Aulani Timeshare Resort to Open in November

With the easing of Hawaii’s COVID quarantine restrictions set for October 15, Disney has announced that Disney’s Aulani resort will reopen on November 1. The resort has been shut down since March due to Hawaii’s response to the COVID pandemic. With the easing of the 14-day quarantine requirement, timeshares at Disney's Aulani Vacation Club Villas will reopen in time for the holidays.

Inbound visitors to Hawaii will no longer need to quarantine, beginning October 15, if they can provide a negative COVID test upon entry, with the test to be taken within 72 hours of arrival. To help facilitate the testing process, United Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines will be offering testing at airports for travelers prior to departure. United will offer testing from San Francisco, while Hawaiian will offer it from San Francisco and Los Angeles.    

If travelers and timeshare owners do not have their results back in time for their departure, they will be required to quarantine upon arrival until the results are in. This only applies to U.S. citizens and U.S. residents as the ban remains in place for international travelers. More details regarding the changes to Hawaii’s COVID protocols can be found at https://www.gohawaii.com/safe-travels.

Canada Still Closed

The Canadian border with the United States will remain closed until at least October 21, as both sides have agreed to the closure extension. The order affects non-essential travel while goods and services deemed essential can continue to cross the border. Flights between the two countries are operating but Americans are banned from entering the country unless certain criteria are met, such as visiting family living north of the border.

The closure will continue to heavily impact the Canadian tourism sector, as 15 million visitors traveled to Canada from the U.S. in 2019. This figure represents two-thirds of international tourists visiting Canada.

Florida Moves to Phase 3

Bars, restaurants and retail establishments can open at 100 percent capacity after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis moved the state into Phase 3 of its recovery plan. Timeshare resorts with these onsite amenities are expected to reevaluate their capacities; however, there is no requirement for them to fully open up.

This also potentially impacts theme parks, as parks can now return to normal capacity levels.

Capacity decisions are being left up to individual businesses as to how they manage their capacities and most businesses are expected to increase gradually over time as COVID case numbers drop across the state. On Monday the state announced 738 new COVID cases with a positivity rate down to 4.47 percent.

One area of confusion centers on the wearing of masks. The latest order means that people who do not wear masks cannot be fined for disobeying local masks ordinances, but it does not cancel out those ordinances. Local governments are asking that individuals continue to wear marks in public establishments even though the threat of fines has been removed.

BVI Sets Reopen Date

The British Virgin Islands has announced a December 1 date for the islands to reopen to international visitors. Caribbean islands such as Tortola, Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke will reopen just in time for the winter tourist season. The USVI has been open for the past 10 days and this is more good news as the region continues to look forward to a recovering tourism industry.

Timeshare Resort Openings

For the first time in weeks, the tropics are quiet so there are no potential tropical storms in the forecast for southern states. Timeshare owners looking for a status update on their favorite brand can do so below:

Bluegreen Vacations – Pono Kai Resort is scheduled to reopen on October 14 prior to the easing of COVID quarantine restrictions in Hawaii. The rest of the Bluegreen resorts are open, so please visit https://www.bluegreenowner.com/featured/travel-advisory-resort-status for more information.

Capital Vacations – Grand Cayman is scheduled to reopen to international visitors on Thursday, but Coral Sands resort is still listed as closed on the Capital Vacations website. A similar situation regards Sea Palace, which is showing as closed even though St. Maarten has been open to visitors for weeks. Owners are encouraged to contact Capital directly for the latest status of their resorts.

All US-based Capital Vacations timeshare resorts remain open, so please visit https://www.capitalvacations.com/covid.php for more details.

Club Wyndham – Wednesday is the reported reopening date for Wyndham timeshares in Hawaii prior to COVID restrictions easing in mid-October. Wyndham San Francisco resorts are scheduled to reopen on Thursday, so if this all goes according to plan only five Wyndham timeshare resorts dotted around the country will be listed as closed. The rest of the Wyndham resorts are open, so please click on https://clubwyndham.wyndhamdestinations.com/us/en/covid-19-information/list-of-impacted-resorts for more details.

Diamond Resorts – Marquis Villas Resort in Palm Springs is due to reopen on Wednesday, with the five Diamond timeshare resorts in Hawaii scheduled to open on October 14. Alhambra Villas in Kissimmee remains on schedule to open on October 29. For more details please go to https://www.diamondresorts.com/covid-19-update.

Disney Vacation Club – the reopening announcement for Aulani leaves Grand Californian as the last remaining Disney timeshares that are closed. No word yet about the status of Disneyland or Grand Californian as parts of the state of California remain in various stages of lockdown or wildfire containment.

The remaining Disney timeshare resorts are open so for more details please click on https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/.

Divi Resorts – Divi timeshares in St. Maarten and Aruba remain open, with Divi Flamingo Beach Resort in Bonaire reopening on October 15 and Divi Southwinds Beach Resort in Barbados set to reopen on October 31. Divi Carina Bay in St Croix is still showing as closed for renovations. Please go to https://www.diviresorts.com/news.htm for more information.

Grand Pacific Resorts – Indian Palms Vacation Club is expected to open on Thursday. All other Grand Pacific resorts are open. Please go to https://grandpacificresorts.com/resort-reopening-updates/ for more details.

Hilton Grand Vacations – no update has been provided for the six Hilton timeshare resorts in Hawaii, even with the announcement regarding the eased COVID quarantine restrictions. The Quin Central Park by Hilton Club, The Hilton Club – New York, the Residences by Hilton Club and Hilton Grand Vacations Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile also remain closed for the foreseeable future. The remaining U.S.-based Hilton timeshares are open, so please click on https://www.hiltongrandvacations.com/en/travel-alert for more details.

Holiday Inn Club Vacations – Orange Lake Resort and the rest of the Holiday Inn Club Vacations resorts are open, as HICV continues to emerge from COVID. More details can be seen at https://holidayinnclub.com/safe-travels/resort-updates.

Marriott Vacation Club –Marriott’s Waikoloa Ocean Club in Hawaii, Marriott Vacation Club Pulse San Francisco and Marriott Vacation Club Pulse New York City all remain closed. All other U.S.-based Marriott timeshare resorts are open. Please visit the new Marriott webpage at https://hub.vacationclub.com/brands/marriott-vacation-club/ for the latest details.

Vistana Signature Experiences – all Westin timeshares and Sheraton timeshare resorts remain open as well as Harborside Resort at Atlantis. For Sheraton details please go to https://hub.vacationclub.com/brands/sheraton-vacation-club/ and for Westin information please click on https://hub.vacationclub.com/brands/westin-vacation-club/.

Westgate Resorts – reopening for Westgate Leisure Resort, Westgate Blue Tree Resort, Westgate Palace Resort and Westgate Towers Resort has now been extended out to December 21. Westgate New York Grand Central and Westgate Tunica Resort are closed with no announced reopening date. All other Westgate timeshare resorts are open. Please go to https://www.westgateresorts.com/coronavirus-travel-advisory/ for more details.

WorldMark – WorldMark Hawaii timeshare resorts are now expected to reopen on October 15 as Hawaii’s COVID quarantine restrictions are eased. WorldMark San Francisco is not taking reservations for stays prior to February 21, 2021. All other resorts in the WorldMark timeshare network are open. Please go to https://www.worldmarktheclub.com/news/covid19_impacted_resorts.shtml for more det