Opening Date & Point Charts for Cabins at Fort Wilderness Disney Vacation Club Resort
Disney Vacation Club has announced the opening date and when sales start for the Cabins at Fort Wilderness Campground, along with a very member-friendly point chart for the resort. This post shares the timeline and everything else you need to know about the newest DVC accommodations at Walt Disney World.
As quick background, Fort Wilderness Campground currently offers approximately 800 campsites and over 400 cabins and is classified as a Moderate Resort by Walt Disney World, largely for lack of a better option. The woodsy retreat is a short boat ride from Magic Kingdom, but it feels worlds away. The rustic resort is situated on 750 acres of pine and cypress forest, giving the campground a ‘buffer’ between it and the rest of Walt Disney World.
While Fort Wilderness feels like one of the last vestiges of the 1971 ‘Vacation Kingdom of the World’ and still has large portions of its personality preserved, a lot has changed in the last several years. This started in anticipation of Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge, which was the previously-proposed DVC resort that would’ve been built between Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge. Other modernizations have continued last year in anticipation of these Disney Vacation Club Cabins at Fort Wilderness.
Disney Vacation Club has shared new details about the next new DVC resort, which will actually open before the Polynesian Tower, which was announced and started much earlier. The first loop of the DVC Cabins at Fort Wilderness will open on July 1, 2024.
Additional DVC Cabins at Fort Wilderness will open later in July, and even more units will open in subsequent loops throughout the rest of 2024.
Additionally, Disney Vacation Club has released the sales dates for the DVC Cabins at Fort Wilderness Resort:
- February 1, 2024: Sales open to current DVC members
- February 27, 2024: New sales open to general public
Here are the booking start dates for the DVC Cabins at Fort Wilderness:
- February 15, 2024: Current DVC members who added points at the Fort Wilderness Cabins can begin booking
- March 12, 2024: New DVC members at the Cabins begin booking
- April 23, 2024: All DVC members can reserve the Cabins
Booking dates above are also subject to the 7/11 month rules.
Next, the 2024 Points Chart for the DVC Cabins at Fort Wilderness:
2025 Points Chart for the DVC Cabins at Fort Wilderness:
Note that there’s a chance that these are not fully-finalized, as the links have stopped working on the DVC website. However, that’s probably because they were published prematurely. It would be really odd for Disney Vacation Club to create charts like these in final form, publish them, and then change them…but stranger things have happened.
With that caveat out of the way, this is more or less what we were expecting with the point charts, which are very member-friendly and favorable to conserving points. Our commentary back when this DVC project was announced was that it “finally realizes rumors of a Moderate Resort DVC expansion, which started years ago before Disney’s Riviera Resort was announced.”
With a point chart like this, which puts a 6-person cabin on par with a studio at the Polynesian Villas, it’s easier to see how Disney Vacation Club plans to sell this alongside higher-caliber Deluxe Resorts. The Cabins at Fort Wilderness will likely be aimed at a different demographic of DVC buyers, and will be a more economical alternative to the aforementioned resorts.
As with all Disney Vacation Club resorts, the cabins will continue to be open for reservations to all guests, including those who are not Disney Vacation Club Members, subject to availability. A small percentage of the property will be retained by Walt Disney World and not part of the DVC inventory–just like all DVC resorts. Once the DVC side sells out, it’ll likely be difficult to book these cabins for cash guests, and they’re likely to be both more expensive and excluded from discounts.
It’ll be interesting to see the per-point cost, which will soon be increasing for other new DVC resorts. While we don’t expect the Cabins at Fort Wilderness to be quite on par with the $239 per point of the Villas at Disneyland Hotel, we also don’t expect it to be that far off. Disney Vacation Club probably doesn’t want to create another mess for itself with a “bargain” entry level that savvy DVC Members will use to join…and then use their points elsewhere.
Anyone expecting a cost below $150 per point had better think again. My bet is that the cost is around $200 to $215, which a slight chance of a $199 baseline, or better rates after incentives. But we shall see!
