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

  1. #76
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    Disney files plans for Treehouse Villas Rehab


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  3. #77
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    Disney files plans for "Kingdom Tower" DVC at Contemporary





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  4. #78
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    Orlando's Walt Disney World likely building time shares near Contemporary Resort


    January 14, 2008 | Orlando Sentinel


    Walt Disney World is in the midst of building a $110 million, 15-story tower next to its iconic Contemporary Resort that likely will feature time shares -- bringing the units closer to the Magic Kingdom than ever before. Disney will say little publicly about the fast-rising Contemporary addition. The new tower already stands five stories on 14 acres just to the north of the resort's signature A-frame main building, which was just the second hotel at Disney World when it opened a few months after the park itself first welcomed guests Oct. 1, 1971.


    But there is ample evidence Disney plans to use the tower for time shares. Building-permit applications filed with Reedy Creek Improvement District identify the owner of the property as a company called JMSRM Inc. State records show that is a fictitious name created in August 2006 by Celebration-based Disney Vacation Development, parent company of the Disney Vacation Club time-share arm. In a pair of letters, an environmental consultant hired by Disney calls it "a proposed Disney Vacation Club (DVC) Resort at the Contemporary hotel." And in a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Disney, which has built about 2,400 time-share units at eight resorts, revealed that it has about 680 more under construction at Disney World.


    Disney has only publicly acknowledged one ongoing time-share construction project in Orlando: Kidani Village, an extension of the partially completed Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas. That project is expected to have 340 units when finished in spring 2009 -- leaving another 340 or so unaccounted for.


    Construction records for the Contemporary expansion call for 295 three-bedroom suites. Some could be sold as separate two- and one-bedroom units. Still, Disney will not talk about the Contemporary addition. "We have plans to expand our Disney Vacation Club business both on Walt Disney World property and at other vacation destinations in the future. However, we don't have anything formal to announce today," Disney Vacation Club spokeswoman Rena Langley said.


    Analysts say Disney may have strategic reasons for holding back on a Contemporary time-share announcement. Disney, which has invested deeply in the time-share business in recent years, is still in the midst of peddling time shares in Animal Kingdom Villas and Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, both at Disney World. Announcing future time shares now in the Contemporary -- which are likely to be hugely popular, given their prime location along the Magic Kingdom monorail and within walking distance of the park -- could slow the current sales, said Robert LaFleur, a leisure-industry analyst with Susquehanna Financial Group.


    Disney time-share buyers, though they own a real-estate interest, do not purchase specific units in individual resorts; rather, they buy points that they can redeem for rooms in the company's time-share resorts or elsewhere. But buyers must purchase those points from a "home" resort -- there are a limited number of points available for each facility -- and they are given priority at that particular resort when booking a stay. "If you're trying to pitch a sale at Saratoga Springs or trying to pitch a sale at the Animal Kingdom, and somebody's aware that a year from now there's going to be stuff available in the Contemporary . . . that would cannibalize your other sales, I would think," LaFleur said.


    It is also possible that Disney could decide against marketing the Contemporary addition as time shares and use the building for more hotel rooms instead. Company executives said recently that Disney World hotels are averaging 90 percent occupancy, and the Contemporary commands some of the highest room rates of them all: A one-bedroom suite can run as high as $1,310 a night. "I know [Disney has] talked about a tower there for a long, long time," even before the company's interest in time shares, said Reedy Creek District Administrator Ray Maxwell.


    The Contemporary addition is sure to be a lavish one. Records say the crescent-shaped tower will include a host of amenities, including a swimming pool and water-play area with an outdoor bar and a water slide; a spa; tennis courts; a barbecue pavilion; and a 499-person lounge on the 15th floor featuring a restaurant and bar. The new tower will be connected to the main building by a pedestrian bridge.


    The project price tag: $109.6 million.


    According to development records, Disney broke ground on the expansion in January 2007. The construction, which began with the demolition of an older, three-story wing of hotel rooms, is expected to take about 32 months. That would put the completion date about September 2009.


    Last fall, Disney announced that it will build an 800-room resort in Hawaii in which at least half of the rooms will be time shares and that it will add 50 two-bedroom villas to Disneyland's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, which will be the first time shares at Disney's original resort. Disney Vacation Club President Jim Lewis has also said that the unit is considering projects in Lake Tahoe and the Caribbean. The company currently has six time-share locations at Disney World and one each in Vero Beach and Hilton Head, S.C.


    Time shares have blossomed across the hotel industry. Jeremy Glaser, an analyst with Morningstar, said they are especially lucrative for a company such as Disney because time shares lock in future trips to its theme parks.


