How Long Until the Paris DVC?

[DMPicone]

With the big news yesterday that the Walt Disney Company was seeking to take 100% ownership of the Disneyland Paris Resort it's only a matter of time until a DVC opens their. Up to this point they have only had 100% ownership of two resorts, both of which have DVCs. Mixing a DVC into companies they don't have complete ownership of is messy and part of the reason it hasn't happened internationally yet.

Currently they are going through extensive renovations of each hotel. The Hotel New York is next and from negative reviews during the New Port Bay Hotel ones they are going to completely shut the resort during the renovations. Once that is done the Disneyland Hotel will be up for a complete shut down and renovation. Their is also a report of a new lower level hotel being built in the near future to boost room counts since the New Port Bay has been upgraded.

It seems like the perfect opportunity to either convert a hotel (possibly the New York) to a DVC, add a DVC tower/hotel, or more likely combine the Grand Californian and Polynesian logic by converting a wing of a hotel (possibly the Disneyland Hotel during the upcoming renovations) to a DVC wing.

It seems like it's finally an option and could be popular. I just used my points to go to the New Port Bay Hotel for 5 nights in October and enjoyed it. In the end the point to dollar conversion left me about $100 ahead. So not as good a deal as a DVC, but not a loss. This years points chart would be a loss. I would love to go back on a real DVC point price, the only problem would be to manage international travel with only a 6 month window. That was an annoyance with this last trip, but their was only about a 0.0001% chance of not getting to go when using points for the Disney Collection.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I doubt it happens. Aulani went on sale in 2010, and while it did pause because of Disney's legal issues with the state of Hawaii and lying about maintenance cost, it's still not sold through. Disney would need to be very certain they could sell the points, and they'd need a strong European market for them. I do not think it compares to VGC, which was entirely a domestic affair; with Aulani, they were hoping for more international purchase than I think they've gotten.

I would suspect they're more likely to make Paris more affordable within the Disney Collection.

 

[Dingdingding]

There have been rumors about a new hotel for a while now. It wouldn't be so crazy an idea if they build a DVC wing to a new hotel

 

[mimmi]

I think there are a few reasons why a paris Dvc seems rather improbable: first of all, Disney, as a vacation brand, is just not as popular or well known in Europe as it is in the USA. If I tell people that we do Disney cruises or are DVC members they don't know what I'm talking about and I'm a tourism management graduate, so I talk a lot to people who are well versed in tourism matters. I doubt that it could be sold with just the US as a target market, so marketing efforts would have to be huge to only make DVC known to the European market and to present Disney as a vacation destination as opposed to a mere amusement park.
Secondly, the two parks can be done in 2 days easily and in my opinion there aren't enough other activities to make Disneyland Paris a vacation destination for more than 3 days, especially in winter time when the outside pools can't be used, so I don't know if it makes much sense to buy points there, rather than waiting for a package deal.

 

[BadPinkTink]

agree with @mimmi The Disney brand loyalty is very different in Europe compared to America. In America, The Disney brand is part of the culture, history and society. In Europe its not. This is very obvious when comparing the behaviour and attitudes of CM's in the Parks. In Disneyland Paris, being a CM is just a job. They don't have the same pride or loyalty to the company.

You have to look at this from a European perspective, not an American perspective. You have to look at European opinion and usages of timeshares. You have to look at European perspective of the Disney Brand in general and specific other things like Disney Cruise Line.

Disneyland Paris is very much like Disneyland California, a locals park. The majority of the guests come from France and the surrounding countries, where they are an average of 5 hours drive from the parks.

The UK and Ireland make up the other majority of guests. European people travel alot more than Americans and going to Disneyland Paris every year, being part of something like DVC would not appeal to most Europeans. Most families I know who go to Disneyland Paris go once or twice in a 10 year period, and its just one of their European holiday locations.

The Disney Company need to be very careful going forward. They cant just package up what they do in USA and expect it to work in Europe.

 

[Brian Noble]

A small conversion of part of a hotel to DVC could make some sense, with an eye to selling to UK folks who also go to Florida regularly. The hotels at DLRP have struggled in terms of occupancy from the beginning; there are simply too many hotel rooms given the scope and scale of the parks there. A conversion similar to AKL->AKV or WL->CCV.

That said, we definitely enjoyed our stay at Sequoia Lodge, but we booked it on a stay-two/get-two-free promotion (so, essentially 50% off the package). I'm not sure how much more I would have spent.

 

[supersnoop]

I really like the idea of DVC at DLP, but I doubt a small conversion would be worth entering the international timeshare market. That's going to introduce a whole new set of regulations.

 

[Dean]

With the big news yesterday that the Walt Disney Company was seeking to take 100% ownership of the Disneyland Paris Resort it's only a matter of time until a DVC opens their. Up to this point they have only had 100% ownership of two resorts, both of which have DVCs. Mixing a DVC into companies they don't have complete ownership of is messy and part of the reason it hasn't happened internationally yet.

Currently they are going through extensive renovations of each hotel. The Hotel New York is next and from negative reviews during the New Port Bay Hotel ones they are going to completely shut the resort during the renovations. Once that is done the Disneyland Hotel will be up for a complete shut down and renovation. Their is also a report of a new lower level hotel being built in the near future to boost room counts since the New Port Bay has been upgraded.