I’d also bet that the average contract purchase price ends up being significantly lower than Riviera Resort, Disneyland Hotel, or Polynesian Villas. That won’t just be due to a lower per-point cost–it’ll be primarily because DVC members here will be buying smaller contract sizes since they won’t need as many points for larger accommodations.
In addition to officially confirming these details, Disney Vacation Club released new concept art and a floor plan (above) showcasing the interiors.
With this, Disney introduced The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort—the newest Disney Vacation Club Resort—set within a forest oasis of cypress and pine. Retreat to your own private cabin featuring plenty of modern amenities and charming, convenient comforts.
Wake up to the buzzing of life and its endless fun, from poolside relaxation to fishing excursions to fireside sing-a-longs. Create cherished memories as you and your family enjoy decades of magical vacations, near and far—including every wonder-filled stay at The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort.
Every morning you can draw the curtains back to reveal floor-to-ceiling windows and your own personal patio deck, where you can bask in the glories of nature while firing up the charcoal grill and dining al fresco.
The Cabins at Fort Wilderness sleep up to 6, and some can even accommodate dogs.
In the main bedroom, you’ll find a queen-size bed, twin-size bunk beds, a 55-inch TV, closet and a nightstand. This is a pretty similar setup to the current Fort Wilderness Cabins.
Through the sconce-flanked front doors is a spacious living area featuring a dining nook and a fully equipped kitchen—including a refrigerator, dishwasher, convection/microwave oven and 2 countertop burners.
The kitchen includes plenty of storage, as well as a kitchen table capable of seating all 6 occupants of the cabin. Off the kitchen you’ll find a vanity area outside the entrance to the bathroom, which has a shower and an additional vanity inside.
A convertible seating and sleeping area is located opposite the kitchen and boasts a 65-inch TV and a comfortable sofa—the perfect spot to gather your family to watch a favorite Disney movie. At bedtime, simply fold down the queen-size Inova bed from the wall, for added sleeping space.
I’m guessing fan feedback is going to be very mixed on these, since they’re a mix of modern and rustic and use more muted colors. And we can certainly understand that to some degree. But like a lot of other recent room designs, these strike us as a good marriage of form and function, and look like major upgrades in terms of usability.
I’d rather actually stay in these cabins than the old ones. As that’s the most important thing about accommodations, we’re looking forward to these new Cabins at Fort Wilderness. For us, the jury is still out as to whether we prefer the style of these. We absolutely love the idea of more windows allowing for light and views of the wilderness outdoors. We also like the artwork in both the bunkbeds and the Inova pull-down.
With that said, I’m also a bit on the fence about the theme and details–it reminds me more of the Copper Creek style (a bit of a hodgepodge) rather than the fantastic new Boulder Ridge Villas, if that makes sense. Hopefully DVC sticks the landing and includes even detail and thematic flourishes to tip the scales in the right direction.
One thing to note is that the cabins will not be simply refurbished/reimagined, nor will new ones be constructed on-site. Instead, these are entirely new prefabbed units that will be built off-site, trucked in, and installed unit-by-unit.
That explains how the design is differing substantially and will incorporate lessons learned from the old cabins and DVC member accommodation preferences. A lot has changed in the years since the cabins debuted, and Disney has gotten room layouts down to a science. The use of space and practicality of these cabins will be better as a result.
The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort – A Disney Vacation Club Resort being prefabbed off-site also explains the July 1, 2024 opening date. The “construction” timeframe here will be measured in days, not weeks or months, which is how these will be able to go on sale and open before the Poly tower, despite nothing having happened yet.
I’m really curious about how the Cabins at Fort Wilderness will be received by Disney Vacation Club members. Not in terms of online sentiment where a vocal minority can dominate and distort the conversation, but rather, where it really matters: sales.
Obviously, membership is not monolithic, but this is a dramatic departure from other recent Disney Vacation Club additions. What DVC members seem to favor–convenience, consolidated layout, and ease of access–are not the strong suits of Fort Wilderness.
What DVC members don’t seem to care about–themed design, atmosphere, seclusion, and serenity–are some of the biggest strengths of Fort Wilderness. Only so much of that can conceivably change; many of those are immutable characteristics of the campground, and DVC members are going to have to meet Fort Wilderness halfway.
