Disney Vacation Club Star View Station - New lounge coming to Disneyland Resort in 2023

[TP2000]

This does not make me want to buy in to the Disney Vacation Club scam.

I have stayed as far away from vacation timeshares as possible my whole life. I just can't figure out how it pencils out for people, let alone the smarmy foundation all of it is built on.

I've had friends and one family member who have bought vacation timeshares, and all of them wish they hadn't. To be fair, their various range of emotions goes from "Crap, this was kind of stupid of us to do." to hiring an attorney and being very, very angry at both the timeshare company and themselves.

This windowless room full of Sheraton furniture and vinyl reproductions of WDI artwork reinforces my belief I did something smart for once.

 

[TP2000]

Welcome Home!

The room is entirely windowless, because the entirety of the building is windowless. So instead of real views of Disneyland out a window, they took WDI artwork for 1950's and 1960's Tomorrowland attractions and reproduced it in giant vinyl prints they stuck to the wall.

Can you imagine if you went back in time 60 years and told those Imagineers that well into the exotic 21st century their sketch concepts for the future not only would have never come true, but that Disney would re-use their artwork to decorate a cheesy Cokes-n-Pretzels "lounge" for timeshare customers? Those 1960's Imagineers would think you were nuts.

 

[mickEblu]

I have stayed as far away from vacation timeshares as possible my whole life. I just can't figure out how it pencils out for people, let alone the smarmy foundation all of it is built on.

I've had friends and one family member who have bought vacation timeshares, and all of them wish they hadn't. To be fair, their various range of emotions goes from "Crap, this was kind of stupid of us to do." to hiring an attorney and being very, very angry at both the timeshare company and themselves.

This windowless room full of Sheraton furniture and vinyl reproductions of WDI artwork reinforces my belief I did something smart for once.

It’s been a few years since I was bored that one day and looked into the DVC program. I believe my takeaway was you are locked into only vacationing with Disney for the rest of your life with the only benefit being small discounts on larger rooms. Except with this Disney timeshare instead of having places all over the world to choose from you have Anaheim, Orlando and their one hotel in Hawaii. Oh ya, and for that lifetime commitment, limited options and hefty price tag you get to make your own beds and clean your room on vacation. I’m good.

 

[chadwpalm]

I have a friend that's had a timeshare with Worldmark for as long as I can remember and we've stayed at some pretty nice places over the years. It's never been for me and I would never buy into DVC personally. Since I only vacation a few times a year it's just cheaper to get hotel rooms.

Speaking of, she was able to get us a two-room suite at the Club Wyndham Anaheim on Katella for the trip I'm counting down to in my signature. I'll let you guys know how nice (or not nice) it ends up being.

Edit: Forgot to add that she only booked the room 10 weeks in advance which is pretty crazy for timeshare.....especially in Anaheim.

 

[Phroobar]

It’s been a few years since I was bored that one day and looked into the DVC program. I believe my takeaway was you are locked into only vacationing with Disney for the rest of your life with the only benefit being small discounts on larger rooms. Except with this Disney timeshare instead of having places all over the world to choose from you have Anaheim, Orlando and their one hotel in Hawaii. Oh ya, and for that lifetime commitment, limited options and hefty price tag you get to make your own beds and clean your room on vacation. I’m good.

You should post that in the DVC section of the forum and see how many people freak out over it.

 

[D.Silentu]

This windowless room full of Sheraton furniture and vinyl reproductions of WDI artwork reinforces my belief I did something smart for once.

I have to say I'm glad they clearly invested so little in this. Likely makes it all the more expendable once they've figured out what to do with Tomorrowland.

 

[Nland316]

MC article is saying that there are concepts in the work for Tomorrowland as of recently. Nothing concrete, but it’s being worked on.

This lounge just looks more temporary/cheap than I originally thought it would..

 

[TP2000]

I have to say I'm glad they clearly invested so little in this. Likely makes it all the more expendable once they've figured out what to do with Tomorrowland.

