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Thread: The history of the Disney Vacation Club (DVC)

  1. #26
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    Disney Public Meeting


    May 17, 1993 - Sentinel Staff


    THE HOT ticket in Vero Beach lately hasn't been for Elton John or Paul McCartney. It's for a free - but required - pass to attend a Q&A with Disney brass about the planned beachfront time-share resort. The 633 tickets to the community meeting, organized by the Vero Beach Chamber of Commerce, were gone within seven hours. The meeting Tuesday may highlight what one local official calls a rift between affluent beach dwellers, who oppose the resort, and the rest of Indian River County, which is eager for the jobs Disney will bring. The resort will be the first built away from Disney's theme parks and is planned as part of the Disney Vacation Club.




    Vero Beach Wants To Know: How Much Will Disney Grow?


    May 19, 1993 | Sentinel Staff


    VERO BEACH At a public meeting with Walt Disney Co. developers Tuesday night, people in this Indian River County town demanded to know three things:


    First, is Disney going to expand its beach-front time-share resort beyond the planned 70 acres and 440 units?


    Second, does Disney Vacation Development secretly plan to make the resort bigger than the announced 70 acres?


    And, finally, the resort isn't going to get any bigger than 70 acres, is it?


    No, no and no, said Mark Pacala, senior vice president with Disney Vacation Development, which plans to start construction next year on the project's first phase, a 120-room inn and 60 villas at a $6.8 million stretch of beach just south of Sebastian Inlet.


    The resort, which will become part of the Disney Vacation Club, is the first built by Disney away from its theme parks. Although the resort is a modest development by Disney standards, some in Vero Beach are worried that, like Topsy, it will just grow. And some objected loudly to the resort, no matter its size.


    To boost support for the project, the local chamber of commerce asked Pacala and other Disney executives to present plans for the resort and answer questions. The 633 tickets to the forum - free but required for crowd control - were gone within seven hours of their offering last month, and the Riverside Theatre was packed.


    Again and again, people in the audience asked if Disney had its eye on adjoining parcels of land. They asked if Disney planned a seaside theme park, a monorail from Walt Disney World to the beach or expansions to the local airport. Pacala pointed to a slide of the master plan, which was filed with the county planning and zoning board Tuesday, and said, "What you see up there is what you get."


    The crowd seemed largely supportive of the resort, which may bring 350 permanent jobs to a community still suffering from the recession. "I think Vero has to grow," said Marie Proscia of Vero Beach. "And who better to grow with than Disney?" But Bernard Schwartz was opposed when he arrived at the forum, and he was opposed when he left. Supporters "don't understand that once Disney comes here, there will be more to follow," he said. "People think they're going to be benefitting greatly from Disney, but they're not."


    Despite the mouse-control sentiments of some, Disney seems to have won the approval of most people in the county - especially those who count. Phone calls and letters to the Indian River County Commission are running 4-to-1 in favor of the resort.


    Even the opposition of the affluent beach community just south of Disney's property has wavered since the commission promised to consider tightening time-share regulations. "Emotions have died down a bit," Commissioner John Tippin said before the meeting. "I think the project's a go."


    On the advice of the assistant county attorney, Tippin and the other four commissioners stayed away from the meeting. Their attendance could violate Florida's government in the sunshine laws. Nonetheless, the five county commissioners seemed eager to approve the resort.
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  3. #27
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    The original concept for Vero Beach


    Disney originally planned to start with the 112-room Inn and 60 villas on beachfront property, and then expand by adding 260 more villas across the street. Disney proceeded with the initial phase, however, due to poor sales, DVC cancelled Phase 2 in 2001 and sold the land in 2006. Because of this, DVC ended up subsidizing the annual dues for early purchasers of Vero Beach.



    The image above shows the original plan for Vero Beach. However, due to poor sales, DVC cancelled Phase 2 in 2001 and sold the land in 2006.



    Plans for initial part of Phase 1 of Vero Beach
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    Plans for BoardWalk resort from August 1993.




    Disney's original plans for the Boardwalk complex included a Coney Island-style boardwalk, with antique carousel and a Ferris wheel. However, the plans were scaled down and became more modest.


    Below are some of the plans for a Boardwalk resort from late 1993.





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  5. #29
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    With plans set for a beach resort at Vero Beach, and plans for a Boardwalk resort at Walt Disney World, Disney Vacation Development's plans for another resort in South Carolina become know. However things don't go the way Disney had hoped they would.


    Disney Pitches Time Shares


    The Entertainment Giant Wants To Build A Development In South Carolina, But Residents Are Balking At The Proposal.



    September 11, 1993 | Sentinel Staff


    Disney wants to expand its vacation empire to the beaches of South Carolina, but homeowners on Hilton Head Island are gearing up to fight the time-share development.


