NBA at Walt Disney World

That doesn’t necessarily explain why DVC rooms aren’t available. Disney could have plans for Jambo. I don’t necessarily think Jambo will be closed to all but maybe just DVC members for a time.
I don't know how that squares with the fact that I specifically own a DVC deed at Jambo house. I don't see how they could take that away as a cost cutting measure. They didn't do the same thing for Copper Creek at Wilderness Lodge which would likely be in the same boat.
 
Two separate issues:

- Jambo and Kidani are both under the single umbrella of "Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas." Technically Disney wouldn't be violating any commitments to owners by making one or the other unavailable, assuming there are valid reasons for doing so.

- Disney has access to DVC villa inventory via owned points, member trades and breakage. Is that inventory sufficient to consolidate it all at Jambo? I dunno.

I don't recall ever encountering a situation before where all availability was simply removed at a DVC resort. So we're wading thru uncharted waters, trying to make sense of it all. Maybe it's a computer glitch, or some overly conservative reaction to other IT changes happening behind the scenes.

There is Jambo availability showing after January 1. So this isn't a case where the entire resort is glitched. Someone deliberately removed all inventory through December 31.

If someone suggested that Bay Lake Tower or Saratoga Springs would remain closed, that would not pass the sniff test because owners have legal rights to use those accommodations. But the dual location nature of AKV theoretically allows owners to continue using one facility while the other is unavailable. Whether that actually happens, and what the underlying reasons may be, remains to be seen.

EDIT: Quick addition regarding the employee recalls, Animal Kingdom Lodge includes Kidani. Doesn't necessarily mean they're recalling enough to staff both Kidani and Jambo. Also Mara could be opening to service Kidani guests. They could open the Jambo lobby so people can reach Mara or create some alternative temporary walking route. Or they could use some mobile order + delivery process; order on the MDE app and pick-up at the Jambo Port Cochere.
How would it cost them any more to open the Jambo House DVC if they're already opening the Mara and lobby? That doesn't make sense.
 
How would it cost them any more to open the Jambo House DVC if they're already opening the Mara and lobby? That doesn't make sense.

If you just have one Cast Member in the lobby pointing guests in the direction of Mara, it's much less expensive than operating the resort. They're not staffing the front desk, concierge, bell services, housekeeping, maintenance, lifeguards, activities, gift shop and dozens of back office personnel that it takes to make a resort function. All of these positions need to be filled 24/7 in a functioning resort vs a 14-16 hour day with limited staff for the restaurant.
 
I don't know how that squares with the fact that I specifically own a DVC deed at Jambo house. I don't see how they could take that away as a cost cutting measure. They didn't do the same thing for Copper Creek at Wilderness Lodge which would likely be in the same boat.
We shall see. I’m not convinced it just remains closed either. They may need it as space for people they have to move. Either way only disney knows right now.
 


We shall see. I’m not convinced it just remains closed either. They may need it as space for people they have to move. Either way only disney knows right now.
Agreed, I've only seen the one report where someone had their reservation changed (can't remember if it was moved or cancelled) from Jambo DVC. It's possible they're going to use AKL as one of the resorts to consolidate other guests to.
 
If you just have one Cast Member in the lobby pointing guests in the direction of Mara, it's much less expensive than operating the resort. They're not staffing the front desk, concierge, bell services, housekeeping, maintenance, lifeguards, activities, gift shop and dozens of back office personnel that it takes to make a resort function. All of these positions need to be filled 24/7 in a functioning resort vs a 14-16 hour day with limited staff for the restaurant.
The front desk needs for DVC are much lower than that for the rest of the hotel. Bell services would roughly scale with the number of guests (if there are 10% of the normal level of guests, there will be 10% of the normal amount of luggage). Same goes for housekeeping and that's actually much lower for DVC. They could avoid opening the pool if they want to avoid the lifeguard cost. I don't see this being much of an increased cost to alleviate the need to move DVC owners who are a huge affinity group for Disney.
 
The front desk needs for DVC are much lower than that for the rest of the hotel. Bell services would roughly scale with the number of guests (if there are 10% of the normal level of guests, there will be 10% of the normal amount of luggage). Same goes for housekeeping and that's actually much lower for DVC. They could avoid opening the pool if they want to avoid the lifeguard cost. I don't see this being much of an increased cost to alleviate the need to move DVC owners who are a huge affinity group for Disney.

