The next DVC resort-what do you want?

[thegoods]

Anybody ever dreamed of a DVC cruise ship operated by the Disney Cruise Line? I wonder about the point cost and the trade possibilities... Who says DVC has to be about bricks and mortar.

 

[walter]

Some of you have posted about Castaway Cay. How would one get there at a reasonable cost? I have been on three DCL cruises, and on each one of them, CM's have discussed the insect problem on this island at dusk. The cost of the infrastructure, let alone construction costs would not be very cost effective. Seeing how frugal Disney can be at times, I doubt very much whether this location would be seriously considered.

 

[Caskbill]

Originally posted by walter
Some of you have posted about Castaway Cay. How would one get there at a reasonable cost? I have been on three DCL cruises, and on each one of them, CM's have discussed the insect problem on this island at dusk. The cost of the infrastructure, let alone construction costs would not be very cost effective. Seeing how frugal Disney can be at times, I doubt very much whether this location would be seriously considered.

This is absolutely correct. I was going to raise the same points. The insect problem is obvious, but things we take for granted at a mainland resort become extremely difficult at a place like Castaway Cay. Fresh water would have to come in by ship, and that wouldn't be cheap. Electric power generation would be expensive. Imagine the power required for even a VWL size resort with all those air conditioners running. The staff required to run the resort would have to remain on site for days at a time, not being able to go home every night. This takes a special kind of employee which would probably demand higher wages. (Front Desk CM's wouldn't be getting generous tips like the waiters or cabin stewards on a cruise ship which helps make those positions desirable for many people.) Then all these CM's would require periodic transportation back to the mainland. DCL could do it, but you'd better believe they'd charge DVC for the service.

And while it sounds like a neat idea how many of us would really want to spend a week there. A one day stopover while on the cruise ship is just about right.

Sorry, Castaway Cay is the least likely place you'll ever find a DVC resort.

 

[Doug Wolfe]

I would like to see DVC go back to the large rooms that they have at Old Key West. This would be a major seller.


I wouldn't mind seeing a DVC at DisneyLand or a place like the Caribbean. But I suspect, since it took so many years to sell VB and HH, that they will be slow to put one away from WDW. Remember, at one time they announced a DVC in California, and eventually sold the property. (I think Marriott bought it.)

 

[BWVDee]

Originally posted by Doug Wolfe
I would like to see DVC go back to the large rooms that they have at Old Key West. This would be a major seller.

Highly unlikely this will ever happen. The DVC resorts with the smaller villas are already "major sellers" and Disney makes more money off of them because they can get more units per building. Disney has no reason to go back to larger units. It is funny because it seems Disney has a history of starting with bigger resort rooms in the beginning stages until they see how it all goes and then they scale down the room sizes and therefore fit more units per resort. Examples: the first built deluxe resorts: Poly and Contemporary have much larger rooms then the later built deluxe resorts. CBR the first moderate resort was built with larger rooms then the subsequent moderate resorts to follow and the first built DVC resort followed the same pattern.

 

[lenshanem]

AKL, AKL, AKL

I also think a DL DVc resort wodul ahev been nice.

Gulf coast Florida nice, too, but i think that wodul really hurt Vero?

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by lenshanem
I also think a DL DVc resort wodul ahev been nice.

Funny you should say that. This week the Discovery Channel's HDTV network was running their Behind the Scenes at Disneyland special. DW and I caught parts of it a couple of times. After the second viewing, my wife actually said to me "for the first time in my life, I actually think I have a reason to go to California."

She's not a big west coast fan, in case you hadn't guessed. But we'll probably be using some points for a DL trade-in a few years down the road...

 

[Stinson]

In the late 90's, DVC owned a building in Times Square, NYC, and then sold it to (I think) Marriott. I recall an artist's drawing with the DVC logo on the building. This was a great location for a DVC property and, I believe, was a great loss for DVC members. And so it goes.

 

[mamarobin24]

Actually, I hear the arguments about Castaway Cay ( i knew I spelled it wrong before, and was brain dead), and that was our favorite part of the cruise. Our whole family commented that we would like to spend more time there. This could be because the Love Of My Life gets horribly seasick it turns out 8=

What about another ocean sort of resort over in the Galveston area? That was fun to visit in our motor home. . .

. . .or, even, dare we think it? Disneyland Paris or Tokyo?

 

[erikthewise]

Originally posted by BWVDee
Highly unlikely this will ever happen. The DVC resorts with the smaller villas are already "major sellers" and Disney makes more money off of them because they can get more units per building. Disney has no reason to go back to larger units.

This is the common wisdom, but I wonder what the cost factor really is. OKW 1BRs are very roughly 50% larger than at other resorts, but I'll bet it wouldn't cost anywhere near 50% more to build at that size. All you really need is 50% more of floors and ceilings, and about 25% more of everything linear (walls, wiring, water pipes, etc). But a lot of the cost is a "per unit" cost. You don't need any more bathtubs, kitchen cabinets, tables, etc. The same arguments apply to labor costs. Since the land is already paid for, I'll bet you could get a 50% larger unit for only 20-25% additional cost.

The problem is that DVC couldn't make the larger units pay off, since the market is already saturated with large, cheap OKW rooms. Would you pay 20% more points for an OKW-sized room? Of course not, when you can get OKW for LESS points!