    The Disney Vacation Club plans to build its third resort in Palmetto Dunes, an exclusive development on the oceanside of the barrier island. The resort, targeted to open in 1995, would include 68 villas on 6 acres of beachfront property and 100 villas on a nearby island.


    But the beachfront property lies within the private community of Leamington, where covenants forbid the building of time shares. And even as Disney asks property owners to ''de-annex'' the beach acreage, a group called ''Common Sense for Leamington!'' is hiring lawyers and mailing missives to kill the project.


    Executives at the Vacation Club foresee a posh resort - intimate by Disney standards - where the well-heeled clientele will spend an average of $16,000 to buy time in a luxurious setting.


    But some people who live in Leamington's $250,000 condominiums and $600,000 houses foresee traffic congestion, sinking property values and tourists biking down their private streets. ''Nobody wants time shares because of the crowding of beaches, the golf courses and roads,'' said John Rosenberg, a Leamington homeowner. ''We have very strict rules about this.''


    Disney is hoping homeowners will bend those rules through a referendum that would move control of the beach property from Leamington to a portion of the Palmetto Dunes development where time shares are permitted.


    But William Foiles, one of the attorneys hired by the homeowners, said his clients ''are prepared to take whatever legal action is necessary to protect their homes and property.''


    To make its case, Disney representatives have recently met with small groups of homeowners, listening to their worries about traffic, security and beach access. ''I think if any of us were residents of that community we'd be concerned,'' said Michael Burns, the vacation club's vice president of sales and new business development. ''But if we're not there, somebody else is going to be there.''


    And Disney's proposal may be less intrusive than others, he said. The beach property is approved for 120 condominiums, and the builder, Greenwood Development Corp., would likely put up 100 condos in five-story structures, Burns said. Disney proposes 32 fewer units in three- and four-story buildings. ''We feel like we're bringing less density and a very refined architecture to this site,'' Burns said.


    The vacation club is preparing a written response to the homeowners' concerns, Burns said. After that, he hopes the referendum can go before the 500 or so property owners. As Disney spreads resorts away from its property, the company finds that its reputation for doing things in a big way precedes it.


    On Hilton Head Island - just as in Vero Beach, where Disney is building its first resort away from its theme parks - some people were worried that the entertainment giant harbored bigger plans for the area. Rumors were flying that the company had bought huge tracts nearby. ''People everywhere we go respect Disney,'' Burns said, ''but they fear the magnitude of what we've done before. ''They don't understand this new branch of Disney.''


    Meanwhile, plans for that first foray away from home - Disney Vacation Club, Vero Beach - received a boost last Tuesday when the Indian River County Commission approved the master plan. Construction on the 70-acre resort should start in the spring.
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    Homeowners Rebuff Disney Time Shares


    A Beach Community In South Carolina Resists Efforts By The Company To Build Beachfront Units



    November 3, 1993 | Sentinel Staff


    A small community of affluent homeowners has successfully beaten back a plan by the Disney Vacation Club to build beachfront villas in Hilton Head, S.C.


    The oceanside time-share units were to be a key component of Disney's new Hilton Head resort - only its second such resort outside of Orlando. Vacation Club spokeswoman Keri Lowe said Disney did not consider the loss of the beachfront plans a setback but said it was premature to discuss new options being considered for the Palmetto Dunes development in Hilton Head.


    Disney had planned to start building 68 oceanfront villas in Hilton Head next summer. Another 100 units were to be built by 1996 on a nearby island, but Disney officials would not comment on those plans. Neither Disney nor Greenwood Development Corp., the Palmetto Dunes developer, anticipated the vehement community reaction to Disney's plan. The beachfront villas were proposed in the private neighborhood of Leamington.


    When the Mouse roared in Leamington, no one cowered. Residents of the approximately 500 homes in Leamington, mostly retired professionals and corporate executives, organized against the time-share development, saying it threatened both their property values and lifestyles. Homeowners feared traffic congestion and crowded beaches and recreational facilities. "The people who moved in here are not people who have not been successful," said homeowner Mike Gibbens, a retired communications executive. "Therefore, they are not reticent to get involved. They know how to do it . . . and they have the resources to fund a legal effort if that becomes necessary."


    Property covenants in Leamington forbid time-share units. If Disney were to build the oceanfront villas, property owners would have had to "de-annex" the beach acreage by referendum. But the issue never came to a vote.
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    California DVC resort is planned




    Disney's Newport Coast condo project is a welcome economic development


    March 10, 1994 | Pitchmen for time-share resorts too often resemble old-time carnival barkers, with buyers later cursing the failure to keep their wallets shut. Now the Walt Disney Co. may help change the industry's image.


