BOULDER RIDGE VILLAS & COPPER CREEK VILLAS & CABINS: Wilderness Lodge DVC Expansion Thread

PghPixie · Jul 30, 2015

We're booked for Nov 30-Dec 4 and I got my letter in the mail this week. I called today and was given four options: $100 off/night; upgrade to either GF, AKL, or BC; add an extra day's worth of park tickets; upgrade to the Water Parks & More tickets (in December??).

I decided to stay put and take the $100/night discount. I hope I don't end up regretting not switching to another resort, but I was REALLY looking forward to staying at WL for the Christmas decorations and we probably won't make it back to Disney anytime soon. Since my son is past napping age, hopefully we'll be able to avoid the noise with the 9-7 schedule. At least now, I have a few extra $ for souvenirs!

FTM22 · Jul 30, 2015

Laura12 said:
We booked our Nov/dec stay at WL through a TA. Can we call guest services directly about switching &/or discounts or does the TA have to act on our behalf.

Your TA has to call but they should have no issue doing that for you.

jak07 · Jul 31, 2015

Here now. Scaffolding on the lobby rooms, MK/Contemporary side. We are on that side of the hotel but on the club level. We have not heard any noise at all. Have had some issues with the Old Faithful Club running out of food early. My husband spoke with manager. It seems some people pass off their bands to family or friends so they can come up and eat or take heaping plates down to them. The night they ran out of wings he said people were coming in with paper plates and filling them up.
He said they are fully aware of blogs and message boards encouraging and talking about doing this. They are trying to come up with a new system to stop that from happening. They are also planning to remodel the OFC in the future.

BrittyRo · Jul 31, 2015

If I make a reservation for my parents and put their two names on the reservation and then I decide to take their room instead. Can we change the names on the reservation or would we have to cancel and rebook?

waffocopter · Jul 31, 2015

wilkeliza said:
Was just on the phone and the first CM switched me to a manager with out me even asking.

She also didn't mention the Spa being out of service in November. She did say our trip it is entirely possible that construction won't even be going on because the scheduled start is Oct 24-26 (she said she couldn't remember the exact date) and that in her words "around these parts things don't usually start on time".

I hope that is all true. I was hoping for the spa for my mom. And the later the start, the better.

WDWKOOK · Aug 1, 2015

jak07 said:
Here now. Scaffolding on the lobby rooms, MK/Contemporary side. We are on that side of the hotel but on the club level. We have not heard any noise at all. Have had some issues with the Old Faithful Club running out of food early. My husband spoke with manager. It seems some people pass off their bands to family or friends so they can come up and eat or take heaping plates down to them. The night they ran out of wings he said people were coming in with paper plates and filling them up.

He said they are fully aware of blogs and message boards encouraging and talking about doing this. They are trying to come up with a new system to stop that from happening. They are also planning to remodel the OFC in the future.

Thanks for posting on vacation

Before MBs, guests could have just as easily given their KTTW cards to another non-CL guest. CMs try to get to know who the CL guests are when they check-in and they do pay attention to those who don't look "familiar," but this can still be a challenge, even with a relatively small CL. It's impossible to stop fraud, but I really don't think it's happening enough to cause food shortages and outages. I know you were told this (by Jackson?), but I think it may be an excuse for either not preparing enough food or not replenishing quickly enough.

There are 25 Deluxe rooms which accommodate up to 6 per room and none are located on the 7th floor. If all are occupied, with maximum occupancy, that's 150 people who aren't staying on the CL floor, but have full CL access. It often seems like they may be "stealing" food when in fact they're staying on another floor. One or two people from the party will often come up and get food for 5 or 6 people.

I've noticed in my past OFC stays that when it's rainy, there are a lot more people who spend time in the lounge and therefore, they tend to eat/drink more. The chef needs to anticipate this and prepare more food, but sometimes this doesn't happen.

The remodel is supposed to include a bathroom for guests and an expanded check-in area with seating for guests. I'm not sure when this will actually be done, but it's been talked about for a while.

BrittyRo said:
If I make a reservation for my parents and put their two names on the reservation and then I decide to take their room instead. Can we change the names on the reservation or would we have to cancel and rebook?

I (tried) to answer your question on the WL thread this morning

limabeanmom2003 · Aug 1, 2015

I checked in today and thought I'd share some pics of the scaffolding. These are the standard rooms in the north tower facing the loading dock/smoke house. If you are checking in soon and have a standard room reserved, you may end up with an upgrade. We booked standard and got woods. These rooms are empty.

