While the first rooms have reopened to guests following the refurbishment, crews still have a lot of work ahead of them at this Disney Vacation Club resort.
Back in September, the first block of rooms closed for the wholesale refurbishment at Disney's BoardWalk Villas. All rooms with a BoardWalk View and a large block of Garden / Pool View rooms have been unavailable for nearly 3 months, providing hope that aggressive work would result in a shorter renovation timeline. However, that turned out to not quite be the case.
Access to the villas appears to be the reason for the extensive room closure. All rooms in the westernmost wing of the resort are accessed by a single entry point just off the main lobby and upper floor elevators. All of those rooms were initially closed to facilitiate updates. However, only a small portion of the rooms nearest the elevators have reopened.
The first section of the hallway has been updated with new paint, carpeting and Disney-themed lighting fixtures (above.) But guests cannot get far without running into a barricade beyond which rooms are still being updated.
Immediately surrounding the Luna Park pool, scaffolding has been removed and exterior work is complete. The pass-through walkway is clear and the building has been freshly painted.
However, a closer look at many rooms (below) reveals that the interiors are still being renovated. Plastic sheeting covers many of the windows and workers are visible inside many of the units.
On the BoardWalk side near Crest O' The Wave, a crane facilitates exterior work. The Disney Vacation Club preview center is currently closed as the model rooms are updated. This disruption extends around the end of the building beyond Jellyrolls bar.
And on the rear of this wing facing toward the Dolphin and Swan resorts, more construction equipment and vacant guest rooms are clearly visible.
Disney Vacation Club room availability suggests that all Standard View rooms will be closed beginning in January 2024. The entire project is expected to be competed by spring 2024.
