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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2005 |
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When I took my family to Disneyland Paris in 2005, we stayed at a Vacation Club in a charming, beautifully “imagineered” 2-bedroom, 2½-bathroom, 2-story townhouse overlooking the Golf Disneyland course. Although the resort was quite new at the time, it felt as if we were staying in a traditional French home in a French countryside village. It was all much better than a conventional hotel. But it wasn’t Disney magic. It was Marriott magic. The resort was—and still is—Marriott’s Village d’Ile-de-France, a Marriott Vacation Club Resort. Although we were Disney Vacation Club owners at the time, we couldn’t use our DVC points there.
based on a Yesterland article originally published February 9, 2007 |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2005 A Marriott Vacation Club, not a Disney Vacation Club |
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Why is there a Marriott Vacation Club on-site at Disneyland Paris, but no Disney Vacation Club? There isn’t an official answer, so we can only guess. Euro Disney, as the Disneyland Paris Resort was originally called, opened with six Disney-branded hotels, all owned and operated by Euro Disney S.C.A. It took a while until the demand for rooms caught up with the supply, which was one of the factors in Euro Disney’s well-publicized financial woes. Eventually, there was a need for more hotels. Euro Disney S.C.A.—presumably having neither the desire nor the resources to build more hotels—turned to outside companies. Currently, the “Partner” hotels are Hôtel l’Elysée Val d’Europe, B&B Hotel, Adagio Marne-la-Vallée Val d'Europe, and Explorers Fabulous Hotels Group. There are also other non-Disney hotels on property, including the Marriott property. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2005 Marriott’s Village d’Ile-de-France, like a French village |
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There have been claims on the Internet that the beautiful Marriott Vacation Club site, which is surrounded by the Golf Disneyland course, was originally slated to be a Disney Vacation Club. Such claims are logical, but, in the absence of inside information, may not be true. In contrast, Disney actually announced plans for a Disney Vacation Club located a half hour from Disneyland in California on a site that eventually became Marriott’s Newport Coast Villas. The Walt Disney Company owns 100% of Disney Vacation Club through a series of wholly-owned subsidiaries. However, at the time the Marriott resort was built, The Walt Disney Company only owned about 40% of Euro Disney S.C.A.; Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his family owned about 10%; other shareholders owned the rest. It made sense to build a timeshare resort at Disneyland Paris. Clearly, if Euro Disney S.C.A. and Disney Vacation Club had been able to work out some sort of mutually beneficial business arrangement, that timeshare resort somehow could have been a Disney Vacation Club. But that didn’t happen. A press release on November 14, 2001, began with these paragraphs: ORLANDO, Fla., – Marriott Vacation Club International (MVCI), the Vacation Ownership division of Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR), and Euro Disney SCA announced today the development of a new property near Paris, France and neighboring Disneyland Paris. Scheduled to open in June 2003, Marriott’s Village d’Ile-de-France at the Disneyland Resort Paris is the first MVCI project in France. The property, located within one mile of the Disneyland Paris theme Parks and the adjacent Disneyland Paris golf course designed by Ronald Fream, is approximately 20 miles east of Paris. Marriott’s Village d’Ile-de-France at the Disneyland Resort Paris will consist of 275 two-bedroom/two-bath villas (proposed) providing 1,250 square feet of living space. Creating the atmosphere of the French countryside with fabrics and artwork accenting garden prints of Impressionist painters, each villa will offer a golf course view along with a master suite featuring a soaking tub and two vanities, fully-equipped kitchen and dining area, living room with fireplace, washer/dryer and patio. Sales are targeted to begin April 2002 with prices ranging from $12,100 to $23,100 per week of ownership. Originally, the resort was sold as “floating weeks,” but in 2010 Marriott Vacation Club switched to a points system, similar to Disney Vacation Club. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2005 Statue of painter Claude Monet in a garden inspired by Monet’s Giverny |
