I was just there last Mon & Tues, stayed at the Paradise Pier hotel for 2 nights, added on to my business trip. It was great. As a pp said, I too was amazed at how much had been done since my last trip out there (in July). The building is now up to the 5th floor, and the lower floors are being shelled in. I did take some pics, and will post some later today when I get organized at work and can get the photos posted.
I took the model tour again, and noticed some changes to it from our tour in July, also. I did not take any new pics of the model however. When we were there in July there was a pull-out pantry cupboard next to the dining table. That was changed to a regular tall cupboard used to house the ironing board. Also the dining table bench in July was a wrap around the corner type of bench (L shaped), no more, now just a single wall bench. The island was much larger in July, now it's been shrunk down somewhat making both the kitchen / dining area feel larger.
Prior to my trip I was speaking with my FL based guide who basically didn't know anything about sales dates yet. She reminded me of the CA based sales priority, and asked me to see what I could find out locally since they (in FL) just don't know. Whether it's true or not that they (in FL) just don't know, I definitely asked, and asked, and asked - and asked. I stopped by many of the kiosks, in-lobby desks and of course on the tour. The story I was getting was pretty consistent - nobody knows (or at least, nobody is willing to say). One guy did give more info than the rest - as it related to timeshare laws in CA vs. FL. I'd read here on the DIS previously about that topic, and recalled reading that they had to be something like 90% complete before they could start selling. This guy, Justin, in the GC Lobby said it was 100%. That I don't know if it's true or not, but either way 90% or more - seems to indicate that sales won't start until probably June.
Everyone I spoke with said there would be 50 units, and that they are still expecting it to sell out fast...if not to the Founding Member folks, than once they open it up to the greater
DVC membership. None of them thought it would make it to the general non-dvc public.
It's still a wait and see game folks - I was hoping for a December or January sale - but at this point I don't see that happening. And now with DVC raising the AKV price to match BLT in January (which I first saw in email form come across my phone while walking to the park last Tuesday, actually as I was approaching the GC lobby to cut through to DTD and on into DL), I think sometime in Feb or later definitely makes sense. That way starting the price per point at $112 (or possibly higher) won't surprise anyone. And what could be happening, since last year's increase came in March or early April, it COULD be that DVC is positioning themselves for a Founding Member sale start in Feb or March, with the target of May or June for everyone else (whether they need that or not remains to be seen). But that's just my own speculation.