Does anyone know how well BLT is selling?

[Tink-n-Belle]

Does anyone know how well BLT is selling? Or Not selling.

[hlyntunstl]

I just purchased on Friday (I'm not quite official pending paperwork) and this info is based on what my guide told me about the sales so keep the source (sales) in mind...

She said that the founders wall was almost sold out (for purchases of 160 points or more I believe - I only got 100) and the sales for prospective members will begin on Sunday 9/28. The sales are apparently on-par with BCV which sold out in about 2 years. They are guessing that this will not last that long - about 7 months. My guess is somewhere in the middle but closer to the 2 year mark than 7 months.

[Tiger926]

Just talked with my guide a few hours ago - the Founder's tiles (purchase of 160+ points) are almost sold out and he said that he just got off of the Member's Cruise and they sold 400 contracts for BLT on the cruise! He said the frenzy and excitement over BLT is amazing and they are predicting a quick sell out as people love the location, the fireworks lounge and lesser dues. We really wanted to buy in, but it wouldn't be financially responsible for us at this time, so we declined.

He said they have been totally swamped with the BLT announcement, so it sounds like it is going very well thus far!

Tiger :)

[TLSnell1981]

Are you sure, the "almost sold out" for the founders club, isn't a sales gimmick? Same thing with the 7 month expected sellout?

[XGrumpy1]

On another post someone was speculating that at BLT there were 6 million points to be sold. He figured BCV had about 3 million. BLT has larger rooms, no dedicated studios, and higher point totals for the rooms.

The guides have been busy but, I think it will be on sell for quite a while.

[Tiger926]

The Founder's Club is only for the 1st 1,000 contracts at 160 points, so if they processed 400 contracts just on the Member Cruise, then doing that math, they are almost close to selling out. That is not hard to do based on the small numbers applicable for the Founder's Club. He said they aren't sold out yet, but they are getting close and I can totally see how that is possible since 1,000 contracts isn't a lot at all.

Regarding selling out of the entire resort, that of course is going to take a bit of time, but my guide said they are basing their projections on what is happening at the moment. Each guide has a huge list of people who are interested in BLT, plus the contracts from the Member Cruise, regular people calling to buy in @ BLT (which goes to sale to public next week) and the fact that BLT is a small resort at approx. 290 units, and this is what they are basing their projections on. As my guide said, they can't predict the future, so they are doing the best they can with a very busy schedule this past week since BLT was announced. Our guide is always great - doesn't push, doesn't pressure at all. He commended us for making a responsible decision not to buy in now (I posted about this in another thread) as it's not financially feasible for us, and said we know where to find him when we are ready for an add-on for BLT.

Tiger :)

[bookwormde]

Well if the founders club is almost sold out then say at an average of 200 points that is 200,000 points. Add half of that for smaller add ons and you are at 300,000. If that is accurate DVC will need to declare more rooms and I am sure someone will pick this up in the official filings. If we do not see more rooms declared soon it is probably just sales talk. If they have sold 350,000 points to existing members that would be 5% of the total available points, not bad but nothing spectacular.

bookwormde

[tjkraz]

It will be interesting to see how quickly sales begin to die down.

DVC did a very good job with their initial promotional push. Within days members were bombarded with the Sentinel article, official press releases, email blast, Travel Channel special, materials via US Mail, Disney Files magazine, member cruise, and so on. It's pretty much impossible for current members to have missed the announcement.

And with the Founding Members tile incentive, I can't imagine why people would wait longer if they've been wanting this resort for years.

Still, in order to sell out in 6-7 months they would have to sell about 4% of the resort per week. Good luck!!! :3dglasses

[Tiger926]

It will be interesting to see how quickly sales begin to die down.

DVC did a very good job with their initial promotional push. Within days members were bombarded with the Sentinel article, official press releases, email blast, Travel Channel special, materials via US Mail, Disney Files magazine, member cruise, and so on. It's pretty much impossible for current members to have missed the announcement.

And with the Founding Members tile incentive, I can't imagine why people would wait longer if they've been wanting this resort for years.

Still, in order to sell out in 6-7 months they would have to sell about 4% of the resort per week. Good luck!!! :3dglasses


My hubby and I agree that 6 months for sell out does not seem very realistic at all - our guide didn't give us any month prediction for being sold out because as he says, he can't predict the future, but, based on sales so far, he said it is meeting or exceeding their expectations thus far. Who knows if this will continue, since as you pointed out, there has been a huge marketing push this month for BLT. He did say they have been swamped and will be for the next month as BLT becomes available to the general public, but that's as far as he can speak about at the moment.

