# Disney Drops National Harbor



## Werner Weiss (Nov 26, 2011)

The 15-acre resort site that Disney purchased at National harbor, 8 miles south of Washington, DC's National Mall, was widely expected to include a DVC resort. Now Disney has decided not to build there.

Here's my full story:

http://www.yesterland.com/harbor.html


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## bnoble (Nov 26, 2011)

Interesting.  It feels a little too early to say this is an indictment of Aulani---it has only been in active sales for a very short while. I'm not sure if this is continued fallout from the accounting disaster there, or just a change in strategic direction.


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## littlestar (Nov 26, 2011)

Thanks for the article.  Very interesting.


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## amycurl (Nov 26, 2011)

Werner, I just want to say how happy I am to find out that you are a Tugger. I found Yesterland and some of the Disney sites before I found Tug. I wanted to take this opportunity to say how impressed I am by your site, your personal knowledge, and your research. Thank you for your service, sir. 

Too bad about National Harbour.....I wonder if it has to do with the DVC-management house cleaning? Would this be considered the second failed attempt of Disney to get in on the DC-area action? Maybe they'll try again with something else in a decade---third time's a charm and all that?

/Saturday morning rambles...


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## amycurl (Nov 26, 2011)

Also, releasing a press report on the Friday afternoon after Thanksgiving? Talk about Take Out the Trash Day! 

They really wanted to make sure that no one was paying attention to this.


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## heathpack (Nov 26, 2011)

Aw, that's a shame for DVC expansion.

H


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## mj2vacation (Dec 4, 2011)

There were several articles that stated that DVC was never a part of the National Harbour project.


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## Werner Weiss (Dec 4, 2011)

mj2vacation said:


> There were several articles that stated that DVC was never a part of the National Harbour project.



Not only was DVC never officially a component of Disney's plans at National Harbor, *nothing* was officially part of Disney's plan, because Disney never announced specific plans.

The original press release stated, "Disney is considering using the 15-acre site overlooking the Potomac River in National Harbor, MD as the location for a resort hotel for families and others visiting the National Capital Region." 

The press release later went of to say, "This new resort hotel, like the project under construction in Hawai‘i, will be in a prime geographic location and will provide guests with the same comfort, fun and amenities for which Disney is famous."

As I wrote at the top of this thread, the Disney project was widely expected to include a DVC resort -- especially considering the line in the press release comparing the National Harbor project to "the project under construction in Hawai‘i." However, even the "fact" widely repeated by newspapers that Disney was planning a 500-room resort was not based on anything that Disney had actually announced.

The big construction project (which became Bay Lake Tower) at Disney's Contemporary Resort was not officially a DVC resort until exterior construction was complete, interior construction was underway, and DVC sale were ready to begin.


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## TUGBrian (Dec 6, 2011)

another article on the same topic today...

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/tourism/new-disney-hotels-on-hold/1204967


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