    For an estimated $25 million, Disney has bought 35 acres at Newport Coast, midway between Newport Beach and Laguna Beach and not too far from Disneyland. The company is expected shortly to buy another 35 acres of this stretch of undeveloped ocean-view property.


    Plans call for 650 condominiums ranging in size from studios to three-bedroom units, with buyers getting the right to stay in units for specified periods. The project, which will also include shops and restaurants, may be marketed as part of the Disney Vacation Club, which lets members buy time at the company resort in Orlando, near Disney World, and others planned in Vero Beach, Fla., and Hilton Head, S.C.


    The time-share development still needs federal, state and local approval, but the condominiums have not drawn public opposition because they replace a planned hotel whose backers could not obtain financing. If the Disney project goes forward, it could be a refreshing display of confidence in the regional economy, especially in tandem with the possible expansion of Disneyland.


    Size: 70 acres
    Estimated purchase price: $25 million for the first 35 acres. Disney will purchase additional 35 acres.
    Concept: 650 vacation villas, restaurants and shops in a Mediterranean village design
    Construction begins: 1995
    Projected opening: Early 1997
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    Groundbreaking at Vero Beach


    July 28, 1994


    Ground breaking took place on July 28, 1994, where Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale were all in attendance for the big moment.


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    Disney Marketing and Development Plans


    Nov 24, 1994


    Would a sexy whirlpool tub fit the Disney image? Michael Eisner, Walt Disney Co. CEO, apparently decided it was OK, because the tub-for-two is one of the distinctive design features in the Disney Vacation Club, the new time-share development here at Walt Disney World.


    Previously, Eisner had said yes to an even more basic question: Would time-sharing fit the Disney image? The go-ahead decision resulted in the Disney Vacation Club, also known as Conch Flats. Construction began in December 1990, on the first of 497 two- and three-bedroom villas on a 74-acre site that included six holes of an existing Disney World golf course.


    Completed in April 1994, the project is now about 45 percent sold, with more than 11,500 time-share purchasers. Disney markets the Conch Flats project to its 14,000 hotel guests via the closed-circuit Disney television channel and kiosks around the property.


    As an incentive for attending a 90-minute sales presentation, $50 dining gift certificates are offered for Disney World restaurants. The sales pitch begins with a slick, eight-minute film that uses all of Disney's considerable forces of good and wholesomeness-Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, even Walt himself. It concludes with a suggestion: "Now you can own a piece of the magic." The sales presentation also ends on a typical Disney note-at an ice cream parlor.


    Conch Flats has proven so successful that Disney has four other projects on tap:



    • "Sand breaking" already has been held at an Atlantic Ocean site at Vero Beach, Fla., less than a two-hour drive from Disney World. With a turn-of-the-century beach theme, the resort at first will include a 115-room inn and 60 villas. It is expected to open in the fall of 1995. Later, an additional 260 villas will be built on two adjoining parcels.

    • The 104-unit resort at Hilton Head Island, S.C., will be in classic Carolina-island style. Two-story villas will be built on a wooded, 15-acre site. Completion is expected in the spring of 1996.

    • The Boardwalk will be Disney's first mixed-use project. It is planned for some 400 time-share units and 375 hotel rooms. To be located at Walt Disney World, across from the existing Swan and Dolphin hotels, it will have an Atlantic City theme circa 1910-1920. Opening is targeted for 1996.

    • On the Pacific Coast, Disney has purchased land at Newport Beach, Calif. With a Mediterranean hill town theme, it will have 650 units. Located 25 minutes from Disneyland, it is expected to open in early 1997.
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    Disney Vacation Development breaks ground for second Disney Resort outside theme parks


    December 14, 1994


    HILTON HEAD, S.C.-- With an oversized paint brush in hand, Minnie Mouse put the finishing touches on Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort sign, while Mickey Mouse turned the first shovel of dirt, marking the beginning of construction for Disney Vacation Development's (DVD) second resort located beyond Disney's theme-park boundaries.


    Bill Ernest, general manager of DVD's Hilton Head Island Resort project, and Paula Harper Bethea, chairman of the board for the Hilton Head Island Chamber of Commerce, assisted Mickey and Minnie in the ceremonial ground breaking, which was held at the future site of the South Carolina resort.


    DVD's construction plans include the development of a 102-unit resort on a 15-acre site near Shelter Cove and a beach club on a three-and-a-half-acre oceanfront site nearby. "Hilton Head Island has a proven track record as a premiere destination spot in America. We see this trend continuing, and this is the reason we have chosen to build our resort here," said Ernest. "The natural beauty and relaxed lifestyle of Hilton Head Island combined with DVD's attention to quality and detail will make for a first-class resort that should add to the long-term popularity of the island."




