The first phase of Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom Villas time share is complete. Disney last month wrapped up work on the last of 109 units that have been converted from hotel rooms to time shares on the upper levels of the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Construction is continuing on the project’s much-larger second phase: A 340-unit annex next to the lodge that has been dubbed “Kidani Village.” Disney says the expansion will include a 120-seat sit-down restaurant, a 4,700-square-foot swimming pool with a water slide and two spas, plus tennis, shuffleboard and half-court basketball, among other amenities. Disney expects to complete the second phase during the spring of 2009.
The Animal Kingdom Villas are Disney’s eighth time share and the sixth at Disney World. The company is in the midst of building new time shares at Disneyland in Southern California and has announced plans to develop a time share and hotel resort in Hawaii. Construction records also suggest Disney is building a time-share addition to the Contemporary Resort in Orlando, though the company has not confirmed the project.
Staff member Jose Eber has provided us with some live updates from the Walt Disney World Resort:
-Monorail Black returned from its refurbishment today. The monorail now has the four central handrails much like the other ten monorails which have already received the renovations. Monorail Red headed in for refurbishment today and is the last to recieve the modifications.
-The Earful Tower at Disney’s Hollywood Studios has received a glossy black finish on its ears and should receive its finishing touches any day now. The Animation Archway at the studios should receive new signage around the same time.
-The new marble tile at the Grand Floridian should be installed in the next 1-2 weeks.
-In what has become a frequent occurence, Space Mountain broke down and went out of commission at about 11:45 today. One wonders how much longer the big refurbishment for the Magic Kingdom attraction can be put off.
Since news is a little slow today, I decided to pull out a new article by staff columnist Collin Korb. This time around, Collin reports on his most recent visit to Boatright’s at Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort hotel.Â
Let me begin by saying that we have dined at Boatwrights one other time before our second visit. Our first visit was so positive, server so pleasant and accommodating, and management so responsive, that we booked a second dinner as soon as we knew we were to return to the Port Orleans Resort.
The ambiance is very unique. Inside the restaurant you will find the “bones†of ship mounted in the center of the room surrounded by various tools, cogs, and saw blades. It is a very rustic environment that is warm and inviting. The servers and hostesses are very personable and friendly. Sadly, our second visit was not as pleasing as the first. Our dining experience began very positively as the three of us took advantage of the specialty non-alcoholic drinks. The ladies each ordered a milkshake and it was very tasty. I ordered the Chocolate Banana Smoothie and was very pleased; it was an excellent way to begin the evening. Our server arrived in a timely fashion and took our appetizer orders: Steak and Red Bean Soup for one, Caesar Salad for the other, and I chose the Crawfish cakes. The cakes were very tasty, due in part to the fact that they were baked, not fried at my request. The remoulade dipping sauce really completed the taste experience. We were less than adventurous with our orders this evening. Each of us ordered the Filet Mignon. This is where the experience went sour. We, of course, were excited as a result of our positive dining experiences and filets at other Disney Dining Restaurants. Each of us ordered our filets cooked medium and were eager for the meal to arrive. Our drinks and waters ran dry as our server was somewhat delinquent in her duties. Being a former server, I took note of her section and how many tables she was managing and wondered what caused her delay? We each got our waters topped off and our pop ordered and were doing o.k.
I explained our situation to her and this time she was less than sympathetic. I told her we were on the dining plan and explained the situation about the under/over cooking. I was disappointed in her response that the reason for the issues was a result of the menu just changing; she offered no measure to resolve the issue at all. We were all very disappointed. We ordered our desserts to go. I had the Bananas Foster Angel Food Cake and the ladies ordered chocolate cake. We finished those up after visiting the Magic Kingdom that evening. One positive and one negative experience don’t quite add up. Next time, it’s back to Le Cellier at Epcot.
‘-One of my favorite restaurants, Citricos in Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, is now open seven days a week. For many years the restaurant was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
-Rock and Roll Beach Club at Pleasure Island will be the first club to close this February. Many more of the long-standing clubs will also close soon to prepare for the addition of more shopping, dining, and maybe even a bowling alley.
Jason Garcia : January 14, 2008 : Orlando SentinelÂ
Walt Disney World is in the midst of building a $110 million, 15-story tower next to its iconic Contemporary Resort that likely will feature time shares — bringing the units closer to the Magic Kingdom than ever before. Disney will say little publicly about the fast-rising Contemporary addition. The new tower already stands five stories on 14 acres just to the north of the resort’s signature A-frame main building, which was just the second hotel at Disney World when it opened a few months after the park itself first welcomed guests Oct. 1, 1971. But there is ample evidence Disney plans to use the tower for time shares.
