I don't know about anyone else, but 2025 has felt like the
longest year and the shortest year all wrapped up into one.
Nice. Package.
No, it was so short. That was the same number of days
I. Just woke up on New Year's Day
in 2024. Yeah.
What did it feels like? What did you eat for breakfast
that day? Oh.
Probably sauerkraut, because that's all you make on New
Year's Day makes. Sauerkraut for breakfast on New
Year's Day. Do you guys do any, do you guys
have like have any New Year's like traditions, whether it's
like food or like something that's like that you do special?
Honestly I would like to say I have something but I'm usually
just sleeping off the hangover. Well, that's something.
True or worse, not been, said Lauren.
Anything special you do or? No real tradition there.
No. I just do what do what I can to
avoid waking up in someone's house that serves me sauerkraut.
You guys OK, Let us know. In the comments if you make
something particular on New Year's Day, we always did so my
mom, my grandma always did like a pork roast in sauerkraut and
you do you like Kabasi and sauerkraut Sauerkraut supposed
to be for good luck on New Year's.
My aunt does Black Eyed Peas. They're they're from Virginia.
They were a little more S than we were growing up.
So I feel like there's, you know, you're supposed to eat
something for good luck. And then we also, we put pennies
in our window sill every New Year's Day.
Does anyone else do that? Yeah.
Nope, we're just the weird ones over here.
It's. Supposed to bring you like good
good financial health for the year.
Happy 2026. Jeff, Jeff's going to go dig up
some pennies. He's going to be like mine in
his every window with him. No, I just I know how many
windows you have at your house and I need a new car so.
We, we just do 1 penny in one window and we use the same
window every year. And so somebody at our old house
in Wheeling is gonna open up a window and see like 20 because
we were there 10 years to, we each did a penny, 20 years of
like rusty pennies because they, you know, they're like on the
other side of the screen. So they're getting.
They just stopped making glad. What are we gonna do in the
future? We'll have to.
We'll have to suck it up and do nickels.
I guess we can afford it now. Then you can get that new car,
Jeff. Hey
everybody, and welcome to this week's episode of The DVC Show.
I am your host, Paul Krieger, joined as always by my lovely
wife, Amy Krieger. We've got Senior Sales associate
for the DVC resale market, Derek Deborne, The House.
Hey now. Happy Monday everybody.
Hey now. The Honorable Jeff Haslam.
Hey everybody. And I, I thought I was thinking
through so many different titles for the next person, but like,
she's Jack of all trades. She's a contributor, she's a
moderator. CBC fan She's.
Extraordinaire Lauren De la Cruz.
How you doing, Lauren? Happy to be here.
And I don't know if people realize this, but Lauren has
been here since pretty much the beginning as as long as I
remember. So yeah.
Basically, as long as we've been schluffing use timeshare with
Derek Lauren's been been in the background writing blogs and
keeping keeping our group in line and all that kind of fun
stuff. So, Lauren, good to have you.
And you could barely smell the sauerkraut from Lauren's house.
Lauren lives right down the street from us, so yeah, come on
over on me. She's not far.
No one's going to pick me up on that invitation.
It is the best New Year's meal, I'm telling you.
It's not. It's really not.
Kabasi. I.
Started making the kabasi the way you like it too.
I used to just boil the crap out.
Of it, it's true. Now.
I was like, we can't do this anymore.
Now at least I put it on a grill.
Nobody likes Kabasi sauerkraut slop.
All right, yes, I do. It's the German.
It's the German man in me. So do.
You do you do you make that for for lunch then, or is it legit
like you wake up and that's the first thing you?
I put it no. I start getting it ready in the
morning but we don't eat it. All day long it's the smell of
crock pot smell. That lingers for the month of
January in the House. But it's dinner, yeah.
Well, happy new year everyone. This is coming out I think a
couple days before 2026 kicks off and it'll be our last show
of the year. And we thought, why not end the
year by talking about all of the fun filled things that have
happened in the Disney Vacation Club space over the course of
2025. Lauren, you've been putting
together this blog for what you know, 25 years now.
What? What's it been?
The last five or so. Years.
Maybe, yeah. Yeah.
So Lauren. That's my New Year's tradition,
I guess, right? That is your New Year's
tradition is putting together an amazing blog for us over on
dvcfan.com that just summarizes kind of everything that we've
seen over the course of the past year, all the fun things that
have happened. And we thought, hey, why not
chat through them all, see if we have any new perspectives to
look back on as as the year comes to a close.
Get Lawrence thoughts on some of these things and and then kick
off 2026 with maybe some some of our predictions for the future.
Before we go any further though, this and all of our content is
brought to you as always by Key Holder vacations and the world
of DVCDVC resale market. If you're looking to buy or sell
a Disney Vacation Club contract, they can help.
Monera Financial can assist in financing that DVC resale
contract. Purchase the DVC rental store
where you can try before you buy, rent some points, start
booking that 2026 vacation or get some money for those annual
dues because as of this show going up, they're going to be
due in less than 20 days I'm pretty sure.
So DVC rental store And last but not least, Unlock Magic.
Unlock magic.com/DVC fan where you can get discounted.
Walt Disney World Universal and Disneyland Park tickets are now
live on Unlocked Magic. So head over there and take
advantage of that for your 2026 vacations coming up for air now.
I love when she just smiles at me.
I I'm not trying to call anybody out, but someone told me that I
interrupted you a lot. And I think they don't realize
that you're look, they were also an audio listener.
And I don't think they realize how much he looks to me like,
OK, say something now. Yeah.
Let me take a breathe. Let me take, let me take a
respite. Wait, wait, wait, wait.
They think that you interrupt Paul, but they never talk about
Derek interrupting me. No, it never came up.
They look forward to that part. I guess, I guess that's, I guess
that's welcome behavior. That's welcome behavior.
That's where we get the most amount of super chats is what I
hang. Lauren, I apologize in advance
for all of our behavior for for bringing you into this.
Again, as I mentioned at the top of the show, if you want a full
rundown of all of the year in review topics that we are
discussing today, head over to dvcfan.com.
Read Lauren's amazing article and also in the comments of this
video and in the comments of that blog, share your thoughts
about kind of, you know, what you thought of 2025 and what
you're looking forward to in 2026.
And all I have to say to get started here is as much as we
said that apparently you just woke up and it was 2025
yesterday. I I look back at this list and I
go, this was this year. Oh yeah, because Mile House
opened like five years. Yeah, so kicking off the, you
know, the 2025 year in review, the opening of Mckim's Mile
House, the new member lounge at Disney's Magic Kingdom.
And yeah, that that's crazy that that was this year.
But yeah, it opened on March 18th, which was actually a
little bit ahead of schedule, I think it was Lauren.
It was supposed to originally open in the summer, correct?
Yeah. And you've been there.
Now give us you know what do What do you think of this new
addition to the lounge repertoire?
Yeah, I, I mean, I welcome it. It's great to have another theme
park lounge. I think everyone was looking
forward to that. And I gotta say, if you're
comparing to the Epcot Lounge, the Imagine Atrium, Mckim's Mile
House has much better theming. It really blends in with
Frontierland. And I really love the details.
