DVC Treehouse Villas

[bigsmooth]

I don't post here super often, so this may be old news. But I found the rumor that was posted today on MousePlanet to be interesting on the potential remodeling of the treehouse villas to be part of SSR.

A bit out of the way. But if true, I would make a point of staying there at least once in my lifetime.

Probably a bit of a far out there type rumor, but one I'll be paying attention to.

http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=wd080211mg

 

[dianeschlicht]

It's a rumor only. Disney can't change them or do anything but maintenance on them because of the wetland they are in.

 

[dbprimeaux]

I would love to see Disney use the Treehouses, again

 

[TisBit]

It's a rumor only. Disney can't change them or do anything but maintenance on them because of the wetland they are in.

DVC News has posted copies of the zoning permits being approved to modify the Villas. Disney was able to get approval by reducing the foot print in the wetlands, so it was to the benefit of the Wetlands. The plans submitted appear to be a two to three bedroom style set up.

It is unclear what they will be used for.

 

[dianeschlicht]

DVC News has posted copies of the zoning permits being approved to modify the Villas. Disney was able to get approval by reducing the foot print in the wetlands, so it was to the benefit of the Wetlands. The plans submitted appear to be a two to three bedroom style set up.
It is unclear what they will be used for.

Interesting! I do know that right now they are using them for the college program.

 

[tomandrobin]

It's a rumor only. Disney can't change them or do anything but maintenance on them because of the wetland they are in.

Actually, they already have the approval to replace the the Tree House Villas already. They got around the wet land issue by making the footprint smaller then the original villa. There are several good articles on the villas on several other sites.

 

[Claire L]

It does look like a possiblity, the only real issue is ADA compliance.

Claire

 

[bigsmooth]

Interesting! I do know that right now they are using them for the college program.

According to the mouseplanet article, they stop using them for the college program at the end of last year.

 

[tjkraz]

Interesting! I do know that right now they are using them for the college program.

The college program kids were moved out at the end of last year.

The South Florida Water Management District has approved the rebuild, so it's going to happen unless Disney puts the brakes on the project. And it really IS a rebuild--not just a refurb. The ground-level configuration is changing and the second floor villa is a little larger than what's up now.

You gotta hand it to Disney for figuring a way around these things.

As to whether it will be DVC / SSR or some form of cash accommdation, that's still open to debate.

 

[bigsmooth]

Here is the proposed layout (From MousePlanet.com)

 

[TisBit]

The real question to me, is if these are part of SSR (according to land documents, etc) how does it affect SSR owners. Will SSR pay for refurbishments or will SSR receive any revenues if it is used for non-DVC purposes?

 

[Chuck S]

The real question to me, is if these are part of SSR (according to land documents, etc) how does it affect SSR owners. Will SSR pay for refurbishments or will SSR receive any revenues if it is used for non-DVC purposes?

If, and that is a big if, they are to become part of SSR & DVC, the rebuild will be paid by the people that purchase points there, just like the purchase of all DVCs pay the initial construction costs. I actually don;t think it the treehouses will be a true part of SSR, except that they may share the check-in lobby, like the combined DVC/WDW resorts do. DVC will have a LOT of inventory to sell if Grand California, Kidani, Hawaii and the treehouses all come online at roughly the same time.

 

[TisBit]

If, and that is a big if, they are to become part of SSR & DVC, the rebuild will be paid by the people that purchase points there, just like the purchase of all DVCs pay the initial construction costs. I actually don;t think it the treehouses will be a true part of SSR, except that they may share the check-in lobby, like the combined DVC/WDW resorts do. DVC will have a LOT of inventory to sell if Grand California, Kidani, Hawaii and the treehouses all come online at roughly the same time.

I guess my question was more that if they are used by Disney for college interns or CM's, how will the costs be offset, since they technically belong (minimum the land) is part of the SSR boundaries.

 

[mom2alix]

From the blueprints they show of the planned units, these will not be for CP kids. They look like a modified DVC 2 bedroom (the two queens are each in their own room) with a king size bed in the Master.

Since the blueprint for these proposed untis and the Exhibit "A" Master Property in Public Offering Statement seem to match up, I'd say this will be an expansion to SSR. Pretty exciting. I think these will be pretty neat units. The permit application did say they won't be expanding the current pool or clubhouse, so I'd guess these guests would still be using the theme pool at SSR and use the existing pool as a quiet pool. I wonder if they'll add golf cart rentals at SSR. Isn't that how they used to get around for the Treehouses back in the day?

