#370 - September 2026 DVC News: Moonlight Magic, BoardWalk & Booking Rule Changes

The DVC Show

The episode covers significant updates within the Disney Vacation Club community, focusing on upcoming resort experiences and policy shifts.

Key takeaways

Lakeshore Lodge is scheduled to open on July 1, 2027.
The 'First Wave Experience' at Lakeshore Lodge runs from June 24th to 27th, offering special dining and park tickets for direct members.

Main topics

Lakeshore Lodge opening
First Wave Experience details

Notable quotes

I'm a sucker for a good lobby.

Conclusion

This episode provides essential updates for DVC members navigating upc

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) What are you so excited about, Derek? Speaker 4 (0:03) You just said I'm going to press record and we're going to do a show where we talk about all the upcoming news. And I said, yay! So, I mean, that's why. Speaker 2 (0:11) That's good stuff. Oh, okay. Wow. At least one of us is excited about news. I feel like there's not a lot that's happened over the course of the past few weeks. Oh, Speaker 1 (0:18) I thought that list was long. Speaker 2 (0:21) We'll make a mountain out of a mole here on the DVC show. We'll figure out something to talk about or we'll fill it. What's our filler topic this week, Jeff? Speaker 3 (0:31) Oh, I got one. Is that a Cooldown Trivia era backup plan? Because that's on the list. But also, if that doesn't work, we can talk about Dancing with the Stars. I'm here for that. Speaker 1 (0:39) We watched like two minutes of that yesterday. Speaker 4 (0:43) Ain't nobody got time for that. Why don't we talk about how Jeff said he's not wearing a Halloween costume to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. that we're going to on Friday. Speaker 2 (0:53) Well, we all technically said that we weren't, but you went all in this year and we're just excited to Speaker 4 (0:59) see it. It's really not all in. You know, it's all in thanks to Amazon and someone saying, what about this? And I went, you know what? I think that might work and not too expensive and doesn't look like I might die of heat. So it should be good. Speaker 2 (1:14) I feel like that's enough. That's fine. Now Speaker 4 (1:20) it's enough. Speaker 4 (1:24) Leave all that in. Speaker 2 (1:33) Hey everybody and welcome to this week's episode of the DVC show. I am your host Paul Krieger joined as always by my lovely wife Amy Krieger. Hello. Speaker 1 (1:40) Sales Speaker 2 (1:41) executive for the DVC resale market Derek DeBoer. Hey Speaker 3 (1:44) now, Speaker 4 (1:45) hey now, hey now, hey now and happy Monday and almost happy Halloween. Speaker 2 (1:48) The Honorable Jeff Haslam. Hey, dudes. I feel like we're all just like clunky today. Like we're just... Speaker 1 (1:55) Okay, I can tell you exactly why. It's because you set up a schedule where we film three days in this month. That's Speaker 2 (2:07) a lot. I was trying to get us ahead for the holiday season because we all have things that come up and there's parties and there's things we need to do in the parks and everything and people go away. So I was trying to like get us ahead, but we're really not getting ahead because every time we sit down to film shows, we're only getting through two shows. And then we're like, I'll come back to it later this month. That's all right. Speaking of parties, Speaker 3 (2:32) you know what won't be happening is a pool party again. Speaker 2 (2:35) Oh, it's September already. How many episodes do we bring up a pool party? You Speaker 4 (2:40) can swim all the way until like November. November is still swimming weather. And it's actually not like 130. So it's actually preferred. October, November is the best. I'm going to be honest with Speaker 1 (2:50) you. I ain't coming out with love bugs anyway. So Speaker 2 (2:55) don't Speaker 1 (2:57) invite me. Speaker 2 (2:58) Do you think we could do, we could film a batch of shows, Derek, from your house in the pool? Speaker 4 (3:04) Sure you could. Yeah. I think that's legally allowed. