Everything you need to know about The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort as Disney Vacation Club prepares to open sales February 1, 2024 for current owners and February 27 for first-time buyers.
On July 1, 2024, The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort will debut as the seventeenth Disney Vacation Club property. For decades, 363 individual cabins have been installed at Fort Wilderness and available to cash guests. For their conversion to DVC, Disney is replacing each unit with an entirely new structure. Eschewing the faux log cabin look of the prior units, the new cabins seem to take more of a "glamping" approach with large front facing windows and luxurious interiors.
Resort Makeup
There are 363 cabins in the current development. Thirty (30) cabins have been added to the DVC program in Disney initial filing. This means that exactly 30 cabins will be bookable using DVC points, either by owners at 11 months or other eligible members at 7 months. The initial declaration gives DVC about 230,000 points to sell. As they exhaust that supply, additional cabins will be added to the DVC program.
The inital budget for 2024 reflects 76 cabins, suggesting this is what DVC expects to sell and make availble to owners by the end of the year. However, that may change depending upon buyer response.
Cabin Details
Each of the updated cabins will sleep up to 6 guests with the following amenities:
Bedroom:
- One queen-size bed
- Twin bunk beds
- 55" flat panel TV
Living Room:
- Queen size pull-down Sofa Bed
- 65" flat panel TV
Kitchen / Dining
- Refrigerator with ice maker
- Range
- Convection microwave
- Coffee maker
- Toaster
- Dishes, pots & pans and other cooking utensils
- Dining table with 4 chairs and 2 stools
Bathroom
- Two vanities
- Combination tub & shower
Exterior
- Private deck
- BBQ grill
- Picnic table and chairs
Resort Amenities
Disney Vacation Club members will have access to all amenities of the existing Fort Wilderness resort including Trail's End Restaurant, Crockett's Tavern and other facilities at Pioneer Hall, activies at Tri-Circle-D Ranch and watercraft service to the Magic Kingdom and surrounding resorts. A leisure pool and laundry facilities are located near the cabins. Disney has suggested that these facilities would be refurbished and enhanced, but no specific details have been revealed.
DVC Contract
Ownership end date: January 31, 2075
The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort will be an entirely new association with an end date in 2075. The Cabins are being placed in what is called the Palmetto Trust. This is a different legal configuration than all other DVC resorts. So far, DVC has not communicated any differences in how the resorts will be managed in comparison to other DVC properties. Owners still receive the familiar 11-month booking rights at their Home location and 7 months for other destinations. While the existence of a Trust introduces the possibility that DVC could combine the Cabins with points from other associations, as other timeshare managers have done, this particular Trust may simply be a legal necessity for a "resort" which includes more than 300 free standing buildings.
Annual Dues (2024): $12.15 per point
2024 annual dues will be set at $12.15 per point. Any dues paid on 2024 points with Use Years of February - June will be pro-rated from the anticipated 7/1/2024 opening date. Dues for August, September, October and December Use Years will be pro-rated from the start of the Use Year.
We created a modest comparison of several annual dues categories with three other DVC resorts which can be found here.
Resale Restrictions
The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort will be subject to the same resale restrictions which debuted with Disney's Riviera Resort and continued with The Villas at Disneyland Hotel. The restrictions are twofold:
- Points which were purchased via the resale marketplace cannot be used to book stays at the Fort Wilderness Cabins. Only points purchased direct from DVC--at any Home resort--may be used to book the Cabins.
- If re-sold, points with a Home resort of Fort Wilderness Cabins can only be used to book stays at the Cabins. Resale buyers of Fort Wilderness Cabins points will not be able to use those points for stays at Riviera, Aulani, Grand Floridian or any other DVC property. In order to use Fort Wilderness Cabins' points for other resorts, the points must be purchased direct from DVC.
Points Charts
Points charts have been released for both 2024 and 2025. Seasons mirror the 7 date ranges used in other Walt Disney World based DVC properties. Nightly point costs are surprisingly economical for a building which sleeps up to 6 guests. The cabins cost less than every One Bedroom option throughout Disney Vacation Club, and less than even some Deluxe Studio rooms at Walt Disney World.
Purchase Details
Base price: $225 per point
There is a minimum add-on purchase of 50 points. From February 1 to April 1, 2024, existing Disney Vacation Club owners can add points at the Cabins with the following discounts applied.
| The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort | ||
| Current Member Discount |
Current Member Price |
|
| 25 - 99 points | $0 | $225 |
| 100 - 124 points | $2 | $223 |
| 125 - 149 points | $4 | $221 |
| 150 - 199 points | $10 | $215 |
| 200 - 249 points | $11 | $214 |
| 250 - 299 points | $13 | $212 |
| 300 - 499 points | $14 | $211 |
| 500 - 999 points | $15 | $210 |
| 1000+ points | $16 | $209 |
Incentives for first-time buyers are expected to be revealed on February 27, 2024 when sales open to that group.
Magical Beginnings
Disney Vacation Club has revived the Magical Beginnings promotion, allowing buyers to forfeit their first year's worth of points in exchange for an additional disocunt of $20 per point. Early buyers would give up the points for their 2024 Use Year, and receive their first set of points in 2025. Those 2025 points could also be borrowed for use toward a trip occurring before the start of the '24 Use Year. See our other coverage for additional details.
Guaranteed Week Option
Recent Disney Vacation Club resorts have offered a Guaranteed Week option, allowing buyers to secure a same week every year by purchasing 10% more points than the normal requirement. See our prior coverage for general details regarding the Guaranteed Week.
Reservations
Reservations for the Cabins will reportedly follow this schedule:
- Current owners adding-on: Begin booking February 15, 2024
- New owners: Begin booking March 12, 2024
- All other eligible DVC points, subject to 7 month window: April 23, 2024
Dog-Friendly Accommodations
The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort will be the first pet-friendly Disney Vacation Club destination. The rules allow for up to 2 dogs per cabin with no stated maximum weight limit. Initial documents cite a nightly fee of $30 per night for owners and $50 per night for "lessees, guests, invitees, licensees and exchangers."
- Dogs must be "fully trained and are not allowed on furniture anywhere on the Resort Property."
- When outside of a cabin, dogs must be accompanied at all times and either within a carrier or restrained with a leash.
- They are not permitted in food and beverage locations, lounges, pools and other recreation areas.
- They cannot be left unattended for more than 7 hours.
- Guests with dogs must contact housekeeping to schedule a room cleaning time when the animals will not be present.
- Door hangers must be displayed on cabins where dogs are present.
Disney also states that "Dogs cannot disrupt the quiet enjoyment of other guests. if Management Company, in its discretion, determines that a dog's behavior is objectionable to other guests or creates a disturbance, the responsible Owner, lessee, guest, invitee, licensee, or exchanger must immediately remove the dog from the Resort Property and arrange for the dog to be housed outside of the Resort Property at such user's sole expense."
DVC reserves the right to adjust fees in the future, and even claims that the right to have dogs on property is not guaranteed, stating that individuals "should not purchase a Vacation Ownership Interest in reliance on the continued ability to bring dogs onto the Resort Property."
