Disney Imagineers design time shares

These tree houses have been there for a long time. As of recently they have been being used for international employees. You can easily view them from the boat between Port Orleans Resorts and Downtown Disney.

The treehouse units sound a lot like the old one they used to have there that they just recently tore down...

I'm still wondering how many more DVC units they can build before they hit saturation.

Probably quite a few. The DVC is not quite the same as a regular time share. Yes you buy shares in one of their Orlando DVC properties, but instead of having to use that one every time, you get credits that get you access to the other DVC properties. Not just the orlando ones, but also places like Aspen and Virginia Beach.

To be honest, if I ever go the route of time share, I'm going with Disney.

How many more? How much land do they have?

Most timeshare tours are hideous high-pressure battles of attration between abusive sales staff, and ma and pa kettle looking for a quick $25 gift certificate to the local buffet. Disney tours are totally different: "Come by, take a look. Buy if you like, don't if you don't. Doesn't matter to us, 'cause someone else will if you don't."

Since 9/11, Disney has not built a single new hotel room. Not one. They even mothballed the partly-finished "other half" of Pop Century rather than complete it.

But, they've built four timeshare resorts in that time: Beach Club, Saratoga, Animal Kingdom, and now Bay Lake. Hotel rooms were removed from service to make room for two of those resorts: Animal Kingdom and Bay Lake.

Disney has decided that they'd rather get their money up front, locking people in, rather than having to re-sell them on the idea year after year.

John: there are plenty of timeshare systems that work the same way DVC does, with points that can be spent anywhere in the system. And, the two you mention (Aspen, VA Beach) are not DVC properties---you have to use an external, third-party exchange company to use DVC points to stay there.

^ - ah, ok. Thanks for the clarification.

Was just at WDW in June and stayed at Port Orleans Riverside, and they were tearing down the old treehouses the week we were there. We were told by the boat captain that where the treehouses are located is protected wetland. If they were to build new tree houses, they would have to be built in the same spot as the old ones. No trees or vegitation could be destryoed, not even when tearing down the old treehouses.

timmyk31