Like I actually reviewing this article again, I went back,
looked at that details We dig video that DVC puts out and
there's so many fun little Easter eggs, especially on that
kind of fake 2nd floor that they have even some fun things like a
letter from was it Harrison Hightower to the president of
Big Thunder Mining Company. There's actual sketches from Sam
Mckim who the the lounge is actually named after.
And there's some little details where you could see, like the
back story of what this Mile House is.
That's so cool. I remember when when we went for
the first day, the opening day, they had a cast member in there
that was kind of walking people around the lounge and like
showing them all of those little highlights and all of those
little Easter eggs and everything.
And I don't know if they still do that, but that would just be
cool if like the cast members working in there just constantly
kind of we're we're sharing that information.
Maybe they do, I don't know. I listened.
I the the fact that Lauren just told us all those things.
They were in that lounge and I'm over here going.
They've got Apple chips like that's.
I didn't even know they had those.
Those little Easter eggs were there.
Lauren saying all these amazing fun facts.
Amy's focused on the food and and I'm saying, you know what,
I'm going to try to make it there for the first time in
2026. That's my goal.
Yeah, that means we have to take you.
That means Amy has to hold your hand and get you into the park,
and then we have to take you there.
So Jeff, have you made it over? You've made it over to Mckim's,
haven't you? Yeah, I did.
It was a couple, a couple three months after it opened.
I wasn't in a big hurry. It's no secret that I'm not
really a lounge guy. I mean, I go when it's
convenient. I do like the location of this
one. It is much easier to get to.
It seems like as far as Epcot goes, I'm never over there.
So I never ever, unless I'm trying to show off to some
friends that are in town. I'm like, look at this secret
club. I don't ever like figments and
abomination. And so I don't ever even go in
that building unless it's for that.
But the, the Mile High club or whatever it's called is much
more convenient to getting to. And so I've, I've actually been
a couple of times this year and it's nice again, I don't go out
of my way to do it. A lounge to me says alcohol and
there is none. That's magic.
Kingdom. That's what Jeff noticed.
There's no poops in this place. I will, I will say I love the
perspective theming too. That second story that Lauren
was talking about, I want to walk up those stairs because I
guarantee you the doors up there probably barely come up to my
hips because that's just like the perspective that like
they're they're shooting for because that building doesn't
actually have a second story. I'm pretty sure like right.
So, but yeah, no, it's, it's been a big win.
I think a lot of people have loved just having that kind of
quick stop. And as we look forward for Magic
Kingdom, like it's going, it's perfectly positioned as we get
the car's frontier land expansion.
You know, in 20 years or so when we're talking about that.
So whatever. Next up kind of lounge adjacent
I would say was the ever popular new welcome Home center that was
added to the Canadian Pavilion at Epcot, which is Derek's, I'm
pretty sure most favorite part of 2025.
I think you you sent me the most messages the moment that
launched. Some Some people like to rope
drop test tracks, some people like to rope drop guardians.
I'm making a beeline in that Canadian sales center.
That's what I'm doing when Epcot opens.
Yeah. It's, it's just silly.
It's such a missed opportunity. And, you know, we've talked
about it at length, but I just feel like if your goal, again,
is to get as many people, you know, exposed to Disney Vacation
Club, you know, putting bouncers in front of that fellow that,
like, scare people from walking up or walking near it or looking
in the windows. It's just a it's just a weird, a
weird flex. But what do I have?
I know, 100% agree. We felt the same way when we
went and and that was probably the only time we'd ever go in
there because they don't let you in without.
Yeah, I was going to without an. Appointment we're.
Like Lauren, have you made it inside?
No, I mean, I think I was there like the day before it actually
opened and I took some pictures from outside and it was really
so discreet. Like you could totally walk by
if you didn't know it was even there.
I think there were at the time, there was no podium either.
Like it just blended in. I've never tried to go, but I
know based on your experience it's not the most accessible.
And then it's weird that the actual layout of those model
rooms is a little off because. It's completely.
Completely, yeah, that the circle that they use the circle
room as. And it's like, oh, this is a
cool room. It's like, yeah, this doesn't
actually exist in the Polly Tower.
Yeah. Oh, it feels like I'm in a
castle. Yeah.
It's not going to be what the Polly Tower feels like.
I'm sorry, it's just going to feel like a Holiday Inn Express,
but I was really surprised when I was actually at Epcot recently
for Festival of the Holidays for the first time.
I saw at one of the little DVC booths throughout the park,
there was a little placard that said something like won a tour a
Polynesian room and not leave the park.
Sign up here. And so I did.
For the first time, they're actually advertising it as Don't
leave the park, Come on over here and.
Maybe they realized nobody would come in if you didn't welcome
them in. I don't, I, I just, it, it, it
still is a head scratcher for me from the perspective of the cost
of a daily park ticket is so high these days.
To imagine that a family is going to take 4 hours out of
that park day to then go into that lounge or, and, you know,
sit down with a guide for an extended period of time.
Like I would reserve that for, you know, the, the resort day,
the day that I'm not in the parks trying to, you know, ride
figment. I would just be using that to
just try to touch as many people as you possibly can on a park
day where you don't have to tell them, OK, it's going to be about
an hour and a half or two hours because you lose them.
But if you say, listen, we've got a really cool 5 minute
movie, you know, they just cover you with Pixie dust and a great
little movie and then walk you through to go see the models.
And then hey, on your way out, if you'd like some more
information, give us your name and your info and someone will
contact you. Now go have a magical park day.
Like, I feel like they need to not look at it like we're going
to sell people at Epcot, like as opposed to I think just pure
lead generation of getting, you know, thousands of people that
are at least kind of interested versus how many people just walk
away, you know, and. Just probably a lot.
Yeah. Yeah.
And then they have member hours, like member open house hours and
they're like first thing in the morning.
So you were joking about rope dropping, but that's completely
what you have to do. If you remember that just wants
to be able to walk in without making an appointment and see
the model, you have to go to the early mornings.
If I'm rope dropping, If I'm there that early, I'm rope
dropping croissants and yeah. Jeff, have you made it?
Have you made it to the lounge? I've.
Never. I've never been inside.
When Amy and I went to eat to the beat the other night, we, we
walked past it because I, I hadn't even really seen where it
was. And it gives, it gives the
feeling of being a Speakeasy without the speak or the easy,
like there's no way to get inside.
It would have worked better as if they had a lobby and then
once they had you in there, it was like a magic store that just
spun you around and now you're in a DVC presentation and you
can't leave. I just, I don't understand it
and I don't understand. We've talked about this before,
but Derek, you and I both know we've both been in sales.
I think everybody's been in sales.
It's much easier to sell the people that are coming to you
rather than the ones that you have to go and find.
And so if people are showing up and wanting to see it, you
should never, ever, ever turn them away.
Yeah. Yeah, it also goes back to that
eye contact thing. They walk by the booth and they
look, make eye contact, say hello.