It will be very interesting to see how the actual sales figures stack up over the next few months once the initial hysteria dies down.

Tiger :)

[Slakk]

I think sales will be interesting as many of the die hard Deluxe folks who always stay on the monorail may convert to DVC. Personally I prefer other resorts but hubby and DS love CR so we bought. I was not willing to take the chance that the room category I wanted would be available at 7 months.

And after paying over $1,000 for two nights in CR - oh yeah BLT was a bargain!

[TLSnell1981]

The Founder's Club is only for the 1st 1,000 contracts at 160 points, so if they processed 400 contracts just on the Member Cruise, then doing that math,


Tiger :)

How many of the 400 contracts were for at least 160 points? There could have been plenty of add ons for less.

[Tiger926]

How many of the 400 contracts were for at least 160 points? There could have been plenty of add ons for less.

Most of the 400 contracts were for 160 add-ons according to my guide. Some people only wanted 100 points, but being part of the Founder's area was very important to most people, so alot of people added points to get to 160 according to my guide. Based on the point chart, 160 is more of a workeable number in regards to 5-7 night stays as well, so this amount is working for many people, and with the Founder's area bonus, it's been a good sell, he said. :thumbsup2

Tiger :)

[thelionqueen]

Great point about "Deluxe Monorail Guests" buying @ BLT, hadn't thought of that. Considering that staying @ CR in the tower could easily top $500 per night, that alone could sway those guests to DVC.

Just as a side note, we stayed @ CR in the old garden view rooms (now BLT) 4years ago on a Passholder discount and paid $225 per night! The room at the Polynesian we are staying @ in October sells for over $589 per night (not concierge, just lagoon view). It would seem as if the guests paying that amount at the monorail resorts, would see DVC @ BLT as a incredible deal! At a low average of $400 per night (2008 price) for 7 days, you're talking $2800 for one trip; seems like an easy sell.

I too will be interested to see how long it takes for BLT to sell out. I'm on my way to consult my Magic 8 ball right now.

[nhdisnut]

DVC did a very good job with their initial promotional push. Within days members were bombarded with the Sentinel article, official press releases, email blast, Travel Channel special, materials via US Mail, Disney Files magazine, member cruise, and so on. :3dglasses

Did anyone else not receive materials in the mail? We didn't get anything with the BLT announcement. We found this odd as we got several mailings when AKV was announced. If I weren't so obsessed with all things WDW on the Web, I wouldn't know BLT was even for sale!:confused3

[TangaroaTiki]

We just bought an add-on contract too. I wanted to know my family had our choice of accomodations at the 11-month mark. With our home resorts, we have the unbeatable convenience of walking to three of the parks and never bothering with the busses :goodvibes more than worth it to us :thumbsup2

Editing to add: No - we never received any sales information in the mail, nor did anyone in my family and there's alot of us who own DVC! Thank you DISboards!

[jdg345]

I just purchased on Friday (I'm not quite official pending paperwork) and this info is based on what my guide told me about the sales so keep the source (sales) in mind...

She said that the founders wall was almost sold out (for purchases of 160 points or more I believe - I only got 100) and the sales for prospective members will begin on Sunday 9/28. The sales are apparently on-par with BCV which sold out in about 2 years. They are guessing that this will not last that long - about 7 months. My guess is somewhere in the middle but closer to the 2 year mark than 7 months.

I agree ... I think they're coming up with 7 months based on sales continuing at the current pace. That's not likely to happen. I'm guessing 2-3 years to sell out the tower.

[jdg345]

The Founder's Club is only for the 1st 1,000 contracts at 160 points, so if they processed 400 contracts just on the Member Cruise, then doing that math, they are almost close to selling out. That is not hard to do based on the small numbers applicable for the Founder's Club. He said they aren't sold out yet, but they are getting close and I can totally see how that is possible since 1,000 contracts isn't a lot at all.

