Disney at National Harbor

[Princessofthehouse]

We live about 45 minutes away and stopped by over the holiday break. I could not believe the number of restaurants and shops in that area. What a nice place! We would totally go for a weekend stay to get away. You can take a boat over to Alexandria, VA or Georgetown and walk around/eat/shop. The boat is not free, but worth the price to see those areas. We did the boat from Georgetown to Alexandria with a friend from Orlando over the summer and he thought it was fantastic.

I hope Disney does something soon!!

Susan

 

[yensid9111]

we would more than likely purchase points at NH. I honestly feel that the more choices we have as DVC members, the stronger DVC is. We would love to visit NH during an inauguration, 4th of July, or spring to see the cherry trees.

 

[bookwormde]

"I doubt it would be 45-60 points per night vs $200 per night that you quoted for the other resorts. I figure if you use the standard points charts for Hilton Head (I figure they would have similar "seasons") the weekday ranges from 6-15 points per night, and weekends 12-27.....even if the point charts were a bit more expensive it would still pass the $10 per point litmus test of how much you could get renting your points out and going cash. Now, I doubt that the resort would be all DVC and would most likely be majority CRO with maybe 40% DVC if it is actually built and you might get some great off season deals....but who knows."



I was talking about a 2br, and we all know that disney has been increasing the required points per night resonably steadily.

bookwormde

 

[CarolynMink]

I am with those that would go to a DVC in NH.

I think living near NH could effect opinion. I live less than an hour from Cedar Point Amusement Park. I have no idea why people come from all over the country to go there. I have been to WDW (eight-teen hours by car) more than I have been to CPAP.

 

[tjkraz]

I was talking about a 2br, and we all know that disney has been increasing the required points per night resonably steadily.

bookwormde

True but I think that says more about the appeal (and cost) of the destinations rather than simply a desire to raise costs.

Disney spent $120 million for the land alone in Hawaii. Construction costs are also expensive there. BLT and VGC are also prime locations at those two resort areas.

I wouldn't expect a National Harbor DVC to be anything close to those three in terms of per-night cost.

Another aspect of this that's worth mentioning is convention business. A trade group I work with has a multi-year deal with Loews. We've had annual meetings at the Portofino Bay at Universal, Nashville, Tuscon and others. It can only help Disney's convention business to be able to offer a slate of destinations including the likes of Orlando (multiple hotels), Anaheim, Hawaii and DC.

 

[TisBit]

"I doubt it would be 45-60 points per night vs $200 per night that you quoted for the other resorts. I figure if you use the standard points charts for Hilton Head (I figure they would have similar "seasons") the weekday ranges from 6-15 points per night, and weekends 12-27.....even if the point charts were a bit more expensive it would still pass the $10 per point litmus test of how much you could get renting your points out and going cash. Now, I doubt that the resort would be all DVC and would most likely be majority CRO with maybe 40% DVC if it is actually built and you might get some great off season deals....but who knows."



I was talking about a 2br, and we all know that disney has been increasing the required points per night resonably steadily.

bookwormde

True and I thought about that after I posted, I used a studio...but even so...the point spread would be 19-41 weekday and 23-66 for weekend. I am sure the deals you are talking about are more off season, which would still put it more comparable.

Point costs have risen at newer resorts to a degree, but as already posted, look at the destinations. You are not going to have Hawaii point charts which have almost 12 month high seasons and it is not a monorail resort. I think with it being more of an off site area similar to Hilton Head/Vero you will most likely see it more in line with those resorts.

As for it needing a true Metro stop...I don't think that Disney will need the Metro to be there, but they will want better infrastructure than what is currently in place for National Harbor. While no plans have been announced for Metro, it has been discussed and the transportation issues (or lack there of) have been discussed quite in depth as being the biggest downfall of the area.

 

[bookwormde]

I agree, if national harbor or WD had "resort buses or boats" (read buses or boats to the mall) then that would make a big difference.

bookwormde

 

[maciec]

We live 3 hours from DC depending on how bad traffic is. We have stayed at the Marriott at NH and really loved staying at NH. If/when we go back to DC we will stay at NH again. I can picture in my head where the Disney property is going to be and even though its back off of the waterfront it would only be a 5 minute walk down to the waterfront.

Also, I haven't seen anyone mention that there is a metro stop 10 minutes (by car) from NH. We used it with no problems when we went into the Mall.

We wouldn't buy there, but I can tell you we would use our points to go there.

 

[Judique]

We would definitely use our points there once in a while - 4th of July if we could get it, during Gaylord's ICE show at Christmas time, that type of thing. I only live 30 miles away.

Add in Cherry Blossom Festival!

I'm about 15 minutes away and I considered staying over at either the Westin or the Gaylord hotel at National Harbor for Ice this past season. It would have been fun to check in, have dinner at one of the restaurants - there are quite a few 'name' places - see Ice - and maybe have brunch the next morning. There were some decent package deals.

I think a DC DVC at National Harbor would be ideal for a 'stopover' vacation for those driving out of the Northern states - stay a couple of days and visit some monuments and then on to Disney. Half of New Jersey and Massachusetts cross the Wilson Bridge right by National Harbor every day as it is (I'm watching tags <g>) - and by the way if it's backed up on a Saturday don't be afraid to use the local lanes - they all merge right back together on either side of the bridge - that's my big tip for the day as I see that 'through' lane jammed on many Saturdays by people thinking they have to go that way....

And - what a great place to keep visiting relatives - then they could find the Washington Monument all by themselves!

 

[DVCGeek]

I live less than an hour from Cedar Point Amusement Park.

I can relate- I live ~3/10ths of a mile from the water of Geauga Lake and used to see the top of their space needle ride from my front yard and could occasionally hear coaster rider's screams from my driveway. Last time I visited the park was several years before I bought this house in 2007! I've also never been to the (still-open) Wildwater Kingdom park down the street!

However, I have a WDW AP & am looking forward to spending some time in Stormalong Bay while staying at BCV in a few months...

 

[DonnaL]

We stayed at the Wyndham/National Harbor last summer with my sister on a trip she won from her employer. It was actually for an entire week but since it was the week before 4th of July we only stayed 6/26 thru 6/30. The area is really very nice, however, I do agree with several above posters about the transportation issue. The water taxi is nice, but, doesn't really help with getting to downtown D.C. w/o taking a long time since you need to get to Old Town Alexandria first and then get to a Metro station somewhere there. We actually ended up driving to Union Station and using that as our base to catch the Metro. Since there were five of us it was the most economical way to get around. The water taxi also really isn't an economical way to travel for a group of people. A lot of people may not wish to drive into the city.....we did not attempt to do it during rush hours but waited until mid morning. I definitely enjoyed our stay there and would go back again for a long weekend not necessarily to go into the city, but, as someone else stated it is right across the river from Old Town Alexandria, where there are lots of things to do, and an easy drive to Mt. Vernon for a day trip or I believe there is also a day boat tour to Mt. Vernon from Old Town Alexandria, also. I don't know so much if I would buy points there at a DVC resort, but, would probably look for a good deal at the Wyndham, which was very nice......of course, it also was brand new at the time we were there, having just opened February, 2010.

 

[maciec]

The closest metro stop is the Southern Avenue stop. It is 10 minutes driving distance from NH. That is what we used when we stayed there 2 years ago. I think it was about a 40 minute metro ride to the National Zoo stop.

 

[DVC SSR Owner]

Has Disney made any recent comments about national harbor? I thought this project has been shelved.