A LOOK BACK AT A YEAR FOR THE AGES! winter 2016 • Volume 25 • Number 4 I recently met some seasoned travelers who treat Walt Disney World Resorts as second homes, returning year after year and passing down their vacation traditions from generation to generation. They receive world-class service from dedicated Cast Members despite no cash changing hands at the end of their stay, and while they’re here, they make a lot of babies. Wait, you thought I was talking about Members? Sorry, I should’ve clarified. I’m talking about birds – purple martins, to be specific. Each year, these agile aerial acrobats fly more than 3,000 miles from the Brazilian Amazon to Walt Disney World Resort, where they settle into specially created accommodations perched on pedestals before finding mates and…well…you know the rest. You can learn more about these curious creatures through the latest installment of our “Quiz Ed” feature on pages 7-8. I mention the birds here because, like many stories in the pages ahead, theirs is as much about where they’re going as where they’ve been. Our community hasn’t just celebrated the past 25 years in 2016; we’ve celebrated 25 years and beyond. So where does Membership Magic go in that great “beyond?” For starters, it sees some of the most popular elements of our 25th anniversary celebration continue in the New Year (pages 3-4), it sees Members sail the Rhine in distinctive fashion (pages 5-6) and it sees one of the most beloved resorts in our neighborhood blaze new trails through the wilderness (page 9). Dreaming about what may happen in the next 25 years can be as much fun as remembering what happened in the first. Who could’ve imagined 25 years ago that Disney vacations would someday include pizza with a rat (page 15), dinner with a pig (page 15) or a mission with an armed raccoon (pages 19-20)? And yet here we are, not finding these news items nearly as odd as they sound. That, for so many Member families, is part of the magic of Disney Vacation Club – having no idea what Disney has in store for the decades ahead but knowing you’ll have a front row seat. It also helps to know that, like a bird returning from the Amazon, you’ll feel very much at home. Welcome home, Ryan March Disney Files Editor Illustration by Keelan Parham VOL. 25 NO. 4 Disney Files Magazine Disney Vacation Club P.O. Box 10350 Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830 Please recycle this publication (or cherish it forever) Editor & Lead Writer: Information in this magazine is subject to change without notice. Discontinue reading if rash occurs. For Member Services in Japanese, Ryan March call 0120-98-4050 Tuesday-Sunday, Update your mailing address online at disneyvacationclub.com 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (Japan Time) Design & Production: Email: [email protected] Andy Crabtree Contact Member Services from 9 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Eastern weekdays, 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Eastern weekends DVC-MBR-65-AK From the U.S.: call (800) 800-9800 or (407) 566-3800 Contributors: From Mexico: call 01-800-436-0264 Dr. Ed Yukatid Gess From the U.K.: call 08007832893 facebook.com/disneyvacationclub Jim Korkis Visit the Help & Contact section of disneyvacationclub.com for toll-free numbers serving other countries. Tim O’Day Email Member Services at: [email protected] pinterest.com/disneyvacationclub The following important information applies to select offerings as noted in the pages ahead: You should not purchase a real estate interest in a Disney Vacation Club Resort in reliance upon the continued availability or renewal or extension of these offers. These offers may only be available to Members at various times and may or may not be renewed or extended. Membership Extras, such as vacation options in the Disney and Concierge Collections, certain discounts, offers and special events, are incidental benefits. These incidental benefits are subject to change or termination without notice, may require the payment of a fee and cannot be combined with any other offers or promotions. Membership Extras are also subject to availability, and block-out dates may apply, including high periods of demand, such as Christmas and New Year’s Day. To receive any Membership Extras, purchasers must present a valid Disney Vacation Club Membership Card, along with a corresponding valid photo ID. Disney and Concierge Collection options are not available for ownership interests not purchased directly from Disney Vacation Development, Inc., after March 21, 2011, and, effective April 4, 2016, Members who do not purchase an ownership interest directly from Disney Vacation Development, Inc., will not have access to Membership Extras. Just getting started By Ken Potrock, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Disney Vacation Club and Adventures by Disney Is it me, or does it feel on Broadway), and we look eagerly forward to like we just got started celebrating the