Five (or So) Things: The Cabins at Fort Wilderness Resort First Look

Hello and welcome to “Five (or so) Things” — a recurring article type where I’ll take a deep dive into an attraction, share some ideas on fun things to do, or maybe provide a sneak peek at something new or upcoming. This entry we take a first look at the upcoming Disney Vacation Club Cabins coming to Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground later this year. It seems like it has been forever since these cabins were announced, so when we were invited to come and be one of the first to step inside the model cabin, it was an exciting day.

Both the previous and the new cabins have a 504 square footage footprint, but walking into the new cabin is like night and day versus the current cabins. I have had the opportunity to stay in the older cabins a few times and, while they didn’t feel cramped, they most definitely didn’t feel as open as the new layout. Both sleep six but, with the new layout, it just feels much more open.

The only change that I wasn’t overly fond of is the new location of the washroom. In the old cabin, it was located in the middle between the bedroom and the kitchen/family area. However, in the new ones, it will be at the opposite end of the cabin, which will cause guests to have to walk past the hideabed in the family area.

Being a Disney Vacation Club cabin, it really will be a home away from home in the middle of the wilderness. These new cabins will have a full kitchen including dishwasher, refrigerator, and stove. So while you may be “camping,” guests will have the opportunity to gather around and prepare their own meals, which is a great way to save some money to spend on those extra pairs of ears in the parks. Of course, it will also provide a space to decompress after a long day of playing rather than adding “finding food” to the list of necessary activities.

There are a couple of things that these cabins do not have: washers and dryers. There will be a central location with those and we will have more information on those when they are made available.

One of the guest favorites (mine included) are the bunk beds in the cabins — and I am very happy to report they are indeed back. Each cabin sleeps six with two queen beds, one in the bedroom and the hideabed, then we have the bunk beds which “are designed for children” but are very large. This new design is a great edition to the cabin with some extra theming that really just compliments the room.

 

As of late, Disney Resorts have started to gain their own mascots — and Chip & Dale most definitely fit that bill here at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort. I love how all the artwork captures the feeling of the cabins but also feeds the Disney fans little easter eggs to enjoy. But one of my favorite little tidbits has to do with a deep dive that ties together not only Chip & Dale but also the history of the campground…

When we first walked into the bedroom and we started looking at all the art and decor, this little piece caught my eye right away. Walt Disney Imagineering never does anything without a story behind it and this is a great one. When you first look at it you may think, “That is from the 1949 Donald Duck short ‘Winter Storage’” (or that might just be me). Yet, if you look at the calendar behind Dale, why does it have a November 19th as the date?

Well as I said WDI always has some story behind everything they do and as they shared with us: Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground opened on November 19th, 1971.

 

The Walt Disney Company has always been forward thinking about how to make this planet a better place and with these new cabins they are really taking leaps in that direction.

For more information on not only the cabins but all of Disney Vacation Club, click HERE.