An Open Letter to Disney Vacation Club
Congratulations on 25 years, Disney Vacation Club! You have grown significantly since first opening the single “Disney Vacation Club Resort” at Walt Disney World, adding numerous other resorts in Florida and other locations in the United States, and seeing an explosion in membership along the way. In so doing, DVC has undoubtedly become one of the most successful and popular branches of Parks & Resorts in the Walt Disney Company. Your growth and evolution since 1991 truly are worth celebrating.
Ah, 1991. For many Walt Disney World fans, including myself, this was the beginning of the golden age for the Florida parks. The Disney-MGM Studios had opened and was still in the process of expanding, Magic Kingdom still had many of its classics while being on the cusp of introducing new favorites and, of course, EPCOT Center was in its heyday.
Many Disney fans, including DVC members, hold strong nostalgia for the glory years of EPCOT Center. Nostalgia is something I’d assume Disney Vacation Club understands well. Fond memories and emotional resonance for the parks are largely what makes it unnecessary for DVC sales reps to use high-pressure sales tactics. I’ll readily admit that it’s one of the main reasons we joined! A DVC presentation can tug at the heartstrings in a way that Westgate cannot, and implicit nostalgia undoubtedly helps make those sales so much easier.
Despite this, I have never seen an explicit reference to the past in any Disney Vacation Club material. Heck, even the 25th Anniversary site features an image of Olaf! I understand that it might be counterproductive to fixate on the past instead of the future, but DVC management has to understand that its membership base is necessarily composed of rabid Disney fans, many of whom love the rich history of Walt Disney World. Outside of D23 members, this is probably the most concentrated group of nostalgic Disney lovers anywhere.
This is why I’m writing this open letter, and asking Disney Vacation Club to do what so many other groups, from digital marketing to merchandising, already do: embrace that glorious past. The 25th Anniversary year would be a great time to start, as milestone anniversaries are typically times to reflect upon the past while having an eye towards the future.
What better place to start than EPCOT Center, a park that so many fans love. Disney Vacation Club has announced it is opening a lounge in the Imagination pavilion, presumably upstairs in the location of the former ImageWorks. Many people expressed frustration over this, but the fact is that we lost that incarnation of ImageWorks over a decade ago. If Epcot’s operations team has not brought it back by now, it’s not like they would any time in the near future. This is not a case of either a restored ImageWorks or this lounge. The ImageWorks that we love is not coming back.
That doesn’t mean parts of that treasured piece of EPCOT Center cannot return. Whether by design or not, Disney Vacation Club has landed a piece of real estate for its lounge that has a deep emotional connection for many people. Some of my earliest memories at Walt Disney World are playing up in ImageWorks, and when I had the chance to revisit it a few years ago, those memories came flooding back. I know plenty of Disney Vacation Club members are quite excited about the prospect of revisiting a piece of their childhoods and basking in slivers of those memories.
All of this has been a long preface to what I’m imploring Disney Vacation Club to do as it readies the Imagination pavilion for the Spring 2016 opening of the DVC Member Lounge: restore the area to some of its former glory. I’m not asking DVC to scrap plans for a lounge in favor of an interactive play area. Rather, make the lounge something memorable and imaginative that pays homage to the pavilion’s past while also serving as a functional space for member relaxation.
© The Walt Disney Company
To that end, re-install a version of the Rainbow Corridor. Seriously. I know the plans for this space were probably long ago finalized and “it’s too late” to alter them and add something of this scale. It’s not too late. We’re talking a passageway with some relatively simple lighting. Even in the bureaucracy of park-building, this is a minor addition that could be quickly accomplished by a small team that has the will to make it a reality.
I know that will exists within The Walt Disney Company. If I’ve learned anything from D23 presentations, it’s that there are many fans of EPCOT Center within the Company, and I’d hazard a guess that some of them would trip over themselves and make this an expedited pet project. All it takes is someone within DVC management expressing a desire to get it done.
Why bother? There’s ample reason for Disney Vacation Club management to put in the effort. The return on investment would be huge. As mentioned, Disney Vacation Club understands the power of nostalgia. They also understand that of business goodwill. Sure, a lounge alone will generate some business goodwill among existing members.
