NEW VGF Building

[Sandisw]

Sandi, I think that this is where people are questioning the SSR addition because they increased the Treehouses, which were definitely the only "units" added into the subsequent selling.

I know. But one thing I recently learned is that points declared for sale for sure have to stay neutral to the rooms from the initial but maybe there is flexibility beyond that for total resort because booking and ownership are not exactly the same thing. One is use and one is your deeded interest. As I said, the membership agreements does give specifics in terms of how many nights your points will get you at a minimum.

I have on my list of thing of questions as an SSR owner for DVCM regarding this but life is currently in the way of getting that done.

I would love to see exactly how those treehouses were declared and how they explain it in relation to units.

In VGFs case, though, studios are part of the main building and they are adding more of those same room types..well, that was what was said..so I think they will have more ways to reallocate across the whole resort because units at VGF do have them already.

IMO, I don’t see them making it any different even if they legally find a way. I think we will see all studios the same at both buildings based on category

It’s too bad we have so long to wait to get info!

 

[DonMacGregor]

We'll see.

As I said upthread, they’ve been doing the SSR building which are about 75% the size in 75 days per building and the All Star buildings which have 192 rooms per building in 80 days per building and both are complete to the studs gut jobs.

What's the full scope of work? Are they adding plumbing fixtures, or relocating any fixtures? Cutting or coring slabs to run new waste lines? Stripping a wall down to the studs versus repainting it is a matter of two or three days difference. Demo, re-hang, tape, texture with hot mud and paint/paper in 4 or 5 days total, all day. No argument there. Getting down to bare studs isn't the issue, it's what you do once you're in there that takes time. But how many people are going to spend points on a "studio" that has a Holiday Inn minifridge & microwave?

And don't get me wrong, I understand whet you're saying. Starbucks can flip a store in something like 72 hours (or less), by lining up vendors, spec'ing standardized furnishings that are assembled off-site into "kits" or "packets" that are delivered to the unit immediately prior to shut down. They'll even do hard surface replacement (countertops, non-resilient flooring, etc.). But, they don't re-plumb anything at all, they may swap out some mechanical and appliances, but they don't touch structure or MEP (mechanical, electrical & plumbing) beyond cosmetics. A closed unit isn't making sweet sweet coffee (or dough), so they have it down to an art even Disney must be envious of.

Oh, and I'm not suggesting it would take 13 months to do the conversion, only that they have a target date 13 months from now, and that's why I asked if anyone knew when they have cut off reservations. By their own press release, they're going to start in spring and finish by summer... Empty, I'd say 200 units with a full conversion with some sort of convenience package (at least a bar sink, microwave and fridge) would be 120 -150 days (less if that ground floor was on a podium slab over parking, allowing access below the bottom units).

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I would love to see exactly how those treehouses were declared and how they explain it in relation to units.

You can look up the unit declarations under the condo documents on the Orange County website. Like all units there's nothing that is pre-defined and it's what DVD chose to be in the unit when they declared it. I'd guess that each THV unit consists of multiple THV's. They may all be the same multiple or not but that doesn't matter.

 

[Heather07438]

Not sure if this has been discussed...
Grand Floridian rooms are 440sf.
Grand Floridian Deluxe studios are 374sq.

Likely, these new studios will be significantly bigger than the "original" GF deluxe studios.

They will have to play with the point chart to make this work. Potentially, introduce new room categories -- hard to imagine that a 440sf studio would cost the same points as a 374sf studio.

Wow! I didn’t realize the square footage was so different.

 

[tidefan]

A couple of other things to consider...

1) Are the Dormer rooms on the 4th and 5th floors the same square footage, or are they a bit smaller?

2) Will they keep the trees in front of many of the lake facing balconies. I was looking at at YouTube video of a Big Pine room and it's view was all tree...

 

[RoseGold]

But how many people are going to spend points on a "studio" that has a Holiday Inn minifridge & microwave?

That's all the current ones have -- plus a small sink. Normally, I'd say Disney would put in the sink, but this is Covid times.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Wow! I didn’t realize the square footage was so different.

