- Joined
- Aug 25, 2007
The future of DVC?
http://i235.*************************************Resorts/Future/TheFutureodDVC.png
I wonder what happened to the person who came up with the idea for Disney to enter the timeshare business, well over 23 years ago? I hope he got a big bonus, as DVC has been a very successful (and profitable) venture by the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts division.
I bet back in the early 1990’s, Disney most likely greeted the creation of a timeshare on Walt Disney World with great uncertainty and risk.
On December 20, 1991, the “Disney Vacation Club” resort opened on Walt Disney World property. This resort, with its waterfront village of colorful, clapboard-sided vacation villas, created a new type of accommodation. For the first time, guests had access to an on-property resort with multiple bedrooms, several pools, a general store, various children's play areas and outdoor barbecue grills.
The first members bought ownership in “The Disney Vacation Club” with no guarantee that additional resorts would ever be built.
On October 1, 1995, Disney's second DVC resort opened in Vero Beach, Florida and on March 6, 1996 their third resort opened on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. In addition, a fourth DVC was under construction at WDW that would become the Boardwalk Resort.
It was now time to give the first DVC resort a unique identity to separate it from the rest. So in January 1996, the name was officially changed to Disney's Old Key West Resort.
Here we are now with 13 resorts available and certainly more in various stages of design and development. We’ve seen DVC expand to Disneyland and Hawaii.
Note: Anyone interested in a more detailed look back at DVC can read A brief history of the Disney Vacation Club.
For all the income they make on management of existing DVC resorts, it is a drop in the bucket compared to what they make selling new points. So, for the DVD business model to work, there has to be a continued stream of more resorts to sell.
What does the future hold for DVC? How long can their current business plan be successful?
http://i235.*************************************Resorts/Future/ExpNearParks.png
EXPANSION NEAR THEME PARKS
I’ve joked that Walt Disney once said:
http://i235.*************************************Resorts/Future/Florida-Project.jpg
When you look at their possible paths forward at Walt Disney World, let's first look back at the approaches they've used thus far:
The first two options appear to be Disney's present strategy at WDW.
DVD will always need to sell a DVC property that's close to a park, so the conversions of Deluxe hotel rooms and additions of new buildings will continue.
Rumored expansions include:
By converting hotel rooms to DVC, Disney gains a lot of short-term gains by selling the ownership interests, and also puts off the risk of future hotel occupancy problems. They get maintenance and capital repairs covered, and also earn a tidy profit on the management fees.
And in doing so, as they shift rooms from hotel to DVC, they are reducing the deluxe inventory.
The challenge will be what happens to their revenue stream when they run out of deluxe rooms to convert prior to 2042. Starting in 2042, will they rehab those expired DVC resorts and turn around and sell them again? Or, more likely, will they take the approach they did with OKW and sell extensions years before the resort actually expires?
There's a ceiling on demand at WDW. I don't know where it is, but I don't think there is demand for a million DVC units at WDW. Whatever the ceiling may be, will DVC hit this ceiling at the present rate of development before 2042?
And they can't keep putting up new DVC buildings indefinitely, right? Not without adding capacity to the theme parks and transportation systems.
How long can this go on?
http://i235.*************************************Resorts/Future/ExpOutsideParks.png
EXPANSION OUTSIDE OF PARKS
In the early days of the Disney Vacation Club, there was a focus on developing DVC resorts outside of the Disney theme parks, with resorts opening in Vero Beach in 1995 and Hilton Head Island in 1996. Vero Beach was not the success Disney had hoped for, and HHI was successful but small.
Yet DVC did have it's sights set on other DVC resorts outside the parks.
In March 1994, Disney officially announced a DVC on a coast hillside overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Newport Beach in Southern California, but Disney never began construction.
Also in 1994, DVC had plans for a DVC mountain lodge in Colorado’s Vail Valley - in the Beaver Creek Ski Resort area. This project was never officially announced by DVD, but ABS Consultants, a mechanical and electrical engineering firm that also worked on Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, listed Disney’s Mountain Lodge at Beaver Creek on their website as one of their notable projects.
In late 1994, Disney became involved in a project in New York City - on 42nd Street and Eight avenue. Imagine an urban DVC just off Times Square in the heart of the Broadway theater district. On April 19, 1996, the New York Times reported, "Despite a flurry of theater renovation projects and store openings around Times Square, one of the more offbeat ideas for 42d Street—time-share condominiums to be operated by the Disney Company—has been shelved."
These were all actual projects actively being considered and under development by Disney – until they weren’t. Some, like the Newport Beach resort in 1994, were actually announced and then cancelled. Disney never formally announced the others, but in some cases the architectural plans were leaked.
