OKW pool slide

[Mickey_UK]

I am against a slide at OKW and would prefer money be spent on improving the gurgling suitcase area, there has never been enough room for members to get together for a chat and a drink after a long day in the parks, the bar area is full with about 10 people in it.

 

[Desperado]

Originally posted by pmcpmc

The need to increase interest in Okw.

Yep, this was the important poit DeeP was raising in the other thread that recieved the dysfunctional responses it did. I think a pool slide will help with this, but more is needed. A pool slide is a nice start.

 

[pmcpmc]

but I believe its very important to keep the number of owners at maximum to keep dues down.
This requires the introduction of new owners interested to buy OKW points and use them there and not as a cheap way to stay elsewhere.
This encouragement of younger people can only take place if the resort improves its amenities.
I mentioned elsewhere that because of the trees around the villas there a larger number of mosquitos than at other resorts.
This also discourages families with children.
Many of the studios get little sunlight on the balconies.
It therefore only becomes a place to sleep.

 

[JudithM]

At the OKW annual meeting last Wednesday, Sonya, the General Manager at OKW announced that a slide will be added to the pool area. She said DVD (not DVC as someone mentioned early on in this thread) will pay the initial cost. The design phase for the pool should be completed in "early 2004" with construction to follow. No specific dates wrere given. After the meeting I specifically asked her about cost to the OKW members. She pulled in two DVC finance CMs into our conversation. Their estimate is members will pay between $.03 & $.04 per point for maintainence & lifeguards.

As for the question regarding OKW property taxes ... Terry Schultz, the DVC Treasurer, said the ad valorem taxes increased 2.5% - due to higher assessment value of the property. DVC estimated the 2003 taxes would be $.7764 & the actual tax was $.8034, a difference of $.0270. She said this was a $7.29 increase if one owns 270 points. In the Budget Q & A session a member asked where the tax bill comes from. Terry said the primary amount comes from Orange County & a small amount from Reedy Creek. DVC received the 2003 tax bill in November 2003.

 

[Werner Weiss]

Originally posted by pmcpmc
I am no expert on polls and statistics

but I believe its very important to keep the number of owners at maximum to keep dues down.

That's not the case.

Every owner at a DVC resort pays dues in proportion to his or her ownership. The total number of owners doesn't matter. It's doesn't matter whether someone is a new owner or a long-time owner. And it doesn't matter if Disney Vacation Development (DVD) is one of the owners.

Think of it another way. There are a fixed number of points. To the degree that DVD has bought back some points through ROFR, DVD is responsible for paying the annual dues for those points.

By the way, there is no indication that DVD is sitting on a large number of OKW points that nobody wants to buy.

 

[pmcpmc]

Originally posted by Werner Weiss
Actually, that's not the case.

Every owner at a DVC resort pays dues in proportion to his or her ownership. The total number of owners doesn't matter. It's doesn't matter whether someone is a new owner or a long-time owner. And it doesn't matter if Disney Vacation Development (DVD) is one of the owners.

Think of it another way. There are a fixed number of points. To the degree that DVD has bought back some points through ROFR, DVD is responsible for paying the annual dues for those points.

By the way, there is no indication that DVD is sitting on a large number of OKW points that nobody wants to buy.

Indication from where?

I understand the principles you talk about with regard to dues and points.

However the first thing that happens when aresort is not in demand is that the relative price per point compared to other resorts falls.
Again I am no expert just offering reasons why the capitol cost is not being initially paid by us

 

[Desperado]

Originally posted by Horace Horsecollar
Mr. Desperado likes to cite a poll as evidence that the majority of OKW owners now support a slide. But if you look at the poll of OKW owners on this board, you'll see that's not the case.

You have a point, my impression is there has been an influx of anti-slide voting in OKW only poll that was not there previously and there is currently a majority as you describe.

Even the current poll is not consistent wth statements made in other threads like the "vast majority" do not favor a pool slide or "The vote was pretty overwhelming from what I recall, something like 69% against slides, lifeguards, etc"

But, as you describe it currently does represent a majority.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by JudithM
She said DVD (not DVC as someone mentioned early on in this thread) will pay the initial cost.

Thank you for that clarification! That answers a question that I posed earlier in one of the OKW pool threads on this board. I was concerned when people posted that DVC would pay the capital costs for the slide. That's because DVC is funded from our dues, so DVC is really us.

I assume a well themed slide, built to commercial standards and Disney standards, will cost several hundred thousand dollars to build. Let's hope the slide has a strong Key West theme, such as a slide in a stone fort based on Key West's Fort Zachary Taylor. (Please, not another pirate ship!)