This has the potential to be so much more than a place to charge phones and grab free soda. That’s a new treat for members, but does nothing to move the needle. A lounge with actual character that gives a nod to EPCOT Center with that iconic Rainbow Corridor will generate goodwill that ripples across the entire Disney fandom, generating intense, positive buzz.
Beyond that, it has immense power from a marketing perspective. I’ve seen countless DVC marketing materials showing children running in front of Cinderella Castle while holding Mickey Mouse plushes. That image speaks to parents and helps gain new members. For people my age with my connection to EPCOT Center, imagine how moving those marketing materials would be with a child clutching a Figment plush while their smiling face is illuminated by the radiant glow of the Rainbow Corridor? I might have kids just so I could add on to my DVC membership and vicariously relive the past as they experience that! 😉
I know this is probably crazy daydreaming, and the chances of someone within Disney Vacation Club reading this and acting upon it are slim to nil. Still, like many other EPCOT Center fans, I’m a hopeless optimist, holding out hope that someday bits of this theme park will be restored to their former glory. I have no delusions about the likelihood of this actually happening, but I’m moved by nostalgia to cling to those small chances, just the same. As an organization that trades heavily on nostalgia, I’m sure Disney Vacation Club understands. Now here’s hoping that they understand the value of acting on that nostalgia here to create some real magic for so many of their members.
Your Thoughts
How would you feel about Disney Vacation Club giving a nod to the past with some restored elements of the original ImageWorks in the new Imagination lounge? Any other thoughts? If you agree, I hope you’ll take the time to demonstrate that by sharing your thoughts with Disney Vacation Club, or this open letter on social media.
Not being big Star Wars fan. I could care less about enhancement to HS. We’ve been DVC members for 20 years, saw presentation in 1992 and dreamt of the day we could purchase. I relive trips of the past and don’t like many of the changes today. But, we will keep going back because that’s what we do!
Tom, I feel like you put into words (quite nicely, I might add) something that SO MANY of us feel. I’m a self proclaimed DisNerd, I have no shame in admitting that my world basically revolves around Disney (even as an adult with no intended children). I never got to visit the parks as a kid, so someone in their late 20’s that just found their home in “The World” within the past 10 years, this kind of nostalgia is what I dream of. The kind I never got to experience and had read countless books and articles on.
I think DVC is fantastic, we are actually considering buying in within the next few years, but I must admit that adding nostalgia and character for the adult fans would be the ultimate tipping point for us.
DVC must realize that there are a *lot* of people out there like you, and the sooner they figure out a way to cater to that demographic, the better. This is one such way. It’s a relatively small thing, but I think it would build a lot of goodwill among hardcore fans.
It would be great considering that they have pulled so many perks from us.
I personally think it would be great to offer something big to DVC members only. We don’t get free dining. We don’t get luggage tags when we book a reservation. We are offered the same discounts on purchases/restaurants as everybody else. It would be fine to offer us something special considering our investment and commitment.
I saw this comment on your Facebook page. I agree with it so much I decided to copy it into your comments here
“Free Dining” is never actually free, you forfeit all other discounts. The DDP is still available for DVC members and I have friends who use it religiously on every trip. But I definitely understand where you are coming from. Membership perks are never, ever a bad thing.
I totally agree. I always enjoyed hearing “welcome home ” it made me feel special and set me apart from everyone else visiting. Now everyone gets the same greeting. We need more special treatment after all we own a piece of Disney for petes sake!
Disney Vacation Club has a long history of responding to requests with a positive cheery message – and then doing nothing. We sometimes forget that they’re this huge corporation.
When I was doing my research on the history of DVC, I spoke to Ken Potrock (SVP/GM of DVC), who personally assured me DVC would share some historical photos with me.
Alas, all I got was an email from DVC saying:
“Thank you for your interest in DISNEY VACATION CLUB history. The
WALT DISNEY COMPANY® unfortunately isn’t able to share photo assets or
individually support the large number of research requests it receives, We thank you again for your interest in DISNEY VACATION CLUB history, and we look forward to welcoming you home again soon.”
