Expansion Planned for Disney's Grand Floridian Resort

[DizneyRox]

DVC won't be able to tell you anything. Florida law is very specific about when they can announce a property for sale.

I meant that I bet it's DVC, not that I'd actually call Member Services. Besides, everyone knows you first ask the bus drivers about new developments!

[magicofdisney]

I meant that I bet it's DVC, not that I'd actually call Member Services. Besides, everyone knows you first ask the bus drivers about new developments!

[Brer Longhorn]

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.

[DizneyRox]

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.

[Goofster]

Rumor on another DVC site is that BLT, based on current sales, will be sold out by the end of this summer.

[Ed]

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, 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.

[Goofster]

Story from today's Orlando Sentinel ~~

Disney planning addition to Grand Floridian
By Jason Garcia, Orlando Sentinel
5:43 PM EDT, March 22, 2011

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.

Hmmm...I must've missed the theme parks connected to Hilton Head and Vero Beach!

[DVC2004]

Rumor on another DVC site is that BLT, based on current sales, will be sold out by the end of this summer.

I don't know about that. When it launched,
they were saying it would be sold out in three months. That was 2 and a half years ago. Sometimes things are said to create a false urgency to buy...just sayin'.

[Goofster]

I don't know about that. When it launched,
they were saying it would be sold out in three months. That was 2 and a half years ago. Sometimes things are said to create a false urgency to buy...just sayin'.

True, but it's an insider site, not a sales site, so I imagine there is some truth to it. If this is DVC, it would make sense since BLT could very well sell out while this is still finishing up construction.

[candleshoe]

Rumor on another DVC site is that BLT, based on current sales, will be sold out by the end of this summer.

I never trust these rumors. DVC has been telling me that BLT will sell out "in the next few months" every time I ask them starting back in early 2010. They are like used car salesmen (no offense to any out there!) - trying to generate up that desire to buy before it's too late! Don't get me wrong, I love DVC and am a proud owner at BLT, but that is their MO. They won't announce GF until the last possible moment because they want to maximixe sales on their exisiting units and don't want people to hold out for GF. I, however, am already saving up my $ for points at GF. I will bet my entire Disney Freak reputation on that expansion being DVC.