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The Wilderness Must be Destroyed!


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1 hour ago, DaveInTN said:

When we visited last week I took note of the Reunion Station on the back side of GP, and it is noted on the map. Is that a typical DVC amenity?

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It could be the Community Hall or it could be replacing the Cub's Den which was the spot you could leave your kids for a night out.

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TCD, I'm  sorry you are so outraged  about the trees, and I dont have time or desire to write half of what you wrote to me but, of course I know that bay lake was there from the beginning.  There were

Not so fast. All of Disney World is not man-made. Bay Lake existed before Disney came along. In fact, it was the beauty of Bay Lake and the surrounding wilderness that drew Walt to the

Fair enough.  For the record, I'm not outraged. I would say I'm just really disappointed.  And sad that the current regime has so little respect for what was done in the past. It's interesti

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2 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

 

Here's where they keep the porta potties:

2%2019%2017%20094_zpsx3lczcb8.jpg

 

Boy, how would like to have one of those rooms above all those porta-potties?!  Especially when the weather begins to warm up and the air "ripens"

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One more post about some things I noticed on the new map.

There are 14 cabins on the south east side of the Lodge.  Note how they have some red dots covering up what clearly appears to be some kinds of sports court south of the original DVC wing:

14%20wl%20cabins_zpsioqyxa12.jpg

You can also see that the cabin people get there own little private parking lot.  I also note that it looks like the original nature trail has a red dot to it on the right hand side of the map, and appears to continue on to the east.  I wonder if regular people will have access to that path?

Over on the north west side of the original Lodge building, there will be 12 cabins.  I can't figure out what they are hiding with the two red dots here on the map:

12%20wl%20cabins_zpsfm1xjsqz.jpg

It looks like they get there own little parking lot on that side too.

I also found in interesting that they are calling the original boat transportation dock the north west dock:

wl%20map%20legend_zpspg74ebnt.jpg

At first, it made me wonder if that means there is going to be another boat dock,  But, I figure they will eventually update the map to call the dock where they rent the recreational boats the south east dock.

One more thought- they are adding 26 cabins, but will only have 6 cabanas to rent at the pool.  Based on pricing for similar offerings, those will probably go for $500 a day.  The limited number of cabanas will no doubt keep them rented.  That's an easy $3000 a day right into Disney's pocket.  Do the math- it's a potential income stream of over a million dollars a year- just from those cabanas.  Crazy.

TCD

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6 minutes ago, Duane said:

Boy, how would like to have one of those rooms above all those porta-potties?!  Especially when the weather begins to warm up and the air "ripens"

It would be bad, but it's not going to happen.

That entire side of the resort has been closed off for the last year as they convert all of those rooms to DVC rooms.

TCD

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2 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

It would be bad, but it's not going to happen.

That entire side of the resort has been closed off for the last year as they convert all of those rooms to DVC rooms.

TCD

Good to know.. I didn't realize that they had shut that side down.

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4 minutes ago, Duane said:

Good to know.. I didn't realize that they had shut that side down.

It's hard to believe.  The word on the street is that Disney has struggled to keep their deluxe resort rooms rented.  They make more money off of DVC.  This kind of proves that point- they chose to take a good chunk of their deluxe rooms here out of the rental pool and are changing them into DVC rooms.  They did this to a lesser extent over at the Polynesian Resort.  Now, it looks like they're going to rip out a bunch of moderate rooms over at the Caribbean Beach resort in favor of DVC rooms.

TCD

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51 minutes ago, Travisma said:

When we went by the pool, there was a CM with a clipboard at every entrance to the pool deck area.  I guess they don't have card/MB readers installed yet?

I haven't seen them do that at Wilderness Lodge before, but I saw the same thing when was there over the weekend.

I figure that there is a lot of foot traffic coming by to check out Geyser Point, and they decided to keep freeloaders out of the pool.

The Fort was packed over the holiday weekend, and the Lodge management figured out what might happen.  Over at the Fort, it was the usual wall to wall people scene in the pool, with no magic band scanning.  Ariba!

