Originally posted by Beca
Please tell me I'm wrong!!!
How is adding 250 more rooms at SSR any different than adding 250 rooms at Eagle Pines? You're making a big assumption that you would even like Eagle Pines. If you didn't care for that resort either, the situation would be the same--more DVC members and the same number of rooms at BCV, BWV, etc.
This really doesn't change a lot of things that were already true, namely:
- Larger properties will always be the ones with greatest chances for availability as you get closer to travel dates.
- As more members are added to the DVC program, regardless of their Home resort, the harder it will be to book the smaller resorts at 7 months or less. More people competing for a fixed number of rooms means less chance for success.
Perhaps a 1000 room facility on the monorail would change some of the above (although the point cost to stay a night may prove to be prohibitively high), but regardless of the rumors, DVC has made no guarantees of future resorts.
I think it's also worth noting that this may put Eagle Pines (as it was originally designed) totally in jeopardy. If DVC has decided that demand dictates they focus on 800-1000 room mega resorts, EP may or may not end up fitting that mold.
Regardless, it will be a LONG time before a new property opens, unless they want to sell two of them simultaneously. They are selling a single SSR building about every 3-4 months. If we figure 3.5 buildings per year, it will take over 5 years to sell the resort, putting the next opening around 2008-09.
About a year ago, one of my first posts to this board questioned where DVC was headed in the future. I looked at the situation and saw 5 properties (including SSR) in about 15 years time. Out loud I wondered if that meant we would have 10 properties in 30 yrs and 15 in 45 years. I thought that sounded a bit ridiculous, and in retrospect, obviously nobody knows for a fact the direction that DVC will go.
But, assuming that demand holds, I think there will be little reason for tiny add-ons to existing resorts. Even though they have acres of undeveloped land at WDW, they need to start building resorts that fit the demand of the program. SSR isn't quite a perfect fit, because they will almost certainly have to expand the common areas of the resort (2nd feature pool, additional dining options), but they won't make that mistake again.
