Fort Wilderness may not have the prestige of the Grand Floridian or the stylish convenience of the Polynesian Resort, but for budget-conscious guests and outdoorsy camping enthusiasts who love its rustic charms, it's held its own as a beloved retreat on the Disney World property. So when Disney announced last year that they were renovating Fort Wilderness' old-timey log cabins to something more modern, reactions were divided among fans.
Nevertheless, Disney followed through on their plans, and their new eco-futuristic Fort Wilderness cabins have made it from the "concept art" phase into the real world. A Disney World travel agent recorded this brand-new tour of one of the new one-bedroom cabins, giving both skeptical and optimistic fans some food for thought.
Take a look inside a brand new 1-Bedroom Cabin at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort! 🪵This spacious private cabin sleeps up to 6 adults with 1 queen bed, 1 queen-size pull-down bed and 1 bunk bed, and includes a fully equipped kitchen with a fridge, microwave and full-size oven/range. Floor-to-ceiling glass windows provide tons of natural light, plus there’s an outdoor patio deck! 🏕️Experience the down-home pleasures of pioneer life with all the conveniences of home at the Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort. And guests can stroll to the nearby lakeside dock for an easy 10-minute boat ride to Magic Kingdom park. 🏰 #disney #disneyworld #waltdisneyworld #magic #fortwilderness #vacation #travel #tripinspo #travelinspo #foryou #foryoupage #fyp #smallworldvacations #magickingdom #disneyadult
We're definitely not in log cabin territory anymore! The brand-new Fort Wilderness cabin that @smallworldvacations toured was pretty faithful to the initial Disney Vacation Club concept art that DVC News shared last year. There are still plenty of rustic motifs in the art and decor, but the cabin's structure itself is very sleek, minimalist, and modern; a far cry from the old woodsy cabins of Fort Wilderness Past.
It's... ok, at least in my opinion. Nothing here is ugly, of course, but it's fairly nondescript. The simple wooden walls and large windows overlooking the deck are nice, giving the cabin almost a Usonian or mid-century modern edge. Throughout most of the interior, though, it could pass for just about any other decent modern home of its size.
To its credit, though, the cabin looks very spacious. I wasn't expecting more from a one-bedroom cabin than, well, a bed, but as @smallworldvacations toured the cabin, she revealed a queen-sized bed, a nice built-in bunk bed, and a Murphy bed over the couch. You can definitely fit a full family in here! I will admit that the big windows and sloping ceilings probably help the interior space feel more open, too.
But to be fair, I was always pretty ambivalent on Fort Wilderness as a Disney resort property - not a hater, just never stayed at Fort Wilderness myself. How do the serious Fort Wilderness fans feel about the new cabins?
Critiques of the New Cabins
Like me, none of @smallworldvacations' commenters accused the new cabins of being downright ugly (at least, not at the time I'm writing this). However, few people were super psyched about the look, either, and the modern minimalist design prompted lots of critiques.
"I'm really sad about this. They're beautiful but really sad," lamented @bailee.avilleira.
"Not a cabin, more like a tiny home," critiqued @fluffyjammz.
"Big mistake taking the old ones out!" @jeanniesdishes agreed. "There are tiny apartments, not cabins."
I think these fans said it best. The original "vibe" of Fort Wilderness was, well, an old-timey fort outpost in the wilderness, which is why the original rustic log cabins fit in so well. The new eco-modernist cabins conflict with the overall rustic backcountry vibe of Fort Wilderness, and worse still, they fall prey to the same issue a lot of modern homes have: they're all kind of generic. Barring some Disney and woodsy decor in there, this cabin kinda just looks like any other tiny house .
Do I think these new cabins are the worst thing in the world? Of course not, and if anything, they look pretty comfy. But do I think it's reasonable for former Fort Wilderness fans to be disappointed by their new look? 100%.
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