We are still undecided about going to Disney. We needed a getaway and this resort has great pools. My son could spend an entire week just swimming and think he was in heaven. They were bought by another company and there is also some construction. I booked well aware of all of this. There were other resorts with better access to the parks but if we go it will be 1 day at MK and 1 at HS, so a little bit of travel is worth having access to great pools.
I knew about this being the sink hole resort and I know that the hotel isn't nice. I have read a lot of reviews and looked into the resort. There was availability in the houses for September 27-4 and we were going to book that but it was gone before they sent me my certificate number to book it.
I know that the 400 and 500 buildings are the best but I am not sure if those are the "villas" or regular condos. I also know that there aren't elevators in the villas.
I want to request the best building for the villas if anyone can give me recommendations on that. We would like an upgraded room - it's been difficult to find that information on google and trip advisor. So if anyone has stayed there and could chime in I would greatly appreciate it.
Sorry it took a while to respond - it's hard to get online with an active 4 year old.
TIA
Bumping this thread to post our mini review of Summer Bay.
I have a friend who owns there and she plans a big trip every two years and invites friends to rent additional rooms for the week.
I don't recall our building number at all--I know we drove past the new water lake to the roundabout and turned right and were the second building on the left
We own DVC at Kidani Village and were pleasantly surprised on accomodations here and in a good way. We had a 2BR unit on the second floor in a building with an elevator. Nice flat screen tvs, beds were comfy.
While it is rather remote from Disney, it wasn't too bad. We live somewhat local 90 minutes door to door with Disney) and opted to bring 2 vehicles to facilitate convenience since I'm in my third trimester of pregnancy and don't have open to close stamina. For the price, it could be beat. Though I don't recall exactly how much we paid. Sorry! (Around $400-$500)
We had a pleasant week and no sink hole fears.
Now--some information on that courtesy of my friend as I was curious.
1 building was a total loss and an attached building (not sure what that means configuration wise) could have bend salvaged, but for obvious reasons they just opted to do away with both buildings.
(Operating on memory of what she told me 3 weeks ago.)
All owners were notified of what occurred and what would be done.
Insurance did cover the loss (to what $$$ value, I don't know). Owners in the. Two affected buildings were offered a refund or ownership on another building. I don't recall if the refund was purchase priced or in some way prorated.
A geological survey if the entire property was done and the rest was deemed safe. The buildings were demolished and the sink holes filled. And what they did to that land--struck me as odd.
They built a family water park and activity area. Owners can get discounted bands while non-owners pay a higher rate (maybe ~$25-$35, I don't recall the exact rate).
So two less buildings, new water park. And I do think the sink hole saga has affected prices as weeks seem to be found for much less than the usual.
We did enjoy our stay though. The one thing that bugged me was the land of trash and towel service, which I thought was odd but just figured that was now this resort did things. When hanging with friends in their condo, they had an information card about that. That was missing from our room. But basically, they do offer it, but you must call to schedule it.
