Rumor: new DVC resort on old River Country grounds, north of WL

[GrumpyPOTFH]

I guess I am in the minority but I would love to see it built. I do tend to agree enough with DVC but I so want this.

I agree, we have stayed at FW four times. 6 days, 2 7 days and 10 days. Loved it.

 

[Brian Noble]

Check out the thread on the camping board. They have been discussing this for a while

God forbid you ever cross the campers. Trust me, I know.

 

[Granny]

This has been discussed in great detail on the Fort Wilderness Campground forum. Needless to say it was not being well recieved by some of the campers.

Check out the thread on the camping board. They have been discussing this for a while.

God forbid you ever cross the campers. Trust me, I know.

Somehow the phrase "happy camper" keeps coming to my mind, but I don't think it applies here.


Personally I think that Bay Lake is the most beautiful water area in WDW. Bad enough that put that big tower over next to the Contemporary. Now building up the WL part of the lake? I knew I should have bought up some of those lake front lots!

 

[Dean]

To me, any expansion would be a good think overall. It sounds like it could be a very nice addition.

God forbid you ever cross the campers. Trust me, I know.

LOL, Lock and Load!

 

[TisBit]

Honestly, why are they building ANY more at WDW??

If DVC is serious about expanding outside of WDW (Hawaii, possibly DC area, etc) they MUST have enough DVC rooms available at WDW to compensate for those off site locations. One of the main reasons to buy DVC is to stay at WDW....imagine if the people who buy points at off site can never get into WDW resorts, the complaints and reputation would take a huge hit. It is one thing not to be able to get your desired resort at 7 months, but imagine if you can't get ANY resort, including OKW/SSR at 7 months.....

 

[dianeschlicht]

What happened to the deadly bacteria that was supposed to infect the ground are water in that area? That was the reason they closed RC in the first place. All of the RC features are still there....just roped off with signs that say it's dangerous water quality. When we did the Wilderness Seque tour, they told how all that came about, and that it was why the infrastructure was still there undesturbed. They were trying to solve the bacterial issue. Evidently it infected the sand and everything. They even had the sandy beach area baracaded off with "unsafe" signs.

 

[hakepb]

What happened to the deadly bacteria that was supposed to infect the ground are water in that area? That was the reason they closed RC in the first place. All of the RC features are still there....just roped off with signs that say it's dangerous water quality. When we did the Wilderness Seque tour, they told how all that came about, and that it was why the infrastructure was still there undesturbed. They were trying to solve the bacterial issue. Evidently it infected the sand and everything. They even had the sandy beach area baracaded off with "unsafe" signs.

How dare you call the campers bacteria

Or They must of determined the bed bugs are the bacteria's natural enemy


In seriousness, I would not be surprised if this site is just being 'superfund'-type leveled with no rebuilding ..

 

[Brian Noble]

Diane: it's an amoeba, and you basically have to snort the water it is in to become infected. It does tend to be limited to shallow, warm waters. You couldn't use RC as a water park without cutting it off from the lake, but you could just fill it in and build on top of it. There would be no more precautions necessary than there already are at any of the other "non-swimming beaches" on Bay Lake and elsewhere.

 

[twinklebug]

How dare you call the campers bacteria

(WL lover & former camper turned DVCer here)

 

[jerivera]

I just hope it's not a Wild West or Cabins type of resort, as the rumor seems to suggest. They already have the VWL and THV. I'd rather they built something "different".

Maybe they'll surprise everyone and just build facilities for the campers at Fort Wilderness. The question is, are they making enough $$$ from the campers to justify it?

 

[Chuck S]

I think a Westworld style resort would be interesting, sans gunslinger, of course.

 

[jennypenny]

If DVC is serious about expanding outside of WDW (Hawaii, possibly DC area, etc) they MUST have enough DVC rooms available at WDW to compensate for those off site locations. One of the main reasons to buy DVC is to stay at WDW....imagine if the people who buy points at off site can never get into WDW resorts, the complaints and reputation would take a huge hit. It is one thing not to be able to get your desired resort at 7 months, but imagine if you can't get ANY resort, including OKW/SSR at 7 months.....

But I thought they were having trouble filling the DVC rooms--exhibit A the crazy discounts on SSR and OKW through CRO and exhibit B the sudden unavailability of cruises on points.

And if you book a DVC room at 11 months you should be able to get something except for the really high weeks. The availability issue is only for those folks trying to stay where they don't own.

 

[dvc_john]

I stayed at Hotel Cheyenne (and Newport Bay) in Paris, and enjoyed it. It was comparable to a value resort though.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

But I thought they were having trouble filling the DVC rooms--exhibit A the crazy discounts on SSR and OKW through CRO and exhibit B the sudden unavailability of cruises on points.

There are two different issues here.

The first issue is Disney's ability to make money building new DVC and selling "memberships" in those resorts. All indications are that this has been very good business for Disney. Not only do the points sell for far more than the cost of building a resort, but Disney is building a huge group of guests who visit WDW year after year. It makes sense that Disney will keep building new DVC resorts at WDW as other DVC resorts at WDW get close to selling out.