    "They're going to make money from your park admission and all of that ancillary money you're going to spend every time you come to Orlando," Glaser said. "They have an added bonus to get you to commit to taking vacations there for years."
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  5. #79
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    Walt Disney World to rebuild Treehouse Villas


    February 19, 2008 | Orlando Sentinel


    Hidden among the trees in an obscure part of Walt Disney World, one of Disney's more unusual and largely forgotten housing options is getting new life. The giant resort intends to tear down and replace Disney's Treehouse Villas, a community of 60 two-story housing units that have been used at various times as for-rent lodging, Disney Institute guest housing, and international student-worker housing. The three-bedroom villas -- essentially octagonal town houses on pedestals, looking a little like treehouses -- are scattered throughout a forested back road between a Disney World golf course and a canal, where they have aged, sometimes not well, for 33 years.


    While a few of them are in plain view to golfers on the Lake Buena Vista Golf Course and to resort guests who take a ferry-boat ride up the canal, they are well out of sight for the vast portion of the 100,000 or more people who occupy Disney World on any given day. Disney officials haven't made much of the villas for years, and even now they aren't willing to discuss their plans in any detail. The company sought and received permission from the South Florida Water Management District recently to tear down the villas and replace them. Disney World spokeswoman Andrea Finger said at least some of the new units would be available for use by resort visitors -- the first time any of the Treehouse Villas have been open to the public in several years.


    She would not discuss whether the new Treehouse Villas would be rented as lodging, sold as Disney Vacation Club time shares, or both. "We are bringing them back as a popular option for our guests," she said. "The unique location has provided a tranquil and more secluded environment that our guests have enjoyed since the mid-'70s."


    Disney first opened the villas in 1975. Strung along a cul-de-sac road more than a quarter-mile long off Disney Vacation Club Way, the complex has its own pool and a small clubhouse. The villas were renovated in 1987 and then converted to housing in 1996 for the short-lived Disney Institute; at least some were sometimes made available for regular park visitors until 2002. By then they were showing their age.


    According to Ray Maxwell, district administrator for the Reedy Creek Improvement District, most or all of the Treehouse Villas had been shuttered by the time Hurricane Charley blasted through Central Florida on Aug. 13, 2004, wrecking the villas and the surrounding woods. The damage was such that there was talk that Charley might have spawned a small tornado into the area, he said. "A lot of trees blew down, and there was a lot of damage to the units," Maxwell said. "They [Disney officials] took them out of service. Before they could do anything, the units needed to be rehabbed."


    In 2005, at least some of the units were reopened as housing for international students working at Disney World, and were used as such until just a few weeks ago, Finger said. The sign out front at the gate warns, "Cast Members Only."


    Much of the complex was built in the flood plain, so Disney could not tear down the old villas and replace them with just anything. The new plan reduces the units' ground-level "footprint" from 340 square feet to 84 square feet each by eliminating the first-floor living space. Consequently, the new buildings will be even more treehouse-like, supported by sets of pilings. The South Florida Water Management District approved the plan Feb. 4.





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  6. #80
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    Walt Disney Co. to sell time shares in 15-story tower next to Contemporary Resort


    KINGDOM TOWER



    February 26, 2008 | Orlando Sentinel


    The Walt Disney Co. has won approval to begin selling time shares in a 15-story tower the company is erecting next to its famed Contemporary Resort, a $110 million addition that Disney has named "The Kingdom Tower." Disney has for months refused to divulge its plans for the hard-to-miss, half-built tower that is rising just outside the gates of the Magic Kingdom -- despite rampant speculation among Disney fans that it is destined for time shares. A spokeswoman for the company's time-share division, Disney Vacation Club, would not discuss the project in detail again Monday. "We don't have anything to announce today," spokeswoman Diane Hancock said.


    But in new filings with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Disney formally states that the Disney Vacation Club will "add a ninth component site to be known as Kingdom Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort." Disney says in the documents that it will sell the time shares in phases, beginning with an initial 75 units. The Kingdom Tower, which will connect to the existing Contemporary via a fifth-floor pedestrian bridge, will ultimately contain 281 units, according to the filings.


    A spokesman for the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which awarded a time-share license to the Kingdom Tower project earlier this month, said Disney has now been cleared to start selling units at any time. "They can begin," department spokesman Sam Farkas said.