There should be someone out there may eye eye contact
inviting the people in that are walking by that you know,
looking in that direction. It's not hard to train someone
on like 5 to 10 icebreaker questions just to ask the random
person that walks. Right, We, we did this trade
show one time with, with our friends that own like a pet, a
pet camp and literally we just handed out those for their new
location and they were just friends of ours.
So we were just helping and we didn't work there.
And it was like a home and garden show and, and just
everyone, they walked by, you made eye contact with them.
You're like, hi, do you have a dog?
And and that was it. And everybody wanted to tell you
about their dog. And so we, you know, we talked
to so many people and like, I'm not even a salesperson and I
feel like that is so easy to do like it.
Was it was a 2 day event too? And there was a group of Amish
gentlemen selling cabinetry next to us in the in the booth next
to us. And halfway through day one,
they started going really loudly.
Do you have a kitchen? They were really funny.
They were they were hilarious to interact with, but it was just
like that, that fun like, but again, like it worked like that
that perfect little like yeah, do you have a kitchen like well,
it. Makes fun and really quick.
To Derek's point, you know, again, taking time out of your
park day, especially people that are there that aren't already
owners, they're not going to take time out of their Epcot
day. It's already hard enough to get
around Epcot in a day without being exhausted.
They should have a DVC room in every Disney hotel.
Pop Century, All Star music, all of them.
Yeah. And leave it out of the parks
all together, because if you're staying there and if you're at
Pop Century and you're like, I wanna see how the other people
live, you know what I mean? And like, you walk in the door
and you have this beautiful room and it costs the same amount.
You know what I mean? Like I don't know, I'll I'll
shut up so I don't rant but. No, that is brilliant.
The whole thing is weird, where they put it, why they use it,
how they use it, it's just bizarre to me.
Lauren, I'm. Just mad because there were
talks I think that of what they were going to put in there.
And I think at one point I had heard that maybe it was going to
be like a brewery and they sell Beaver tails.
And I'm like, Oh my God, we lost a brewery and Beaver tails over
a sales center That makes me. Exactly.
Lauren, I, I don't know that I ever asked you this question,
but it when you first bought, did you do like a direct tour?
Was it a like, did you do like one of those sales tours?
I did actually, I I forgot where we started whether, but whatever
it was, we did the tour of it was Copper Creek at the time was
actively selling. So we saw, you know, the moms
there and obviously the tick goes to the cab and it's like.
Of course, Yeah, yeah. Definitely a resort day, Like we
weren't trying to go to the parks.
Like it was kind of a relaxing day.
I couldn't see like if this were this Epcot one were around at
the time, I don't think I would have spent our Epcot day trying
to research more about DVC, even though we were actively like
trying to learn more about DVC at that point.
Yeah, Yeah. Well, not to fully derail us
from that thought, but like, they did it.
They they've done it correctly in the past with Copper Creek
and Riviera. But then, Jeff, I mean, you've
told the story before about your experience of going to Fort
Wilderness. And like, here, here are warm
bodies ready to walk through and maybe sit down with a guide.
And you know, they were like, come back another day.
Yeah, it wasn't even come back later that day or it wasn't
like, go over, here's a gift card, go have lunch and a beer
at Trails End and we'll get you back in an hour.
This was Saturday and they're like the earliest appointment we
have is Thursday. Like, and I'm not exaggerating.
That is honestly what they told us.
And I was just like, I'm not going to be here.
And I don't. Think they're selling that hard.
I, I just think that it's, they just don't have as much, like
they don't put as much into their schedule for that as they
need to. I I don't know, I mean I'm just
guessing This is why they don't like.
Us. Yeah.
Well, that that and a million other reasons, but oh.
That's why. Been wondering, scratching my
head all this time. Fast forwarding to I think it
was June 1st and that will be a day that has always etched in my
mind because it ruined a day at Epic Universe for me.
Which I guess is Disney's ultimate plan.
Some days is we had a new, basically a new check box come
up on the booking section of when you're actually completing
a reservation with Disney Vacation Club.
And it had you agree to their terms and conditions.
And basically they rolled out what we're calling the new
updates to rental rolls, which basically says that this
reservation is for personal use only.
And we've unpacked that since then.
There's a great show that I did kind of really deep diving into
what all of this means. And ultimately personal use does
include the occasional rental of your DVC points.
If you, if you type in renting in the search box on the Disney
Vacation Club website, it'll directly tell you right there
that you are allowed to rent your points.
And as we said back then and as we continue to say today, this
was really geared to those, you know, commercial renters, those
people that are on, you know, Facebook groups where you see
the long, long list of, you know, 30 to 40 reservations that
they have for sale all at once. Because they've booked all of
these, you know, reservations and they're trying to sell them
at these premium prices at obviously that the rooms that
you can never get like the value studios at Animal Kingdom, which
will come back to that in a little bit.
But really I, I believe that a lot of this was, was geared
towards them. And as we sit here today, you
know, no further updates really to report on these rental rules.
I don't know that we've ever actually formally do.
Do we ever actually formally talking about it in a news show
or something? Maybe a little bit, but I we've
definitely talked about it, yeah.
Yeah. So Lauren, any thoughts on this?
You know, as I know we've not gotten your opinion on on the
new rules that roll that rolled out.
I mean, I think it's a good move if it's cracking down on these
heavily commercial renters, not your everyday like once a year
type renters. But I think I, I'm wondering if
it actually having that check box when you're making a
reservation. Now I'm wondering if people who
don't really understand what these new terms mean really
think that, Oh, you can't rent at all.
I feel like that question can pop.
Oh, yeah, I mean, I, I get asked every single day.
Every single day someone will ask me and say, hey, I'm, I'm a
member. So I saw this.
Am I still able to rent out my points?
Because I don't do it a lot, but I did it last year or I did it
two years ago and it was so seamless and was so easy.
Will I still be able to do that? So yeah, people see that they
get like a little oh God, oh God, what if I'm not the one
checking in? Or what if I want to send a
friend or a family member at the end?
I've never had one person tell me guess wise that that they've
had any issues or problems whatsoever with renting their
points or anything like that at all.
Yeah, I mean, I've, I've heard the horror stories from, you
know, you know, over the years, you know, maybe there's a member
out there that owns thousands upon thousands of points and
had, you know, 506070 reservations that they were
renting out. And those people have been
cracked down on before, but that's really kind of what
they're. Derek is pointing to Jeff right
now, which is why I laughed for you audio viewers out there.
Yeah. That is, he owns over half of
Old Key West. He's just been renting it
constantly. He has, you know, 75 different
names that he owns points in or something like that.
But. But no, like, like, there's been
occasional cases like that. And, you know.
Yeah, that goes directly against the point of having Disney
Vacation Club. You should never own it for that
sole reason of thinking about it as a financial venture or
anything like that. But the ability to continue to
rent your points because hey, I'm deciding to take a cruise
this year instead. Or you know what, we're a little
bit low on cash for the holidays and I need some money or I need
money to pay my annual dues. Like all that.
Renting remains to be allowable, will continue to be allowable.