Building-permit applications filed with Reedy Creek Improvement District identify the owner of the property as a company called JMSRM Inc. State records show that is a fictitious name created in August 2006 by Celebration-based Disney Vacation Development, parent company of the Disney Vacation Club time-share arm. In a pair of letters, an environmental consultant hired by Disney calls it “a proposed Disney Vacation Club (DVC) Resort at the Contemporary hotel.” And in a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Disney, which has built about 2,400 time-share units at eight resorts, revealed that it has about 680 more under construction at Disney World. Disney has only publicly acknowledged one ongoing time-share construction project in Orlando: Kidani Village, an extension of the partially completed Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas. That project is expected to have 340 units when finished in spring 2009 — leaving another 340 or so unaccounted for. Construction records for the Contemporary expansion call for 295 three-bedroom suites. Some could be sold as separate two- and one-bedroom units. Still, Disney will not talk about the Contemporary addition.
“We have plans to expand our Disney Vacation Club business both on Walt Disney World property and at other vacation destinations in the future. However, we don’t have anything formal to announce today,” Disney Vacation Club spokeswoman Rena Langley said. Reasons to stay mum: Analysts say Disney may have strategic reasons for holding back on a Contemporary time-share announcement. Disney, which has invested deeply in the time-share business in recent years, is still in the midst of peddling time shares in Animal Kingdom Villas and Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, both at Disney World. Announcing future time shares now in the Contemporary — which are likely to be hugely popular, given their prime location along the Magic Kingdom monorail and within walking distance of the park — could slow the current sales, said Robert LaFleur, a leisure-industry analyst with Susquehanna Financial Group. Disney time-share buyers, though they own a real-estate interest, do not purchase specific units in individual resorts; rather, they buy points that they can redeem for rooms in the company’s time-share resorts or elsewhere. But buyers must purchase those points from a “home” resort — there are a limited number of points available for each facility — and they are given priority at that particular resort when booking a stay.
“If you’re trying to pitch a sale at Saratoga Springs or trying to pitch a sale at the Animal Kingdom, and somebody’s aware that a year from now there’s going to be stuff available in the Contemporary . . . that would cannibalize your other sales, I would think,” LaFleur said. It is also possible that Disney could decide against marketing the Contemporary addition as time shares and use the building for more hotel rooms instead. Company executives said recently that Disney World hotels are averaging 90 percent occupancy, and the Contemporary commands some of the highest room rates of them all: A one-bedroom suite can run as high as $1,310 a night. “I know [Disney has] talked about a tower there for a long, long time,” even before the company’s interest in time shares, said Reedy Creek District Administrator Ray Maxwell.
The Contemporary addition is sure to be a lavish one. Records say the crescent-shaped tower will include a host of amenities, including a swimming pool and water-play area with an outdoor bar and a water slide; a spa; tennis courts; a barbecue pavilion; and a 499-person lounge on the 15th floor featuring a restaurant and bar. The new tower will be connected to the main building by a pedestrian bridge. The project price tag: $109.6 million with completion likely in 2009. According to development records, Disney broke ground on the expansion in January 2007. The construction, which began with the demolition of an older, three-story wing of hotel rooms, is expected to take about 32 months. That would put the completion date about September 2009.
The construction comes with Disney already in the midst of a major time-share building boom. Last fall, Disney announced that it will build an 800-room resort in Hawaii in which at least half of the rooms will be time shares and that it will add 50 two-bedroom villas to Disneyland’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, which will be the first time shares at Disney’s original resort. Disney Vacation Club President Jim Lewis has also said that the unit is considering projects in Lake Tahoe and the Caribbean. The company currently has six time-share locations at Disney World and one each in Vero Beach and Hilton Head, S.C.
Time shares have blossomed across the hotel industry. Jeremy Glaser, an analyst with Morningstar, said they are especially lucrative for a company such as Disney because time shares lock in future trips to its theme parks. “They’re going to make money from your park admission and all of that ancillary money you’re going to spend every time you come to Orlando,” Glaser said. “They have an added bonus to get you to commit to taking vacations there for years.”
If you visit Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, you are sure to notice some major renovations going on. In the resort’s main building, a giant tarp spanning two floors has engulfed all of the hotel lobby. On the upper level, most of the floor tiles have been ripped up for the installation of new flooring. This refurbishment is only the first step in a lengthy refrbishment that will see every building of the resort upgraded. All of the resort’s changes should be complete by early 2009. I will have pictures available after I return from WDW this weekend.
Name changes seem to be a common theme at WDW these days. The Yacht Club Galley at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort is going to be renamed to Captain’s Grille sometime in the near future. There doesn’t seem to be any reason for the name change other than some minor menu adaptations. We will have more on this as it becomes available.
What is already starting to be a very interesting weekend has begun here at WDW News Today, and here are some news and notes to bring you up to speed:
-Rumors are swirling about a video that appeared on the Walt Disney World cast member website that provided full details on the next attraction coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, a Monsters Inc. themed roller coaster. The video was apparently pulled from the site fairly quickly, yet we can still not confirm that these reports or that the video actually exists. Be sure to keep you eyes on WDW News Today as more info becomes available on this rumored project.
-Here’s a picture of the progress of the new north wing at Disney’s Contemporary Resort (provided by Jason Diffendal’s sister):
Notice that the glass and exterior on most of the building is nearing completion
-On a final note, if you are attending the MagicMeets fan gathering this weekend, be sure to look out for myslef and Jason Diffendal who will be representing WDW News Today and WDWCelebrations.
