Kingdom Tower DVC at the Contemporary (Orlando Sentinel 2/26/08)

[tomandrobin]

Ok, doing a CRV cheer and dance!

 

[WendyinNC]

Would you buy, if you couldn't close and begin making ressies for a year and a half?

Yes, as long as they gave me some developer points to use at other resorts.

 

[drusba]

Under current Florida timeshare law they don't need substantial completion to start selling or any certificate of occupancy. They can do pre-sales as long as they keep funds received in a designated account which is returned if the units sold are not completed.

 

[JimMIA]

Though the records for the agency are not on-line, the approval of the license is. The official name is actually "Kingdom Tower Resort."

Right. I tried entering the license number to view the supporting documents, but got nothing.

 

[JimMIA]

Under current Florida timeshare law they don't need substantial completion to start selling or any certificate of occupancy. They can do pre-sales as long as they keep funds received in a designated account which is returned if the units sold are not completed.

Thanks for the correction. As I said, I wasn't sure.

Still doesn't seem logical to me that they'd start selling before SSR is sold out, and I think they'd have to have quite a price premium over AKV in order not to hurt AKV sales. They can certainly get somewhat more for a monorail resort than they get for AKV.

 

[JimMIA]

Yes, as long as they gave me some developer points to use at other resorts.

That's a very good point! I hadn't thought of that.

 

[wendyinoc]

I think they are just waiting for Saratoga to sell out.

 

[JimMIA]

Under current Florida timeshare law they don't need substantial completion to start selling or any certificate of occupancy. They can do pre-sales as long as they keep funds received in a designated account which is returned if the units sold are not completed.

Referring to WendyinNC's excellent point, can they close without substantial completion...or just begin selling (e.g. taking deposits)?

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Yes, as long as they gave me some developer points to use at other resorts.

Oh my, let the 7 mos. ressie games begin!! Add this new resort to GCV and Hawaii, we all better be happy staying at our home resort for awhile!

 

[White_Sox_Fan]

Referring to WendyinNC's excellent point, can they close without substantial completion...or just begin selling (e.g. taking deposits)?

I think I remember reading that they can close on units not yet available. When you close it the docs will state the date the unit is available, owners can't use their points until after this date. I think I remember reading where AKV units were finished early and available to others but not the people who actually bought them because of this.

 

[Maribel]

I think I remember reading that they can close on units not yet available. When you close it the docs will state the date the unit is available, owners can't use their points until after this date. I think I remember reading where AKV units were finished early and available to others but not the people who actually bought them because of this.

I closed on my SSR contract before the units where available. I was also able to make ressies in january for november, but my year didn't actually started until august. What I didn't have to do was pay dues until after the use year actually started (august).

 

[aprince&princess]

The first time we looked at SSR was in July 2004 and if we bought then it would have been available as of the Spring of 2005, May I think.

I would think it would be better for them to have SSR completely sold. They can't be too far off for that, right. I thought they have already declared 1 of 3 floors in the last building.

 

[mikey13v]

When they refered to the number of villas at the GCV at Disneyland, they only mentioned 1 and 2 bedroom units. The studios were in the form of lock-offs.
My guess is that they will have plenty of studios, but there may be no dedicated studios, only lock-offs.

 

[SSRFred]

I read the building had a capacity for about 500 units. The 281 is also considerably less than what was in the Annual report. I do understand that some of the space was taken for restaurants and other common areas. However, it seems that CRO may have won the battle and claimed some of the rooms originally for DVC. We may have a mixed use building like Jambo.

 

[TSMIII]

I read the building had a capacity for about 500 units. The 281 is also considerably less than what was in the Annual report. I do understand that some of the space was taken for restaurants and other common areas. However, it seems that CRO may have won the battle and claimed some of the rooms originally for DVC. We may have a mixed use building like Jambo.

If that's the case then I wonder WHICH units will be DVC?

Will CRO get all of the upper floors? All of the MK view?

Maybe it will be equitable and every other floor will be DVC.

