NASA held its first Information Technology Summit last week, bringing together thought leaders from government and industry with the purpose of showcasing the best in private and public IT innovations. Of course, such a summit calls for representation from the Walt Disney Company.

At the summit, Jack Blitch, vice president of attractions and development for Walt Disney Imagineering shares some special insights into the fun we can all expect from Disney parks in the future and our upcoming Disney timeshare vacations.

The video clip below is from CSPAN, and gives you a rarely seen look at 3-D models of “Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid” and the entire Beauty and the Beast section. While it is 1 hour and 50+ minutes in length, there are many interesting points about the Disney process and development as well as some updates on Disney Vacation Club properties you will want to catch if you are a Disney timeshare owner, or even just a Disney aficionado.

Watch this video and:

• Learn how during the renovation of the Disney Tree Houses, the new units were actually dropped into place from above, to ensure that the tree canopy was undisturbed.
• Find out about the expansion of the world’s only water rollercoaster on the Disney Cruise lines.
• See how Disney has undertaken its largest single expansion project ever by doubling the size of Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom in Orlando.

Continuing on the subject of timeshares and pet owners covered in yesterday’s The Timeshare Authority, it is appropriate to recognize the staff of Global Connections travel clubs for its generous efforts on behalf of the Tampa Bay Society for the Prevention & Cruelty to Animal (SPCA) along with a hat-tip to Timeshare Girls Blog Spot for bringing it to our attention.

The employees of Global Connections in Clearwater, Florida held their 7th annual SPCA Pet Bowl fundraiser, representing the Global Connections Resort in Dunedin, Florida. The team, known as Team Beso Del Sol, earned first prize in fundraising, bringing in over $1900 for the worthy cause. In all, over $20,000 was generated from the charity event.

Kelli Brazier, GCI’s Member Fulfillment Manager and the team’s organizer, said, “Not only do we get to encourage donations for a worthy cause close to our hearts, but we have fun in the process while working together as a team. It was wonderful to see how many people really care. A sincere thank you is extended to each of our sponsors!”

As most pet lovers know, the mission of the SPCA focuses on protecting and sheltering sick, injured, homeless and unwanted animals. The Tampa Bay SPCA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that relies on gifts from individual donors and receives no state or federal monies.

More on Global Connections Travel Timeshare Resale Properties

Global Connections Travel is a multi-destination travel club offering Star Credits as opposed to timeshare weeks. Members of Global Connections Travel can use their credits in a variety of ways at popular destinations worldwide. Distinctive from traditional timeshare, Global Connections Travel members do not pay annual fees, but instead, only renew for the years during which they want to travel or use club benefits.

In June, The Timeshare Authority updated you on the new pet resort opening at Orlando’s Walt Disney World. (See: Disney Offers Pet Resort with Special Pricing for Disney Vacation Club Timeshare Owners). Pet-friendly timeshares and pet boarding accommodations are important to travelers. According to the 2009-2010 National Pet Owners Survey conducted by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association there are 77.5 million dog owners in the US alone, accounting for 39 percent of all American households.

For most pet owners, Fido or Fluffy is a beloved family member who creates a conundrum when it comes time for travel or a timeshare vacation. Do you plan your vacations only at pet-friendly timeshares? Do you board your pet, hire a pet sitter or maybe even stay home because you can’t come up with an acceptable solution?

Orlando’s Disney World Resort is making it easier than ever to enjoy a guilt-free vacation, fully confident that your pet is nearby and is receiving the very best of care. And for Disney timeshare owners, members of the Disney Vacation Club, the solution is especially sweet as they receive special discounts.

Disney Vacation Club Timeshare Members Receive Discounts

Disney’s new Best Friends Pet Resort will be able to accommodate up to 270 dogs, 30 cats, and other animals including hamsters, guinea pigs, birds, and potbellied pigs. Not accepted for boarding will be snakes, lizards and turtles. Here are few of the tail-wagging details to update you on just how very ‘luxurious’ these accommodations for your pet really are.