TCD

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12 minutes ago, keith_h said:

I realize they cabins aren't finished but from what I can see of them they don't fit the look and feel of WL. For two grand a night I would sure want more atmosphere of a real western cabin than a something that looks like it came from an immobile home factory.  

Good points.

You are right- the cabins aren't finished yet, but they don't appear as if they'll be log cabins.  They have a modern look.  They are getting away with this via their clever backstory for this new part of the Lodge:

 A sweeping re-imagination of the former Hidden Springs Pool area will help tell the richly layered backstory of Boulder Ridge. Depicted in the artist rendering below and scheduled to open in summer 2017, Boulder Ridge Cove will feature an expanded sun deck and zero-depth-entry pool in what appears to have been an abandoned rock quarry.

Such rejuvenating transformations were common in the Pacific Northwest following the mid-20th-century fading of the Transcontinental Railroad, as locals turned rails into trails – repurposing everything from bridges and tunnels to cranes and quarries. A nearby “Boulder Ridge Railway and Mining Co.” water tower will be among the pool area’s landmark reminders of its pioneering past, while a vintage mine cart supports the mining theme with an affectionate nod to Disney history.

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2016/11/new-amenities-coming-soon-to-disneys-wilderness-lodge/

So the story behind these new additions is that they've been added to this abandoned rock quarry and railroad.  That lets them make them modern looking, but they can still have a few rusty artifacts scattered around.  That's to remind us of the pioneering past, but the story is that all of the new stuff was added after the mid 20th century.

Brilliant.

But, not true to the original theme of the resort.

I reckon it's hard to get $2000 a night for something too rustic looking.  And good thing they got rid of all the damned trees that were blocking the sight lines.

TCD

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16 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

So the story behind these new additions is that they've been added to this abandoned rock quarry and railroad.  That lets them make them modern looking, but they can still have a few rusty artifacts scattered around.  That's to remind us of the pioneering past, but the story is that all of the new stuff was added after the mid 20th century.

Brilliant.

But, not true to the original theme of the resort.

Who needs consistent theming when there are $11 Black Cherry Mules, $14 Bison Burgers, and hundreds of new DVC memberships to sell?  

But I did enjoy sitting lakeside sipping my drink.  

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19 minutes ago, DaveInTN said:

Who needs consistent theming when there are $11 Black Cherry Mules, $14 Bison Burgers, and hundreds of new DVC memberships to sell?  

But I did enjoy sitting lakeside sipping my drink.  

I can enjoy a lake view (though not at Disney) bobbing along in my kayak sipping on a 50 cent can of beer and eating my $5 hoagie from WaWa's

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21 minutes ago, DaveInTN said:

Who needs consistent theming when there are $11 Black Cherry Mules, $14 Bison Burgers, and hundreds of new DVC memberships to sell?  

But I did enjoy sitting lakeside sipping my drink.  

Can't argue with that.

I enjoyed my Black Cherry Mule, the breeze and the view too.

They could have built the new bar and a lot of this other stuff without chopping down all the trees.

But, as a ruthless developer I once knew used to say, buyers want a "peek at the creek."  It's what sells waterfront property.  So, screw the trees. 

TCD

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Story, Shmory. I've lived in and visited the Pacific Northwest. Those cabins aren't the Pacific Northwest no matter what type of backstory Disney wants to invent. The only place I remember seeing buildings like that was retirement communities going up everywhere in SoCal during the late 70's and early 80's. Well as I will never pay $2K/night I guess I'll just leave it to the DVC members to decide for themselves whether they are worth all of the trees. I can always look Discovery Island when we go by the WL area on the  boat.

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12 minutes ago, keith_h said:

Story, Shmory. I've lived in and visited the Pacific Northwest. Those cabins aren't the Pacific Northwest no matter what type of backstory Disney wants to invent. The only place I remember seeing buildings like that was retirement communities going up everywhere in SoCal during the late 70's and early 80's. Well as I will never pay $2K/night I guess I'll just leave it to the DVC members to decide for themselves whether they are worth all of the trees. I can always look Discovery Island when we go by the WL area on the  boat.