 

[tjkraz]

DVC will have a LOT of inventory to sell if Grand California, Kidani, Hawaii and the treehouses all come online at roughly the same time.

I don't know how quickly Disney could ramp-up construction, but it seems possible that this could mesh nicely with the other projects happening. Someone recently claimed that there are still construction trailers on SSR grounds even though all of the announced projects there are complete.

With the treehouses being stand-alone units, it seems like they could start pounding these things out in pretty short order. If I remember correctly from the permit, the concrete foundation for each building will be unchanged. I don't want to oversimplify, but knocking down these 30-year old stick buildings shouldn't be hard. Then you're simply building a new wood structure smaller than most single-family homes. It sure seems like they could put one of these up in 2-3 months' time, with multiple crews working on separate buildings simultaneously.

What I'm getting at is that *IF* they are DVCs, there could be a relatively seamless transition from the current SSR units to the sales of the treehouses. It looks like we have about 6 months worth of SSR sales in the pipeline now. With the permits approved, DVC could literally announce the Treehouses as "SSR Phase 4" TODAY. That gives a boost to all SSR / DVC sales. And then, unless I'm seriously off on the timeline, they could have many of the new treehouses open before the end of this year.

When SSR was the only property available, DVC was selling one 46-room building's worth of points about every 3 months. With AKV also selling now, let's assume the current pace is half that--6 months to sell 46 rooms. Building the 60 treehouses would only add about 9-10 months' worth of sales to SSR. Instead of the current projected sell-out for SSR of July - August '08, it would become (at most) July - August '09. That could end up being a nice bridge to the Contemporary and Grand Californian.

Now, there's a whole boatload of IF's in there, but I don't think the prospect of the treehouses being SSR villas can be totally written off.

 

[UConnJack]

If it does go the route of DVC, specifically as another phase of SSR, I wonder how they are going to tie it into the SSR theming? The only thing I can think of is an Adirondack theme as an extension of an upstate NY theme.

Also, if they did add the treehouses to SSR, they would obviously HAVE to be a seperate booking category. That might lead the way to several booking categories at SSR that so many have been clamoring for.

If this does happen, I may actually want to stay at SSR!

 

[tomandrobin]

If this does happen, I may actually want to stay at SSR!

What!

 

[TisBit]

If this does happen, I may actually want to stay at SSR!

The one downside to them being DVC, all the SSR haters will now want to stay there!

 

[aprince&princess]

There is another thread about the treehouse villas on the Disney Resorts forum.

If I did this right, here is the thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1712918

 

[tomandrobin]

With the treehouses being stand-alone units, it seems like they could start pounding these things out in pretty short order. If I remember correctly from the permit, the concrete foundation for each building will be unchanged. I don't want to oversimplify, but knocking down these 30-year old stick buildings shouldn't be hard. Then you're simply building a new wood structure smaller than most single-family homes. It sure seems like they could put one of these up in 2-3 months' time, with multiple crews working on separate buildings simultaneously.

They could be prefabs, since they are so small and similar.

What I'm getting at is that *IF* they are DVCs, there could be a relatively seamless transition from the current SSR units to the sales of the treehouses. It looks like we have about 6 months worth of SSR sales in the pipeline now. With the permits approved, DVC could literally announce the Treehouses as "SSR Phase 4" TODAY. That gives a boost to all SSR / DVC sales. And then, unless I'm seriously off on the timeline, they could have many of the new treehouses open before the end of this year.

Probably more like 18 months from now, and that would be the first phase.

When SSR was the only property available, DVC was selling one 46-room building's worth of points about every 3 months. With AKV also selling now, let's assume the current pace is half that--6 months to sell 46 rooms. Building the 60 treehouses would only add about 9-10 months' worth of sales to SSR. Instead of the current projected sell-out for SSR of July - August '08, it would become (at most) July - August '09. That could end up being a nice bridge to the Contemporary and Grand Californian.

What if this is being done to replace the loss of CRV to the hotel side of management. Between active ROFR, OKW extension, GC and Hawaii that should keep them busy for awhile. Maybe CRV became a split 50/50 of hotel and DVC.

Can't wait to see how all this turns out!!