Add-on pet services, in addition to outdoor playtime are available, including doggy playgroups, Frisbee or ball play, walking trails, a water park area, and snuggling for your dog while someone reads stories aloud—like a bedtime story being read to the family dog. Dogs also have the option, for a fee, to view movies or to vacation in one of the 226-square foot luxury suites that feature a private play yard and a personal pet concierge. Upgrades for felines include two and four-story kitty condos.

While basic pricing starts at $37 nightly, Disney timeshare owners receive discounts as part of their membership benefits in the Disney Vacation Club.

The Orlando Sentinel has recognized Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Orange Lake Resort timeshare as one of the, “Top 100 Companies for Working Families.” To make this list, a company must score well in areas that include employee benefits packages, work environment, communication, family-related benefits to employees, and employee training.

Dan Carricato, senior vice president of Human Resources for Orange Lake Resorts timeshare, explains, “Family is the key word at Orange Lake…it’s who we are – as a company and individually. Our employees come to work every day to create great vacations for families, and in turn, we create a family-friendly workplace that engages them daily. We’ve been creating this culture for more than 28 years, and we’re ecstatic to have been selected as one of the Sentinel’s Top 100.”

Holiday Inn Club Vacations timeshare, you may recall, was created in 2008, by an alliance between Orange Lake Resorts and IHG, the corporation that owns Holiday Inn Resorts. The Orange Lake Resorts timeshare is a popular Orlando timeshare located near the Walt Disney World Resort and other theme park attractions of Central Florida. The resort features a lazy river and outstanding golf courses onsite. With nearly 2500 timeshare villas, expansion plans call for an additional 2000 timeshare units to be added.

Orange Lake Resort timeshare, the flagship property for Holiday Inn Club Vacations, is a family-owned company with over 2799 timeshare employees.

The acclaimed Club La Costa Resorts & Hotels, known for some of Europe’s most popular resorts, is breaking into the Florida timeshare market. The hotel and timeshare company has acquired the current Encantada Resort, which is located just outside Orlando, in the Kissimmee-Orlando vacation area, in close proximity to all your favorite Orlando theme parks and recreation destinations.

Club La Costa is renowned worldwide for its mixed-use resorts, which include both whole ownership homes and timeshare, and the famous Club La Costa Yacht Club. Founded more than twenty years ago, by South African entrepreneur, Roy Peires, Club La Costa resorts can be found in Spain, Tenerife, Turkey, the US, England, Austria, and Scotland.

Peires explains, “The announcement of our new resort has already caused a lot of excitement among our members who can look forward to a resort exhibiting Club La Costa high standards in this sought after destination.”

There are currently over 50,000 Club La Costa member-owners and the company employs approximately 2,000 people. Club La Costa Resorts are a member of the RCI.

As August rolls in, many people see this month as their last opportunity to take a “summer vacation.” August also means that it’s time for The Timeshare Authority to post the last updates on the 2010 HOT 100 List of timeshare resales and timeshare rentals. Remember, these timeshares received the greatest number of offers to buy or rent at Sell My Timeshare NOW. They are the “HOTTEST” timeshares on the consumer list to purchase or rent on the secondary market.

Orange Lake’s West Village Timeshare, a Popular Orlando Timeshare

Ranking as number 5 on the HOTTEST 10 list is Orange Lake’s West Village, an Orlando, Florida timeshare resort. Providing you easy access to all the amenities at Orange Lake, West Village timeshare units are the most centrally located at the resort. You’ll be nearby the Disney Planning Center, the RCI timeshare exchange desk, the Connections Business Center & Internet Cafe, (all located in the West Village Clubhouse) as well as close to the Gary McCord Golf Academy, the movie theater, game arcade, and the resort’s pools and hub of water sports.

Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas Timeshare, in Demand in Maui

The Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas is one of two Hawaii timeshares to make the top five on the Sell My Timeshare NOW HOTTEST 10 list. Located on a pristine stretch of north Ka’anapali Beach in Lahaina, Maui, this beautiful Hawaii timeshare resort has an all-villa design, with each unit including luxurious jetted spa tubs and fully equipped kitchens complete with marble countertops. From the beautiful beach to the lagoon pools, the Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas promise you an elegant island holiday at the property ranked number 4 on the list of the HOTTEST 10 timeshares.

Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club Timeshare in Oahu, Hawaii

Coming in as number 3 on the list is Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club, located in Oahu, Hawaii. Outstanding Marriot timeshares have dominated the HOTTEST 10 List again this year, and the Ko Olina Beach Club is no exception, from the lush tropical foliage, to the coral reefs, to the 18-hole championship golf course. Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club is only thirty minutes from the shopping and entertainment of Honolulu, but tucked in a tropical hideaway, it is worlds apart from the demands of daily life.

And although these three hot timeshare properties all offer you endless reasons to finally get around to that vacation you have been promising yourself, don’t decide just yet, because tomorrow’s The Timeshare Authority blog will look at the timeshare resorts that made the list as number 1 and 2!

It seems appropriate to pause this week on The Timeshare Authority blog to talk about the game of golf. With the British Senior Open wrapped up and the US Senior Open set to tee off, you have to look at such events and reflect on the fact that anyone — amateur or pro — past champion or tournament rookie – has the opportunity to polish his skill, go out on one of sport’s biggest stages and write his name in the history books. And while the same is true for all events in professional golf that permit open qualifying, there’s something to be said about the idea that a man, 50 years old or older, who may have never competed in a pro tournament before, has the opportunity to become the US Senior Open Champion.

Golf is one of the few sports you can take up as a child and play throughout your lifetime. Because of the handicapping system, your teenage son can play a round of golf with Grandma, on a level playing field. Families can share the game; they can play together, play on their home course, and play while on vacation. Professional golf superstar, Luke Donald, credits his early interest in the game to playing at his family’s timeshare.

Even physical challenges don’t have to stand in your way of enjoying the game of golf. If you haven’t read Dave Kindred’s Golf Digest article this month on the triumph injured war veterans are claiming on the golf course, (“The Healing Game”) I encourage you to do so. In it, golf professional Jim Estes explains, “Fear inhibits the ordinary person’s ability to perform. But these guys — they have no fear. When your leg is blown off, who cares if you don’t hit that little white ball perfectly?”

Yet as U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ramon Padilla, injured in Afghanistan, says after taking up the game, “I had a sense of accomplishment. I thought, I may be missing an arm, but I’m still whole, I’m still one person.”

This week, as the favorites at the US Senior Open tee up at the beautiful Sahalee Country Club (just outside of Seattle, WA.), I will likely be pulling for some amateur playing who qualified on a wing and prayer. There is something uniquely inspirational about the idea that an ordinary guy can do extraordinary things, through a combination of determination, hard work, and perhaps a little luck.

• You can learn more about golf timeshares at: Take a Timeshare Golf Vacation in an Orlando Timeshare and Myrtle Beach Timeshare Resales
• And find out how all of us can do more to help wounded veterans at: woundedwarriorproject.org

Enjoy this excellent video of Luke Donald’s swing:

It’s July, and you know what that means, soaring temperatures in many parts of the country. And while beachside timeshares are definitely among the most popular, you don’t always have to visit an ocean to turn your timeshare vacation into something “really cool”. Consider vacationing at a timeshare that includes an on-property water park, where you and your family can relax, splash, slide, and swim without ever leaving the resort.

A few of the timeshares that now offer on-property or adjacent water parks include:

• Massanutten Resort in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, featuring The Pipeline for surfing; the Frog Pond for tiny swimmers; The Blue Ridge Rapids; Massanutten Meltdown (complete with water cannons); Avalanche Falls; Tube Slides; a hot springs, and more.
• Orange Lake Resort in Orlando, Florida, with the 12-acre River Island water park, designed to appeal to all ages. The massive water park is lush with tropical scenery and offers a 1,200-foot lazy river-style pool and a 168-foot-long waterslide, as only a few of the ways you can beat the heat during your Florida timeshare vacation.
• Split Rock Resort & Golf Club in the Poconos of Pennsylvania, which includes a $23 million, 54,000 indoor water park along with a bowling alley and a theater.
• Wisconsin Dells timeshare, where you can enjoy over twenty indoor and outdoor water parks. Known as the Water Park Capital of the World, the Wisconsin Dells offers more than seventy acres of cool, clean, vacation fun.

