Villas at the Disney
Institute
[Disney Vacation Planner]
| Update |
April 2002
The Villas at the Disney Institute are currently closed
while the resort undergoes renovations. The resort is expected
to open in 2004 as a new Disney Vacation Club resort.
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Overview
The Villas at the Disney Institute used to be called
Disney's Village Resort. At one time, Disney had contemplated
building it's own town with houses for sale. Many of these buildings
were the first phase of that facility, but it was never implemented
in it's original form. Instead, these rooms, villas, townhouses,
and grand villas have been available for daily rent for several
years. (Note: Celebration, a new permanent ownership town, is
Disney's newest incarnation of this idea.)
The Disney Institute is the result of many, many
guests over the years asking for more detailed information about
Walt Disney World and how it operates. The Institute provides
a hands-on learning vacation program designed for the hyper-yuppie
that needs more touchie-feelie time than can be had participating
in the passive activities of the theme parks.
The accommodations themselves are available for
rent even if you aren't participating in Disney Institute programs.
The best way to describe the theme of the facility is "New England
prep school ala Florida". The accommodations themselves quiet,
out-of-the-way, and larger than most. For family reunions, and
other such large gatherings of people, the villas would be a good
choice. The Institute programs themselves have proven to be a
wonderful change from the typical vacation.
Rooms
There are various styles of rooms at the Disney
Institute.
The treehouses rooms are picturesque and
quaint-looking, especially in their woody surroundings. They are
also relatively secluded from each other, though the houses near
the edges of the Sassagoula River are frequently passed by the
river transportation from Dixie Landings / Port Orleans to Downtown
Disney, so could be more noisy than others.
Food and Drink
The Seasons restaurant offers regular sit down meals.
Otherwise, the Village Marketplace has the closest alternatives.
Olivia's, at the Old Key West Resort, the Boatwright's Dining
Hall at Dixie Landings, and Bonfamilles at Port Orleans aren't
too far away, either.
Activities
If you're staying at the Disney Institute for the
programs themselves, there are plenty of options to keep you busy.
Approximately eighty different programs are available to choose
from including culinary arts, animation, imagineering, landscaping,
storytelling, and many others.
If you're stay at this facility merely because the
villas are good sized (but otherwise are having a traditional
WDW vacation), your activities include bicycling, a wonderful
fitness facility, gameroom, golf, volleyball, swimming pools,
and tennis.
Recreation
Golfing Carts can be rented at the resort for around
$35 per day, and all rooms have parking spaces nearby for them.
Guest Services
Disney Transportation
All locations within WDW are serviced by Disney's
internal bus transportation although there seem to be less bus
visits to the Disney Institute than to many of the other resorts.
The Treehouses, Grand Villas, Townhouses, and Bungalows
all share a bus route. There are 8 stops in total; the first of
which are at the Treehouses.
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