It's comparable to the PVB studio size.

 

[Heather07438]

It's comparable to the PVB studio size.

That extra 75sf is almost the size of an 8’x10’ carpet. That enough to do cartwheels

 

[Nabas]

It's comparable to the PVB studio size.

That extra 75sf is almost the size of an 8’x10’ carpet. That enough to do cartwheels

The odd thing is the actual PVB bedroom area always seems smallish to me. A lot of that space is taken up by the massive bathroom and two showers area.

I recently stayed at the Swan, which has a standard bathroom configuration, and had forgotten how spacious a hotel room can feel.

 

[sethschroeder]

That's what I'm hoping for, that the original smaller studios are a little cheaper. If that were the case I would buy at VGF. I don't mind having to fight for a cheaper studio and having to settle on a larger one if I don't land the cheaper one.

Except they are not making them cheaper. It's just they will be cheaper compared to the new rooms.

I think we will just have to agree to disagree on this one. I see your point, but to me the contract isn't changing. It has always been in the contract that they have the right to expand resorts as they see fit. As long as they don't make the new rooms unbookable with some crazy points chart category (and really, why would they? It would never sell), then they aren't changing anyone's contract. Sure, there might be more members out there with contracts sized for getting studios, but I would argue that is an organic process that is happening anyways.

I will say that honestly it does change what you signed up for.

The average cost of a studio is likely going up. It's not terrible but it does change things.

It's better than them putting in lake cottages, selling 2m points for a couple cottages and completely screwing everyone over.

 

[CastAStone]

But how many people are going to spend points on a "studio" that has a Holiday Inn minifridge & microwave?

Isn’t that what all DVC studios have? Typically you’re somewhere in the SpringHill Suites level kitchenette at DVC Resort studios.

Oh, and I'm not suggesting it would take 13 months to do the conversion, only that they have a target date 13 months from now, and that's why I asked if anyone knew when they have cut off reservations.

My understanding from a poster who I think would know on the WDWMagic board is that they are planning to keep the building completely closed for approximately 90 days. But no timeline has been publicly specified.

Are they adding plumbing fixtures, or relocating any fixtures?

in the buildings I referenced, they replaced all of the plumbing fixtures, but to my knowledge they did not add to or relocate any of them. Others here may be more familiar with the Saratoga Springs bathrooms before and after.

 

[Nabas]

Oh, and I'm not suggesting it would take 13 months to do the conversion, only that they have a target date 13 months from now, and that's why I asked if anyone knew when they have cut off reservations. By their own press release, they're going to start in spring and finish by summer... Empty, I'd say 200 units with a full conversion with some sort of convenience package (at least a bar sink, microwave and fridge) would be 120 -150 days (less if that ground floor was on a podium slab over parking, allowing access below the bottom units).

My understanding from a poster who I think would know on the WDWMagic board is that they are planning to keep the building completely closed for approximately 90 days. But no timeline has been publicly specified.

Per Disney's public statement, they have 3-6 months ("Starting next spring" and "Projected to open in summer 2022").

Based on Disney's recent work, 3-6 months would seem to be enough time to completely renovate 200 rooms, if they choose to do so.

 

[Salf777]

https://www.hotwire.com/hotels/details/MzEzNTg4NzUxODQ6MzIxMTc1MTY2OTQzOQ--?vt.GHD20=1
Mid July -- Grand Floridian, 40% off, significantly better than the official Disney 25% discount. (I've seen discounts as big as 55% on Grand Floridian in the past).

Thank you

 

[DonMacGregor]

Per Disney's public statement, they have 3-6 months ("Starting next spring" and "Projected to open in summer 2022").

Based on Disney's recent work, 3-6 months would seem to be enough time to completely renovate 200 rooms, if they choose to do so.

Six months with 90 days completely shut down, is doable. Depending on scope.

