as display and office. The cabins used to blend with nature. That blue and red doesn’t blend at all. Missed opportunity to expand those driveways a bit for larger vehicles. You don’t have a full sit down restaurant. There is Crockets but it’s really a bar type and small. If it rains all week laundry is walking to it. There is no place to park a car near the marina area where quick service is and the boat to Mk. Only GC parking there. So you have to take a bus and once again it’s all outside if raining. Lots to consider
There IS a lot to consider and that's EXACTLY what made this review so challenging for us. I definitely see the appeal, especially as someone who has spent and enjoyed a lot of time camping, but I do think that adding this to the DVC lineup communicates that The Cabins are going to be something that they're not. . . which can make the experience seem like a bad one, even though it's not. I hope that makes sense. Anyway, thank you so much for sharing your experience and thoughts. 😄
Nicely done review. DVC should take note. Thanks, my wife and I were looking to book here........we'll hold off for now. Thanks
Thanks. 😄❤️
We stayed in the cabins back in 2014, the old setup worked well for us at the time as we had my parents come with us and my son was a month shy of being 3. We took the main bedroom and my parents had the Murphy bed. We had a great time, I found it quieter than staying at a hotel with space between the cabins. Towels were provided at the pools back then, I confirmed with my son’s dad since he did a pool day and I did laundry 😂 Did Disney ever consider a added loft space to accommodate larger/growing families? Each plot has only so much ground space but they could have added a level no? I feel like the people in charge really should spend more time on property in the parks talking to guests instead of looking at bean counters (for all companies not just Disney, we were just discussing the same thing at my own place of work). The electrical problems is a major concern to me. They send someone to reset the circuit breaker but if it keeps happening there’s a REASON why the breaker keeps popping. Disney has to fix that before something catches on fire. 😳😬 did they cheap out on material too? Not use the proper wiring 😬 charge a high price for cut corners is not good.
I will say. . . inside the cabin was DEFINITELY quiet! I can't say the same for the resort itself, but even with the loud music outside you couldn't hear it inside the cabin at all, which was nice!
You know, I'm not sure that improving on the cabins in a way that would accommodate growing/larger families was on the table. . . which is part of what is so confusing [at least IMO] about making this a DVC property. I do agree though, there should be more time devoted by the decision makers to experiencing/using the properties they are updating. This is true for The Cabins, but we could say this for so many other things as well.
I agree with you on the electrical issue as well. This is a danger, not just an inconvenience. To have the solution just be "let us know and we'll come out and handle it" isn't really a solution, but also doesn't really feel safe. . . but that's just me.
Years ago
My husband and I came very close to purchasing a DVC for bay lake tower it was still being built but we were on the list for purchase unfortunately three months into that my husband had got laid off from his job so we had to cancel now being that we see what we see and all that is happening with Disney. I am very, very grateful to say we made the decision to not purchase. My question to you is do you have to pay property tax and maintenance every year to me it would just be like buying a condominium or a co-op to pay amenities, maintenance and property taxes. It would seem silly to me to purchase this and not to go when I wanna go and not spend more time at a place I’m paying so much money for. I just wanted to know what the round ballpark figure would be on something like that?? Taxes and such.
I am curious. When you and your husband were removed from the list, did you have to pay a fee for backing out? Had you made any type of deposit at that point?
@@fbueller no at the time there was no down payment made so we kind of made a clean break and everything went well with that. It was still very in the early stages of production Bay Lake Tower so it all went well for us and to this day I’m so grateful that it did. I don’t look back on it things just have a way of working out.👍
@@fbueller you may want to check with Disney if you’re thinking about doing it I’m sure that the policies have now changed as Disney the company has always changing something or another
Yes. Buying into Disney Vacation Club is buying a real estate interest, which means you're paying dues [taxes, maintenance costs, etc] annually. How much you're paying in dues will vary based on what property you own and how many points you have purchased. Dues can range from $8 to $13 per point. For example, if you have a 200 point contract and annual dues are $10 per point, your annual dues will be $2000. Like taxes and other maintenance costs, this can and will go up periodically.
@@2foolishmortals wow. Thank you 🙏🏻 I’m sure over the years it has gone up as well.
I wouldn’t buy the cabins but I’ll use my vero points to stay there. I like the idea of a low points one bedroom in a new setting. That said seriously I’d never buy there.
I definitely think that this can be a fun place to stay for the right family that's looking for a new experience to use their DVC points on. That said, I'm right there with you. This is not one of those places I'd ever consider buying, even more so now that I've stayed here.
This is what Disney has become. I wouldn't go there now even if I was given all the money on the planet of earth. I don't want to see my childhood and all that was good about the resort destroyed or altered. Which is a shame, would've loved to shared that with my grandson.
