Speculation: Animal Kingdom Lodge DVC Expansion?

[thanxfornoticin]

Would it make financial sense for Disney to add more club level rooms to DVC?

Some trips, the AKV Club Level is already pretty full/busy at certain times of the day. It might be tough to add more eligible guests for access without expanding the actual lounge - and I'm not seeing how they do that without perhaps taking out one of the 6th floor rooms for the space. People won't be happy if they're paying a premium for access, and then can't get a seat or table to enjoy it. Interesting thought, however......

 

[Simba's Mom]

If they expand the DVC presence at Jambo, I don't look forward to the outrage from the cash guests. I can still remember when I was lucky enough to get a DVC studio there shortly after they had the conversion of the 5th floor. I got talking to a family in the lobby who didn't know I was DVC. They were ranting about how much harder it had become to get a reservation at AKL since "Those DVC people could stay here!" At least I hope they didn't know I was DVC.

 

[Sandisw]

Doesn’t the hotel side and DVC pay to support club level? If more club level rooms are added, wouldn’t our dues go to support those room types as well?

The lounge is part of DVC and the cash side does pay to offer it to guests.

If they decided to make more club level rooms, my guess is the price would be built into the number of points that they assign to them which should offset some of the extra.

 

[Tatebeck]

As an owner, I would love either more Club level rooms and/or a skyliner expansion!

 

[The Jackal]

Flipping more to DVC would probably only happen if WDW has issues with keeping Jambo cash booking profitable and busy. I don’t think Jambo has issues with cash bookings, but who knows. Flipping cash rooms to DVC usually happens when the resort cannot sustain a lot of bookings all year round. That’s why we have CCV, VGF2 and the original PVB. Cabins at FW is a different story. The Cabins needed to be replaced and Disney thought why should they pay for it. Let DVC pay for it and we can collect all the cash for cash bookings, because it’s going to take a long time to sell that property out.

 

[MartyParty]

Could Disney Vacation Club be eyeing an expansion at Animal Kingdom Lodge?​

Granted, I'm speculating here, but with recent sales incentives, increased buybacks, and a 2026 refurbishment on the horizon, the idea of flipping Jambo House into more DVC villas might not be as far-fetched as it seems!

Is this a smart move for Disney, or would you rather see a brand-new DVC resort? Let me know your thoughts!

Read more: https://dvcfan.com/news/is-dvc-considering-expanding-animal-kingdom-lodge/

#disneyvacationclub #dvc #disneyparks #disneyworld #disney #timeshare

I think you're on to something, Paul. I'm going to vote 'yes' DVD pulls the trigger on converting more of Jambo to DVC.

Given point #3 (timing Jambo House refurb) and #4 (future hotels DVC), I think this makes perfect sense. Primary driver for Disney being return on investment. Plus, point #2 where Disney has demonstrated these flips from hotel to DVC at WDW.

Not sure what Jambo cash room utilization rates are, but if not hitting the percentages Disney desires, then an easy fix is to flip more rooms to DVC. Buyers injecting cash up front plus the ongoing benefit of maintenance dues to support the resort and animals.

And I gotta think for a sold-out resort, Animal Kingdom Lodge would still resonate with new buyers in a 2025+ world. There was quite an uptake of OKW direct last year. So much so that DVD had to start limiting the number of points for purchase. I think the interest in AKL as direct would be just as good or better. I know we took a bite of OKW for around $135/point direct to round out our portfolio. I think I would have been more interested in AKL if it were a similar direct offer.

Thanks for all your reporting and videos!

 

[thanxfornoticin]

As an owner, I would love either more Club level rooms and/or a skyliner expansion!

Absolutely in favor of additional CL rooms for points. But please, no Skyliner - such an eyesore that would ruin the look and feel of the best themed resort on property.

 

[Elephantay]

If they did the skyliner, I think it would be more an appealing resort to many as the bus for everything issue would be gone. But I cringe at the thought of more people there! We love the quieter vibe and how it feels separate from everything, and then we'd have people riding in just to visit and hang out, increasing crowds. I'd love to see very resort with easy outside access have pool wristband entry, like SAB.

 

[drusba]

I vaguely recall a claim that a vacation plan had to exist for at least 40 years at the time of initial sale per FL law, but I don't see that anywhere in the relevant statute. If there is such a requirement (and there might not be) then any new DVC units at AKL would have to be in a new association.

What you are referring to is a portion of the condominium statutes, 718 Fl. Stat. §401, which covers “leasehold condominiums.” Those are condominium units built on land that is leased, which includes all the Florida DVC resorts except CCV (which was not set up under condominium law). It allows for condiminiums built on lease land to have designated terms of existence and actually have real estate deeds to provide for the transfer of such ownership interests.

Though originally it was a minimum 40-year term from time of first sale, it has been, for quite some time now, a required minimum 50-year term from time of first sale of a regular condominium unit in the original condo resort, and minimum 30-year minimum term for commercial condo-units or timeshare condo-units. If you do an addition later, and what is added are additonal buildings or units in a building that were not originally part of the condominium created, those minimums apply separately to the units added. It was the law that prohibited CCV from being added to BRV because BRV had less than thirty years left when CCV was created. Likewise, it was the law that allowed the new VGF building to be added to VGF, and Poly 2 to be added to Poly 1, because there was still more than 30-years left on the original VGF building and Poly 1.

