Vacation Club units at five-year-old, 536-room Boardwalk Villas, for example, go for $11,000 a week to $150,000 for a month or more. That project is near sellout. Disney opens pre-construction sales in February on a new timeshare venture, Beach Club Villas, scheduled to break ground at about the same time the 192 new units begin construction.

The new units, tentatively scheduled to open in 2004, haven't yet been christened. They will be built near Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island. Disney has 22,000 hotel rooms among 19 hotels and 2,000 timeshare units.

Disney officials at Lake Buena Vista, FL couldn't be reached at GlobeSt.com's publication deadline to discuss the new development strategy. But an area resort developer, who has worked with Disney on various retail and commercial projects, tells GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity, "It's hard to beat Disney on strategy moves."

The developer tells GlobeSt.com, "Disney's average hotel occupancy (estimated 65%) isn't what it used to be (estimated 85%), but neither is it any of the other area's private properties. The difference is Disney is flexible enough to try another route when one avenue gets blocked" by a recession and an overall downturn in the hospitality business. He says other hoteliers don't have that option.

Disney Institute, conceived by Walt Disney Co. chairman Michael Eisner in 1996 remains open but occupancy is minimal, workers at the 800-person hotel tell GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity. Room prices are $200 to $500 per night. When it opened in 1996, Eisner envisioned the property as a combination resort and educational hideaway for arts and recreational aficionados.

Disney decided in fourth quarter 2000 to halt development of its 5,500-room Pop Cenury Resort--its largest hotel property--and close the 1,500-room Port Orleans Resort. Dwindling occupancy forced the closures, Disney officials previously acknowledged.

Instant Insights /

GlobeSt.com UPDATE: Disney Switches Gears--Timeshares Instead of Hotels

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