Point charts for Fort wilderness cabins

[CarolynFH]

how close do those point match booking points at current resorts?

Here's just one example - Thursday August 17, 2023, a cabin costs 38 points. A BWV Preferred View 2BR (which would sleep 6, same as the cabin) costs 43 points.

I've looked up points costs for people in the past. Usually people are comparing the points cost for hotel rooms that sleep 4 with studios that sleep 4, and the hotel rooms are much more expensive.

 

[tjkraz]

Given how the exchange programs work, when the cabins are added as a native DVC resort, nightly point costs should be less than what they are today. Disney could try to stretch things higher by making the cabins and surrounding area better than today. But if a cabin starts at 34 points per night as an exchange destination, the cost absolutely should not leap up to 50-60 per night when they're added to DVC. Probably somewhere in the 30-40 range. Hopefully on the low side of that.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I'm also going to continue to stress that the trailers currently in FW are not going to be the DVC units.

 

[PrincessNelly]

 

[The Jackal]

Seems about right. Little more than most studios and cheaper than a 1 bedroom. Cabins are missing lots of stuff from a 1 bedroom.

 

[PrincessNelly]

Seems about right. Little more than most studios and cheaper than a 1 bedroom. Cabins are missing lots of stuff from a 1 bedroom.

agreed. We may switch our Sept studio reservation to the Cabins. Its only 3pts difference. Can't beat the extra space for 3 pts.

 

[mort1331]

So not an average of 15points per night,,,but starting at 15.

 

[zavandor]

Seems about right. Little more than most studios and cheaper than a 1 bedroom. Cabins are missing lots of stuff from a 1 bedroom.

I agree, the point chart makes a lot of sense. However, I was afraid DVC would be greedy and inflate it just to sell more points. I think this way they are very attractive: they cost about like other studios, they're larger accommodations, balanced by a less than ideal location. And the point chart more or less mirrors the cash rates that Disney has used until now, so the value is about right.

 

[Princess Merida]

With this point chart I will be trying the cabins. We typically rent studios but we would like the extra room. I’m very hesitant on the location though so I may make it a split stay or resort only trip so we don’t have to deal with multiple buses to and from the parks. Resort trip sounds good with how high ticket prices are.

 

[drusba]

The average point per night cost is between 20 and 21 points, which is also true for Poly standard view studios. It is lower than any 1BR including OKW and BWV standard view where average points per night are about 30.

 

[figmentfinesse]

Are they not getting rid of all the original cabins? I'm looking at cash stays for late June and the AP for a wilderness cabin is 350.

 

[drusba]

Are they not getting rid of all the original cabins? I'm looking at cash stays for late June and the AP for a wilderness cabin is 350.

The intent as set out in the POS is to eventually make all of the cabins DVC, although not necessarily all as part of the same use plan. As DVD has done with all new resorts in the past, it also reserves the right in the POS to add nothing and quit declaring additional cabins into a use plan at any time.

I do not know where they are with replacing the old cabins with the new ones on the site, but unlike other DVC's where multiple rooms are in the same building, DVD can leave many just as they were with the old cabins for quite a while to allow Disney to rent, and slowly add new groups of cabins over a fairly long time, which will depend on how long it will take to sell what is declared. It could take several years before all the cabins are converted to DVC, e.g., Riviera has been on sale since early 2019 and there are still undeclared units.

 

[bama_ed]

Are they not getting rid of all the original cabins? I'm looking at cash stays for late June and the AP for a wilderness cabin is 350.

They will be phasing the old cabins out and DVC cabins in. They will overlap for a time.

The new DVC cabins can be stayed in beginning July 1 but they've only declared the first 30-something cabins in loop 2300 recently (along with the cabin pool area). That rate is for a legacy cabin (I'm guessing). I have a general public discount for a legacy cabin in a few weeks and my rate was $331+tax.

So I think there will be a period this summer-into-the-fall where the cabins will be quickly replaced in bunches. It won't be a flash cut though. But they will get rid of all the resort hotel cabins in loops 2200-2800 and replace them with CFW on the same concrete pads this year.

Bama Ed

 

[ajiuo]

With annual dues at over $12 a point. Any rooms available at 7 months will be gone instantly…. Everyone will have the idea to buy direct points elsewhere and book at 7 months.

 

[tx911]

With annual dues at over $12 a point. Any rooms available at 7 months will be gone instantly…. Everyone will have the idea to buy direct points elsewhere and book at 7 months.

How many cabins are there in total? I wonder what availability will be like at 7 months, down the road once the newness wears off.

 

[Genie+]

How many cabins are there in total? I wonder what availability will be like at 7 months, down the road once the newness wears off.

I think over 350 cabins are planned.

As far as availability - likely demand swings greatly. Summer might be easiest since bugs, heat and humidity do nothing to improve the experience, lol. Of course there’s people who have little choice in dates, but many people do and I think they’ll gravitate to certain weeks for the best possible Ft W experience (especially when that intersects lower point season). Feb might be easier too given the jump in points from Jan? If considering the chilly months, Jan and Dec seem to have more to offer.