    Themed to reflect classic Carolina island-style architecture, the premium resort will offer predominately two-story, cottage-style villas nestled into a live-oak canopy. Just minutes away from the resort will be an oceanfront beach club, which is being planned to provide Disney guests with access to pristine beaches, a snack bar with ocean-view seating, a themed pool, common living room area, an arcade and other recreational offerings for young and old alike.


    Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort will be located within the beautiful master-planned community of Palmetto Dunes on Longview Island in Shelter Cove Harbour and will be near both shopping and attractions, including within walking distance to the proposed cultural center. "We are excited about Disney building a resort on Hilton Head Island," said Harper Bethea. "Our island has built its reputation on being a destination noted for its quality vacation experience and lifestyle. We feel that Disney's planned resort will be an ideal match to our community."


    Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort is intended to become part of the Disney Vacation Club, contingent upon obtaining all necessary government approvals. Completion of the resort is tentatively scheduled for spring 1996. The new Hilton Head Island development is part of DVD's planned resort network expansion into quality vacation destinations. Construction also is underway on Disney's Vero Beach Resort, which is the company's first resort being built away from the Disney theme parks.


    This oceanfront resort will be located near Vero Beach, Fla. and is scheduled to open in fall of 1995. In addition, DVD has announced plans to develop a resort in Newport Beach, Calif., with its opening targeted for early 1997. Disney Vacation Development, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Co., currently has one resort -- the award-winning Disney Vacation Club at Walt Disney World.


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    DISNEY'S HHI BEACH HOUSE


    When the plan for 68 oceanfront villas on Palmetto Dunes was killed in November 1993, Disney built a single beach house on Palmetto Dunes that guests staying in the villas on the island could use.




    Here is a photo of the beach house under construction.




    The villas on the island were also built.


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  12. #36
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    VB EARLY PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL


    Here is some early DVC promotional material for Vero Beach.


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    Disney Unveils Newport Resort Plans


    February 23, 1995 | NEWPORT BEACH — A $250-million time-share resort that Walt Disney Co. wants to build along the Newport Coast would offer sweeping ocean vistas, gondola rides along quiet man-made canals and overnight camping for kids, according to plans released Wednesday.


    The 76-acre hillside resort would be designed as an Italian-style Mediterranean village of 650 condominiums where visitors could dine at either of two restaurants, hang out at several tennis courts, volleyball nets, poolside or at a golf course.


    The main entrance will feature a six-story "main estate" building flanked by twin 109-foot towers. Designed by Italian architect Aldo Rossi, the earth-tone buildings will have tile roofs and a fake Roman aqueduct that spills into the swimming pool. "The resort looks like it has been built over time," said Douglas M. Moreland, who is Disney's project director.


    Set to open as early as 1997, Disney's Newport Coast Resort will employ about 700 people and offer restaurants, banquet halls and shopping that will be open to the public, as well as owners of the studio, one- and two-bedroom time-share units. The project is already gaining support among local officials. Supervisor Marian Bergeson, whose district includes the Newport Coast, called Disney's plans "a first-class project" that is "impressive in scope and beautiful." "I kind of had a preconceived notion on time shares, and I was very, very much impressed that this departs considerably," Bergeson said. "They have not always been that successful."


    Irvine Co. Vice President Carol Hoffman, whose company sold the land to Disney and is coordinating the master plan for Newport Coast, said the project will complement the planned mix of homes and brushland in the area. "We are delighted to be partners with a company that maintains high standards of development. The resort is another important part of the overall planned community that is the Newport Coast," she said.


    But first the project, which would have to be approved by the Orange County Planning Commission, must past regulatory muster. An environmental impact report was filed with the state Friday, which began a 45-day period in which the public or interested groups can offer comments. Copies of the environmental plan are available in public libraries or from the county, Moreland said. The project's habitat management plan also must be approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Game.


    Disney's Newport Coast Resort is the fifth in the company's fledgling time-share empire, and its first in California. The Disney Vacation Club already has 12,000 members who have paid from $13,000 to $25,000 to spend a week at a Disney time-share resort once each year for the next 50 years, according to a Disney time-share spokeswoman. The price range reflects different types of accommodations and the time of year selected. Prices for the Newport Coast resort have not yet been set.


    Disney touts its program as offering more flexibility because guests don't have to book their vacations during the same week every year. Disney's entry into the time-share business is being closely watched within the industry, which in the past has been dogged by bad press because of shady operators. The company started its first time-share venture, Disney Vacation Club resort in Orlando, Fla., three years ago and is now building two additional resorts in Vero Beach, Fla., and one in Hilton Head Island, S.C.


