Mouse Extra

Yesterday, the Orlando Sentinel reported that the “mystery tower” going up next to the Contemporary Resort has undergone a name change.  The building that will most likely be the flagship of the Disney Vacation Club was reported earlier this year to be called “Kingdom Tower”.  However, now it seems that has changed into “Bay Lake Tower”.

“Bay Lake Tower” has replaced “Kingdom Tower” as the name of the project, at least in filings with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

What’s more, earlier this month Disney filed paperwork to create a “Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort Condominium Association,” presumably to manage the resort once it is sold off to individual owners. Disney had created a “Kingdom Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort Condominium Association” in January.

Disney had to know that there was no way they would escape criticism on this project no matter what they did.  And the name is no different.    People didn’t like the name Kingdom Tower and now people won’t like Bay Lake Tower.  As soon as they decided to build something this big they released the hounds. It is just too close to the Magic Kingdom and way too close to the Contemporary to escape criticism.

Personally, I like the new name a little better.  Kingdom Tower was fine, and I think the idea of it sounding too much like a Jehovah’s Witness church is just ridiculous.  But it didn’t fit such a modern design.  Kingdom Tower should be something that looks more like a castle than a suburbia office building.  But at the same time, Bay Lake Tower sounds more like a retirement community in Coral Gables than a resort at Walt Disney World.  At least that name doesn’t seem counterintuitive the theme of the building. 

What’s in a name?  Everything is in a name.  Think of how perfect nearly every name Disney uses at their resorts fits the theme.  This would be the first one that didn’t accomplish this.  However, until I see more concrete plans for the décor and theme of this new project I can’t really make much of a suggestion.

By the way, the photos that you see here were taken by me late last week.  This project appears to be moving along fairly quickly. 

Disney Vacation Club members have recently received some very good news.  According to DVCNews.com, the club will now be offering free internet access to members who are using their points.  Here is a section of the release…

Based on Member feedback, the daily charge for wired high-speed Internet access for Members staying at Disney Vacation Club Resorts at the Walt Disney World® Resort will be discontinued effective May 4, 2008. Guests renting Disney Vacation Club accommodations will continue to pay the daily rate for access, and high-speed Internet access charges still apply to Members staying at non-Disney Vacation Club Resorts.

There are two reasons why this is a good thing.  The first is that this is hopefully the first step for Disney to get with the program that hotels do not charge for internet access anymore.  I can not remember the last time I went to a hotel, most far less expensive than Disney’s, and had to pay for internet access.  It is now the norm to have free wireless access.  Considering how much marketing Disney does to try and get businesses to have their functions at the Mouse, you would think they would have done this already.   So they really need to expand on this concept way beyond DVC members.

The second reason is purely selfish.  The entire staff of Mouse Extra will soon be spending over a week at Walt Disney World and now we will be able to blog live from the Boardwalk.  Should we get on a Toy Story Mania preview, or anything else that simply can not wait, we will post it that night.  Stay tuned…

Disney’s best kept secret has also been the holder of Disney’s worst kept secret.  After months of rumors and poorly guarded secrets, it seems Disney has finally let the cat out of the bag about the new Vacation Club resort at the Contemporary…well not exactly.

According to Scott Powers in this morning’s Orlando Sentinel, Disney has been cleared to sell timeshare interests in the new $110 million tower currently going up next to the Contemporary.  It is set to be called the “Kingdom Tower” and construction will not be completed until the fall of 2009.

…in new filings with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Disney formally states that the Disney Vacation Club will “add a ninth component site to be known as Kingdom Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort.”

Disney says in the documents that it will sell the time shares in phases, beginning with an initial 75 units. The Kingdom Tower, which will connect to the existing Contemporary via a fifth-floor pedestrian bridge, will ultimately contain 281 units, according to the filings.

The article also offers a peek into some of the specifics and details that will be part of the Kingdom Tower…

A new swimming pool, for instance, will be large enough for 180 people; go as deep as 4 feet, 11 inches; and feature two hot tubs and a 104-foot-long water slide. There will be two tennis courts, two shuffleboard courts and two boccie ball courts. A barbecue pavilion will have about 490 square feet of covered area and a pair of picnic tables.

I think we all expected this to be a big project with many amenities for those staying there.  It is, after all, the first DVC resort on the monorail line and because of that it will instantly become the most popular resort among the club’s offerings.  But as we also could have guessed, club members will be paying a premium as a result…

Glaser predicted that Disney will choose to market the Contemporary time shares “as more of an upscale product.” An early point-chart submitted by Disney to the state — Disney Vacation Club owners buy points from the company, which they then redeem for rooms, though they must buy through a “home resort” — shows guests will have to spend more points to rent one- and two-bedroom units at the Kingdom Tower than any of Disney’s other existing time shares.

