NEW VGF Building

[zavandor]

I don’t think the issue is too many 1-bedrooms and too few studios: the problem is they don’t properly price the units. In most cases, 1-bedrooms are more than double the point price of a studio. At that price difference, for a room that sleeps the same number of people, it’s not surprising that many families would choose studios.

Beware of what you wish for, 1BR lovers.
It's all about the money for Disney. Why build 1BR at all if occupying twice the space they won't earn twice the points? It is partially already happening, with the DL tower having more studios and pods, but that is mostly a solution to demand for a resort where stays are shorter and probably less hotel centric. If DVC deviates from principle of points being proportional to sq ft then they'd have an incentive time to not build 1BR at all, or so few that they'll be extremely difficult to book.

 

[Lorana]

Are the rooms connecting like at Poly? That would be the only redeeming feature for me.

There are at least some connecting rooms in Big Pine Key, but certainly not all of them. Will be interesting if that’s a bookable category or request only. (I’m guessing request, but if they wanted to make it unique, bookable category is a way to go).

 

[Lorana]

Why build 1BR at all if occupying twice the space they won't earn twice the points?

I don’t think that’s entirely the case, because 2BRs aren’t Studio + 1BR costs; they’re less than that. And that’s partly why the pricing of 1BRs is a bit messed up. When we travel with friends or extended family, we’ll often grab lock-off 2 BRs as it is less than the 1BR + Studio, and we just keep the connecting door closed.

We’ve actually started to swing the other direction. I much prefer 1BRs over Studios, though I’ve absolutely gone the two studios route sometimes because the point value is greater, especially in shorter stays where we don’t need the kitchen or w/d. But we have enough points now that we tend to favor 2BRs (even if my oldest son says it feels like “too much space,” partly because he’s a budget-conscious kid and partly because he grew up with us using 1BRs), because the point value is significantly better. In some instances, the jump in point cost from 1BR to 2BR is fairly minimal (like 8 to 10 points more per night).

 

[Lorana]

When DVC started, it wasn’t about hotel rooms. It was about true timeshare resorts — more akin to condo timeshares, homes away from home. Large units with kitchens, amenities that were unique and different from regular hotels.

Over time, we’ve seen DVC buyers and DVC marketing treating it more like “40% off your future hotel stays”— now the transformation is complete. GFV2 are not villas in any sense. It’s just a building of hotel rooms now being sold as DVC. There is NOTHING “DVC” about GFV2. They are just nice hotel rooms.

Maybe this is what DVC buyers actually want, maybe they will be super popular. But it’s a long way from the original DVC concept.

Remember when they were actually called “Home Away From Home Villas”?

 

[kandlsutton]

We are new owners and I love the W/D in 1BRs and above, but I don't really want to cook while on vacation. We love trying new restaurants and typically have one sit- down meal each day with snacks for breakfast. DH and I are “sleep divorced” and prefer our own queen bed. I hope the new murphy beds will be much better than the sofa bed, so either style of studio will work for us if we don't want to splurge on the 1BR with the king bed. And I think the full size twin in the sofa (guessing these are similar to the Poly/YC twins we have had on the hotel side in the past) is a huge improvement over the murphy bunk for teens/tweens. So I think they will be popular especially for split/shorter stays.

 

[havoc315]

Beware of what you wish for, 1BR lovers.
It's all about the money for Disney. Why build 1BR at all if occupying twice the space they won't earn twice the points? It is partially already happening, with the DL tower having more studios and pods, but that is mostly a solution to demand for a resort where stays are shorter and probably less hotel centric. If DVC deviates from principle of points being proportional to sq ft then they'd have an incentive time to not build 1BR at all, or so few that they'll be extremely difficult to book.

They charge more than double points for double space.

And it’s never exclusively been about SF… obviously higher views get higher charge. And you can get more SF for fewer points at OKW than you can at a monorail DVC.

But critically, when it comes to cash rooms, it’s always been about supply/demand, not just sf.

 

[Paul Stupin]

I know many one bedroom fans are concerned VGF2 will squeeze availability and make them harder to book. Don’t agree. The VGF one bedrooms are super pricey, and I think buyers who are attracted to a new building with studios exclusively will not be purchasing pricey contracts with a point count high enough to swing frequent one bedroom stays.
Especially at 11 months, I doubt there will be any issue.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Sorry if this has been mentioned before, but think it is an important point.
This approach reminds me of Vero Beach. There are delux studios and one and two bedrooms there, but there are also “inn rooms.” I think the new VGF rooms are equivalent to the Inn Rooms at Vero. People love those Inn Rooms! We know this is a model that has worked successfully at another resort, so I am not that worried anymore.

The Inn rooms have a separate kitchenette. So not the same as the resort studios. We had the best of both worlds with those Inn rooms. Love VB!!!

