Recent info on VAKL

[3DisneyKids]

I think by "totally demolished" he meant "reconfigured and expanded".

you "Disneyfied" that statement perfectly!

 

[lisareniff]

This is all great fun!

If this distance rumor is true then I see them operating as two seperate resorts as well.

 

[Olaf]

I think by "totally demolished" he meant "reconfigured and expanded".

No more Sunset Savanna, according to this particular CM. I sort of whined about the animals, and he seemed to want to expand, but stopped short. I got the feeling that there will be a "reconfigured and expanded" savanna elsewhere. Who knows? It wouldn't be the first time that a CM has got it wrong where DVC is concerned.

 

[erikthewise]

Like spiceycat, I decline to believe that AKL would remove 200-400 rooms from the savannah view category. There also doesn't appear to be any geographical reason to do it, at least not on a permanent basis. It is possible that the Sunset Savannah will have to be temporarily shut down during (part of) the construction period.

 

[Olaf]

Like spiceycat, I decline to believe that AKL would remove 200-400 rooms from the savannah view category.

Perhaps those are going to be the DVC rooms. We'll find out soon enough.

 

[Dean]

Because some of the new DVC units will take more than one current room to create, this may decrease the total number of units quoted above. Assume 1 Inn room for a studio, 2 for a one BR, etc.

 

[glewis1123]

just subscribing

 

[byoung]

What ever they do I will stay there at least once.

 

[Connor' Dad]

bump

 

[jennz]

Got my email that the F&F $15 off/point ends on 1/20...wondering, does this mean AKL might go on sale after that??

 

[dianeschlicht]

Our guide was pretty specific about the AKV being a seperate building on the other side of the savannah from the current building, and not sharing any services, but instead having its own bus, restaurants etc. He also said there would be a seperate savanna and expansion of the current one. There was no mention of access to AK by walking. His description made me more sure than ever that I want to add on there!

 

[jade1]

Our guide was pretty specific about the AKV being a seperate building on the other side of the savannah from the current building, and not sharing any services, but instead having its own bus, restaurants etc. He also said there would be a seperate savanna and expansion of the current one. There was no mention of access to AK by walking. His description made me more sure than ever that I want to add on there!

Crud, not only a bus to every park-but even a bus to the main Lodge?

 

[erikthewise]

Crud, not only a bus to every park-but even a bus to the main Lodge?

If we take Diane literally, she said no walking to AK, which is a no-brainer. If she meant no walking to AKL, that would be very bad news. No access to Mara, Jiko, Boma, the main pool, the fitness center, etc, unless you ride a bus? (Or drive your car?) That would be like VWL with a 10-foot wall between it and WL! What's the point?

 

[jeankeri]

I can't believe I totally missed the press release back in October! The last rumor I was up on was building the next DVC at the Contemporary. Well, my DS9 really hopes this happens ,although being that removed from all things Disney has never been a draw for me- which is why we are at BWV. That said- once they start doing pre-sales, does the rumor then become a fact? And- as an add-on, what incentives have they given?

 

[lisareniff]

Our guide was pretty specific about the AKV being a seperate building on the other side of the savannah from the current building, and not sharing any services, but instead having its own bus, restaurants etc.

It sound like the distance between the lodge and AKV will be significant from this part of the statement. Even if you could walk it, you might not want to.

I'm very curious.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

We just added on at BWV and received the Report from the CA Dept of RE, reflecting amendments made on 10/06/06. Although it was not an authorization to sell interests in AKV, it did provide some info. This info may also be available in other filings or have already been posted but I found it interesting.

