While DVC may brand itself "Disney's best kept secret", to many the concept of DVC villas at the Contemporary is
anything but a secret. Demolition of the Contemporary's North Garden wing began nearly a year ago and construction on a new facility is well under way. Many permits have been uncovered which site "DVC @ Contemporary" or similar nomenclature. Still enough information has emerged to cast some doubt on the project and Disney has yet to make any sort of official statement about the Contemporary construction project. Until now?
For years Birnbaum's has published the "Official Guide to Walt Disney World." Of all the WDW guidebooks available, this is one of the few officially endorsed by Disney. The book itself is chok full of copyrighted Disney character artwork and theme park photos. This is the one guidebook actually sold in shops located within the WDW theme parks and Downtown Disney.
DVC members who have purchased a copy of the 2008 Birnbaum Guide may want to take a peek near the bottom of page 81. Located there is a small 3-paragraph summary of the Disney Vacation Club. The DVC overview includes the following statement:
"For a one-time purchase price and annual dues, members can enjoy vacation stays at Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas, Old Key West Resort, Contemporary, Beach Club Villas, BoardWalk Villas Resort, Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, and Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa at WDW; Disney's Vero Beach Resort in Florida and Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort in South Carolina; plus additional access to destinations around the globe."
It's not exactly a Disney press release, but this appears to be the closest thing we've seen to an official acknowledgement thus far.
Being the "official" guidebook, it's safe to say that the Birnbaum's people have access to a wealth of resources within The Walt Disney Company. In this case, it's entirely conceivable that DVC at the Contemporary was scheduled to be announced at a prior press event, only to be abruptly removed from the agenda. Whatever the case, this mention of DVC at the Contemporary appears to have slipped past proofreaders and editors at both Birnbaum's and TWDC.
Unfortunately that does nothing to answer the question of how many DVC units may be located in the new Contemporary structure. Recently we learned that Disneyland's Grand Californian Hotel is adding 350 rooms, but only 50 of them will be DVC villas. Here's hoping Disney doesn't short-change DVC members on this particular project.