Re-read the drivel from Disney- these cabins are supposed to have been built during the rails to trails movement that occurred in the mid-20th century.  So, the 70's and 80's pre-fab look fits right in!

And don't you love the irony that the rails to trails movement is one embraced by those who want to conserve and protect natural resources, and Disney clear-cut two big swaths of wilderness to create this fake settlement?

TCD

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29 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Re-read the drivel from Disney- these cabins are supposed to have been built during the rails to trails movement that occurred in the mid-20th century.  So, the 70's and 80's pre-fab look fits right in!

And don't you love the irony that the rails to trails movement is one embraced by those who want to conserve and protect natural resources, and Disney clear-cut two big swaths of wilderness to create this fake settlement?

TCD

But you've embraced the rails to trails philosophy.....isn't that how you procured that backpack full of spikes?  

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On 2/3/2016 at 3:50 PM, Avatab.... Steve said:

I HATE the BLT. Prime example of all that is wrong with the current version of Disney.  IMHO it looks like someone tacked an old Holiday Inn onto the side of the Contemporary.....

It has nothing in common with the architecture of the Contemporary, it has no unique appeal, styling, or attributes.

It reflects laziness, greed and a lack of imagination of the people in charge.

 

I am a BLT hater too. It completely ruined everything about the Contemporary. 

We had taken our last trip as northerners in 2002. After moving to FL, we starting getting annual passes somewhere around 2010. I had no kept up with Disney online and had no clue it was going to be there. Because we stayed at the Contemporary most years of my childhood, it holds special memories for me, and I always get some photos of it on every trip. 

Imagine my shock when, on our first trip as Floridians, there was BLT! My first thought was WTH is THAT?!?!  It was disappointing as I felt like it took away from the look of the entire area. I give it the stink eye every time I see it. 
 

On 2/2/2016 at 11:51 AM, Tri-Circle-D said:

 

1%2031%2016%20005_zps9s80i1mj.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, the irony! 

I'm not a fan of tearing up the shoreline either. I videotaped the whole atrocity, from the boat, a couple weeks ago. It's a shocking sight. I hope it looks better when they're done, but IMO, nothing will look better than the trees that were there.

I'm honestly not much on change, in general, especially when it involves development.

Disney has enough resorts. I really wish they would quit. It makes me wonder where they will stop. When EMH are completely useless? When every single day of the year has level 10 crowds and sees closings at all the parks?

 

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http://dvcnews.com/index.php/resorts...ments-and-more

I was going to post this on the DVC board but this thread was picking up so much steam that I thought I'd put it here.

As a VWL owner I was happy to see the point allotment, it may actually keep those cabins in my realm of possibility, at least for a couple of nights (for research purposes only, of course).

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An interesting nugget for non-DVC owners in that article is that cabins will be priced approximately 25% lower than Poly bungalows. That makes sense, although considering the Poly bungalows have MK views plus are part of a monorail resort, I would think they'd command more than a 25% premium over the Copper Creek ones (or technically 33% depending on how you do the math).

Sent from my handheld doohickie

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18 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

It's hard to believe.  The word on the street is that Disney has struggled to keep their deluxe resort rooms rented.  They make more money off of DVC.  This kind of proves that point- they chose to take a good chunk of their deluxe rooms here out of the rental pool and are changing them into DVC rooms.  They did this to a lesser extent over at the Polynesian Resort.  Now, it looks like they're going to rip out a bunch of moderate rooms over at the Caribbean Beach resort in favor of DVC rooms.

TCD

And don't forget Disney rents the DVC rooms to regular schmucks like me when they are not being used by DVC members, at a higher rate then a regular room.  About 10-20% more than a regular room at the same place.  But you do get a mini fridge in the villa rooms. 

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11 hours ago, dvccamper said:

http://dvcnews.com/index.php/resorts...ments-and-more

I was going to post this on the DVC board but this thread was picking up so much steam that I thought I'd put it here.