 

[Disney-Kim]

dream come true for us would be the Polynesian DVC
we spent our honeymoon at the Polynesian and it was heavan. hands down our favorite resort in all of WDW

 

[goldilocks_63]

Because of the fabulous Peter Pan Kids Club. (ie Babysitting).

I wished they hadn't removed the Harbour Club from the Boardwalk, because of that I won't be staying there until the kids are older......

Goldi.

 

[LucyLou&BobWho]

I like the northeast suggestion too! It would be nice to have some more to choose even off site!

 

[spiceycat]

back before the wedding pavillion - I though that area would be a good DVC resort - but Disney could make more money from a wedding pavillion - so that won....

I still think WDW would be better off letting DVC have the wings at Cont and DVC fixing it up (like DI).

I don't think they have problem filling all the rooms at the value resort both PC and AS - so no I don't see anything that way.

A monrail hotel would be great....

how do they change the T/T - that is where the monrails for both the MK and EPcot start and stop (except for the resort monrail) - does that mean they intend to tear down the monrail???? that makes no sense to me.

WIth Gaylord and the Ritiz Carlton now in the area plus the Hyatt being fixed up - not to mention Loews - Disney will probably come up with a great deluxe resort - they have wanted the 5 stars for a long time - and Ritiz Carlton will probably get it - just what Disney needs to come up with a real 5 star hotel.

too many guest of the GF have say that the outside in great - but the rooms leave a lot to be desired - okay I am quoting - this is definitely way out of my budget....

I would love a DVC resort at the POLYN - that would be so wonderful!!! - but I just don't think it will never happen. the Polyn was the first WDW resort we stayed at back in 72 and it was and is so beautiful.....

 

[spiceycat]

back before the wedding pavillion - I though that area would be a good DVC resort - but Disney could make more money from a wedding pavillion - so that won....

I still think WDW would be better off letting DVC have the wings at Cont and DVC fixing it up (like DI).

I don't think they have problem filling all the rooms at the value resort both PC and AS - so no I don't see anything that way.

A monrail hotel would be great....

how do they change the T/T - that is where the monrails for both the MK and EPcot start and stop (except for the resort monrail) - does that mean they intend to tear down the monrail???? that makes no sense to me.

WIth Gaylord and the Ritiz Carlton now in the area plus the Hyatt being fixed up - not to mention Loews - Disney will probably come up with a great deluxe resort - they have wanted the 5 stars for a long time - and Ritiz Carlton will probably get it - just what Disney needs to come up with a real 5 star hotel.

too many guest of the GF have say that the outside in great - but the rooms leave a lot to be desired - okay I am quoting - this is definitely way out of my budget....

I would love a DVC resort at the POLYN - that would be so wonderful!!! - but I just don't think it will never happen. the Polyn was the first WDW resort we stayed at back in 72 and it was and is so beautiful.....

 

[lillasmom]

I have to vote for Castaway Cay and Disneyland. Both would be great!

 

[shortypots]

1)DisneyLand
2) Texas Ranch style with horses etc
3) NJ Beach
4) colorado Ski lodge
5) Caribbean
6) Europe

 

[BWVDee]

Originally posted by erikthewise
This is the common wisdom, but I wonder what the cost factor really is. OKW 1BRs are very roughly 50% larger than at other resorts, but I'll bet it wouldn't cost anywhere near 50% more to build at that size. All you really need is 50% more of floors and ceilings, and about 25% more of everything linear (walls, wiring, water pipes, etc). But a lot of the cost is a "per unit" cost. You don't need any more bathtubs, kitchen cabinets, tables, etc. The same arguments apply to labor costs. Since the land is already paid for, I'll bet you could get a 50% larger unit for only 20-25% additional cost.

The problem is that DVC couldn't make the larger units pay off, since the market is already saturated with large, cheap OKW rooms. Would you pay 20% more points for an OKW-sized room? Of course not, when you can get OKW for LESS points!

Well, that is one way to look at it, but I meant if the units are smaller you can fit more units per building (they only have so much space to work with especially when they are doing add on DVC resorts like BCV & WLV). More units per building mean more points to sell and so more money in Disney's pocket.

 

[Paula H]

I remember reading somewhere (maybe the 25th anniv. book) that Walt's original plans included (in addition to the Poly and CR) another MK resort located on the lake "behind" the CR (maybe across the lake from WL?). I can't remember the planned theme - I want to say mediterranean. Maybe someone else remembers the details. Wouldn't that be an outstanding DVC resort - even with a "back" entrance to MK? I'd buy in a second.

Can someone explain the airport plan? Is it to run the monorail out to the airport?

I'd love to see a New England resort, so that my family would use for weekend getaways, but like someone else just said - it's positively frigid here right now with no end in sight. A small resort with access to skiing and some kind of water might work, Z(maybe up near Stowe.) so that it's year-round option, but I would imagine finding prime, desirable property can't be easy.

 

[colleen costello]

My family is interested in visiting one of the new indoor water parks with attached hotel, but the nearest one, in Northern Wisconsin, is too far away. A DVC like this would be cool. DH and I were talking about an off-season visit to Hilton Head, then remembered that the kids wouldn't be able to swim (their #1 favorite activity). So anything with an INDOOR pool would be great!