Plans have been filed for DVC expansion at Caribbean Beach Resort

[sachilles]

So it's off tangent, but related.

Let's say you are a transportation engineer for WDW. You are tasked with adding transportation options that are not bus related, nor utilized the current public roads. Your goal is to include as much of wdw as reasonably possible, but being conscious of budget.

What do you do?
Monorail
light rail
water canals
pods(like heathrow)
Walkways/paths.
Trams
pedal cabs
horse buggies
omni movers
ski lifts

Existing technology only.

I'm giving you 400 million dollars for this project, what do you do? Unsure what a reasonable yearly operating budget would be, but factor that in.
The goal is to either reduce overhead and/or enhance revenue.

 

[rteetz]

So it's off tangent, but related.

Let's say you are a transportation engineer for WDW. You are tasked with adding transportation options that are not bus related, nor utilized the current public roads. Your goal is to include as much of wdw as reasonably possible, but being conscious of budget.

What do you do?
Monorail
light rail
water canals
pods(like heathrow)
Walkways/paths.
Trams
pedal cabs
horse buggies
omni movers
ski lifts

Existing technology only.

I'm giving you 400 million dollars for this project, what do you do? Unsure what a reasonable yearly operating budget would be, but factor that in.
The goal is to either reduce overhead and/or enhance revenue.

Budget conscious throws monorail right out the door. Light rail does not seem like something they would do between resorts and parks. Maybe from one point to another but that's it.

Water canals also look costly but more probable.

I think your most likely option is creating walkways/paths.

If money wasn't as big of an issue, I would use a people mover type system.

 

[Madonna3]

Lee is a very credible source when it comes to Disney rumors.

I am not questioning anyone's credibility. What I am asking is where that originally came from as I would love to see any former nixed plans and compare them to the current ones.

 

[Grumpy6264]

Teleportation. Let them capture your physical matter, digitize it, transmit to you destination and re-assemble your physical being at the destination.

Nevermind...You would probably get a message with Woody and Bullseye saying that there was a problem. Takes care of customer satisfaction issues.

 

[skier_pete]

I'm giving you 400 million dollars for this project, what do you do? Unsure what a reasonable yearly operating budget would be, but factor that in.
The goal is to either reduce overhead and/or enhance revenue.

There's nothing that's going to beat buses - there's a reason why for the most part all cities have that as their main source of transportation, unless they have a very dense downtown with a very intricate subway system. (But then they still have buses.) They are omnidirectional as opposed to a train/monorail which is one directional. The problem with a monorail is you could circle the property with it, and put in all the stops...but if I get on at Coronado Springs I might have to wait an hour before my train gets to Magic Kingdom, because it can only go in the direction of the track. This works great for a limited loop like the TTC-Poly-VGF-Park-Contemp-TTC loop, but terrible with anything bigger. (The Epcot loop itself is a huge loser of an idea and its sort of amazing they haven't given up on that.) OTherwise you need loops or spurs, and that involves changing trains and more waiting. There's a reason they've been using buses for 25 years and are showing no signs of stopping.

It's an irrelevant question to this subject anyways, because we are not talking about connecting everything to the parks. This question is really about "How do you sell a deluxe DVC at the CBR location?" This leads to "Connect it directly to Epcot with a < 15 minute transit time and/or an experience that people will prefer over buses" which in turn leads to the discussion of how to do it. (As others have pointed out, the BUS from POR is MUCH faster than the Boat, yet people prefer the boat.)

 

[rteetz]

I am not questioning anyone's credibility. What I am asking is where that originally came from as I would love to see any former nixed plans and compare them to the current ones.

It would be hard to find out where it originally came from. People like Lee don't reveal their sources due to the sake of that person keeping their job usually.

I learned that the hard way once.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Well you are on the Rumors and News board my friend.

You stay in your trench...I'll stay in mine

 

[lockedoutlogic]

It would be hard to find out where it originally came from. People like Lee don't reveal their sources due to the sake of that person keeping their job usually.

I learned that the hard way once.

Wonder why?

(Plausible deniability...screamscape)

 

[DanBoris]

Well you are on the Rumors and News board my friend.

... and here we go again.

 

[DanBoris]

That's a very interesting comment that seems somewhat random to the topic. Where is the poster getting that information from? Any idea? It would be awesome to read the source of that rumor or look at plans that may have hinted at it.

That poster has a very good track record with inside information.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

... and here we go again.

Nope...I'm pulling a Dunkirk and retreating back across the channel.