    As such, the resort is being designed so that Disney's guests would not have to venture outside its gate to stay entertained. It will have four tennis courts, an "activity lawn" featuring sports like volleyball or crochet and Venetian gondolas that guests would row themselves. Children would be able to visit a crafts barn for pottery or cooking classes, and overnight camping. "There are lots of activities on-site, and we will also have off-site activities like day trips to Temecula wineries," Moreland said. And, of course, there will be many daily shuttles to Disneyland.


    The resort is directly above the Pelican Hill Golf Course, with the main entrance at Pelican Hill Road and Newport Coast Drive in the environmentally sensitive hills south of Newport Beach. The project will be terraced with a 200-foot elevation difference from the top to the bottom level, yet will be wheelchair accessible through an elaborate series of ramps. Most of the rooms will have ocean views.
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    Construction of BoardWalk Villas underway in 1995.




    Below is satellite imagery of the Boardwalk under construction.


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    Disney Magazine covers the construction of Disney's new Boardwalk






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    EARLY HHI PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL


    Early DVC promotional material for Hilton Head Island.


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    DVC Logo revised in 1995


    3 mountains reduced to 2 mountains



    Why did DVC change their logo? Who knows?


    BEFORE



    The original DVC logo with 3-mountains


    AFTER



    The 2-mountain logo introduced in 1995
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    Disney Takes Resorts To The Beach


    Vero Beach Resort Is An Expansion Of Disney's Vacation Club, A Time-share Resort



    September 30, 1995 | Sentinel Staff


    Walt Disney Co. will debut its first resort outside of a theme-park setting on Sunday when it opens Disney's Vero Beach Resort. The new resort is the first expansion of the Disney Vacation Club, Disney's version of time-share resorts. The club was launched in 1991 with a resort of nearly 500 units at Walt Disney World.




    Like the Disney World project, the Vero Beach Resort will eventually accommodate as many as 20,000 time-share owners when the company finishes additional phases of construction. So far, Disney has signed on about 500 owners at Vero Beach, on the coast in Indian River County.


    The resort is opening with a 115-room inn and 60 villas, all of which can be rented like a standard hotel room. When complete, the resort is expected to have 436 units. Disney officials said they'll wait a year to gauge how business is going before starting additional construction.




    Although sales at Vero Beach have been slow, Disney officials said that's because they've concentrated on marketing to people who want to book a trial stay. For the first few weekends of October, the resort is 90 percent booked. "A big part of our strategy in selling the product is renting accommodations," said. Michael Burns, vice president and general manager in charge of Disney Vacation Club's Florida operations. "We think that if people experience it, that's truly the best way to sell them."


    The Vacation Club will open a third resort, with 102 cottages, at Hilton Head Island, S.C., in March. Next summer, it will open 383 villas as part of the accommodations available at Disney World's BoardWalk Resort, which will also have a hotel and entertainment district.


    Burns said he's optimistic about the Vero Beach Resort, in part because the company's market research shows that up to 40 percent of Walt Disney World's summer visitors also want to go to the beach. He said he also expects the new resort to be popular with Central Florida residents, who would be unlikely to join the Vacation Club at Disney World. "We know that there's a big market out there," he said. "The challenge is to figure out how to communicate this new product and target those people."
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    Early promotional material for BWV


    Early DVC promotional material for the Boardwalk Villas.


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    Disney's Boardwalk A Blend Of 1900's And 1990's


    June 10, 1996 | Sentinel Staff


    Renowned architect Robert A.M. Stern envisioned the resort as a ''village across the water,'' a place where frazzled tourists could take a day off from the theme parks or spend a romantic evening. For Walt Disney World, it's the finishing touch to the Epcot resort area, and yet another opportunity to keep visitors on Disney property when they come to Orlando.


    Disney's BoardWalk resort complex opens for business July 1, adding another dimension to the company's rapidly growing collection of hotels, restaurants and entertainment and shopping areas. In a first for Disney, the Stern-designed complex combines all of those elements in a single location.


    ''It is a unique, one-of-a-kind resort on our property,'' said Al Weiss, president of Walt Disney World. It includes a high-end hotel called the BoardWalk Inn and the BoardWalk Villas, part of the Disney Vacation Club's time-share holdings. It has a 20,000-square-foot conference center, shops and the usual mix of pools, tennis courts and other amenities.


    The complex also has a lakefront entertainment district with restaurants, nightclubs and a ''brewpub'' serving beer made on site - all located on a wooden boardwalk. In addition to the people staying at BoardWalk, the entertainment strip is expected to draw heavily from four other hotels around the lake - the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin hotels, which do a large convention business, and the Yacht Club and Beach Club resorts.


    BoardWalk opens at a time when Disney's hotels and theme parks are busier than they have been in years. There has been so much demand for hotel rooms this year that the company has had to refer business to other hotels during peak periods, Disney executives say.