That the raises the question of what DVD stands to gain from such a capital investment. After all, OKW has been completely sold out for years.

There have been several good points made on this board:

• DVD could be planning to sell extensions beyond 2042, in which case DVD might feel that a slide makes OKW easier to sell.
• Pool hopping might be going away (although I've been reading such "will be gone by the end of the year" predictions for several years now, and it hasn't happened yet). Although DVD has no obligation to provide a slide to OKW folks who now pool-hop when they want a slide, DVD has an incentive to keep current DVC owners happy. That's because happy owners are more likely to buy add-on points and less likely to dump their points onto the resale market (where resellers compete with DVD).

 

[DeeP]

My point was that pool hopping is a "perk" that costs DVC nothing to offer to its members. It is financially irresponsible of them to use the line of reasoning that they are going to spend thousands of DVC dollars to expand the OKW pool amenities simply because they want to discontinue pool hopping. The elimination of pool hopping may be a by-product of this decision, but there's no way it is the driving force behind it.

In your opinion, what do you think IS the driving force behind a slide being added to OKW's main pool?

 

[CaptainMidnight]

 

[Richyams]

In your opinion, what do you think IS the driving force behind a slide being added to OKW's main pool?

Whiners, because it certainly isn't an overwhelming number of OKW owners.

 

[pmcpmc]

 

[CaptainMidnight]

 

[DeeP]

Originally posted by Richyams
Whiners, because it certainly isn't an overwhelming number of OKW owners.

I was not addressing you nor was I asking for your opinion.

 

[pmcpmc]

 

[Richyams]

I think I smell a whiner.....

 

[CaptainMidnight]

 

[RobDoc]

Please keep posts to the topic of the thread. If anyone has a comment for another poster, please use PM or email.

Thanks.

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by DeeP
In your opinion, what do you think IS the driving force behind a slide being added to OKW's main pool?

Here is my exact comment posted elsewhere in this thread earlier tonight:

"My own personal opinion is that they are trying to drive up interest in OKW among the entire DVC community. Some people are clearly alienated by the lack of this one amenity, and perhaps it will help address some of those emotions. But I think that if they believed that 51% of OKW owners would have voted for the addition, they certainly would have called for a vote before footing the bill themselves."

Honestly, DeeP, I think that you and I are probably 99% in agreement on the situation. I'll run the risk of Desperado trying to dredge up conflicting statements because I have a pretty good memory of what I've said. My two main points with regard to OKW and the pool situation have always been:

1. I don't own there, but I have stayed there. Personally I didn't feel that the resort was lacking because it didn't have a feature pool slide. Honestly I'm just not much of a pool guy. I've been to the pool and enjoyed it just fine, but I wouldn't crucify the place because it doesn't have a slide.

This is probably where we disagree the most. If memory serves, you stated that you didn't care for OKW at all, and that this was one of the reasons. I respect that position and had no problem with people posting wish lists for the resort, and so on.

2. My second point was that I did not believe that the majority of OKW owners would vote for the addition of a slide. This belief was based upon a number of factors including reports of a previous vote (or survey) that failed and the prevailing tone of related discussions that occurred on this board.

If I were an owner at OKW, I would probably have voted against it myself. Pool hopping or no pool hopping. That's not to say that I'm a Disney apologist who looks at the resort through rose colored glasses (mixed metaphor alert!). I could certainly make suggestions of my own for improvement, but the pool slide just wouldn't be very high on the list.

In the end, I have absolutely no objections to the slide being constructed. I will probably even use it myself next time we stay there. Granted I'm not an OKW owner, so I don't have a beef with regard to dues increasing (even though it will only be a couple pennies). But taken at face value, this is certainly good news.

Why did DVD choose to pay for it? There are probably a handful of reasons, all of which would point to one fact: they WANT a slide at OKW. But isn't it reasonable to assume that if DVD/DVC was certain that the members would willingly approve construction, they would have at least put it to a vote before outright agreeing to foot the bill themselves?

 

[DeeP]

Thanks for reposting your opinion, I must have missed it earlier in the thread.
The part I can not understand is why Disney would want or need to drive up interest in OKW. Can it be there really is a large % of rooms remaining empty at this resort compared to the others? Or could it be as someone else posted that there is a large number of OKW resales compared to the other DVC resorts?
I initially thought Disney was putting in a slide at OKW because they were going to stop all pool hopping, but now after reading some of the other opinions, I am no longer so sure this is the reason.