Purchasing FW Cabins DVC

[skier_pete]

1) I have no interest in Fort Wilderness Stays EVER. I bought DVC to upgrade my stays, not stay at a campground.
2) Maintenance Fees are too high to use points to stay anywhere else.
3) Resale restrictions will make this resort value very low on resale market - think Vero Beach low.

Basically I would buy ANYWHERE else on property before I bought this.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I haven't read all 8 pages yet.

But for me, we don't currently have plans to buy here. And we can't even stay here since we only have resale points. If we could, I would definitely check it out! For years, I've wanted to stay at Fort Wilderness but we never have. It seems like the kind of place our family would really like.

I can't see us buying here though for a few reasons - high dues and resale restrictions being big reasons. Plus I fear the thing that would make us NOT like the resort is just the sheer size of it. As we get older, smaller places are probably a better fit for us.

I do like the size of the cabins though. And I know some people don't like the bunks in the bedroom but I don't mind that at all. Laundry would have been nice though.

 

[Mle8308]

For everyone complaining about location and transportation, it’s got pretty much the same as WL/CCV/Boulder ridge, which are pretty popular. Plus FW has so many more activities than most other resorts. The pools not as great, but beyond that I really don’t get why everyone hates it so much. I plan on staying here, though not buying, simply because I have more than enough points already and I agree with everyone on the lack of incentives and dues, but the location/transportation/amenities complaints I don’t understand.

I don't think the transportation at FW is anything like the WL. At the WL you walk out to the front for direct transportation to all the parks and to the boat launch out back for the MK. No taking an internal bus to another stop to transfer to a different bus/boat to get to a park. You can walk to the pools, restaurants, lounges, and gift shop - no internal bus needed. Doesn't even compare.

 

[Mle8308]

Am I the only one who's not really a fan of CCV/BRV's boat/bus transportation and by extension CFW's transportation? For MK our only options were the monorail resorts because idk on a hot summer day in Florida I don't really want to be outdoors as much as possible. If CCV were on the monorail I'd probably have bought there just because I love the Peter Dominick resorts. I know, pretty hypocritical considering we own AKV with it's bus only transportation but we wanted 1 resort in each area. But anyways that, in addition to the dues that are second only to VB make CFW a hard pass.

I much prefer the boat from the WL to the MK than the monorail, which often smells like mold and mildew. The boat ride is only about 8 minutes and it's very relaxing. The transportation for the CFW are completely separate from the WL. Well, I take that back. There are times when the WL/FW do share busses (Epcot, I think), but at FW the guests have to transfer to an internal bus where at the WL it drops you off at the resort, no transfer.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Nope.

Reason #1: dogs in all cabins
Reason #2: high dues

I didn't realize dogs could be in ALL cabins. I love dogs but that's a definitely negative to me!

For everyone complaining about location and transportation, it’s got pretty much the same as WL/CCV/Boulder ridge, which are pretty popular. Plus FW has so many more activities than most other resorts. The pools not as great, but beyond that I really don’t get why everyone hates it so much. I plan on staying here, though not buying, simply because I have more than enough points already and I agree with everyone on the lack of incentives and dues, but the location/transportation/amenities complaints I don’t understand.

I'm with the others who have posted...the transportation isn't the same at all when you consider that Fort Wilderness has internal buses. Or you need to walk a lot. Or use a golf cart. We stayed at BRV recently and could easily walk to both pools, the lobby, the restaurants. The bus stop was quite close as well. And then the boat wasn't too far either.

Exactly. This is why we LOVE staying at the Lodge. For us, the Monorail loop resorts are just way too crowded with day guests wandering through the lobbies, stopping in just to shop or eat, etc. Full disclosure, we're guilty of it too. Same goes for Epcot resorts, although we did get some points at BCV for a F&W trip each year, so zero transportation needed.

We actually like the fact that we can go back to the Lodge, and decompress from all of the "Disney", at least for a few hours, if we want to. That MK is a 5-minute boat ride away (and the Monorail is a few steps from the MK boat dock) is plenty. I will admit, we almost always rent a car anymore, regardless of where we are staying, but that's because we hate taking the busses and find that driving to and from the theme parks is easier and takes less time (except of course MK, but we have the boat for that one).

I've never visited the monorail loop hotels (just ridden through on the actual monorail without getting out.) Reading descriptions like yours make me hesitant to ever stay at any of them. We took breaks back in our room every day at BRV and right when we step off the bus or boat...it's so peaceful! I don't know if I could give that up!

