By Bill Diercksen, Senior Vice President, Disney Vacation Club & Aulani
Among the Disney Vacation Club YouTube series delighting Members between (and likely during) vacations is “Details We Dig,” a short-format series in which the Disney Files Magazine staff shares its favorite details, legends or backstories at a featured place around the neighborhood. It’s an eye-opening series, not only for Members, but admittedly, for me.
I’d be lying if I told you, for example, that before watching this series, I knew that the animals carved atop towering bundles of pine in the Disney’s Wilderness Lodge lobby are vertically staggered to represent the various elevations the creatures call home in the Pacific Northwest.
Nor did I notice before falling into that YouTube rabbit hole that the sculpted jockey atop the bronze horse in the “Winner’s Circle” at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa wears the number 7 on his silks to honor the resort being the seventh to open in our magical community.
And would I, without this series, know that the nautical flags along the waterfront of Disney’s Old Key West Resort translate to spell “WELCOME HOME?” Okay, I did know that one.
But the truth is, the visionaries behind these details don’t necessarily expect anyone to spot this stuff (though Disney Imagineers are keenly aware that Disney Vacation Club Members are more likely than anyone to do so).
So why the painstaking attention to detail? Because, while most observers may not notice that these details are there, we believe you’d feel something missing if they weren’t. It’s a storytelling approach that dates back to Walt Disney himself – a tradition of “place making” that begins with research and builds on an enduring commitment to creating “unbelievably believable” worlds wrapped in layer upon layer of intentionality. In other words, even the smallest details have purpose.
Nowhere is this approach more evident than in our latest Disney Vacation Club development – The Villas at Disneyland Hotel. Befitting its historic location at the Disney destination that started it all and drawing endless inspiration from Disney Animation, the new Disney Vacation Club tower grounds every artful detail at the roots of Disney storytelling. You’ll get your first sneak peek into these details in the pages ahead, exploring some of the Disney Animation artwork coming to life in such inspired fashion at this highly anticipated resort.
I trust the Disney Files staff is readying its camera crew, as this place is going to be filled with details to dig. We can’t wait for you to see it!
Dec. 7 Condominium Association Meeting: Watch disneyvacationclub.com for additional details for the annual condominium association meeting for all condominium associations, scheduled to take place on Dec. 7 at Disney’s Contemporary Resort.