Let's just stick to why Caribbean as a timeshare is a blackhole of discussion

 

[Madonna3]

That poster has a very good track record with inside information.

Ok, I get that and I guess I'll just have to keep on wondering. It just seemed to be blurted out kind of at random.

 

[DanBoris]

Ok, I get that and I guess I'll just have to keep on wondering. It just seemed to be blurted out kind of at random.

If you follow back in the thread someone mentioned a rumor that there was going to be a new entrance in World Showcase that would connect to Downtown Disney, thus Lee's comment that the plan was for the new entrance to connect to CBR.

 

[Madonna3]

If you follow back in the thread someone mentioned a rumor that there was going to be a new entrance in World Showcase that would connect to Downtown Disney, thus Lee's comment that the plan was for the new entrance to connect to CBR.

Ah ok, I did go back, but I guess I didn't go back far enough. Thanks.

 

[skier_pete]

You know - people are mentioning "If connecting CBR to epcot is such a great idea, why haven't they done it before."

Well, as pointed out it won't be a simple undertaking. They well could have done the cost benefit analysis and decided that it isn't worth it for what it would do for CBR as is. (It wouldn't turn the existing CBR into a deluxe resort.)

The same calcuation occurring for a DVC resort in the same location may not be the same - especially in conjunction with the remaining CBR, and of course no one can project the long-term plans for that area. A new resort near DHS could also be connected as part of a canal, and with 3 resorts it then might make a lot of sense.

And as far as "reliable" sources - while I give a slight higher creedence to "reliable" source - even the best sources are right maybe 25% of the time - so I still consider anything said to be just rumor. The only concrete thing in this whole discussion are the test balloons and the released plans - which both point to a tower.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

And as far as "reliable" sources - while I give a slight higher creedence to "reliable" source - even the best sources are right maybe 25% of the time - so I still consider anything said to be just rumor. The only concrete thing in this whole discussion are the test balloons and the released plans - which both point to a tower.

...finally!!! Someone else can get shot at...

Stay low and don't give them clear line of sight.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I think that if they wanted direct access to Epcot from Caribbean...they would have put it where they could have achieved that...and they specifically didn't

Remember, they built it 86-88...but it wasn't like they didn't have yacht, beach, swan, dolphin, and MGM planned out at that point. Prior to that point...there was little to obstruct that area...and they build retention ponds all over the place and the overflow canals...

There's reasons as to why Caribbean is where it is...just like there's reasons why pop is where it is...those were thought out in advance.

They probably can do a very pricey retrofit to "correct" that...but the line of thinking that Caribbean was put there at random irrelative to where the parks were and was NOT connected for no reason is fools thinking.

 

[dlavender]

I think the evidence of there being no pathway shows exactly how much a pathway would cost and how big of a project it really is. If they could get just $10 more a night by having the pathway, that's ~$7 mil in rev a year. If they want a ROI of 5 years, that means the pathway costs more than $35 million. There's obviously other major considerations we don't know about. But if it was too costly then, it's probably too costly now.

ETA: But what do I really know? When I first heard what they would charge for family suites at AoA, I thought Disney was in for a rude awakening. For a value resort, come on. Apparently I was the one who needed the wake up call. Perhaps I still do.

 

[Sweettears]

They absolutely would like to shed the operational cost of running hotels. Roy O. Famously stated in the 60's that they are "an entertainment company, not a hotel operator"

They've dabbled with this over the years...but never felt comfortable enough to pull the trigger.

The money is not in running hotels...minor return on costs...and the stock don't like that.

I thought that there was something going back to Eisner's days. As I remember it was what lead to the building of the SD.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I thought that there was something going back to Eisner's days. As I remember it was what lead to the building of the SD.

Exactly...just one of the instances...

They thought the swan and dolphin would be the "new model"...but Disney didn't like the shared control/differing opinions.

The contemporary and the poly were not only going to be built by US steel...they were going to operate them - likely through Hilton or some other operator - on a longterm lease. Disney woulda collected fees with low operational overhead.

Disney had to take control when the project lagged and assume all operations...and the disney resort business was born. They didn't intend on that. This failed experienent lead directly to Swan and Dolphin...round 2. As the story goes...Eisner was "encouraged" to pursue the third party model...so they could not have to account for all the logistics. That was to fuel the "disney decade".

Other more recent examples: flamingo crossing and four seasons...again trying to find a partnership model that fits their needs and profits.

It's all the same: shedding employees. Labor is and always will be the one predictable overhead cost that public traded companies watch like hawks.