    Though Disney won't provide numbers, Alan Gould, an entertainment analyst with the New York investment banking firm Oppenheimer & Co., estimates Disney's hotel occupancy at close to 90 percent, ''way above the national average.'' ''What makes it even more impressive is the fact that they keep adding so many hotel rooms,'' he said.


    Disney has added about 4,500 rooms in the past two years, with the opening of the Wilderness Lodge and the budget-priced All-Star Sports and Music resorts. Counting the BoardWalk Inn, Disney has 14,715 hotel rooms. In comparison, the entire International Drive tourist area, has about 20,600 rooms.


    Company officials won't discuss where BoardWalk's bookings stand, except to say they are very strong. Some compare the resort's outlook to that of Wilderness Lodge. When that hotel opened in May 1994, ''it took off like a rocket,'' said Lee Cockerell, senior vice president of operations at Disney World. ''It was packed. ''With the theming today being so strong, people just want to get in and see these new places,'' he said.


    The theme of Disney's newest resort will be familiar to anyone who grew up with summer vacations in Mid-Atlantic and New England beach towns. Stern - who also designed the Yacht and Beach Clubs and is known for his books on architecture and his role as host of the 1986 PBS series Pride of Place: Building the American Dream - modeled BoardWalk after seaside towns from the early 1900s. Architectural touches are reminiscent of Cape May, N.J., with a Coney Island feel to the boardwalk.


    Disney officials say the resort has been an easy sell, especially with New Yorkers and others from that region. ''Anybody from New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia - you'd be amazed,'' said Charlie Hardiman, BoardWalk's general manager. ''The Northeast is kind of enamored with it.'' As Hardiman walks the dusty corridors of the BoardWalk Inn, where workers are racing the clock to finish the interior in time for its opening, he describes its place in Disney's hotel empire.


    He opens a door to a large room that's nearly ready, with an eclectic mix of furnishings that give it the look of a fancy bed and breakfast. ''It's not supposed to have that brand new feel,'' he explained. He pointed to an ornate brass mirror on the wall. ''This is like something you would have taken from your grandmother's house.'' The hotel, with just 378 rooms, will be the smallest and one of the more expensive on Disney property, comparable in price to the nearby Yacht and Beach Clubs. Room rates start at $225, off-season. Those that don't have a view of the water look out on the gardens of enclosed courtyards.


    The hotel is connected to 532 time-share units by a large lobby. In the evening, guests will be able to sit in the lounge and listen to 1930s radio programs such as Burns and Allen or The Untouchables on an old radio. By day, they can walk around the lake to the back entrance of Epcot, or take a boat ride to Disney-MGM Studios.


    The main distinction of these accommodations, however, is outside their doors. Disney's BoardWalk entertainment district is nothing like Pleasure Island, a gated, nighttime area in the Disney Village complex that tends to draw a younger crowd. BoardWalk doesn't charge admission, which should make it more popular with local residents.
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    Disney Scraps Plan to Build $250-Million Newport Resort


    Company will sell 45-acre coastal parcel, focus instead on its time-share projects out of state.



    February 19, 1997 | Bowing to competitive pressures within the rough-and-tumble time-share industry, Walt Disney Co. executives said Tuesday that they've scuttled plans to construct a $250-million time-share resort along Orange County's Newport Coast. Company spokesman Bill Warren said Disney has abandoned its vision for a 650-unit Mediterranean-style village near Newport Beach to concentrate on its four existing Disney's Vacation Club resorts in Orlando and Vero Beach, Fla., and Hilton Head, S.C. "We've had a lot of rapid growth in the last few years," Warren said. "We just made a decision to focus on what we've got."


    Disney plans to unload the vacant 45-acre parcel for which it paid more than $24 million, and has been talking with several brokers about handling the sale, Warren said. With its high-end products and low-pressure marketing techniques, Disney has been credited with improving the image of the time-share industry.


    But industry watchers say Disney overpaid for the Newport Coast property and is having a tough time replicating the early success of its two time-share resorts in Orlando, where the company's theme parks have provided instant marketing muscle and a steady stream of potential buyers. "In Orlando, they had people coming to them . . . but it has been a tougher sell in Hilton Head and Vero Beach," said David Matheson of the Criterion Group, an Atlanta-based advertising company that specializes in the time-share industry. "Pulling the plug in California isn't a red flag. But they are going to have to take a couple of caution laps before they move forward."


    Announced with much fanfare in 1994 and anticipated to open this year, Disney's first West Coast time-share resort was designed to mimic classic Italian architecture, including Venetian-style canals and a faux Roman aqueduct. But construction was delayed by repeated design changes as Disney worked to make the project economically feasible.


