Grand Floridian Update

[DVC_Corrys]

Does anyone have any updates on the DVC villas? When they go on sale, when they are slated to open?

Not much information out on the interwebs.

 

[disneynutz]

Disney is surprisingly quiet about the project and construction seems to be moving along slowly. The last official word was sometime towards the end of the year per one of the Guides that I talked to.

Bill

 

[aes74]

I was just there this past week. It was built but all plywood still so that you could really see what it's going to look like. Excuse my sad construction terms!

 

[bookwormde]

I am very surprised they are not selling yet I figured it would start late January. I would thiink gross sales are going to take a hit this quarter with no "Flagship" DVC resort selling at maximum $ now that BLT is sold out. Maybe they think the price raise for the other resorts will bring in a lot of $ to beat the deadline, but I doubt it since it sounds like a lot of people on wiatlist and will not close by the end of the month.

If it does not stat to sell by the time the spires and in place and the roof is done, you can bet that there must have been a major paperwork snafu.

 

[hakepb]

I don't think it is far enough along in construction to begin advance sales.

At the beginning of the year, there was a "crazy" rumor that pre sales would begin fall 2013 for an opening in fall 2014...based on the recent construction pics, that's starting to sound accurate.

 

[Dean]

I think the last few projects were selling by now in relationship to projected openings. That makes me wonder if they're behind and it will open later which is also not characteristic for Disney, they're usually on time or early. If it's going to open Dec/Jan it really should at least be announced by now, if not actually selling. One difference though is that if they plan to have it all essentially ready at one time that may take longer.

 

[hakepb]

I wonder if they are facing unusual (for a Dinsey hotel) logistics/scheduling delays?

1) they had to crane all of that steel over the monorail within certain hours only.
2) they may have reduced work hours / days (ie no saturday?) to accommodate the wedding pavilion.

 

[wdrl]

Here was the timeframe for BLT:

• Master Declaration for BLT Condominium Association recorded with Orange County Comptroller on September 8, 2008.
• DVD announced BLT on September 16, 2008, and sales started about 1 or 2 weeks later.
• BLT opened on August 4, 2009. When it opened, all villas were essentially ready for occupancy.

I, too, am surprised that DVD hasn't started selling VGF by now. People keep posting that Florida timeshare regulations require that a certain percentage of a construction project must be completed before a developer can begin selling. However, no one ever quotes the specific regulation, so I wonder if that is an actual requirement or just another urban legend.

I really don't see a need for a long pre-opening sales period. DVD could commence sales six months before the opening, or perhaps even less. The real trick will be giving the new VGF owners a home resort window to let them book VGF before other DVC members can book. If I recall correctly, DVD gave VGC owners about two or three weeks to book VGC before it opened VGC to the rest of the membership.

Keep in mind that DVD usually declares only a small portion of a resort for the DVC inventory when sales commence. DVD might only declare 15%-20% of VGF's villas for the DVC inventory, which would mean only 22 to 29 vacation homes might be available for booking with points when sales commence.

This is just a wild guess on my part, but I think the VGF Condominium Association will have about 3.2 to 3.6 million points. By comparison, BLT has 5.7 million points, BWV has 4.87 million points, and Beach Club has just over 3 million points.

 

[tjkraz]

I really don't see a need for a long pre-opening sales period. DVD could commence sales six months before the opening, or perhaps even less.

Agree. It really just depends upon when Disney wants to start booking revenue from the new sales. Buyers will be ready to purchase points in March, April, May...or whenever sales commence.

Sales for Animal Kingdom Villas could also be playing a role. As of mid-February, they appeared to be down to the last 800K points in AKV. Over the last 12 months, AKV sales have averaged about 100K points per month. And the recent webcasts may have bumped that number up a bit.

Even with Grand Floridian being publicly announced, DVC may want to get AKV as close to sell-out as possible before introducing VGF. In the grand scheme of things, I'm not sure how DVC is harmed if they wait until May, June, July or beyond to begin sales. The only thing which makes this unique is the shorter pre-opening period than other recent resorts.