Well, that's one way to look on the bright side!

And it's true; this is a cheap makeover to an abandoned, windowless room in an abandoned building. It can go away instantly and no one will care.

I just can't imagine going through the expense and energy of going on vacation to Disneyland, and then spending any time in this space. Sure, there may be free Cokes, with a tatted hostess at the desk that has to say "Welcome Home!" to anyone who passes by. But I could think of so many other areas of the Resort I would rather sit and relax in than this dark and windowless version of a Sheraton lobby.

I did appreciate the gushy yet vapid Parks Blog post on this however. And not just because it gives the full name of this lounge; "Disney Vacation Club Star View Station - a Member Lounge". Rather, I enjoyed it because the brand "Walt Disney's" has now been apparently double branded as "Walt Disney's Walt Disney's".

Inspired by Walt Disney’s Walt Disney’s optimistic vision for the future, the brand-new “space” named “Disney Vacation Club Star View Station – a Member Lounge” is coming to the heart of Tomorrowland at Disneyland park.

First West Coast Disney Vacation Club Member Lounge to Open on April 19 at Disneyland Resort

Disney Vacation Club Members can enjoy the first-ever Member Lounge at Disneyland Resort beginning April 19, 2023!

disneyparks.disney.go.com

 

[DrAlice]

News on an opening date - April 19.

What in the name of Mickey is Disney's obsession with unnecessarily long titles to things? They couldn't just call it the "Tomorrowland DVC Lounge". Nope. They twisted and tortured the name to even include a hyphen.

 

[DrAlice]

I just can't imagine going through the expense and energy of going on vacation to Disneyland, and then spending any time in this space. Sure, there may be free Cokes, with a tatted hostess at the desk that has to say "Welcome Home!" to anyone who passes by. But I could think of so many other areas of the Resort I would rather sit and relax in than this dark and windowless version of a Sheraton lobby.

Agreed. They could at least add some of the old Starcade game machines and an air hockey table or two. Then at least you would feel like there was something to do in this room besides sit and stare at the walls.

 

[CaptinEO]

It’s been a few years since I was bored that one day and looked into the DVC program. I believe my takeaway was you are locked into only vacationing with Disney for the rest of your life with the only benefit being small discounts on larger rooms. Except with this Disney timeshare instead of having places all over the world to choose from you have Anaheim, Orlando and their one hotel in Hawaii. Oh ya, and for that lifetime commitment, limited options and hefty price tag you get to make your own beds and clean your room on vacation. I’m good.

It's crazy to think how much Disney as a company has changed in the last 5 years. I can't imagine locking in a vacation to anywhere, especially something that changes as much as a US Disney park.

I know people who have 50 year DVC memberships. I don't even want to know how badly ran the company could be in 50 years. Nor do I think I'd be that into themeparks in my 80s.

I wish people would do more things in their life than just go on the same vacation every year. To each their own though.

 

[CaptinEO]

News on an opening date - April 19.

This is just Innoventions without the cool stuff to do.

I thought the Microsoft Dream Home was bad but this is a new low.

 

[TP2000]

Agreed. They could at least add some of the old Starcade game machines and an air hockey table or two. Then at least you would feel like there was something to do in this room besides sit and stare at the walls.

Oh my gosh, that's a BRILLIANT idea! Why didn't I think of that during my snark session earlier?!?

Seriously, how easy must it be to be a TDA and/or DVC exec nowadays? You can literally phone it in from home and recreate an Airport Sheraton lobby with free Cokes as the sole "amenity" but without any windows to the outside world, and people will still willingly pay their DVC maintenance dues.

 

[TP2000]

This is just Innoventions without the cool stuff to do.

I thought the Microsoft Dream Home was bad but this is a new low.

No kidding. The photos released on the Parks Blog seem to show the open atrium stairwell on the right side of the photo, shielded by black curtains (Immersive!). That means this Disney Vacation Club Star View Station - a Member Lounge is on the east side of the building, on the opposite side of the building from the balcony that looks out over Tomorrowland and the Matterhorn.

