Disney Vacation Club
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The Disney Vacation Club (DVC) is a vacation
timeshare A timeshare (sometimes called vacation ownership) is a property with a divided form of ownership or use rights. These properties are typically resort condominium units, in which multiple parties hold rights to use the property, and each owner ...
program owned and operated by Disney Vacation Development, Inc., a subsidiary of Disney Signature Experiences, a division of
Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Inc., formerly Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and informally known as Disney Parks, is one of The Walt Disney Company's five major business segments and a subsidiary. It was founded on Apri ...
, a segment of
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
. It allows buying a real estate interest in a DVC resort via a flexible points-based membership system. There are an estimated 220,000 club members.


History

The first Disney Vacation Club property, known as the Disney Vacation Club Resort (later renamed Disney's Old Key West Resort in January 1996), opened on December 20, 1991 at
Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...
. *The Disney Magazine, Spring 1996, Volume 31, Number 2. Page 18. *''Disney A to Z – The Updated Official Encyclopedia'', by Dave Smith, 1998. Page 584. In 1991, Disney had registered its time share plan with the state of Hawaii but did not establish an escrow agreement with Hawaii at the time of its creation. This allowed Disney to advertise its time share company in the state but did not allow for sales. On January 17, 1992, Disney Vacation Club was incorporated as Disney Vacation Development, Inc. On March 30, 1993 Disney Vacation Development Inc announced plans for a 440-unit time-share resort 95 miles south-east of Walt Disney World in Florida with ground breaking on July 28, 1994. This resort hotel, today known as Disney's Vero Beach Resort, opened on October 1, 1995, as the Vacation Club Resort at
Vero Beach, Florida Vero Beach is a city in and the seat of Indian River County, Florida, United States. Vero Beach is the second most populous city in Indian River County. Abundant in beaches and wildlife, Vero Beach is located on Florida's Treasure Coast. It is thi ...
. Disney would then open Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort just five months later on March 1, 1996 in
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Hilton Head Island, sometimes referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia, and southwest of C ...
.Vacation Club Resort, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Page 584. ''Disney A to Z – The Updated Official Encyclopedia'', by Dave Smith, 1998. Vi

Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas opened its first phase in 2007 at $17,000 for a membership. By September 17, 2008, Disney Vacation Development had two new time share properties being built, Bay Lake Tower and Treehouse Villas in Orlando at existing Disney park hotels and both were to open in 2009. Bay Tower was expect for its timeshares to open at $18,000. On October 3, 2007, Disney announced it would open its latest Disney Vacation Club resort on 21 acres it had purchased in
Ko Olina Resort Ko Olina Resort is a master-planned vacation and residential community on the leeward coast of Oahu, west of Honolulu. Ko Olina has of coastal frontage and includes three natural and four man-made lagoons with white-sand beaches. The master-p ...
,
Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
/
Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...
, with building slated to begin in 2008 with completion in 2011. The resort would offer both DVC units as well as standard hotel rooms for guests of the resort. With the announcement, DVC filed its remaining paperwork to allow its timeshare units to be sold in Hawaii. Three top executives were fired for selling 460 Ko Olina timeshare units for what were deemed unprofitable prices. The Hawaii resort opened as
Aulani Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, is a beachside resort hotel at the Ko Olina Resort in Kapolei, Hawaii on the island of Oahu. Affiliated with the Disney Vacation Club, Aulani was the third Disney "stand-alone" hotel that is located in an area wit ...
on August 28, 2011. In early 2011 it was reported that Disney had purchased land near
National Harbor, Maryland National Harbor is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located along the Potomac River near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and just south of Washington, D.C. It originated as a multi-use waterfront devel ...
, a suburb of Washington, D.C., to potentially build a resort similar to the three Disney Vacation Club resorts not located at Walt Disney World. In late November 2011, however, Disney announced that it had canceled plans to build a 500-room resort hotel at National Harbor. In 2011, the company announced that it would no longer allow secondary market DVC points purchasers to use their points on
Disney Cruise Line Disney Cruise Line is a cruise line operation that is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The company was incorporated in 1996 as Magical Cruise Company Limited, through the first vessel, ''Disney Magic'' and is domiciled in London, England ...
,
Adventures by Disney Adventures by Disney (ABD) provides group guided family vacations to various domestic and international destinations. The company is a subsidiary of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products's Signature Experiences division. Disney Parks is a subsidi ...
or the Concierge Collection luxury hotel group. In April 2016, Disney Vacation Development also ended the extension of Membership Extras benefits to those who purchase DVC contracts through secondary markets. Disney was one of the last major timeshare companies to eliminate these benefits according to the American Resort Development Association. In 2019, DVC announced further restrictions on resale purchases. On resale purchases made after January 18, 2019, DVC resale contracts purchased for the original 14 resorts at Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and 3 stand-alone locations will only be able to use their points at those 14 existing resorts and not at the upcoming Riviera and Reflections resorts. Additionally, resale buyers at Riviera will only be allowed to use their points at the Riviera resort. Starting in mid-2015, DVC began using a nonjudicial foreclosure process forcing auction bidders to be present instead of allowing online bid submissions with the Orange County Clerk of Court's office. In May 2016 DVC approved Vacatia for DVC resales. This would be in addition to such sales through Fidelity Resales. In May 2016, DVC announced that its new property at Disney's Wilderness Lodge would be called Copper Creek Villas & Cabins. A brisk aftermarket with a perceived high resale value exists for the Disney timeshare memberships. In May 2016, Sharket time-share market research company issued a 2015 resale value list (having a score based on resale volume and prices) which saw memberships in Disney Vacation Club locations crowded out the competitors. Saratoga Springs, Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary and Animal Kingdom Villas were the company's timeshares near the top of the list. In November 2019, plans for a 12-story club tower attached to the Disneyland Hotel were filed. There was no timeline given. DVC plans to open an expansion to the villas at Disney's Grand Floridian in 2022. In 2022, they also announced plans to construct a new tower as an expansion to the DVC property at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort - this is planned to open in 2024.


Membership

To be a DVC member, one must purchase a one-time real estate interest in one of the Disney Vacation Club Resorts, and thereafter pay annual dues. All memberships are sold as either a ground lease or a term-for-years. Their timeshare may not be sold in Nebraska. Disney includes a
right of first refusal Right of first refusal (ROFR or RFR) is a contractual right that gives its holder the option to enter a business transaction with the owner of something, according to specified terms, before the owner is entitled to enter into that transaction ...
clause in their membership contracts and uses a nonjudicial foreclosure process. The company has only two approved resale companies, Fidelity Resales and Vacatia. Disney also provides time-share loans for the purchaser.


Locations

Additionally, non-Disney hotels are available via exchange through Interval International


See also

*
Time-share A timeshare (sometimes called vacation ownership) is a property with a divided form of ownership or use rights. These properties are typically resort condominium units, in which multiple parties hold rights to use the property, and each own ...


References


External links

* {{Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Hospitality companies established in 1991 Timeshare chains Year of establishment missing 1991 establishments in Florida