As for construction being behind schedule, it's always possible. They have 9 months until the end of the year. I've looked at photos of BLT from 9 months before opening but it's difficult to draw any direct comparisons since the construction materials are so much different. The concrete and glass exterior of BLT was largely complete but the interior was little more than aluminum studs.

VGF is a more traditional structure but the rooms were pre-fabricated. A lot of the interior finishing work is already done.

I don't see any reason why they could not have the VGF exterior siding, roofing and landscape done in less than 9 months' time. But it's impossible to know exactly where things stand with regard to the interiors.

 

[wiigirl]

Disney is surprisingly quiet about the project and construction seems to be moving along slowly. The last official word was sometime towards the end of the year per one of the Guides that I talked to.

Bill

I know...you usually hear something.

 

[tjkraz]

(duplicate)

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I was told by one of the sales folks in Epcot that they expect sales to start in December. Take it for what it's worth.

Maybe they learned from Hawaii. Don't start selling until you have everything figured out

 

[wdrl]

I was told by one of the sales folks in Epcot that they expect sales to start in December. Take it for what it's worth.

Maybe they learned from Hawaii. Don't start selling until you have everything figured out

December 2013 doesn't sound reasonable. I'd be shocked if it takes that long for sales to commence.

I understand what you are saying about Aulani, but Aulani was, in many respects, new territory for DVD. VGF will be the 8th DVC resort located in Orange County. I suspect that DVD has everything already figured out about setting up the VGF Condominium Association. For example, DVD is very familiar with the regulatory agencies. Based on its experience with the other WDW based resorts, it knows what to expect in terms of operating costs and labor costs. It knows what to expect with insurance and utility costs. Even the VGF Master Declaration documents can probably have 99% of the same wording as you see in the documents for the other WDW resorts.

VGF will not be new territory for DVD. . . assuming VGF will be just another resort added to the Disney Vacation Club as we know it.

When we were on a DCL cruise last month, the DVC Guides said they had heard DVD wanted to sell more AKV and Aulani points before they start selling VGF. I don't agree with that logic for several reasons, and the objective evidence from recent sales is not consistent with DVD taking that marketing strategy. Of course, if that really is DVD's goal to unload AKV points first, then it may very well take until December 2013 before it begins sales for VGF.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Maybe with management changes, the new villas are under changes, too.

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm hoping something happens sooner rather than later. We have friends that love WDW. They came close to buying at BCV a year ago. But, when they heard that DVC was building at the GF? They stepped on the proverbial brakes, hard!! GF is their favorite resort. That's where they always stay. They like the Epcot area well enough, but kind of feel like it just isn't 'right' for them. So, they've been asking dh and me about when GF is going to open for sales!!!!

 

[Missyrose]

The conspiracy theorist in me wants to connect DVD's sudden urge to promote sales of sold-out properties (and the corresponding price increases/wait lists) with a delay in VGF sales. Thoughts?

 

[disneynutz]

The conspiracy theorist in me wants to connect DVD's sudden urge to promote sales of sold-out properties (and the corresponding price increases/wait lists) with a delay in VGF sales. Thoughts?

Somethings going on with VGF and IMO with DVD/DVC. New executives, price increases, increased ROFR, wait lists to buy direct?

Bill

 

[hakepb]

The conspiracy theorist in me wants to connect DVD's sudden urge to promote sales of sold-out properties (and the corresponding price increases/wait lists) with a delay in VGF sales. Thoughts?

I think the webcast, including producing the video, took more time than "a sudden urge"
But I agree that there may be something causing this temporary change in sales focus..

 

[Deb & Bill]

Not a word about GF Villas in the newest Vacation Magic, oops, I mean Disney Files.

 

[nuts]

Or...it takes time to setup the paperwork for a new class of timeshare.