But thank you for going so I don't have to. 😎👍
To compound the unfortunate changes, Disney has removed that excellent portrait of Fess Parker as Davy Crockett from Crockett's Tavern. I asked why and I was told, "because he carried a rifle." Really? A frontiersman carried a rifle? Oh the outrage! Bob Iger and team have no understanding or respect for the emotional connection that kept bringing folks back to WDW and Disneyland to relive our childhood and allow us to share it with our children and grandchildren. It's heartbreakingly sad. We are looking forward to what Universal's Epic Universe may bring.
Will the front desk give DVC members staying on points, tokens to use the paid laundry facilities? Our dues pay for those laundry rooms, it's not right to pay for the use of it as well.
. . . . they'll probably just call it an "incidental benefit" and say you're on your own.
Perhaps once they are done and Reflexion (or something else) is done.
It's a shame that DVC just pulled in new trailers and expected us members to not expect all the other amenities that come with DVC resorts. To me that is insulting.
They’re actually not trailers. They’re prefab small homes that are assembled onsite. Similar to how tiny homes are often built.
Ft. Wilderness has everything the other Disney resorts have and more! It’s the only DVC property that allows you to bring your dog as well.
This is one of the best videos you have ever done! Very well thought out points with both DVC and non-DVC viewpoints considered. Just great! But where is Russ? We are in crisis mode over here with loss of quality and Russ’ perspective was missed! He isn’t quite as politically correct as you are and often helps give a needed balance to reviews. Can we get a Part 2 down the road?
Thanks! Yeah, we thought it was super important to approach this the way we did. . . especially with the nature of the property and the way it transitioned over. It took a lot of time working out how to organize and present our thoughts, but I'm glad we took our time with it.
Rest assured, while Russ might not be in the video giving this review with me. . . his perspective is ABSOLUTELY represented! We spend a lot of time both throughout our stay and, in the case of The Cabins, afterwards discussing all of what ultimately ends up in the review.
Your comment about these being built on the cheap with non-premium materials (and it sounds like the AC and electrical are also impacted), and it shifts the costs of maintenance from Disney to the DVC member is very interesting. This adds another wrinkle to future DVC projects - where did they skimp to increase profits. It feels egregious in this case since the points are low but dues are very high.
Kinda makes you think that Disneys future move isnt to offer the best premium resorts at a discount via DVC, but as a tool for 'gentrifying' and offloading resorts with high operational costs. I hope this experiment (moderate resorts in DVC) fails horribly and they get back to offering amazing beautiful accommodations at a lower 'fixed' rate.
What is the current dues amount for the cabins? I know dues increase periodically. Are they reassessed annually?
@@fbueller$12 something per point vs $8 and $9 elsewhere
@fbueller More often than not. . . yes. Dues cover a long list of things to include real estate taxes, operating costs, refurbishment, maintenance, administrative costs and so on. When those things go up, so too do the dues. That can absolutely happen annually, though that's not always the case.
@justinbaker2883 Absolutely! And look, like any good business, they're going to push it as far as they can go and see what they can get away with. The problem [at least IMO] is that it's now on the consumer to decide whether or not this is an acceptable move. . . and there's an ever growing number of DVC Members who are increasingly satisfied with scraps. Why wouldn't Disney try to serve up crumbs next?
@2foolishmortals it's a lesson I thought Disney would have learned by now. Trying to offer a premium vacation destination on the cheap does not work - see Disneyland California Adventure. Disney is a Corp and they gotta make money i get it, just charge more. There will be people complain that it's way more than it used to be; there will be remarks that Disney is only for the wealthy now, yadda yadda. But slowly sliding into for the wealthy only, and not being a premium product is the worst of both worlds. They are trying to thread a needle that they are not good at.
Unpopular opinion: I never bought DVC because it looked old, and not my style. I bought Riviera because it was beautiful and added on at Grand Flo after the renovations. I'm not sure DVC members that have been DVC a long time understand that there are more than one expectation of DVC. Just a thought. Also, it's wise not to say the "it looks like Ikea furniture" because Ikea is a billion dollar company and many people including CZcamsrs have Ikea in their homes. Again, just a thought. Nice informative review.
Can you bring bicycles and bike around the resort?
@@danalmont8340 Yes! We actually saw a lot of people with their own bicycles. Just be sure to bring a bike lock! Especially if you plan on using them to get around the resort.
Look up the Fantasy Springs Hotel in Tokyo Disney. That is what Iger and co. COULD give the US parks. They can more than afford it. Instead they give you pebbles and insist that they’re pearls. Shameful.
. . yup.
No not right at all for the cabins to be DVC Having to go elsewhere to do laundry no just no not acceptable