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's fine. I think it'd be fun. Yeah. Speaker 2 (3:11) Yeah. Speaker 4 (3:11) Okay. Let's do it. Speaker 2 (3:13) Well, hey, welcome to this week's episode where we really don't know what we're talking about. But yeah, it's news. And there's some things that have happened over the course of the past few weeks that we've, I don't know what Derek's doing, but that's my news. Speaker 4 (3:27) That's my yay. I love the new shows. I love doing the new shows. I love doing all the shows. But the new shows to me are always fun, just because it's always, we've never not had to do a new show because there's always thankfully breaking news of some kind that we can report that we love or we don't like so I always enjoy the new shows. They're Speaker 2 (3:48) good. It is fun to see that there's enough to talk about, at least just the Disney Vacation Club space, to do one of these once a month. It's been a little bit. There's been a couple things that have happened, some speculation, some things that actually are going to happen tomorrow after this show actually airs. So get ready for future Paul to maybe jump into the show at some point and talk about some things. But, yeah. Speaker 4 (4:11) What's happening? Speaker 2 (4:12) What's happening? Speaker 1 (4:13) Well, our show is brought to you by Keyholder Vacation, DVC Resale Market, where you can buy and sell that perfect contract, Monero Financial, who can help you finance it, and DVC Rental Store, where you can rent out unused points so you don't lose your monies or try before you buy. That's all I got. That Speaker 2 (4:39) was great. That was wonderful. I'm glad. Nice segue. Perfect. Blind leading the blind today. Speaker 2 (4:49) Well, hey, the first news topic that we had on the agenda is one that I wanted to loop back around to, which is Lakeshore Lodge. We previously did a live stream when all of the big announcements for Lakeshore happened. Lakeshore is opening July 1st, 2027. And that was super exciting. We got all kinds of room details, all that kind of fun stuff. We talked a lot about that on the live stream. Just wanted to kind of. just get a feel for you guys. Anything, any kind of new emotions come out about Lakeshore Lodge over the past few weeks? I know that the biggest emotion for the Krieger family is that Derek helped us sell our boardwalk contract. in anticipation of buying Lakeshore Lodge, which we successfully sold rather quickly. And then we sunk all of that money into my dog Hermes over here, his foot. So we're now in a position again where we're kind of like, huh. All right. So if anything, I really hope that Disney Vacation Club delays the sales date of Lakeshore to just push that out a little bit further so we can refill the coffers and be ready. Speaker 3 (6:03) Yeah. You're going to have to change. I would support that as well since I will be on a cruise on the opening of Lakeshore. I'll be getting off a boat on that day. So if they wanted to push that forward for you guys, that would help me out as well. Well, Speaker 2 (6:16) I didn't mean the opening. I just meant the sales date. But yeah, you keep dreaming about that one. That's not going to happen, but okay. Yeah. Speaker 3 (6:23) One can dream. Speaker 2 (6:25) Derek, have you digested any more feelings about Lakeshore now that we have all this information? Yeah. I Speaker 4 (6:31) mean, nothing major. Speaker 4 (6:34) Obviously, we see a lot of the photos and we see all the news that comes out. And there's a bunch of different even Facebook groups that are more kind of specifically geared toward Lakeshore. So anybody interested in those, there's actually some pretty cool ones. I think just kind of randomly, I'm really excited about I'm I'm a sucker for a good lobby. I'm a sucker for a good you walk in the front door and that's the start of your vacation. That's your like, holy. Wow, this is amazing. This is so beautiful. I feel my vacation mode kicking in. I feel the excitement. Obviously, you get it at, you know, resorts like Wilderness Lodge, you know, Copper Creek and Boulder and the Grand Floridian and Animal Kingdom. And even the new Pali Tower, you get it because it's got that amazing view out back of Seven Seas Lagoon, all of that. I didn't, no offense, don't get that feeling when I walk into the Riviera Lobby. So I'm hoping that this one. the new standalone construction from the pictures that I've seen, it looks awesome. It just, it makes me feel like you're going to walk in and go, wow, like you're going to see the trees in the back and you're going to see the lake and you're going to see the water park. So yeah, I'm, I'm excited about it overall. Speaker 2 (7:45) Amy, have you, your opinions changed or anything? Speaker 1 (7:48) No, no. I, I think I was always excited about it. I am excited about new restaurants. I'm excited about the new rooms. Like. Derek said the location, I think it's going