Will SSR be the last DVC resort built?

[wildernesslodgelover]

Or is that a question that truly no one can answer? I am just wondering...

 

[Dean]

No one can answer but I truly believe it will be the last, we shall see.

 

[TammyAlphabet]

Why is that Dean?

 

[sjdisneywedding]

I suppose its a waiting game as none of us can truly answer that.

however, when visiting with our dvc guide last week, he said there is already money ear marked toward future dvc resorts, he said at least one if not two are in the plans.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

I think there'll probably be more but no one really knows. Things can change quickly and drastically. I'm curious too why you said no Dean.

 

[Doctor P]

No. I truly still believe that Eagle Pines is going to be built.

 

[pplasky]

I beleive there will be more. I also beleive that they will resell existing DVC resorts when 2042 rolls around, not that I'll be in the market to buy. The only way they will discontinue is if demand drops, but that hasn't happened yet.

 

[TLinden16]

When I met with my guide in December, she told me that there are plans to build another DVC resort once SSR sells out. She said they estimate that SSR will sell out sometime in 2007 or 2008, and the next resort would be built after that.

Karen

 

[iluvdisney]

Last member meeting I went to they said Eagle Pines is still in the plans so I think there will be more DVC resorts - it's such a great idea I can't see them not following up with more.

 

[tjkraz]

I think there will be more.

With regard to the demand issue, I'm not convinced that they will continue to build as long as some demand exists. Every time they sell points to a new DVC member, they take another family out of the cash resorts.

If they are to continue selling points for another 10 or 20 years, they will have to develop a plan to address the inevitable decline in cash guests. More likely, I think they'll just stop building at some point and perhaps maintain a small sales staff to address ROFR point distribution.

 

[DrTomorrow]

Well, assuming the OP is talking about "on-site at WDW", there has to be a saturation point. They can't support 20 more DVC resorts and they might support one more - so where will they draw the line?

This is all IMHO, but each DVC resort has to have some cannibalizing effect from on-site resorts, as both DVC and non-DVC resorts draw from the same basic pool of "gotta stay on-site" customers. I grant that it's possible that Disney might stop building non-DVC resorts and focus on DVC, but that seems unlikely - WDW as a primarily time-share based facility?

Time, as they say, will tell.

IMHO - YMMV

ETA: Hmmm, I guess I don't need to post anymore - if I just wait 10 minutes, tjkraz will do it for me! LOL

 

[disney junky]

What and where is Eagle Pines? I've heard this mentioned a number of times but I've not heard details.

 

[DarthGoofy]

A guide told me just last week that DVD wants to double the number of resorts over the next 10 years. He also said that no more "normal" resorts would be built on property. They would all be DVC resorts.

 

[GDUL]

This is all IMHO, but each DVC resort has to have some cannibalizing effect from on-site resorts, as both DVC and non-DVC resorts draw from the same basic pool of "gotta stay on-site" customers.

I agree with this point. With my family, our trip to the AKL later this week will be the first time we will have stayed at a resort other than OKW since we bought into DVC in 1994. One other point to think about however is how DVC has changed our vacationing habits. Previous to DVC, we would visit WDW every 2 - 2 1/2 years or so. Since DVC, we visit at least once, if not twice a year. Again, in our situation, I would say that we are spending more money at WDW per year now. Thinking about the big picture, I would assume that this would take away some of the sting of of the cannibalizing effect from other on-site resorts.

Gary

 

[Jamesbyr]

Personally, I think that if DVC is "cannibalizing" it is more from all the time shares in the nearby off-property areas. In the same way, the Value resorts are pulling many people out of the accomodations along 192. Ever notice that the big parking lots never really fill up anymore, but the parks (especially MK) are as crowded as ever?
Recall the stories of Walt's dismay at the build-up around DL in Anaheim, very little of which directly helped Disney's bottom line?

Eagle Pines was announced before Saratoga Springs, and then put on the back burner: I don't think the location was clear to people and they hadn't come up with a good theme, but we have not heard the last of it. Just west of the Eagle Pines golf course itself is a prime lakefront location.

Finally, there is the "rumor" that the north side garden wing of the Contemporary is to be replaced by a DVC wing. Based on posted comments, while people enjoy the tower rooms, there is markedly less enthusiasm for the garden rooms at that price level. And given that many Shades of Green guests were housed there during SOG rennovations last year, there must have been a lot of excess inventory. A clever design here (not just a relabeling of existing buildings), location, the monorail: this would be an easy sell.