I also wonder if this means the Cabins at Fort Wilderness will start hitting the resale market in greater volume in a few years after the honeymoon is over. It’s not difficult to envision a scenario where, when points go on sale on February 1, existing DVC members who have never stepped foot in Fort Wilderness buy solely based on the member-friendly points chart.
Those same members could be in for a rude awakening the first time they actually stay at Fort Wilderness, make the long trek across the resort every day during a weeklong trip, and come to the realization that this is no Riviera Resort!
Or perhaps I’m totally wrong, and DVC members will come to love Fort Wilderness, be won over by its rustic charm and escape from the hustle and bustle of Walt Disney World. All I know is that this campground is very taste-specific, and I just have a hard time imagining people who have a ‘taste’ for Disney’s Riviera Resort would also love Fort Wilderness. But what do I know.
Honestly, perhaps some of this is wishful thinking. While I’ve expressed ‘mixed’ feelings about the DVC Cabins at Fort Wilderness in the commentary to past posts, I should probably be fully transparent: this is the most excited I’ve been about a “new” Disney Vacation Club resort in a long time.
I still have mixed thoughts about the transformation of Fort Wilderness into a (partially) Disney Vacation Club resort, but what’s done is done. From a practical perspective, I love this. We’re huge fans of Fort Wilderness and the current cabins. We’re frugal with our points. And we now have a daughter, which will presumably mean more multi-generation trips to Walt Disney World for us in the coming years.
The DVC Cabins at Fort Wilderness check all of the boxes for us, and we’re tempted to add-on here. That probably won’t happen right away as this initial excitement is met with the hard realities of pricing, but it certainly could in a few years if there’s an influx of points to the resale market. Or we could add-on elsewhere and simply stay here if these accommodations prove unpopular with other members. All of that is probably just wishful thinking on my part, though. I’m probably far from the only one excited for these DVC Cabins!
If you’re considering joining DVC and want more guidance, be sure to read our Ultimate Guide to Disney Vacation Club. That guide covers the pros & cons, resale v. direct, how much money you’ll save, and other important things to know before taking the plunge. If you still can’t decide whether membership is right for you, “try before you buy” with the recommendations in How to Save BIG on Deluxe Disney Accommodations Renting DVC Points.
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of this Walt Disney World news? Thoughts on the points chart or potential pricing? Excited to stay here in July 2024 or beyond? Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the DVC Cabins at Fort Wilderness Campground? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I am a non-DVC member looking to stay in cabins at Fort Wilderness for three nights during the first week of December 2024. Does anyone have advice for me? Should I just book now as a cash customer on the Disney Resort website and see if discounts come out later in the year? Should I try to request DVC rental points and hope that some become available for this resort as the date gets closer? I have read reviews that the current cabins are worn out and overpriced, but I think we’d probably be fine with the old ones too 🙂 Thank you in advance!
As a Fort Wilderness camper, I am very unhappy about the whole DVC thing. We absolutely love The Fort, and I think this will ruin it. I don’t think the DVC members will especially like the Fort. To like the Fort, you have to enjoy spending time there. Most DVC people just do the parks, they are not really there for “the resort”. Sadly I think the campsites will go away. To make money Disney will have to make it more like the usual resorts for DVC members to like it. The Fort will be no more, it will become just another resort.
That may be your experience with DVCers, but my family lives in Florida now and love FW and WL, and with APs we can go to parks anytime we want without much stress. These are PERFECT for families like ours, and there are many of us that have “camped” at FW, woken up at the crack of dawn, had coffee, hit MK or another park for 2 rides and come back to make breakfast for the family. The weather will be a non-issue now, and for DVCers maybe more opportunity to get the cabins. Don’t assume all DVCers are Riviera or GF fans – we don’t like that vibe and much prefer AKL savanna or Boulder Ridge which is our home. So no, I don’t think these will “ruin” FW, and will be better for you than Reflections would have been. And if DVCers buy and don’t like, there will be more cabins for people who love the serenity. We will buy a small contract, so we may be your neighbors – watch out for boozy parties and loud hiphop music. Nah, more likely Hoop-Dee-Doo and Crocket’s Tavern and cornhole or washers in the front of the cabin and waving at neighbors.
