Aulani Problems Lead to Firings

[FullAB]

Hi all. New DVC member here. First time poster..long time lurker. My wife and I purchsed 500 points at Aulani in July and havent closed yet (still in limbo). I'm wondering from the experts here how being in this position may increase our risk of changes to what we negotiated and are on contract for. This is our first timeshare (ouch i said it) experience and frankly its a unsettling start. We have always been mouse lovers as a family and are just hoping we havent made a mistake here.

Al

 

[hakepb]

Your contract is for the 4.31 dues on file with the state of Hawaii.
I imagine:
Either you get the subsidy,and your contract is properly executed or
DVC has cancelled your paperwork and will ask you to sign a new one with the higher dues. (Bad move on DVC's part IMHO)

Either way, I think Aluani points are still great if you plan on using those points at Aluani most of the time. I would be more worried if you plan to mostly use your points at WDW and #2 happens.

 

[FullAB]

Your contract is for the 4.31 dues on file with the state of Hawaii.
I imagine:
Either you get the subsidy,and your contract is properly executed or
DVC has cancelled your paperwork and will ask you to sign a new one with the higher dues. (Bad move on DVC's part IMHO)

Either way, I think Aluani points are still great if you plan on using those points at Aluani most of the time. I would be more worried if you plan to mostly use your points at WDW and #2 happens.

We bought at Aulani because we love Hawaii and plan to go there with and without kids/grandkids. Its a 5 hour flight from us and we plan to go multiple times a year. We will also use the points for VGC (occasionally) and WDW every few years. I just hope they dont tell me my contract is void because we havent closed and now the dues are 8-9 bucks a point. That would be a deal breaker i think.

 

[CMOORE185]

Hi all. New DVC member here. First time poster..long time lurker. My wife and I purchsed 500 points at Aulani in July and havent closed yet (still in limbo). I'm wondering from the experts here how being in this position may increase our risk of changes to what we negotiated and are on contract for. This is our first timeshare (ouch i said it) experience and frankly its a unsettling start. We have always been mouse lovers as a family and are just hoping we havent made a mistake here.

Al

It could actually work out for you if you come in at the lower dues amount. That is if the credit they are giving is for the life of the contract.

 

[Sk8rmom]

Another long-time lurker, first time poster. Signed for 320 Aulani points in July while on the Dream. Contract not closed. Thanks for DIS! - DVC has not contacted me at all about the situation. I called them yesterday- but no new info. Since I also was paying cash, they have hit my credit cards for the amount. I asked Accounting to remove the charges - why tie up money while there is no closing date? And, depending on what the terms change to, I may want to rescind. However, haven't seen charge credit yet.

 

[majortom1981]

Those dues are lower then mykidani village dues which are about $4.45 per point about

 

[Sammie]

I have seen Lawrence quite a few times. We bought in 2005 and went to the '05 annual meeting, if I recall correctly he was there in the same capacity as Sammie has stated.

I have seen him on the '07 and '08 Member Cruises as well.

Looking back I do remember he was pretty much glued to Lewis side whenever they were out in public. Maybe just good friends who knows.

I do know that Jim was very nice, spoke with us, and had genuine interest during the '07 cruise but he was very different in '08. Almost unapproachable - or at the very least uninterested in mingling with members unless he had to.

That should be sat next to Jim, I had the movie Kill Bill on my mind,

 

[DisneyStoryMania]

Oh, they'll go up, but maybe from the lower base. What's the max annual increase - 15%? Whatever it is it sounds like they will need to increase it as much as possible.

Yea what I was thinking , I do not think the max 15% rule is going to apply here, I wish I would had bought into it like I was thinking about.....boo

 

[DisneyStoryMania]

Another long-time lurker, first time poster. Signed for 320 Aulani points in July while on the Dream. Contract not closed. Thanks for DIS! - DVC has not contacted me at all about the situation. I called them yesterday- but no new info. Since I also was paying cash, they have hit my credit cards for the amount. I asked Accounting to remove the charges - why tie up money while there is no closing date? And, depending on what the terms change to, I may want to rescind. However, haven't seen charge credit yet.

