The Treehouses at Walt Disney World: What’s the Deal?
A long time ago, families stayed at the Disney Treehouse Villas in the Downtown Disney area during their vacations. So what’s up with them now?
For several years they’ve been used to house Disney cast members who are part of the Disney International College program. They are located on land that is deemed wetlands, which means the treehouses cannot be replaced. However, Disney did submit paperwork back in December 2007 to redesign the exterior so the footprint of each treehouse villa takes up just 95′ instead of over 300′ which will significantly diminish the amount of flood encroachment for each villa.
If you’d like to see the architecural drawings that show the changes being made, you can follow the link to view the Disney construction documents.
And if you never had the chance to stay in the Disney Treehouse Villas and have wondered what they look like inside (like me), here is a snapshot from the construction documents showing the floorplan (you have to try to see around the dark lines that outline the base in the center that hide the second bathroom and the kitchen).
Tags: Walt Disney World, Disney Treehouse Villas, Disney International College Program, Disney ICP
9 Comments
Neat! That would be totally cool to stay in!
I always wanted to stay at the treehouse villas, but when I was a kid my family always stayed at the Polynesian or Contemporary (of course, those were the only hotels back then aside from the Golf Resort – now Shades of Green). They wanted to be on the monorail line, which makes sense since there weren’t Disney buses back then. Still, it would have been cool.
We were also told that while we were there in October that due to regulations, they may never really be able to overhaul them. Also, they layout renders them completely inaccessible to people with handicaps. We used to sail by every morning on the boats, and they look AMAZING. I wish they were availabel to stay in!
You’re right, Kelly. The treehouses are definitely not handicap-accessible. They were built long before the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed and laws were put in place to ensure people with handicaps could access public buildings. Looks like the ecological restrictions would make it impossible to make the treehouses handicap accessible now.
If you want to see what the inside looks like, you can do a search on YouTube for Disney International College Program or similar keywords and you can find videos of college students living in the treehouses. They look like dorms now (they haven’t been kept well inside), but I’m sure they were awesome to stay in back in the day!
My family stayed there probably 25 years ago (I’m 38 now) and it was a scream to wake up in the forest every morning. My brother and I used to go collect lost golf balls from the course in the morning and sell them to my grandfather who spent the winter in Florida.
I can’t imagine what 15 years of being used as student dorms has done to them, but they are a really neat part of Disney history.
I’ve always wondered what happened to the treehouses, and haven’t been able to find them in subsequent trips to Orlando, so thanks for posting the article on them – it brought back a ton of memories.
That’s a great story, Colin. I’m laughing so hard imagining your grandfather buying golf balls from you.
[...] this year, I posed the question on The Disney Traveler, “What ever happened to the Treehouses at Walt Disney World?” I gave a rundown of what’s happening to them today in that post (follow the [...]
hi,
can someone give me the youtube link to see these treehouses?
Hi to anyone interested in being a part of the tree house villas . You can be a part of this great vacation by calling Patty Douglas at the Disney Vacation Club tell them Cathy and Bill Murphy of Dracut Mass sent you her way. My husband and I are happy to say that we are a big part of the Disney Magic just call Patty and ask her what I’m talking about.This is a real deal let me tell you the cost of disney vacation x3 would pay for the Disney Vacation Club. If you love Disney World Like we do you will love this opportunity. Thank You cathy