I wish Disney would have chosen a more traditional exterior look for the cabins. While their chosen design is certainly the trendy look, it was probably already dated last year. The inside does look nice and I’m hoping to stay there eventually, especially with the very low points.
For our DVC family, I’m reluctant to buy at this resort until we’ve had a chance to try the cabins. The pre-fab nature of the build might be just fine. But it’s different enough that we’d need to try before we buy.
Is there laundry in the cabin
Not in that layout above. They’re going to have to provide centralized facilities like they do for the Studios. (Another reason why I could see fees being as high as rumored.)
Currently laundry is available at the pool! But for a price ! If there is a dvc area and new (?) pool that might be the central location ! Since Disn will retain some inventory.
Can you park next to your cabin or is parking far away?
Right now you can park 1 car and 1 golf cart (or sometimes 2 cars) at your cabin. I don’t expect that to change.
for me, being 6’5″ and hubby 6’3″, NOT having a king bed and also having kids beds in our room is a bummer. the king could have fit! and then to use the same points as another place is disappointing. I wanted so badly to love this. but having space in a bed on vaca for someone with 4ft legs is a demand not even a request. love everything else about it. rather bummed
Rumor is these will have dues approaching $12 per point. Everyone always focuses on purchase price, but the amount you will pay in dies over 50 years far exceeds the initial layout. Trying the reason why the dues would be so high arguements I have seen are higher transportation costs due to the resorts size. Maybe a hard goods refurb would really mean replacing the whole cabin? That would certainly require a higher replacement budget than traditional DVC properties.
Tom, now that you have need for more space during Orlando stays (and maybe access to a washer/dryer) and given you say you don’t always stay on property, have you ever looked at using Interval International Getaways to stay in a Marriott or Sheraton timeshare near WDW? All DVC members get a free Interval membership (even the unwashed resale masses like me). Choose the Destinations menu at the top and then select “Vacation Exchange” to log in to Interval. I think the opening screen defaults to Getaway searches. These are cheapest the closer you are to check-in, but the standard seems to be about $650 for a week in a Marriott two bedroom. Usually lots of availablity in Orlando due to the large number of timeshares that were built there. These can be a great bargin at nice resorts.
I saw that $12.15 dues rumor. I hope it’s wrong, but fear it isn’t. There are fewer units, they’re spread out, there’s infrastructure to fund, and there’s the ~25 year replacement cost of the cabins.
If true, that suddenly makes Disney’s decision to do this much easier to understand–they’re largely offloading the operating costs of Fort Wilderness to DVC members.
One Skyliner connection from Fort Wilderness to the T&TC and demand goes bonkers.
We’re a family of five and also have a dog. Ability to let everyone have their own bed and then come home to puppers after a couple hours in the park is a HUGE temptation. Plus the layout of the bunks means that even as kids get older, we can still fit three children in their own bed plus have room for mom & dad… bonus.
There is a boat that goes directly to the main entrance of MK from FW bypassing the T&TC already.
I’d say all your predictions are spot-on.
Pricing will be similar to other DVC properties, adjusted up and down with incentives depending how sales go. The point chart is what makes it a moderate… buy 150 points, and you get a quasi-1 bedroom for about a week per year.
I’d also expect these bookings to be VERY popular. Lower point rooms always book faster (studios book faster than one bedrooms. Standard views book faster than preferred views).
Being able to get:
-full kitchen
-full laundry
-sleep 6
-only dog friendly property at WDW…
For the point price of a studio?
There won’t be any of these cabins left 6 months before travel dates. There is simply nothing else like them at WDW without spending double to triple the points. Even regular 1 bedrooms only sleep 4-5, and none of them let you bring Fido.
These are going to be extremely popular to book. As to sales — it will depend on pricing. But if priced closer to $200… 150 points for $30,000… I could see these selling fast.
Yeah, I definitely should’ve distinguished between bookings vs. sales/resales.
For the DVC population as a whole, these cabins are going to be in high-demand, as they’re an economical way to use points. People love that.
