Sales Begin Thursday for The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
The grandeur of one of the premier properties at the Walt Disney World Resort will meet the family vacation style that only Disney Vacation Club can provide when The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa opens this fall.
You’ve told us how much you love your DVC Membership — now’s your chance to tell the world!
We are looking for dynamic, enthusiastic Members who might be interested in sharing their favorite Disney Vacation Club DVC stories on camera for use in upcoming marketing tactics. If this sounds like fun and you’re planning to be at Walt Disney World® Resort in May, we’d love to hear from you! Just click here to provide us with your contact information, details on your travel party and a picture, and a Disney Cast Member will be in touch in the next few weeks.
Greetings Disney Vacation Club Members!
In case you missed the big news from Disney this month, I want to let you in on the fun. And I do mean fun – ABSOLUTELY HUGE FUN – for you and everyone in the family.
The Walt Disney Company announced the planned multi-year transformation of Downtown Disney® area into Disney Springs, which will bring an incredible array of new shopping, dining and entertainment options to guests of Walt Disney World® Resort, area tourists and central Florida residents.
Even more notable is that this unique family destination, which ultimately will include more than 150 shops, restaurants and other venues, sits directly across a shimmering lake from one of our most charming DisneyVacation Club Resorts, Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa. That means Members vacationing at the Resort will be perfectly positioned to enjoy the magic of Disney Springs, literally just steps away. In fact, a pedestrian bridge will be added between the Resort and Disney Springs to create an easier and more convenient way for Members and Guests to travel back and forth (in addition to the boat shuttles operating on the lake). Of course, Disney Springs will be a welcome respite for all of our Members visiting the Walt DisneyWorld Resort.
If you are like my family, you have a runner doing multiple RunDisney events in one year so it is necessary to have a RunDisney Savings Plan.
Here are some things to consider if you are running in the RunDisney Wine & Dine Half Marathon.
First let’s look at the costs of entering the Wine & Dine Half Marathon
So it’s easy to see that if you know that you are planning on running in a RunDisney event it is best to register as soon as possible!
The next big expense to consider is booking a room!
Keeping in mind that we are using the RunDisney Wine & Dine Half Marathon, you can find onsite pricing from Disney directly for value resorts is $121 per night for a 2 night stay,
this price does not include park admission. You may find cheaper pricing by contacting a Travel agent, booking your flight and travel together via travel websites or your airline website, or by taking advantage of any special offer that may come your way.
Join thousands of other animal lovers in your community to support the SPCA of Central Florida on Saturday, February 9, 2013 from 9:00 a.m. to Noon at Lake Eola in Downtown Orlando for the biggest and best FUN-raising pet walk in Central Florida!
This fun family event will have something for everyone. Kids can visit the new Disney Kids Zone plus amazing entertainment zone for the whole family. Enjoy the leisurely walk which raises money to find permanent homes for thousands of homeless animals and support the SPCA of Central Florida’s programs.
Enjoy pet related vendors, entertainment, raffles and more!
All donations received from “Mardi Paws” will go back to support the SPCA of Central Florida in their community programming, low cost medical facilities and finding loving permanent homes for thousands of animals!
Major League Soccer Integration In USL PRO Beginning In 2013
The USL PRO released their 2013 schedule today, with Orlando City opening up the regular season on the road against new USL PRO franchise Phoenix FC on April 7 and play its first home match on Sunday, April 14, vs. the Rochester Rhinos. The Lions will also play a home-and-away series against the Seattle Sounders Reserves in the 2013 regular season.
The USL/Major League Soccer (MLS) agreement announced yesterday has given MLS franchises the opportunity to pair up with an existing USL team in 2013. Orlando became the first USL PRO team to announce an affiliation, partnering with Sporting Kansas City for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Kansas City will be sending a minimum of four players to the Lions to gain playing time.
The JCC’s 4th Annual Winter Festival presented by theJewish Community Center of Greater Orlando will be Sunday, January 27, 2013 from 11:00am until 5:00pm.
The Winter Festival is full of great activities, food, fun, and games for the whole family!
This year’s festival will feature a real snow park for sledding and winter fun, a rock wall, horse and carriage rides, carnival rides, bounce houses, and a bungee jump.
For the younger children in your family Mr. Richard will be there singing and telling stories and there will be face painting. While the older children may want to check out the video game area.
Claire Bilby Message to Members
Dear Members,
I want to share an important Disney Vacation Club organizational announcement with you, our Member families.
As Disney continues to identify ways to deliver the best-possible vacation experiences, the company is providing new growth opportunities for members of the leadership team. In this case, Disney is giving me the opportunity to lead the Sales and Marketing organization at Disneyland Paris, leveraging my depth of international sales experience.
I am thrilled about this new opportunity, which begins February 1, and also deeply proud of the great work our team has done over the past couple of years at Disney Vacation Club. The team has accomplished so much and truly elevated the benefits, perks and experiences we provide to our Members.
