The Future of Wet 'n Wild

[Scott W.]

Or they partner...

But them holding onto some of the newer slides for the resort should be a no brainer. That'd make a lot of "value" families choose it over cabana bay.

I think Universal are going to have to reclassify Cabbana Bay and Sapphire Falls to an intermediate once off site hotels are online.

CB which was a bit out the way is now in a great spot with VB next door, same with SF.

I can't see the prices staying the same within the next few years as they've become far better value.

 

[Mad Dog]

I think Universal are going to have to reclassify Cabbana Bay and Sapphire Falls to an intermediate once off site hotels are online.

CB which was a bit out the way is now in a great spot with VB next door, same with SF.

I can't see the prices staying the same within the next few years as they've become far better value.

Yes, even now, before VB is open, CBBR is equal to or better than the Disney moderates. And Sapphire would be an equal to Royal Pacific if it had Hotel Express Passes included. Sapphire is a couple of steps above the Disney moderate resorts.

 

[Andysol]

I agree. Loew's is one of the best hotel operators in the business. Their business relationship with Universal at the resort is a partnership already. And I'd hate to see the room stock watered down by timeshares.....There's different operating partnerships.....CBBR isn't a Loew's branded resort. It's only managed by them. Hard Rock, which dates back to the RANK group that owned it & partnered with Universal on the resort, has a separate operating contract between Loew's/Universal/Hard Rock. Portofino, Royal Pacific, Sapphire have similar operating agreements and are Loew's branded resorts. You can only use the Loew's rewards program (You First) at Portofino, Royal Pacific & Sapphire. So there's a hodgepodge of business partnerships already.

CBBR is a joint venture. Uni and Loews each own 50%- just like their other Uni hotels. The difference is they don't brand it, but it's beyond just management. They are still co-owners. A Loews timeshare wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Uni could leaseback the land, etc. lots of options.
They thought about timeshares at one point w/ their master plan- and as long as they don't do the ridiculous DVC plan of just taking preexisting rooms at Uni- it'd be interesting.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

CBBR is a joint venture. Uni and Loews each own 50%- just like their other Uni hotels. The difference is they don't brand it, but it's beyond just management. They are still co-owners. A Loews timeshare wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Uni could leaseback the land, etc. lots of options.
They thought about timeshares at one point w/ their master plan- so it'd be interesting.

Lowes has a level of luxury they want to attach their name to, and CBBR is run by them as much as any other resort, they just didn't want to put the Lowes name on it. Same for Adventura. No biggie.

 

[Andysol]

Lowes has a level of luxury they want to attach their name to, and CBBR is run by them as much as any other resort, they just didn't want to put the Lowes name on it. Same for Adventura. No biggie.

Isn't that what I just said?

I was just mentioning that they own it- not simply just manage it.

 

[Joel]

...in a strange move, i am bringing a old concept to life in a 3D Model. But this one, is a very recent edit.

on the Universal Resort Expansion thread, I posted this;

Spoiler: THIS LIST IS TOO BIG!!!

1.) New Hotel Structure, with a tower the height of 123 Feet high
2.) New Transportation Station for a system similar to the Cabled system seen from HE
3.) Valet Parking drop-off/Pickup for Hotel/Transportation
4.) Outdoor area for Hotel use
5.) Dining
6.) Extension of the waterfront
7.) Hotel Pool area
8.) New Massive four to five floor parking garage to hold vast amounts for Transport/Hotel
9.) New Holding Area for future projects
10A/10B/10C.) New Parking Entrances/Exits for the cars {Reuses WNW parking lot entrances/exits}
11A/11B.) Greenery/foliage/Terrain
12.) Fountain area
13.) Plaza for when you exit the star-ways nearby the Pedestrian Bridge
14.) Pedestrian Bridge
15.) Pathway for Hotel/Transport guests

And now.. i have returned with a 3D version of this idea (With some extra additions to the pack):

Spoiler: All the Pin Points

Dark Blue - Transportation Rail
Light Blue - Hotel Tower
Aqua - Parking Garage
Light Red - Parking Lot Entrances
Orange - Pathway to the Hotel/Transportation Hub (Included is the pedestrian bridge
Yellow - Entrance Sign/Fountain
Maroon (Attached to Tower) Themed elements
Magenta - Pool
Purple - Main Hotel Building
Teal - Dining
Crimson Red - Transportation Station
Olive - Holding Area for Universal Projects
Steel Blue - Water
Grey - Boardwalk
Green - Foilage
Hot Pink (Next to Aqua) - Restrooms for Parking Structure
Brown (Next to Aqua) - Starway
Black - Road

The height of the Hotel tower would be about a hundred and twenty-six feet tall, with the Transport rail going to both UONorth and UOSouth.