The other issue is Disney's ability to rent out DVC rooms to the general public when DVC members turn in their points for Disney Collection, Adventurer Collection, and Concierge Collection. At a time when demand is soft at WDW and Disney needs to resort to promotions to rent out all types of WDW rooms, DVC rooms are not immune.

 

[tjkraz]

The first issue is Disney's ability to make money building new DVC and selling "memberships" in those resorts. All indications are that this has been very good business for Disney. Not only do the points sell for far more than the cost of building a resort, but Disney is building a huge group of guests who visit WDW year after year. It makes sense that Disney will keep building new DVC resorts at WDW as other DVC resorts at WDW get close to selling out.

Agree. Based upon the number of contracts posted to the various county websites, July and August have been particularly good for DVC. Best sales volumes in at least a year--perhaps 18 months.

When DVC committed to building Kidani, BLT, the Treehouses and the Grand Californian all at the same time, they knew they were going to be sitting on excess inventory for a period of years. If not for the economy that period would be shorter but the market is far from saturated. Just because DVC has +/- 40% of Kidani left to sell plus some SSR, and they've eased-off on ROFR, does not mean they are looking to get out of the business. In fact, the brisk direct sales suggest that their reduction in ROFR hasn't hurt them a bit.

It takes 2.5 - 3 years to build a new resort. Any project that's started today is earmarked for 2013...not 2010 or 2011.

I'm not necessarily convinced that this particular report is correct but the timing is about right. There have also been long-standing rumors of DVC villas added to the Grand Floridian. AKV showed us that they can convert existing cash rooms to villas on less than a year's notice so that location also seems to be a viable candidate for the next DVC.

 

[TisBit]

There are two different issues here.

The first issue is Disney's ability to make money building new DVC and selling "memberships" in those resorts. All indications are that this has been very good business for Disney. Not only do the points sell for far more than the cost of building a resort, but Disney is building a huge group of guests who visit WDW year after year. It makes sense that Disney will keep building new DVC resorts at WDW as other DVC resorts at WDW get close to selling out.

The other issue is Disney's ability to rent out DVC rooms to the general public when DVC members turn in their points for Disney Collection, Adventurer Collection, and Concierge Collection. At a time when demand is soft at WDW and Disney needs to resort to promotions to rent out all types of WDW rooms, DVC rooms are not immune.

Yes and the possible addition of resorts within the system, it could possibly reduce some of the bookings outside of the system. I think most of the out of hte system bookings will become more costly via points, only because of the pressure being put on the system to rent those rooms for cash. Disney is having a hard enough time filling the deluxe resorts and the DVC resorts are even more expensive.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

God forbid you ever cross the campers. Trust me, I know.

I have a hard time picturing a full blown new resort but something like the cabin's suggestion I would love! It could fit nicely with FW and WL/VWL.

 

[KevGuy]

Agree. Based upon the number of contracts posted to the various county websites, July and August have been particularly good for DVC. Best sales volumes in at least a year--perhaps 18 months.

When DVC committed to building Kidani, BLT, the Treehouses and the Grand Californian all at the same time, they knew they were going to be sitting on excess inventory for a period of years. If not for the economy that period would be shorter but the market is far from saturated. Just because DVC has +/- 40% of Kidani left to sell plus some SSR, and they've eased-off on ROFR, does not mean they are looking to get out of the business. In fact, the brisk direct sales suggest that their reduction in ROFR hasn't hurt them a bit.

It takes 2.5 - 3 years to build a new resort. Any project that's started today is earmarked for 2013...not 2010 or 2011.

I'm not necessarily convinced that this particular report is correct but the timing is about right. There have also been long-standing rumors of DVC villas added to the Grand Floridian. AKV showed us that they can convert existing cash rooms to villas on less than a year's notice so that location also seems to be a viable candidate for the next DVC.

I really hope your wrong about DVC at the GF as I think the better bet would be DVC at the Poly from a financial standpoint as I believe they would sell like hotcakes.

 

[twinklebug]

I have a hard time picturing a full blown new resort but something like the cabin's suggestion I would love! It could fit nicely with FW and WL/VWL.

I agree. I'm one of the few who would rent the current cabins on points in a heartbeat if they were included with DVC.

Speculating: If DVC is considering such an addition they'd have to come up with a whole new design apart from the cabins (and copying the treehouses wouldn't work as they're all larger villas). The current units are not set up to DVC standards - they have more amenities than a studio (kitchen, 2 double beds and a set of bunkbeds as well as a couch) but they're lacking when compared to even a 1br unit (missing the jacuzzi tub, washer, drier and ... I want to say dishwasher) New cabins would need to be constructed either on a slab foundation or with double wide trailers. I doubt DVC would go with trailers since most members plan on owning for 50 years and the longest I've ever seen a trailer hold up to the elements and rodents has been 38.

I wonder if DVC could create cabins and include them in with VWL much as they did with the additions to SSR. Would it drive up the value of the existing VWL memberships?

 

[adminjedi]

Say the word "cabin" and I'm outta here!