    Disney appears in no rush. The company says in the documents it doesn't expect to finish the Kingdom Tower until the fall of 2009. Analysts say the company can afford to be patient. The Kingdom Tower, they say, is likely to prove a huge seller, given that it will be the closest time shares Disney has built to the Magic Kingdom -- the busiest theme park in the world -- and the first built directly alongside Disney's monorail. "I'd have to imagine that's going to be an extremely popular product," said Jeremy Glaser, a lodging-industry analyst with Morningstar.


    Some analysts think Disney is withholding a formal Contemporary announcement because it does not want to undermine time-share sales at Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas or Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, both of which are still selling units. The company's four other time-share resorts at Walt Disney World -- as well as one each in Vero Beach and Hilton Head, S.C. -- are sold out. Glaser, however, said Disney's silence "could just be some trademark Disney secrecy."


    Disney's filings with the state also offer more detail about the Kingdom Tower's amenities. A new swimming pool, for instance, will be large enough for 180 people; go as deep as 4 feet, 11 inches; and feature two hot tubs and a 104-foot-long water slide. There will be two tennis courts, two shuffleboard courts and two boccie ball courts. A barbecue pavilion will have about 490 square feet of covered area and a pair of picnic tables.


    Glaser predicted that Disney will choose to market the Contemporary time shares "as more of an upscale product." An early point-chart submitted by Disney to the state -- Disney Vacation Club owners buy points from the company, which they then redeem for rooms, though they must buy through a "home resort" -- shows guests will have to spend more points to rent one- and two-bedroom units at the Kingdom Tower than any of Disney's other existing time shares.


    In a further step toward cementing the new tower's status as a time-share resort, Disney has created a new condominium association that would manage the resort once units are sold off to individual owners. State records show that the "Kingdom Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort Condominium Association" was formally incorporated Jan. 9.


    The Kingdom Tower continues a wave of construction for Disney's fast-growing Vacation Club. The company is in the midst of building its first time shares at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., and has announced plans to build an 800-room resort in Hawaii in which at least half of the units will be time shares.


    Disney also recently obtained approval to rebuild its little-known Treehouse Villas, a 60-unit community in a heavily forested area of Disney World. The move has prompted speculation that those units, too, could be converted to time shares.


    The widespread building boom comes even as the U.S. economy teeters on the brink of a possible recession. But Tammie Kaufman, a professor at the University of Central Florida who teaches courses on time shares, said time shares could remain popular even during an economic slump because consumers will want to stretch their vacation money further. "People are looking for a bargain," Kaufman said.
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  7. #81
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    A look back at the site for BLT (1 of 3)


    Let's take a look back at the history of the site for Bay Lake Tower.


    The Contemporary Resort used to have two garden wings, as shown on this map.




    Here's what the North Wing looked like.


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  8. #82
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    A look back at the site for BLT (2 of 3)


    In 2006, Disney filed plans for a project on the site of the Contemporary Resort's North Garden Wing and a construction fence was erected, encompassing the wing and part of its parking lot. The North Wing was demolished between January 31 and April 6, 2007.














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  9. #83
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    A look back at the site for BLT (3 of 3)


    Here is Bay Lake Tower rising up where the North Garden Wing was.

















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  10. #84
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    DVC MAKES CHANGES TO BOOKING WINDOW RULES


    11/7 months in advance of check-IN date instead of check-OUT date



    June 28, 2008


    In response to ongoing Member feedback regarding our reservation processes, we are introducing a new policy designed to enhance booking guidelines.


    The new reservation policy now offers Members the opportunity to place one single phone call to secure an entire Disney Vacation Club Resort reservation for as many as 7 nights, beginning on the first day of their booking window (which is 11 months before check-in at Members' Home Resort, or 7 months before check-in at other Disney Vacation Club Resorts). The previous policy required Members to call daily at the beginning of their booking window, piecing together their reservation one night at a time.


    In addition to providing greater Member convenience, the simplification of the reservation process also provides the benefit of reduced call volume to Member Services, thereby shortening Members' wait times and making more efficient use of Member Services resources, which are supported by Members' Annual Dues.
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  11. #85
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    Disney's time-share kingdom grows


    September 16, 2008 | Orlando Sentinel


    The Walt Disney Co.'s rapidly growing time-share division takes an aggressive step forward today when it unveils plans for two new resorts in Orlando -- even as Disney Vacation Club battles some of the strongest financial headwinds it has ever faced. Disney this morning will formally reveal plans for its Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort, confirming earlier reports that the 15-story tower rising just beyond the Magic Kingdom will be used for time shares. The company also will unveil plans to sell time shares at the Treehouse Villas at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, a secluded community of 60 units that is being rebuilt in a forested pocket of Walt Disney World.


