How will THV effect SSR annual dues?

[dcamdad]

With the THV's becoming part of SSR how do you think the annual dues will be altered? The mousekeeping costs for the THV's will be substantially higher I would imagine, staff won't simply be pushing the cart down the halls from door to door as they do now. Also I would imagine maintenance on the THV's will be significantly higher as they are now stand alone single family dwellings.

I am actually excited about the THV's and for the first time considering adding on @ SSR just for the THV's.

As a side thought I wonder how many of my golf balls were found during demolition, and can I get them back?

 

[hakepb]

With the THV's becoming part of SSR how do you think the annual dues will be altered? The mousekeeping costs for the THV's will be substantially higher I would imagine, staff won't simply be pushing the cart down the halls from door to door as they do now. Also I would imagine maintenance on the THV's will be significantly higher as they are now stand alone single family dwellings.

I am actually excited about the THV's and for the first time considering adding on @ SSR just for the THV's.

As a side thought I wonder how many of my golf balls were found during demolition, and can I get them back?

As an SSR owner, I am somewhat worried, too. (It is why I almost hope THV has points = to a GV) There are enough points in SSR that it may seem to be a minor increase, inline with normal MF inflation but it will be something

 

[jimmacmn]

I wouldn't think the maintenance cost per point would be affected that much by the THV. The additional mousekeeping costs shouldn't be more than moving from one Treehouse to another on a golf/maintenance cart. The actual cleaning time should be somewhere between the time for a 2br and a GV. There may be some additional maintenance with the individual structures but again I wouldn't think that would be a significant amount either. If they have their own pool that might also add some to the costs, but all of the rest of the infrastructure is already there so spreading another 60 units worth of points over those costs would reduce the average cost charged to our maintenance fees for points already in place.

Remember, SSR is the largest property in the DVC portfolio. Any incremental increases in costs are going to be spread over a very large pool of points at SSR. I don't think the additional costs for 60 Treehouse units will increase our maintenance fees more than a penny a point if anything.

 

[WRWDisney]

I saw/read something yesterday that had the three bedroom tree-houses as being valued as 2 bedroom SSR units (because they will only accommodate 9-- bunk bed room-2, master-2, second room-2, and family with sleeper chair and sofa-3). Sorry I cannot find the link right now, but that is what I read.

I would guess that they will make SSR more valuable and be very hard to book inside of seven months IMHO.

 

[tjkraz]

I don't think there will be a major impact on dues.

There are already 828 two-bedroom equivalents at SSR, so they are only adding about 7% more to the mix. Even if the operating costs were significantly higher for that 7%, when spread over ALL points it should be negligible.

Some line items on the dues may not increase at all. I doubt there will be need for any added front desk expenses. Transportation increases should be very, very small since most buses drive by the treehouse gate now. The only addition would be a mile-long detour thru the treehouse property. Housekeeping may have a moderate increase, but I wouldn't envision anything major. I'm sure they will have golf cart-type vehicles for the CMs to use. They will have to walk a little further to get from building-to-building, but that shouldn't impact productivity too much.

Maintenance budgets could be a bit higher and property taxes are a big unknown. But spread over so many points it could hardly be a blip on the radar.

As for the points, I've been told they will cost the same as any other Two Bedroom villa at SSR. I don't want to name-names, but that info came from someone who received word directly from DVC in a very official capacity. I'm surprised DVC hasn't commented yet if that's their intention. But they do seem to be concentrating more on BLT since sales begin in just a few days.

 

[TisBit]

Maintenance budgets could be a bit higher and property taxes are a big unknown.

Property taxes should be negligible, the property was not added to the SSR site, it has always been there and we have been paying that property tax too. It will obviously increase some just because the structures will be newer and might increase the taxes on them (but they haven't made them more square feet, so feesibly they are the same rough tax estimate as the old structures).

 

[tjkraz]

Property taxes should be negligible, the property was not added to the SSR site, it has always been there and we have been paying that property tax too. It will obviously increase some just because the structures will be newer and might increase the taxes on them (but they haven't made them more square feet, so feesibly they are the same rough tax estimate as the old structures).

I know the property was legally part of the SSR grounds, but I don't see any justification for having owners pay the taxes. Until a short time ago Disney was using the treehouses as Cast Member housing. I certainly hope that SSR owners weren't subsidizing the lodging for those CMs by paying taxes on their residences.

Until the land is a functional part of the resort that's accessible to owners/guests, we shouldn't be paying for it.

 

[tomandrobin]

The only "new" cost impact will be the new boat dock. Other then that, not much at all.

 

[jkeat]

If our maintenance fees go up, original SSR owners should be (better be) able to book at 11 months!

 

[RobDoc]

I agree with Tim - the addition of THVs should have negligible affect on SSR dues. Certainly, additional housekeeping staff would need to be added for those 60 villas, but supplies can be staged in the adjunct buildings already on the THV site (just as they were in the past for the Treehouses). Housekeeping will use the same carts already used at SSR and OKW. It will require a little more effort on the part of the housekeepers since none of these villas are at ground level.

Expenses like front desk, MS costs and recreation should have minimal addition and might even lower the shared cost on a per point basis. Property taxes will have minimal impact.

There was a filing for a construction permit for a boat dock, so it's likely that there will be access to DD from the THV area. It's unknown if a THV stop would be added to the DD/SSR/OKW route or to the PO route that runs past the THV area.

We should know the impact on SSR dues soon in the next 2 months since they are scheduled to open in 2009.

Stay Tuned!

 

[moredisneyplease]

If our maintenance fees go up, original SSR owners should be (better be) able to book at 11 months!

Yes we (SSR owners) will be able to book at 11 months!