I am just guessing, but from what I have read and know about contracts, a signed contract is a signed contract, and real estate law would incur saying that once you have signed the contract both parties that is, what is in the contract stands unless the buyer(member) backs out....so I think that all of you that have not closed yet will still be able to hold DVC to the nonnegotiable price in the contract.****Once again just guessing but I am a Realtor.......

 

[DVC California]

I have to say "GOOD FOR DISNEY" and not giving severance!! I'm sick of over-paid executives getting even more money for when they are fired due to being inept.

+1

The "buck" stopped with Lewis. Even if he had absolutely nothing to do with setting the MF's, it's a case of "known or SHOULD HAVE KNOWN" that MF's were too low to sustain the property.

 

[Dsnybob]

Bought 160 Aulani points last July and waiting somewhat impatiently for what the misrepresentation is and what the resolution will be.

I've been reviewing the Aulani documents to see where these error is and it certainly doesn't appear to be obvious, at least based on the docs. According to my calculation, the total points to be sold total 11,518,422 in 460 homes. This seems high when compared with the just over 14,000,000 points for SSR for 880 homes, but all of the points required for similar accommodations are significantly higher. Based on current property tax rates, it looks like the timeshare component is valued at just under $400 million. In cross referencing the budgets to the SSR 2011 operating budget, all of the expenses appear to be reasonable (when a comparison can be made). Two components that are not comparable are the "Master Declaration Expenses" (MDE) and "Resort Access Fee" (RAF). Of these, only the MDE would affect Disney directly as this appears to be the component that would cover the resort amenities and would be shared with the hotel component. The capital reserve budget per point is significant lower that SSR, but that seems logical with high rise towers vs. the multiple structure layout of SSR.

It will be interesting when the new docs are released, that's for sure.

 

[tufenuff]

We bought and are one of the founding members, now I am wondering if that was a good idea or not.

 

[knewton64]

Makes me wonder what this will do to Disney's 3rd quarter earning's report.

 

[TisBit]

I am just guessing, but from what I have read and know about contracts, a signed contract is a signed contract, and real estate law would incur saying that once you have signed the contract both parties that is, what is in the contract stands unless the buyer(member) backs out....so I think that all of you that have not closed yet will still be able to hold DVC to the nonnegotiable price in the contract.****Once again just guessing but I am a Realtor.......

Yea what I was thinking , I do not think the max 15% rule is going to apply here, I wish I would had bought into it like I was thinking about.....boo

The 15% would stand, it is part of the POS/Contract and cannot be changed. What you will likely see is that there will be a prorated dues, as already mentioned in the article, next year, per hte contract the dues will increase for those members that were prorated, but no more than 15%. If this does not bring them up to the correct amount, they will prorate the difference the following year and the dues will increase again until everyone is on the same page.

The contract does not guarantee an annual dues, it merely gives you a starting point and tells you what can happen each year. Every resort pretty much goes up every year and this will be no exception.

 

[MASrules]

I don't know.....to me, Aulani has always had a bit of a black cloud hovering over it.

First, the buy the property and announce the project - and the economy tanks, airfare spikes, people question if it's the best time to build.

Next - the fire. We have DVC friends who were at the Marriott and watched it...and said it seemed more involved than reported in the press....just saying.

Next - no worries about sales, our loyal guests from Japan will be the main block of owners....and then the earthquake.

Now.....oops, we guessed wrong with maintenance expenses so they STOP SELLING. What? Disney cannot take $$$$$.


Do you ever get those feelings that something just isn't right. Nothing you can relly put your finger on.....but.. You know, the hair on the back of your neck twitches ..... those red-flag moments? I wonder........

All they really have to do is get rid of Greg Brady's tiki idol and things will suddenly turn around!

 

[mdsd8700]

All they really have to do is get rid of Greg Brady's tiki idol and things will suddenly turn around!

Now that is funny!

 

[SeaYaRealSoon]

All they really have to do is get rid of Greg Brady's tiki idol and things will suddenly turn around!

Totally. Awesome.

 

[knewton64]

now the comment about the BRADY's......

PRICELESS!



Ok.....so the Disney company comes out mid last week with 2nd quarter corp earnings.....................


2 days later, big firing over at the DVC side.



Makes me wonder how this will effect their 3rd q earnings report.





T.T.F.N.