How far will the DVC reach?
Everyday it seems as though the Disney Vacation Club becomes an even more and more important part of the future at Walt Disney World. As I mentioned in an earlier article, a new Contemporary Resort vacation club is most likely being built as we speak, while a similar project at the Animal Kingdom Lodge is under construction. Add this to the many properties already in existence and you can’t seem to avoid “Disney’s best kept secret”.
But the reach of the timeshare club may be on the verge of expanding its influence throughout the country. With properties in Hilton Head, SC and Vero Beach, FL already open and new projects announced in Hawaii and Disneyland, can we expect even more? According to today’s Orlando Sentinel, that may just be the case.
Disney Vacation Club President Jim Lewis has also said that the unit is considering projects in Lake Tahoe and the Caribbean.
This seems to be a bold stroke, but don’t make your Caribbean reservations just yet. The Hilton Head and Vero Beach properties were slow to sell, and many feel that is what made the DVC hesitant for many years to build beyond the parks again. I would imagine the DVC will wait until it gets an idea of how successful the Hawaii resort is before pouring millions into more properties.
But we have all read about the “LBE”, or location-based attraction. This was the idea floated by Jay Rasulo, the head of Disney’s Parks and Resorts division, which outlined the concept of new resorts located away from the current parks being combined with one or two “e-ticket” attractions. Could this be the concept that makes the difference in the Caribbean and Lake Tahoe for the DVC?
Raidermatt said,
January 14, 2008 @ 10:14 pm
Interesting questions. The biggest problem with Hilton and Vero was they didn’t really differentiate themselves from the competition, and in the case of Hilton Head, they didn’t even get a prime location as I understand it.
This was back when it was clear Disney believed they could put Disney on the box and sell anything. Clearly there’s still some of this thinking going around, but maybe they’ve learned their lesson with the timeshares at least.
The Hawaiian DVC will tell us a lot. There’s no shortage of premium competition there, and frankly Disney again doesn’t exactly have a prime location, so I can’t see them succeeding without really putting some effort into it. I also don’t think they can rely solely on the Cruise Line to make it a hit, should they tie the two together.
Whether an attraction would help things would, just like with the resort, depend on the details. There are other instances of standalone attractions doing well in these locations. Tahoe has a Gondola ride that leads up to an observation area and restaurant overlooking the lake, above South Lake Tahoe. There’s a couple of riverboats that do dining/dancing cruises. Hawaii of course has dinner cruises, snorkeling tours, even submarine rides.
But I’m not sure if this is the type of thing Disney has in mind, or if they are seriously considering more traditional theme park rides, like Pirates or Everest for example. Honestly, I think that would be more risky as the market for one offs like that isn’t proven in the areas they are talking about.
Like I said, good questions.