However, sales at Vero Beach resort were not what Disney hoped, and the plans for VB were scaled back. DVC seemed to lose interest in resorts outside the parks.
That is, until 2007 when Disney announced the development of a new resort in the Ko Olina resort area on O’ahu, Hawai. It was named Aulani in 2010. DVC, it seemed, was reconsidering development of resorts outside the parks.
In 2009, Disney purchased a resort site in Maryland’s National Harbor (near Washington, D.C.), and was considering using the 15-acre site for a resort. This came after Disney had already started construction on Aulani. However, Disney announced cancellation of the project in 2011, shortly after they briefly halted sales of Aulani and fired Jim Lewis, then president of DVC.
Thus far, Aulani, while a fantastic resort, has been a slow seller.
What is the future of DVC?
So, what do you think DVD should do? Focus only on expansion at WDW? What about DLR? Do you think DVC should focus more on non-park resorts? Where would you most like to see future DVC expansion occur: theme park resorts or non-park destinations?
http://i235.*************************************Misc/MiscDiscPolls.png
Purchasing DVC
Using Your DVC Membership
http://i235.************************************************************* DVC Mike - *******.com
http://i235.*************************************Resorts/Future/TheFutureodDVC.png
I wonder what happened to the person who came up with the idea for Disney to enter the timeshare business, well over 23 years ago? I hope he got a big bonus, as DVC has been a very successful (and profitable) venture by the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts division.
I bet back in the early 1990’s, Disney most likely greeted the creation of a timeshare on Walt Disney World with great uncertainty and risk.
On December 20, 1991, the “Disney Vacation Club” resort opened on Walt Disney World property. This resort, with its waterfront village of colorful, clapboard-sided vacation villas, created a new type of accommodation. For the first time, guests had access to an on-property resort with multiple bedrooms, several pools, a general store, various children's play areas and outdoor barbecue grills.
The first members bought ownership in “The Disney Vacation Club” with no guarantee that additional resorts would ever be built.
On October 1, 1995, Disney's second DVC resort opened in Vero Beach, Florida and on March 6, 1996 their third resort opened on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. In addition, a fourth DVC was under construction at WDW that would become the Boardwalk Resort.
It was now time to give the first DVC resort a unique identity to separate it from the rest. So in January 1996, the name was officially changed to Disney's Old Key West Resort.
Here we are now with 13 resorts available and certainly more in various stages of design and development. We’ve seen DVC expand to Disneyland and Hawaii.
Note: Anyone interested in a more detailed look back at DVC can read A brief history of the Disney Vacation Club.
For all the income they make on management of existing DVC resorts, it is a drop in the bucket compared to what they make selling new points. So, for the DVD business model to work, there has to be a continued stream of more resorts to sell.
What does the future hold for DVC? How long can their current business plan be successful?
http://i235.*************************************Resorts/Future/ExpNearParks.png
EXPANSION NEAR THEME PARKS
I’ve joked that Walt Disney once said:
http://i235.*************************************Resorts/Future/Florida-Project.jpg
When you look at their possible paths forward at Walt Disney World, let's first look back at the approaches they've used thus far:
- Add on a DVC Building to a deluxe resort - this has been their most common approach, and it's been used at resorts such as VWL, BCV, AKV, VGF, and BLT
- Convert existing hotel rooms at a deluxe resort to DVC - This was used at AKV-Jambo House, PVB, and now it appears VWL
- Build standalone DVC resorts (OKW, SSR) - This model was used on the very first DVC, as well as the largest DVC. Will they take this approach again? It seems unlikely to me.
- Build a new combined resort - This was done when they constructed the Boardwalk Resort as BWI and BWV - when they created the second DVC at WDW. This also seems unlikely.
The first two options appear to be Disney's present strategy at WDW.
DVD will always need to sell a DVC property that's close to a park, so the conversions of Deluxe hotel rooms and additions of new buildings will continue.
Rumored expansions include:
- Wilderness Lodge expansion
- Yacht & Beach Club - Disney is less likely to convert the Yacht club side due to the thriving convention business they get, so it's more likely they may convert some BC rooms to DVC.
- Fort Wilderness - Leaked plans show DVC has considered this option
- Caribbean Beach Resort - Rumors have said part of this resort may be converted to DVC
- Coronado Springs Resort - Same rumors here
- DVC near DHS (Star Wars Themed?) - This rumor is that DVC might construct a new DVC near DHS, along with plans to build a Star Wars and Toy Story lands.
- Second BLT Tower?
By converting hotel rooms to DVC, Disney gains a lot of short-term gains by selling the ownership interests, and also puts off the risk of future hotel occupancy problems. They get maintenance and capital repairs covered, and also earn a tidy profit on the management fees.
