“Star View Station” is a brand new Disney Vacation Club member lounge coming to Tomorrowland at Disneyland. This submit shares the official opening date, particulars, and idea artwork for this in-park location. Plus, why it’s possible being added, what it means for a Tomorrowland overhaul, and extra. (Updated March 30, 2023.)
Exclusive Member areas have lengthy been a part of what Disney Vacation Club proudly calls “Membership Magic.” From the Top of the World Lounge, which lately reopened with villainous new choices atop Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, to the colourful Member Lounge completely perched within the iconic glass pyramid of the Imagination! pavilion at EPCOT, these unique enclaves are amongst Disney Vacation Club Members’ favourite locations at Walt Disney World Resort.
Disney Vacation Club is now creating its first Member Lounge at Disneyland Resort in California. Called Disney Vacation Club Star View Station, the brand new lounge shall be situated within the coronary heart of Tomorrowland at Disneyland Park, within the house on the second flooring of the Star Wars: Launch Bay constructing. The sleekly designed “space” shall be house to a devoted Disney Vacation Club Member Services staff, in addition to loads of informal seating, complimentary Wi-Fi, device-charging stations and extra.
March 30, 2022 Update: Disney Vacation Club introduced the first-ever DVC Member Lounge at Disneyland Resort in California will formally open on April 19, 2023.
Inspired by Walt Disney’s optimistic imaginative and prescient for the longer term, the lounge will sport a retro-inspired but fashionable aesthetic that includes a wide range of murals designed by Disney Legends comparable to Mary Blair, John Hench, and Herb Ryman. The lounge can even be house to historic Disney gems, such because the K7 Space Suit worn by the Tomorrowland Astronauts throughout the early years of Disneyland, and the Space Station S-1 Model from the “Disneyland” tv sequence.
“It is no secret that our members are at the heart of everything we do at Disney Vacation Club,” mentioned Bill Diercksen, senior vice chairman and normal supervisor of Disney Vacation Club.
“With the overwhelming popularity of our member lounges in Walt Disney World Resort, we are thrilled to expand more Membership Magic experiences to our members and their families on the West Coast as we prepare to open our newest proposed resort, The Villas at Disneyland Hotel this fall.”
The Villas at Disneyland Hotel would be the sixteenth Disney Vacation Club property and the latest tower on the Disneyland Hotel when it opens in September 2023. The resort will characteristic 344 themed lodging, together with duo studios, deluxe studios, one- and two-bedroom villas, and grand villas.
Each themed room shall be impressed by artistic storytelling and Disney historical past with up to date designs and pixie mud sprinkled all through, together with distinctive touches from Walt Disney Animation Studios classics like “The Jungle Book,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “The Princess and the Frog,” “Fantasia” and extra.
The new lounge shall be open every day throughout scheduled hours to eligible* Disney Vacation Club Members with legitimate park tickets and reservations to Disneyland Park. (*Ownership pursuits have to be bought instantly from Disney Vacation Development, Inc. and Valid theme park admission and park reservation additionally required, and park reservations are restricted, topic to availability and never assured.)
There are a complete of 15 Disney Vacation Club properties throughout 4 states, together with Disney’s Riviera Resort, the latest Disney Vacation Club property at Walt Disney World Resort, the lately expanded Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa in Ko Olina, Hawaii.
As for the why of this, it’s good advertising and marketing for Disney Vacation Club’s subsequent large addition, which is the aforementioned tower at Disneyland Hotel.
The Villas at Disneyland Hotel will enhance the variety of DVC rooms at Disneyland exponentially over what presently exists on the Grand Californian. We’ve been watching the development during the last year-plus, and it’s shifting quick. (When there are timeshares to promote, Disney can nonetheless construct rapidly!)
What’s most fascinating to me is that Disney Vacation Club thinks this lounge is critical to incentivize gross sales of recent contracts for the Villas at Disneyland Hotel. Obviously, Disneyland Resort is considerably smaller than Walt Disney World and doesn’t have the identical vacationer market.
However, it’s additionally not even near the saturation level. After this addition, Disneyland Resort will nonetheless have solely one-third of the variety of DVC rooms as Saratoga Springs Resort, alone. That’s to not point out the opposite resorts at Walt Disney World, lots of which additionally surpass the whole DVC stock at DLR on their very own.
Another DVC property at Disneyland Resort is a no brainer, slam-dunk idea. There is a ton of unhappy demand for an additional California DVC property; the Grand Californian Villas are probably the most tough to e-book resort, and likewise the most expensive by way of the resale market.
Owning at Disneyland Resort is savvy because of the supply-demand constraints, in addition to the pricing of lodge rooms (all of that are costly). There’s solely a lot room for resort enlargement in California, whereas we are able to safely count on DVC to assemble fixed developments in Florida for many years to come back.
All in all, constructing a brand new Disney Vacation Club resort as a Disneyland Hotel tower is a savvy transfer. So too is shopping for one.
Personally, we aren’t available in the market so as to add factors on instantly wherever, but when we have been, Disneyland Resort could be the apparent alternative. I might hazard a guess that there are sufficient West Coast-centric and even bicoastal Disney followers who really feel equally. This isn’t a gross sales pitch for the Villas at Disneyland Hotel–I nonetheless assume it makes extra sense to purchase by way of resale elsewhere and forgo Membership Magic–simply commentary making an attempt to chop by means of to Disney’s motivation for saying the “Star View Station” DVC member lounge.
Even if the corporate is assured in gross sales forecasts for the Villas at Disneyland Hotel, there are most likely inner considerations about one other Aulani boondoggle. While constructing a standalone resort in Hawaii is clearly very completely different from an add-on adjoining to an more and more in style theme park trip vacation spot within the contiguous United States, the fears are comprehensible.
The Grand Californian Villas are a lot smaller, related to one of the best Disney resort within the United States, and luxuriate in a personal entrance into Disney California Adventure. Even then, they didn’t initially discover an viewers–as a substitute, growing in recognition over time.
All issues thought of, it’s comprehensible that DVC would need to hedge its bets and enhance the perks for becoming a member of DVC in California.
It’s higher than gross sales falling beneath expectations and scrambling to seek out methods to incentivize possession. (I don’t assume that’ll occur, however I additionally didn’t assume Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge would debut to small crowds. Sometimes actuality differs from expectations.
Another facet of that is the place the “Star View Station” DVC member lounge goes–into the Star Wars Launch Bay/Innoventions/Carousel of Progress constructing. This is worthy of debate as there have been rumors this summer time gaining an growing quantity of traction {that a} Tomorrowland overhaul is on the horizon, and this constructing is a part of that.
Well, we now know that–if one thing does occur with a Tomorrowland overhaul–this constructing will possible nonetheless exist.
I’m principally detached to that. Disneyland overhauling Tomorrowland is excessive on my want record, and I believe the carousel constructing is amongst Disneyland’s most underutilized parcels. This constructing has been languishing for years, and tearing it down and beginning recent is sensible.
However, I believe a significant Tomorrowland overhaul could be completed with out touching the carousel constructing, and I’m not assured the house would’ve been effectively utilized anyway. I’d nearly want to see Imagineering pressured to work throughout the constraints of the prevailing constructing, attempting to create one thing nice that makes use of this house.
Ultimately, I’m happy by the announcement of the “Star View Station” Disney Vacation Club member lounge. Our above evaluation centered on the “why” of this addition and whether or not it’s really essential to promote contracts for the Villas at Disneyland Hotel, however setting that apart, it’ll be a pleasant perk and one we’ll benefit from on a regular basis.
It’s good to really feel valued as a buyer, and that is the kind of factor that accomplishes that–even when the true purpose is promoting extra memberships. Sometimes it’s doable to kill two birds with one stone, and the DVC Membership Extras choices are a chief instance of that.
Whenever we take part in a DVC occasion, obtain a sneak peek, or benefit from the prevailing lounges, it makes us really feel a bit of extra valued and happy with our membership. We can’t be the one ones like that, and that is mutually helpful–blissful members usually tend to advocate the product or purchase extra of it themselves. (There must be a bigger lesson in that sentiment for all the firm.)
Planning a Southern California trip? For complete recommendation, seek the advice of our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. If you’re contemplating becoming a member of DVC, first remember to learn our Ultimate Guide to Disney Vacation Club. This covers the professionals & cons, resale v. direct, how a lot cash you’ll save, and different necessary issues to know earlier than taking the plunge. If you continue to can’t determine whether or not membership is best for you, “try before you buy” with the suggestions in How to Save BIG on Deluxe Disney Accommodations Renting DVC Points.
YOUR THOUGHTS
Excited for the “Star View Station” Disney Vacation Club member lounge at Disneyland? Do you agree or disagree with our tackle why that is possible being added? Happy that there shall be a member lounge at Disneyland Resort, or upset that this implies the carousel constructing is sticking round? Planning on buying the Villas at Disneyland Hotel? Any questions we may also help you reply? Hearing suggestions about your experiences is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!