The question is, how much more will it cost?  Will the high point rate keep current DVC members from buying add-ons or discourage them from clamoring to book a vacation at the Kingdom Tower?  As a member myself, the point cost is going to make a huge difference for me.  The other resorts are terrific and the value of them may look even greater if this new resort runs sky high.

Everyday it seems as though the Disney Vacation Club becomes an even more and more important part of the future at Walt Disney World.  As I mentioned in an earlier article, a new Contemporary Resort vacation club is most likely being built as we speak, while a similar project at the Animal Kingdom Lodge is under construction.  Add this to the many properties already in existence and you can’t seem to avoid “Disney’s best kept secret”. 

But the reach of the timeshare club may be on the verge of expanding its influence throughout the country.  With properties in Hilton Head, SC and Vero Beach, FL already open and new projects announced in Hawaii and Disneyland, can we expect even more?  According to today’s Orlando Sentinel, that may just be the case.

Disney Vacation Club President Jim Lewis has also said that the unit is considering projects in Lake Tahoe and the Caribbean.

This seems to be a bold stroke, but don’t make your Caribbean reservations just yet.  The Hilton Head and Vero Beach properties were slow to sell, and many feel that is what made the DVC hesitant for many years to build beyond the parks again.  I would imagine the DVC will wait until it gets an idea of how successful the Hawaii resort is before pouring millions into more properties.

But we have all read about the “LBE”, or location-based attraction.  This was the idea floated by Jay Rasulo, the head of Disney’s Parks and Resorts division, which outlined the concept of new resorts located away from the current parks being combined with one or two “e-ticket” attractions.  Could this be the concept that makes the difference in the Caribbean and Lake Tahoe for the DVC?

This morning’s Orlando Sentinel has an interesting report about the new tower being constructed near the Contemporary Resort.  It doesn’t have much in the way of groundbreaking news, but it is a good look at the rumors surrounding the project and a summary of the details we can expect to find in this new building.

Many have assumed this will be the next big announcement for the Disney Vacation Club.  But Disney has not acknowledged that fact publicly.  They have even, seemingly, placed some false information in the rumor world to try and influence the widely held assumption that this will be a timeshare destination.  However, as the article says, they have not done a good job in hiding it…

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.

It is nearly impossible for Disney to announce at this stage in the game that they are going to be making the first DVC resort on the monorail line.  Remember who a DVC member is.  More than likely, this is a hardcore fan that goes to Disney World multiple times a year.  Where else would many of them rather stay than on the monorail line?  As soon as the sales for this resort begin, and assuming they do not price it ridiculously high, you can expect it to sell very well.  Many people looking at buying into the club will wait for this to happen before plugging down their cash.  So we wait.

It seems as though the new Vacation Club resort at the Contemporary will also be an impressive one.  Earlier additions to the club, like the Beach Club and the Wilderness Lodge, were essentially annexes to the hotels with little added amenities.  But this one, like the under construction Animal Kingdom, will be much more elaborate.

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.

So perhaps the best is yet to come for the Disney Vacation Club.  It is tough to say exactly when this will be announced.  Considering how quick the project seems to be moving, it can’t be too long.

LaughingPlace.com has a story regarding new itineraries coming in 2008 to the Disney Cruise Line.  The Eastern Caribbean cruise will replace St. Maarten with either Tortola or St. Croix for only a select amount of trips.  But what is even more exciting is that from mid-May to late-August the Four-Night Bahamian Cruise will add a second stop at Disney’s own Castaway Cay.

The Four-Night Cruise once featured a stop at, I believe, Freeport in the Bahamas.  I was told by a crew member that guest feedback told them they would prefer have a day at sea to enjoy the boat, so that is why it changed to the most recent itinerary.  For these 16 voyages that day at seas will be replaced with a visit to Castaway Cay.

This brings up an interesting question.  Anyone who knows the Disney Cruise Line will tell you that Castaway Cay is enormously popular.  Am I supposed to believe the majority of guest feedback said for all these years that they would rather have a day at sea than at Disney’s lush private island?  Now I can only assume bringing guests to the island is more expensive than leaving them on the ship and the cost of these cruises is higher, but will the popularity of these new cruises change Disney’s thinking?  Will this be a preview of a permanent change to the four-night cruises?  I hope so.