New Log Cabins?

[JenniferS]

I'm sorry, I don't see a single immoral or corrupt thing I did here. Or I wouldn't be talking about it in public.

I paid for a campsite like anyone else, and got the advantages of staying onsite, like anyone else. Just like anyone else renting a room or campsite, I paid for these benefits and am not hurting anyone. I followed every rule, I believe rules apply to me. Can you show me which one I broke?

Doesn't matter where I actually lay my head down at night, it is my campsite to use or not use as I chose. (And rarely is Fort Wilderness totally full and denying it to someone else. Especially when we went in April. If I believed it was, I wouldn't have done it.)

I'm with you. Nothing immoral or corrupt in paying for a product/service and not using it.

 

[Mad Stitch]

I'm sorry, I don't see a single immoral or corrupt thing I did here. Or I wouldn't be talking about it in public.

I paid for a campsite like anyone else, and got the advantages of staying onsite, like anyone else. Just like anyone else renting a room or campsite, I paid for these benefits and am not hurting anyone. I followed every rule, I believe rules apply to me. Can you show me which one I broke?

Doesn't matter where I actually lay my head down at night, it is my campsite to use or not use as I chose. (And rarely is Fort Wilderness totally full and denying it to someone else. Especially when we went in April. If I believed it was, I wouldn't have done it.)

Nope, quite a few times now I could not get a spot for my camper because the resort is "full" when in actuality the sites are sitting empty taken by people like you who have no intention of using the resort amenities and are exploiting a loop hole for your own selfish personal gain.

 

[Mad Stitch]

Uh, the campground has plenty of maintenance in it. Just look at the sheer size of the resort to start...someone has to maintain all that land. There are also comfort stations, roads, the campsites themselves (did you ever notice someone "cleans" the site before every arrival?), utilities the guests use (consumption and maintenance of), check-in buildings (two because of the two types of check-in available), pools, bus stops, recreational amenities, boat docks, marina, etc... What about all the cast members that work at this massive property? Someone has to pay them, too! Just because you bring your own mobile home, doesn't mean the resort is maintenance free and your $75 is pure profit.

Oh sure, I wasn't implying that the $75 was pure profit. The common areas that you name exist at every other resort as well. I was referring more to the room specific stuff such as towels, linens, soap, shampoo, and maintenance in terms of broken towel racks, beds, etc. The poster I was speaking to thought that just because it was a tent sight makes it generate low revenue. I was just pointing out that there are cost savings on the camp sights and I'm sure the margin Disney is making on them is comparable to a physical room.

 

[PinnySmart]

Nope, quite a few times now I could not get a spot for my camper because the resort is "full" when in actuality the sites are sitting empty taken by people like you who have no intention of use the resort amenities and are exploiting a loop hole for your own selfish personal gain.

Exactly. Campsites are very difficult to come by. My opinion of docdebbi's actions remain unchanged. Try as you might to justify it because of the time of year or because you say the campground wasn't full is desperate. Sure you paid for the campsite but you did it to game the system. Corruption is corruption. Taking advantage of onsite privileges when not actually staying onsite no matter how much you paid for the campsite is dishonest. If it wasn't then Disney would sell onsite benefits to offsite guests for $75/day. Oops. Better not give them any ideas.

 

[Thunder Kz]

Bingo. The result will be that Disney deactivates bands for people who did not check in, Disney adds a surcharge for this benefit, or it simply increases prices across the board to discourage the practice. Look at what happened with resort mugs… scanners plus increased prices because Disney and other guests got tired of seeing families of six pass around an old Dixie Landings mug.

 

[ford91exploder]

Bingo. The result will be that Disney deactivates bands for people who did not check in, Disney adds a surcharge for this benefit, or it simply increases prices across the board to discourage the practice. Look at what happened with resort mugs… scanners plus increased prices because Disney and other guests got tired of seeing families of six pass around an old Dixie Landings mug.

To be fair that Dixie Landings mug probably DID come with a Lifetime refill also the last 'Lifetime Refill' mug was sold in 98 or so I've got a couple but stopped using them YEARS ago when Disney went to generic mugs as I did not want to lose my souvenirs.

