The hard goods refurbishment of Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas is tentatively scheduled to begin in October 2025 according to information provided by the Disney Vacation Club board of directors.
Editor's Note: Beginning in 2024, Florida condo associations are required to hold quarterly meetings, rather than the annual meeting previously permitted under state guidelines. These smaller meetings are can only be attended by owners of the resort. DVCNews will be present at several of these meetings and will report back with some brief recaps.
Approximately 45-50 owners of Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas were present for the meeting.
Board members in attendance: Yvonne Chang, Bill Diercksen, Shannon Sakaske, Alison Armor, Steve Whittington. Also present were Tylana Hill (Treasurer) and Karen Grip (Member Rep). The meeting began by approving the minutes from the September meeting.
A number of topics were addressed during the question and answer period for attendees. The long-awaited full refurbishment of all villa interiors is currently scheduled to begin in October 2025. The working plan is to start with rooms in Kidani Village and then move over to Jambo House, however that is subject to change based upon discussions with contractors and other parties.
No specifics were offered regarding changes to the villa interiors, other than confirming that the pull-down Murphy sofa beds will included in the new design.
The main lobby and Community Hall will also be refreshed at Kidani Villas. It is expected to take approximately nine months to fully renovate all facilities at Kidani. That would result in Kidani wrapping-up in July or August 2026.
Other topics raised during the member Q&A:
- Circulation system in Jambo House rooms runs continuously. Can it be turned off? We will look in to it.
- Has there ever been any consideration given to increasing the number of villas with access to the concierge lounge at Jambo House? DVC has looked at the possibility if adding rooms but given the small lounge,they cannot add more capacity.
- Are rooms always available to members? Are any rooms held back? All rooms in a sold out resort are used for members. They only time they rent out cash rooms is if a member exchanges out of the DVC portfolio.
- Did the recent name change to Resort and Preferred result in a change in the number of rooms in each category? No. The name change was merely cosmetic. No changes in the classification of rooms.
The 2025 resort operating budget was approved by the board. Annual Dues total $9.65 per point, and increase of $0.57 or 6.2%.
Other questions raised during the budgetary question and answer period:
- What is meant by “higher member utilization“? DVC anticipates how many members will stay at a resort. If more members stay at the resort and not exchange out then it means that utilization is going up.
- Did court cases impact the property taxes? Not really. Orange County increased almost every resort by 10%
Meeting adjourned around at approximately 1:57pm, just under 30 minutes long.
Wil Lovato is a contributor to DVCNews.com and has been a Disney Vacation Club owner since 2009. His DVC Home Resorts include Copper Creek Villas, Bay Lake Tower, Animal Kingdom Villas, and Aulani. He can be found posting on many Disney discussion forums under the username of “wdrl.”
