Proof of another DVC at the Contemporary!

[pinnocchiosdad]

No one but me. It certainly doesn't have to offer MK views, which is a good thing because it probably couldn't. IF it were smaller and IF it didn't have MK views, there would be fewer points available to sell. Doesn't seem like a very good choice at this point for DVC when I'm sure there are other locations that would be both more appealing and more profitable.

I always think of all that land between GF and MK right along side the monorail track. Perhaps the ground is too marshy.

 

[pinnocchiosdad]

 

[Dean]

I'm sure it would be a consideration, esp when it comes time to redo the Norh side again. The other question is that wasn't there a larger resort planned on that site at one point and had to be scrapped due to the underlying stability of the land? I realize this was a question on the south side as well and they (hopefully) solved the issue there.

In theory I could see it happening. I'm sure they will if they can work it out technically and think they can sell it. I do suspect they'll look at other locations first like the land between the TTC and the Poly or even convert some of the Poly buildings. A YC add on might also be a possibility. I could even see some direct theme park related locations as a possibility.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

They don't need to make up the loss of the north wing. One of the reasons that DVC was built there was because the CR was less popular than other resorts and often had deep discounts on the rooms.

I don't think that's true because as far as the CR being "more heavily discounted," I just don't believe it. Public and pin code discounts are never only for one resort, they're usually for a broad range of resorts. The CR is a convention resort and frequently the Tower is booked many months in advance and the SGW books quickly because it's the least expensive monorail resort and the rooms are identical to the Tower rooms. When resort rates are raised every year, the CR's rates increase at the same rate as other resorts; they aren't "discounted" more or go up less.

I don't know what the CR's occupancy rates are compared with the other Deluxes (Disney won't make these figures public), but unless you actually know this, you're just guessing that it's "less popular than the other resorts".

 

[hakepb]

I do not think less popular is a guess. It seemed every WDW travel publication I've read always talked about CR often being a very deluxe "budget" selection. Monorail resort, rooms 2nd largest to the GF and prices more in line with the smaller WL and AKL rooms...
If the CR were more popular then Disney would keep prices more similiar to the GF and Poly and, and it would not be as recommended by so many sources as a decent budget alternative. I'm not sure if you ever hear, "well, I booked the GF, but hopefully something opens up in the CR"

 

[DenLo]

When we stay at BLT from 3/1 - 3/8, we often heard people call it Bay Lake Towers, guests and cast members. They do it without thinking about the fact there is only one tower. I'd say whoever made up the sign was one of those people or got the information for the sign from someone who says the name wrong.

I do like the idea of a little tower with a concierge and some cheaper DVC room categories. Then we could have the best of both worlds. Being near MK and having the option of using less points or more points for a view or going lux and staying at a concierge DVC room.

 

[La2kw]

I don't think that's true because as far as the CR being "more heavily discounted," I just don't believe it. Public and pin code discounts are never only for one resort, they're usually for a broad range of resorts. The CR is a convention resort and frequently the Tower is booked many months in advance and the SGW books quickly because it's the least expensive monorail resort and the rooms are identical to the Tower rooms. When resort rates are raised every year, the CR's rates increase at the same rate as other resorts; they aren't "discounted" more or go up less.

I don't know what the CR's occupancy rates are compared with the other Deluxes (Disney won't make these figures public), but unless you actually know this, you're just guessing that it's "less popular than the other resorts".

Of course I'm guessing because I don't work for Disney. However, having had plenty of experience paying for resort rooms all over Disney property for the past 20 years of so, I do remember getting much better discounts at the Contemporary, the Disney Institute and the Disney Inn than at other resorts. So it's an educated guess. All resorts can be discounted, but CR was always the most discounted in the monorail resort category. You've been on these boards long enough to have seen all the negative comments regarding the CR as well. I'm not knocking the CR, it happens to be one of my favorites, even before the BLT was added. I loved getting a room at the CR for $130/night, especially when the rates at the moderates were still $120/night for the same time frame. Those days are gone now with the BLT addition, which I believe was Disney's intent- make the Contemporary more desirable by selling DVC. It appears that it worked.

 

[twinklebug]

I think the question is if a tower can be built cost effectively. Any site can support building as long as you can get footings down to the bedrock and as long as you don't encroach wetlands (Disney can get around the wetlands by filling one area and excavating another to replace any "lost" wetlands). A Disney engineer did a presentation to analysts back when the Grand Floridian was proposed. His materials (this was before PowerPoints when you had printed charts) showed by color code the degree of difficulty in building around the Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake. The GF site was a green, from the Contemporary to the campgrounds (where WL was built) was orange, and the Contemporary to the TTC was red. The red area was due to the number of piers needed, possible monorail relocation, and limits to the height of buildings in that area (did Disney have a zoning master plan for WDW that they have to live by?).

