Disney Plans Seventh Time Share

ORLANDO-Despite a droopy tourist attendance year, Walt Disney World is going ahead with plans to build its seventh time share complex, a 600-unit, 12-building venture on 60 acres adjacent to Disney’s Eagle Pines golf course.

The new undertaking by the Disney Vacation Club will be Disney’s largest time share to date. The vacation rental site is 20 miles south of Downtown Orlando.

Disney officials declined comment on the estimated hard construction cost of the new project. But area construction industry estimators familiar with comparable time share jobs tell GlobeSt.com the ballpark number will be about $15 million or $250,000 per unit. That number compares with luxury hotel developments that have been built or are planning to be built in the Orlando area, industry estimators say.

“Disney always goes first class, so this construction estimate may be on the low side,” a private construction company not associated with the project tells GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity.

For Disney, the new time share community will boost its vacation rental portfolio to 2,100, making it one of the top five time share developers in Central Florida. Disney owns 20,000 hotel rooms on its property, making it the largest single hotel developer in metro Orlando.

Marketing data on the new time share isn’t complete but time share marketers from other area vacation rental companies tell GlobeSt.com the Disney units will probably go for $15,000 to $25,000 per unit per week. All six existing Disney time share communities are sellouts, including the Beach Club Villas, currently completing construction.

The first phase of the new time share, expected to break ground by year end, will comprise six buildings and 360 units. The first two structures are tentatively scheduled to open in July 2004.