 

[jbrowna]

My thoughts on some of the issues raised:

The price per point can't be too far off whatever else is being sold at the same time. For example: if you can buy in to AKV for $110 per point, but have to spend $150 per point for KTRV, you might just go with AKV and take your chances at the 7 month window. I think there has to be some kind of "tipping point" where the difference becomes too great. I suspect the "sharp pencil" guys at DVC have probably figured it all out. But then, again, they could be so immersed in their figures that they don't comprehend the real world buyer they're trying to convince. Who knows?

Also, there might be some sort of tipping point for the point requirements as well. Currently the most expensive units are AKV concierge - 13 Studio, 27 1BR, 37 2BR weekday in low season, 23/45/61 weekday in Premier. KTRV will be higher -- no surprise there! But how much higher? Go too much higher and you price yourself out, especially with DVC owners who, it seems to me, are more focused on getting value. Also, too many KTRV points could make for some nightmare scenarios at the 7 month window. For example, if it takes some outrageous amount of points, (like a 100 per night for a studio ), at the 7 month window the KTRV owner can tie up a studio for 8-10 nights at OKW for those same points. OKW owners could be shut out, especially if they don't have beaucoup points at their disposal to take the KTRV rooms available!

 

[DeeCee735]

We have bocci ball courts at our beach facility here on LI. It's a game played in a clay court, outdoors. The court is long and narrow. There is a small ball and larger balls. The first person to go, tosses the small ball to the opposite end of the court, like in a bowling lane. Each person has 3 large balls (if I remember correctly it is three). The object of the game is to get the larger balls as close as possible to the small ball. It's fun and great to do outside on a beautiful afternoon.

 

[mikey13v]

I read the building had a capacity for about 500 units. The 281 is also considerably less than what was in the Annual report. I do understand that some of the space was taken for restaurants and other common areas. However, it seems that CRO may have won the battle and claimed some of the rooms originally for DVC. We may have a mixed use building like Jambo.

Again, 281 units might represent up to or more than 500 rooms. 250 2bdr lock-offs, and 31 dedicated 1bdrs could be 500 separate rooms if all lock-offs were split up. So it depends on how they define their "units"
Of coarse you could be spot-on, and CRO may have some of the inventory as well.

 

[Starr W.]

My thoughts on some of the issues raised:

The price per point can't be too far off whatever else is being sold at the same time. For example: if you can buy in to AKV for $110 per point, but have to spend $150 per point for KTRV, you might just go with AKV and take your chances at the 7 month window. I think there has to be some kind of "tipping point" where the difference becomes too great. I suspect the "sharp pencil" guys at DVC have probably figured it all out. But then, again, they could be so immersed in their figures that they don't comprehend the real world buyer they're trying to convince. Who knows?

Also, there might be some sort of tipping point for the point requirements as well. Currently the most expensive units are AKV concierge - 13 Studio, 27 1BR, 37 2BR weekday in low season, 23/45/61 weekday in Premier. KTRV will be higher -- no surprise there! But how much higher? Go too much higher and you price yourself out, especially with DVC owners who, it seems to me, are more focused on getting value. Also, too many KTRV points could make for some nightmare scenarios at the 7 month window. For example, if it takes some outrageous amount of points, (like a 100 per night for a studio ), at the 7 month window the KTRV owner can tie up a studio for 8-10 nights at OKW for those same points. OKW owners could be shut out, especially if they don't have beaucoup points at their disposal to take the KTRV rooms available!

That's what your home resort priority period is for. I won't be one of those, My KTRV points will be exclusively for that resort and will be booked like all my trips 11 months out.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Here's a thought...would DVC ever start a completely new type of vacation club that would be completely separate from what they already have? The fact that the article listed this property as "more upscale" got me thinking about what would happen if they started an entirely new division that would not include previous DVC properties, but higher priced ones like the Contemporary (and maybe Hawaii) that they could sell at a much higher price per point and have higher point requirements for. It could be a way to compete with Four Seasons, etc.