    Two long rumored resort developments were announced today for Disneys Vacation Club, Disneys vacation-ownership program: Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary and Treehouse Villas at Saratoga Springs.


    The 15-story Bay Lake Tower at Disneys Contemporary Resort is scheduled to join the Disney Vacation Club family of properties in fall 2009, while the Treehouse Villas at Disneys Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, scheduled to open in summer 2009, will become the next room category offered at that resort. Disney Vacation Club also announced that Bay Lake Tower sales are scheduled to begin on Sept. 21 for Disney Vacation Club Members, while sales to the general public and sales for the newest phase of Disneys Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa will begin at a later date.


    Our founder, Walt Disney, was well known for having one foot in the past and one in the future, said Disney Vacation Club President Jim Lewis. These new resort developments share that dynamic sensibility, blending modern luxury and design with the nostalgic spirit of two of the most storied resorts in Walt Disney World history.








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    DVC Reallocates Point Charts


    January 21, 2009


    For just the second time in its 18 year history (the first time was in 1996), Disney Vacation Club has taken steps to reallocate the points charts for existing DVC resorts.


    Disney Vacation Club adjusts 2010 Vacation Points charts


    To help address a growing Member interest in weekend stays at Disney Vacation Club Resorts, Disney Vacation Club has adjusted 2010 Vacation Points charts, reducing Vacation Point requirements for Friday and Saturday nights.


    To make this change possible, Vacation Point requirements for some instances of Sunday-Thursday stays are now higher. However, a full week's stay will essentially cost the same amount of Vacation Points as before.



    On January 20, 2010, DVC once again modified the 2011 point charts to further increase the cost of weekday stays while lowering weekend costs.


    Note: DVC can make adjustments to the point chart for a resort to better reflect supply and demand. Reallocation is the process of raising the point requirements for a specific resort / room size / view / season / day of the week, while lowering the points for another room size / view / season / day of the week at the same resort. The key to reallocation is that the total points for the year in a single resort is a fixed number and cannot change.
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    Sales begin for The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa


    March 26, 2009 | Anaheim, CA


    With construction of The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa on schedule for a late 2009 opening at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, sales have officially begun for this West Coast Disney Vacation Club Resort.


    While Disney Vacation Club has maintained sales operations at the Disneyland Resort since 2005, the 50 two-bedroom-equivalent vacation homes in development at The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa will be the first Disney Vacation Club Resort accommodations in the Golden State. "We're excited to bring Disney Vacation Club to the West Coast," said Disney Vacation Club President Jim Lewis. "Like most Disney fans, our Members have great affection for the original Disney vacation destination, and we're thrilled that this expansion project will allow our Members to call the Disneyland Resort 'home' for the first time."


    Beyond the new vacation homes, the 2.5-acre expansion project on the iconic hotel's south side is scheduled to include 200 new traditional hotel rooms, a new pool, about 300 underground valet parking spaces and more. The late Peter Dominick, architect for Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, as well as Disney's Wilderness Lodge and Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge at the Walt Disney World Resort, designed the ambitious expansion, calling on the same California Arts & Crafts architectural styles that define the original hotel. Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa currently features 745 Guest rooms, including 44 suites. Upon completion of the expansion project, the hotel will feature 945 Guest rooms, including 44 Guest suites and 50 Disney Vacation Club two-bedroom equivalent villas.
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    Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa Celebrates Expansion


    New Wing and First West Coast Disney Vacation Club Villas Open to Guests Today



    September 23, 2009 | Anaheim, CA


    Disneyland Resort today unveiled a stunning new addition to its Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, including 203 new guest rooms and 50 two-bedroom equivalent Disney Vacation Club villas, the first Disney Vacation Club property on the West Coast. Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa immerses guests in the magic of the Disneyland Resort by capturing the spirit of early California through design and architecture. Many of the new vacation villas offer guests spectacular views into Disney’s California Adventure Park.


    “This expansion reinforces Disney’s long-term commitment to investing in Anaheim’s Resort District,” said Ed Grier, president of Disneyland Resort. ”Since opening in 2001, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa continues to impress our guests with its timeless sophistication and exquisite service. The new villas and hotel rooms will give more guests the opportunity to enjoy the immersive vacation experience Disney is known for.”


    The 2.5-acre addition to Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, which increases accommodations by more than 30 percent, is part of ongoing resort expansion work. Currently underway is a multiyear expansion of Disney’s California Adventure Park, which will add new attractions, entertainment experiences and an entirely new 12-acre Cars Land. In addition, the resort’s historic Disneyland Hotel also began a major three-year renovation last month.


