Everything You Need to Know about the 2022 DVC Condo Association Meeting

The Disney Vacation Club (DVC) hosted its annual Condominium Association Meeting on December 9th. Realistically, only a small percentage of guests can attend this event in person. So, here’s everything you need to know that happened during this year’s meeting. 

Moonlight Magic Returns in 2023…with a New Park!

DVC had previously confirmed that the popular Moonlight Magic option would return in 2023. For those of you unfamiliar with this amenity, it’s basically a private theme park night for qualifying DVC members.

You must book (free) reservations for these events, which almost always sell out. Then, you gain after-hours access to the participating Disney park for that evening. 

Photo Courtesy of DlsneyTouristBlog.com

The attraction wait times during Moonlight Magic are a fraction of what you’ll face during a typical park visit. Also, Disney includes free snacks as part of the festivities. Moonlight Magic is one giant hug for DVC members. 

Disney canceled its 2020 Moonlight Magic events due to the pandemic and then didn’t operate any in 2021. So, members relished the return of Moonlight Magic in 2022. 

For 2023, Disney has confirmed that Disney California Adventure (DCA) will host a night, which is huge for the West Coast members! Alas, Disney didn’t confirm any Moonlight Magic dates for 2023 yet. 

All we know is that the DCA one will occur in “early 2023.” Also, it apparently won’t be the only one at DCA next year. 

In 2022, date announcements started in February. You should expect something similar for the upcoming year. That would mean we’re about 10 weeks away from learning the 2023 Moonlight Magic dates.  

Refurbishment Schedule Updates 

You may recall that Disney actively avoided refurbishment discussions during last year’s event. This decision frustrated many members, as some of us plan our bookings around the refurb schedule.

I wrote about the previously announced schedule last month. At the end of that piece, I mentioned several likely candidates for 2023/2024 refurbs. Disney just confirmed those plans.

The following resorts will undergo “hard goods” or large-scale refurbishment in 2023 and 2024:

• Disney’s BoardWalk Villas (2023)
• Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort (2023)
• Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort (2024)

Meanwhile, the following resorts will undergo “soft goods” or modest refurbishment in 2023: 

• Disney’s Beach Club Villas
• Disney’s Vero Beach Resort

Disney is continuing its current refurbishment at Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge as well. Also, the 2023 schedule appears finalized. However, Disney may yet add more resort refurbs to 2024 as the year approaches. 

Star View Station Opens during the First Half of 2023

Disneyland Resort had previously announced a DVC member lounge coming to the park in 2023. During the condo association meeting, we gained a bit more details about this place, Star View Station.

The new West Coast member lounge will open during the first half of 2023, which means it’s no more than six months away from its debut. You’ll find the new rest stop in Tomorrowland at Disneyland Park. It’ll reside on the second floor of Star Wars Launch Bay.  

Obviously, given the location and name, it’ll include an outer space theme. Still, it’ll offer many of the amenities DVC members adore about the EPCOT lounge. Specifically, DVC will offer free Wi-Fi, device charging stations, and ample comfortable seating. 

I think of the EPCOT lounge as safe harbor in the storm of theme park chaos and use it regularly. Somehow, the Disneyland version looks even better, probably because the early images of Star View Station are reminiscent of Space 220. 

DVC Discusses In-Room Hotel Services

While the conversation remained only cursory, DVC also provided additional details about the in-room hotel services making the rounds at various Disney resorts. Specifically, Disney confirmed that 60 percent of its rooms already feature the new in-room tech. 

As a reminder, these new interactive televisions allow guests to connect smart devices easily. They also include Disney content on demand plus hotel services and park information. 

Disney isn’t stopping there, though. Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows has already integrated the new “Hey, Disney!” tech into some rooms. It’s a virtual assistant that employs Amazon Alexa technology. Basically, it’s an Amazon Echo with Mouse Ears. 

Moreover, Disney has integrated these devices with park-specific knowledge. So, you can ask for Alexa info about local weather forecasts, park and restaurant operating hours, and the like. It should be incredibly helpful. 

Disney will continue to roll out both kinds of tech throughout 2023. By the end of the year, most DVC rooms should contain interactive TVs and “Hey, Disney!” tech!

DVC Members Air Their Grievances 

For the time since the pandemic, DVC members had the opportunity to grill DVC management about non-financial matters. Given recent events, you can understand why some of the questions proved adversarial in tone/nature. 

Specifically, multiple DVC owners vented about Park Passes, which were never part of the deal when most of us bought our contracts. DVC management couldn’t say much here, as it’s a park matter that’s beyond their purview. 

Similarly, the Reedy Creek Improvement District matter appears to be trending in Disney’s favor, at least if current reports are accurate. Still, no Disney official is about to stick their head in the lion’s mouth by commenting on that.

Instead, the most interesting conversations involved DVC members’ hold times for customer support. That’s a previous strength of Disney that has become a constant frustration since the pandemic’s start. With a hiring freeze in place, DVC is probably at a standstill here as well. 

Speaking of which, the most frequent discussion topic involved the decline in value of membership perks. For years, DVC spoiled its members with exceptional amenities like heavily discounted Gold Annual Passes. A few attendants pressed DVC officials on why those perks have diminished in scope. 

An executive reiterated that the primary benefit of DVC remains the resort stays. Members should view everything else as a bonus. Still, this DVC executive indicated that DVC is always searching for new ways to reward Disney’s most loyal customers, its members. 

Realistically, there’s not much the DVC team could say emphatically about any of these topics. Since the company just switched CEOs three weeks ago, everything’s in a transitional state anyway. 

Access all available Disney Vacation Club resale listings, or learn more about buying and selling with DVC Resale Market.