It’s been just over a month since we last checked in on the Fort Wilderness Disney Vacation Club cabins being built at the 750-acre resort. It’s been more than a year since DVC first announced the project, which will end up being a full refresh of more than 350 cabins at Fort Wilderness. Currently projected to open July 1st, work is well underway to get a few dozen cabins ready for the initial rollout, which will take more than a year to complete.
Before we head out to the southwestern section of the resort to take a look at construction, here’s a reminder of what the current slate of cabins looks like.
And here’s a look at concept art for the exterior of the cabins, followed by some photos from inside of a model cabin. According to Disney, Design concepts offer a fresh take on the current cabin experience and are inspired by the resort’s idyllic setting, while also paying homage to the resort’s unique culture and heritage through the magic of Disney storytelling. Each proposed, stand-alone cabin offers spacious accommodations, sleeping up to six adults, and features a bedroom, bathroom, living room, full kitchen, and private patio. A select number of cabins are also expected to be dog-friendly.
There are two cabins under construction near The Settlement, perhaps to be used as models to showcase the new Disney Vacation Club offering to prospective buyers. When we stopped by earlier today, crews were working on installing footers for the porch. The porches were sitting nearby, likely to be installed sometime this month. There are currently no cabins available for tours, and DVC Cast Members that we’ve spoken with are not sure when they’ll be available.
Time to jump on a bus and make our way over to the 2300 (Shawnee Bend) and 2500 (Cedar Circle) loops where all of the old cabins have been removed, and crews are making wonderful progress on assembling and finishing the new cabins.
Most of the cabins that we saw still had ZIP System Sheathing exposed, but crews were working this Sunday on placing panels on the exterior of some of the cabins. If there will be a 1-for-1 replacement of the existing cabins, crews are working on some 63 cabins in the two loops just north of Wilderness Swimmin’ Pool.
While our previous update has a much more focused look at various stages of construction, all of the sites now have cabins with all four walls installed. Instead, we’ll include a few zoomed-out views of the cabins, along with a few zoomed-in shots of exterior and interior work taking place. Here’s a look around!
The cabins were designed by Walt Disney Imagineering but built in an off-site warehouse by third-party companies. The cabin construction is happening through a unique process developed in collaboration with a pair of local Florida small businesses, JCQ Services, and Friedrich Watkins Company. Both employ 150 people and are among 8,500 small businesses that The Walt Disney Company employs throughout the country (including over 2,500 in Florida alone).
“We worked to develop a pre-fabrication strategy to allow construction of the components of each cabin off-site in Central Florida. This approach assures minimal construction disruption at Fort Wilderness and assures a high level of quality in the construction of each of the new cabins,” said Dean Huspen, Executive Architect with Walt Disney Imagineering. Once delivered, these pieces will be assembled to bring this innovative design to life at the cabin sites.
“By using a cutting-edge machine that reads plans designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, we’ve created customized metal studs to save time and minimize waste,” Jeff Friedrich, owner of Friedrich Watkins Company, said.
Back to our photo update, we can see that the cabins are able to be assembled in very tight spaces without disrupting the beautiful trees that make Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campgrounds so unique and serene. It’s those same trees that make capturing photos of the work challenging.
Other cabins are starting to receive themed paneling on the exteriors that will be painted and finished in the coming weeks.
As with all Disney Vacation Club resorts, the proposed cabins will continue to be open for reservations to all guests, including those who are not Disney Vacation Club Members, based on availability.
Currently, the refreshed cabins are available to book on the Disney World website for non-Members for dates starting September 27th. Nightly rates range from the low $500 range up to over $800 per night for the new cabins.
For a virtual tour of the new cabins, check out our article below!
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