It seems like the perfect opportunity to either convert a hotel (possibly the New York) to a DVC, add a DVC tower/hotel, or more likely combine the Grand Californian and Polynesian logic by converting a wing of a hotel (possibly the Disneyland Hotel during the upcoming renovations) to a DVC wing.

It seems like it's finally an option and could be popular. I just used my points to go to the New Port Bay Hotel for 5 nights in October and enjoyed it. In the end the point to dollar conversion left me about $100 ahead. So not as good a deal as a DVC, but not a loss. This years points chart would be a loss. I would love to go back on a real DVC point price, the only problem would be to manage international travel with only a 6 month window. That was an annoyance with this last trip, but their was only about a 0.0001% chance of not getting to go when using points for the Disney Collection.

I too am doubtful but it'd be nice if it did happen.

 

[CarolMN]

IMO, the political climate is too unstable right now - Frexit, Brexit, terrorism, etc. I don't see it happening anytime soon. Too many other projects competing for Disney's capital investment dollars.

 

[zavandor]

I'd be very happy if DVC will ever happen at DLP, expecially if they'll convert rooms at the Disneyland Hotel, which is the only real Deluxe there and it's the only hotel I've never been because of the crazy rack rates. Chances are very low, but it depends on how occupancy rates are at the Disneyland Hotel. If they struggle to fill it, they might do a small conversion like they did for the VGC and see what the response is. If it's a small number of room I don't think they'll struggle too much to sell the points. If that proves successfull, they may later convert more rooms from another resort or build a new one entierly. However would it make sense to set a whole sales operations abroad for just a few points to sell?

 

[Anal Annie]

I also don't think it will happen (or at least not anytime SOON) but I WOULD like to see them make staying onsite with points a more affordable option than it has been in the past!! I don't think an entirely new property is the answer but maybe a partial conversion at an existing resort...

 

[bobbiwoz]

I would like a DVC wing!

 

[DenLo]

I wish it would happen, but I doubt it will. Who knows what the laws are like for timeshares in France?

 

[LAX]

For those that are familiar with the area surrounding the parks/resorts there, are there anything else to do in the vincinity? Perhaps DVC can sell it as a home base for visiting the surrounding region if there isn't enough to do at the parks for a longer stay. It would be kind of like some members staying at WDW while visiting Universal/Orlando. I certainly would welcome the opportunity to use my DVC points on another property!

LAX

 

[zavandor]

For those that are familiar with the area surrounding the parks/resorts there, are there anything else to do in the vincinity? Perhaps DVC can sell it as a home base for visiting the surrounding region if there isn't enough to do at the parks for a longer stay. It would be kind of like some members staying at WDW while visiting Universal/Orlando. I certainly would welcome the opportunity to use my DVC points on another property!

LAX

There's a small town called Paris in the vicinity, there are a museum or two, a few restaurants, shops...

 

[Diz22]

Yeah, I've heard there's some kind of tower close by, maybe they could convert that to a dvc resort!

 

[Anal Annie]

For those that are familiar with the area surrounding the parks/resorts there, are there anything else to do in the vincinity? Perhaps DVC can sell it as a home base for visiting the surrounding region if there isn't enough to do at the parks for a longer stay. It would be kind of like some members staying at WDW while visiting Universal/Orlando. I certainly would welcome the opportunity to use my DVC points on another property!

LAX

I don't think there's a huge amount of things to do in the immediate DLP vicinity. The one time we went we spent 2 days / 1 night at DLP then moved into Paris for a few nights to sightsee around the city. I think it's about a 45-60 minute train ride to go back & forth into the heart of the city but I didn't want to "commute". I wanted to experience the city of lights by staying there for a few nights. The other downside to staying out at DLP at the time that we went was that they required a "length of stay" ticket package. So if we were there for 5 nights but were only doing 2 days at the parks they would have required that we buy an extra 3 days of tickets which would have been a wasted expense. I thought that was absurd so that was another reason for us to not stay onsite for more than the 2 days we planned for the parks. I think they may have discontinued that requirement since then (that was 5 years ago). We bought a cash package for one of their "value" resorts because the point requirements were ridiculous at the time. I'm hoping they make some changes to that so that our points go further there. I would never stay at one of their "value" resorts again. It had a cute theme but the room was a little gross.

 

[Diz22]

In all seriousness, as a regular visitor to DLP since it opened, DVC member for over 20 years and a visitor to WDW 2 or 3 times a year I see no need for a DVC resort at DLP.
IMHO there is lots to do in the vicinity but I'm not sure that people choose to stay on site. Europeans spend their holidays differently, certainly in the U.K.we have up to 7 weeks holiday per year which I believe is more than the norm in the USA.
I think, due to factors like this, location, weather and custom DLP is seen as a short break park.
I think if DVC members want to stay on site a reduction in points, designated rooms and member perks are what is needed

Just my opinion. Feel free to disagree

 

[supersnoop]

There's a small town called Paris in the vicinity, there are a museum or two, a few restaurants, shops...

There's no way I'd stay near the Disney park when visiting Paris. It's at least an hour trip each way.

 

[Brian Noble]

Who knows what the laws are like for timeshares in France?

Marriott managed it, so it can't be impossible.

There's a small town called Paris in the vicinity, there are a museum or two, a few restaurants, shops...

Yes, but only connected via RER. As supersnoop writes above, it's not a short trip. Compare that to the TGV to the airport, which covers a similar distance in about 12 minutes.