Even if nothing special is done, I do not suspect that in 2041, DVC is going to face more than what it historically has seen in unpaid dues, which is usually quite a few based on foreclosure proceedings begun by DVC, but those generally result from a member’s inability to keep paying dues rather than just a desire to escape them. Despite everything I have seen in the last several years relating to political matters and people involved in, and reporters reporting on, them, I am still one of those who believe DVC members are generally honest and honorable people who will not purposefully be doing something like refusing to pay dues and thus face the possible harmful credit impact such could have on them. More likely owners will still be reserving rooms to be occupied in 2041, and, if unable to get home resort, they will still be able to get other resorts at 7-months out such as SSR. Assuming the resorts are actually left to expire in Jan 2042, with DVC doing little to prevent that, I would guess one thing we would likely see is limitations placed on borrowing in the last few years.
We are all speculating as to what will happen come 2042, and yes, it is fun to do, so I thought I would provide some my speculations on possibilities.
A. OKW
OKW does not expire until 2057. An unknown is what percentage of owners, come about 2040, will be owners with a 2042 expiration. It appears that when that the extension was offered in 2007, only about 30% did the extension. However, the percentage of owners with the 2057 end date is likely already much higher, and will possibly even be as high as 90% or more, come 2040. That is because for all resales that have occurred since 2007, for which DVD exercised ROFR, the points became 2057 points for sales of such points by DVD to the public. The number of original purchasers of OKW with the 2042 end date, will, come 2040, likely be fairly small, if any are left. Ones left may instead be mostly be resale purchasers of OKW 2042 contracts for which DVD did not exercise ROFR, or relatives of the original purchasers of OKW contracts from DVD who became members upon transfer from, or upon the death of, the original purchasers.
That would indicate that come the 2030’s, there may be a significant number of members young enough for which purchasing an extension of their 2042 contracts to 2057 may be an easier sell for DVD than when it made the attempt in 2007. DVD could start offering, possibly as early as 2035 or even before, extensions to 2057 to those holding any remaining 2042 contracts. The ultimate result could be that the percentage of those still left with 2042 contracts come Jan 2042 may be quite small, and DVD could thus avoid the problem of having a lot of points to sell from expiring contracts mostly to new purchasers who can purchase only a 15-year contract.
B. BRV
BRV is unique because of its relationship with CCV which has a 2068 end date, and they both have mostly the same point requirements per night for studios, 1BRs and 2BRs. The consideration becomes whether DVD will really want to shut down BRV, do a significant refurb, and then turn it into a new 50-year resort for which both the points needed per night and price per point will be significantly higher than CCV’s at the time, which could make BRV a difficult-to-sell resort because CCV will be cheaper in price per point and points needed per night.
A possible alternative, starting sometime in the 2030’s, is for DVD to extend BRV to 2068, with the same per point per night costs as before and a price per point equaling CCV’s at the time. That might result in a large number of extension sales to BRV owners, and new purchasers will get 26 and more years to expiration that will look like a bargain in relation to other near park resorts that will at the time likely have higher per night point costs for a purchase price more than BRV/CCV. (And the lower point per night cost at BWV and BCV will, absent an extension for them, not be something of interest to buy at the time.)
C. BWV and BCV
I doubt there will be extensions of BWV or BCV, because they are two resorts for which DVD likely believes it can make a lot of sales after a significant refurb at a high per point cost with higher per night per room point costs than currently exist for the two resorts, including making the boadwalk view rooms have a higher point cost per night than any like-sized rooms at both BWV and BCV. Thus, an extension offer is likely not on the agenda, although one cannot be completely ruled out.
A different concept that could help assure a large number of sales starting 2042, or sales starting even a few years before to take effect in 2042, is a bit more complex. DVD could turn to the trust form of timeshares like CFW. Using that form would allow it to set up a new timeshare resort for as little as 30-years and thus a 2072 expiration date. It could make BCV and BWV both part of the same trust and thus sell trust shares where purchasers would get the right to reserve both resorts at 11-months out. The price per point could be a little less than Poly and VGF at the time, while its per night point cost per room could also be a little less than VGF and Poly. The trust form of ownership for the two resorts giving purchasers an 11-month widow for both BCV and BWV, a 2072 end date that would make it a resort with an end date several years later than VGF (2064) and Poly (2068), and the little lower per point purchase price and per night cost than VGF and Poly, could make the BWV/BCV trust ownership something in high demand.
D. Hilton Head and Vero Beach
I cannot guess as to what DVD may want to do with Hilton Head and Vero Beach. Possibly, DVD may not want to keep them and just sell them to some other company in 2042. There has been no addition of a non-park resort since Aulani in 2010, which resort is still not at the sold-out stage, and supposed plans to build other new resorts at non-park locations have disappeared. Both Hilton Head and Vero took a very long time to reach sell-out stage, and, at Vero, part of Disney’s land, which was supposed to be used for an addition to the resort, got sold. Both HH and VB cost less per point than most other resorts but have high dues, mainly as a result of being close to the ocean and thus subject to more severe wear and tear than other resorts and having a greater hurricane risk than other resorts.
That is not to say the resorts are inferior. I have not been to HH but I know the Hilton Head area is a good place for a vacation (was there twice before DVC HH came into existence) I have been twice to VB, and it is a really nice resort and, if you have a car, there are many interesting places to go in VB and other towns and cities nearby. But … neither is Disney World or
Disneyland. Perhaps something could be done with the resorts using the trust program that could help purchasing demand, e.g., join one of them, such as Vero Beach, to a future trust with some CFW cabins. But I still feel there is a real risk that Disney mayl just sell the resorts.