I think some of it is certainly sales-speak. Last Friday, before sales officially opened, I heard from several individuals that 500-600 contracts for Founder's Status had already sold. If they sold 400 during the Member Cruise, then they should be well sold out by now unless nothing else was sold by the sales center over the last 8 days -- which I find hard to believe if it's moving at such an overwhelming pace. The math simply doesn't add up ... if it were truly selling as well as they say, Founder's Club should have been full up by mid-week. :confused3


Regarding selling out of the entire resort, that of course is going to take a bit of time, but my guide said they are basing their projections on what is happening at the moment. Each guide has a huge list of people who are interested in BLT, plus the contracts from the Member Cruise, regular people calling to buy in @ BLT (which goes to sale to public next week) and the fact that BLT is a small resort at approx. 250 units, and this is what they are basing their projections on. As my guide said, they can't predict the future, so they are doing the best they can with a very busy schedule this past week since BLT was announced. Our guide is always great - doesn't push, doesn't pressure at all. He commended us for making a responsible decision not to buy in now (I posted about this in another thread) as it's not financially feasible for us, and said we know where to find him when we are ready for an add-on for BLT.

Tiger :)

That puts their estimate into context then, and is as I thought. The reality is that sales will not continue on their current pace. You have pent-up hype and people waiting in line ... once that wave is over, it's back to normal selling. Now, there is additional draw to BLT that could speed things up, but I simply cannot believe that sales will continue at this pace.

[jdg345]

Did anyone else not receive materials in the mail? We didn't get anything with the BLT announcement. We found this odd as we got several mailings when AKV was announced. If I weren't so obsessed with all things WDW on the Web, I wouldn't know BLT was even for sale!:confused3

Nope, haven't received a thing ... in fact, still haven't received my Disney Files. :confused3

[culli]

I hope things don't go fast as I want to buy but need to wait for start of next year to see how the bonus from work looks. The slower it goes I would think that would benefit those that wait as better incentives might be offered? I also need to see if I want BLT or BWV/BCV as I love EPCOT and DHS but MK is what the kids prefer. Also the expiration year difference is nice for BLT...........decisions, decisions......I got about 5-6 months to constantly change my mind:rolleyes1

[TLSnell1981]

I will buy an add on at BLT..if..it's still available in the next 12-18 months. I had planned on buying now but, BWV@$81...couldn't pass it up. DD is getting married in June so, I'll have to recover from that.:rotfl: If they sell out before I'm ready...I'll wait for a resale.

[aprince&princess]

Did anyone else not receive materials in the mail? We didn't get anything with the BLT announcement. We found this odd as we got several mailings when AKV was announced. If I weren't so obsessed with all things WDW on the Web, I wouldn't know BLT was even for sale!:confused3


We just received the BLT mailing with Sat. mail. So maybe they are going out in stages and yours will come in the next day or two.

[mickey mouse lover]

nope, haven't gotten any mailings,either. :confused3

[culli]

nope, haven't gotten any mailings,either. :confused3

Ditto, my guide did call but I found out from these boards about BLT.

[mgilmer]

Did anyone else not receive materials in the mail? We didn't get anything with the BLT announcement. We found this odd as we got several mailings when AKV was announced. If I weren't so obsessed with all things WDW on the Web, I wouldn't know BLT was even for sale!:confused3

I did not receive anything about BLT except the magazine. Now I hang on the Dis and other boards and I knew about it and have no interest in buying there, nonetheless . . .

[Chic]

I can't believe that 400 BLT contracts were purchased during a recent cruise. The Disney Wonder has a total of 1283 rooms. That means roughly 35% - 40% of the families onboard bought into BLT, NOT! I attended a DVC presentation in July 2007 on a Disney cruise and there were about 20 people in attendance. Cruise passengers typically attend the DVC presentations in pairs which would mean that over 800 people attended this particular presentation. Wake up folks, it's a marketing scheme.

[Blahnde]

I can't believe that 400 BLT contracts were purchased during a recent cruise. A cruise in this season may have had 2000 people onboard. That means roughly 25% of them bought into BLT, not! I attended a DVC presentation in July 2007 on a Disney cruise and there were about 20 people in attendance. I just can't believe that over 400 people attended the DVC presentation during one given cruise.

It was the DVC Member cruise and the entire ship was sold out hours after it was announced last year. AND they gave amazing incentives for purchases that were only available to those on that specific cruise who bought druing the cruise. They did several presentations over the course of the cruise since the first few were standing room only!