And if anything changes here, we'll definitely you'll, you'll
hear it here first for sure. So, yeah, moving on to the next
topic, another reason why DVC hates us is because we've been
very critical over the Grand Californian refurbishment.
I, I struggle to actually use the word refurbishment when we
actually put that in there but mixed it.
As the year progressed, we kind of just saw different like parts
of the Grand Count refurbishment get finished.
And then there was like this whole question of like, are they
are they done? They can't be done yet?
Are they done yet? No, no way that they're done
yet. And then of course it did come
out that they were finished with the refurbishment of and this
was a full refurbishment. So we're talking about a full
hard goods everything done, you know, you think hard goods
refurbishment. I think, you know, the the
recent examples have been like Boulder Ridge has set the bar,
you know, Boardwalk has set the bar.
You know, there's there's been Saratoga, Saratoga when they
when they did that one, that was that was just a huge
transformation of those resorts. And what do we get?
A bed and a carpet? Yeah.
We stayed, we stayed at Grand Cal this year, August and it is
one of our home resorts. So, you know, we do care about
like getting the love it deserves.
And it is a small, it is one of the smaller DVC properties.
But you know, when you think about it, Grand Californian
itself is like the premier hotel at Disneyland Resort.
And so the fact that on the hotel side was there mushrooms
growing out of the wall? There was a.
Yeah, there was a. Video.
That's the survey. I think that was on the hotel
side though, but still disturbing.
The things that they did not do that were very surprising that
are typically always part of a hard goods refurbishment.
In our experience with all the hard goods refurbishments that
we've seen and covered through the years, the last, you know, 5
or however many years we've been doing this that they didn't do a
Grand Cow was they did not renovate the bathroom.
So the bathroom tile it, I don't even think the tub, the
fixtures, it was all the same stuff from before.
And we had stayed to Grand Cow not too long before that, you
know, like before the refurb. So, you know, we had that
comparison and I actually went back, we did a video for both.
And so I was able to go back and rewatch that video we did and
and double check the kitchenette was the same the, you know.
Even the even the microwave in the fridge, we noticed that.
Like still. The logo was so faded on on the
microwave that yeah, they. Knew it's been there replace
those appliances and and for a kitchenette those are minor
appliances. You know, it's a mini fridge in
a small microwave, less than 500 bucks probably.
Yeah, So and, and the tile and the cabinets in the kitchenette
and stuff were, were still the same.
So basically, yeah, we pretty much had, you know, floor, a
rug, the Murphy bed and the Murphy bed, they didn't even put
artwork on it, which is uncharacteristic of DVC in
general. Just very plain looking And, and
yeah, just a few other small things.
But you know, the the the big, like hard items that that are
normally done like the bathroom in the kitchenette, you know, I
was really surprised. And that's just in a studio.
So in a two-bedroom, 3 bedroom, you know, whatever one bedroom,
you know, we're looking at a whole big kitchen that maybe
they didn't replace. We didn't really get to see
those, but I'm assuming it's much the same and and the
community is is not happy about it.
Yeah, we're hoping we can see a 2 bedroom next year at some
point. But my personal favorite of the
refurbishment was a company that I didn't think was in business
anymore called ihome because we always look for, we always look
for additional charging when we go to these refurbishments.
And what did they do? They put in an ihome clock radio
that has a couple charging ports on it and sat it on the on the
on. The I was like, Paul, we had one
of these in our first apartment and we're talking.
We're old. We're talking.
Yeah, like 15 years ago, Lauren. When you saw these photos come
through the refurbishment, what were your first thoughts?
I don't even own at Grand Cal and I feel sad for you.
It's not even close to what Boulder Ridge got.
Bay Lake Tower got this really beautiful refurbishment.
Like they. Did like completely revamped,
great colors, great updates. It's it's really puzzling.
I know that there is also that notification that there is more
refurbishment coming out for Grand Cow and I really hope that
somewhat related to the rooms, but it sounds like it could just
be the common areas. Yeah, Yeah.
I feel like it's a long shot that they go back into the
rooms. And I, I should preface this
show by saying that we are recording this actually the day
before the condo association meetings that are occurring.
So if there's been any significant updates, I maybe
will pop in a little segment right here just to kind of
update what maybe they said about the refurbishment, because
I would highly, highly anticipate that members are
going to have asked a lot of questions about this from a
budgetary standpoint. Just how did we spend?
You know, correct me if I'm wrong, Lauren.
Like 100 and. 50,000 per room average.
You ran the numbers. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Derek's like that's an expensive clock radio.
That's expensive clock, right? But apparently it's the nicest
laserdisc player that you can possibly.
They had to seek them all out on eBay, so yeah.
I think out of all of the news stories that sorry that.
Was my doubt. They're very opinionated about
the Grand Cow refurbished. They are, they're they own
points there so. Out of all of the stories this
year, this one is the biggest in my mind because first of all of
the outcry and second of all of the fact that we had just stayed
at the Disneyland Hotel and there were already problems that
we saw in our room from a fairly new resort.
Just kind of goes back to what we said when we first talked
about this is, I don't understand, maybe DVC on the
West Coast doesn't really know what they're doing.
It's just such, it's a different world out there than than Disney
World and even the the beach resorts.
It's just Disneyland hotels already falling apart, or at
least our room was. And we had some other issues
that are just unheard of in DVC. Now this I just, it's, I don't
know, it seems like a West Coast problem to me.
Yeah. Moving forward in time, the
other thing that happened this year, I think it was Midsummer
in July, there was new legislation passed by the state
of Florida that reverted our condo association meetings back
to a yearly meeting, which has been the norm.
You know, if you've been a Disney Vacation Club member for
years, you've always expected that December meeting to happen
in which she had the big, it actually used to be a big condo
association meeting every, all the different resorts met at the
same time. And then they also kind of had
a, you know, member gathering event where they would maybe
tell you some new and exciting things that were going on at the
resorts. The quarterly meetings were very
well attended. I'm pretty sure Jeff Haslam was
the only person in attendance multiple times because we sent
him to cover these meetings. And they were riveting, weren't
they, Jeff? So riveting that the first one
was really good and everyone since then was a total waste of
time. Yeah, it, it was a little
overkill from the quarterly perspective.
And I, I, I believe that, you know, obviously from a state
perspective, you know, we're talking about timeshare in
general. So they're trying to legislate
that entire thing. But I, I, I think this is a good
move. Them going back to the, the
yearly meetings. Also the fact that they kept the
yearly meetings being separate individual meetings for each
resort so that those owners of those resorts could really talk
about, you know, what's going on there.
As we just mentioned, grand cow owners can talk about so on and
so forth. The the myths in my opinion is
the fact that they have axed the member gathering this year.
So any opportunity to generate excitement or to generate and
and it's it's really the biggest visibility event that like
members come to every year an opportunity to sell them add on.
Contracts well attended. Yeah, last year it was in a a
giant ballroom and yeah. So I mean, there's hundreds of
members in attendance and you have to imagine some of them
might want to add on some points.
