I have been musing on this for some time, especially since Disney became the majority shareholder for Disneyland Paris Resort in 2017. Since then there have been some very positive steps such as the announcement of a €2billion euro investment in the resort including three new areas based on Frozen, Marvel and Star Wars.
My relationship with the resort has always been very complex in that at times I love it and others I loathe it. Still, no matter what, Disneyland Paris has always been there when I needed a Disney fix but wasn’t in a position to head over to Walt Disney World. For that reason, I am very excited to see what the future of Disneyland Paris could look like. As I say, the thought of a Disneyland Paris DVC resort has been lingering around in my mind for some time so I thought I would ‘put pen to paper’ and get those thoughts down.
One of the first considerations I had was whether there would be enough DVC members or potential new members in Europe to justify a resort. Unfortunately, a lot of digging around the internet did not really give me any answers in terms of how many DVC members there are and how many of them are in Europe. I’d wager that it is a minimal amount compared to the overall total. I would imagine that there are not enough European DVC members to sustain any kind of a resort so I think it is highly likely that it would need to be appealing enough to also bring over some of the DVC members from the USA.
Would Disney ever see a benefit to encouraging DVC members from both Europe and further afield to visit Disneyland Paris? As it currently stands, any DVC member can indeed use their vacation points for a stay at one of five hotels that offer rooms for DVC use but at great cost. If you want to use your DVC Vacation Points for Disneyland Paris, the best starting point is 25 points per night for Disney’s Sequoia Lodge. That’s a full 8 points per night more than Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa! If you want to stay in the flagship hotel at Disneyland Paris, the DVC website states that points start from 69 points per night. That is more than staying in a Deluxe Studio at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa during Premier Season – that is ‘only’ 43 points per night for those who were wondering.
Of course, those rates are all relative. I did a quick search for a short break of 3 nights in early September from a Thursday to Sunday, for 2 adults and 1 infant. The cost came in at £2,537.79. I also did a search after selecting the USA as my home which came in at US$3,489.99. If those are the room rates, it is of no surprise that the Vacation Points required to stay are at such a high rate. Given that DVC and Disneyland Paris are operated as separate entities, I would assume that if a DVC Member stays then Disney Vacation Club is somehow billed for that room. Effectively, Disneyland Paris would expect to be compensated for a room that they are not charging the guest for.
Either way, with rates the way they are, I don’t see very many DVC members chomping at the bit to make a booking anytime soon and I don’t blame them. We have used our Vacation Points for a stay at the Disneyland Paris Hotel in the past. At the time, we couldn’t get out to the USA and we needed to use our points or lose them so we went ahead and had a splurge. The hotel is indeed incredible, but even at the rates back then, it was in no way a good use of points. We effectively used a little more than a
If Disney ever wanted to capitalise on the guaranteed fan base that is DVC members, they would definitely have to look at how many points it actually costs to stay there. At present, that simply isn’t an option. The only way I can picture a more ‘reasonable’ vacation point rate would be if Disney Vacation Club were to open and operate their own property somewhere throughout the resort.
In order to have a DVC property at Disneyland Paris it would therefore need investment. It would essentially need for members or potential members to
At this point I would argue that one of the key selling points of DVC Membership is Walt Disney World itself. The sheer scale of it all is a massive draw. There is always something changing, something new or something being updated that I could quite happily vacation at WDW every year if my points allowed it. Disneyland Paris on the other hand is substantially smaller and has seen a far slower rate of change. Is there really enough there to encourage people to actually invest and effectively commit to returning year after year? No, I don’t think so. Not yet at least. Of course, Disneyland Paris does have its die-hard fans who visit regularly throughout the year, every year but is there enough of them who would actually invest? I couldn’t say.
You could argue that if Disneyland Paris had it’s own DVC resort and therefore there were more DVC members, it may encourage more people out to the USA for Walt Disney World. In all honesty, though, does Walt Disney World need a bigger influx of guests from Europe? I’m going to go out on a limb and say no.
With that in mind, I can only come to the conclusion that any form of DVC resort at Disneyland Paris is pretty unlikely. Perhaps at some point they could consider a very small addition to one of the existing resorts. Something similar to the extension made to Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel. Even then, I just don’t see it.
Ultimately, the real factor that would make Disney and DVC look at a potential resort at Disneyland Paris is profitability. As it currently stands, I don’t think there is enough of, if any at all, a financial gain that could be made with such a business plan so sadly, I just don’t think it will happen. Of course, I will always live in hope that I am wildly wrong and that Disneyland Paris will one day have, at the very least, a more favourable Vacation Points scheme so we could visit more. An actual DVC resort would simply be a dream come true.
What do you think? Would you like to see a DVC resort at Disneyland Paris? For our USA readers, would a better vacation point rate or even a DVC resort be enough to get you to visit France? Let me know in the comments down below.
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We own at Grand Californian and would be tempted to purchase at DLP as we live in the UK.
I can’t see it happening though.
As someone who has a trip planned to visit DLP next Summer, I’m not sure a DVC resort would have changed much in how we booked. The offers available when we booked the trip were very lucrative with tickets and meal plans being included for what I found to be an amazing price.
I wouldn’t see owning points at DLP as something I would pursue since I’m unsure how often I would want to visit. Additionally, it does nothing to combat the largest expense which is of course airfare. It would definitely need to be geared towards attracting more people to own throughout Europe who could travel to DLP more frequently. Great post, Mark!
You can use your DVC points already to stay at Paris but its not the best option as the points chart is high for what you get im my opinion.
Hit submit before i finished typing in full,
The biggest problem with Disney Paris as far as DVC goes id the weather is not as good as the American alternatives with wet days and cold in the winter months where as this is not an issue at the USA sites.
The costs at Paris is also high, Hotel costs are high, Food costs are high and just getting there is high, infact it is more to get to Disneyland Paris from the UK then it is to fly to Orlando, so why would people go there.
The only reason is as you mention is for a quick 3 to 4 day fix, there is not enough there that could not be done in 2-3 days without going mad.
For it to be a worthwhile alternative to the USA sites it would need at least 2 or more gates, double or triple in size and somehow get deals where getting there is a lot cheaper otherwise it’s really too expensive and no one in there right minds would buy into DVC at Paris.
I have been to DLP and also used my points (they were expiring). I just don’t think there is enough there at the moment to support a DVC resort. But that could change sometime in the future. Personally, I’d love to see Disney make an appearance in Australia and or New Zealand.
I believe Marriott has a timeshare there already, part of their vacation club. It is a bit remote from the main action.
It would be awesome to stay a couple of days there with points, and roll it in to a larger vacation to Europe so my kids could see it. But probably only once. WDW is the draw for us!