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Another thing that really struck me is the changing face of timeshare architecture. Orlando is perhaps the only place where you can see the progression over the past 25-30 years. Of course, timeshare resort architecture is merely a reflection of architecture elsewhere.
The latest, most current, is what most on these forums refer to as highrises. When you look at the new buildings going up at Westgate or Bonnet Creek, and the newer buildings at the other resorts, you won't find any single-story, or even two story buildings. The new buildings at Bonnet Creek, Westgate, or River Island at OLCC are almost identical. To the casual observer they could be the same buildings.
Having just spent considerable time on the left coast, beachfront, I noticed the new buildings going up near the beaches in SW Florida, around Sarasota, and around Clearwater to St. Pete Beach, are almost the same as the new timeshare buildings in Orlando. They are about the same height, about the same colors and about the same design. And, there are a lot of them going up or just recently built, a real highrise building boom. Of course, one and two story buildings have been torn down to make room to put them up.
Let me digress to say that most of these buildings technically are not highrises. Either by law or by tradition, most of these are actually midrises, or lowrises, depending on what standard you go by. As we looked across Estero Bay toward the Bonita Bay development, and Coconut Point, and Pelican Bay, and the others, you can clearly see the difference, the midrises v. the highrises. By those standards, the newer timeshare buildings in Orlando are not really highrises.
In some area, by law highrises have to be taller than 70 or 75 or 80 feet. Some standards, such as those on skyscrapers.com, go by the number stories. Highrises have to be at least 12 stories, so I've read. Another source says that anything up to 100 feet is a low-rise, 100 to 300 a midrise, 300 to 500 a highrise and above 500 a skycraper.
In any event, the timeshares in Orlando are not, technically highrises, except for maybe those at Bonnet Creek, but I didn't count how many stories they are or put a tape to them. I just looked and gawked.
But, so as to not ruffle any feathers, I will continue to call them highrises, too.
The point is that you can tell what timeframe a building was built in by looking at it. And, by extrapolation, you can tell what is on the inside, the age of the guts, by the architectural style on the outside. Even among the highrises, you can tell the early ones, the middle ones, and the newest ones.
We like to stay at a four-story lowrise on the left coast, on Bonita Beach. We almost bought there last week and still might. But a major concern for me is the guts of the buildings, all the plumbing and electrical and ductwork, you know the arteries and nerves and airways that make the building work, and that at some point need to be replaced at great expense, or the body that is the building has to be destroyed. We also learned that the fulltime maintenance guy had stopped doing all the little fix-it things, so they fired him and the new guy is overwhelmed with trying to catch up.
Timeshare-wise, you can really see the difference at the older places, like Orange Lake and Westgate, or by looking at Vistana Resort and Vistana Villages.
Of course, the best example of resort architecture over the years, a virtual museum on the subject, is Orange Lake.
The Golf Villas in the West Village are reminiscent of the old resort architecture because they are the old resort architecture--single-story, sprawling, lining the fairways of golf courses, just like grandma and grandpa remember in their early Florida vacations. Reminiscent in many ways of the Holiday Inns which inspired their creation. They are quaint, charming, nostalgic, anachronistric monuments to our past and they fit right in with Channel 84 on OLTV.
If you will recall, they are remiscent of the ranch-style houses and the single-story office parks that were built in the same era, pre-historic but post-dinosaur.
In the North Village at OL, the architecture changes. Not much you can say about it except it is that non-descript, unassuming lowrise, apartment architecture of the late 80's and into the 90's.
Then there are the first highrise buildings, the Tennis Villas and Southern Magnolia Court, probably prompted by the realization that there is a limitation to the amount of available land and the economics of building upward.
You can see the subtle differences in the architectural style of those buildings and the highrises in the East Villages.
Now you can the difference between the East Village buildings and the River Island Building.
Even an OL owner has recently suggested that the East Village buildings are dated, saying they are the ones that are the oldest inside, most in need of the soft goods update. Having just stayed in one, you would have to be pretty picky to not be satisfied with a unit in the east Village. Sure, the exhaust van in the bathroom was noisy, there were some nicks and dents here and there, you could here the people inthe unit next to you when they flush their turlet (Archie Bunker) and there was mis-matched, replaced dinnerware, stuff like that, but I'm not the type to let that spoil my vacation.
Even here in the Branson area, famed for its lowrise architecture, Mr. Seagull is putting up a midrise and Mr. Hammons has a highrise on the drawing board.