The bigger issue was people filling up water bottles (the one gallon clear plastic kind) and those giant 64 oz Hess mugs

 

[Bolt]

To be fair that Dixie Landings mug probably DID come with a Lifetime refill also the last 'Lifetime Refill' mug was sold in 98 or so I've got a couple but stopped using them YEARS ago when Disney went to generic mugs as I did not want to lose my souvenirs.

The bigger issue was people filling up water bottles (the one gallon clear plastic kind) and those giant 64 oz Hess mugs

I wonder if culturally, people didn't think it was actually wrong.

 

[ford91exploder]

I wonder if culturally, people didn't think it was actually wrong.

I think you are on to something there, I'd bet a large number of those folks actually bought at least one mug and they felt it was ok to get it all at once for the day instead of filling the cup each time.

 

[halltd]

I'm sorry, I don't see a single immoral or corrupt thing I did here. Or I wouldn't be talking about it in public.

I paid for a campsite like anyone else, and got the advantages of staying onsite, like anyone else. Just like anyone else renting a room or campsite, I paid for these benefits and am not hurting anyone. I followed every rule, I believe rules apply to me. Can you show me which one I broke?

Doesn't matter where I actually lay my head down at night, it is my campsite to use or not use as I chose. (And rarely is Fort Wilderness totally full and denying it to someone else. Especially when we went in April. If I believed it was, I wouldn't have done it.)

Your belief is wrong. It's very very difficult to get campsites at Fort Wilderness. My family stays there 3-4 times a year and they have to book their sites the day they're released, or they are sold out. So, if you and however many other people start booking sites and never using them, the prices are going to spike because of a false demand...negatively impacting other people who really do want to camp there, and/or you're just preventing people from legitimately purchasing a spot to use for their vacation. So, just because you paid for the site, doesn't mean you're not "hurting anyone" else. Believe it or not, your actions actually do have reactions and impacts to other people. It's not all just about you.

 

[Disone]

Are we certain they're tent-only sites? Or full hookup RV sites?

I have a feeling the latter is a huge revenue source, especially the retired snowbirds who "live" at FW for months at a time. Even the non-retiree RV owners are likely big spenders.

Throw in the fact that the cabins have, like the rest of WDW accommodations, gotten prohibitively expensive for most folks, and it would make sense why they'd want to shuffle their inventory.

(I still don't understand why anyone would spend $500+ for a decorated double-wide at Ft. Wilderness when you can get a real (and nicer) cabin in the real wilderness of Yellowstone or other National Park for a fraction of the cost.)

Because Yellowstone and other National Parks do not have a boat that cruises under a Monorail beam and to a Magic Kingdom. Compared to many of the other villa and room options, the cabins offer a pretty good value for on site accommodations at WDW while giving a tease of flavor of wilderness life.

 

[docdebbi]

Your belief is wrong. It's very very difficult to get campsites at Fort Wilderness. My family stays there 3-4 times a year and they have to book their sites the day they're released, or they are sold out. So, if you and however many other people start booking sites and never using them, the prices are going to spike because of a false demand...negatively impacting other people who really do want to camp there, and/or you're just preventing people from legitimately purchasing a spot to use for their vacation. So, just because you paid for the site, doesn't mean you're not "hurting anyone" else. Believe it or not, your actions actually do have reactions and impacts to other people. It's not all just about you.

I'm pretty sure I never said anything is all about me. Actually, when you calculate the amount of time I spend volunteering for different groups and working in my church, I'm pretty sure I have proof that I don't think it's all about me.

Originally when someone mentioned they thought this was selfish of me, I felt pretty bad and considered if I'd ever do it again. But I'm actually beginning to get a little annoyed. The bashing seems out of proportion.

I just don't see this as "someone who has zero concept of morals and ethics","doesn't care about what I teach my children" "someone who thinks the rules are not meant for me", someone who"thinks it's all about me".

I'm beginning to feel like I killed a small child or a puppy.

So you are telling me that the primitive sites are sold out 100 % of the time? You are correct, I did not know that.

