Treehouse Villas Questions ?

[EskiLvr]

We're going to be staying in the Treehouses for the first time this upcoming June (we own SSR, but have always stayed in the traditional villas). We'll be a party of 8 (me, DH, Thing1, Thing2, my Best Friend, her DH, her Thing1, her Thing2) - and it's also our friends' first time ever at The House of The Mouse. We really want to make this special.

We'll be there for 10 nights (whee!) - so the Treehouses were perfect. Three of the "Things" are male teenagers (14 and 15 years old) - we're planning on having them share the bedroom with the bunk beds. So…

Question 1: Is there enough space on the floor for us to be able to set up/take down a twin sized inflatable mattress?

Also: We'll have 2 rental cars (we'll be hitting Universal, and I don't want to think about how many grocery runs with *3* teen boys)… am I right in thinking that we're only allowed to park 1 of the cars at the treehouse? Which lot would we use for the other car?

And the last question…


The two dads in the group love to grill. (Seriously. The ovens in our respective houses don't get turned on for four months out of the year.) How big is the BBQ for the unit? That's more of a curiosity/time planning question than anything else.

Thanks so much!

 

[com_op_2000]

Three of the "Things" are male teenagers (14 and 15 years old)
we'll be hitting Universal

IMHO: With just these two statements, I would cancel a night or two at SSR and book hotel rooms at US/IoA for their front of the line access, for guests staying in their hotels.
You will save so much time from waiting in the regular lines and get to do so many more ride/shows.

 

[amym2]

We stayed in a THV in October 2012 and loved it! It was just the 4 of us, but my sister and BIL came to visit a few times. We got them a parking pass (they were listed on our reservation) and they parked by our villa because there were 6 spaces out front and they were never full. We had a THV near the entrance and I think the lot there (for two THV) was unusually large. If it had ever been close to full, we would have had them park at SSR. The parking is in the Grandstand section.

Not sure if there's room to fit a twin mattress in the bunkbed room. Seems like the floor space was pretty small. Hopefully someone else can answer that.

The grill is a standard size charcoal grill, like what you would find at a park.

 

[cvjw]

I second PP about staying a couple of nights at a Universal hotel for front of the line access - especially with the summer opening of the new HP land - the crowds will be extra heavy and the lines will be insane.

We stayed at the Hard Rock last June for a couple of nights for the FOTL access, and totally needed the privilege - the stand by lines were long. We went back during the next week to Islands of Adventures for the day and my boys didn't get to ride hardly any attractions - the standby lines were just too long.

We've stayed at all 3 of the Universal hotels, and prefer the Hard Rock for the short walk to the parks. Good luck with your decision.

 

[EskiLvr]

We had discussed staying on site at Universal (done it before for a conference for me - DH and kids got to play the whole time) - but was outvoted by the people who don't like moving hotels.

 

[Minniesgal]

As regards the bunk beds I'm not sure they are suitable for teenagers. My son was 14 when we went last year and he was too tall for them and had to sleep in the lounge. Better to put the younger kids in there if possible.

 

[Deb & Bill]

You'll want to park your second vehicle at the Grandstand parking lot. It will be a short walk from the THV.

 

[amym2]

You'll want to park your second vehicle at the Grandstand parking lot. It will be a short walk from the THV.

It's a short walk if your THV is near the Grandstand area. Our THV was near the THV entrance, so it would have been a hike to the car. They do provide a shuttle, but if you think you'll be using the 2nd car frequently, you might request being near SSR. There are no sidewalks in the THV, but since your kids are older, you may be fine with that (if say they want to walk to SSR).

 

[bochnikm]

We enjoyed a treehouse this past August with seven adults and we all loved it.

There not a lot of floor space in the bunk bed room. But I’m guessing teenagers would not mind if you crammed an air mattress in there. As worst case one will have to take the extra pullout in the living room.

