Copper Creek aims for ‘rustic elegance’
The latest addition to the Disney Vacation Club lineup blends the theming of America’s westward expansion with conveniences that modern travelers expect.
Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge opens to the public July 17. Its vibe is one Ken Potrock, senior vice president and general manager of DVC, calls “rustic elegance.” Customers will experience a working-onthe-railroad look but still have plenty of places to plug in devices, a necessity of no concern in pioneer days.
“You’ll see a minimum of three, four plugs per person that could fit into the room,” he says.
That’s a lot of recharging and USB action going on in Copper Creek’s 2,400 -square-foot grand villas, which sleep up to 12 people. Those folks have many nondigital items in tow, too, which brings up another modern need. There’s “storage absolutely everywhere,” says Mitch Miorelli, senior project manager with Walt Disney Imagineering. In the grand villa, large closets are flanked by cabinets and cubbies. It’s peppered with hooks and shelves. Beds are high enough to stash suitcases beneath.
Wooden touches, found from ceiling (exposed beams) to floor, are “handscraped to make it feel like it came out of a sawmill,” Miorelli says. To keep rooms from being too dark, there are many windows that let in natural light, he says. The L-shaped grand villas have views of the swimming pool in one direction and of Bay Lake in the other.
Another modern option is, well, options. Copper Creek is the first DVC property to offer studios, onebedroom units, those with two bedrooms, three-bedroom units, the grand villas with three bedrooms and cabins, which sleep eight.
Guests “want greater choice in the kind of accommodations that we provide,” Potrock says. Needs can be influenced by life changes or events, he says. Some empty-nesters now want less space; some folks seek lodging for milestone occasions.
Copper Creek is the 14th DVC property, and the second at Wilderness Lodge. Its sales, which launched in May, have been “excellent,” Potrock says. It wraps up the last of Disney’s announced vacation-club projects. “It’s part of the continuing momentum that DVC has,” he says. “We’re always looking to grow.”
Splitsville Luxury Lanes, Disney Springs’ bowling alley/restaurant attraction, has enclosed balcony space that overlooked the enterthe tainment complex.
Turns out that Florida’s great outdoors wasn’t always so great for diners.
“We could only use it on days that weren’t too hot or days that weren’t too cold or on days that weren’t rainy,” says Ashley Evans, a Splitsville manager.
Changes include knocking down the outside bar and its companion bar indoors. The area was enclosed with glass walls. Then, a larger bar was built with eight new TVs, plus new furniture and carpet, she says.
The 50,000-square-foot Splitsville gained more bar seating and maintained about the same amount of seats for dining, she says.
Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park has landed the top spot on the TripAdvisor list of amusement parks for 2017.
To determine winners of Travelers’ Choice awards, travel site used an algorithm to determine the quantity and quality of its user reviews and ratings from a 12-month period.
Central Florida attractions dominate the U.S. rankings, earning seven of the top eight spots. After IOA, the list goes with Discovery Cove, Magic Kingdom, Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Studios in Orlando, Epcot, Disney’s Animal Kingdom and SeaWorld Orlando.
In TripAdvisor’s global rankings, Islands of Adventure and Discovery Cove finished 1-2 as well, followed by Europa-Park of Rust, Germany.
Central Florida water parks took the top three slots for U.S. water parks, with Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon in the No. 1 position. It was followed by Aquatica, SeaWorld’s water park, and Disney’s Blizzard Beach. manager of Legoland Florida theme park since before its opening in 2011, has been promoted to divisional director of Midway North America for parent company Merlin Entertainments Group.
He’ll guide the British firm’s two dozen U.S. and Canadian attractions, including Madame Tussauds museums, Sea Life aquariums and the Coca-Cola Orlando Eye observation wheel on International Drive.
As general manager, Jones oversaw the transformation from the historic Cypress Gardens into Merlin’s fifth Legoland park. The Winter Haven attraction opened to the public in October 2011.
Expansions have included the Legoland Water Park and the Lego Ninjago World section of the theme park. In 2015, Legoland Hotel opened adjacent to the theme park’s front gate, and, earlier this year, Legoland Beach Retreat — featuring lakeside units arranged in villages — debuted.