    “We are so fortunate to have a wonderful partner in the Disneyland Resort,” said Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle. ”Disney’s continued investment in Anaheim benefits the entire Resort District as well as the surrounding community. This grand addition to the city’s only four-diamond hotel will encourage even more visitors to come to Anaheim and experience a vacation in our great City.”


    The Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa mark the 10th property for Disney Vacation Club, Disney’s innovative vacation-ownership program. As with all Disney Vacation Club properties, guests are able to experience the comforts of home, such as a fully equipped kitchen, living area, dining area, washer and dryer, whirlpool tub and other amenities, depending on the size of the accommodations. Guests can choose from four different room categories including a studio (sleeps 4), one-bedroom villa (sleeps up to 5), two-bedroom villa (sleeps up to 9) and the three-bedroom, two-story Grand Villa (sleeps up to 12).


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    Disney Vacation Club goes west


    September 28, 2009 | Orlando Sentinel


    Disney Vacation Club, the Walt Disney Co.'s rapidly growing time-share division, opened its first property on the west coast last week, when the resort formally threw open the doors of the 50-unit Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.


    The Villas was built as part of an expansion that added another 203 rooms to the Disneyland hotel in Anaheim, Calif., in part to make Vacation Club more enticing to a wider geographic pool of potential time-share buyers. Disney says about 86 percent of Vacation Club's 400,000-plus members (a family of four who buys into DVC is counted as four members) live east of the Mississippi River.


    Disney is banking on the 830-room resort it is building in Hawaii -- in which 480 of the rooms will be time-share units -- to give Vacation Club a similar boost. The Hawaiian resort is scheduled to open in 2011.
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    DVC Begins Selling Fixed Weeks


    Back when it started in 1991, the Disney Vacation Club was different than many timeshares in that instead of selling “fixed weeks” where a person bought a specific week they would be able to use year after year, DVC used a flexible points-based system that may be used in different time increments for vacation stays anytime throughout the year at DVC resorts in a variety of accommodations from studios to three-bedroom villas.


    Beginning with Aulani, DVC will begin selling what they call a “Guaranteed Week”. The Guaranteed Week option allows an owner to secure a reservation every year during a specific timeshare week, in a specific room size and view, throughout the duration of their DVC ownership. Member Services will automatically book your guaranteed reservation every year – on a priority basis and ahead of other members trying to book at the 11-month window on a first-come, first-served basis.


    DVC says that Guaranteed Week ownership interests will be capped at 35% of any specific Use Day for any specific Vacation Home type. At least 65% of all dates and villa sizes will remain available for booking on points at the resort.
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    Aulani Sales Begin


    July 1, 2010 | Celebration, Fla.


    Disney Vacation Club began selling real estate interests for the companys first family-friendly destination resort in Hawai`i today. Aulani, Disney Vacation Club Villas, Ko Olina, Hawai`i, is scheduled to open its first phase in fall 2011 and will mark the eleventh resort for Disney Vacation Club.


    We are thrilled to give families joining Disney Vacation Club a new resort option in one of the most popular vacation destinations in the world, said Disney Vacation Club President Jim Lewis. Once Aulani opens, families will be able to immerse themselves in the culture of Hawai`i while knowing that they will get the quality vacation experience only Disney can deliver.


    Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, Ko Olina, Hawai`i, is planned to include 481 two-bedroom equivalent Disney Vacation Club villas and 360 traditional hotel rooms upon its completion. Other family friendly resort amenities are scheduled to include an 18,000 sq. ft. spa, two restaurants, a wedding lawn, a kids club, a conference center and a pool area complete with a feature pool, wading pool, tube slides, sunset-facing hot tubs and a snorkel lagoon.


    Built adjacent to a crystal-blue lagoon and a white-sand beach, Aulani is located on 21 acres of oceanfront property in the Ko Olina Resort & Marina development, near the existing Ko Olina Marina and a Ted Robinson-designed, 18-hole Championship Golf course. Located on the western side of O`ahu, the resort will also offer easy access to other points of interest on the island, such as the North Shore area and Pearl Harbor.
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  18. #92
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    A Look at the Aulani Construction
























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  19. #93
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    Disney aims to boost direct time-share sales by restricting resales


    January 18, 2011 | Orlando Sentinel


    In a bid to buttress its own sales, Disney's time-share business said Tuesday it will impose new restrictions on buyers who purchase their time shares from existing owners rather than directly from Disney.