 

[davidl81]

As a guy with no dog in this fight, and as a rookie to DVC, this is quite fascinating and educational to watch. On the other hand, as a General Contractor with licenses in 4 states and over 40 years of experience in construction (and a fair amount in hospitality construction), I'm struggling to see how they flip 200 units before summer of 2022. Sure, repainting, adding additional or new casework, new wall and floor finishes, built-ins like murphy beds, and doing a renovation to existing bathrooms is maybe doable, especially if they phase the work such that some number (but not all) of the units are online by mid 2022.

The fly in the oitment is adding conveniences to the ground floor units. For upper units, supply and waste plumbing for new sinks, washer/dryer units, etc. is relatively simple by accessing through the lower level ceiling, but the first floor units are sitting on a concrete slab on grade. Most likely, since it's Central Florida, a structurally thickened and post-tensioned slab on grade. That slab will cause a significant amount of work to cut/core to run waste lines through it. Even if you put a kitchenette back-to-back with an existing bathroom (which would likely have to stay put based on wet walls containing sewer stacks that run down through the slab), you're still cutting into the concrete and running some distance horizontally to pick up the existing lines. Yes, you can run water supply from above, but last time I checked, waste lines need gravity and always go down.

Does anyone know if theres some hard cut-off date for existing reservations in that building?

Again, certainly doable, but 13 months doable? Maybe some number of units. Maybe.

This is why I do not see them adding a “full kitchenette” to these studios. That’s a lot of extra work for what will amount to a sink. They can easily add a mini fridge and microwave etc and it will be fine. I see them doing a full refurbishment, rooms will look brand new, but no actual plumbing modifications. Sure there will be like 15 people here on disboards who are upset beyond belief that Disney didn’t add the sink, and everyone else just won’t care.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

The odd thing is the actual PVB bedroom area always seems smallish to me. A lot of that space is taken up by the massive bathroom and two showers area.

I recently stayed at the Swan, which has a standard bathroom configuration, and had forgotten how spacious a hotel room can feel.

A lot of that space did go into the bathroom - especially the cavern with the toilet, tub and sink. If you ever see comparison pictures of PVB studio to a VGF studio then it becomes more obvious the the bedroom was still given a bit more space than other studios. PVB has a bedside "table" on each side of the bed while VGF just has it on the one plus a queen pull out and there's more aisle space between the end of the queen bed and the single murphy bed.

 

[CastAStone]

Even if you put a kitchenette back-to-back with an existing bathroom (which would likely have to stay put based on wet walls containing sewer stacks that run down through the slab), you're still cutting into the concrete and running some distance horizontally to pick up the existing lines.

If you put the sink here couldn’t you hook the trap up to the existing drain pipe?

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

One thing that very much interests me in the adding of more points & putting VGF back into active sales is guaranteed weeks. I could very much like to do that... and if there is still availability for a GW @VGF1 for the week I may want one, would it be plausible that it could be purchased during the VGF2 sales (bc of the influx of points for sale & able to be used anywhere within VGF?)?? Not saying I would for sure choose VGF1 over VGF2 (too many unknowns!), but it’s an interesting thought.

 

[Paul Stupin]

It's the history though. They price the current resorts the same and might adjust into slightly different discounts thru out it's time in current sales. When things first go on sale it might initially be lower than you'll see again. Back in the BLT days it happened that the initial pricing was rarely the lowest but it easily could have been the economic factors of the time that caused that. If it doesn't settle into the same base price as Riviera within a couple of months it will be a deviation from history.



So true.



Expansions and contractions have been something almost right from the start with DVC.

I’m saying that the new higher prices could very well apply to the Riviera also. In addition, your logic dictates that the new Disneyland Tower will be priced at Riviera levels as well. Do you really think that will be the case? Disneyland Tower for $201?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I’m saying that the new higher prices could very well apply to the Riviera also. In addition, your logic dictates that the new Disneyland Tower will be priced at Riviera levels as well. Do you really think that will be the case? Disneyland Tower for $201?

That is what the history says - when it goes on sale it will be priced similar or the same to whatever else is in current sales. VGC was no different.