2011 is in the books but it was quite a wild ride for Disney Vacation Club and its members. Let's take a look back at the most newsworthy stories of the past year.
As the year began DVC unveiled a new travel insurance option for Vacation Club members.
Attempting to combat lower resale pricing, DVC announced that only points purchased direct would be eligible for certain perks and benefits effective March 2011.
In February Disney released a time lapse video showing construction progress at the Aulani resort in Hawai'i.
Japan was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami in early March. The tsunami waves crossed the Pacific Ocean and impacted Hawai'i beaches, but there was no damage reported at the Aulani construction site. Additionally, all Cast Members working at DVC's sales center in Japan escaped the tragedy.
Later in March, the first permit applications for a Grand Floridian DVC expansion hit the public domain. Even local news media jumped into the fray on this particular rumor.
In April, Disney Vacation Club began charging closing costs to members adding additional points to their ownership.
Disney Vacation Club joined the social media world with its own official Facebook presence.
In May dates were announced for the 2011 Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party with discounts offered to DVC members.
Hawai'i's legislature considered increasing timeshare occupancy taxes in 2011 but ultimately declined to do so.
Disney Vacation Club partnered with Owner's Locker to provide a service discount to DVC members.
Travel expert Samantha Brown visited Aulani to host a series of promotional webcasts.
Disney Vacation Club used Disney Files Magazine to unveil a new program logo. Member feedback on the logo change was mixed.
In July, the new feature pool debuted in the Paddock neighborhood at Saratoga Springs Resort.
Disney Vacation Club resorts fared well in Travel + Leisure Magazine's "World's Best" awards for 2011.
Flames of the Grand Floridian rumor mill were fanned as we learned that the resort's world-class spa would be closing for 18 months.
Point costs reached a new high as DVC began charging $150 per point for Bay Lake Tower ownership.
The DVC world was rocked in August with word that long-time executive Jim Lewis was no longer with the company.
Several days later, Claire Bilby was introduced as the new Vice President of DVC.
Meanwhile the Orlando Sentinel reported that budgeting errors on the Aulani project contributed to Lewis' departure.
In mid-August Disney Vacation Club formally added the final villas at the Bay Lake Tower to the condo association. While not officially "sold out", only a small fraction of the resort remains available for new sales.
Disney Vacation Club and Aulani were featured during the D23 fan Expo in Anaheim.
Aulani opened to guests on August 29, 2011. The real fanfare would have to wait another 4 weeks for the large-scale press event.
In September we received an image proported to be concept art of the forthcoming Grand Floridian villas.
After struggling with the process for more than a year, DVC quietly revealed that members would no longer be able to "segment" their trips and purchase one of the Disney Dining Plans for only a portion of the stay.
The Aulani grand opening was held in late-September. Representatives from website Allears.net were on-hand to cover the festivities.
DVC finally quantified Aulani's budgeting errors and increased annual dues by 33%. Buyers who had purchased prior to the discovery of this error will see their dues subsidized by DVC/DVD for the next 5 decades. DVC even offered to buy-back points from early owners who are displeased with the dues calculation errors.
The last of the Treehouse Villas at Saratoga Springs Resort were declared into the condo association.
In October Disney announced that a credit card was being introduced at many popular dining locations to reduce the number of reservation no-shows.
Disney introduced free in-room wireless Internet service at all Deluxe and DVC resorts. The wifi network would later expand to many public areas of those same resorts.
Letters intended for Cast Members were erroneously sent to many current DVC owners.
In November details were finally released for the 2011 Merry Member Mixers. For the first time the event was held within the gates of a Disney theme park.
Disney's financials for fiscal year 2011 were announced. As a whole the company earned record profits but DVC suffered.
The Doorway to Dreams sales centers in Chicago and New York held special holiday gatherings for DVC members.
As the holiday season approached, Disney Vacation Club requested that members refrain from decorating the exterior of their villa rooms.
SS Member Cruises were announced for September 2012 and January 2013.
2012 annual dues were revealed for all resorts in late-November.
Disney quietly revealed that it does not plan to develop the land it purchased several years ago in Maryland's National Harbor just outside of Washington DC. While few details were ever revealed, many believed the land was purchased with the intention of building a hotel / timeshare similar to Aulani.
At December's Condo Association Meeting, Disney Vacation Club officially announced the Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.
The Condo meeting featured other noteworthy announcements including Tables in Wonderland availability to members and new cable TV channels.
New DVC clothing and souvenirs began to appear at resort gift shops.
"Founding Members" at Aulani began receiving their commemmorative plaques.
Finally, Jim Lewis' year seemingly ended on a high note as the former DVC President reportedly received a letter of recommendation from his prior employer.