 

[Paul Stupin]

Beware of what you wish for, 1BR lovers.
It's all about the money for Disney. Why build 1BR at all if occupying twice the space they won't earn twice the points? It is partially already happening, with the DL tower having more studios and pods, but that is mostly a solution to demand for a resort where stays are shorter and probably less hotel centric. If DVC deviates from principle of points being proportional to sq ft then they'd have an incentive time to not build 1BR at all, or so few that they'll be extremely difficult to book.

Are you talking about new construction at WDW? Inevitably, down the line, Disney will build some massive new resort like Reflections. I doubt they’d fill it all up with studios.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

What gets me is the rehab from hotel rooms to DVC at Poly included a kitchenette. Why couldnt they have done the same at VGF2?

 

[BWV Dreamin]

There are at least some connecting rooms in Big Pine Key, but certainly not all of them. Will be interesting if that’s a bookable category or request only. (I’m guessing request, but if they wanted to make it unique, bookable category is a way to go).

Pleeeaaassseee be a separate booking category!!! Because "I want my, I want my, I want my MTV...I mean DVC!"

 

[SL6827]

What gets me is the rehab from hotel rooms to DVC at Poly included a kitchenette. Why couldnt they have done the same at VGF2?

$$$$$$$

 

[RoseGold]

With VGF becoming predominantly Studios, I wonder if booking a Studio at VGF will become a bit like booking a Studio at PVB, which seems to be somewhere in the middle of difficulty to book.

I expect to see new booking categories for more points, like Inn Rooms and Theme Park View. That might make these less popular than Poly, because of the expensive chart, and also more complicated, because I can imagine a few booking categories could be added. The cool thing about a Poly waitlist is that most of those studios are in one category. I don't see that happening at VGF. I wouldn't be surprised at all if they monkey with the charts and categories to make more money and obfuscate the point breakdowns.

Making the new studios more expensive would make the old studios even tougher to get. The old studios are lockoffs, so that would make 1BR availability, at the expense of 2BR lockoff availability.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Ok Disney Vacation Club. You are a timeshare and you're adding rooms that have less amenities than most hotel rooms around the country. Days Inn has mini fridges and microwaves for goodness sake.

I'm ok with the 2 queen beds although would have preferred to see a king and one of the new pull downs as a queen or else that as 1/2 of the new rooms and 1/2 the queen/queen. Even the Value resorts have kings in their room offerings now. They've done resorts with fewer than 100 studios so breaking up the booking category should have been fine and added little or nothing to conversion time and cost. What makes me sad is the times when they miss giving that little extra. It sure would be nice to expect that to happen vs knowing odds are it won't.

But no microwave or actual mini fridge? They truly don't care about a full fledged product as neither of those require a full kitchenette. I hope that was just left out of the release. I don't hold out much hope that was the case though.

 

[nuhusky123]

This is four or five star hotel room that you pre pay for. you referenced days inn, that’s not a luxury brand. Any four star hotel room has a comparable setup, so I would not say most hotels have your microwave. They don’t have kitchens, they don’t have microwaves, some have a drink fridge and that’s about it.

i for one am extremely excited for these rooms. I never want to cook while on vacation. These rooms are perfect for me

 

[DVCsloth]

Not very excited to see all studios. I like having the choice of a 1br, hoping that VGF 2 will be slightly lower points and maybe this will keep the pressure off of the existing building. Having this many more people with 11 months booking is a little troubling to me. Hoping for the best and maybe DVC makes the new studios so nice that it wont affect the original Villas in a negative way.

 

[zebsterama]

I’m not one to really use a microwave, but a mini fridge is quite handy. Do I really need them? No. Would this be a deal breaker to buy - probably not. We own at GFV, and we definitely like the 2 shower option - that’s important to us. So we’ll stay at the original building given a choice.

All that being said - the cost of including a mini fridge and a microwave would be extremely nominal. The loss of space would also be incredibly nominal. Why NOT just include it? IMO it’s ridiculous.

Having a fridge to store some water - like come on already. I love Disney, but DVC planning need to give their heads a shake.

Big deal, stick a fridge in there, and at least pretend to try and stick to your brand. When I stay at a Universal hotel, there’s a fridge, or any other DVC, there’s a fridge ….what a revolutionary concept.

 

[nuhusky123]

I plan to buy in as a new vgf owner, so long as these new rooms do not cost more than the deluxe studios then I would not expect much more competition for those deluxe studios. New buyers would I imagine buy in for the new rooms not the old studios.

that said I guarantee it Will be harder to get one bedroom villas.

 

[RoseGold]

so long as these new rooms do not cost more than the deluxe studios then I would not expect much more competition for those deluxe studios

LOL. Prices only go one way at Disney.

 

[nuhusky123]

If the studio rooms cost more than a deluxe, I bet they won’t, then no one will get a deluxe again as competition will be insane

id wager studios are less than deluxe by at least 1 point