    Disney Vacation Club, which sells time shares as "points" that can be redeemed for stays in various accommodations, said it will no longer allow owners who acquire their points via resales to redeem them for nights in conventional hotel rooms at the company's five theme-park resorts worldwide, voyages aboard its cruise ships or vacations through its guided-tour operation.


    Instead, such owners will be allowed to use their points only for stays in one of Disney's 11 time-share resorts seven of which are at Walt Disney World or in third-party hotels available through time-share exchange operator RCI.


    Customers who buy directly from Disney will still be able to redeem their points at Disney hotels, aboard Disney Cruise Line or through Adventures by Disney. The ability to use points for different Disney vacations is a perk frequently cited by Disney Vacation Club sales agents.


    A Disney Vacation Club spokeswoman said customers who bought their time shares directly from Disney have requested such a change.


    "Our members just felt that that they should get more benefits when they purchase through Disney Vacation Club than those who purchase on the secondary market," spokeswoman Diane Hancock said. She added that the change aligns Disney with other time-share operators who impose similar restrictions on resales.


    But some company followers said Disney is trying to prop up its own direct sales, which stumbled during the global recession and credit freeze. Disney reported lower vacation-club sales during its 2010 fiscal year, which ended Oct. 2.
    DVC Mike

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    Remember Deevy See?


    The Founder and First Lady of DVC
    (or so she said)




    The Founder and First Lady of DVC
    (or so she said)
    DVC Mike

  21. #95
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    Disney planning addition to Grand Floridian


    March 23, 2011 | Orlando Sentinel


    Walt Disney World is preparing to build an addition to Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, the most expensive of the giant resort's 17 hotels. A permit application submitted to the South Florida Water Management District describes a six- to seven-story, T-shaped building that will be connected via a covered walkway to the existing Grand Floridian. The nearly 900-room, Victorian-themed hotel, next to the Magic Kingdom, has standard room rates that begin at $440 a night.


    No construction timetable was provided, and Disney wouldn't discuss the project Tuesday. "At any given time, we have numerous projects in various stages of development across our resort," spokesman Bryan Malenius said. "If a project comes to fruition, we will share details when it makes sense to do so for our business."


    But the plans, which were filed with the water-management district earlier this month and quickly surfaced online in Disney fan forums, have touched off widespread speculation that the building will be used for Disney Vacation Club time shares. Disney would be following a familiar model if that's what it does. The company's newest time-share project in Orlando, the 15-story Bay Lake Tower, was built as an addition to Disney's Contemporary Resort, another high-priced Disney hotel by the Magic Kingdom.


    Disney also has a history of attempting to keep its time-share projects quiet for as long as possible, for fear of undermining sales at already-open properties. Disney refrained from discussing its Bay Lake Tower plans until nearly two years after breaking ground on the project.


    Disney is currently peddling units in three open time shares at Disney World Bay Lake Tower, Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas, and Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa as well in an under-construction resort in Hawaii dubbed "Aulani." That project, the first major resort Disney has built that isn't tied to a theme park, is scheduled to open in phases beginning this fall.


    A new time-share project would be the first Disney has launched since the global recession and credit crunch, which decimated much of the time-share industry. Sales at Disney's time-share business fell during the downturn; the unit generated an estimated $190 million a year in operating profit before the slump.


    Still, Disney says it has been happy with Vacation Club's performance through the recession. "It has been a business that has been far more resilient than I think any of us internally would have thought," Walt Disney Co. Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo said during an analyst conference earlier this month. Rasulo added that Disney prefers not to do lengthy pre-sales for its time-share developments. "We basically like people to be able to use their unit as soon as they buy in for the Vacation Club," he said.


    Disney declined to discuss the pace of sales in Bay Lake Tower, other than to say it is "pleased with the continued popularity" of the project.


    DVC Mike

  22. #96
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    A Satellite view of VGF history


    May 2010 - Here is a look before anything was underway at the Grand Floridian




    May 2010 - The same view with an overlay of where Disney plans to put VGF.




    Jan 2012 - Prepping the land




    Oct 2012 - Building under construction




    Jan 2014 - Well after VGF was completed


    DVC Mike

  23. #97
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    Disney Vacation Club Reveals Bold New Look


    June 15, 2011 | The Disney Blog


    Since 1991, the Disney Vacation Club logo has symbolized a unique approach to delivering vacation experiences at Disney Parks and beyond. Sporting a Mickey-eared sun rising above snow-capped mountains flanked by swaying palms and fronted by rolling waves, the logo was designed to change the way families think about vacationing with the mouse.