    Part of the challenge was the cost of the land. The company reportedly paid the Irvine Co. $24 million for the first 35 acres of the 70-acre project--a sum that some observers felt was too pricey for a time-share development. Disney purchased an additional 10 acres in 1994 and holds an option to buy an additional 25 acres from the Irvine Co.. "Disney would have had to ask a lot [for its time-share intervals] to justify that land cost," said Brad Benson, director of marketing for the 142-unit Peacock Suites time-share resort in Anaheim. "If the costs are too prohibitive you just can't do it."


    Newport Beach officials, who had been eyeing the time-share project as part of a proposed annexation effort, expressed regret at losing a major new development, particularly one bearing the vaunted Disney name. "I'm extremely disappointed," said Newport Beach Mayor Janice Debay. "We were looking forward to having an association with Disney and having this project become a part of Newport Beach. It was going to be a showplace." In January of 1998, Marriott announced plans for a California Coast Vacation Ownership resort located on the former Disney site. In June of 2000, Marriott’s Newport Coast Villas opened its first 55 units, with plans for 595 more, bringing the total up to 650 units.


    Here's what the Disney Newport Coast Villas could have been like:





    DVC Mike

  22. #46
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    Below are some DVC promotional materials from 1998.


    DVC is marketing four resorts.





    DVC Mike

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    Disney Vacation Club expands to Wilderness Lodge


    CELEBRATION, Fla
    Aug. 27, 1998


    Disney Vacation Development, Inc. (DVD), operators of Disney Vacation Club (DVC) -- the innovative vacation ownership program -- announced today that it will expand its timeshare resort presence at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida to include a third resort, as well as additional development at its flagship property. The third proposed ownership development at Walt Disney World Resort will be located immediately next to and adjoining the popular Disney's Wilderness Lodge in the Magic Kingdom Park Resorts area.


    "We are very excited about the opportunity to expand the Disney Vacation Club concept to yet another site here at the Walt Disney World Resort," said Al Weiss, President of Walt Disney World Resort. "And we are especially pleased to be able to `marry' a unique Disney vacation ownership offering with an award-winning, perennial guest favorite hotel like Disney's Wilderness Lodge."


    The new venture is modeled on the success of DVD's first mixed-use hotel project at Walt Disney World Resort, i.e., Disney's BoardWalk Villas - which combines both standard hotel and vacation ownership accommodations at the Walt Disney World Resort. "This union will allow us to create a truly superior vacation opportunity that will enhance and build on the popularity of a recognized Disney hotel," added Weiss.


    Initial plans for the proposed DVC resort call for the development of a 136-unit free-standing, five-story vacation ownership resort consisting of studio, one- and two-bedroom vacation villas on a 4-acre site adjoining Disney's Wilderness Lodge. All units will feature either a pool, water or woods view. Development plans further call for the construction of connecting walkways and full access to Disney's Wilderness Lodge and its existing parking area; the addition of a quiet pool and health club, as well as the expansion of existing retail space, quick-service dining and other select public areas. Development is slated to begin in the spring of 1999 with an estimated completion date of the fall of 2000, contingent upon obtaining all necessary approvals.


    "This newest proposed addition to the family of Disney Vacation Club Resorts is part of DVD's commitment to provide exciting new vacation offerings for its members," said Weiss. "We believe that this new resort will be a great success and that the rustic charm of this Early American national parks-inspired property will make it a preferred vacation option for members and guests alike."


    Like Disney's Wilderness Lodge, the new ownership resort is inspired by the tall timber and grandeur of the Rocky Mountain national park geyser country. In keeping with Disney's legendary entertainment heritage, the DVC resort will build on the storyline "imagineered" for the Disney's Wilderness Lodge property, which describes the new structure as actually "pre-dating" Disney's Wilderness Lodge through a design reminiscent of turn-of-the century hotels built by early railroad workers in the old West national park region.


    The 728-room lakeside Disney's Wilderness Lodge opened on May 28, 1994, and is modeled on the historic Old Faithful Lodge circa 1904 in Yellowstone National Park. In addition to its new resort development at the Walt Disney World Resort, DVD will also expand the number of units at its first property. "We are very pleased to complete the development plan for Disney's Old Key West Resort by converting the site that previously housed Disney Vacation Club's main sales center into 34 additional vacation ownership units," said Weiss. Construction is set to begin in the fall of 1998 with completion set for early 2000, subject to obtaining to all necessary approvals.


    The growing collection of Disney Vacation Club Resorts includes Disney's Old Key West Resort and Disney's BoardWalk Villas, both located at the Walt Disney World Resort, as well as Disney's first resorts beyond the Walt Disney World Resort theme park locations - Disney's Vero Beach Resort on Florida's Atlantic Coast and Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort in South Carolina.