to be really pretty, you know, right there on Bay Lake. And if anything, I just feel less prepared to buy like we were before. But, you know, hopeful that it'll still be in some, you know, no matter what, we're still going to make room to stay there. We still have BBC points. So, yeah, I'm excited about it. Speaker 2 (8:19) We're in two different places. I still want to buy. But we just have to get it back into a better position to do so. Speaker 1 (8:26) Come on, Hermes. Speaker 2 (8:27) You can do it. Hermes is doing really well, by the way. Speaker 4 (8:30) What's the name of the restaurant again? Speaker 2 (8:33) Moonglade. Moonglade. Yeah. So Speaker 4 (8:36) I would just legally change Hermes' name to Moonglade. And I think you'll feel a lot better about it. I mean, Speaker 2 (8:43) it's not a bad dog name, honestly. I've heard worse dog names over the history. One thing that came out when we actually, right after we talked originally about Lakeshore Lodge, the next day, we got news on what has now been named the first wave experience for Lakeshore Lodge. And I know a lot of people out in the community have kind of been waiting for us to chime in on this a little bit. So think of this almost as a member cruise and or I think it kind of bridges the gap between what traditionally Disney Vacation Club has done as first wave cruises and a member cruise because it does seem like there's a lot more extras with this. So this is occurring June 24th through the 27th and it is for direct members to qualify for benefits. And you do have to use points. The first two members staying for this special event do have to use points. But here is everything that's included. So you're going to get four days, three nights at Lakeshore Lodge in whatever room category you decide to purchase. You get three-day Walt Disney World theme park ticket with Park Hopper. You get a dinner at Moonglade. You get breakfast at Pioneer Hall. Dinner at Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Review, a $200 Disney Dining promo card for every guest age three and older. You get special insights into the creation of Lakeshore Lodge, commemorative keepsakes, and additional member experiences and programming that they've not yet announced. And they'll be coming out with that complete itinerary in the future. This is really kind of just an advanced opportunity to get ahead of that July 1st date, get to Lake Shore Lodge, and get to be one of the first members to experience this new resort. Speaker 1 (10:31) Yeah. At first glance, the point charts, it's high. Any first wave sailing is going to be expensive. When you really break it down and look at everything you get... There is some value there. One of the values is that you don't have the FOMO of not being the first ones there. I mean, there is an intrinsic value there with being the first there. You know, it's a, what, three-night experience. You're getting the park tickets. Now, if you have an annual pass, maybe those aren't as valuable. I'm willing to guess, and I have seen a lot of chat about it, and some people say, oh, I've talked to a cast member, they said that the... tickets are only going to be for that event. I don't think that's true with anything. You know, I've gotten tickets as part of doing the D23 media. They gave me a ticket. I wasn't able to use it. I ended up being able to give it to Derek and we got Derek into Epcot one day on a weekend. So my guess is that these are going to be three day or was it three three day park hopper tickets? that will go into your account that you could use at a later date or assign to somebody else. I'm almost positive that's what's Speaker 2 (11:36) going Speaker 1 (11:36) to happen because that's how their system works. We still have it. I mean, we still have Speaker 2 (11:41) tickets. We still have Speaker 1 (11:42) tickets from 2020 in our account. So I wouldn't... I wouldn't discount those tickets even if you're an annual pass holder. You might be able to use them, get some value out of them, give them to a family member, whatever. But I would just hold off on any judgment on how those are going to be handled. You know, even the cast members don't know right now. So, you know, seeing like different things coming out. But anyway, it's still... It's still a decent. It's still a large number Speaker 2 (12:11) of. Yeah. Speaker 1 (12:12) And then dinner, you're getting three solid meals there. Like the we've done a breakfast at Hoopty Doo at the Pioneer Hall during