As world-class resorts are the bedrock of Membership Magic, and as the thoughtful refreshment of those resorts is critical to keeping the neighborhood ahead of the curve, Disney Files Magazine is pleased to share the latest refurbishment news and notes in this recurring “Hard Hat Report.”
Disney’s Vero Beach Resort: The refurbishment of villas at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort is now complete, bringing some of the most enthusiastically embraced trends from around the neighborhood to Florida’s Treasure Coast. Among the updates are new hard-surface floors, refreshed furnishings and new artwork, including pieces you’ll find both outside and inside the enormously popular fold-away beds that cleverly hide behind the sofa (including the piece pictured here in the lower-right – an artistic impression of Crush and Nemo from Disney and Pixar’s Finding Nemo and Finding Dory). Look for more images of the re-imagined villas in the fall edition of Disney Files Magazine.
For eligible* Members, Member Lounges inside Disney Theme Parks have become some of the most enthusiastically embraced expressions of Membership Magic, offering opportunities to relax, recharge, refresh and reconnect during busy days in the park. With Member Lounges now on both coasts (the original lounge atop the Imagination pavilion at EPCOT in Florida and the more recently opened Disney Vacation Club Star View Station – A Member Lounge in the heart of Tomorrowland at Disneyland Park in California), Disney Vacation Club continues to invest in these special spaces.
At Walt Disney World Resort, for example, the original Member Lounge at EPCOT recently reopened after a temporary refurbishment closure earlier this summer, and it did so with a new name: Disney Vacation Club ImaginAtrium – A Member Lounge.
“With multiple Member Lounges now in operation, including the distinctively named ‘Star View Station’ at Disneyland Park, our EPCOT location needed its own unique name,” explained Disney Files Magazine Editor Ryan March, who worked with Walt Disney Imagineering on the naming update. “And in a Park with a history filled with names like ‘IllumiNations’ and ‘Innoventions,’ we thought it was fitting to do a little mash-up of our own, giving a nod to both the iconic pavilion and its seemingly open-to-the-sky setting.”
Beyond its new name, updates to the lounge include a new elevator, fresh paint from the lounge’s new sponsor (PPG – The Official Paint of Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort), an engaging new exhibit of archival photos and images, and more.
Disney Vacation Club also has confirmed that a second in-Park Member Lounge at Walt Disney World Resort will begin construction this year in Frontierland at Magic Kingdom Park. Disney Files Magazine can report that Disney Imagineers are drawing creative inspiration both from boarding houses that pre-dated hotels in America’s Wild West (the lounge will be located in an existing building that itself was inspired by Old West boarding houses) and from the storied history of Frontierland itself. We’ll share more as new details become available.