Its the most detailed i've gone yet.

Forgot how good this was.. you did an awesome job with it.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Forgot how good this was.. you did an awesome job with it.

It's strange, with the discussions of WnW starting to pop up once more; I almost considered redoing what my Idea was but with going a bit more crazy..but; I am not for the time being.

 

[Chase3]

n o b o d y w a n t s t i m e s h a re s.

 

[bob albert]

I looked at the Disney timeshare prices. The fees alone were almost as much as just paying for a hotel (for how I would stay) would cost not even including the upfront cost to buy the points. And they can raise the fees if they choose right? The last thing I would want universal to do is hold the cheaper season passes hostage like Disney does unless you are a local or directly bought from them timshare member. I hope universal never builds them.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Isn't that what I just said?

I was just mentioning that they own it- not simply just manage it.

Yup just bouncing off what you posted

 

[Andysol]

I looked at the Disney timeshare prices. The fees alone were almost as much as just paying for a hotel (for how I would stay) would cost not even including the upfront cost to buy the points. And they can raise the fees if they choose right? The last thing I would want universal to do is hold the cheaper season passes hostage like Disney does unless you are a local or directly bought from them timshare member. I hope universal never builds them.

I agree- I wouldn't want them either. Disney has a significantly larger amount to offer too- outside of the 8/9 WDW resorts, they have Vero Beach and Hilton Head- both of which are lovely. As well as Aulani (awesome) and the Grand Californian. At ~$250ish offseason pricing for RPR, why would I ever do a timeshare?

When you say- "for how I would stay"- if you aren't staying at a deluxe, it would never work out for you anyways because it's not apples/apples.
I am a DVC member- it works well for me. I bought 250 points resale back when it was a recession at around $60/point and just today I rented 180 of my 250 for $2,520 (maintenance fees were 1400). Going to vero beach for 4 nights and beach club for 2 (no parks) over the 4th of July- so it works for me- and I'm way ahead by now on $. But even me, a DVC member who vastly prefers Universal, wouldn't buy a Uni timeshare- the offerings simply aren't there and I don't see a value whatsoever.
As for DVC direct pricing- jesus- kill me. $180/point? What moron would ever buy that? And Uni would try to be around the same ballpark. It'd be a colossal failure for them, honestly.

 

[Scott W.]

I agree- I wouldn't want them either. Disney has a significantly larger amount to offer too- outside of the 8/9 WDW resorts, they have Vero Beach and Hilton Head- both of which are lovely. As well as Aulani (awesome) and the Grand Californian. At ~$250ish offseason pricing for RPR, why would I ever do a timeshare?

When you say- "for how I would stay"- if you aren't staying at a deluxe, it would never work out for you anyways because it's not apples/apples.
I am a DVC member- it works well for me. I bought 250 points resale back when it was a recession at around $60/point and just today I rented 180 of my 250 for $2,520 (maintenance fees were 1400). Going to vero beach for 4 nights and beach club for 2 (no parks) over the 4th of July- so it works for me- and I'm way ahead by now on $. But even me, a DVC member who vastly prefers Universal, wouldn't buy a Uni timeshare- the offerings simply aren't there and I don't see a value whatsoever.
As for DVC direct pricing- jesus- kill me. $180/point? What moron would ever buy that? And Uni would try to be around the same ballpark. It'd be a colossal failure for them, honestly.

I've spent the past half hour researching this and for the life of me, I can't figure out why anybody would join at the currant prices.

 

[Andysol]

I've spent the past half hour researching this and for the life of me, I can't figure out why anybody would join at the currant prices.

Emotional and impulse decision only. No logical and reasonable person would do it outside of falling for the lines of "owning" a part of Disney or "forcing" you to take an annual family vacation and making memories. You know, the typical sales pitch.
Hell- even resale at $60 was me putting pen to paper- looking at real costs, potential earnings of capital, etc- trying to find a way to make it work where I made enough money to make it worth my while and get some "free" trips out of it. The math isn't even stupid at $180- it's insane. Something even more insane is that people finance this crap. :saywhat:

 

[Frank Drackman]

CBBR is a joint venture. Uni and Loews each own 50%- just like their other Uni hotels. The difference is they don't brand it, but it's beyond just management. They are still co-owners. A Loews timeshare wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Uni could leaseback the land, etc. lots of options.
They thought about timeshares at one point w/ their master plan- and as long as they don't do the ridiculous DVC plan of just taking preexisting rooms at Uni- it'd be interesting.

Back when they were building CBBR, I read a story that stated that UNI's deal for their hotels is 25% UNI, 25% Seminole Tribe of Florida (they own the Hard Rock brand), and 50% Loews with Loews managing all the hotels.

