Eagle Pines lives!!?? ...sort of ...not as DVC!

[jimmacmn]

Based on the press release I think we can kiss Eagle Pines good bye for sure. I presume that the new course taking the place of Osprey Ridge and being branded under the Four Seasons will not be available under the DVC programs and possibly not available at all unless a guest of the Four Seasons. This leaves the original 3 Disney courses available and with the noise polution from the Richard Petty experience spoiling the Palm/Mag area only the LBV course is an enjoyable experience.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

This will really suck for Fort Wilderness.

I really don't see what this does for Disney as a whole....and I'm not sure what it does for Four Seasons. Given the notion of single ownership homes as well as fractional ownership...clearly Disney is thinking of cutting that property loose.

 

[Sammie]

Not sure about the vacation home part of all of this but I did get some clarification about the Four Seasons hotel part.

Just as PamOKW stated Disney is never going to be able to achieve a 5 star rating due to the limitation requirements of such a property.

Therefore by letting Four Seasons on the property they can have a 5 star on property, but Disney won't have to regulate the standard that comes with that.

 

[Sammie]

This will really suck for Fort Wilderness.

I really don't see what this does for Disney as a whole....and I'm not sure what it does for Four Seasons. Given the notion of single ownership homes as well as fractional ownership...clearly Disney is thinking of cutting that property loose.

Just curious, not saying I approve of this decision, my verdict is still out but wonder why you think it will be bad for Fort Wilderness?

 

[sjdisneywedding]

It is good to hear that there will be some good partnership between two quality companies. I do think that the two companies goals are complementary. Disney is trying to reach a higher-end market, while the Four Seasons (with a reputation for first-class hotels) is trying to inject some youthfulness into its brand..

it would seem FS would have MUCH more to gain than Disney. What hote/resort company in the world would not want this deal

IMO, the Four Seasons fractional ownership is in no ways competiting with DVC. I think that the FO market caters to higher-income clientèles, because they will most likely be selling a "1/12th year" kind of ownership, with much higher initial buy-in, and also higher annual fees. This may be affordable only for those who can consider buying 2000 DVC points. For most DVC owners, a FO is not even a consideration. ..

I would not say "in no way competing" thats grossly overstating it.

 

[sjdisneywedding]

Not sure about the vacation home part of all of this but I did get some clarification about the Four Seasons hotel part.

Just as PamOKW stated Disney is never going to be able to achieve a 5 star rating due to the limitation requirements of such a property.

Therefore by letting Four Seasons on the property they can have a 5 star on property, but Disney won't have to regulate the standard that comes with that.

ughhh what a mess. you cant market to every niche in the world. who cares if they have a 5 star rated resort.

this is the dumbest idea I have ever heard of

might as well use the rest of their prime land for all the other hotel/resort chains

 

[PamOKW]

Having a 5 star resort will probably bring them more convention business......something else that is probably drifting over to the Ritz Carlton. Certain business meetings are only held at top-tier resorts.

 

[Sammie]

ughhh what a mess. you cant market to every niche in the world. who cares if they have a 5 star rated resort.

this is the dumbest idea I have ever heard of

might as well use the rest of their prime land for all the other hotel/resort chains

Very few DVCers would care about about a 5 star property, but many do. Disney would rather have part of that market and share it with FS, rather than give it to the Ritz.

 

[tink4ever]

I don't know what I think about this whole four season thing but I wish Disney would build another theme park to hold all of these people that will come and fill all of these resorts!! JMHO

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

Why bad for Fort Wilderness? This resort would be going in right next door to it and the scale sounds enormous. There goes the wilderness in Fort Wilderness

 

[jgus]

We are new DVC members this week, and it seems a little strange that they would allow this property to have true ownership, not the long term right of use they DVC has, reguardless of how many stars FS might be.

Also, I can't figure out why on earth Disney would sell off any of their property.

 

[JimC]

Did I just sniff glue or did I actually read somewhere that one of the reasons Walt Disney wanted to build a new themepark in Florida was to stop other hotels and stores from crowding around? Like what happened to Disneyland...

The reason the Bonnet Creek Resort is located where it is is because one owner would not sell to Disney (can't remember the reason) and so he sold it to another developer.

THIS fiasco is Disney actually selling to another company. My husband is also going to miss losing one of the golf courses. When I mentioned this article to him he said that there's no way he'll be able to afford to golf at a Four Seasons course. We have one in our local area and KNOW how expensive THAT one is.

Walt would be ashamed that the company HE started is going completely counter to what he wanted Disney World in Florida to be. Why don't just go ahead sell off the rest of the land that Walt bought and take away the magic of Walt Disney World while we're at it? That's what it will get to if the greedy (*children of unmarried parents) continue this way.