DVC is really for people who expect to come just about every year, and there are many who really think they will do just that. Then there's a whole population who will come only every third or fourth year at best. I don't think these markets really overlap.

 

[Divamomto3]

I think there will be more.

With regard to the demand issue, I'm not convinced that they will continue to build as long as some demand exists. Every time they sell points to a new DVC member, they take another family out of the cash resorts.

If they are to continue selling points for another 10 or 20 years, they will have to develop a plan to address the inevitable decline in cash guests. More likely, I think they'll just stop building at some point and perhaps maintain a small sales staff to address ROFR point distribution.

This is an interesting point. I was unable to get a studio at the last minute for Feb. 20-24th. I believe they also told me there were no 1 BR available either. However, I had my pick of any cash reservation at ALL of the other hotels...value, moderate, and deluxe...rack rate OR AP rate.

 

[tjkraz]

What and where is Eagle Pines? I've heard this mentioned a number of times but I've not heard details.

Take a look here:

http://www.wdwmagic.com/dvceaglepines.htm

That press release and artwork is about all that is publicly known about the resort. The resort was not to be officially named "Eagle Pines", but that's how it is commonly referred due to the location right on the EP golf course.

You'll notice from the dates that EP was announced just about a week after 9/11. DVC had both EP and Saratoga Springs on the drawing board at once. After they finally got a sense of the long-term tourism impact of 9/11, the powers-that-be decided to put EP on hold, close the Disney Institute (if it wasn't already) and move forward with SSR instead. It's kinda hard to remember how bad things were less than four years ago. Remember that Pop Century sat idle, half-complete for nearly 2 years because tourism was so bad.

Word was that ground prep work had already begun at the Eagle Pines site. There are two opposing schools of thought regarding the future of EP:

1. Given the development dollars already sunk into the EP project, it is inevitable that it will be revisited down the road.

2. In the 4 years since, the DVC landscape has changed and management may want to go another direction (Contemporary, off-site, different resort theme, different location at WDW...take your pick.) The thousands of dollars that would have to be written-off by not moving forward with EP wouldn't exactly be the biggest expense Disney has ever incurred in scrapping a project.

EDIT: One other item to consider. You'll note that the press release references "Inn" rooms and "Villas." Looking at the concept art, it appears that the large front building would have been cash "Inn" rooms, in addition to DVC Villas. Disney's willingness to build more cash rooms may play a role in EP's future. Or, they could reconfigure the design somewhat to include just the villas. Many possibilities...

 

[Jamesbyr]

The entrance to Eagle Pines is east of the entrance to the Wilderness Campground. It's just a golf course now, with no accomodations that I know of. You can see it in aerial photos. The course stretches north but seems to have a lot of undeveloped space reaching west to the lake. I am only guessing that they would build a lakefront resort: there were no specific plans mentioned when this was mentioned (in DVD literature) about 2 years ago.

(Edited Well, more like 3. Nice to see the press release again. No mention of anything lakefront. Time will tell.

(Edited again After some research, I learn that there are two golf courses at the same entrance: Eagle Pines is more to the south, and Osprey Ridge lies north of it. Check out this site

http://www.wdwgolf.com/

for locations of all the golf courses.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I suspect the "only DVC" resorts being added at WDW is a real likellyhood. I think when Disney expanded to so many parks giving folks a minimum of a week to get a good overview seals that deal. When folks stay for a week or more, they want larger accommodations, and "DVC" resorts fill that bill.

 

[HookdonWDW]

Personally, I think that if DVC is "cannibalizing" it is more from all the time shares in the nearby off-property areas. In the same way, the Value resorts are pulling many people out of the accomodations along 192. Ever notice that the big parking lots never really fill up anymore, but the parks (especially MK) are as crowded as ever?

I don't really know how true this is. We would never have bought a traditional timeshare. We were actually turned off by all of the off-site timeshares we've seen in the Orlando area. The thing we liked about DVC was that it was still "Disney", and had all of the Disney touches we liked in our WDW vacations.

We've always been on-site people. The furthest we've ever strayed has been DTD. We stay at US/IOA, but only when we are actually going to those parks.

Now that we are DVC owners, I can see the value of a timeshare like Marriott, but I still wouldn't look at owning one in the Orlando area. JMO