Getting Out of the Cold: A January 2024 Visit To Fort Wilderness

[DL1WDW2]

I was thinking about the peacocks that sleep in the trees and apparently Turkeys also sleep in the trees .

And the wildlife are not going to be happy about the construction , etc
So be careful .Walking and driving and riding your bike !

 

[cruising spud]

There was a woods behind the house where I grew up. When I was about ten, some men from the game commission drove into our driveway, spoke to my dad (asking if they could use our lawn as a work area), and proceeded to release about twenty wild turkeys into the woods. The turkeys roosted in the trees.

 

[Love Ft Wilderness]

@bama_ed I just posted about this from my December trip.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/meadows-construction-stakes.3938607/

If you get a chance to ride over to Meadows, please check out to see if those staked flags are still there? Thank you.

 

[Paulaparm]

Thanks for sharing! We are spending the month on the gulf (condo, not camper this time).
It‘s hard to be so close and not visit WDW! But we are in the ”starting to talk about” phase of a Jan/Feb 2025 trip. I think I have DH talked into 3 weeks at the Fort!

 

[bama_ed]

 

[amcc]

Down by Trails End porch and the old playground, there were benches angled for viewing over Discovery Island. For MK fireworks maybe?



A boat was coming in. Hear the horn?

Always so good to see a @bama_ed trip report!! We've only been in 1500 twice over a couple dozen trips and it is such a good loop!!

We spent a good while trying to figure out what those benches were for over New Year's. They are so awkwardly placed in an area that doesn't really have a good view of anything...including people watching.

Bama Ed

How many spaces for 6-seat-carts were there?

Probably as many as they have 6-seat-golf-carts.

We know that are rare as hen's teeth but I counted the 6-seat spaces.

Ten (10). So that's (I'll bet @Teamubr 's last $hiny dollar) how many 6-seaters FW has.

10 6-seaters...that's kind of sad. On a good note, you can now reserve one over the phone when you call in to make your reservation. Before you had to wait to get there and hope there was one available.

 

[Teamubr]

How many spaces for 6-seat-carts were there?

Probably as many as they have 6-seat-golf-carts.

We know that are rare as hen's teeth but I counted the 6-seat spaces.

Ten (10). So that's (I'll bet @Teamubr 's last $hiny dollar) how many 6-seaters FW has.

Ed,
You are thinking way to logically. This is Disney, so you know there will be either 9 or 11.

j

 

[bama_ed]

With just one quick visit , it did seem like a lot to take care of on property but not confident with explaining Why .

I have a guess (and it's just a guess), @DL1WDW2, but I owned a condo in a college student area and paid HOA dues (similar to DVC type dues) and surmise the following:

- In a multi-unit building (condo or DVC) there are efficiencies of shared space. Shared cable and piping runs, one roof that covers several floors/units, fewer walls exposed to the exterior (condo units back to back share an interior wall).

- The proposed CFW, however, don't have that efficiency. Every (condo) unit has four exterior walls. Every single unit has its own roof. There are no shared utility or common duct run. In effect it is a "true" cost of dues versus a "discounted" cost of dues in multi-unit housing.

I'm retired from the communications industry and I know that the cost of building a facility network (cable/fiber/coax etc.) among 100 individual homes (like a subdivision) is MUCH more expensive than building a facility network in a high rise building that has 100 units. That's the kind of approach I mean.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

Is there a screen on that top half open door?

I think it was but I will go check tomorrow, @4077, and see if it was still there.

 

[amcc]

I have a guess (and it's just a guess), @DL1WDW2, but I owned a condo in a college student area and paid HOA dues (similar to DVC type dues) and surmise the following:

- In a multi-unit building (condo or DVC) there are efficiencies of shared space. Shared cable and piping runs, one roof that covers several floors/units, fewer walls exposed to the exterior (condo units back to back share an interior wall).

- The proposed CFW, however, don't have that efficiency. Every (condo) unit has four exterior walls. Every single unit has its own roof. There are no shared utility or common duct run. In effect it is a "true" cost of dues versus a "discounted" cost of dues in multi-unit housing.

I'm retired from the communications industry and I know that the cost of building a facility network (cable/fiber/coax etc.) among 100 individual homes (like a subdivision) is MUCH more expensive than building a facility network in a high rise building that has 100 units. That's the kind of approach I mean.

Bama Ed

Insurance costs are also significantly higher per mobile home unit than per unit in a building. Maybe Disney is self-insured or maybe this isn't part of DVC dues but it could be a driver for higher costs.

 

[bama_ed]

Thank you so much for this report. Makes me miss the fort - haven't stayed there in probably 15 years, but it was the only place we stayed until I was out of high school. Still going to Disney plenty but the pop-up trailer is long gone and the cabins are a bit out of the budget anymore for the number of times we visit. Still love stopping by for a visit though.

You're welcome, @honeymo78.

One possibility you might consider is the combined cost of a Full campsite with a rented trailer. The vendor puts it in the campsite for you and just drive up and use it. When you're done, you drive away and they come get it. Some even bundle a golf cart for a slight upcharge.

The combined cost (site+trailer) can be reasonable if you stay for like up to a week (short term trailer rates are higher per day but a weekly rate per day is less). Also consider the fact you can cook some meals and not have to eat out at counter or table service like you would in a hotel room.

That approach is probably cheaper than a cabin plus it would give you a more relaxed approach to a Disney vacation with more opportunities for non-park days.

