Does anyone live, legally, in Walt Disney World?

[DfromATX]

I don't know about Fort Wilderness or any other camp sites, but my son and I pretended we lived in the Swiss Family Robinson tree, lol.

 

[Ralphlaw]

I used to work in teh Purser's dept on a cruise ship and we had a few permanent residents. As someone else mentioned we checked them out of then back into their rooms every month or so. This was done without their presence - just did it at the first of each month. They were allowed to receive mail to the ship but were not allowed to list it as their address on any legal forms. They usually just listed a family members address.

They had their doors decorated but nothing outlandish. They decorated their room (and door) for each holiday and occasionally were exempted from lifeboat drill requirements. Depends on the actual length of the cruise we were on. We wouldn't make then do a drill every week if we were doing short cruises - maybe every 3 weeks or so.

The 3 permanent residents on my ship were all older and said they recieve better care at a lower cost on the ship than in a decent retirement home. Nice way to retire and travel around the world.

Now there's a way to retire big time! Depending on the cruise and cabin, you could live on maybe $2,000 a week, or $100,000 per year. Food would be included. Thanks for the idea; the wheels in my head are turning. My mom spent some time recently at an assisted living place, and it cost $5,500 a month. A cheap cabin on the Magic might have been better.

 

[I_heart_Tigger]

Now there's a way to retire big time! Depending on the cruise and cabin, you could live on maybe $2,000 a week, or $100,000 per year. Food would be included. Thanks for the idea; the wheels in my head are turning. My mom spent some time recently at an assisted living place, and it cost $5,500 a month. A cheap cabin on the Magic might have been better.

Exactly. As long as you have no major health problems - there's a doctor on board that can give regular checkups and help out with any medical issues. You get to wake up each day in a new port. You make friends on board and the families love to visit on the holidays!

 

[Lil Fort]

Well to put the record straight.I live in Disney world. Yes,it's true.Every night my head hits the pillow.

Hey! What are you doing in my dreams?

 

[Lil Fort]

Here you go. Here's the pic of the 'hoarders' site. Sorry I didn't post it sooner, but it was on the hubby's computer at work so I had to get him to bring his laptop home. It is kind of hard to tell from this pic because it is at night and there are a lot of decorations, but in addition to their RV they also have a tent and a carport type structure and both are filled with 'miscellaneous junk'. They have definitely 'moved in' and even put up a fence. They have even expanded to the common area around their site. I love when people decorate their sites, but these folks have taken it a bit too far, don't you think?

 

[Mad Stitch]

Wow, I'm surprised Disney allows that.

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

I see it all the time, upstate New York there is a full year contract for a campsite, they use theyre site as a weekend getaway. They leave theyre stuff on theyre site, have theyre set up, they leave clothes in the camper and anything they need and all they have to do is drive. Its popular upstate because thats theyre spot to get away from the city every weekend. I guess these people keep booking the sites over and over again or mayve Disney does offer a seasonal campsite package. Many campgrounds offer that.

 

[Lil Fort]

I see it all the time, upstate New York there is a full year contract for a campsite, they use theyre site as a weekend getaway. They leave theyre stuff on theyre site, have theyre set up, they leave clothes in the camper and anything they need and all they have to do is drive. Its popular upstate because thats theyre spot to get away from the city every weekend. I guess these people keep booking the sites over and over again or mayve Disney does offer a seasonal campsite package. Many campgrounds offer that.

You are right. Many campgrounds around the country offer seasonal or extended stay rates. It is the bread and butter for many of them. Disney used to, but doesn't anymore. Long term visitors pay the best daily rate they can find, or for CMs, they pay the daily rate and get a CM discount.

 

[Hulacat]

My wife and I were on a carrage ride through Fort Wilderness one year and the driver (and no it's not a bus driver so the info is sound, haha) pointed out a few large RVs that looked to have been permanently set up with tents and decor and furniture etc. She told us that those people had somehow found a loophole and live in Fort Wilderness premanently. Well, year after year, there they are, never moved!

How can this be? Who are these folks and how did they get such a sweet deal to live at Disney? Why can't Disney evict them?

Years ago I used to manage several departments at a (now defunct/closed) Florida Mall department store. One of my best employees was a sweet older lady who worked part time- and her husband was a CM. He had been with WDW from the beginning, and they lived in one of the tree house villas!!!! She said it was serene and beautiful- she frequently saw eagles and the occasional panther! Of course this was waaay before they made the CM's leave those villas.

 

[NormC]

They're going to leave their stuff there at their site!

 

[sublimesting]

Wouldn't the one person staying as a caretaker be considered to be living there year round? I would suspect that this is the campground's policy, not state law.


I think you missed the point that there ARE several people who are living at Fort Wilderness. Right now... as we speak... I know them personally and Wojciehowicz does as well. Is their legal address 4510 North Fort Wilderness Trail, Lake Buena Vista, FL? I doubt it, but they are there just the same. Disney knows they are there and for how long they have been there. As Wojciehowicz said, as long as they continue to make a new reservation per Disney's policy, they are welcome to stay.