So much for Ken’s promise.
For starters, I want to highly recommend those interested in learning more about DVC visit Mike’s new site, http://DVCInfo.com. He has been one of the leading voices concerning DVC since as long as I’ve been researching it. His history of DVC is particularly interesting (and comprehensive): https://dvcinfo.com/dvc-information/history-of-dvc/
Okay…now that that’s out of the way, I can’t say I’m at all surprised by that stock email response. I do think it’s laughable that they receive a “large number of research requests.” Something tells me that DVC scholars aren’t beating down their doors on a regular basis.
That’s really too bad.
I think that could be a brilliant marketing technique to encourage new membership. Oh, you want to see the rainbow corridor? Only if you buy DVC!
We aren’t DVC members yet (we’re working towards it) but if they announced that, I’d have to seriously consider even financing a larger DVC purchase.
Haha, not that I would condone purchasing DVC primarily to see the Rainbow Corridor, but I think it would be a huge selling point for many people!
As a young kid (we are talking 3 or 4) I went to Image Works and had the most amazing time. I wasn’t old enough to have real solid memories of it though, or so i thought. We went back to Disney every year but never did the Imagination pavilion again for many years ( i know, so much dreamfinder time wasted!) and I basically missed every seeing it again. All those years though, I had these incredibly vivid dreams of a rainbow tunnel and room with panels that lit up and made sounds (the stepping tones). I just thought it was a really cool dream world I had made up in my mind. Then one day I read a blog post with a video linked about the old image works and I was completely blown away that the world in my dreams was actually a part of EPCOT when I was a kid. Anyways, I always thought that was neat that it made such an impression on me and I would totally lose my mind if that rainbow bridge came back so that my daughter (now 2) could experience it like I did! We became DVC members because we want her to have a lifetime of those memories I had growing up at the parks and I hope she can experience some of the things I grew up with, not just the new stuff, although she definitely loves that too!!
“…never did the Imagination pavilion again for many years…”
You need to have a stern word with your parents. That is inexcusable for them to deny you such awesomeness. 😉
Seriously though, awesome memory. Thanks for sharing!
I’m around your age but only went to WDW twice when I was a kid. I don’t remember either of those trips, and I also think it’s possible we never went to Epcot and only the Magic Kingdom. So while I don’t have any memories of old Epcot, I enjoy learning about it — and as a DVC member, I would definitely love for them to incorporate more nostalgia in the future.
I’ve been keeping my fingers crossed for this exact thing ever since they announced this. Wonderful letter!
Di$ney realized that kids would want to spend hours in Imageworks playing and that meant more money not being spent. Same reason they’re phasing out the great live entertainment like Off Kilter and Mo’ Rockin. If ppl stop to listen they’re not spending more money. (Sigh)
They took Off Kilter and Mo Rockin away? Not happy.
I understand your point about live entertainment, but I’d say those are poor examples because both Off Kilter and Mo’ Rockin have been replaced. In the each case, I’d say the new entertainment is more thematically appropriate than the predecessors.
Now, the live entertainment cuts over at Disney’s Hollywood Studios without *any* replacements are just sad.
I love this idea. EPCOT has ALWAYS been my favorite park. I know a lot of people talk about EPCOT not being a favorite for little kids but it was for me and both of my siblings. 1992 was our “big Disney Trip” when we were little and, while the Grand Floridian was beautiful then, and meeting Mary Poppins was cool, the place we have the most happy memories of is EPCOT.
I would really love to see any of the history of EPCOT or its attractions. I know with EPCOT being a place “Of Tomorrow” it’s important for the attractions themselves to keep updating and changing but, a member lounge seems like a particularly good place to keep some of its history.
If you want to see more on the history of EPCOT, check out our series from a couple of years back: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/epcot-center-history/
We had over 1,000 reader-submitted photos from the 80s and 90s. Those posts are an awesome blast from the past!
And it looks like DVC removed the post from their Facebook page. They allow visitor posts, so I don’t know why it was removed. I included the link to your article and noted that it was written by a Disney fan who loves DVC and has some good ideas.
