In a "Sentinel Exclusive", the Orlando daily declares "Disney likely building timeshares near Contemporary Resort." Unfortunately the article doesn't quite rank up with the Sentinel's 1965 scoop "We Say: 'Mystery' Industry is Disney." This particular piece does little more than recap information bandied-about the Internet for over a year now, while adding just a tiny bit of new information to the debate.
For the most part, the Sentiel article covers familiar ground for those who have followed construction at the Contemporary. As evidence we have environmental reports which cite "a proposed Disney Vacation Club (DVC) Resort at the Contemporary hotel" and the suggestion that Disney is holding off making an announcement since it would negatively impact sales elsewhere. Even the facility size and completion date are known quantities.
Yet author Jason Garcia hedges his bets by pointing out that even Disney may not be committed to one course of action:
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.
Most of this ground is familiar to those who have followed the Contemporary mystery project for over a year now. We have frequently analyzed both sides of the debate, most notably in a piece written nearly a year ago.
Garcia does add one interesting new component to the debate: a reported SEC filing which cites a number of DVC units under construction which would have to include those at the Contemporary.
[I]n 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.
The numbers don't quite add up given that this new Contemporary tower is slated to have just under 300 units. Still it does represent just one more intriguing piece to a mysterious Disney puzzle.
Source: Orlando Sentinel
