Would you favor a DVC expansion at your home resort?

[DVC Mike]

Would you favor a DVC expansion at your home resort?

http://i235.*************************************Misc/ExpandYourHomeResort.png

DVC members seem to love to speculate where the next DVC resort might be built. On September 22, another of DVC's worst kept secrets was confirmed when DVC announced its next planned project will be at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge. The press release stated: "The planned project at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, when completed, will be the 14th Disney Vacation Club development and the second at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge".

Of course, this is not the first expansion of a DVC resort. In 2008, Disney Vacation Club announced the expansion of Saratoga Springs Resort (SSR) with the Treehouse Villas, sixty units elevated 10 feet off the ground along the Sassagoula river. I believe most SSR owners welcomed the addition of the Treehouse Villas, as it added a unique place to stay at their home resort.

An oft-rumored expansion of Bay Lake Tower (BLT), which was created after the North Garden Wing was demolished, has been suggested as an eventuality. However, BLT owners might not be as welcoming as SSR owners were, as a second tower at the site of the South Garden Wing could potentially double the number of owners competing for the theme park view rooms in the present BLT building.

Other rumors involve BCV and even BWV.

This thread is asking about how you would feel about an expansion of your DVC resort.

Would you favor an expansion of your DVC home resort? Why or why not? What concerns might you have?

Various questions have been raised as to how late additions to DVC resorts that were built much earlier would be integrated into the existing condominium association. Would the new units become part of the existing condominium association, and thus be a single resort, or would they be part of a new separate condominium association?

With one association, owners at the existing resort would gain the 11-month home resort booking advantage on the units in the expansion. However, that goes both ways. Would the additional owners make booking certain popular room types or views at 11-months more difficult?

With two associations, owners at the original resort wouldn't get to book the units in the expansion at 11 months, but would have to wait until the 7 month window like everyone else.

Would the question of how they integrated the additional units factor into you supporting or opposing an expansion at your DVC home resort?

Could the addition of the new units, besides offering different experiences, have any negative side effects?

Could an increase in the annual dues result? Assuming no expansion of common areas (or increases in common expenses due to the expansion), a reduction of dues might even be possible. On the other hand, a significant expansion of common areas might mean an increase in dues. Then again, who knows how Disney will allocate expenses?

Do you foresee any other possible issues - particularly those specific to your home resort?


http://i235.************************************************************* DVC Mike - *******.com

 

[WilsonFlyer]

I've always believed that an expansion at Kidani/AKL was inevitable. I know others have said not, but I thought that I remembered from my initial sales presentation at the time that there was an expansion planned to immediately follow the completion of Kidani anyway.

It looks like low-hanging fruit to me. Given the expansion of AK with Avatarland and Rivers of Light, it only seems logical to build some sort of walking connector between the park and the resort, similar to the one between BCV/BWV and the Studios. They could tremendously increase the appeal of the resort if they did this, IMO. There seems to be plenty of land around Kidani to duplicate Kidani maybe even a couple more times.

I know Kidani sold slowly relatively speaking, but it did sell out in a somewhat timely manner and it did so during a major market crash for most of its sales.

I also know that it seems to be very loved and endeared, especially by those of us that own there. I'm really amazed it hasn't already been done. It seems owners stay there all the time and non-owners shy away from it, which is fine by me. Maybe AKK really is DVC's Best Kept Secret!

To me, it also seems logical to move on this one so that there's always something available while they continue the smaller expansions at existing resorts.

I'll say this again because it's important, at least to me. A connector is the key. If they did that, I think they could expand at AKK all they wanted to and do it where there's plenty of "out of the way" room to do so and turn AKL/AKK into one of the, if not THE; most attractive offerings in the DVC system. I think someone totally missed the boat here and I'm amazed to this day something hasn't been done about it.

 

[keishashadow]

This thread is asking about how you would feel about an expansion of your DVC resort.

Would you favor an expansion of your DVC home resort? Why or why not? What concerns might you have?

depends which resort and whether it has a footprint large enough to handle influx of new guests without overwhelming it as to pools, public areas & transportation.

As Wilson stated above, DVC could run w/AKV if they capitalized on special access to AK and perhaps reinstituted exclusive tours (AM safari into the park) or offered other park perks for guests-only (one special FP for Avatarland?)

BWV lacks the space and is already too congested

Nobody asked my opinion re VWL. In theory a nice idea but I thought Poly wasn't selling well at the inflated price point. Would fill the need for 'grand villas' but I'm not their demographic. The main pool area can be very congested, even adding the small number of bungalows will strain the facilities more. They really should follow SAB and check IDs IMO.

 

[bwvBound]

THV wasn't the first 'expansion' for SSR!
Sure, I welcomed the THV units ... but the 3rd (?) phase of the main SSR property was a bit much and not part of the plan when I purchased in 2004. Oh, well.

So, how about the Vero folks -- the had the opposite problem: plan reduction. This caused a dues increase on remaining sales that is now reflected in the two-tier, subsidized dues structure.

 

[Rochester Disney Fan]

If they do expand at Kidani ( my home resort) I would hope they have a tunnel or bridge across the Savanna for when you get a room at the end of the bead. If they can cut the hallway walk down that's one of the biggest negative AKV guest have.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

If they do expand at Kidani ( my home resort) I would hope they have a tunnel or bridge across the Savanna for when you get a room at the end of the bead. If they can cut the hallway walk down that's one of the biggest negative AKV guest have.