No it's actually the law. One person is permitted to stay year round as they are a a caretaker/security person for the property. This person is permitted to actually live there.

I uderstand there are people living at Fort Wilderness, which was my point about how. Because usually you are not allowed to just live at a campground. A good reason why is the picture you posted. Don't you think this kind of brings down the image a bit? This is why I'm surprised Disney permits this. The CM talked like Disney doesn't like this but there's nothing that can really be done about it as they had found a way around being removed.

I wonder if there are any CMs from reservations who can enlighten us on the policy of perpetually renewing a reservation?

 

[Wojciehowicz]

Where is that smiley for "beating a dead horse" when you need it?

 

[Wojciehowicz]

Whoa... they are erecting STRUCTURES? I'm no lawyer... but given enough time, isn't there some risk of Disney's clear title to the land? Would love to hear from someone who IS a lawyer .

Now that's funny. You were trying to be funny, weren't you?

 

[luv]

Honestly, the Halloween pic doesn't look that bad to me. Busier than I make my decorations, but interesting to see.

I'm sure it could look worse during the day or in person.

 

[Fantasmic]

If I had the money, I'd totally "live" at Disney World... I'd do a month at each resort.

 

[sublimesting]

Where is that smiley for "beating a dead horse" when you need it?

Right next to the smart a$$ smiley.

 

[Ralphlaw]

Once again, the "real lawyer" comes to the rescue, with briefcase in hand, dollar signs in his eyes, and ears open for the wail of an ambulance.

It's called "Adverse Possession" or squatters rights. Essentially, if you occupy a piece of property for a certain length of time (let's say 20 years) in an open and obvious manner, and the owner does nothing about it, you can claim that you then own the property. It's a way to keep land productive, and forces absent land owners to stay on top oftheir holdings. However, if someone pays rent, that generally acts as an acknowledgement by the "tenant" that they are not the owner, and cannot later claim to be the owner. In short, as long as you pay rent, you cannot claim that you own the property.

I'm no expert on Florida law, but I assume Disney would do something strong if these people didn't pay rent. So assuming they are paying rent, they cannot some day claim that they own it.

I hope this helps. Please send me $300 for my time on this vital case.

 

[Can we go yet?]

Actually I would love to live at Ft. Wilderness Camp grounds. Sounds like fun.

 

[Ralphlaw]

Disney certainly has the power to evict them, but they probably don't want to for whatever reason. As I recall, most of the long term campers are in certain areas that are like an RV neighborhood. The short-term campers are in other areas, and probably have no "additions" or excess clutter. The long termers are probably far more tolerant of these structures and clutter because they may have a bunch of their own. Further, anyone who complains can just leave or move.

And then there's money, of course. Long termers pay a huge amount of yearly rent, so Disney is probably forgiving of the mess. If no one complains too loudly, if rent is prompt, if it's just homey clutter and not a health risk, and, again, if money is prompt, let it be (especially if the money is prompt).

 

[Wojciehowicz]

No, I wasn't. I know that a HOMEOWNER really has to watch for property encroachments (often accidental... like a path, a fence) - when such things exist for 10 years+ (at least in MI), it's possible to loose clear title to that chunk of land... something about common use.
These folks have erected structures - but they are also paying, daily. I wondered, given the "building", if over time, Disney could get into a title stink - was hoping a real lawyer would comment.

If I thought your question had any merit I would have answered it from the legal perspective. I have owned a successful law firm in central Florida for 20 years and although I'm not a lawyer, I sleep with one. When I mentioned your post, she told me, well I'm not going to tell you what she said.

You also asked if a reservation CM could weigh in. Again if I thought your inquiry had any basis, I would have responded. Over the last 16 years, I have been a CM at four of the deluxe WDW resort front offices. When I posted what I posted, it wasn't an opinion. The people staying at the Fort for extended periods have to make a reservation every 30 days. They are not residents and will not be considered residents. As long as they do that and there is availability, they can stay as long as they want. They're happy and Disney is happy as long as they pay the site rate and follow the rules.

As for erecting structures. Unless you call a tent canopy a structure, there are no permanent structures. Junk, clutter, too many decorations, yes, but no structures.

During my rounds at the Fort today I stopped at the site in question and most of the stuff is gone and looks totally different. They are starting to put up their Christmas junk, which I'm sure will be over the top as well. As I said it's an eyesore.

While there, I met with the person that is, to my knowledge, the guest that has been staying there the longest. They told me that currently they have reservations, 30 days at a time, until Oct.

Do you really think that Disney with all the legal firepower available to them would risk someone squatting. And even if somehow someone could find a loophole, as that idiot CM led you to believe, RCID operates on one vote per acre. I think Disney is safe from being outvoted.