And so I, I don't know why they act that.
I mean, they are building this monstrosity across the lake from
the contemporary where this is going to be.
We will be able to see it when we are at the condo association
meeting. So you know a tidbit, a slide,
you know one picture. All I'm asking for is 1 picture.
Even if you show the old concept art yet again of reflection just
so that we can a. 100% know. If that's what you're going
with, you haven't changed a thing in over 10 years.
But Lauren, any thoughts on the on the on the condo meetings?
Yeah, I was kind of disappointed that we won't have that kind of
overall meeting just because it was the highlights and also that
the refurbishment timeline, I thought that was.
Something that we. Yeah, well.
I don't know where that would land now that there's just
individual meetings. They're done with refurbishment
so I've heard they're never doing 1.
Again, probably each individual resort is going to have to find
out, you know, if they're on it. And yeah, you're right, that was
one of my favorite parts was getting that slide with all the
refurbishment upcoming dates. Yeah.
Well, and, and more than that, it was it was that sense of
membership, that sense of ownership.
You were in a room with like minded people, almost kind of
like a networking event where you could learn about other
members and get your free cookie.
But you know, they usually had Mickey show up or the lady come
out and sing the song or like it was, it was just something that
made you feel like you belonged to something pretty cool.
And it just, I see what you did there.
I knew as soon as he said that you were thinking of that song.
Right where we belong. Yeah, it just feels like a
slight to me that it didn't cost him any money to do that event.
Cookies are cheap. Yep, Yep, I've heard.
Amy Craig Roll make them. Yeah, yeah, I left.
I left for a meeting today. I came.
Back I showed you a photo of my cookies.
They're so sad like this. I have no skills just like
slather all this icing on them. Hey, it's a cookie.
Doesn't doesn't take a lot to impress me with a cookie, you
know, just cookie and coffee and I'm a happy guy.
So, Derek, are you going to say yeah and sauerkraut?
Yeah. Were you going to say something
there, Derek, in the middle of that?
Well, I was going to say, wasn't it last year when you guys went
that they did kind of a little surprise and delight and they
took you over to the new? Yes, yes, yeah.
Like, that's crazy. We got to put our cell phones in
these little cellophane Baggies. I know.
I'm in bags. But I mean, the amount of buzz
that they generated from doing that was so big.
It was. And again, they're just printing
money, you know, by taking these people that love this product,
just like Jeff said, you're here.
These are people that love Disney Vacation Club.
Give them something and they will try to give you money.
If if, if they could do something for Lakeside,
Lakeshore, what whatever it's called, anything.
I mean they would have a wait list of of people ready to buy.
Points like just. Get them excited about it, you
know, in some way, shape or form versus just OK, here's the
operating reserves, here's the this and this is and this so
done. I mean, yeah, it's just sad, you
know? It's sad.
It's the, it's the missed connection that I've never
understood because I was at a meeting earlier today with a
different travel company, so not the Disney company.
And they use Disney Vacation Club as an example because of
the fact the fact that they have identified that that brand is
obviously one of Disney's highest affinity groups.
You know we have bought in, we are second to maybe what a
Golden Oak, you know home purchaser when you actually
like. Probably after Club 33.
Yeah, I mean. Golden Oak Club 33 not in ABC.
But still, like you're, you're in this very exclusive.
Group you own you own the real estate interests, Yes.
And it's expensive Group. Yeah, you come a lot.
Yeah, so. You know, they're dedicated
people that really love the brand that you've created.
So, you know, just foster that community like we have here at
DVC Fan and they will do pretty much anything.
Add more points, you know, eat cookies, whatever it is.
Next up on our year in review that Lauren put together, our
member Magic Beyond was confirmed for 2026.
So this is that paid perks program that Disney Vacation
Club rolled out in 2020. Five, $99.00 for the year for
2026, a lot of the perks are basically remaining the same.
Nothing too significant that was changing with the perks package.
I know there was like a new photo that they're doing out at
Alani. A couple other things I think
what what was most surprising to most most people was that the
price didn't go up, that they kept it at that $99 price point.
Lauren, did you buy Magic Beyond?
Was was it something that you ever added on I.
Think it was something that I just felt like wasn't really
relevant. I feel like I fall into that
pool of locals who you know, you have your annual pass and it
already has memory maker. Then you know, if you don't use
one time use points. But like some of the biggest
perks of joining and it just while I was kind of hoping
they'd throw in some new benefits for 2026, it looks like
I'll be opting out again this year.
What would be like the top two or three that you would love to
see added as like a future benefit?
Probably any kind of dining discounts would.
Really. Yeah.
Mm hmm. Yep, like I had a list at one
point from another article. But it was like.
Stuff if or like a Tables in Wonderland type discount.
Yeah. And if the buy in was higher
than that $99.00, I bet you in the long run it would be worth
it. Those are the kinds of things
that I feel like are missing, and I think there were some
other ideas like more wait lists or, I don't know, some things
that might not cost a whole lot for DVC.
Yeah, I struggle with seeing like with with rolling it out
for a second year, I struggle with seeing the wow factor for
year 2. And when you look at any
subscription based product, it's always like how do you keep that
subscriber? How do you get that person to
sign up for their next year? And I think that's kind of the
struggle is, you know, if you didn't maybe utilize all of the
benefits this year or maybe like even the ones that are so well
talked about, like the one time use points, the buy one, get
one. Essentially that's offered, you
know, that might have been needed for your vacation last
year, but is it needed for your vacation this year?
Do you actually need the extra points?
So I, I, you know, they, they talk about churn in the
subscription industry. I wonder what Year 2's churn is
going to be because nothing has changed.
Yeah, so how many people that had it are gonna are?
Gonna not opt in, yeah, for the new year, because I don't.
Kind of reminds me a little bit of of the D-23 members, because
I was a charter member. I was all in on D23I love the,
you know, the newsletters that come in, the big books and stuff
like that. But the annual gift that you
got, it was like a roller coaster.
Sometimes it was a really cool pin collection, then sometimes
it was a watch that never worked.
You know what I mean? Like, and I finally gave up my
membership a couple years ago because it just wasn't worth it
to me anymore. And I kind of feel like if you,
if you're not consistent, you're, you're going to have
people continue to drop off. Yep, Yep, for sure.
Yeah. And I think, and I think they
know that they're going to have people drop off and that's why
they said, hey, let's start charging people $500 on January.
1st, you're skipping ahead, Derek.
Don't, don't don't spoil the ending of this show.
Yeah, because. Nobody knows.
Nobody's seen our shows where
we've talked about it already 12 times.
But hey, Derek, I know you missed the the the bar that was
supposed to come to the Canada Pavilion with your Beaver,
Beaver tails, which I think half the audience is wondering what a
Beaver tail is, but. Guess what?
It's like a elephant ear. It's like a elephant ear, Yeah.
The other half of the audience is now wondering what an
elephant ear is. A tiger.
Paw It was like a cinnamon sugar pastry.
They used to have a nap time. Thank you, Lauren for saving us.
Is it like a funnel cake or no? Remember they.