I have seen nothing as comprehensive as that presentation in the age of the internet.

I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that presentation!

BTW - my understanding of the FL terrain was that it's comprised mostly of sand covered in dirt from vegetation over thousands of years of growth. There's rock under all that?

 

[BigTigger]

I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that presentation!

BTW - my understanding of the FL terrain was that it's comprised mostly of sand covered in dirt from vegetation over thousands of years of growth. There's rock under all that?

If you go deep enough there's bedrock everywhere, but I mis-spoke here. The engineer referenced "piers" which I believe are large concrete pours below grade that support the structure above. Depending on the size of the structure these can be quite massive. They can be easily built in wetlands by mixing hydraulic cement into the regular mix to allow the concrete to harden even in water.

 

[mic_KY_mouses]

Thanks for the chuckle....Being part Irish I thought is was extra funny as well as timely!

Signs at WDW are the true way to find out what is on their drawing board. For example, I took a picture of this sign at the Polynesian of the 'OHANA restaurant in December 2006. It is clear that they eventually plan to make it into an Irish Restaurant with the name O'HANA. This would be the perfect week to do it too. Time will tell.

[/IMG]

HBC

 

[White_Sox_Fan]

But think of all those members who are likewise unhappy about not having enough standard views to book at BLT. One of the most complained about aspects about BLT is the fact that the lake and MK views use a ton of points. A second BLT tower offering point charts more in line with the other DVCs would make a lot of DVC owners thrilled. I will be interesting to see how this develops in the next year or so.

Less points means less money, especially if the tower cost more to build because of soil issues. Also less total points would mean higher MF's which would be shared across both towers.

 

[cutakenta]

They don't need to make up the loss of the north wing. One of the reasons that DVC was built there was because the CR was less popular than other resorts and often had deep discounts on the rooms. They also did the same thing with SSR. Disney Institute was also less popular, so they rebuilt it as DVC. I wish they had done the same with the Disney Inn instead of selling it off to the military (not that our military doesn't deserve a lovely resort). I loved that hotel and it was in a great location between the original golf courses.

I have stayed at CR many times and I don't remember getting deep discounts. With a Florida Discount and or Passholder Discount I think the lowest rate was I got was $229 south wing 4 years ago. This was the main reason I bought into BLT.

With the exception of a $109 a night rate Disney offered after 9/11 for Deluxe I just don't know of any deep discounts.

 

[Jynohn]

I have stayed at CR many times and I don't remember getting deep discounts. With a Florida Discount and or Passholder Discount I think the lowest rate was I got was $229 south wing 4 years ago. This was the main reason I bought into BLT.

With the exception of a $109 a night rate Disney offered after 9/11 for Deluxe I just don't know of any deep discounts.

When Shades of Green was being rehabbed, we were offered a rate of approx. $70/night for the North Tower wing. That was around 2002 I think.

 

[cutakenta]

Of course I'm guessing because I don't work for Disney. However, having had plenty of experience paying for resort rooms all over Disney property for the past 20 years of so, I do remember getting much better discounts at the Contemporary, the Disney Institute and the Disney Inn than at other resorts. So it's an educated guess. All resorts can be discounted, but CR was always the most discounted in the monorail resort category. You've been on these boards long enough to have seen all the negative comments regarding the CR as well. I'm not knocking the CR, it happens to be one of my favorites, even before the BLT was added. I loved getting a room at the CR for $130/night, especially when the rates at the moderates were still $120/night for the same time frame. Those days are gone now with the BLT addition, which I believe was Disney's intent- make the Contemporary more desirable by selling DVC. It appears that it worked.

What year did you get $130 a night at CR?

This is from a random date I just pulled up:




Price Match Guarantee Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa 4.0 / 5 from 26 guest ratings 1700 yards from Walt Disney World
Family-friendly
Special rate: Book now and save!
Full description | See similar hotels
Hotel Info: 866-767-0278 14 miles to city center
City guide & map

Walt Disney World
Orlando area gym
Internet
pool
restaurant …



Room type (see all) Fri Sat
Garden view $315 $315
Average nightly rate
$315 Select



Price Match Guarantee Disney's Contemporary Resort 4.4 / 5 from 50 guest ratings 1400 yards from Walt Disney World
Family-friendly
Full description | See similar hotels
Hotel Info: 866-925-8676 13 miles to city center
City guide & map

Walt Disney World
Orlando area gym
Internet
pool
restaurant …



Room type (see all) Fri Sat
Garden Wing Garden View $405 $405
Average nightly rate
$405 Select



Price Match Guarantee Disney's Polynesian Resort 4.1 / 5 from 18 guest ratings 500 yards from Walt Disney World
Family-friendly
Special rate: Book now and save!
Full description | See similar hotels
Hotel Info: 866-538-0251 13 miles to city center
City guide & map

Walt Disney World
Orlando area gym
Internet
pool
restaurant …



Room type (see all) Fri Sat
Theme Park View $387 $387
Average nightly rate
$387 Select

 

[cutakenta]

When Shades of Green was being rehabbed, we were offered a rate of approx. $70/night for the North Tower wing. That was around 2002 I think.