(*This is in no way meant as an insult to anyone. I couldn't use the word that I wanted to, so I just went to my thesaurus.)

I believe the reason for Florida was an all year resort to capture the very large east coast market which was unlikely to come to DL. At the time of DL's creation there was very little money to invest in the future. He could barely cobble together the financing for the theme park.

Florida was another matter and he had the money to buy large parcels of land to provide for buffers and all of the development for his beloved Florida project. Unfortunately his death was also the death of the Florida project. WDW is almost nothing like his vision for the Florida project.

Bonnet Creek was land that was too pricey for Disney, partly because the mysterious buyer was divulged sooner than desired.

Disney has been selling land in recent years -- Celebration and parcels along the western edge of the property. There were some other but I forget where at the moment.

Four Seasons will be a nice addition. Their properties are true five star quality. I still struggle with the 5 star -- WDW fit and am very curious how they are going to handle the ownership issues.

 

[OneMoreTry]

I just do not see the appeal of this to Disney. Are they not allowing competition onsite with the Four Seasons hotel and homes and then in the other development near AK , motels, and timeshares.

Disney can't hire enough housekeepers to keep their present hotels clean, where are these workers going to come from. Pretty soon the Disney property will be bumper to bumper traffic like the rest of Orlando.

Screamscape speculates that one of the reasons was a deal with the Sheikh who is a major shareholder in Four Seasons (along with Bill Microsoft) and who also provided money to help EuroDisney in its time of need.

 

[Dis13]

Here's an image from Screamscape of the area Four Seasons project will encompass. It is HUGE!

I started a thread re: the effects of this project on the CRV and MK-area, but my thread got buried on the Community Board .

 

[Sammie]

Screamscape speculates that one of the reasons was a deal with the Sheikh who is a major shareholder in Four Seasons (along with Bill Microsoft) and who also provided money to help EuroDisney in its time of need.

Interesting. Do you have a link to that article, would love to read it. Thanks

 

[Dis13]

Interesting. Do you have a link to that article, would love to read it. Thanks

Here you go Sammie...

http://www.screamscape.com/html/walt_disney_world_resort.htm

Donna

 

[Sammie]

Here you go Sammie...

http://www.screamscape.com/html/walt_disney_world_resort.htm

Donna

You know this might make more sense now. I think this Prince is the one that always stays at the GF and takes up the entire main building and is very demanding.

Maybe he will now stay at his hotel and be demanding.

 

[JodyTG]

I wonder why Disney would allow another timeshare on Disney property that isn't a fixed lease like DVC. Don't they think that some people will sell their DVC membership so that they can buy in to a place that they'll actually own forever? This just sounds like such a bad idea on so many levels.

And for the person that mentioned that the only good golf course will be Lake Buena Vista when this is all over...YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!! My husband and I can't have a nice relaxing game at the Palm and Magnolia anymore because of that stupid race track (another bad idea in my opinion...if only for the location). I don't keep score myself (does that tell you how bad I am?), but my husband said he had his worst game EVER the last time we were at the Palm. We started laughing about it and making fun of it, while we were playing the round, but it's an experience that will never be repeated. It's a shame, too, because they are both beautiful courses.

Plus, how hard is it going to be to get a tee time at LBV in the future?

 

[PamOKW]

Don't they think that some people will sell their DVC membership so that they can buy in to a place that they'll actually own forever?

There may be some who sell their DVC contracts but there is a huge price difference. What's the current official buy-in to DVC? Somewhere around $15-$16K? My bet is that the initial buy in to Four Seasons will be at least $300K. At the same time it says that there will be some permanent homes as well -- I can't even begin to imagine the pricing on those.

I guess the plan is to really make it a world class golf vacation -- I think that's what Disney was going to do on their own. Remember at the time EP was announced they also talked about having Tiger Woods as a spokesperson. I'm just not sure how many people with high disposable income will buy these properties. My guess is they'll be bringing in a lot of overseas money. In the early days, they had a lot of Arab purchasers who would buy enough points to accomodate large families with servants for longer stays. Maybe that's where they are going with this.

I'm wondering if this property will somehow be broken off from the Reedy Creek Improvement district. In the past, Disney didn't want any actual residents who might want to vote, demand services, etc.

 

[sjdisneywedding]

Here's an image from Screamscape of the area Four Seasons project will encompass. It is HUGE!

I started a thread re: the effects of this project on the CRV and MK-area, but my thread got buried on the Community Board .

If anyone can look at that image and say its a good idea, they are absolutely NUTS

you do not give away that type of land to an outside company for ANYTHING