VGF and VDH 7 month availability was much better than I expected. That might be due to the gap between declared rooms and sold points, and also that DVC people generally plan far ahead. When booking first opened dates started less than 7 months away. Owners with points tied up on other trips couldn’t take advantage. This may be true for RIV but I haven’t followed that one closely. There seems to be ‘honeymoon’ period though, where a new resort has better availability for a while.

 

[zackiedawg]

Funny enough - summer was always my favorite time for the cabins - before I was DVC, my family and often friends had a tradition in late May or early June of staying at cabins - we'd often have 2 or 3 next to or across from each other. As hot as it is in the summer in Florida, the woods setting provides lots of shade, we always rented golf carts to get around which meant less walking in heat and humidity, and would spend 20-30% more time around the grounds, picnicking, barbequeing and carting around than if we stayed at any other resort.

So I'd be a big player for the new cabins in the summertime - I was hoping they were available to book on DVC points for June as I have a trip booked already and would switch if I could. It will be interesting to see how hard/easy they are to book going forward, especially for the 7 month window.

 

[The Jackal]

With annual dues at over $12 a point. Any rooms available at 7 months will be gone instantly…. Everyone will have the idea to buy direct points elsewhere and book at 7 months.

I don’t foresee demand that high for current DVC membership. It appears that DVC is trying to get the current Cabin renters to buy into DVC. Yes some current DVC members will use them, but the vast majority do not like the multiple bus stops and transfer to go to another bus. Just ask people who stay in the Tree House Villas at SSR. You have to plan to leave about 1.5 hours before you want to get somewhere when you have to transfer busses, or even Monorails. Now current renters of the Cabins are used to it. Right now DVC has too many options to buy and very soon they are adding 2 more so they will have. RIV, DLT, AUL (and will till the resort closes) then they will be adding the Cabins and PVB2. DVC seems to it care about AUL because they rent basically all the other rooms for cash. That leaves 4 resorts yes 4 resorts they will be selling at the same time. Usually at most they would have 2 ( not including AUL) but one would then sell out within a year of the other opening. That will not be happening anytime soon.

 

[bama_ed]

I don’t foresee demand that high for current DVC membership. It appears that DVC is trying to get the current Cabin renters to buy into DVC. Yes some current DVC members will use them, but the vast majority do not like the multiple bus stops and transfer to go to another bus. Just ask people who stay in the Tree House Villas at SSR. You have to plan to leave about 1.5 hours before you want to get somewhere when you have to transfer busses, or even Monorails. Now current renters of the Cabins are used to it.

I think this is a big part of it.

And along those lines, not just the cabin renters but also the camping/rv crowd.

The Fort has a very loyal camper/rv following with large number of guests that come frequently: annually, once a month (locals), or any travel pattern you can imagine and people tend to stay longer. The longest reservation length is 30 days and you'd be surprised how many people will stretch it out that long or close to it (not as many during the high price times like Easter, Spring Break, or the Christmas-New Years) but I was surprised to learn the high number of repeat visits of considerable length.

Camping and RV'ing is a lifestyle choice and although it can be done economically, those trailers, the trucks to pull those trailers, and the Class A, B, and C RV's don't come cheap. And ongoing maintenance/repairs feels like annual dues payments. But I've stayed a few times at WDW resort hotels and nothing feels as good as the Fort to me. So this is the first chance for people like me to consider the option to "buy where you want to stay". And the first attempt to build on the old River Country property (will-not-say-its-name) did not have the look or feel of being at FW although it geographically was.

Eventually (soon) Disney will build something on River Country property and it will have a DVC component (partially or completely) and those amenities will be available to CFW possibly.

CFW is an option I would consider down the road as a loyal FW camper.

Bama Ed

PS - BTW, FW has 363 cabins in loops 2200-2800 and 2 additional cabins in loop 100 for the record.

 

[kilik64]

I don’t foresee demand that high for current DVC membership. It appears that DVC is trying to get the current Cabin renters to buy into DVC. Yes some current DVC members will use them, but the vast majority do not like the multiple bus stops and transfer to go to another bus. Just ask people who stay in the Tree House Villas at SSR. You have to plan to leave about 1.5 hours before you want to get somewhere when you have to transfer busses, or even Monorails. Now current renters of the Cabins are used to it. Right now DVC has too many options to buy and very soon they are adding 2 more so they will have. RIV, DLT, AUL (and will till the resort closes) then they will be adding the Cabins and PVB2. DVC seems to it care about AUL because they rent basically all the other rooms for cash. That leaves 4 resorts yes 4 resorts they will be selling at the same time. Usually at most they would have 2 ( not including AUL) but one would then sell out within a year of the other opening. That will not be happening anytime soon.

Eh Im not so sure that the amount of direct options soon will be a bad thing really. They all kinda cater to a different crowd potentially.

DLT is for west coasters mostly, RIV for people who want an epcot area resort, Poly for mk/monorail resort, and Cabins for whoever that appeals to? AUL is just there like it has been for a decade lol.