Parking the extra car at Grandstand is no big deal. But,there are a couple of extra parking spots near the treehouse pool that are not in front of a treehouse, so you don’t take a spot from someone else.

I really enjoyed grilling (biggest thing to remember – bring matches or a lighter!).Get Matchlight coals off site to save money and not have to worry about lighter fluid. They do sell it on site if you need it, but they may not sell matches. There is a picture of me grilling on my trip report to see the size of it, see below. It isn’t big, about the size you would see in a county park.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

There is very little floor space in the bunk room. There's absolutely no room to the right or left of the bed for an inflatable, but you might be able to fit one at the foot of the bed. Here are some photos of the room. The play & go should give you an idea of the amount of room at the foot of the bed. Note that the ladder to the top bunk is at the foot of the bed (you can see the rungs in the first photo), so you should probably anticipate at least one "He stepped on my head!" fight during the trip.









I'm not sure exactly how tall my 17 y/o nephew is, but he's up there. The bunk isn't very big, but he managed ok.




Here's an exact grill measurement for you. The grill is 4 hamburgers wide by 3 hamburgers high.



As someone else mentioned, don't forget your matches, as you won't find them for sale on property. Also note that there's no table near the grill. (You can see our plate sitting right on the path waiting for the food.) We later discovered that the luggage rack with a cookie sheet on top of it (or an Owner's Locker lid) worked pretty good as a work-around table. Also note that the nearest light is across the path and pretty far from the grill. (You can see a little bit of the white rectangle of the light in the very top-right corner of the photo.) This is the design on all THV. Pack a flashlight in your suitcase, because it's impossible to see what's on the grill once the sun sets.

 

[yitbos96bb]

Well I've officially reached old... That 17 year old looks like such a small, young, child to me instead of close to adulthood

There is very little floor space in the bunk room. There's absolutely no room to the right or left of the bed for an inflatable, but you might be able to fit one at the foot of the bed. Here are some photos of the room. The play & go should give you an idea of the amount of room at the foot of the bed. Note that the ladder to the top bunk is at the foot of the bed (you can see the rungs in the first photo), so you should probably anticipate at least one "He stepped on my head!" fight during the trip.









I'm not sure exactly how tall my 17 y/o nephew is, but he's up there. The bunk isn't very big, but he managed ok.




Here's an exact grill measurement for you. The grill is 4 hamburgers wide by 3 hamburgers high.



As someone else mentioned, don't forget your matches, as you won't find them for sale on property. Also note that there's no table near the grill. (You can see our plate sitting right on the path waiting for the food.) We later discovered that the luggage rack with a cookie sheet on top of it (or an Owner's Locker lid) worked pretty good as a work-around table. Also note that the nearest light is across the path and pretty far from the grill. (You can see a little bit of the white rectangle of the light in the very top-right corner of the photo.) This is the design on all THV. Pack a flashlight in your suitcase, because it's impossible to see what's on the grill once the sun sets.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

Well I've officially reached old... That 17 year old looks like such a small, young, child to me instead of close to adulthood

He may have been 16 on that trip, but he certainly wasn't any younger than that.

 

[iteachlit]

You could put an inflatable mattress near the dining table. You won't find much floor space anywhere else.

 

[EskiLvr]

The pics are perfect... The two Thing1 kiddos are scrawny (mine is 15 yo, is 5'7", and is just now past 100 lbs - and the other Thing1 is built the same way and is a year younger). And they're all martial artists - so any "he stepped on my head" scuffles could be entertaining...

Thanks again!

 

[3dog2kidmom]

My SIL and I slept on the bunks and were just fine, so I would imagine your teens will be comfortable. I think you can fit a mattress --- it will be tight but workable.

 

[bochnikm]

BirdsOfPreyDave
Great idea using the luggage rack with a cookie sheet on top of it for a makeshift table!

EskiLvr
Another great thing is that the CM’s come around every day to clean out the grills, no need to worry about where to put the ashes.