Blahnde

[jennilynn510]

Did anyone else not receive materials in the mail? We didn't get anything with the BLT announcement. We found this odd as we got several mailings when AKV was announced. If I weren't so obsessed with all things WDW on the Web, I wouldn't know BLT was even for sale!:confused3

we didnt get crap in the mail too...although we did just buy an add-on at AKV but hey we could be independantly wealthy for all they know :laughing:

[bookwormde]

Just because 400 contracts were sold does not mean that 400 members bought contracts, I am sure many who were buying a larger number of points were breaking them into several contracts for future resale value. The incentives were very good particularly for those who bought larger chunks.

If DVC only ends up selling all the founder’s contracts and a reasonable number of smaller contracts by the 5th that is only 5% in almost 3 weeks (2 weeks of submitting), that would work out to 100-150 weeks to sell out at that rate. The real quantity of sales comes from the general public so watching what happens next week and how fast the units are declared will be the real indication,

bookwormde

[MarkRG]

I can't believe that 400 BLT contracts were purchased during a recent cruise. The Disney Wonder has a total of 1283 rooms. That means roughly 35% - 40% of the families onboard bought into BLT, NOT! I attended a DVC presentation in July 2007 on a Disney cruise and there were about 20 people in attendance. Cruise passengers typically attend the DVC presentations in pairs which would mean that over 800 people attended this particular presentation. Wake up folks, it's a marketing scheme.

Believe it. As was said, it was an entire cruise of Members only, and by the last day, you couldn't walk 5 feet without seeing someone wearing one of the lanyards announcing that they were an owner at BLT.

If I had any interest in more park points, that would have been my first choice for an addon, and the incentives they added on to buy while on board the ship, on top of the regular ones, were something to not pass up. In that way it WAS a marketing scheme, but a successful one. I wouldn't be surprised to see BLT setting some serious sales records, it has one major plus going for it over all the others, it is a VERY short walk to the MK. That is all it needs to sell, as the MK has a wider reach than any of the other parks down there.

[Anal Annie]

DVC did a very good job with their initial promotional push. Within days members were bombarded with the Sentinel article, official press releases, email blast, Travel Channel special, materials via US Mail, Disney Files magazine, member cruise, and so on. It's pretty much impossible for current members to have missed the announcement.

:lmao: I don't think so! :rotfl: The only way I knew was thru the DIS 'cuz we never received anything...nothing...nada...zip until we got our Disney Files just this past Saturday. I emailed my guide over the weekend just to razz him a little...he said "it's in the mail"! :rotfl2: Well, I ain't holdin' my breath!

[Tiger926]

I'm not sure why people are arguing about how many contracts were sold on the Member's Cruise? If you don't believe it, then that's fine, but several of us on different threads are reporting close to the same numbers after speaking to different guides, so that would indicate that it more than likely is true. Does it really matter if they sold 200, 400 or 1,000 contracts on the cruise - nope! The fact is that they have had a very busy week due to the BLT announcement. The other scenario is that all guides coached in lying to members in order to increase the hype - give me a break! The hype is enough already, and from where I'm standing, they don't need anymore hype as BLT seems beyond popular at the moment!

As above posters stated,the Member's Cruise gave out some great incentives, and so DVC did good sales. Whether that momentum keeps up remains to be seen, but none of that is relevant at the moment. As several of us are also reporting that the Founder's tiles are close to (if not already) sold out. At only 1,000 names, that's not a lot at all considering they had a lot of presales to work through as well.

Tiger

[White_Sox_Fan]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the sales estimates being tossed about are highly over estimated. They have only declared one small portion of one floor of the resort into inventory and those are the only points available for purchase at this time.

[mommary]

Someone mentioned lesser dues..... how does that work?
Thanks

[emlutz23]

I think I know why some of you haven't gotten your mailings yet. B/C DVC sent us two yesterday! One addressed to me and one addressed to my DH! :confused3

[Tiger926]

Someone mentioned lesser dues..... how does that work?
Thanks

Our guide said it's because of the following:

- architectural structure (eg. less roof to maintain)
- no front desk as we are to use Contemporary front desk
- not as much landscaping
- less transportation due to walking, monorail, etc.
- no restaurant as again, using Contemporary

Don't quote me as I just woke up, but I think the dues quoted to me were approx. $3.72, so that's almost 1 dollar cheaper than elsewhere, so, over the long term, the lower dues will save money. He said they are planning for it to stay this way, based on above factors. There might be a few othe reasons, but I can't remember them at the moment.

Tiger :)

[50 years Too!]

