Interesting DVC history piece

[JimC]

Click on this link regarding abandoned DVC west coast plans. It provides some interesting history and insights.

http://www.yesterland.com/ncv.html

 

[Granny]

Thanks for posting this, JimC. Very interesting...since I had not even heard of DVC in the mid-90's, I wasn't up to speed on this cancelled concept.

I appreciate the link. That Marriott resort looks great, doesn't it?

 

[ArnyVee]

I can see why they would cancel the plans on expanding, but boy would that have been great to have that as an option for DVC!

 

[Caskbill]

Thanks for the post. The pictures are great.

We traded in our Palm Springs Marriott for 2003 and are trying to get Newport Coast for a September 2004 trip. Hope we get the exchange.

It won't be DVC, but Marriott is still first class, and it's close to DL.

 

[dvc_john]

Ok, now for more history...There were also plans for a DVC in NYC/Manhattan. There was to be a big development in conjunction with the refurbishment of the New Amsterdam theater (where Lion King is playing). Was to include a highrise hotel that included DVC, along with Disney store and other things. Obviously, all these plans were dropped. But it was official at one time in that it was announced to the media.

Less official in that I don't think it was ever announced, but I was told that there were preliminary plans for a resort at Beaver Creek Colorado. That site is now the site of a Hyatt timeshare and some other condos.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

I posted this before, there were also plans for a DVC in Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle right next door to the Fairfield Seawatch Resort, they were going to buy a campground right on the ocean. They did make an offer, but the owner of the campground refused to sell!!! Probably because of the issues with Vero and HH, they just dropped it.

 

[ncligs]

Thanks for the link..............we may have to try it out when we go to the west coast in the future.

 

[Niagara2]

We wanted to visit Disneyland and traded into Newport Beach from another Marriott week we own. We had a beautiful cornor villa with the pool and ocean view. That did it - we now own at Marriott Newport Beach and will be doing Disneyland more than ever planned. I still believe that this location due to its proximity to Disneyland would of been a successfil DVC property. They missed the boat but Marriott did a great job with this site. The pictures made me homesick...need to book a week for next year!!!

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by dvc_john
Ok, now for more history...There were also plans for a DVC in NYC/Manhattan. There was to be a big development in conjunction with the refurbishment of the New Amsterdam theater (where Lion King is playing). Was to include a highrise hotel that included DVC, along with Disney store and other things. Obviously, all these plans were dropped. But it was official at one time in that it was announced to the media.

Less official in that I don't think it was ever announced, but I was told that there were preliminary plans for a resort at Beaver Creek Colorado. That site is now the site of a Hyatt timeshare and some other condos.

The Newport Coast was a formally announced issue. I don't think the NY one ever got that far. In CO apparently they had a contract for an existing hotel and the contract fell through, at least from what I heard. I was thinking the Myrtle Beach was a general Disney thing and not DVC per see.

 

[Werner Weiss]

I'm the author of the Yesterland article at the link at the top of this thread.

Originally posted by Dean
The Newport Coast was a formally announced issue. I don't think the NY one ever got that far. In CO apparently they had a contract for an existing hotel and the contract fell through, at least from what I heard. I was thinking the Myrtle Beach was a general Disney thing and not DVC per see.

Dean is correct. Disney issued a press release announcing that they would be building a DVC resort at Newport Coast, California. But Disney never made official announcements about the others.

At Times Square and Beaver Creek, other entities that were part of the planning effort provided clues about the potential DVC resorts.

When Tishman Urban Development Corp. released drawings of their 42nd Street (New York) redevelopment project in 1995, a DVC logo sign was readily recognizable on the renderings. By the way, Tishman finally completed the hotel in Fall 2002. The architecture closely matches the 1995 drawings, but, of course, there's no giant DVC logo sign. It's now a Westin (Starwood) hotel, and there's no timeshare component at all.

ABS Consultants, Inc. still lists Disney's Mountain Lodge at Beaver Creek as one of their notable projects. See http://www.absconsultants.com/projects/Disney_ML.html

I've never heard of a Disney Vacation Development (DVD) effort in Myrtle Beach, but I wouldn't be surprised if DVD had DVC plans there and at various other sites that were never disclosed. Rumors about Branson repeatedly surfaced, with speculation that a DVC resort was part of the plan.

 

[CaptainMidnight]

What a loss. Too bad it didn't work out, those would have been great options.

 

[smiley]

I have been a member through all of these events. I was very disappointed to hear the cancellation regarding the DVC resort in Newport Beach. As a DVC member who lives on the west coast I hope they still have their options open for a resort on this side of the country. Heck I'd even vote for a DVC resort in Hawaii!

 

[Werner Weiss]

Originally posted by smiley
As a DVC member who lives on the west coast I hope they still have their options open for a resort on this side of the country. Heck I'd even vote for a DVC resort in Hawaii!

It appears that around six or seven years ago, Disney decided not to compete with the lodging companies in the timeshare business — except at Walt Disney World, the one location where Disney enjoys a major competitive advantage. At Walt Disney World, Disney owns a vast amount of undeveloped land that was paid for around 40 years ago. And Disney has a huge marketing advantage, being able to target guests at their resort hotels and theme parks. Finally, there's synergy, as DVC members return year after year to spend money at Walt Disney World parks, restaurants, and shops.

But, anywhere else, Disney has to deal with land costs. And, anywhere else, the Disney name and reputation is only a limited benefit.

There's a small chance that, some day, Disney could see fit to use some of the land they've added in Anaheim for a DVC property as part of the Disneyland Resort. Beyond that, I don't see any DVC resorts outside of Walt Disney World.

 

[ArnyVee]

I've heard rumors (or very hopeful thinkin') about possibly having a portion of the Grand Californian added for DVC members. Has anyone else heard of this rumor?

That would be fantastic in my opinion. Even if it's not true, can we push someone into makin' it true?

 

[JimC]

GC is available in the Disney Collection, but it would be nice if we could have locked down point costs similar to a DVC resort, even if we did not have the other features of a DVC property.

Same goes for AKL in Florida.

But I doubt that would happen as the DVC is a separate line of business from the resorts.

Since I opened this thread, I will go one step further......Has anyone written a history of DVC? I have been looking, but have not found anything comprehensive so far.

 

[ArnyVee]

Originally posted by JimC
GC is available in the Disney Collection, but it would be nice if we could have locked down point costs similar to a DVC resort, even if we did not have the other features of a DVC property.

Same goes for AKL in Florida.

But I doubt that would happen as the DVC is a separate line of business from the resorts.

Since I opened this thread, I will go one step further......Has anyone written a history of DVC? I have been looking, but have not found anything comprehensive so far.

I know that GC and AKL are parts of the Disney Collection. But, wasn't VWL previously and they added the DVC "wing" to it?

I'm not sure about the history there, but would definitely be interested in the DVC history that you were mentioning. Would be an interesting read.

 

[JimC]

WL was part of Disney collection prior to VWL being built or not.

Here is link to source. a bit dated on some data but has other interesting facts about DVC:

http://www.disneydreams.net/DisneyVacationClub.asp

 

[TiggerFreak]

WL was part of the Disney Collection, just like Beach/Yacht Club.
But once dvc opened the adjoining resorts for point ressies, the "parent" resorts were removed from the Collection.

 

[ArnyVee]

Originally posted by TiggerFreak
WL was part of the Disney Collection, just like Beach/Yacht Club.
But once dvc opened the adjoining resorts for point ressies, the "parent" resorts were removed from the Collection.

So, in effect, we could actually have a DVC West with one of the resorts out at the Disneyland Resort.

There is hope!