    DVC Mike

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    Resort To Join Disney's Wilderness Lodge


    August 27, 1998 | Orlando Sentinel


    Just months after its flagship time-share resort became a sellout, Disney Vacation Club is about to grow. The company today will announce plans to build a new, 136-unit resort near Disney's Wilderness Lodge. Plans also call for the expansion of Disney's Old Key West Resort, which sold its final week - number 25,000 - earlier this year.


    Construction on the new resort, which has not yet been named, will begin in early 1999. The first units are expected to open in late 2000. By building the resort on 4 acres near the Wilderness Lodge, Disney will be able to spend less on infrastructure items, such as parking and restaurants. "We'll be able to take advantage of their front desk and all of their restaurants," said Mariska Elia, a Vacation Club spokesman.


    However, plans call for the addition of a new pool, health club and retail space.


    The new resort will rely on a theme and design similar to that of the 728-room Wilderness Lodge, which is modeled after a lodge built in 1904 near Yellowstone National Park. The two sites will be connected by covered walkways.
    DVC Mike

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    Expansion of Old Key West
    Commodore House torn down



    The expansion of the Old Key West Resort involves tearing down the now-unused sales center - the Commodore House.



    Photo courtesy of WebmasterDoc


    A small number of units will be built in its place. "It's about 34 units - and we expect them to go like hotcakes," Elia said.


    Note: The Commodore House was the original DVC Sales Center, opening in October, 1991. In July of 1998, it was closed and demolished to complete the final structures at OKW: buildings 62, 63 and 64 (those buildings opened in November 1999). The Commodore House occupied the current location for Building 62. The DVC Sales Center moved to BWV where it remained until 2003, when it moved to its present location at SSR.





    Once the Commodore House (the DVC Preview Center) was demolished, Miller's road was re-routed to accommodate buildings 62-64.
    DVC Mike

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    Groundbreaking for Villas at the Wilderness Lodge


    April 14, 1999
    CELEBRATION, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- On April 14th, Disney executives and resort industry representatives, along with a team of costumed Disney railway workers, officiated over the groundbreaking of The Walt Disney Company's newest vacation ownership project -- The Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge -- as they commemorated the "union" of two Disney resorts.


    Al Weiss, President of Walt Disney World Resort, was joined by George Aguel, Vice President/General Manager of Disney Vacation Development, Inc. (DVD), Cynthia Huheey, President of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), and other guests at the site of Disney Vacation Club's (DVC) fifth vacation ownership property, located immediately next to and adjoining the popular Disney's Wilderness Lodge in the Magic Kingdom Park Resorts area. The Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge is scheduled to open in January 2001.


    "Today's events are truly about imagination and inspiration," said Weiss. "The same pioneering spirit that led us to expand our business in new and exciting directions has also led us to expand the ways that our guests can enjoy it all."


    "This 'union' of a unique Disney vacation ownership offering with a well-established Disney hotel will create an unforgettable vacation experience for families everywhere for years to come," added Weiss. Cynthia Huheey, President of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), said: "With a near 1,000% growth rate globally since 1980 and $6 billion in annual gross sales worldwide, vacation ownership is the fastest growing segment of the resort industry.


    The Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge will combine the unique benefits of Disney vacation ownership with the amenities of an award-winning Walt Disney World Resort hotel. The new resort is modeled on the success of the Company's first mixed-use hotel project, i.e., Disney's BoardWalk Villas at Walt Disney World Resort, which combines both standard hotel and vacation ownership accommodations.


    "The Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge fulfills our Company's continuing commitment to create new and exciting vacation offerings for our members," said Aguel. "When we launched the Disney Vacation Club almost a decade ago, we envisioned a collection of ownership resorts with thousands of member families. And today, as we break ground for The Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, the Disney Vacation Club is a large and growing family, some 40,000 member families strong."


    Plans for the proposed DVC resort call for the development of a 136-unit free-standing, five-story vacation ownership resort consisting of studio, one- and two-bedroom vacation villas on a 4-acre site adjoining Disney's Wilderness Lodge. All units will feature either a pool, water or woods view.


    Also planned for construction are connecting walkways and full access to Disney's Wilderness Lodge and its existing parking area, recreation, dining and dramatic lobby areas. The addition of a pool, health club and the expansion of existing retail space and quick-service dining will complete the project.


    Like Disney's Wilderness Lodge, the new ownership resort is inspired by the tall timber and grandeur of the Rocky Mountain national park geyser country. In keeping with Disney's legendary entertainment heritage, the DVC resort will build on the storyline "imagineered" for the Disney's Wilderness Lodge property, which describes the new structure as actually "pre-dating" Disney's Wilderness Lodge through a design reminiscent of turn-of-the century hotels built by early railroad workers in the old West national park region.





    DVC Mike

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