Disney Vacation Club timeshares expand and Disney timeshare brand takes on a grown-up look
The Disney Vacation Club (DVC) is experiencing rapid growth of 500 units. And the 16-year-old timeshare firm owned by the Walt Disney Company is taking on a more sophisticated, grown-up look.
The expansion includes plans to add 50 two-bedroom suites in Anaheim, California, as part of a 2009 250-room expansion of the Disney Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.
The expansion will also mark the first time suites have been shared for the Orlando-based Disney Vacation Club to be built on an existing Disney resort outside of Florida. The club currently has eight resorts: six at Walt Disney World; one in Hilton Head, SC; and another in Vero Beach.
Disney Vacation Club has doubled its membership in the last four years to 350,000 members from more than 100 countries and all 50 states, according to reliable sources.
Meanwhile, in early 2008, Disney is wrapping up its 109-unit Phase One at Disney Animal Kingdom Lodge, with another 340 Phase Two suites scheduled to open in spring 2009.
The new Animal Kingdom vacation suites range from 366 to 2,200 square feet. The largest unit, the Grand Villa, is decorated with African artifacts and includes three bedrooms, four bathrooms, a kitchen, and even a game room with a pool table.
The Animal Kingdom Suites are located in a truly unique playground setting. The balconies overlook the hotel’s savannas, where dozens of African animals roam in a natural habitat.
Disney Vacation Club will have nearly 2,900 suites in total when all current construction is complete.
Even more Vacation Club suites are on the way, but officials have yet to confirm when and where.
Next on the list may be a new north wing at the Disney World Contemporary Resort Hotel. If persistent rumors turn out to be true, it will be the first shared resort on the monorail connecting Epcot and the Magic Kingdom. Despite the rampant rumors, Disney Vacation Club officials will not confirm the information.
In August 2007, Disney opened a sales center for the timeshare club in upscale Woodfield Mall, a suburban Chicago shopping center. The mall’s new sales center is called Disney Doorway to Dreams and includes a two-bedroom model of the Animal Kingdom suites at Disney World in Orlando.
There is also a more sophisticated and grown-up look for the Disney Vacation Club. [http://www.edisneytimeshare.com] brand.
Look for a major change to DVC’s graphics and artwork in 2008. The brand will reportedly move away from its traditional Disney character-based pixie dust approach to a more adult brand theme that emphasizes opportunities for world travel available to Club members.
The change and repositioning of the brand’s graphics is because, oddly enough, Mickey Mouse was not always considered the best approach when it came to timeshare sales. Tony Diehl, the Timeshare Club’s sales manager, says buyers can’t always make the connection between the animated icon and a real real estate sale and closing. And DVC Vice President Lisa Becket says the club’s logo – made up of Florida palm trees, ocean waves, mountain peaks and a Mickey head silhouette – doesn’t tell the whole story.
The entire Disney Vacation Club timeshare story is seemingly broader and grander than even the great Mickey Mouse can communicate.
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