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At the time, Disney Vacation Club’s slogan was “Have you heard the best kept Disney secret?” Marriott’s Village d’Ile-de-France was an even better kept secret. The brochures and the website for Disneyland Paris prominently include on-site, non-Disney hotels—but Village d’Ile-de-France has been completely missing. The parks don’t have kiosks promoting Marriott timeshare tours. While Walt Disney World guests cannot help but hear about Disney Vacation Club, Disneyland Paris guests are unlikely to hear anything at all about the Marriott. For the longest time, Marriott’s Village d’Ile-de-France was invisible to Disney Vacation Club members. Although DVC members could exchange into all other non-Orlando Marriott Vacation Clubs through Interval International (a timeshare exchange company) before 2009, Marriott’s Paris property was excluded. Then Disney switched to RCI, a timeshare exchange company that does not include Marriott. At the beginning of 2022, Disney switched back to Interval International, this time offering a much longer list of exchange opportunities. So DVC members might now finally have access to Marriott’s Village d’Ile-de-France. For members wanting to visit Disneyland Pais, Disney Vacation Club allows direct booking with DVC points for Disney’s Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel, Disney’s Newport Bay Club, Disney’s Sequoia Lodge, Disneyland Hotel Paris, and Villages Nature Paris. That’s much easier than waiting for an exchange to come through. Still, DVC members who have been spoiled by 2-bedroom accommodations at DVC resorts and wish they could have something similar at Disneyland Paris might want to look into Marriott’s Village d’Ile-de-France. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2005 Entrance hall with stairs to the bedrooms |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2005 Spacious living room on the ground floor |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2005 King-sized bed in the master suite |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2005 Second bedroom, with a second bathroom |
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A timeshare accommodation is often referred to as a villa—which means a country residence or estate. But in reality, most timeshare accommodations are simply small apartments. At Village d’Ile-de-France, villa is an apt description. These are country residences (if not quite estates) in layout, appearance, and size. Marriott is an American company, but the ambience is very French. The kitchens are stocked with all the usual kitchen items—as well as two sets of wine glasses, one for red and one for white. After all, this is France. Don’t worry. Marriott knows that many owners and guests speak English, but not French, so the friendly staff has good English language skills. Très bien! |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2005 Breakfast from one of the three bakeries in walking distance |
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Depending on the location of your villa and how quickly you walk, the village center of Bailly Romainvilliers is about a 10-to-20-minute walk. There, you’ll find a supermarket, a boulanger (baker), a florist, a drug store, and several neighborhood restaurants. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2005 Champion (rebranded to Carrefour) supermarket |
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The supermarket in Bailly Romainvilliers primarily serves local residents, not tourists. It’s a full grocery store, selling milk, cheeses, wine, frozen foods, fresh baked goods (another bakery!), meats, seafood, and more. In addition to the two bakeries in town, the Marriott Marketplace at the resort bakes bread and pastries each morning. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2005 Marriott shuttle from the heart of Marriott’s Village d’Ile-de-France |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2005 Public bus stop just outside Marriott’s Village d’Ile-de-France |
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“Man does not live by bread alone,” even if it’s a wonderful, freshly baked French baguette, so how about some fun? Marriott’s Village d’Ile-de-France offers scheduled bus service for 2 € to the train station at the entrance to the two Disney theme parks and Disney Village. (It’s too far to walk.) There’s also a 2 € public bus that stops right by the resort entrance, but takes a longer route. Another option is to use a taxi. If you don’t mind driving in France, the resort has free parking near all the villas. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2001 RER commuter trains with frequent service to Paris |
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Needless to say, there’s more to Paris than Disney parks, Disney dining, and Disney shops. A lot more! The train station at the entrance to the Disney parks is where you catch RER commuter trains—your magic carpet to the wonders of Paris. The RER system connects to the Metro (local subway) system, so, with a connection or two, you can go all over Paris. Look into buying Paris Visite or Paris Navigo Decouverte transportation passes before you get to France; they’re good on RER trains, Metro trains, buses in Paris, and even on the local bus that stops outside Village d’Ile-de-France. By the time you take a bus and a couple of trains, it takes over an hour to get from Village d’Ile-de-France to attractions in Paris. So if you’re only going to visit Paris, then Village d’Ile-de-France isn’t the best location. However, if you plan to spend a few days at the Disneyland Paris Resort, a few days in Paris itself, and perhaps a day in the environs of the resort, then Marriott’s Village d’Ile-de-France is a terrific place to call “home” for a week. |
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© 2023 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated January 20, 2023 | |||
, Curator of Yesterland, January 20, 2023