 

[hakepb]

Free-standing, especially "in the air" units, that do not have constant temperature ground, with cathedral ceilings will have greater HVAC needs than clustered condo-style units, among other inefficiencies...

 

[Mtnman44]

Maintanence would be minimal. Even if the 60 units cost 20% more to maintain than a normal 2BR, that incremental cost spread accross all SSR points would be barely noticable. Even at that I think 20% if a huge overestimate. I would predict around .10 to .15 per point, most of that probably due to landscaping and the new pool maint costs. I'll gladly pay that for more options and more value for SSR owners!

 

[kerickson]

Will the units be sold as SSR memberships or will they heavily marketed as THV? If someone purchases based on interest in THV, unless these new owners are given advanced booking preference over existing SSR members, given the size of the existing SSR membership, there could be situations where those members can't book THV even if they call 11mo out. What do you think? Could they set it up so that THV owners could book 11mo out SSR owners 9mo and other resort owners 7mo?

 

[edk35]

Will the units be sold as SSR memberships or will they heavily marketed as THV? If someone purchases based on interest in THV, unless these new owners are given advanced booking preference over existing SSR members, given the size of the existing SSR membership, there could be situations where those members can't book THV even if they call 11mo out. What do you think? Could they set it up so that THV owners could book 11mo out SSR owners 9mo and other resort owners 7mo?

I would be shocked if that happened but I really doubt it. I mean look at Kidani Village.....we didn't just buy into Kidani only giving us any special booking power.

 

[tjkraz]

Will the units be sold as SSR memberships or will they heavily marketed as THV? If someone purchases based on interest in THV, unless these new owners are given advanced booking preference over existing SSR members, given the size of the existing SSR membership, there could be situations where those members can't book THV even if they call 11mo out. What do you think? Could they set it up so that THV owners could book 11mo out SSR owners 9mo and other resort owners 7mo?

Every time DVC is preparing to open a new resort we start playing the "what if" game. A couple weeks ago people were contemplating whether the Contemporary would have different rules and more beneficial booking procedures for owners.

If they haven't done it for other resorts, I don't see why they would with the treehouses. The statements Disney has released make it pretty clear that the treehouses are an additional phase of Saratoga Springs so I would expect all owners to have the same rights.

DVC introduced a Concierge category at the Animal Kingdom Villas. When complete, the Concierge rooms will be about 1% of AKV. The SSR Treehouses will be 6-7% of that resort. I don't think DVC is worried about demand one bit. If there are 60 owners waiting on hold every morning to book 11 months out, so be it.

And as unique as the treehouses are, many DVC members won't care for them. They will be very isolated; far from resort amenities. They may not be terribly accessible; even those who have trouble walking steps will not want to be staying there.

 

[dcamdad]

Every time DVC is preparing to open a new resort we start playing the "what if" game. A couple weeks ago people were contemplating whether the Contemporary would have different rules and more beneficial booking procedures for owners.

If they haven't done it for other resorts, I don't see why they would with the treehouses. The statements Disney has released make it pretty clear that the treehouses are an additional phase of Saratoga Springs so I would expect all owners to have the same rights.

DVC introduced a Concierge category at the Animal Kingdom Villas. When complete, the Concierge rooms will be about 1% of AKV. The SSR Treehouses will be 6-7% of that resort. I don't think DVC is worried about demand one bit. If there are 60 owners waiting on hold every morning to book 11 months out, so be it.

And as unique as the treehouses are, many DVC members won't care for them. They will be very isolated; far from resort amenities. They may not be terribly accessible; even those who have trouble walking steps will not want to be staying there.

I have to agree 100%. DVC is not going to sell the THV's as a seperate resort, they so far are very clear that it will be another phase of SSR and all SSR owners will be given the same 11 mos window to book. It may just become a seperate booking catagory with differant point requirements or it could be like the HH catagory at OKW with no differance in points.

 

[Disneyhappy]

With the addition of the THV to SSR, my concern is an increase in MFs due to the building of the infrastructure for the THV. It seems more area/roads/etc will need to be maintained for ony 60 units. Am I off base?

 

[RobDoc]

Will the units be sold as SSR memberships or will they heavily marketed as THV? If someone purchases based on interest in THV, unless these new owners are given advanced booking preference over existing SSR members, given the size of the existing SSR membership, there could be situations where those members can't book THV even if they call 11mo out. What do you think? Could they set it up so that THV owners could book 11mo out SSR owners 9mo and other resort owners 7mo?

There is past DVC precedent for this situation. While the THVs added to SSR will make up a larger % of the total, at both OKW and BWV additional occupancy was created after those resorts were "officially" sold out. At OKW, 3 buildings were added after demolishing the original DVC sales office (Commodore House). These are the ONLY buildings at OKW with elevators and are sought after for that reason, but are simply included in the normal room categories for the resort. At BWV, when the SSR Sales Center opened, the few villas at BWV which were used as models and sales offices were converted into additional member inventory and were sold as BWV contracts after the initial sell out. (BWV was home to the DVC Sales Center between about 1996 and 2004 when it moved to the current SSR location.)

I doubt that DVC has any thoughts about making THV a separate ownership category with it's own 11 month priority. It shares a front desk with SSR, uses the SSR recreational amenities. If it were to be a separate entitiy, I'd expect it would not be included as part of DVC at all - as with BWI, WL, BC and soon CR. Since it has already been announced as an addition to SSR, it will be simply be a separate booking category - SSR now has Studios, 1BR Villas, 2BR Villas, GVs ... and Treehouse Villas - all available to SSR owners for the 11 month reservation priority.

Enjoy!

 

[bookwormde]

Well by rough numbers THV will be about 1,000,000 points so $4.5 million per year for operations, upkeep, taxes etc., for anyone who is interested.

bookwormde