That’s no surprise–they probably have a policy against external links (stuff like that tends to look like self-promotion, even when it’s not), so I would assume it has nothing to do with the content of this post. Thank you for trying, though! 🙂
If I could only have on part of Imageworks back…it would be the Rainbow Tunnel. It set the tone for the entire experience and would do the same for the new lounge area. I feel the hole in my stomach every time I see the now closed stairway to the pyramids. I’m not a DVD member and it’s not in the cards right now. That said, I think the feeling would go away if I knew SOMEBODY was getting to enjoy a tiny piece of what was there. Spot on as usual Tom.
It’s really amazing that sometimes simpler things (not saying the Rainbow Corridor was simple, but comparatively speaking, it’s not the most complex thing Imagineering has ever done–or remotely close to it) are the ones that have the most emotional impact. I strongly suspect that the most common memory of that ImageWorks, by far, is the Rainbow Corridor.
If they brought back the Rainbow Corridor, my husband would sell a kidney to buy into DVC so he could see it again. That’s all he talks about whenever we’re in Epcot.
From what I understand, kidneys are sorta useless anyway, so…PUT THAT SUCKER ON EBAY NOW! 😉
I shared this with the DVC Facebook page. Who knows if anyone with any power will actually read it and consider it. Like you, I’m an optimist, and I figured that sharing it was worth a few seconds of my time! 🙂
I was just pondering how myopic Disney has become. It seems the focus has shifted to pushing folks entirely towards the latest and newest thing while abandoning it’s glorious past.To me it seems like the marketing department, with it’s need to sell today’s project at a profit, is doing all the thinking.
To illustrate the problems of this approach consider the Star Wars Land project. The only way that the theme of SWL (Star Wars Land) is going to be successful is if they address all the different era and characters from the complete movie franchise. I’m hoping that the short shortsightedness that is permeating Disney these days does not impact this project with the problematic need to push the latest thing. Episode 7 was a skillfully woven tale taking us from the old to the new, embracing the past and moving us forward. If this land does not do that it will be a forgotten failure after a few years. This saga has stood the test of time and it’s fans have been steadfast in their love and support of it. Star Wars is generational and this land and it’s theme need to bridge those generations. With all the stupidity, cuts and price gouging that is going on I really fear that the lack of leadership and poor vision evidenced in Disney these days is going to have a negative impact on this project at such a crucial time in it’s development.
So it’s not just in the promotions department for various parks or even DVC. There is a decided lack of interest in embracing the past while weaving the future together with it in all that Disney is doing of late. It is so sad and short sighted…..
I doubt it’s marketing. A glimpse of social media and the Parks Blog, among other places, shows a lot of tributes to the past. (Here’s one such Tweet from yesterday.) Likewise, there’s TONS of merchandise for extinct attractions, so clearly those folks are aware that there is a huge market for the past.
I think the problem is higher up. Executives who aren’t keenly aware of (or interested in) the theme parks. They don’t know what a “Figment” is, but they know Olaf will sell because they have a report from the last quarter that says so. Intellectual property like that is easier, and a safer bet than something ambitious like the “edutainment” mission of EPCOT Center.
I don’t see that problem with Star Wars Land. Star Wars is also very much a known quantity, with the original trilogy still being very “bankable.” It’s easy to embrace the past there (and in the recent film) because anyone with a pulse knows Star Wars’ past is highly lucrative and low-risk. Not quite the same with EPCOT Center’s past. EPCOT Center’s original concept and lofty goals *could* be lucrative and successful, but in that case, it takes someone with actual vision higher up to make that a reality. It’s not low risk, and it’s not patently obvious to anyone in a decision-making role.
On the plus side, things like the addition of the Three Caballeros AAs to Gran Fiesta Tour and the replacement of those awful lumberjacks in Canada with a thematically-appropriate show demonstrates that at least *some* of the people running Epcot do care, and do get it, and have been able to fight for little, positive changes. The optimist in me holds out hope that more change is to come. If not with the Imagination DVC Lounge, elsewhere, at least.