BrittyRo · Aug 2, 2015

I already cancelled my WL stay but I got this letter:

(Sorry if this was already posted)

DVC Mike · Aug 2, 2015

Assuming that the Wilderness Lodge expansion is DVC (and that seems a safe assumption), the April 2017 date appears reasonable when compared to the timeline for the similar expansion at the Polynesian.

Here are some of the dates we've seen so far:

05/16/2015 - Permits and Plans filed with SFWMD
07/10/2105 - Disney begins to advise guests of impacts starting Oct 26
07/11/2015 - Disney begins to accommodate WL/VWL guest concerns
10/26/2015 - Construction starts

For comparison purposes, below are the timelines for VGF and PVB. I think the timeline will be very similar to PVB.

Villas at the Grand Floridian

03/08/2011 - Permits filed with the South Florida Water Management District for land between GF and wedding pavilion
06/30/2011 - Revised permit filed with SFWMD
07/11/2011 - Construction walls begin to go up
08/02/2010 - Disney files a notice of commencement with the Orange County Comptroller
09/07/2011 - Drawing of proposed VGF building is leaked
12/08/2011 - DVC officially announces VGF
01/30/2013 - Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation approves license for VGF
03/28/2013 - DVD files Master Declaration and Condo Related documents with Orange County Comptroller
04/01/2013 - VGF Master Declaration and related documents recorded at OCC.
05/20/2013 - DVC makes Facebook announcement that VGF sales will commence on May 23, 2013.
05/20/2013 - Members can begin buying points immediately. Non-members can start buying VGF on June 19, 2013. Point charts also released today.
05/23/2013 - VGF booking via MS and online begins.
05/23/2013 - VGF model opens at the DVC Preview Center at SSR.
10/23/2013 - VGF opens

Polynesian Villas & Bungalows

06/28/2013 - Permits and plans filed for bungalows with the South Florida Water Management District
09/17/2013 - DVC officially announces PVB
09/23/2013 - construction fences begin to go up along the beach
12/03/2013 - Permits filed to construct the bungalows and convert longhouses to DVC
06/19/2014 - Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation approves license for PVB
12/11/2014 - Disney releases concept art of bungalows and studios
01/07/2015 - Disney files Master Declaration with Orange County Comptroller
01/08/2015 - Point charts, floorpans and prices leaked on MO
01/12/2015 - PVB sales start (existing members)
02/09/2015 - General sales to the public begin
02/11/2015 - Existing members can begin making reservations
04/01/2015 - PVB officially opens

Scope of the work

http://i235.*************************************VWL/VWLPreOverlay_zps60urgsfj.jpg

http://i235.*************************************History/VWLOverlay_1.jpg

sullygirl14 · Aug 2, 2015

Thanks for all the tips! We received our letter a few weeks ago for our upcoming 10/28-11/2 trip to WL. Originally when I called they only offered to switch our resort and we'd have to pay the huge price difference and we'd lose our free dining- no thanks!!

I just called back and inquired about the $100/night construction credit and the person I spoke to was a bit wishy washy but then said he'd apply it. My question is- will I be able to see this credit applied under My disney experience or is this something that they take care of at the hotel?

laur05 · Aug 2, 2015

Were going around the same time and I also got the $100 discount. I received an email with our new package price. And then it did also reflect the new price on MDE.

sullygirl14 · Aug 2, 2015

laur05 said:
Were going around the same time and I also got the $100 discount. I received an email with our new package price. And then it did also reflect the new price on MDE.

Thanks for the info! How long did it take you to receive the email w/ new package price? Only reason I ask is the person stated that it would only be listed under the portfolio at the hotel... doesn't make sense to me since the trip has to be paid off 45 days prior to arrival.

jak07 · Aug 2, 2015

WDWKOOK said:
Thanks for posting on vacation

Before MBs, guests could have just as easily given their KTTW cards to another non-CL guest. CMs try to get to know who the CL guests are when they check-in and they do pay attention to those who don't look "familiar," but this can still be a challenge, even with a relatively small CL. It's impossible to stop fraud, but I really don't think it's happening enough to cause food shortages and outages. I know you were told this (by Jackson?), but I think it may be an excuse for either not preparing enough food or not replenishing quickly enough.

There are 25 Deluxe rooms which accommodate up to 6 per room and none are located on the 7th floor. If all are occupied, with maximum occupancy, that's 150 people who aren't staying on the CL floor, but have full CL access. It often seems like they may be "stealing" food when in fact they're staying on another floor. One or two people from the party will often come up and get food for 5 or 6 people.

