DVC Resort in Utah

[wm49rs]

From Stitch Kingdom, and as the article says, take with a (huge) grain of salt:

http://www.stitchkingdom.com/disney...nning-mineral-king-ski-resort-finally-happen/

Note/Warning: This article makes a lot of assumptions based on very little evidence and has little basis in reality. Should you choose to continue on, you will be obligated to take it with a grain of salt.​

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Online (WDPRO), the business unit responsible for maintaining the websites for Walt Disney World, Disney Vacation Club and Disney Cruise Line, has recently registered DVCUTAH.COM, inspired with little doubt to fuel speculation that something is afoot. Granted the vague domain name and the fact that domain names are reasonably inexpensive to register — not to mention it’s just the one so far — so let this is your first indication that there’s nothing to be excited about quite yet.​

So begging the questions, why Utah and why a ski resort? Well the two naturally go hand-in-hand and Utah is no stranger to The Walt Disney Company, being home to its Avalanche Software division of Disney Interactive Studios as well as being the primary shooting location for the upcoming film from Walt Disney Studios, John Carter of Mars. As for a ski resort, it was a well known pet project for Walt Disney himself that the company to create an entertainment-filled ski resort in California’s Mineral King. Disney worked extensively on the project, even producing what would become the Country Bear Jamboree which was originally intended for the ski resort. Unfortunately the plans fell apart after Disney’s passing, but the dream lives on.​

So is it possible that with the introduction of Aulani to Hawaii, a ski resort in Utah is just a hop, skip and ski jump away from finally being coming a reality? Only time (and perhaps a D23 Expo) will tell. Hot Dog!​

 

[Testtrack321]

What usually happens is several times a year companies will register domain names, or try to acquire names, for new potential offerings in the pipeline or could happen. They also tend to register things like "DVDSUCKS.COM", "MUPPETPORN.COM", or whatnot. I wouldn't even consider this a rumor of a DVC resort in Utah, let alone "finally" building Mineral Kingdom...

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Clearly the registration of a domain doesn't mean anything in terms of construction. However, I wouldn't be surprised to see a project like this be somewhere down the line if you look at how DVC wants to grow regionally. This would allow them to have a lot of different resorts that offer some very different and interesting experiences. Things like this would help sell DVC to people who might not want to go to Disney every year, but also want to take a beach vacation or a ski trip. I think that a cold weather destination could be a real possibility after Aulani (or possibly after national harbor if they still decide to go through with that project.

 

[bradk]

What usually happens is several times a year companies will register domain names, or try to acquire names, for new potential offerings in the pipeline or could happen.

This is true. Which would actually be the point. It doesn't mean that it WILL happen, it means that the thought has entered someone's head. What's more important here is that it's WDPRO that it's registered to, who handles DVC's internet presence. That means the right business unit is performing the action rather than the company just trying to toss it around.

They also tend to register things like "DVDSUCKS.COM", "MUPPETPORN.COM", or whatnot. I wouldn't even consider this a rumor of a DVC resort in Utah, let alone "finally" building Mineral Kingdom...

This is not quite as true. Although the company has tens of thousands of domains with the vast majority never being used (or even with the intent to), as someone who monitors the domain registration activity intently, I can assure you they don't haphazardly register every domain possible. If they did, there wouldn't be any element of 'news' here.

Funny you mention MuppetPorn.com as it is registered, but does not appear to be owned by Disney (owner is protected), however there was a site that used the Muppet name along with a derogatory term as this was the moniker of a DJ somewhere. So Disney did what it usually does in this case and simply seized control of the name, which is actually something they DO do on a fairly often basis, especially variations on spellings of Disney properties (DISINI.COM is a recent example).

DVCUtah however was not previously owned by anyone. This is a brand new registration. So why they did it remains to be seen, but they haven't registered DVCMontana.com for example.

As for jumping from a silly domain registration to the implementation of Mineral King, re-read the first line of the article. It's not meant to be taken completely seriously (at least not at the moment). The real notion here is not necessarily that Walt's Mineral King will materialize way out of Mineral King, but that Utah is being considered for a DVC locale.

However, I do believe the (to be determined) success of Aulani will weigh very heavily on the company's confidence to build resorts around the country/world which I think we're all comfortable with accepting has been a long term objective of theirs - the ability to integrate Disney into already established travel niches which has the potential to be very huge or a tremendous fail with little area in between.

Now the real question is what domain names are being registered that we DON'T know about? They can (and have) secretly registered names, but to be blunt, it's not something they do very often.

ETA: Also worth noting where the 2011 shareholder's meeting is taking place. (Contrived) Coincidence?

 

[Testtrack321]

I was using Muppet as an example. I should have just linked to these JHM articles instead...

http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_c...008/07/23/what-s-in-a-disney-domain-name.aspx

http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief1/b/jim_hill/archive/2005/02/28/549.aspx

 

[Funfy]

What is this is rumored new DVC location at Ft. Wilderness?:animwink:

 

[GrimGhost]

This is true. Which would actually be the point. It doesn't mean that it WILL happen, it means that the thought has entered someone's head. What's more important here is that it's WDPRO that it's registered to, who handles DVC's internet presence. That means the right business unit is performing the action rather than the company just trying to toss it around.



This is not quite as true. Although the company has tens of thousands of domains with the vast majority never being used (or even with the intent to), as someone who monitors the domain registration activity intently, I can assure you they don't haphazardly register every domain possible. If they did, there wouldn't be any element of 'news' here.

Funny you mention MuppetPorn.com as it is registered, but does not appear to be owned by Disney (owner is protected), however there was a site that used the Muppet name along with a derogatory term as this was the moniker of a DJ somewhere. So Disney did what it usually does in this case and simply seized control of the name, which is actually something they DO do on a fairly often basis, especially variations on spellings of Disney properties (DISINI.COM is a recent example).

DVCUtah however was not previously owned by anyone. This is a brand new registration. So why they did it remains to be seen, but they haven't registered DVCMontana.com for example.

As for jumping from a silly domain registration to the implementation of Mineral King, re-read the first line of the article. It's not meant to be taken completely seriously (at least not at the moment). The real notion here is not necessarily that Walt's Mineral King will materialize way out of Mineral King, but that Utah is being considered for a DVC locale.

However, I do believe the (to be determined) success of Aulani will weigh very heavily on the company's confidence to build resorts around the country/world which I think we're all comfortable with accepting has been a long term objective of theirs - the ability to integrate Disney into already established travel niches which has the potential to be very huge or a tremendous fail with little area in between.

Now the real question is what domain names are being registered that we DON'T know about? They can (and have) secretly registered names, but to be blunt, it's not something they do very often.

ETA: Also worth noting where the 2011 shareholder's meeting is taking place. (Contrived) Coincidence?

Well said. Logical and rational. I agree.

 

[Sosai X]

I don't see why Disney would consider building a DVC resort here in Utah, when they can't even be bothered to put a Disney Store here.