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I like the idea of it becoming DVC. Hopefully the points wont be too high.
I'm fairly sure DVC will be the final verdict on what this site becomes, but was wondering if anyone has ever heard of Disney expanding the idea of family suites to the Deluxe resorts? I know you can buy points from DVC members and stay at locations with more room, but didn't know if Disney has kicked around the idea as something they offer the family with more people in tow. Don't know all the ins and outs - hopefully not asking a stupid question.
There are cash rooms available at all DVC properties. A two bedroom would probably qualify as a family suite. In some cases a one bedroom will sleep 5. I don't see much need to build out a seperate property like pop at a deluxe. Probably a very small need and too much overhead (people need salary and benefits) so a few sprinkled around is probably better business.
If Disney is running at capacity and has to turn away a few people, that's good compared to a resort full of empty rooms 80% of the time.
Rumor on another DVC site is that BLT, based on current sales, will be sold out by the end of this summer.
Story from today's Orlando Sentinel ~~
Disney planning addition to Grand Floridian
By Jason Garcia, Orlando Sentinel
5:43 PM EDT, March 22, 2011
Walt Disney World is preparing to build an addition to Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, the most expensive of the giant resort's 17 hotels.
A permit application submitted to the South Florida Water Management District describes a six- to seven-story, T-shaped building that will be connected via a covered walkway to the existing Grand Floridian. The nearly 900-room, Victorian-themed hotel, next to the Magic Kingdom, has standard room rates that begin at $440 a night.
No construction timetable was provided, and Disney wouldn't discuss the project Tuesday.
"At any given time, we have numerous projects in various stages of development across our resort," spokesman Bryan Malenius said. "If a project comes to fruition, we will share details when it makes sense to do so for our business."
But the plans, which were filed with the water-management district earlier this month and quickly surfaced online in Disney fan forums:rocks:, have touched off widespread speculation that the building will be used for Disney Vacation Club time shares.
"It has all the markings of it," said Tim Krasniewski, publisher ... a news website for Disney time-share owners.
Disney would be following a familiar model if that's what it does. The company's newest time-share project in Orlando, the 15-story Bay Lake Tower, was built as an addition to Disney's Contemporary Resort, another high-priced Disney hotel by the Magic Kingdom.
Disney also has a history of attempting to keep its time-share projects quiet for as long as possible, for fear of undermining sales at already-open properties. Disney refrained from discussing its Bay Lake Tower plans until nearly two years after breaking ground on the project.
Disney is currently peddling units in three open time shares at Disney World — Bay Lake Tower, Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas, and Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa — as well in an under-construction resort in Hawaii dubbed "Aulani." That project, the first major resort Disney has built that isn't tied to a theme park, is scheduled to open in phases beginning this fall.
A new time-share project would be the first Disney has launched since the global recession and credit crunch, which decimated much of the time-share industry. Sales at Disney's time-share business fell during the downturn; the unit generated an estimated $190 million a year in operating profit before the slump.
Still, Disney says it has been happy with Vacation Club's performance through the recession.
"It has been a business that has been far more resilient than I think any of us internally would have thought," Walt Disney Co. Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo said during an analyst conference earlier this month.
Rasulo added that Disney prefers not to do lengthy pre-sales for its time-share developments. "We basically like people to be able to use their unit as soon as they buy in for the Vacation Club," he said.
Krasniewski said it would make sense for Disney to begin work on its next Orlando time share now. He said he expects Bay Lake Tower to sell out before the end of the year, based on documents filed with Orange County.
Disney declined to discuss the pace of sales in Bay Lake Tower, other than to say it is "pleased with the continued popularity" of the project.
The more I read the more concerned I get depending on where they are building.
BLT looks very nice and all. No DVC is not in our price range or even on our priorities list right now since we just got married.
But as a person who understand why Walt bought the huge chunck of property in Florida, it seems as if the current Disney company is ok letting guests see build up around it's parks while you are in the parks.
Seems like it is ok to build high rises that you can see from inside a Disney park, as long as they are Disney owned.
I am by no means a purist, and understand things have to change sometimes. But with the amount of land surrounding Bay Lake, and there are even land areas intended for resorts that were never built around the Seven Seas lagoon, could they not just build there instead?
They need to leverage the infrastructure already in place at the Grand. Adding a whole new resort or location will require significantly more resources than leeching off what's already in place. Also, guests don't want to travel too far when you're spending the amount of money you're spending to stay at the Grand. It doesn't appear to be a huge addition (compared to AKL and BLT) that would necessitatetoo much change to what's already in place.
I don't think they are going to go with a high rise at the GF. Thematically, it doesn't match. Since the Contemporary is a high rise, BLT is a high rise, albeit a different shape.
Also, you can't really see the GF from inside the park at all right now. I'm sure the addition will stay well hidden as well.
I understand the need to balance things around the lagoon.
But lets not forget that they had to do a lot of demolition to take out the North wing at the Contemporary. Which added more people to an already slow but still very capable monorail system. As well as adding to the bus system at its stop.
I will be the first to admit, that the Bay Lake tower is beautiful. But there is a swath of land south of the Contemporary that could have been utilized with low story buildings.
The Contemporary was already a beacon because of its height. The Poly cannot be seen unless you are at the entrance plaza and pretty much the same with the Grand Floridian.
I am all for the low story buildings like at the Poly and at the Grand Floridian. You cannot see them from within the park. I would just hate to see high rises around the Lagoon and Lake. Which I think will be coming because it just means more money for the company.
I also understand the economics of keeping guests more on property. Our honeymoon made us decide that we will not be going to Universal at all next trip. Yet we will be doing one day trips to Seaworld, Tampa, Daytona, etc. The rest of the time will be spent on Disney property. Because despite the negatives I perceive at Disney, it still has tons more plusses than anywhere else.
I see your point about high rises, Victor. I have mixed feelings on Bay Lake Tower taking a little away from what used to be the focus on the neat a-frame Contemporary. Keeping buildings low would be ideal. If this addition dwarfs the red roof spire splendor of the current GF main building, that would be a shame, too.
That swath of land, along with a couple others around the lagoon, are NOT suitable for building on. The ground is too porous and cannot support the infrastructure necessary to house a resort building. This is why those areas are not developed. They had to demo the North Wing (or the South Wing) to be able to build up in a spot that they knew was stable to support the structure.
I think it's already been speculated that if they add DVC to the Poly, they will simply convert existing longhouses to do so, since there is no space in the area to build additional structures.
I'd also be willing to bet on DVC, too. Why though they would build more, at this time, I have no idea. Nothing is sold out right now and there's tons of points on the formerly "sold out" properties due to forclosures/deed backs.