I wondered how things go if you drive into the parks. That's not something I've ever researched. I did talk to someone at the WL bus stop who said he used to drive to the parks but he just takes the buses now because he honestly didn't feel like it saved that much time in the end. And driving added more walking.

I hate the boats to WL as well… we always seem to get stuck or have to wait a long time. It is sooo slow.

Get stuck where? We must have lucked out because I don't think we ever waited more than 10 minutes...usually it was less. I felt like the smaller boats were maybe slower but not sure. Either way, I really enjoyed the ride. Especially at night.

I'm with Don. I love the boat from WL, and find the Lodge area to be very peaceful because it is around the bend from Seven Seas.

My solution to this problem is to never visit Orlando in the Summer.

100%. My last visit to WDW in the summer was in 1995 when I was 14 years old. I won't be doing that again though. January for the win!

I much prefer the boat from the WL to the MK than the monorail, which often smells like mold and mildew. The boat ride is only about 8 minutes and it's very relaxing. The transportation for the CFW are completely separate from the WL. Well, I take that back. There are times when the WL/FW do share busses (Epcot, I think), but at FW the guests have to transfer to an internal bus where at the WL it drops you off at the resort, no transfer.

Our WL bus shared with FW sometimes. And other times it shared with the Contemporary.

The thing that I feel like bug me about the monorails is that you have to transfer to get to Epcot. But maybe that's not actually a big deal?

 

[intamin]

I much prefer the boat from the WL to the MK than the monorail, which often smells like mold and mildew. The boat ride is only about 8 minutes and it's very relaxing. The transportation for the CFW are completely separate from the WL. Well, I take that back. There are times when the WL/FW do share busses (Epcot, I think), but at FW the guests have to transfer to an internal bus where at the WL it drops you off at the resort, no transfer.

That's fair, those monorails definitely could use some love but yeah IDK, my partner gets seasick easily but I'm glad you find it peaceful. They don't have the large ferryboats going from there to MK correct? How is the transportation in the morning at CCV? We're not particularly early risers so we never experience rope drop but do they run a bus in addition to the boats to MK early in the morning?

 

[ClaraOswald]

That's fair, those monorails definitely could use some love but yeah IDK, my partner gets seasick easily but I'm glad you find it peaceful. They don't have the large ferryboats going from there to MK correct? How is the transportation in the morning at CCV? We're not particularly early risers so we never experience rope drop but do they run a bus in addition to the boats to MK early in the morning?

We saw buses to MK in the middle of the day at WL this January.

 

[Mle8308]

That's fair, those monorails definitely could use some love but yeah IDK, my partner gets seasick easily but I'm glad you find it peaceful. They don't have the large ferryboats going from there to MK correct? How is the transportation in the morning at CCV? We're not particularly early risers so we never experience rope drop but do they run a bus in addition to the boats to MK early in the morning?

If seasickness is an issue, if it's windy and the water is rough, it could be a problem. It's only an 8 minute boat ride, but depending on how sensitive they are, your partner could feel queasy. It's normally the larger boats with inside/outside seating, not the ferry, but in the slower parts of the day they have used the smaller boats, like the ones you tend to see going between the Poly/GF/MK. We are definitely not ropedroppers either and have never had any problems with the busses. When we very rarely go early, it's been fine. And I have seen busses all day for the MK, when we were waiting for a different park bus. Oh, and I do love the monorail, but for me, there's nothing like a relaxing boat ride to the MK before battling the crowds!

 

[zavandor]

The whole point of building the MK in front of a lake is that arrival should be part of the show. I've stayed at CCV for the first time last year and even if I don't particularly like boats (I get seasick easily), I must say the trip is spectacular. The slow reveal of the Contemporary first and MK second is amazing.
That's what is unique to WDW in general but MK in particular. There are better parks and better rides, but only WDW is a world away from the world.

 

[tom1944]

16 deeds have been recorded so far today for the Cabins.

These are the first I have seen

 

[Cfabar1]

Does anyone know how that compares to the initial round of selling at other resorts?

I have been anxiously awaiting the February sales report (and yes, I know it will be a little while, the month isn’t even over!)

 

[princesscinderella]

I am at WDW and in chatting with a DVC guide he confirmed what we have all be chatting about. They are targeting new young DVC families with the cabins not add on contracts to existing members.