Each year the Disney Vacation Club celebrates the holidays with their DVC Merry Mixer.
This event takes place inside the World ShowPlace Pavilion which is located in Epcot between the United Kingdom and Canada Pavilions. The DVC Merry Mixer will be held for four times this year, two of which have already past, but there are still two more being held on December 11th and 18th from 3pm to 5pm.
At the event you can get cocoa and cookies or a rice krispy treat. There are also Arts & Crafts, Dancing, Simon Says competitions, and much more. You can also find some special Mixer only merchandise offerings, including a special Disney Vacation Club pin and each year a Tree Ornament that is a metallic replica of the same pin. This year there are even some New Fantasyland pins that were first released at this event and will be found elsewhere soon. You can also preview upcoming pins as well as buy DVC merchandise. (warning the lines for this can be long).
Wreck It Ralph Merchandise has arrived at Walt Disney World!!!
The Wreck It Ralph merchandise totally captures the spirit (and sometimes smell) of the movie! The pieces are super fun, with great details and imagination. I love it when the merchandise stays so true to a movie, especially when its a movie that I absolutely loved!!!
From Walt Disney Animation Studios and Emmy®-winning director Rich Moore comes “Wreck-It Ralph,” a hilarious, arcade-game-hopping adventure. For decades, Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly) has been overshadowed by Fix-It Felix, Jr. (voice of Jack McBrayer), the good-guy star of their game who always gets to save the day. Tired of playing the role of a bad guy, Ralph takes matters into his own massive hands and sets off on a journey across the arcade through multiple generations of video games to prove he’s got what it takes to be a hero.
On his quest, Ralph meets tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun (voice of Jane Lynch) from the first-person action game Hero’s Duty, and feisty misfit Vanellope von Schweetz (voice of Sarah Silverman) from the candy-coated cart-racing game Sugar Rush, who may just be his first real friend. But everything changes when a deadly enemy is unleashed, threatening the entire arcade and Vanellope herself.Ralph finally gets his chance to save the day—but can he do it in time?
Frankenweenie Merchandise at Walt Disney World
What better way to celebrate Halloween than by taking a look at the Frankenweenie merchandise that is available at Walt Disney World!
From creative genius Tim Burton (“Alice in Wonderland,” The Nightmare Before Christmas”) comes “Frankenweenie,” a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.
Heather Thomson, THE REAL HOUSEWIFE: MAKING A SEASON OF THE SHOW AND A BUSINESS SUCCESSFUL
Heather Thomson, a fashion designer, celebrity stylist, philanthropist and newest cast member of the successful Real Housewives of New York franchise, is the woman behind the successful Yummie by Heather Thomson brand.
Heather will be speaking at the Hilton Orlando on October 21, 2012, at the Women for Israel Breakfast to benefit the Jewish National Fund
Star Wars Celebration VI was full of great panels, and our first one of the convention was The Clone Wars Panel. The scheduled panelists were Supervising Director Dave Filoni and Visual Special Effects Supervisor Joel Aron. After Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, I was very excited for this panel. Arriving early we managed to find seats near the front of the hall. While waiting, Todd made friends with the hosts of a Star Wars Podcast.
Star Wars Celebration VI – The Beginning
Star Wars CelebrationVI was coming to Orlando, and as soon as he heard my husband, Todd, and I planned to attend. The question that we first faced was when to attend? Fortunately, we know a Jedi Master who had been to many Celebrations in the past. And after talking with him about what we could expect and things that we wouldn’t want to miss, we decided that Saturday would be the best day for us to attend Star Wars Celebration VI. We chose Saturday since it had two panels we definitely wanted to attend: “The Clone Wars”, and the “Super-Secret Star Wars Panel”. And then we also discussed and listed a few other panels we might want to attend as well as some other things we wanted to see. Then, after letting Todd do the rest of the event planning for Celebration VI, I looked at the Orange County Convention Center parking map and found a garage nearby so we wouldn’t need to shuttle.
It was Disney’s One More Day event on leap year, the park would be open 24 hours, so I decided I would like to get a room close by using my Disney Vacation Club, DVC, points. I originally booked a 1 bedroom at Bay Lake tower, but later changed it to a 2 bedroom not knowing who would want to come after and crash.
That morning we arrived early at Bay Lake Tower, the Disney Vacation Club Resort near the Contemporary, and let the guard house know that we would be having additional guests needing parking passes. They advised us that we should get parking passes since it was there was a special event that day and that parking enforcement could happen, and then we called our friends who were on the room to advise them that they should get parking passes as well.
Todd had done Disney Vacation Club Online Check-In the night before, so we didn’t stop at the front desk which turned out to be a bad idea this time. Around 1pm, I called to check on the room. The front desk said that I had to go to Bay Lake Tower and check in before they could give me my room info. I left the Magic Kingdom and headed out, at check in I was still confused why I had to be at the desk but I got our room keys.