So, for the near future, count on seeing more multi-story resort buildings. the real question is what comes after them? Skyskrapers?
The latest, most current, is what most on these forums refer to as highrises. When you look at the new buildings going up at Westgate or Bonnet Creek, and the newer buildings at the other resorts, you won't find any single-story, or even two story buildings. The new buildings at Bonnet Creek, Westgate, or River Island at OLCC are almost identical. To the casual observer they could be the same buildings.
Having just spent considerable time on the left coast, beachfront, I noticed the new buildings going up near the beaches in SW Florida, around Sarasota, and around Clearwater to St. Pete Beach, are almost the same as the new timeshare buildings in Orlando. They are about the same height, about the same colors and about the same design. And, there are a lot of them going up or just recently built, a real highrise building boom. Of course, one and two story buildings have been torn down to make room to put them up.
Let me digress to say that most of these buildings technically are not highrises. Either by law or by tradition, most of these are actually midrises, or lowrises, depending on what standard you go by. As we looked across Estero Bay toward the Bonita Bay development, and Coconut Point, and Pelican Bay, and the others, you can clearly see the difference, the midrises v. the highrises. By those standards, the newer timeshare buildings in Orlando are not really highrises.
In some area, by law highrises have to be taller than 70 or 75 or 80 feet. Some standards, such as those on skyscrapers.com, go by the number stories. Highrises have to be at least 12 stories, so I've read. Another source says that anything up to 100 feet is a low-rise, 100 to 300 a midrise, 300 to 500 a highrise and above 500 a skycraper.
In any event, the timeshares in Orlando are not, technically highrises, except for maybe those at Bonnet Creek, but I didn't count how many stories they are or put a tape to them. I just looked and gawked.
But, so as to not ruffle any feathers, I will continue to call them highrises, too.
The point is that you can tell what timeframe a building was built in by looking at it. And, by extrapolation, you can tell what is on the inside, the age of the guts, by the architectural style on the outside. Even among the highrises, you can tell the early ones, the middle ones, and the newest ones.
We like to stay at a four-story lowrise on the left coast, on Bonita Beach. We almost bought there last week and still might. But a major concern for me is the guts of the buildings, all the plumbing and electrical and ductwork, you know the arteries and nerves and airways that make the building work, and that at some point need to be replaced at great expense, or the body that is the building has to be destroyed. We also learned that the fulltime maintenance guy had stopped doing all the little fix-it things, so they fired him and the new guy is overwhelmed with trying to catch up.
Timeshare-wise, you can really see the difference at the older places, like Orange Lake and Westgate, or by looking at Vistana Resort and Vistana Villages.
Of course, the best example of resort architecture over the years, a virtual museum on the subject, is Orange Lake.
The Golf Villas in the West Village are reminiscent of the old resort architecture because they are the old resort architecture--single-story, sprawling, lining the fairways of golf courses, just like grandma and grandpa remember in their early Florida vacations. Reminiscent in many ways of the Holiday Inns which inspired their creation. They are quaint, charming, nostalgic, anachronistric monuments to our past and they fit right in with Channel 84 on OLTV.
If you will recall, they are remiscent of the ranch-style houses and the single-story office parks that were built in the same era, pre-historic but post-dinosaur.
In the North Village at OL, the architecture changes. Not much you can say about it except it is that non-descript, unassuming lowrise, apartment architecture of the late 80's and into the 90's.
Then there are the first highrise buildings, the Tennis Villas and Southern Magnolia Court, probably prompted by the realization that there is a limitation to the amount of available land and the economics of building upward.
You can see the subtle differences in the architectural style of those buildings and the highrises in the East Villages.
Now you can the difference between the East Village buildings and the River Island Building.
Even an OL owner has recently suggested that the East Village buildings are dated, saying they are the ones that are the oldest inside, most in need of the soft goods update. Having just stayed in one, you would have to be pretty picky to not be satisfied with a unit in the east Village. Sure, the exhaust van in the bathroom was noisy, there were some nicks and dents here and there, you could here the people inthe unit next to you when they flush their turlet (Archie Bunker) and there was mis-matched, replaced dinnerware, stuff like that, but I'm not the type to let that spoil my vacation.
Even here in the Branson area, famed for its lowrise architecture, Mr. Seagull is putting up a midrise and Mr. Hammons has a highrise on the drawing board.
So, for the near future, count on seeing more multi-story resort buildings. the real question is what comes after them? Skyskrapers?
Give me a place with 4 S's: Sun, sand, surf, & suds-Dale (from Illinois)
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