Been there. done that, but we usually drive and spend very little time going through the lobby for anything. Since we can park almost directly under our room (at appropriate time of day, of course), it's really no biggie to us. Sure, we walk to the lobby now and then, but when we do, we're prepared and again, it's no big deal. That's just us.

 

[hakepb]

If they do expand at Kidani ( my home resort) I would hope they have a tunnel or bridge across the Savanna for when you get a room at the end of the bead. If they can cut the hallway walk down that's one of the biggest negative AKV guest have.

It needs to be zip lines! Zip lines across the resort, zip lines to DAK.

 

[DVC Mike]

BWV lacks the space and is already too congested

They could convert BWI rooms to DVC.

 

[DougEMG]

I would not want an expansion to happen at BWV. Until I see what they do at VWL I don't trust them to not mess around with the point cost per room, i.e. increasing them. Could do this by building a new category of bungalows, make them worth a lot of points to sell and then later reallocate the points across the resort.

 

[mrsmith9]

They could convert BWI rooms to DVC.

I would not want an expansion to happen at BWV. Until I see what they do at VWL I don't trust them to not mess around with the point cost per room, i.e. increasing them. Could do this by building a new category of bungalows, make them worth a lot of points to sell and then later reallocate the points across the resort.

I also think having a high %of deluxe cash room associated with a DVC resorts requires them to pay more attention to services, amenities, and upkeep. A timeshare only resort just doesn't have to try as hard as a cash resort open to the general public.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Well, like most people, I resist change, so I'm going to have to vote "No", I don't want to see expansion at any of our 3 home resorts-OKW, BCV, and HHI. I'm thinking of the facilities like QS, community halls, and fitness centers at those resorts. Increased capacity means increased use of the facilities and they're busy enough as it is. If new "support" facilities were built to go along with the expansion, I might feel differently. But then again, Shadow can only handle greeting so many people, so it's still a "No" at HHI.

 

[disBOBney]

I wouldn't be a big fan of a new construction expansion at BCV, perhaps adding rooms from the hotel would be ok. OKW is already large, but new work would bring new interest. And PVB, could use the rumored 1, 2, 3 bedroom units typically found in other DVC resorts, even if I don't ever expect to use any of them. The studios are more than fine for a parks visit and the bungalows make for an exceptional pamper vacay.

 

[com_op_2000]

OKW - no.
Actually already done when they removed the old preview location and built the new buildings in it's place.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

This thread got me thinking. Aren't a lot of the current DVCs landlocked anyway? You couldn't expand BWV or BCV if they wanted to, right? And SSR and OKW are both pretty close if not already full property-wise.

Of course, I would have argued GFV was landlocked too before the expansion and we all see what happened there.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

I think this is pertinent to the thread, if not indirectly.

Does anyone else think Disney cut off their nose despite their face when they threw the gauntlet on AOA? I mean, look... There's a top-notch resort with arguably one of, if not THE, nicest pools on property, and it's a BUDGET resort. It almost looks like it was part of the master plan.

They're too smart to make those kinds of mistakes. They've been doing this too long to slip up. My bet is the goal is to convert most of the "deluxe" resorts to DVC completely over time, except maybe the ones on the monorail loop.

They may leave BW alone also because it's a convention center and close to Epcot but you have to admit, it's not a bad strategy. What's the motivation to pay top-drawer prices for a hotel room at BC when you can stay at AOA for <25% of the money?

I think the "deluxe" resorts (hotel rooms) aren't selling since the recession started and that's what they're going to do. They have to do something and why not do something that costs very little and turns a grand, and continuing (management fees) profit?

 

[lovin'fl]

BWV- I would like them to convert and maybe then I could get an extension on end date.
OKW- Na.
HHI- Don't care. Don't know how they would or why they would.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

BWV- I would like them to convert and maybe then I could get an extension on end date.
OKW- Na.
HHI- Don't care. Don't know how they would or why they would.

Not in the scope of the thread but I would be willing to bet HHI and VB are sold just as soon as the contracts run out. If they could, they'd sell'em now, but they can't, because they don't own them.

 

[RAD]

As a BWV owner all I'd like them to do is make the room that's over Jellyrolls that originally was supposed to be for members turned into a members lounge, something similar to TOWL at BLT.

 

[DenLo]

Maybe--we own at AKV, BLT and Aulani (ADR), AKV it would have to be a separate building, the hallways at both Jambo House and Kidani Village are long enough. But if DVC did add on at BLT, they would seriously have to considering the parking impact. The parking lot at BLT looks large but most nights it is very full. As to Aulani, no way, the pools get really crowded now when it is near capacity.

 

[CarolMN]

A BIG FAT NO to expansion at the BWV. Let them build a new Star Wars-themed resort over by DHS instead. Once the Toy Story and Stars Wars Lands are completed, they shouldn't have any trouble at all selling the points for it, especially if there is a walking path from the resort to DHS.

(I don't think they will expand BWV or convert BWI because of the convention business. They'd also have to do something about parking. I'm still miffed that DVC members pay for a large share of the parking upkeep while BWI/BWV management allows the general public and construction vehicles to take up the spaces that IMO, should be reserved for DVC members sactually staying at the resort).