I've noticed in my past OFC stays that when it's rainy, there are a lot more people who spend time in the lounge and therefore, they tend to eat/drink more. The chef needs to anticipate this and prepare more food, but sometimes this doesn't happen.

The remodel is supposed to include a bathroom for guests and an expanded check-in area with seating for guests. I'm not sure when this will actually be done, but it's been talked about for a while.

I (tried) to answer your question on the WL thread this morning

I have no idea who he spoke with, I didn't ask. I know people used to pass their cards back and forth too, but he said it's harder to detect with the band. Just passing that info.
Since there isn't a kitchen up here, they get their food from Whispering Canyon and bring it up. You would think they could have made more wings downstairs to bring up but they didn't. We saw numerous people carry large plates of food out of OFC. I honestly don't care how much someone takes except when they run out of food and turn off the warmers and don't replenish after 6:00-6:15. It's supposed to run until 7.
Yes the refurb consists of a bathroom and a kitchen was mentioned but supposedly they are still trying to work that out. One of the members we spoke with today admitted the pool refurb but could not elaborate any further. I whispered to my husband that I had seen the sketches and they smiled and said they had heard rumors too. They did say it would be 2 years and we wouldn't recognize the place when it's done.

wilkeliza · Aug 3, 2015

limabeanmom2003 said:
I checked in today and thought I'd share some pics of the scaffolding. These are the standard rooms in the north tower facing the loading dock/smoke house. If you are checking in soon and have a standard room reserved, you may end up with an upgrade. We booked standard and got woods. These rooms are empty.

View attachment 113177 View attachment 113178

Did they say how long the panting is going to go? We were told there would be no work going on at the main building during our visit (November) and that's the only reason we agreed to stay. If there is going to be work going on in the main building I'll probably have them switch our resort.

limabeanmom2003 · Aug 4, 2015

wilkeliza said:
Did they say how long the panting is going to go? We were told there would be no work going on at the main building during our visit (November) and that's the only reason we agreed to stay. If there is going to be work going on in the main building I'll probably have them switch our resort.

No dates given.

limabeanmom2003 · Aug 4, 2015

Edited

luvlumpy · Aug 5, 2015

For those of you that have been bumped to another resort at Christmas because if the construction, is your switch confirmed? My switch to BWI is still not showing on my MDE. I emailed my "magical" TA again yesterday and she's checking on it. I'm starting to get very concerned. She said it was a done deal, so we changed our ADRs around to reflect the resort change and are pretty excited to try BWI. Any December travelers hear anything yet?

tinaver · Aug 5, 2015

We heard from our magical TA on Saturday, July 18th about a switch to GF. I promptly replied and TA confirmed it would a few days to go through. MDE showed the resort change on Thursday night.

WDW Lover · Aug 5, 2015

I was actually booked at the VWL for Dec. 15 to Dec. 23 and received my letter in the mail about "refurbishments" around July 15. I didn't really take notice of it, as I was assuming it was just minimal things like swapping out old furniture, etc. at the vacation club portion of the resort. Well, then around August 1 I received a phone call (and I missed it, so it was just a message) saying that they were calling to talk to me about the construction and refurbishment of the resort for our stay in Dec. Well, that had me a little worried as it seemed that it was more than just a little change since they were making an actual phone call. So, two days later I receive a follow-up call (so now I know it must be major) and a cast member proceeds to try to "play off" the construction and refurbishment of the resort. So I asked her specifics and essentially everything that we would want to use on our vacation at the resort would not be available. Soooo, my options as a DVC member? "Oh, we can see if we can rebook you at another DVC resort." Well, I had to book this one at 11 months out to get VWL, and now we are inside of the 7 month window for anyone to get any resort, so I am expecting NOTHING to be available except maybe Old Key West or Saratoga Springs... which are not in my opinion comparable. I mean, I planned exactly 11 months out to get what I wanted and got up early that morning to get it! So, she comes back and says 2 resorts are available... Saratoga Springs and Beach Club. So, I scooped up Beach Club! I don't own a DVC membership there, so I rarely get to secure a studio there. I was pretty happy with my luck!

elliececil · Aug 5, 2015

Saratoga Spring, Beach Club, and Kidani seem to be the ones being most offered for switching. I was offered those 3. Glad you're happy with your move!

BOULDER RIDGE VILLAS & COPPER CREEK VILLAS & CABINS: Wilderness Lodge DVC Expansion Thread

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