 

[Nick]

as long as they don't do the ridiculous DVC plan of just taking preexisting rooms at Uni- it'd be interesting.

Everyone has this idea that this is all DVC is... but the only resorts they've done this at are AKL Jambo, Polynesian and now WL Boulder Ridge. The other 11-13 DVC resorts were built from the ground up.

Also I don't see much reason to criticize even changing existing rooms tbh. Any regular joe off the street can still get one of those (upgraded to DVC standards) rooms and the facilities around the resorts have seen many improvements each time they convert from hotel to DVC, seen right now with the WL conversion by adding a better pool and a new quick service and a new table service.

 

[quinnmac000]

There was a slight tribute to the Orlando Wet N Wild on ABC's Fresh Off the Boat last night.

 

[Andysol]

Everyone has this idea that this is all DVC is... but the only resorts they've done this at are AKL Jambo, Polynesian and now WL Boulder Ridge. The other 11-13 DVC resorts were built from the ground up.

Also I don't see much reason to criticize even changing existing rooms tbh. Any regular joe off the street can still get one of those (upgraded to DVC standards) rooms and the facilities around the resorts have seen many improvements each time they convert from hotel to DVC, seen right now with the WL conversion by adding a better pool and a new quick service and a new table service.

I don't want to derail this thread much more- but I can't disagree with you more on this one. And as someone who has stayed at every single dvc resort except for The Californian, I can tell you from experience that it's going in the wrong direction.

The stand alone resorts outside of WDW are fantastic. Aulani is incredible, vero beach and HHI are great too. Then we have things like OKW and SSR that are stand alone. Even places like Boardwalk and AKL wouldn't be near what they are today without DVC. DVC practically made those resorts the great levels they are now. But the days of the stand alones like I mentioned above are all but gone. And that sucks. The recent trend of resorts isn't a good one. Just adding more rooms to monorail resorts. And if the next is another bay lake tower as we've heard rumored or even something cheap like the Caribbean. No thanks.
And talking about infrastructure, have you been on the monorail before and after bay lake and VGF? They're siginificantly more crowded. Now add another tower? Sorry...

 

[Nick]

I don't want to derail this thread much more- but I can't disagree with you more on this one. And as someone who has stayed at every single dvc resort except for The Californian, I can tell you from experience that it's going in the wrong direction.

The stand alone resorts outside of WDW are fantastic. Aulani is incredible, vero beach and HHI are great too. Then we have things like OKW and SSR that are stand alone. Even places like Boardwalk and AKL wouldn't be near what they are today without DVC. DVC practically made those resorts the great levels they are now. But the days of the stand alones like I mentioned above are all but gone. And that sucks. The recent trend of resorts isn't a good one. Just adding more rooms to monorail resorts. And if the next is another bay lake tower as we've heard rumored or even something cheap like the Caribbean. No thanks.
And talking about infrastructure, have you been on the monorail before and after bay lake and VGF? They're siginificantly more crowded. Now add another tower? Sorry...

I think we're along the same viewpoint, just presenting it differently. I agree that DVC is heading in the wrong direction, but that doesn't mean it didn't start out from a good place.

I won't speculate on the future DVC's as nothing has been announced yet or even heavily rumored enough for me to put stock in. I do agree with much of your post as I as well have stayed at just about every DVC resort except a few Epcot ones. I have an upcoming Aulani trip coming up after a Grand Cali and Vero Beach trip last summer. To tell ou the truth, I probably shouldn't speak on the WDW DVC's too much as I haven't stayed at one in quite some time now with living in Orlando. Last time was at the Poly in 2014 and then a long time anywhere before that.

Like you said though, we're way off topic though so lets get back to topic:

 

[SeventyOne]

I agree- I wouldn't want them either. Disney has a significantly larger amount to offer too- outside of the 8/9 WDW resorts, they have Vero Beach and Hilton Head- both of which are lovely. As well as Aulani (awesome) and the Grand Californian.

While I'm not enthralled with the idea, if Universal went ahead with this, would almost certainly have to partner with another company to offer alternative non-Orlando venues. (Which actually DVC does as well--trading your DVC points for double points at a non-Disney resort is about the only way to almost have your membership make financial sense.)

 

[SeventyOne]

Emotional and impulse decision only. No logical and reasonable person would do it outside of falling for the lines of "owning" a part of Disney or "forcing" you to take an annual family vacation and making memories. You know, the typical sales pitch.

I have friends--one's a law firm partner, other runs a hedge fund--who bought into that "we own a part of the magic now." Didn't have the heart to point out DVC isn't even traditional timeshare, they own nothing--it's just a 99-year contract. But shows people who should be smarter get wrapped up in the nostalgia and buy into a very bad idea.