Did anyone else not receive materials in the mail? We didn't get anything with the BLT announcement. We found this odd as we got several mailings when AKV was announced. If I weren't so obsessed with all things WDW on the Web, I wouldn't know BLT was even for sale!:confused3

I know that BLT isn't filed with Oregon yet. Maybe not NH either?

Deb

[dwelty]

Tiger, I find it very hard to believe that 1/3rd of the ship bought at least 160 points.
I think your guide might have been exagerating a little.

[Tink-n-Belle]

there were 400 contracts sold during the cruise-- I don't think anyone mentioned how many points each contract had so I'm sure not all of them were over 160 points.

During the cruise they offer really awesome incentives. Its too bad that they didn't offer a fraction of the incentives to us (current DVC members) during the past 2 weeks. I want to buy in really bad, but with the stock market the way it is I'm holding off. I don't see what benefit buying in right now will do for me or anyone else (except those on the founder members fountain or the cruise). $5 a point isn't that much considering that I can't even go there for a year.

[maminnie]

Sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere, but what offers/incentives were given on the ship for BLT during the Member Cruise?

Just curious...

Thanks.

[disneynutz]

It was the DVC Member cruise and the entire ship was sold out hours after it was announced last year. AND they gave amazing incentives for purchases that were only available to those on that specific cruise who bought druing the cruise. They did several presentations over the course of the cruise since the first few were standing room only!

Blahnde

Captive marketing... sounds a little like other timeshare sales practices.

[Tiger926]

Tiger, I find it very hard to believe that 1/3rd of the ship bought at least 160 points.
I think your guide might have been exagerating a little.


My guide said that they sold 400 contracts on the cruise, and many of those who bought BLT bought at least 160 due to Founder's tiles. Even if that's 50% or 60%, that's still a lot in my opinion, as it's a few hundred contracts all within a few days. He didn't say all 400 contracts were for BLT even, he said that most were though, and a lot of those were for 160 due to the nature of the cruise - of course DVC member's are going to respond favourably to a Founder's Tile type of incentive, so he said some people upped their points a bit to reach 160, and some did not. Regardless, he said people were very excited on the cruise that BLT had finally been announced and so they wanted to buy in right away on the cruise. I asked him how sales were going and he gave me this small answer and moved on as he had other info to give me. I trust that these are the numbers, or very close to it.

Tiger :)

[JSTX]

We met with our guide on Monday afternoon. We specifically asked how many Founding members there were right now for BLT, he said that at that point there were approximately 600. So yes they have sold a bunch of contracts, but it is still possible to be a founding member.

We decided that being a Founding member is not that big of deal to us, so we are going to wait and see what type of promotions come out when the initial hype wears down.

[lugnut33]

I heard that when the first 1000 non-DVC members buy, their name will be placed on little tile squares on the wall located in the furthermost stall of the restrooms located next to the Pool. However, they will all be located below waist high so you actually have to sit to read them.

[tjkraz]

It actually wouldn't surprise me to hear that the add-on percentage from the member cruise was high. Those cruises carry a pretty high price tag themselves so I tend to think that cruise participants are in a better position to make that sort of impulse purchase.

Of course I have a feeling the contract rescission period is giving Disney fits right now with the way the stock market is going. Pretty easy to pick up the phone and say "eh, I changed my mind."

The added incentives on the cruise started at 120 points so many who added may not have bought 160 to get to the Founder level.

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

We decided that being a Founding member is not that big of deal to us, so we are going to wait and see what type of promotions come out when the initial hype wears down.


My aunt was all ready to buy but our guide told her that currently there will be no developer points to use elsewhere, so as a new member she couldn't use her points until Sept 09. Since she plans on travelling in the summer when school is out that doesn't really work too well. So, she feels the same way as above, going to wait a bit to see if better deal comes out after the initial rush. Without some points to use now, she's not really motivated to jump in.

[MarkRG]

Captive marketing... sounds a little like other timeshare sales practices.

A.. little. But they have to, the other timeshares are catching up on the tricks, though I've yet to see a point system that matches the total flexability of ours. The one thing they do on the Member cruises I still do not agree with is they hold disembarkation on the first Castaway Cay day until they are done making sales presentations, even though the ship has been docked for hours. They really want a captive audience, I go find something else to do or just sleep in.

However, they have also brought top caliber people onboard for our entertainment as well over the years of my going on them, some have been better than others for me, but I have yet to be disappointed in one to not go on the next one.