Used to have them on the Jersey boardwalk.
It's. Like a the Beaver tails.
Yeah, on the Jersey board. I do remember that.
And Wildwood, but I never had one because I don't like fried
dough. Well, anyhow, Derek, you lost
the Canadian bar, but guess what, you got one at the Grand
Floridian because a lot of changes have happened at the
Grand Floridian lobby over the course of the past year.
A new check in desk, new furniture, carpeting.
And then in November here we had the opening of the Perch, which
is the new lobby bar that is down in the Grand Floridian
Lobby and a very limited menu, I would say of of cocktails and
drinks. Lauren, have you?
Have you made it over to check it out yet?
I haven't. I was actually at the Grand
Floridian like right before this all happened.
I got to see some of the refurbishment was like the lobby
being redone but the the bar itself was still work in
progress. I haven't tried it yet.
Are you it without trying it, Are you a fan of it or are you
kind of like not sure that they should have put it in there?
I mean, originally when I first heard the concept, it was like,
I don't know if this is kind of weird.
We already have Enchanted Rose on the 2nd floor or do you
really need another bar? But it from what I saw of it in
person, it didn't seem so intrusive.
And I know, Jeff, you had been there and and reported that it
wasn't as big a presence as some people might have feared.
Yeah, yeah, it's, it's not near as big as they made it out to
be. The concept art, I kind of felt
like it was halfway into the lobby and almost don't even
notice that it's there. If I'm being honest.
I, I think their biggest miss, and Paul kind of already alluded
to that is when we're talking a limited menu.
Like it is a limited menu, 2 cocktails, 4 wines, 3 beers and
one mocktail. Like there's nothing to it.
And from everything that we were told when Grayson and I went was
that's it. There's no plans to do anything
more. And so I don't know it, it's
just my thing about it is, is, and we go into way more detail
in our video. If you want to go find it, I'm
sure Paul will link in the notes to it.
But it's, it's just a very weird feeling because while you're not
at the bar, you're still in the lobby.
There is a bar, but you don't have to go to the bar because
the servers will still come and bring it to you.
But also it's a bar that doesn't serve anything.
It's just the whole concept is just kind of strange to me.
So is it still normal to sit in the lobby and not be?
Yeah, I mean it's. Normal, they haven't like taken
out tables, taken out chairs or anything like that, but the
servers still come up to you if you're sitting there and offer
to get you one of the six drinks that they have.
Yeah, so and it's just, it's a very, it's a very strange
concept. I'm not sure how popular it's
going to be now if they do some cool things like if the
gingerbread house comes back next year or if they do
something. Holiday.
Themed for the. Drinks like gingerbread martini
or stuff like that, that would be really cool.
Something like that. But as it stands right now,
nobody's going out of their way to go over there.
I will see. The only excitement that's come
out of all of this is the fact that they are renovating the tea
room at the Grand Floridian and that is the experience that I
had wanted to do like pre pandemic and everything that we
never got around to doing, like having the afternoon tea
experience. I know that they over it, as
Derek calls it, Cakey Bakey shop.
They they'll charge you like $700.00 for it, but I'm hoping
that Grand Floridian is a little bit more accessible.
But I, you know, I would love to do that event.
Have you ever has any of you ever done that experience or.
Went a long time ago. I must have been like a teenager
when I last went with my mom and it was a cute mother daughter
kind of outing. And I don't even totally
remember what I ended up eating there, but we I just remember
the cast members were incredible there.
And I'm excited too with this reopening.
I saw the description online said something about like
whimsical Disney touches. And all I'm hoping is maybe
it'll be anything like Tokyo Disneyland where they have like
the really cute themed like pastries and whatnot.
Like it. It'd be so it could be great.
I don't know maybe my expectations.
Yeah, you could if you would, if you would just go all in with
like Alice in Wonderland or something.
I think it would be so cool. And that room I think has some
of the best views of like the grounds of the Grand Floridian.
So it'll be cool to just be able to sit there and take that in.
So excited for that as we head into 2026.
A big win for DVC over the course of the past year, and I
think we've we've kind of said this multiple times, is that
they've been doing a better job of attraction previews, you
know, the, the special meat and treat events, those magical
extras that have been like just peppered in throughout the year
in additional the moonlight magic events.
So we had the test track preview and they did the Zootopia better
zoogether. They also sent emails to like
Florida locals that were Disney Vacation Club members providing
them with preview opportunities. So Lauren, any thoughts here?
Like, I think it's just been a big win overall for Yeah I.
Mean it's a big win overall I think some of us as locals love
that they extended invitations beyond just those with resort
stays and if they're really trying to make that distinction
between you know direct and resale and trying to push those
membership extras like this was a great way to do it I mean I.
Think. I don't know if we'd ever get to
the point where maybe they'd include us in like previews of
the new lands when they finally open.
Like America? And like that would be really
cool. Yeah, but that is, that is such
a great point because, you know, they want to distinguish
themselves away from resale. They want the perks to be
enticing. But then for so long it was
like, well, we've got these perks and you buy resale, but
you have to be staying here and you have to be on using your
points. You have to be, you know what I
mean? And a lot of us locals like we
we do like a few nights here and there.
So it's less likely that a trip lines up, but we have more
flexibility. So the fact that they literally
like emailed everyone who lived with an X amount of radius of
Disney, you know, that offer, we didn't even get to go, but that
was really cool. So.
Yep, and I heard that from a resale perspective that Derek is
throwing a pool party moonlight magic at his house next year.
Yeah. Exactly, exactly.
I don't think he uses the pool. I've been to a top.
Several It's just a showpiece. You, you just haven't been on
the right day. There's nothing better than
floating in my pool eating a Beaver tail with sauerkraut.
It's heaven. Oh my gosh.
Just really quick on these previews because this is the
first time that, you know, we just moved down here recently.
So from a local's point of view, we got to do both of them, Test
Track and Zootopia. We saw Lauren at Test Track we
covered. Zootopia test track you said we
didn't. What's that?
Did we go to DVC or the annual house?
I think we did go to DVC that time.
I think we OK. I'm sorry I lied it I was
thinking it's. Been a year, folks.
I just love that not only are they offering these things and
and I guess again, making us feel special that we're members,
but they're starting to bring stuff back like the tea room
that we just talked about. Like it's been so much talk over
the last couple years of guess what's coming and now stuff is
finally getting here. You know, Monsters Inc and rock
and roller coaster. Those kinds of things are not
too far down the road. We got our Zootopia.
I know a lot of people hated on it, but I freaking loved it.
And I thought the test track was a really, really nice overlay.
It's just nice that construction walls are starting to come down.
I know they're going up other places, but it feels like we're
getting. More, Yeah, yeah, definite
progress moving forward. Rounding things out for our
discussion tonight of everything that's happened.
Again, just want to preface, if there was any groundbreaking
news that came out of the condo association meeting, I'm sure
Lauren has updated this article with it before it went out.
But you know, we're, we're recording this the day before
those happening. I, I honestly am not expecting
anything out of those meetings. So I'd be surprised if future
ball comes in and tells, tells you that I was completely wrong.
But maybe he will. You'll never know.
But to round out the year, the the big things that we always
expect, you know, our point charts.
And so we had our 2027 point charts came out about a week ago
as a filming this. Lauren, you put together a great
article that kind of summarized, you know, the, the bigger
changes that that happened in those.
Why don't you walk us through those just a smidge?
Laura, I think the the big highlights reel is really with
Animal Kingdom Lodge, specifically the Jumbo House
rooms and Polynesians. So starting with Animal Kingdom
Lodge, we saw a shift where some of the harder to book rooms, the
value rooms, the concierge ones, they were actually increased in
point value and kind of balanced out by some of the Savannah View
rooms. Hopefully that'll help with
balancing demand. I don't know.
With Sophia rooms, I'm sure the impact won't be significant, but
it is a shift in the right direction I think in terms of
trying to balance demand. The Poly side was actually more
interesting with the points chart because if you looked at
just the chart alone, it looked like the first two travel
periods had all these increases and you're looking at the chart
trying to figure out, OK, so where's the kind of balancing
decrease and it's nowhere to be seen.
But it sounds like DVC may be reallocating some of the theme
park view rooms and making them either preferred some of the
ones that are less than optimal theme park views.
Maybe that first floor where clearly there are some
obstructive views that maybe not worth that full theme park view
price. And that's something that we
have yet to confirm though. So hopefully after this gets
recorded, we might learn something more about this and
what's going on at the Poly. Yeah, there's, there's huge
chatter about it. I know online just about, you
know, trying to, to get more clarity about that.
And as I said before, when we, Amy and I talked about this on a
live stream a few weeks back, but just, you know,
communication is key here. You know, this is now, now we're
having this giant online debate about an issue that has come up
in Disney Vacation Club in the past where they've tried to
rebalance point charts. And, you know, basically the
community community has come back and said, hey, you didn't
do this right? Like you didn't do this within
the guidelines that you've set. And they've actually had to
reissue point charts as a result.
Now, I don't expect that to be the case this year, Lauren, as
you said, I think that, you know, I think we are seeing just
rebalancing between, you know, a theme park view and a preferred
view by the time this goes up. Hopefully we've gotten that
clarification out of the condo association meeting because I
can tell you there's dozens of people just waiting to ask these
questions. But that that single line, you
know, a single line or paragraph with the Polynesian.
Like like X amount of rooms were were, you know, switched from
the park designation to blank designation based on member
feedback of, you know what I mean?
Like anything like that, If that's because we're just
guessing, we're just guessing. We don't know if that's even
what happened. Same thing.
Same thing with explaining, you know, the, the animal Kingdom
jumbo house changes. You know, for a lot of people,
they're still scratching their heads about that.
They don't, you know, view the charts as much as we do to like,
understand that they moved to Savannah viewpoints to kind of
compensate for that. But yeah, I, I, I don't know,
that's just my theme here. As we kind of are rounding out
the end of the year is just a just a lack of communication on,
you know, you're, you're getting the member base upset about
things that, you know, they could just be like, oh, OK,
because you explained it. Pretty, pretty simple process.
You know, I have to. I asked Derek to explain himself
when he sends us random text messages all the time.
He's gotten better at that too. So like the other thing that
kind of rolled out with the point charts at the end of the
year was again, a communication thing, but it was the $500
resale contract admin fee that was added to Closings that are
occurring beginning January 1st or I guess contracts that are
occurring beginning January 1st. Derek, I, I know it's kind of
there's just been some turmoil here getting clear
communication, I guess over the course of the past week or so,
because we're right, we're right in the middle of it now.
It'll be old news by the time this goes up.
But yeah, it's it's been kind of a a new craziness in the resale
world. It is, yeah.
And I was actually at the Boulder Ridge.
So we were at Wilderness Lodge, my wife and I, when that news
came out. And, you know, we got emails
from our company president saying we're still trying to get
clarification, We're still trying to get all the details.
And of course, it hits, you know, the World Wide Web that
the kids love to go on. And then it's everywhere.
Like everybody's asking us, you know, what's the 500?
When does it start? If I have a contract in Roe for,
you know, right now, do I have to pay the 500?
Is it only for people, you know, joining after January 1st?
So I think honest to God, I think Disney didn't mean for
that to to be posted on their side.
So I think somehow something went awry where it wound up and
they weren't fully prepared for it because it took us several,
several days to finally get a hold of people at Disney to just
get the most basic clarification.
Because again, my thing about this, this is, and again, we'll
talk about it on, you know, I'm sure another show, but it's,
it's a very, very common thing when it comes to, you know, in
the world of timeshare, you know, doing this transfer fee,
doing an administrative fee, what not.
I think what took people off guard was that a, there was no
announcement, there was no warning.
And I mean, I'm sorry, they went from like zero to 60.
Like, you know, it wasn't like, hey, we're going to implement
$100 or it's going to be 150. It was just like, I don't know
if they're just throwing darts and they're like, I don't know,
500, OK, let's make it 500. So we have people now.
And of course now it is news that if you're thinking about it
or you're on the fence and you want to save $500, do it before
January 1st. So make sure that you do that
before because it will start and it's 500 and no one knows you
know what it's going to be like next year.
Does it start at 500? Stay at 500.
It's always just kind of been a, you know, kind of a gentleman
agreement that, you know, I think that we've had with
Disney, you know, doing, you know, 10s of thousands of
contracts with them over the years.
This was always a possibility. It was always there, you know,
in writing, you know, almost like one of those, you know, in
case of emergency break glass, you know, here's like a, you
know, a special drawer like, hey, do you know, we can get a
couple 1,000,000 bucks if we just implement a $500 fee.
I'm not sure what made them do it, but it's always been a
possibility that they could have done it just because we've
always, you know, said, listen, there's no upfront fees.
DVC resale market, other companies charge you, you know,
clerical fees, administrative fees, everything else.
We don't you know, we don't have any hidden fees.
So that's what we just wanted to be fully transparent.
So that's always what we don't like is when news comes out and
Disney's not able to answer our questions and we're like, we
just want to tell these people, yes, you're safe.
You don't have to pay the 500. So how we finally have?
We just, we just want to educate.
We just want to tell our base what what the heck is going on.
Yeah, it's like you said, you know, we could get into a thing
about like, oh, should they be doing it?
Is it, you know, right for Disney to do it?
Is it just a cash grab? Again, almost every other
timeshare company has this, so that's not the thing.
I think for us it was just just be transparent about it.
You know, don't just throw it on your website at like 12 O one on
a random Monday only to have people discover it.
You know, put out a press release and again, like you
said, here's why we're doing it. Here's why, because guys, we're
going to get you through roefer faster.
We're going to be able to transfer those points from your
contract closing because of this.
This is going to allow us to hire more people so we could get
your contract and transfer your points faster.
Just give us the give us the why.
Why are you doing it? I've, I've said for years, if
Disney Vacation Club's listing, you know, info@dvcfan.com, we
will publish any news you want us to put out there.