That means this lounge area is the old exhibit space for AT&T and General Motors, when they had sponsorships at Innoventions in the late 1990's. Back then, we roasted those two exhibits specifically online for being dumb and boring and insipid. But compared to this windowless DVC lounge, those Late Clinton Era corporate exhibits now seem like the 1990's version of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Who knew that when we mercilessly made fun of this GM Innoventions crap in 1999, the future 25 years later would actually be worse?!?

For the kids in the audience, no you don't want to know how stupid this GM exhibit was in the late 90's where this new DVC lounge will now be. Or how hokey the little GM video chair show was. Trust me, it was really bad. And very lame. And not even a good commercial for GM.

And yes, that's a tarted up Pontiac minivan on display in the middle there. The once-great Pontiac division was cancelled by GM in their last bankruptcy in 2009. Buick is the only spare division GM has left to kill in their upcoming 2024 bankruptcy.

Funny enough, the Pontiac Motor Division of General Motors still lives on at the Disneyland Resort in Cars Land, a land that was instantly far more popular than Innoventions ever was. The biggest rock formation in the outdoor "Ornament Valley" section of Radiator Racers is an homage to the Indian Chief themed hood ornaments that Pontiac always put on its cars from the 1920's to the 50's, with car names like Star Chief and Chieftain Wagon. And now you know! Use this trivia tidbit at your next cocktail party, if you get desperate.

 

[D.Silentu]

I hadn't thought about the GM Spinny Chair VR exhibit in a long time! There was a little robot fellow who hosted. If I recall correctly, the so called show promised us Heads Up Displays and night vision in our future vehicles. What happened to those? At one point I swear we went to the molecular level and the little robot shouted "I don't think we're supposed to be here!" Can't for the life of me remember how that fit in to the presentation.

 

[TP2000]

I hadn't thought about the GM Spinny Chair VR exhibit in a long time! There was a little robot fellow who hosted.

Wasn't it stupid, yet also stupidly fabulous? It was low-capacity, not very entertaining, and painfully shilled for the sponsor. That's not a recipe for a good attraction in any decade. But especially in the 1990's when those little video visors offered 360p.

The Carousel of Progress may have shamelessly shilled for General Electric toaster ovens and TV sets, but it also had toe-tapping music and a 3,200+ guests per hour capacity.

If I recall correctly, the so called show promised us Heads Up Displays and night vision in our future vehicles. What happened to those?

To be fair to the automotive industry at large, I have a big, late model convertible that has both of those things in the dashboard. But, unfortunately for GM and Metro Detroit, it's not a GM vehicle. I do use the heads up display on occasional road trips, but I have never once reacted in any meaningful way to the night vision thing. My usual nighttime routes apparently don't include enough wayward Elk or Moose.

At one point I swear we went to the molecular level and the little robot shouted "I don't think we're supposed to be here!" Can't for the life of me remember how that fit in to the presentation.

Oh, Gawd, you're right. The whole thing was a mess. The pre-show consisted of a tiny robot animatronic guy, a souped up tacky Pontiac Minivan, and a perky hostess explaining it would just be a few more minutes before we could experience the future. And in 1999 GM-speak "The Future" was a slowly spinning chair looking at a 360p screen of a bad video game freeway or something.

And yet, with all that failure, that old GM exhibit still outranks this DVC windowless lounge. Welcome to the future!

 

[Phroobar]

A lot of cars have HUDs. You can also get them third party.

https://www.cars.com/articles/which-cars-have-head-up-displays-434824/

 

[DCBaker]

Photos and video from the DVC Star View Station member lounge- use the > on the right to move through. The lounge officially opens today.

 

[Phroobar]

So how long will this be around until TDA decides to stop staffing it because of lack of use?

 

[truecoat]

So how long will this be around until TDA decides to stop staffing it because of lack of use?

Quite a while I would assume. They'll have to wait for the new one to open to really judge it's use or nonuse.