At the moment, there are two new DVC resorts in the pipeline: Disney’s Riviera Resort, opening December 2019 and Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge, anticipated for 2022. But what is Disney planning for DVC after these? I’m sure there will be another new resort announced once Riviera is fully open, but the big question is what will it be like and (maybe more importantly) where will it be?
Being from the UK, I’ve always thought a DVC resort in Disneyland Paris would be perfect (and not just because it would only take me a couple of hours to get there). At first it seemed like an unlikely move for Disney, however, there have been a few developments in the last couple of years that make me think it could make a lot of sense.
Disneyland Paris is on the way up.
Disneyland Paris consists of two parks, the Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios. Up until 2017 The Walt Disney Travel Company, which owns Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California, only owned a minority stake in the resort. It’s safe to say that up until this point, Disneyland Paris was neglected. Disneyland by name, but certainly not by nature. It had never lived up to its potential since opening as ‘Euro Disney’ on 12 April 1992. It had consistently lost money and hadn’t received anywhere near the investment or attention it deserved compared to its sister parks in the US.
The takeover by The Walt Disney Travel Company looks set to change all this, though. They’ve announced a €2billion investment in the resort, and the upcoming plans look exciting, with substantial new areas and rides coming to the parks. Although these major changes won’t be complete until at least 2024, as a regular visitor to Disneyland Paris, I can already begin to see the improvements that this takeover is bringing. The cast members have been given a new lease of life. There have been upgrades made to a number of rides (Hyperspace Mountain anyone?), and the hotels are getting a much-needed overhaul. Add in a new DVC Resort here, and you’d really have the makings of something great.
It’s the only park fully owned by Disney that doesn’t have a DVC Resort.
Disneyland in California has Disney’s Grand Californian, and Walt Disney World has more DVC Resorts than I can count on two hands. As I mentioned in my last point, Disneyland Paris is now under the same ownership as these two, so surely this means it deserves some DVC love?
I think if a DVC Resort was built here, this would not only make Disneyland Paris more accessible to the most hardcore Disney fans around the world, but it could also end up benefitting the park too. If you want to increase the popularity and attendance at a park, surely attracting your most loyal customers to stay there is only going to help. Plus, there’s a lot of us Brit DVC Members who’d be only too happy to use up any leftover points on a quick trip to Disneyland Paris. I know if I could use my points there (and actually get value for money), it would make me go even more regularly.
It would be nice to have an international DVC Resort.
Currently, all of the DVC Resorts are within the US. Aulani might feel worlds apart from the rest of the resorts, but it’s still not quite international. I know recently Disney has been asking on some of its DVC surveys about having an international resort, so it must be an idea they’re playing with. If they want to take DVC overseas, then where better to start? Disney owns the parks and the land around them, and they have full control of what goes on. Plus, they already have some successful hotels, showing there is a demand for Disney themed resorts here. Not to mention that the onsite train station well connects Disneyland Paris to both the center of Paris and its two international airports. Guests could easily combine a trip to Disneyland Paris with a visit to the romance capital of the world, or even hop on a two-hour train to visit London for the day. This would give DVC members who like to go a bit further afield a chance to try somewhere new without having to exchange their points into RCI.
This would open DVC to more international owners
As an international owner myself, I can vouch for how easy it was to buy DVC points from outside the US, both direct and resale. By adding a DVC Resort in Paris, you’d open up DVC to even more international members. I think Disney Vacation Club is a fantastic product no matter where you’re from, so it would be nice to share it with an even wider range of Disney fans.
Share your thoughts in the comments below and let me know if you’d like to see a DVC property at Disneyland Paris!
You are aware you can already use your DVC points to stay at Disneyland Paris, not very cost effective but you can.
Being from the UK also, the costs of staying in the Paris park is do expensive, for 3 days at Paris I can get for the same costs a week or more in Orlando.
Until the costs come down i will always go to Orlando and the Orlando weather is so much better.
Yes a quick train journey for us and we can be at Paris in around 2-3 hours but for me Paris has a long way to go before it would warrant a DVC resort.
Love this idea!!!
Honestly, if you pick the right country’s website (don’t just try to book through the site for the country in which you live, every country’s site has different prices and it varies which is the cheapest) to book Disneyland Paris through, it is so dirt cheap (if you do a package) that a DVC Resort wouldn’t make sense.
Where a DVC Resort is needed cost wise is Tokyo, while it makes more sense to use points there even at present due to high hotel costs, it would be even better with a full on DVC Resort.
This would be a very good idea, it could well encourage more Americans to make the trip across the pond too.