Grand Floridian Construction

[LauraLea]

I was at the GF Spa yesterday. They are saying it looks like they will now be closed for 2 years. Construction is 6 weeks behind schedule now and there are really no signs of any construction actually beginning.

Laura

 

[Jaaron2]

I gotta believe that they will be converting some existing rooms to DVC so they can get sales going

 

[Greysword]

Are you talking about DL? DVC already owns the regular hotel rooms in the new wing at GCH. I think something may happen with them. Either declare them as hotel rooms (similiar to inn rooms at VB) or turn them into villas.

The 2009 expansion to the Grand Californian included about 200 hotel rooms in addition to the 48 villas. Those hotel rooms were designed to allow for future conversion to villas. That would be the easiest project to pursue.

Other rumors have pointed toward a 4th tower at the Disneyland Hotel which contains DVC villas. That project is supposedly ready to go, just waiting on a green light.

It sounds like you two are talking about the same rooms at VGC. I didn't realize this, and it is good to know. A tower at DLH would be great, too.

I was just out there last month. There is also a large cm parking lot next to Paradise Pier Hotel that might be a possibility for construction.

This is a great idea for expansion. I was actually expressing a thought that came to me. I wonder if DLR was able to purchase additional property adjacent to the parks, if they would consider using DVC to offset the purchase expenses. At $150 per point, they may be able to pay for the land, tear down of other buildings on it, and construct a new resort. Although they wouldn't make as much profit, they get something more valuable for the long-term: land to add to DLR. Thoughts?

But they'd like to sell a couple million Aulani points before they start giving CA residents another destination to consider.

This makes sense, but as you mentioned in another thread, DVD likely tries to plan several years out. As such, when would they begin construction of a new DVC resort/wing? Seems like they should begin in a year or so.

Check out this GF Concept Art that has leaked out:
http://www.dvcnews.com/index.php/re...98-could-this-be-the-grand-californian-villas

The DIS Rocks!
Robert, this originated in this thread (see post #9)

 

[Breyean]

I agree, and has me wondering why there is nothing happening in CA that we know of. No strong rumors about adding more DVC units at DLR at all that I know of. VGC is popular, and sometimes hard to book, so I would think they would want to expand at DLR, have something ready in a few years to sell.

When they didn't do anything at DLH during the renovation I was very disappointed. It's hard to believe DLR can't sustain more DVC rooms than the 48 at VGC.

 

[tjkraz]

When they didn't do anything at DLH during the renovation I was very disappointed. It's hard to believe DLR can't sustain more DVC rooms than the 48 at VGC.

DL could use more DVC units but given the $800 million investment in Aulani, Disney wants to peddle as much as possible to SoCal residents before offering DLH or more VGC. They can add more units to DL whenever they please. Timing just isn't right at present.

 

[mjc2003]

And I think they are building for a market that probably has not been very intersted in DVC at least not until BLT was built.

I recently had a conversation with a CM who told me that the Floridian DVC desk is the worst on property. Nobody wants to work it. She said she thinks they are going after a high end traveler that simply won't be interested in DVC.

Because of the diversity of their vacation habits, high end travelers are not ideal timeshare "targets". She said she thought they would price it too high, and go after a customer base that simply isn't interested. She agreed it would sell, but not at the prices she said are currently being whispered. I asked her what price was being whispered, $150? She pointed higher with her thumb with a wry smile.
I suggested that there has to be a breaking point where the costs simply don't make sense, and she added, "especially if what they're talking about points-wise is true". I asked what she'd heard, and she said nothing specific, but that it would be the highest points per room per night on property.

She also said that the rumor was that there would be more cash inventory than at other DVC resorts, and in essence these units would replace/add suites. She said the whisper was that the entire ground floor would be concierge, and there would be no GV's. She did say that a lot of this was rumor-mill stuff, but I found the info about the GF DVC desk interesting. Her exact words to me were, "those types of travelers have no interest in DVC." She said nobody wants to work that desk.
I found the conversation to be really interesting b/c you usually get nothing but fluff from these folks.