    Now, with Disneys innovative vacation-ownership program having grown to include more than 500 vacation options across the globe, and with its member community having grown to represent more than 100 countries and every U.S. state, the Disney Vacation Club experience is about more than mountains, beaches and Disney Parks.


    It was with that growth in mind that artists recently re-imagined the logo by dramatically widening its perspective, topping the entire globe with those familiar ears. More than just shiny eye candy (though its hard to go wrong with shiny), the new logo represents an ongoing commitment to helping families expand their vacation horizons and travel in ways they never dreamed possible.


    BEFORE



    The 2-mountain logo introduced in 1995


    AFTER



    The present day logo introduced in June 2011
    DVC Mike

  24. #98
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    Disney halts sales and fires executives amid financial issues with Hawaiian resort


    August 15, 2011 | Orlando Sentinel


    Financial issues with a new Walt Disney Co. resort scheduled to open this month in Hawaii prompted the company to suspend all time-share sales for the project and force out three executives, including the president of its Celebration-based time-share business, according to several people familiar with the events.
    Disney on Friday fired Jim Lewis, president of Disney Vacation Club, the company's time-share division. The company also dismissed Jim Heaney, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Disney Cruise Line and travel operations, and Lawrence Smith, a former director of finance for Disney Vacation Club who was most recently with food-and-beverage operations for Walt Disney World.


    The dismissals followed an internal investigation into problems surrounding Aulani, an estimated $850 million hotel and time share scheduled to open Aug. 29 on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Plans call for the resort to have 460 Disney Vacation Club time shares and 359 conventional hotel rooms.


    Disney said Monday evening it had appointed Claire Bilby, a 23-year company veteran who had most recently been senior vice president of distribution marketing and Asia Pacific sales, to run its time-share business. Bilby's title will be senior vice president of Disney Vacation Club.


    According to the people familiar with details of the investigation, it focused on the annual dues that Disney Vacation Club plans to charge buyers of Aulani time shares. Those yearly fees are used to cover ongoing expenses such as the resort's maintenance and repairs. Those people said Disney concluded that Vacation Club executives had calculated dues amounts so low that they would not generate enough money to cover the cost of maintaining Aulani. The inadequate dues amounts were included in legal-disclosure documents submitted to the Hawaiian government.


    Disney said Aulani's operating costs were underestimated, leading to the inadequate annual dues. It said the mistake was unintentional. The low fees prompted concerns within the company that Aulani would eventually face a significant operating shortfall, the people familiar with the investigation said. The company also feared the possibility of a brand-damaging backlash from Hawaiian regulators or consumers should Disney attempt to significantly raise Aulani's annual dues in future years to plug any deficit. All of the people familiar with the events spoke only on the condition that they not be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.


    Disney suspended Aulani sales on July 9, a little more than one year after it started selling the project to consumers. The company says it is accepting "deposit reservations" in the interim from buyers who wish to lock in current Aulani prices, though there is no penalty for consumers who cancel such reservations. Rena Langley, a spokeswoman for Disney, said the company is now in the process of changing the registration materials submitted to the Hawaiian government and that it expects to file the updated documents this week. She said the changes involve "adjustments to our annual dues forecast for Aulani."


    Disney's initial sales materials stated that the 2011 annual dues for Aulani would be $4.31 for every "point" purchased, or $689.60 a year based on 160 points, which Disney says is the minimum amount for new Vacation Club members. (Disney Vacation Club sells points, rather than specific time periods, which allows buyers to redeem them at various times and destinations.)


    Langley said buyers who have already purchased points in Aulani will get a credit toward their annual dues equal to the difference between the original quoted amount and whatever higher price Disney sets now. She declined to say how many people have bought into Aulani so far. All time-share developers face pressure to keep maintenance fees as low as possible in order to drive sales. While such fees may seem a trifling issue when compared with the upfront sticker price of a time share — which can cost $50,000 or more — they can nonetheless be a significant deterrent for buyers.


    A 2009 survey for the American Resort Development Association, the time-share industry trade group, found that one in four recent time-share buyers cited annual maintenance fees as a top reason they had been hesitant about purchasing a time share. Tammie Kaufman, a professor in the University of Central Florida's Rosen College of Hospitality Management, said many buyers are wary because dues are a recurring expense that can increase from year to year. "It's because of the unknown. People have heard horror stories" about dues, Kaufman said.


    Aulani's performance is being closely watched by Disney investors. The project is the first test of the company's strategy to build standalone hotels and niche parks in secondary markets away from its massive theme-park resorts in Orlando and Anaheim, Calif., as Disney's parks division searches for new sources of growth in North America.