Was that the miltary discount for Shades of Green?

 

[Jynohn]

Was that the miltary discount for Shades of Green?

It was offered as the military "overflow" rate. Meaning that it was higher than we would have paid at SOG, but still a discount over rack rate.

 

[cutakenta]

It was offered as the military "overflow" rate. Meaning that it was higher than we would have paid at SOG, but still a discount over rack rate.

Okay, but you pay on rank and pay right. So someone that is an E4 pays much less for the same room as say O7.

 

[La2kw]

I have stayed at CR many times and I don't remember getting deep discounts. With a Florida Discount and or Passholder Discount I think the lowest rate was I got was $229 south wing 4 years ago. This was the main reason I bought into BLT.

With the exception of a $109 a night rate Disney offered after 9/11 for Deluxe I just don't know of any deep discounts.

I've paid as low as $130/night with my AP discount. You've missed out on some great rates! $229 is a good rate also, when you compare it to the rates at the Poly and GF during the same time frame.

 

[La2kw]

What year did you get $130 a night at CR?

This is from a random date I just pulled up:




Price Match Guarantee Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa 4.0 / 5 from 26 guest ratings 1700 yards from Walt Disney World
Family-friendly
Special rate: Book now and save!
Full description | See similar hotels
Hotel Info: 866-767-0278 14 miles to city center
City guide & map

Walt Disney World
Orlando area gym
Internet
pool
restaurant …



Room type (see all) Fri Sat
Garden view $315 $315
Average nightly rate
$315 Select



Price Match Guarantee Disney's Contemporary Resort 4.4 / 5 from 50 guest ratings 1400 yards from Walt Disney World
Family-friendly
Full description | See similar hotels
Hotel Info: 866-925-8676 13 miles to city center
City guide & map

Walt Disney World
Orlando area gym
Internet
pool
restaurant …



Room type (see all) Fri Sat
Garden Wing Garden View $405 $405
Average nightly rate
$405 Select



Price Match Guarantee Disney's Polynesian Resort 4.1 / 5 from 18 guest ratings 500 yards from Walt Disney World
Family-friendly
Special rate: Book now and save!
Full description | See similar hotels
Hotel Info: 866-538-0251 13 miles to city center
City guide & map

Walt Disney World
Orlando area gym
Internet
pool
restaurant …



Room type (see all) Fri Sat
Theme Park View $387 $387
Average nightly rate
$387 Select

I have no idea what you are quoting, but I'm sure I know how much I have paid for my hotel rooms. The lowest rate I paid there was back probably about 10 years ago.

 

[dizfan]

I'm sure it would be a consideration, esp when it comes time to redo the Norh side again. The other question is that wasn't there a larger resort planned on that site at one point and had to be scrapped due to the underlying stability of the land? I realize this was a question on the south side as well and they (hopefully) solved the issue there.

Dean, I think you're referring to the Mediterranean (Walt's concept in the 70's) or Venetian (Eisner's vision in the 90's) Resort that was supposed to go in between the Contemporary and TTS.

Quote from wdwhistory.com...
"Disney's Venetian Resort was a resort that was to be built on Seven Seas Lagoon by 1971 but was pushed back to 1976 (1976). It was then scrapped due to costs and the 1973 (1973) oil embargo. The oil embargo also stopped construction on the Asian and Persian resort. The Grand Floridian was built and did so well, Michael Eisner wanted an even better resort. The resort was scrapped and the location was to become the Mediterranean Resort. In the early 1990s, land was cleared for its construction. It wasn't built because it was found during construction was that the foundation pilings would have needed to be deeper than Spaceship Earth.

The Venetian was to be built on land between the Transportation and Ticket Center and the lake bridge on Seven Seas Lagoon. This would have made it a monorail stop between the Contemporary and the TTC."

Reports are that Disney even cleared the land. Then, they tried to drill for bedrock and discovered it would have taken very, very deep footings. It was not considered cost effective, so they cancelled the project.