I asked her if there were any other hot rumors, specifically if Poly would be next, and she told me that she had heard the South building at Contemporary would be next, not Poly. I guess they knocked down the north annex for BLT? She said they would knock down the south annex for "BLT 2".

Obviously all or none of this could be true. Just relaying a conversation.

 

[DizDays]

MJC2003, very interesting stuff. Whether true or not, it sure gives you something to think about, doesn't it? I can't imagine the points chart for VGF being higher than VGC. In my opinion, they would be so similar. What would cause VGF to warrant higher points? Curious...

 

[Sammie]

I recently had a conversation with a CM who told me that the Floridian DVC desk is the worst on property. Nobody wants to work it. She said she thinks they are going after a high end traveler that simply won't be interested in DVC.

Because of the diversity of their vacation habits, high end travelers are not ideal timeshare "targets". She said she thought they would price it too high, and go after a customer base that simply isn't interested. She agreed it would sell, but not at the prices she said are currently being whispered. I asked her what price was being whispered, $150? She pointed higher with her thumb with a wry smile.
I suggested that there has to be a breaking point where the costs simply don't make sense, and she added, "especially if what they're talking about points-wise is true". I asked what she'd heard, and she said nothing specific, but that it would be the highest points per room per night on property.

She also said that the rumor was that there would be more cash inventory than at other DVC resorts, and in essence these units would replace/add suites. She said the whisper was that the entire ground floor would be concierge, and there would be no GV's. She did say that a lot of this was rumor-mill stuff, but I found the info about the GF DVC desk interesting. Her exact words to me were, "those types of travelers have no interest in DVC." She said nobody wants to work that desk.
I found the conversation to be really interesting b/c you usually get nothing but fluff from these folks.

I asked her if there were any other hot rumors, specifically if Poly would be next, and she told me that she had heard the South building at Contemporary would be next, not Poly. I guess they knocked down the north annex for BLT? She said they would knock down the south annex for "BLT 2".

Obviously all or none of this could be true. Just relaying a conversation.

She was discussing Grand Floridian DVC with you.

 

[mjc2003]

She was discussing Grand Floridian DVC with you.

She was discussing a "theoretical" GFV, with the caveat that "nobody knows anything yet".

 

[mjc2003]

MJC2003, very interesting stuff. Whether true or not, it sure gives you something to think about, doesn't it? I can't imagine the points chart for VGF being higher than VGC. In my opinion, they would be so similar. What would cause VGF to warrant higher points? Curious...

She did say "on property", so perhaps she didn't have the VGC in consideration.

It was an interesting conversation. She also opened up quite a bit about Jim Lewis, I actually brought up the topic and she didn't hesitate to "pile on", in a nice way of course. She said that they were all really upset about how he wanted to turn them all into hardcore timeshare salespeople. She said, "I'm not the type of person that's going to grab your arm as you walk buy, but that's what he wanted us to do".

 

[Sammie]

She did say "on property", so perhaps she didn't have the VGC in consideration.

It was an interesting conversation. She also opened up quite a bit about Jim Lewis, I actually brought up the topic and she didn't hesitate to "pile on", in a nice way of course. She said that they were all really upset about how he wanted to turn them all into hardcore timeshare salespeople. She said, "I'm not the type of person that's going to grab your arm as you walk buy, but that's what he wanted us to do".

It is such a shame so many really good agents, "retired" because of this.

 

[DizDays]

It is such a shame so many really good agents, "retired" because of this.

I completely agree! And the ones who did are the right ones you really want representing the DVC product - with style and finesse. At Doorway to Dreams in Chicago there was a guide (not ours, ours is in Florida) who was the perfect guide - Disney DNA to the core. We became friends over time. Her loyalty to and love of the product and the company oozed out of her, then one day she disappeared. They said she "went to find her happiness elsewhere". That didn't add up and she seemed (and talked) like a lifer. But several others were suddenly gone, too, at about the same time. About the same time I started seeing the Florida turnover on the boards being reported.

Hope things are moving in the right direction. Especially if they may have VGF to sell.