Costs don't scale perfectly due to minimum staffing levels. If procedure states that you need a minimum of 2 front desk agents at all times (again 24/7), operating both buildings means you need twice as many as at Kidani alone. And that's true for every position resort-wide. Normally Disney pays the bulk of it since Jambo is hotel room dominant. But again, if Disney isn't planning to operate the hotels, it's literally hundreds of thousands of dollars shifted to DVC's ledger.

It's really not worth debating further because this could go either way. I think a pro sports team coming in OR Jambo remaining closed are both possibilities. This doesn't smell like a computer glitch, given the presence of availability in January and beyond.

Perhaps the most optimistic possibility is that they simply have a hold on the resort pending the outcome of discussions with NBA and MLS. If neither is a match for Jambo, the block gets removed and the resort opens as planned. We'll see.
 


We want the resorts, Shams! :P

But, in all seriousness, the dates seem to make sense with the timing of some of the resort availability (or lack thereof) we’ve seen.

LOL! I do hope, now that it is official, that Disney will let guests who are booked in NBA resort/s know where they are being moved to or if (gulp) their reservations are being canceled. I really hope they get some sort of upgrade.
 
LOL! I do hope, now that it is official, that Disney will let guests who are booked in NBA resort/s know where they are being moved to or if (gulp) their reservations are being canceled. I really hope they get some sort of upgrade.

This will help disney finilize their resort planning but what I'm expecting is one big announcement of "here is what is going to be open and when to guests" and then work on moving people around. This is a huge piece to that puzzle though.
 
This will help disney finilize their resort planning but what I'm expecting is one big announcement of "here is what is going to be open and when to guests" and then work on moving people around. This is a huge piece to that puzzle though.

I do hope there is one big announcement! I think it would ease a lot of people's minds.
 
Posted this over in the covid thread but in case anyone is interested, here is a FAQ ESPN article.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29267080/what-know-know-nba-return-play
Why will people be able to come and go from the bubble?

The league is expected to house everyone at one hotel and limit access to those outside the bubble. There will be some ability to move around and eat at outdoor restaurants and have some recreation, such as playing golf. But overall the NBA is expected to keep the bubble tight to prevent the introduction of the coronavirus.

But the league and players' union felt strongly that family members be permitted to join the players. No one wanted the players to be separated from loved ones for potentially such a long duration. There have been discussions about allowing family members to enter the bubble as the season progresses. If that happens, they would be subject to quarantine before entering and tested routinely once inside.

There is the possibility of varying levels of access for some who could travel in and out of the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, but the league would restrict direct access to those inside the bubble.

Players who might have to leave the bubble for medical tests (MRIs, etc.) or for personal reasons might be able to return depending on the league's final protocol guidelines.
 
Here's a more detailed breakdown of the dates (and proposed dates for next year):

I've copied and pasted some of the article but edited it down some:

• June 15: International players who returned home called back to team market

• June 21: All players report to their team markets for workouts.

• June 22: Coronavirus testing of players and staff starts. Once teams report to the Walt Disney World facility the league wants to have daily testing. What we don’t yet know is what form of the test the league will use. While many coronavirus tests are very accurate, some studies suggest a person has to have the disease for a few days before it shows up on a test, and there are false negatives. Which is why the league wants daily testing.

• June 30: Training camps begin at team practice facilities.

• July 7: Teams travel to Orlando, continue their team training camps at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex there. . . . We do not yet know many of the health and safety protocols players will go through both on arrival at the Walt Disney World resort and facilities, save for the fact the league is doing daily testing. We do know players can golf and eat at outdoor restaurants, so long as they follow social distancing guidelines.

• July 31: NBA “seeding games” begin (the league is not calling these regular-season games). Teams will play eight games stretched over 16 days, with 5-6 games a day (played in the style of Summer League, with games starting as early as noon and extending into the evening, alternating between courts). There will be a four-hour gap on each court between games to allow time for sanitization, and then full warmups by teams.
. . .
• October 12: The latest date for the seventh game of the NBA Finals.
 

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