season with Member families celebrating 25 years and when the beloved Merry Member Mixer returns to beyond? Epcot, shortly after I pen this column. In what can only be Of course, the celebration wasn’t limited to described as an example of time flying when events, as Members took advantage of a host of you’re having fun, 2016 seemed to race through new offerings daily, experiencing the enormously the neighborhood at lightspeed, leaving an popular Member Lounge at Epcot (pictured on unprecedented array of new Member offerings this magazine’s cover), enjoying a free Theme in its wake. And I have to say, my colleagues Park day added to select Walt Disney World and I have enjoyed these new expressions of ticket purchases, capturing complimentary family Membership Magic as much as anyone. photos at Disney Vacation Club Resorts, planning Our Cast family has relished the opportunity their vacations more easily than ever through our to visit with you and your fellow Members at enhanced services online and by phone, showing our celebratory signature events, from the off their Member pride with new merchandise Disney Vacation Club 25 and Beyond Bash and complimentary anniversary buttons, taking celebrations in Florida and California (taking advantage of special offers from Disney Cruise over Magic Kingdom Park and Disney California Line and Adventures by Disney, and more. Adventure Park respectively) to the Disney It would be a shame to stop celebrating Vacation Club Neighborhood Beach Bash parties the magic of Membership just because the at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park to the calendar turns to 2017, and I can tell you we Disney Vacation Club Safari Spectacular nights have no intention of doing so. If 2016 was about at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park. We celebrating 25 years and beyond, you could say cherished the four unforgettable days and 2017 will celebrate the year “beyond” begins. nights we spent with the Member community The Member offerings* highlighted as part of aboard our first Member Cruise from New York the year-in-review feature in the pages ahead are (a voyage bookended by Member tours of New only the beginning of what’s in store. Because as York with Adventures by Disney and a special we move from “25 years” to “beyond,” we really performance of the Tony Award-winning Aladdin are just getting started. *See important eligibility information at the bottom of page 1 Ken, left, joins Broadway’s Genie (Tony Award winner James Monroe Iglehart) and Make-A-Wish family the Shapoos to announce a $25,000 donation from Disney Vacation Club to Make-A-Wish following a special performance of Aladdin on Broadway. A YEAR FOR THE AGES As Disney Vacation Club moves from “25 years” to “beyond,” Disney Files Magazine takes a numerical look back at a year for the ages and looks forward to more Membership Magic on tap for the year ahead! 70,000 The approximate number of Members and their guests who will have, by year’s end, attended Disney Vacation Club signature events at Disney Parks, including Disney Vacation Club 25 and Beyond Bash parties at Magic Kingdom Park and Disney California Adventure Park, Disney Vacation Club Neighborhood Beach Bash parties at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park, Disney Vacation Club Safari Spectacular nights at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park and Merry Member Mixer gatherings at Epcot. 180,000 11 The approximate number of Members and their The number of ceremonial trees planted around guests who will have, by year’s end, visited the the Disney Vacation Club neighborhood new Member Lounge at Epcot. this spring. 13 The number of unique shows and experiences Disney Vacation Club added to the already spectacular Disney Cruise Line slate for the first Member Cruise from New York. The memorable voyage to the Canadian coast featured special content created in collaboration with Walt Disney Imagineering, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (live action), Disneynature, Lucasfilm, Walt Disney Home Entertainment, Disney Character Voices, Disney Publishing, Disney Theatrical Productions, ESPN and more. 25,000 2 The number of dollars Disney Vacation The number of special Adventures by Disney Club donated to Make-A-Wish at a special trips enjoyed by Members and their guests: a performance of Aladdin on Broadway for pre-Member Cruise tour of New York City and the Members and their guests. first Adventures by Disney Danube River cruise. 120,000 The approximate number of complimentary photos Members will have taken home from kiosks at select Disney Vacation Club Resorts by the end of 2016. 3 4,000 25 The approximate number of Members and their Fittingly, both the number of dream vacations guests who will have, by year’s end, attended awarded to Members through quarterly exclusive holiday dinners and events at sweepstakes and the number of 25th anniversary Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts.