Celebrating 35 Years of Disney Vacation Club with Dottie
To celebrate 35 years of Disney Vacation Club, this special cast spotlight shines a light on a leader who helped welcome the first-ever Members "home," and who currently serves as Vice President of Disney Vacation Club Sales. During our visit, Dottie reflects on the legacy upon which Membership Magic was built, the evolution of our magical community and the core values that remain as true today as they were 35 years ago.
“There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow, shining at the end of every day. There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow, and tomorrow's just a dream away.”
Famously penned by Disney Legends and lyricists Richard and Robert Sherman for some of Disney’s most beloved attractions, including Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress, the anthem “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” embodies the heart and soul of Disney: the belief that our best days are still ahead, as long as we continue to dream.
And dream we have. Thirty-five magical years ago, Disney Vacation Club treaded into new territory, bringing unprecedented flexibility to vacation ownership, and introducing Disney fans to a place of belonging and shared magic, where memories last a lifetime, every return feels like coming “home,” and guests become Members.
Dottie, a licensed real estate agent in Georgia before beginning her Disney career, first heard about Disney Vacation Club from a friend who affectionately described Dottie as a “pixie dust kind of person” and thought she’d be a natural fit for a community that would later be known as “The Best-Kept Disney Secret.” While Dottie didn’t grow up making frequent Disney vacations, spending most vacations instead with her grandparents on the Georgia coast, she immediately fell in love with the idea of a community that made Disney vacations more accessible, more frequent and, best of all, multi-generational. With that, she answered the casting call and threw her proverbial hat in the ring.
“I remember thinking, I’ve hit the Mickey jackpot,’” Dottie said of her first week as a Disney Vacation Club Guide after earning the role. “I wanted to be a part of this for the rest of my life.”
Eager to deepen her connection to the Member community, Dottie went all-in and, as she says, “drank the juice,” becoming a Member herself in 1998.
“As a Member myself, I can honestly say that the worries of the world melt away every time I come ‘home,’ whether that be to the resorts, theme parks or cruise ships,” Dottie says. “It’s just magic. To me, Disney Vacation Club is the essence of how we give back and raise the next generation to see the world through Disney. No matter your age, you feel the spirit of Walt, and the whimsy, curiosity and wholesomeness of this kind, gentle place. With Mickey, everyone belongs.”
Disney Vacation Club has evolved quite a bit since 1991. From humble beginnings as a neighborhood of one, Members now call 17 resorts “home” across Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, Disneyland Resort in California, Disney’s Aulani Resort in Hawai’i and our beach resorts along the coasts of Florida and South Carolina.
But while the community has grown and evolved, its core values of optimism, trust and innovation have remained unchanged.
“There’s an expression among our Sales Cast Members: we honor the past but evolve the future,” Dottie said. “Just as Walt always said, ‘we keep moving forward.’ So have your sunglasses handy, because our future is bright, bright, bright.”