More importantly, are you telling me that there is some advantage to you in my booking a site and actually staying there- as I have in the past- than booking it and not staying there?

You see, I would never go to the parks without the benefits of being onsite, this was the first time I have ever actually stayed off site. . I would never stay just offsite. (I have stayed at every resort multiple times except Old Key West and Saratoga Springs.) I would not go to Disneyworld without onsite perks, so I WILL be booking and using/or not using the room no matter what. The site will not be available to someone else, whether I am in it or not.

So when I go back next I will be booking a room or campsite, whether I am actually IN my site or not. So it is somehow better for YOU if I'm in that room, rather than not in that room? I don't understand how.

Don't want to be argumentative, but really not convinced what I did was wrong, let alone deserving of the heaps of insults I have received.

 

[Slowjack]

I still don't understand why anyone would spend $500+ for a decorated double-wide at Ft. Wilderness when you can get a real (and nicer) cabin in the real wilderness of Yellowstone or other National Park for a fraction of the cost.)

To be fair, this argument is true of any Disney resort. For example, you can stay at the Ilikai Hotel, the hotel where Jack Lord is standing in the Hawaii Five-O credits, right on Waikiki Beach, in a luxury ocean-view suite, for probably less than half of what you pay to stay the same night at the Polynesian in a tiny Disney hotel room. Nevertheless my family have stayed at many Disney resorts under it started to make me feel too much like sucker and I started staying off-site.

 

[halltd]

I don't see where anyone slung insults at you. They just disagreed with you saying there was nothing wrong with what you're doing and that your actions in no way affect anyone else. I showed how it impacted others and you didn't care. That's cool. We just disagree. It's the same argument some of us have with those that park at the resorts with the sole purpose of avoiding the park lots and say there's nothing wrong with what they're doing and that they're not impacting anyone else. If they/you would just say you found a loophole to game the system, no one would argue with that.

 

[Mad Stitch]

To anyone who has future plans of booking a camp sight without any intentions of showing up, please send me your assigned space number. I'll back my camper into it and spend a night there for free.

 

[jbolen2]

im surprised for what it cost they haven't added more sites. We go 2-3 times a year and have to book for the next year before we leave or you usually aren't getting it without a lot of calling and checking

 

[Gabe1]

To be fair that Dixie Landings mug probably DID come with a Lifetime refill also the last 'Lifetime Refill' mug was sold in 98 or so I've got a couple but stopped using them YEARS ago when Disney went to generic mugs as I did not want to lose my souvenirs.

The bigger issue was people filling up water bottles (the one gallon clear plastic kind) and those giant 64 oz Hess mugs

Yep. We have many Dixie Landing Lifetime Refill mugs. We got our first ones I believe in 92 when the resort launched after the Port Orleans opened the year before. We don't have PO Life Time Mugs though we opened that resort the year before. Maybe that is when the Life Time Launched???

I often wondered if I brought my Life Times back with me what Disney would do about that? My thoughts were most of the CMs I'd encounter would look at me like what are you talking about lady?

 

[Andrew C]

Holy overreaction batman!

 

[FFMEDIC57]

Here is a picture from today of the log cabins on the old air strip..

 

[EOD K9]

I'm going to slightly jack this thread with something similar that happens in Nassau. There is a hotel right across the street from Atlantis. The hotel has a deal with them where the hotel guests get four free passes to the Atlantis beaches. Oftentimes, the price of the room alone is less than the cost of four beach passes. What many people do is reserve a room, check in and immediately check out so they can use the resort's facilities. That is very similar to paying for something and not using it.

 

[toolsnspools]

Absolutely nothing wrong with booking a site to only use it for the on-site benefits. Wish I had thought of it. I have a local timeshare, and would consider paying $60/day to enjoy EMH, and magic bands. Even if they require you to check in, that wouldn't be a big deal. It would take about an hour to check in, and pitch a tent, if that's what they wanted. Now if Disney were smart, they would offer offsite guests the opportunity to purchase benefits for a reasonable rate, and would not have all their tent sites constantly booked and empty.