The Orlando Sentinel and Orlando-based NBC affiliate WESH agree that a Disney Vacation Club addition to the Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa appears likely.
Last week filings with the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) surfaced which pointed to construction at the Grand Floridian. Most immediately drew the conclusion that the new facility would house Disney Vacation Club villas.
Website MousePlanet.com later reported that according to their sources, some of the 900 hotel rooms at the Grand Floridian would also be converted to villas.
Although Disney refuses to comment on the filings, the Sentinel makes a compelling argument based upon circumstantial evidence including the pending sell-out of the Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort.
In 2006 Disney announced the first phase of Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas which consists of converted hotel rooms in the original Jambo House facility. Those first villas were open to members in the summer of 2007--within a year of the project's announcement. The new Kidani Village location took considerably longer to complete, opening in the spring of 2009.
Disney could follow a similar pattern with the Grand Floridian--transforming current hotel rooms to villas while beginning work on the stand-alone addition shown in the SFWMD filings.
For additional information visit the websites of the Orlando Sentinel and WESH.
