Hi Deb,

My husband, 3.5 year old daughter and BOTH sets of grandparents are in the midst of booking a Disney vacation for May 2010.  We were contemplating booking at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa and staying in one of the Treehouse Villas. 
All of us want to stay on the property and together somewhere and my Mom came across the Treehouse Villas.  The Treehouse Villas are all w/in our budget, however "Papa" turned his nose up at the idea due to the fact, Disney "staff" was supposedly staying there at one point and the accomodations were trashed?!  I have no idea if this is true or not.

I wanted your help, do you have an opinion on these Treehouse Villas?

Thank you for ANY insight you might have.  Take Care, Carrie

Hi Carrie,

Funny you should email me re: the Treehouse Villas (THV), because my next trip coming up is in September to stay there! I'm VERY excited. The size of the THV is perfect for  your group.

The original Disney treehouses were part of the Disney Institute in the late 1980s, where people, sometimes in groups, came on vacation to "learn" something - taking culinary classes, business skills, etc. It was Michael Eisner's brainchild; potentially a good idea, but it didn't take off as well as they hoped, and they eventually closed. Disney wanted to revive them, but because they are on protected wetlands, the state of Florida would not let Disney bring equipment in to refurbish, rebuild, etc. out of environmental concern.

With all the students that work at Disney from all over the country and internationally, many of them reside on property in company housing. The two-story treehouses were used for that purpose for some years. That might be the "trashing" rumor Papa heard.

With the huge success of the Disney Vacation Club (Are you a member? I am, which is why I've been following the recent THV happenings), the size of the treehouses was very amenable to a shift into a timeshare as part of DVC. The problem was as I mentioned previously, the wetlands. The Disney Development Corporation worked closely with the state and contractors to come up with a plan that not only maintained the integrity of the wetlands, but by making them one RAISED story, they actually have a smaller footprint, which makes all the conservationists happy. To get around the equipment issue, they built the villas off-site and brought them into the area by crane in pieces, just dropping them in to assemble. In fact, on a prior trip, my husband and I got stuck in a line of traffic and didn't know why. Eventually we saw a crane driving down the street carrying a partial villa!

So, that should alleve Papa's and your fears - the THV are completely new interiors that just opened June 1, 2009. Whether or not the previous treehouses were "trashed" doesn't matter - you'd be staying in a brand new place.

Have you seen pictures? They look very nice - all granite counters in kitchen and baths, beautiful fixtures, floor to ceiling windows in some rooms, flat-panel TVs in the living room and bedrooms, washer and dryer, whirlpool tub, very large deck, outside grill, etc. I can send you some links if you haven't seen photos.

I could mention other things external to the villa itself (e.g., the Saratoga area, bus service, etc.), but will end here to just answer your original questions. If you have others, I'd be happy to answer them, and can also let you know when we return mid-September how our experience was.

Thanks for asking!

Mousejunkie Deb