As a VWL owner I was happy to see the point allotment, it may actually keep those cabins in my realm of possibility, at least for a couple of nights (for research purposes only, of course).

THANK YOU for posting the link.  This is the first floor plan I've seen for the Copper Creek Cabins, and the first good explanation of what they're putting in to that wing of the Lodge.  I had no idea that some of the rooms will be Grand Villas.  Very interesting.

But, I'm most interested in the cabins.  I can't imagine that I would ever stay in one, but I'm still interested in what they have to offer.

Maybe you or another person familiar with DVC units can help answer some questions that I have about the floor plan:

cc%20cabin%20plan_zpsp3t2cnkj.jpg

What is that little room on the back porch?  Is that a hot tub room or something? 

I also was curious about what looks like three doors on the left of the front door.

I zoomed in on some photos that I have, and can see that one of those doors is for a small utility room- you can see pipes and what looks like a fire sprinkler system control inside the outer door in these photos:

cc%20cabin_zpsejsuonj8.jpg

cc%20cabin.2_zpslrecwcze.jpg

I'm guessing the other doors will be for other utility functions.  It's an odd to me that the architect chose to put these behind doors on the front porch.  Seems like they could have been hidden on the side of the building somewhere.

One more thing that I'm surprised about is they apparently haven't even started selling the points for these units.  It seems like there will be a lag in occupancy when they open since no one has bought points for the Copper Creek Villas and Cabins yet.

2 hours ago, DaveInTN said:

 

An interesting nugget for non-DVC owners in that article is that cabins will be priced approximately 25% lower than Poly bungalows. That makes sense, although considering the Poly bungalows have MK views plus are part of a monorail resort, I would think they'd command more than a 25% premium over the Copper Creek ones (or technically 33% depending on how you do the math).

Good catch.  And, you're right- I can't see how they could price these the same as the Polynesian Bungalows.

Another interesting sentence in the article that caught my eye says:

It is obvious that Disney Vacation Development has declared 12 of the 14 cabins on the south side--the Boulder Ridge Villas side--for the DVC inventory. 

Does that mean that Disney recognizes that the 14 cabins on the south side are superior to the 12 on the north, and that they'll save the cabins on the north side to rent out to unsuspecting suckers?  And, conversely, does it mean an non DVC member wanting to rent from Disney has little chance of getting a cabin on the side of the resort with the new pool?

29 minutes ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

And don't forget Disney rents the DVC rooms to regular schmucks like me when they are not being used by DVC members, at a higher rate then a regular room.  About 10-20% more than a regular room at the same place.  But you do get a mini fridge in the villa rooms. 

True.  I still wonder how that all works, since each DVC is supposedly a separate entity which charges owners maintenance fees and such.  I am guessing that Disney actually holds onto and owns a percentage of the DVC rooms, and thus has to pay the fees like the rest of the owners.  But, Disney retains the right to rent out its rooms, which regular owners can't do very easily (they have to "rent" their points out to third parties).  The whole think is amazingly complicated and mysterious to me, but based on the proliferation of DVC development,  I am sure that it is a sweet deal for Disney.

TCD

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1 hour ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

 

What is that little room on the back porch?  Is that a hot tub room or something? 

I also was curious about what looks like three doors on the left of the front door.

I zoomed in on some photos that I have, and can see that one of those doors is for a small utility room- you can see pipes and what looks like a fire sprinkler system control inside the outer door in these photos:

 

I'm guessing the other doors will be for other utility functions.  It's an odd to me that the architect chose to put these behind doors on the front porch.  Seems like they could have been hidden on the side of the building somewhere.

One more thing that I'm surprised about is they apparently haven't even started selling the points for these units.  It seems like there will be a lag in occupancy when they open since no one has bought points for the Copper Creek Villas and Cabins yet.

Good catch.  And, you're right- I can't see how they could price these the same as the Polynesian Bungalows.

