While in the past, we had a large yearly Condo Association Meeting, this year things are a little different due to new timeshare laws. Quarterly individual resort meetings were also held this week and you can find several update from those on dvcfan.com. Moving forward, the large all-resort meeting is now known as the Member Gathering. We attended this year’s Member Celebration so we can share any exciting updates with you.
Opening Remarks
This year’s Member Gathering program was hosted by DisneyFiles Editor Ryan March. First up was Bill Diercksen, Senior Vice President of Disney Vacation Club. They started the meeting by talking about ways that they have enhanced the membership experience noting the Cabins at Fort Wilderness and Island Tower at Polynesian and highlighting their amenities. A few things boasted are the low waste construction of the Fort Wilderness Cabins, the new waterfront restaurant at the Island Tower that has a full electric kitchen, carpeting in the Island Tower made from recycled materials, and the new artwork at the tower. The new tower is made to celebrate Polynesian way-finder culture and the natural elements that created them- conservation stories, Polynesian stories, and Disney stories are at the forefront with particular emphasis on Moana, Disney’s first Polynesian princess. They also let us know everyone in attendance would get to tour the new Island Tower today! More on that soon!
The member lounges were highlighted as well, especially the new McKim’s Mile House, the DVC lounge to be located at Magic Kingdom and there will be more information in the next edition of the Disney Files Magazine. They mentioned the Gateway to Discovery at Disney Springs and Golden Vine House at Disneyland explaining they are both Sales Centers and Member Lounges.
Membership Magic Beyond
Speaking on Membership Magic Beyond, the stated their guiding principal with this program was to enhance the existing membership extras and not take away any existing benefits from members. They noted the photo pass benefit alone is worth more than the costs of Membership Magic Beyond.
Shannon Sakaske, Vice President of Member Experience was up next to talk about Member Satisfaction. Shannon explained key themes when talking to members is availability and benefits. He provided some tips on getting the most of your membership with availability and mentioned using cruise and hotel exchanges. On the benefit side, he explained their work to support the benefits portfolio and even though things have gone away, they are continuing to add more as often as they can. He encouraged member feedback to continue. Shannon also let us know the new name for the EPCOT Member Lounge, the ImaginAtrium was decided on to separate the lounge from the growing list of member lounges.
Member Cruises and First Wave Sailings
Both Ryan and Shannon discussed the success of the Member Cruises and how they have grown. They discussed the difference between the Member Cruises and First Wave Sailing. For a detailed breakdown of that, you can check out our article here. They talked about the upcoming First Wave sailings for 2025 that were previously announced as well as said they would be pushing the limits of the 2025 Member Cruise itinerary.
Welcome Home Weeks
The new Welcome Home Weeks was brought up. They let us know their plan is to evolve this program of special events, character meetups, giveaways, etc. to where the program will be known as well as Moonlight Magic.
Moonlight Magic
Excitement was expressed for 2025 Moonlight Magic events with nine events that were previously announced for next year.
Resort Refurbishments
Vice President of Resort Operations Alison Armor took the stage with Ryan. Alison let us know the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) Awards presented Boulder Ridge’s refurbishment with an award for resort interior design. She additionally discussed the full update at BoardWalk, the soft goods refurbishment at Vero Beach and the ongoing Bay Lake Tower refurbishment.
Refurbishment Schedule for this year and next includes Grand Californian (2025), Copper Creek, (2025) Treehouses (2025), Kidani Village(2025) and Jambo House (2026), and Old Ket West (2026).
They also highlighted previously known details on the Polynesian Island Tower noting the pool, pocket gardens, splash pad, pent house villa, waterfront restaurant (which means calm waters), and more. The restaurant will have lunch and dinner as well as pastries and coffee in the mornings.
Disneys Lakeshore Lodge
While we were hoping for more details on Disney’s Lakeshore Lodge, they were absent from this member event.
Stay tuned to DVCFan.com for the latest on all things Disney Vacation Club. Join in the conversation in the DVC Fan Facebook Group. For exclusive content, check out our Patreon at patreon.com/dvcfan.
Mart
December 12, 2024It’s a major insult to promote the benefits of membership magic beyond when it’s not available to us international owners. A lot of us are furious