And no timeshare resort with water park list would be complete without mentioning Disney’s newest venture currently under construction in Ko Olina, Hawaii, The Aulani Resort, which promises a salt water lagoon for snorkeling, water slides, and a lazy river.

It may be a long hot summer. Why melt down when you can splash down?

Effective last week, the Walt Disney World Resort (Orlando) began accepting reservations for a new luxury pet resort scheduled to open this summer. The 50,000 square-foot facility is called Best Friends Pet Resort and is described by Disney as a “best of breed” pet resort, with air-conditioned, VIP suites and private outdoor play yards for your pet.

Disney has offered pet boarding for many years but this announcement indicates that their services are being taken to a new level. Their boarding service includes up to two meals per day and two scheduled daily walks. You can choose to add other services such as an extra walk ($5 add on charge), cuddle time ($5 add on charge), or an ice cream break ($4 add on charge). Other options include playgroups for dogs or special one-on-one play times, also available at à la carte pricing.

Discounted Rates for Timeshare Owners with Disney Vacation Club

Overnight rates for dogs start at $20 per night for pets of Disney Vacation Club members and go to $21 for dogs belonging to Disney resort guests and $23 for those of park visitors. For cats and other small animals, the Disney Vacation Club member price is $13 per night and ranges up to $18 for the pets of park guests.

Disney Vacation Club currently does not offer pet-friendly timeshares, which makes the pet resort an especially important feature for pet owners planning a Disney timeshare vacation.

Here are two timeshare resorts in the Disney area that you might be interested in for timeshare resale and timeshare rentals that ARE pet friendly:

• Celebration World Resort – Kissimmee, Florida
• Summerfield Condo Resort – Kissimmee, Florida

And for some really good tips on traveling with your pet, click here to see this article from Smarter Travel.

This week’s release of the Sell My Timeshare NOW HOT 100 List of the timeshare resales and timeshare rentals that are in the greatest consumer demand, is one more validation that timeshare vacation ownership is a product enjoyed by millions and millions of people.

Each year, Sell My Timeshare NOW publishes the list of the 100 timeshares for which we show the greatest number of offers to buy or rent during the previous calendar year. This industry report provides interesting information about consumer patterns, first revealing where consumers are most interested in buying timeshare and also which timeshares have proven to be a good choice if you want to buy timeshare knowing that down the road you may want to sell it on the secondary market. In sharing this company information with you, Sell My Timeshare NOW provides meaningful and transparent insight into the timeshare resale market.

Hottest 10 Timeshares on the Sell My Timeshare List

Click here to see the full Sell My Timeshare NOW HOT 100 List. Meanwhile, here’s the hottest ten on the list:

1. Marriott’s Aruba Surf Club (Palm Beach, Aruba)
2. Harborside Resort At Atlantis (Paradise Island, Bahamas)
3. Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club (Oahu, Hawaii)
4. Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas (Maui, Hawaii)
5. Orange Lake’s West Village (Orlando, Florida)
6. Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club (Maui, Hawaii)
7. Marriott’s Newport Coast Villas (Newport Coast, California)
8. Marriott’s Grande Vista (Orlando, Florida)
9. Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas North (Maui, Hawaii)
10. Marriott’s Oceanwatch Villas At Grande Dunes (Myrtle Beach, South Carolina)

Interesting note: Critics sometimes claim that the Orlando timeshare market is oversaturated and you can’t resell Orlando timeshare, yet two of the top ten most in demand timeshares on the secondary market are Orlando timeshares and there are three more Orlando timeshare resorts ranked between 11 and 20 on the HOT List.