The original AKV, which consisted of the DVC units that are in Jambo, started in 2007 and AKV expires January 31, 2057. Thus to actually add any new Jambo rooms to AKV is something that would have to be done, and the first unit sold, by no later January 2027, to meet the 30-year minimum requirement. Personal view is that DVD is not even considering doing such a thing because it likely conceives that having any new units subject to only a 30-year term, while in the past it has always been at least 40 for any new addition, is not a good thing. Moreover, there is less than 22-months to do the necessary redo of the rooms and start selling them, something that could be prevented from occurring if anything goes wrong during the redo of the rooms and before start of sales. Moreover, there is even a lot less time simply because many of those rooms are already subject to Disney hotel reservations during the next year or so.

Mentioned above is DVD could possibly do the refurbishment of the rooms in 2025-2026 as part of the 2025-26 AKV refurb. That DVC refurb applies only to Kidani and the existing DVC rooms in Jambo. The Jambo hotel side of the building, including all the Jambo hotel rooms, are not supposed to have another refurb until after the DVC refurb is done and starting in 2026 and continuing into 2027.

 

[pkrieger2287]

What you are referring to is a portion of the condominium statutes, 718 Fl. Stat. §401, which covers “leasehold condominiums.” Those are condominium units built on land that is leased, which includes all the Florida DVC resorts except CCV (which was not set up under condominium law). It allows for condiminiums built on lease land to have designated terms of existence and actually have real estate deeds to provide for the transfer of such ownership interests.

Though originally it was a minimum 40-year term from time of first sale, it has been, for quite some time now, a required minimum 50-year term from time of first sale of a regular condominium unit in the original condo resort, and minimum 30-year minimum term for commercial condo-units or timeshare condo-units. If you do an addition later, and what is added are additonal buildings or units in a building that were not originally part of the condominium created, those minimums apply separately to the units added. It was the law that prohibited CCV from being added to BRV because BRV had less than thirty years left when CCV was created. Likewise, it was the law that allowed the new VGF building to be added to VGF, and Poly 2 to be added to Poly 1, because there was still more than 30-years left on the original VGF building and Poly 1.

The original AKV, which consisted of the DVC units that are in Jambo, started in 2007 and AKV expires January 31, 2057. Thus to actually add any new Jambo rooms to AKV is something that would have to be done, and the first unit sold, by no later January 2027, to meet the 30-year minimum requirement. Personal view is that DVD is not even considering doing such a thing because it likely conceives that having any new units subject to only a 30-year term, while in the past it has always been at least 40 for any new addition, is not a good thing. Moreover, there is less than 22-months to do the necessary redo of the rooms and start selling them, something that could be prevented from occurring if anything goes wrong during the redo of the rooms and before start of sales. Moreover, there is even a lot less time simply because many of those rooms are already subject to Disney hotel reservations during the next year or so.

Mentioned above is DVD could possibly do the refurbishment of the rooms in 2025-2026 as part of the 2025-26 AKV refurb. That DVC refurb applies only to Kidani and the existing DVC rooms in Jambo. The Jambo hotel side of the building, including all the Jambo hotel rooms, are not supposed to have another refurb until after the DVC refurb is done and starting in 2026 and continuing into 2027.

This analysis would make me think the timing might not work out. They would have needed to have started or gotten the ball rolling on this somehow already. What I do know is that there have been rumblings about what you mentioned in paragraph three. Based on the lifecycle of a DVC owner, I know it has been discussed to some extent whether a more short-term product could be desirable to a certain demographic of owners. It doesn't require as much of a commitment, could be slightly less expensive, and aligns with how long most are realistically seeing value or using their DVC.

 

[Brian Noble]

Based on the lifecycle of a DVC owner, I know it has been discussed to some extent whether a more short-term product could be desirable to a certain demographic of owners.

This has been a topic of conversation among several of the developers. I have heard that Wyndham has been on-again/off-again thinking about an annual-membership-style product, but I haven't seen any credible details about how it might work.

 

[eticketplease]

Not sure what Jambo cash room utilization rates are, but if not hitting the percentages Disney desires, then an easy fix is to flip more rooms to DVC. Buyers injecting cash up front plus the ongoing benefit of maintenance dues to support the resort and animals.

I'm not sure of the numbers but there have been various reports, in the Priceline Express Deals, of AKL rooms getting snagged through priceline for around $300

 

[eticketplease]

But please, no Skyliner - such an eyesore that would ruin the look and feel of the best themed resort on property.

They can wrap the cars as gorillas hanging from the wire like they do in the park

 

[AstroBlasters]

This analysis would make me think the timing might not work out. They would have needed to have started or gotten the ball rolling on this somehow already. What I do know is that there have been rumblings about what you mentioned in paragraph three. Based on the lifecycle of a DVC owner, I know it has been discussed to some extent whether a more short-term product could be desirable to a certain demographic of owners. It doesn't require as much of a commitment, could be slightly less expensive, and aligns with how long most are realistically seeing value or using their DVC.

Unless it’s part of a 50yr trust…… <insert emoji of squirrel with big eyes popping out of its head>

 

[Mirabell Rose]

The hotel rooms at Jambo have already been refurbished in the last year or so. It’s just the villas that are coming up for refurbishment. They would have flipped before their refurbishment.