And in doing so, as they shift rooms from hotel to DVC, they are reducing the deluxe inventory.
The challenge will be what happens to their revenue stream when they run out of deluxe rooms to convert prior to 2042. Starting in 2042, will they rehab those expired DVC resorts and turn around and sell them again? Or, more likely, will they take the approach they did with OKW and sell extensions years before the resort actually expires?
There's a ceiling on demand at WDW. I don't know where it is, but I don't think there is demand for a million DVC units at WDW. Whatever the ceiling may be, will DVC hit this ceiling at the present rate of development before 2042?
And they can't keep putting up new DVC buildings indefinitely, right? Not without adding capacity to the theme parks and transportation systems.
How long can this go on?
http://i235.*************************************Resorts/Future/ExpOutsideParks.png
EXPANSION OUTSIDE OF PARKS
In the early days of the Disney Vacation Club, there was a focus on developing DVC resorts outside of the Disney theme parks, with resorts opening in Vero Beach in 1995 and Hilton Head Island in 1996. Vero Beach was not the success Disney had hoped for, and HHI was successful but small.
Yet DVC did have it's sights set on other DVC resorts outside the parks.
http://i235.*************************************Resorts/Future/NewportCoat.png
In March 1994, Disney officially announced a DVC on a coast hillside overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Newport Beach in Southern California, but Disney never began construction.
http://i235.*************************************Resorts/Future/MountainLodge.png
Also in 1994, DVC had plans for a DVC mountain lodge in Colorado’s Vail Valley - in the Beaver Creek Ski Resort area. This project was never officially announced by DVD, but ABS Consultants, a mechanical and electrical engineering firm that also worked on Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, listed Disney’s Mountain Lodge at Beaver Creek on their website as one of their notable projects.
http://i235.*************************************Resorts/Future/TimesSquare.png
In late 1994, Disney became involved in a project in New York City - on 42nd Street and Eight avenue. Imagine an urban DVC just off Times Square in the heart of the Broadway theater district. On April 19, 1996, the New York Times reported, "Despite a flurry of theater renovation projects and store openings around Times Square, one of the more offbeat ideas for 42d Street—time-share condominiums to be operated by the Disney Company—has been shelved."
These were all actual projects actively being considered and under development by Disney – until they weren’t. Some, like the Newport Beach resort in 1994, were actually announced and then cancelled. Disney never formally announced the others, but in some cases the architectural plans were leaked.
However, sales at Vero Beach resort were not what Disney hoped, and the plans for VB were scaled back. DVC seemed to lose interest in resorts outside the parks.
That is, until 2007 when Disney announced the development of a new resort in the Ko Olina resort area on O’ahu, Hawai. It was named Aulani in 2010. DVC, it seemed, was reconsidering development of resorts outside the parks.
http://i235.*************************************Resorts/Future/NationalHarbor.png
In 2009, Disney purchased a resort site in Maryland’s National Harbor (near Washington, D.C.), and was considering using the 15-acre site for a resort. This came after Disney had already started construction on Aulani. However, Disney announced cancellation of the project in 2011, shortly after they briefly halted sales of Aulani and fired Jim Lewis, then president of DVC.
Thus far, Aulani, while a fantastic resort, has been a slow seller.
What is the future of DVC?
So, what do you think DVD should do? Focus only on expansion at WDW? What about DLR? Do you think DVC should focus more on non-park resorts? Where would you most like to see future DVC expansion occur: theme park resorts or non-park destinations?
http://i235.*************************************Resorts/Future/TheFutureOf.png
http://i235.*************************************Misc/MiscDiscPolls.png
Purchasing DVC
- What was your purchase philosophy when choosing your home resort(s)?
- Headed up or down with your points?
- How much of the DVC legal documents have you actually read?
- Favorite thing you love, and what you most dislike, about your home resort?
- Which DVC resorts have your favorite cocktail lounge/bar?
- How much time do you spend at the resort versus the parks?
- Which DVC Resort is your favorite for watching the MK fireworks?
- Are the Polynesian Villas really that noisy?
- What does the future hold for DVC?
Using Your DVC Membership
- Do you still call Member Services?
- Out of points, but you still want to go to Disney?
- Which room sizes do you book the most?
- Do you still experience obsessive Disney planning?
- How much of your vacation time do you spend at Disney?
- How has DVC changed your vacation pattern?
- What meals or snacks do you prepare in your room?
- How did you pick your DISboards User Name?
- Are you a "lurker" on DISboards? If not, what caused you to de-lurk?
- How long have you been a DVC member?
- How old were you when you first became a DVC member?
- What is your family status?
- Do you unpack or live out of your suitcase?
http://i235.************************************************************* DVC Mike - *******.com
Bill