the opening of Fort Wilderness. It was a lot of fun. They give you like a whole breakfast skillet there. If they do it again, they had Hoopty Doo, you know, performers, performers come around and talk to you. Yeah. dinner moonglade a full hoopty do that you get to do like the actual show with the dinner right um so that's there's a good value there i feel like yeah Speaker 2 (12:41) and then i mean you skipped over the 200 promo card you know dining promo card that you can then spend on other things so i i think they've they've done enough to make the FOMO real in wanting to go to this event. Now, I mean, we are not talking about it being cheap. And as Amy mentioned already, so this starts as low as 184 points for two adults in a duo studio for those three days. So 184 points for three days in the smallest room accommodation. There Speaker 4 (13:12) goes all my points for the year. Speaker 2 (13:13) And it goes up to 532 points. for two adults in a three bedroom grand villa. Yeah. Speaker 1 (13:22) And then you can add additional people if the room allows for either 68 points per person or $1,349. Yep. Speaker 2 (13:32) So it's not cheap, but again, it's, I think it's the FOMO here that's going to, going to be killer. Most of all, Jeff, thoughts on the first wave? Speaker 3 (13:41) I mean, I don't even have enough points to do it if I wanted to. So it's like I am the wrong demographic for this conversation. But, you know, when it initially came out, you know, we were talking in our group chat about how expensive it was. And then we all kind of dove in. And just like you guys just said, you're getting a lot for it. It's still expensive. Yes. So I think I think the target here is those people that will have the FOMO that want those bragging rights that say get to say. I got to stay here before it opened. Other than that, I think everything else is pretty accessible to people a couple weeks down the road. You know what I mean? So there's a reason that I don't do the member cruises either because, A, I don't have enough points to do it, and, B, it's just not worth it to me to spend that kind of point chart points for what you get. Having said that, I do think there is value for those that enjoy this experience. This is something that I don't recall them ever doing before for a DVC opening. Yeah, Speaker 1 (14:41) this is a first. Speaker 3 (14:42) I think the bragging rights and the ability to kind of beat the crowds and experience everything first will have value to some, for sure. It's just probably not for me. Speaker 2 (14:52) Of these type of experiences that Disney Vacation Club has ever offered, I would say... Hats off to whomever came up with this because I do think it is the smartest way to open a resort. It has always been trying to bang down the door of a new property. But sometimes it's also, you know, there. there's a give and take here. We've been at grand openings where they're throwing shrubbery, painting walls, and doing things up until the afternoon of that property opening. So they seem very confident that this is going to open on time or ahead of schedule because we have to imagine that even before this, there's going to be any type of media previews, you know, travel agency previews, cast member previews. Yeah, I mean, I know that all the Disney Vacation Club cast members went into Riviera and stayed there several weeks. weeks before it opened. So all Speaker 4 (15:43) of them. Yeah. Speaker 2 (15:44) They're very weak. Speaker 4 (15:46) Yeah. Like weeks. Like, so people know like cast members and not just really DVC cast members, but a lot of cast members are given the opportunity when they have a resort to basically stay a night for free. Right. Cause they got to work out the kinks. Cause I, I even wondered, they really, really need the kinks on this to be worked out. For example, so many people talk about like, I want to go on the very first sailing of. XX cruise ship and anyone that's ever done the actual first sailing, they can sometimes be a nightmare. Like they're not necessarily glowing reviews that come out from that very first sailing. So I think they will have everything buttoned up because this place will be open for weeks before they know that they've got their big dogs coming in. You know, they're big members, you know, spending a whole bunch of points. And you know what? If it makes people happy, I don't care. Who cares how people, however you want to spend your points and it makes you happy, do it. We all