But will members want to own at Fort Wilderness? Or more to the point–will they be enticed by the “bargain” accommodations only to find out that Fort Wilderness is not their every-trip cup of tea once they’ve logged 2-3 stays? That’s what I’m really wondering.
I wonder how the resale restrictions will affect sales here, especially once enough time goes by for these to hit the resale market. The jury is still out on Riviera since the slower sales could arguably be attributed to it opening right before the pandemic (and since Disney is sticking with the restrictions, it seems that’s the message they’re choosing to go with). There are Riviera enthusiasts who are happy to either add-on or get their main contract there who are totally fine that the points won’t work anywhere else. That seems like a bigger stretch with the cabins. I say that as someone who would love to stay here for some types of trips. Just not others, which is the problem.
“I say that as someone who would love to stay here for some types of trips. Just not others, which is the problem.”
We’re in the same boat and wondering the same thing about resales. We’re still probably ~5 years from finding out, as it’ll take a decent amount of inventory hitting the secondary market before prices settle.
If prices end up going low enough via resale (and obviously there’s no guarantee of that), I’d probably bite and just rent out the points when I didn’t want to use them. I can’t imagine there being any shortage of demand given those charts!
…but I’m also guessing there are others like me, who would have that same idea.
I’m a little confused about the price points. If a week at peak season is 232 points, and points end up being around $200 each, does that mean you’re paying $46,400 to stay in the cabin for a week? Something seems off there, but I’m not a DVC member so I’m sure I’m missing something!
That’s for the next 50 years. Plus dues each year.
I’d be curious to know if these will be eligible for extended evening hours. As a non-deluxe accommodation, historically the cabins were not. If not eligible this would be the first WDW DVC Resort without that perk.
The family of five, with never enough points, I love the points charts. Sometimes we just like to stay in a studio because we plan to be at the parks most of the day and we don’t need a big accommodation and unfortunately, not all studios sleep five people.
And as far as having the bunkbeds in the master bedroom, if you will, it doesn’t matter to us at all. I have three boys – they can all sleep in there and my husband and I will gladly take the Murphy bed in the living room.
“And as far as having the bunkbeds in the master bedroom, if you will, it doesn’t matter to us at all. I have three boys – they can all sleep in there and my husband and I will gladly take the Murphy bed in the living room.”
This is an excellent point, and one I think a lot of people would agree with once thinking it through. If we had 2-3 kids, I’d rather sleep in the main area (and let them have the bedroom), with access to the coffee maker and kitchen in the morning.
Tom, do you have any writeups about staying at one of the FW campsite in a camper?
I’m not a DVC member but we stay at the Cabins alot. I’m wondering which loops will be taken over. or will the new cabins be randomly placed within different loops. The points are low enough when we usually go to make it doable to rent points to try them out. We’ll see what happens.
I’m almost certain that they’ll just replace the existing cabins in Loops 2200 through 2800, plus the two on Loop 100.
I didn’t think they were replacing all the cabins, only a certain amount of them. so unsure if they will just take a couple of loops or not.
I’m pretty excited about this. We are DVC members who usually stay in 2brs (we are a family of 7). We usually are January visitors but this would be tempting for summer trips with less park time and more resort time. As kids are getting older and have their own plans, sometimes we’d fit! I would likely try my luck at the 7 month window. I’m not up for buying direct points right now. If we love it I’d keep an eye out for resales in a few years.
I think you have some great points Tom. I think a lot of newer members want the flash and pizazz of Poly or RIV. The monorail or skyliner are the big draw. Get to a park as fast as possible every time. Old timers who like the laid back of OKW where the destination is part of the vacation I think will love these cabins. The point chart is fantastic for bigger families as well. Can’t wait to try them out.
Totally agree with that assessment.
The question, I guess, is whether those OKW ‘old-timers’ are still in the market to buy more DVC points? Both because they’re older and at a different stage of their lives and because costs have skyrocketed since most of them joined.
I know I’m probably not actually unique, but sorta feel like it here: an old-timer in spirit, but someone currently at the stage of their life where joining DVC makes sense. All of our (similarly-aged) Disney friends with young families who are in the market for DVC are much more interested in or excited about the Poly, VDH, or Riviera.