Another interesting sentence in the article that caught my eye says:

It is obvious that Disney Vacation Development has declared 12 of the 14 cabins on the south side--the Boulder Ridge Villas side--for the DVC inventory. 

Does that mean that Disney recognizes that the 14 cabins on the south side are superior to the 12 on the north, and that they'll save the cabins on the north side to rent out to unsuspecting suckers?  And, conversely, does it mean an non DVC member wanting to rent from Disney has little chance of getting a cabin on the side of the resort with the new pool?

 

TCD

For the little room out back, we don't know yet. It does look like a screened in porch. I am all in favor of a hot tub out there. Plunge pool? Not so much.

I don't know about the three doors in front, my guess is utility rooms.

On the DVC site I go to they gave the timeline for the span between the declaration being filed and sale of points. I think VGF was 6 weeks, Poly was 5 days.

Actually, here's another breakdown from there:

This is how the poly went-

Poly declared on January 7, 2015
Points chart and prices revealed January 8
Existing members could purchase January 12
Member previews began January 13
General sales began February 9
Reservations for poly owners began February 11
Reservations for others began February 25
Resort opened April 1

So if it goes anything like the Poly, it will move fast.

I also caught the part about the cabins on the South Side. That is the only side that would appeal to me for a cabin so I guess that's good for me they'll retain it for DVC points. So yes, a non DVC member would probably end up on the other side if they're paying cash. But if they rent points from a DVC member, which is usually a cheaper option anyway, they could be on the other side.

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4 hours ago, dvccamper said:

For the little room out back, we don't know yet. It does look like a screened in porch. I am all in favor of a hot tub out there. Plunge pool? Not so much.

I don't know about the three doors in front, my guess is utility rooms.

On the DVC site I go to they gave the timeline for the span between the declaration being filed and sale of points. I think VGF was 6 weeks, Poly was 5 days.

Actually, here's another breakdown from there:

This is how the poly went-

Poly declared on January 7, 2015
Points chart and prices revealed January 8
Existing members could purchase January 12
Member previews began January 13
General sales began February 9
Reservations for poly owners began February 11
Reservations for others began February 25
Resort opened April 1

So if it goes anything like the Poly, it will move fast.

I also caught the part about the cabins on the South Side. That is the only side that would appeal to me for a cabin so I guess that's good for me they'll retain it for DVC points. So yes, a non DVC member would probably end up on the other side if they're paying cash. But if they rent points from a DVC member, which is usually a cheaper option anyway, they could be on the other side.

Thanks for that information.

I am surprised that the sales go that quickly.  No wonder they're building DVC units as fast as they can!

I went digging around and found a floor plan for the bungalows at the Polynesian Village Resort.  They sure look similar to the Copper Creek Cabins, and they show that the front doors house the pool equipment.  It looks like these cabins will have a plunge pool too:

Polynesian:

polynesian%20bungalow%20floor%20plan_zps

Copper Creek:

cc%20cabin%20plan_zpsp3t2cnkj.jpg

TCD

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23 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Thanks for that information.

I am surprised that the sales go that quickly.  No wonder they're building DVC units as fast as they can!

I went digging around and found a floor plan for the bungalows at the Polynesian Village Resort.  They sure look similar to the Copper Creek Cabins, and they show that the front doors house the pool equipment.  It looks like these cabins will have a plunge pool too:

Polynesian:

polynesian%20bungalow%20floor%20plan_zps

Copper Creek:

cc%20cabin%20plan_zpsp3t2cnkj.jpg

TCD

Even with the Florida heat a hot tub seems more appealing to me than a plunge pool. Has anyone ever seen people in their plunge pools at the bungalows when you're out on the lake? We stayed at the Polynesian this past fall and would go past the bungalows quite often. We never saw any evidence of life in them.

I've read a couple of rumors that sales may start March 9th.  We currently have a reservation for the first week in January. We might try to switch over to one of the new rooms but might not. I enjoy the villas building. Although the last time we were there we had a nice view of the trees and we would watch the deer out there. Probably not so much this trip.

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