Behind the Build: How Disney's 350 New Fort Wilderness Cabins Come Together
Disney is building more than 350 new cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort for Disney Vacation Club members and guests, prefabricated off-site in an Orlando warehouse by local Florida small businesses. The cabins sleep six, stay dog-friendly, and add a kitchen stove and floor-to-ceiling windows, opening in phases beginning July 1.
More than 350 new cabins are coming to Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort for Disney Vacation Club members and guests, and Disney pulled back the curtain on how they are being built: prefabricated piece by piece in an Orlando warehouse by a pair of local Florida small businesses.
Key Details
- Resort: Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort, open since 1971
- What: more than 350 new cabins for DVC members and guests
- Sleeps: six, with a private patio, bedroom, living room, and dog-friendly rooms
- New touches: a kitchen stove, floor-to-ceiling windows, and art nodding to the old River Country water park
- Opening: in phases beginning July 1
- Reserve: DisneyVacationClub.com
An off-site approach to a big build
In a low-key Orlando warehouse, the new Fort Wilderness cabins, designed by Walt Disney Imagineering and Disney World's Facility Asset Management team, are taking shape. Because each cabin is a standalone unit rather than a hotel room, building them is closer to manufacturing than renovation.
The team developed a pre-fabrication strategy so components can be built off-site in Central Florida and then assembled at the resort.
"We worked to develop a pre-fabrication strategy to allow construction of the components of each cabin off-site in Central Florida. This approach assures minimal construction disruption at Fort Wilderness and assures a high level of quality in the construction of each of the new cabins," said Dean Huspen, Executive Architect with Walt Disney Imagineering.
What is inside the new cabins
Guests who have stayed in the resort's cabins before will recognize the essentials. The new cabins still sleep six and include a private patio, bedroom, and living room, and they remain dog-friendly. New additions include a stove in the kitchen and larger floor-to-ceiling windows that pull in more Florida light and forest views. The artwork pays tribute to Fort Wilderness history, with nods to the former River Country water park for fans to spot.
Built with Florida small businesses
The work is a collaboration with two local companies, JCQ Services and Friedrich Watkins Company, each of which employs about 150 people. They are among roughly 8,500 small businesses Disney works with nationwide, including more than 2,500 in Florida. For JCQ Services owner Juan Quiroga, whose first job was cleaning windows off the side of a skyscraper, the project is personal.
"Starting my business with my mom and overcoming my fear of heights on that first job taught me that to succeed, sometimes you have to face your fears head on. It's so exciting to be part of this venture and see how it's bringing together the expertise of local businesses like ours to create something truly exceptional for Disney," said Juan Quiroga.
The process was built with sustainability in mind. Friedrich Watkins Company owner Jeff Friedrich said the method limits metal waste to less than 1%, with the rest recyclable.
"By using a cutting-edge machine that reads plans designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, we've created customized metal studs to save time and minimize waste," Jeff Friedrich said.
What it means for Fort Wilderness fans
The cabins open in phases beginning July 1, timed to the 50th anniversary of the resort's Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue, the long-running dinner show that has been a Fort Wilderness staple. Reservations are open now, and guests interested in ownership can learn about joining Disney Vacation Club at The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort. For a campground that has traded on natural beauty since 1971, the rebuilt cabins are a bet that guests still want the woods, just with better windows and a stove in the kitchen.