We just want to educate, you know, you know, the people that
are out there considering this product, whether it is direct
or, or it is resale, you know, we just want to to do best
educate those people on what they're buying, what new things
are coming out, all that. Kind of stuff and prevent panic,
you know, because that's exactly what happens.
Like I mean first world problems.
I understand what we're panicking about, but you know
that's what happens. You get all these people and
they're they're coming at, you know, they're coming at Derek
with all these questions and some there's people still were
like, I might cancel my contract or you know what I mean?
And just the the not knowing and not understanding is just
unnecessary. Yeah.
To wrap us up for the evening, I did want to take us forward in
time and be Nostraderik Miss and predict the future of what we
might see in 2027. Jeff, I'm going to kick things
off with you. Give us. 2027 I'm.
Sorry. 2026 I'm already old. OK.
I had. The sad part is I had to think
about it for like 1/2 minute. Like, wait a minute.
No, wait. Jeff, give us one thing for 2026
that you think might, might make this list for Lauren to write
about next year. I think you're going to see
member previews for Big Thunder and Rock and Roller Coaster with
The Muppets. I think those are the those are
the two things I'm excited for. Feels like Big Thunder has been
closed since like 19420. My gosh, right.
One of Krieger's favorite rides, so I.
Know. I'm, I'm excited for those to
reopen. I'm a Muppets fan.
I'm excited to see what they do with it.
I hope they don't screw it up. So yeah, I'm, I'm excited for
for the prospect of that. Amy, what's on your?
Sorry, I was just imagining how they could screw up The Muppets,
and I was like seeing just like cardboard cutouts, like with the
neon, like just asphyxiated to the existing stuff.
OK. Oh gosh, can you come back to
me? I need a thing for a minute.
OK, mine's very simple. Any news whatsoever for
Lakeshore Lodge? Just anything really.
Just again, just show us picture reflections and going, hey,
we're going with this. And then we know that we've got
95% of the concept art and everything and we know exactly
what your plan is. Pretty sure that's that is the
case. But you know, just confirmation
of that. You know, anything, it's for me,
it's the most unhidden thing that's going on at Walt Disney
World right now. And I I feel like they think
they're being sly about it. And I did say this on a previous
show. I do understand why they're not
saying a lot because it could potentially affect current sales
of, you know, Riviera. And I won't say cabins of Fort
Wilderness because I don't think anything can make those worse at
this point in time. Polynesian, the island tower
also going on right now. But that is one of the reasons
why I imagine they're not disclosing more information
because they don't want people to go.
I'm going to wait and see. That's that's, that's probably
that not the not the objective here, but still just anything
like just just like let us know just a little little smidgeable,
as Amy's mom would normally say. Oh, my goodness.
All right, I've got it. OK, Go.
The Animal Kingdom refurbishment.
That's what I'm looking forward to.
That is out of all the resorts out there right now, that one
needs the most love. And that's that's our first, our
first home resort. So yeah.
We've got, we've got several Animal Kingdom stays booked.
Yeah, it is already ongoing. The refurbishment is I'm not
really seeing any. Yeah, I'm just waiting to see,
you know, what, what's what are they going to do?
What's it going to look like? What are they going to change?
Is the furniture going to you know?
Hoping this age as well. And we already got a concept art
photo at the condo association meeting.
Yeah. So that's that's probably high
up on my list for 2026. Derek, let me predict.
Well, I was going to say, like you said, Paul is Lakeshore.
I mean, I'd love to. I don't need to see like the
appetizer list or anything that specifically detailed, but show
me what the inside of one of those like a frame cabins will
look like. Even if it's of course the
famous artist rendering, that's fine.
Just give me a feel for what that, you know, lazy river pool
is supposed to look like. So I think that can only help
build excitement. But me personally, I'm hoping
that 2026 is the year that they finally complete the boardwalk
and they tell us what is happening with Big River Grill,
what is happening in the Jelly Roll space, what is happening
with Atlantic, Like what is going on in that part of the
boardwalk. So I would love to have exciting
news and not just like a little trickle like, oh, here's this is
happening and we're going to replace the carnival, right?
No, like I'm talking like I want to, I know all of it.
Like here's the big vision for the boardwalk.
Here's what we're going to do to Atlantic dance and here's Jelly
rolls and here's big River grill.
That that place is just so great.
And I saw someone post I think in DVC fan this week that like
was there for their first stay and you know, was just kind of
like I was walking around at night and I thought this place
was supposed to be kind of cool. Like it felt kind of like a like
a ghost town of it. So I want that to be brought
back to its, you know, former, former glory.
One of two announcements are going to occur.
It's either they're going to announce everything that's going
into all of those places that are now shuttered or they're
just going to say we're we're calling it a day with the DVC
side and we're just going to, you know, cancel all your
contracts effective immediately and shut this side of the resort
down because it's just a waste of space for us because there's
just nothing that that side it is, it is kind of walking it's.
It's and they took out the the art place too, right?
The art gallery's gone. Yeah.
So I mean, they've got to be doing something.
They're closing too many things on that one side.
You got a coffee shop and muscles and bustles or whatever
that whatever the gym is called. That is not it.
Muscles and something. It might be.
Muscles. Yeah, thanks, Lauren.
Save us and and and and wrap this show up.
What are some of your predictions that might make make
your list for next year? Yeah, I, I kind of forgot about
it, but we still have the Saratoga tree house
refurbishment to look forward to.
Like we haven't anything like the permit was filed in like
June and I think it just kind of fell off my radar anyway.
Yeah. We haven't heard anything and I
don't think anyone's seen any. No, I saw someone complaining
about them like, very recently. So yeah, I, I I'm excited.
I hope that that starts soon. Yeah, that's a good one.
Is due for its soft goods. I feel like it just had its hard
good to refurbish. I know.
Well, again. So here we go.
Back around and making a lot of people nervous, because I know
we were when we were just there for Oktoberfest, we were kind of
saying if they try to shove a Murphy bed into those 11
bedrooms or two bedrooms, I don't think that the member base
is going to be too pleased about.
That I don't think they will. I don't think they can.
I think just the layout of the that resort just doesn't bode
well to it. So hopefully, hopefully they
don't try to do that. Just keep the lumpy couch bed.
We'll we'll survive save the charm of old Key West and put it
that way. Well, that is going to do it for
our 2025 year in review show. Lauren, thank you again so much
for joining us for and for this amazing blog that I hope the
thousands upon millions of viewers of this show decide to
go go and read read in its entirety.
She she definitely puts it better than I've than I've kind
of talked about it over the course of this show.
So thank you Lauren again for for everything you've done for
DVC fan this year. And thank you you guys, Jeff,
Derek, my lovely life, Amy for being a part of the show this
year. It has been a wonderful 2025 and
we can't wait to share all of the fun things that 2026 has to
bring us with Walt Disney World, Disney Vacation Club and beyond.
So. Happy New Year.
Happy new Year. That'll do it for this week's
episode of the DVC Show. We will see you next Monday in a
new year. Sauerkraut for everybody.