    None of the three executives fired Friday received a severance package, according to a person who spoke with one of the men. The dismissal marks a shocking fall for Jim Lewis, once considered a rising star within Disney's executive ranks and a leading candidate to become president of Walt Disney World, the company's biggest and most profitable theme-park operation. Lewis joined Disney in 1996 from PepsiCo as a director of planning and finance for Disney's sales unit. He was tapped to oversee Disney Vacation Club in 2003, and under his watch the unit became the fastest-growing business within Disney's global theme-park division. At its peak before the global recession, Disney Vacation Club generated an estimated $190 million a year in operating income. Lewis did not return phone messages Monday.


    Disney's decision to force Heaney out in addition to Lewis stunned several company followers. The finance executive was highly regarded both inside and outside of Disney; he had earned the nickname "The Brain" from some fellow executives. "I am very proud of my accomplishments and how I conducted business during my 16-plus years with Disney," Heaney said. "Given this track record, I am bewildered by the company's decision."


    Smith could not be reached for comment.


    The Aulani paralysis has frustrated some Disney customers. William Montgomery, a 37-year-old business owner from Dallas, said he called Disney on July 27 planning to buy into Aulani — only to be told by the sales agent that he couldn't. "And so I said, 'What's the deal?' He got real cryptic, real fast. … All he would say is there was something wrong in the documentation and that the Disney lawyers had stopped everything," said Montgomery, who also owns an interest in a Disney time share in Orlando. "It's the damndest thing. I mean, Disney won't take your money."
    DVC Mike

  25. #99
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    Error leads to 33% fee increase for Disney's Aulani time shares


    September 22, 2011 | Orlando Sentinel


    The Walt Disney Co. has been given permission to raise its fees by 33 percent for those who buy time shares at its new, $850 million resort in Hawaii, as the company attempts to fix a financial error that cost three Central Florida executives their jobs.


    The approval, granted Thursday by Hawaiian state regulators, clears the way for Disney to resume time-share sales at Aulani, a massive hotel and time share that opened Aug. 29 west of Honolulu on the island of Oahu. "We have resumed closing sales for Aulani in Hawaii and hope to follow suit in our other sales locations shortly," said Rena Langley, a spokeswoman for Disney Vacation Club, the company's Celebration-based time-share arm. Disney must now submit updated consumer-disclosure materials to regulators and other states. The company will begin with Florida, California, New York and Illinois, its most-important sales markets.


    Disney suspended Aulani time-share sales on July 9 after an internal investigation found that executives had underestimated the annual dues it needed to charge time-share buyers to cover the resort's operating expenses. The discovery sparked concerns within Disney that Aulani would eventually face an operating loss or would have to jack up its dues in later years, potentially alienating customers.


    Disney said the error was the result of an unintentional miscalculation. Still, the company fired three people over the mistake: Jim Lewis, the former president of Disney Vacation Club, and two finance executives who had previously worked in the time-share unit. Documents approved Thursday by Hawaii revealed for the first time the magnitude of the error. Disney initially set dues at $4.31 for every time-share "point" purchased by a customer. (Disney Vacation Club sells points that can be redeemed at various times of the year and at different destinations, rather than specific units and time intervals.)


    Now, however, Disney will charge $5.73 per point a 33 percent increase. The increase works out to about $180 more per year for someone who buys just enough points to spend a week in a studio unit at Aulani during the slowest time of the year. It would add almost $850 more a year for someone who buys enough points for a week in a two-bedroom, ocean-view room during the busiest parts of the year.


    Disney won't say how many buyers have already purchased points in Aulani, which first went on sale in July 2010. The company says those buyers will get an annual credit towards their dues to account for the new price discrepancy. The resort will have 481 time-share villas and 359 hotel rooms.


    Aulani is a hugely important project for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and the division's hopes for future growth in North America. If it is successful, the company hopes to build more such standalone resorts or smaller, niche theme parks in secondary markets away from its world-famous, multi-park resorts in Central Florida and Southern California.
    DVC Mike

  26. #100
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    Fort Wilderness DVC?


    September 30, 2011


    Disney considers developing a DVC resort at Fort Wilderness. Rumors started leaking out in October 2010 that this might be the next DVC.


    Plans dated September 30, 2011 for "Project 2011-2" at Fort Wilderness were created, but the plans never came to fruition. Only time will tell if DVC turns its attention to a Fort Wilderness DVC.


    Below are the site plans.




    The drawing below showed the overall layout of the buildings.


    DVC Mike

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