Just an idea.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

There was a woods behind the house where I grew up. When I was about ten, some men from the game commission drove into our driveway, spoke to my dad (asking if they could use our lawn as a work area), and proceeded to release about twenty wild turkeys into the woods. The turkeys roosted in the trees.

Yes that was my point of asking the question the second time when I showed the trees/woods across the canal from behind site 1513 and loops 1500, 1600, 1800. I have heard the turkeys come down out of the trees in the morning and it's not graceful. It's all they can do to fly across the waterway in the morning (I've seen that) and then flap back in the evenings.

But it appears more secluded over there thus it is a safe haven for them. To me that's another attraction to staying at Fort Wilderness.

 

[bama_ed]

@bama_ed I just posted about this from my December trip.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/meadows-construction-stakes.3938607/

If you get a chance to ride over to Meadows, please check out to see if those staked flags are still there? Thank you.

Will do, @Love Ft Wilderness . I should have some time tomorrow.

 

[honeymo78]

One possibility you might consider is the combined cost of a Full campsite with a rented trailer. The vendor puts it in the campsite for you and just drive up and use it. When you're done, you drive away and they come get it. Some even bundle a golf cart for a slight upcharge.

Thank you for this suggestion. I don't think I even realized that was possible. It's definitely something to talk about with the family. And I'd love to get behind the wheel of a golf cart againn lol. I might have been more excited to drive a golf cart after getting my license than a car.

 

[bama_ed]

Insurance costs are also significantly higher per mobile home unit than per unit in a building. Maybe Disney is self-insured or maybe this isn't part of DVC dues but it could be a driver for higher costs.

Yes, Allie, that's kind of along the lines of not having a shared efficiency. A tower or multi-unit building is built of brick/stone/concrete and not sticks and lumber (to lean on the 3 Little Pigs analogy). There is more roof square footage that could have a limb damage it as it comes down.

The offset is the lower construction cost per unit which translates into the lower points charts thus a cheaper up front buyin. So it's pay-them-now-or-pay-them-later. My question is if they will build on the old River Country property and put those in the same association/trust as the CFW. The RC property would have the lower dues by itself (multi-unit efficiencies) thus the new combination would have a lower blended overall dues rate. Sort of like at Wilderness Lodge you have the handful of standalone outside cabins that are blended in the with converted WL hotel rooms in the main building. If those WL cabins had dues calculated only on themselves, I bet they'd be in the same predicament that CFW is.

But since the CFW will stand alone by themselves for a while until/if the RC property comes later and get added to it, the CFW will still have to stand on its own and support itself initially.

We shall see.

Ed

 

[bama_ed]

I have pics from today but I will post those tomorrow morning.

But today was a great day at MK with good friends and we had a leisurely time. Also had a surprisingly delicious lunch which I will talk about.

Gonna dream about turkeys sleeping across the canal behind me tonight.

Bama Ed

 

[StormyCA]

Thanks for the wonderful detailed report and pics @bama_ed !

Your 'Economic Beer-ometer' made nDH's jaw hit the floor. He brings is own beer anyway since he has very particular tastes (dark and strong) and the 'premium' beer he buys is about that price and it's 11% vs 5% so his supply 'lasts longer'. At least according to him it does.

That 'plank road' is going to make the entrance road 'scenery' look so messy and it's going to ruin the turf, but of course that can be re-sodded when the work is all done. Hopefully they won't end up leaving it looking like the 'Old Plank Road' out here in CA lol.

I can't imagine the noise and disruption to the people staying in the cabin loops once things really ramp up.

I'm hoping by the time we get there in March they have a cabin set up for viewing so we don't have to 'get lost' on our bikes to see one.

 

[DL1WDW2]

Wake up!
I think 3 cabins just exited onto World Drive
Could be a good day !

 

[bama_ed]

Wake up!
I think 3 cabins just exited onto World Drive
Could be a good day !

Hey can't a guy cook breakfast? <just kidding, will get my update done then hop on the bike>

I went for a walk this morning and there was no action in (I assume) loop 2300.

But there was activity in the field work yard. Fencing was going up and they were trimming branches off a tree that hang over one of the gate areas.







Here is the on-ramp to the gate between the Hitch loop and 4-way stop.



Moving a little further down toward the 4-way stop, the fence poles indicate the far edge of the enclosure.



Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

Wake up!
I think 3 cabins just exited onto World Drive
Could be a good day !

I just pedaled all the cabin loops 2200-2800. The only ones missing are the two we already knew about in 2200. In spots 2220 and 2228. We have had reports from people who stayed near them that their windows were boarded up and they did not appear to be used.

Back in college I lived in a dumpy apartment complex that have two apartments that were the "boneyard" of the complex. Some dope damage a kitchen cabinet door in 17A? Go get one out of the boneyard units. Somebody damage a toilet in 26B which requires replacement? (hey remember it was a collage student place) then get a toilet from a boneyard unit.

So I bet the ones (only two of them) you saw, @DL1WDW2 were 2220 and 2228. If there was a third I didn't see it. I took pics of those two spots which I will post later. I bet when they yanked those units a few weeks ago they sat someplace like the STOL yard near the R********** prep land there near STOL.

But I need to get to yesterday.

But before I do, the tree trimming near with field work yard gate is complete. Plenty of room for a big truck. Compare this pic to the first one in the prior post.



Bama Ed