Comments on: The 12 Milestones in Disney World History part 8; Disney Vacation Club http://www.mouseextra.com/2007/12/30/the-12-milestones-in-disney-world-history-part-8-disney-vacation-club/ Feeding the Disney fixation daily Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:22:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Raidermatt http://www.mouseextra.com/2007/12/30/the-12-milestones-in-disney-world-history-part-8-disney-vacation-club/#comment-2238 Raidermatt Sat, 05 Jan 2008 02:44:15 +0000 http://www.mouseextra.com/2007/12/30/the-12-milestones-in-disney-world-history-part-8-disney-vacation-club/#comment-2238 Nobody can argue with the success of DVC, though one could ask some interesting questions about what it has done and is doing to WDW's demographics, and how that impacts the development of WDW's parks and other entertainment options. Beyond that though, I think Disney's ultimate success as a "travel brand" is yet to be decided. Certainly the Cruise Line wasn't really a by-product of DVC. DVC didn't really take off until long after the Cruise Line was in full swing. Still, DCL has been a success, though it still is a relatively small piece of the pie, both in terms of Disney and in terms of the cruise industry. Adventures by Disney is a very small niche, and it remains to be seen whether the idea can succeed on any kind of large scale. As for DVC itself, yes, Disney is once again attempting to expand beyond WDW, but they have tried this before without much success. Vero Beach and Hilton Head were not the success they had hoped for, and lead directly to the scrapping of the Newport Beach DVC. What Disney failed to grasp at the time was that they couldn't merely put their name on a property and sell it if it didn't measure up to the competition. This is not an issue they really face in their WDW bubble. Certainly they will face it big time in places like Hawaii, so it will be interesting to see if they have learned their lesson or if they are still more infatuated with their brand value than the public. Nobody can argue with the success of DVC, though one could ask some interesting questions about what it has done and is doing to WDW’s demographics, and how that impacts the development of WDW’s parks and other entertainment options.

Beyond that though, I think Disney’s ultimate success as a “travel brand” is yet to be decided. Certainly the Cruise Line wasn’t really a by-product of DVC. DVC didn’t really take off until long after the Cruise Line was in full swing. Still, DCL has been a success, though it still is a relatively small piece of the pie, both in terms of Disney and in terms of the cruise industry.

Adventures by Disney is a very small niche, and it remains to be seen whether the idea can succeed on any kind of large scale.

As for DVC itself, yes, Disney is once again attempting to expand beyond WDW, but they have tried this before without much success. Vero Beach and Hilton Head were not the success they had hoped for, and lead directly to the scrapping of the Newport Beach DVC. What Disney failed to grasp at the time was that they couldn’t merely put their name on a property and sell it if it didn’t measure up to the competition. This is not an issue they really face in their WDW bubble.

Certainly they will face it big time in places like Hawaii, so it will be interesting to see if they have learned their lesson or if they are still more infatuated with their brand value than the public.

]]> By: Brady Jensen http://www.mouseextra.com/2007/12/30/the-12-milestones-in-disney-world-history-part-8-disney-vacation-club/#comment-2223 Brady Jensen Mon, 31 Dec 2007 19:07:54 +0000 http://www.mouseextra.com/2007/12/30/the-12-milestones-in-disney-world-history-part-8-disney-vacation-club/#comment-2223 I think we'll find that DVC is an even more significant milestone as it demonstrated to Disney that it could translate the experience beyond the boundaries of the resorts into other travel experiences: cruises, Adventures, the new Hawaii project... Disney is well on the way to becoming a valuable travel brand. And on the same personal note, DVC is great fuel for the Disney addiction, and a way to share that with others: we spent a wonderful pre-Christmas week at Wilderness Lodge with my partner's parents, people who'd never have gone on their own and who ended up having a fantastic time. Count me in on the cheap commercial! I think we’ll find that DVC is an even more significant milestone as it demonstrated to Disney that it could translate the experience beyond the boundaries of the resorts into other travel experiences: cruises, Adventures, the new Hawaii project… Disney is well on the way to becoming a valuable travel brand.

And on the same personal note, DVC is great fuel for the Disney addiction, and a way to share that with others: we spent a wonderful pre-Christmas week at Wilderness Lodge with my partner’s parents, people who’d never have gone on their own and who ended up having a fantastic time. Count me in on the cheap commercial!

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