From the Report (quoted except for some abbreviations):

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Resort (7,353,696 Vacation Points): NOTE: THERE IS NO ASSURANCE THIS RESORT WILL BE ADDED TO THE DISNEY VACATION CLUB):
Type of Vacation Home --- Quantity
Grand Villa Vacation home (3BR/4BA; 2,201 sq.ft.) --- 22
Two-Bedroom Vacation Home (2BR/2BA; 1075 sq.ft.) --- 140
Two-Bedroom Vacation Home – locked-off One Bedroom and studio
Vacation Home possible but not dedicated (2BR/2BA; 945 sq.ft.) --- 250
Studio Vacation Homes (1BR/1BA; 316 sq.ft.) --- 46
Total Number of Vacation Homes --- 458

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Resort is being completed in phases. Improvements to DAK Villas, construction Phase 1, are expected to be complete Summer 2007. Construction Phase II is currently scheduled to be completed Fall of 2007, construction Phase III is anticipated to open in April, 2008 and construction Phase IV in Spring of 2009.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas: The amenities include a pool, two hot tubs, two tennis courts, two shuffleboard courts and one-half basketball court.

End quote.

-- Suzanne

 

[erikthewise]

We just added on at BWV and received the Report from the CA Dept of RE, reflecting amendments made on 10/06/06. Although it was not an authorization to sell interests in AKV, it did provide some info. This info may also be available in other filings or have already been posted but I found it interesting.

From the Report (quoted except for some abbreviations):

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Resort (7,353,696 Vacation Points): NOTE: THERE IS NO ASSURANCE THIS RESORT WILL BE ADDED TO THE DISNEY VACATION CLUB):
Type of Vacation Home --- Quantity
Grand Villa Vacation home (3BR/4BA; 2,201 sq.ft.) --- 22
Two-Bedroom Vacation Home (2BR/2BA; 1075 sq.ft.) --- 140
Two-Bedroom Vacation Home – locked-off One Bedroom and studio
Vacation Home possible but not dedicated (2BR/2BA; 945 sq.ft.) --- 250
Studio Vacation Homes (1BR/1BA; 316 sq.ft.) --- 46
Total Number of Vacation Homes --- 458

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Resort is being completed in phases. Improvements to DAK Villas, construction Phase 1, are expected to be complete Summer 2007. Construction Phase II is currently scheduled to be completed Fall of 2007, construction Phase III is anticipated to open in April, 2008 and construction Phase IV in Spring of 2009.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas: The amenities include a pool, two hot tubs, two tennis courts, two shuffleboard courts and one-half basketball court.

End quote.

-- Suzanne

Very interesting.

316 sq ft studios would be tiny -- we're talking moderate resort rooms here as far as size goes.

Since the existing rooms in AKL are about 340 sq ft with 380 sq ft in the deluxe rooms, the numbers don't seem to fit for any kind of 1-to-1 or 2-to-1 conversion. That means ripping out all the walls and rebuilding an entire floor from scratch. Hard to imagine they could get that done by (end of) summer!

 

[spiceycat]

316 sq ft - that would be the smaller studio to date.

where 945 sq ft would be the largest 1-bedroom to date.

talk about classes.....if you can afford a 1-bedroom then you will have a wonderful time - only a studio - well you will be a crowded....

where the 2-bedroom is small - it and one at SSR are the smallest.

that makes no sense at all - well to me anyway.

a lock off would be bigger - 316 +945 = 1261.

 

[TiggerAllie]

Our guide told us when we asked about AKV a couple of wks ago that he expected the $/pt to go up once AKV was for sale and that they were anticipating dues at AKV would be much higher than at previous resorts because they were adding another savannah with 14 new species of animals, and becase studios/1BR will sleep 5 and 2BRs will sleep 9.
I was told by some who were just at AKL that they saw some construction material piled on the side of the savannah near the far end of the Kudo trail that they were told was for the DVC project.

 

[erikthewise]

316 sq ft - that would be the smaller studio to date.

where 945 sq ft would be the largest 1-bedroom to date.

Yes it would, but I believe it's supposed to be the size of a 2BR lockoff. That would mean a 316 sq ft studio plus a 629 sq ft 1BR, FAR smaller than current 1BRs. I think BCV is 712 sq ft and BWV somewhat larger.

Did I mention I'm not buying? Not that I ever intended to but these sizes are really depressing.