All of the free stuff we got at Aulani last week

[Paul Stupin]

That's like saying you felt embarrassed you paid less by buying resale. That's a good thing.
ie -They're just checking. Never anything to be embarrassed about.

Agreed! That said, I asked what was taking so long, and the woman replied, “some of the points were bought from someone else,” ie, not Disney, and the tone with which it was said implied it was a somewhat shady maneuver, like maybe I bought them in a shadowy back alley from a drug dealer.

I was more amused than annoyed, but her opinion of resale points, not that I cared at all, was crystal clear. Maybe she was new and didn’t have a full understanding of how the system works.

 

[J-Dog]

Just my unpopular/unsolicited/unwanted opinion, but I just don't see the appeal of the "free" stuff. Almost all of it is cheap and all of us have multiple of some form of all of this stuff from DVC already. I personally wouldn't have bothered to take any of that - it's just more junk to lay around my house when I get back.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Just my unpopular/unsolicited/unwanted opinion, but I just don't see the appeal of the "free" stuff. Almost all of it is cheap and all of us have multiple of some form of all of this stuff from DVC already. I personally wouldn't have bothered to take any of that - it's just more junk to lay around my house when I get back.

I love my coasters. I actually need more. We have used our backpacks several times. My husband refuses to wear the hat though The promo magnets and stuff I agree we can do without.

 

[J-Dog]

I love my coasters. I actually need more. We have used our backpacks several times. My husband refuses to wear the hat though The promo magnets and stuff I agree we can do without.

I've never used the coasters, but I could see the usefulness.

I have multiple DVC backpacks that we use occasionally, but the cheap Aulani backpack has never been used. Never bothered to take anything else home.

Those hats look like something that my 78 year old dad would wear.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I've never used the coasters, but I could see the usefulness.

I have multiple DVC backpacks that we use occasionally, but the cheap Aulani backpack has never been used. Never bothered to take anything else home.

Those hats look like something that my 78 year old dad would wear.

Yeah the hat material is golf style so my husband was a hard pass. We actually got a 2nd backpack at VDH so it's probably a West Coast backpack and the WDW people are extra jealous I can say I like it more than my gold cooling towel I got for buying direct.

 

[Skywalker3]

Thanks for this thread. I wouldn't have known to go down to the DVC desk for all these goodies otherwise. We did get a message on our in-room phone, but we usually don't visit DVC desks, etc , always think they'll be pushing more points on us.
I do wish we'd made it to the Monday member night, but we got to the hotel late, and were out making our Costco/Target runs, and just settling in.
No idea if we'll use the hats, but we did use the sling thing already while there, so that's come in handy, and magnets are our collectible of choice when we travel. Fridge, mini fridge, file cabinets, all covered in them.

 

[Paul Stupin]

Thanks for this thread. I wouldn't have known to go down to the DVC desk for all these goodies otherwise. We did get a message on our in-room phone, but we usually don't visit DVC desks, etc , always think they'll be pushing more points on us.
I do wish we'd made it to the Monday member night, but we got to the hotel late, and were out making our Costco/Target runs, and just settling in.
No idea if we'll use the hats, but we did use the sling thing already while there, so that's come in handy, and magnets are our collectible of choice when we travel. Fridge, mini fridge, file cabinets, all covered in them.

You didn’t miss much with the member night. It’s a thinly veiled sales pitch hidden behind, if I remember correctly, a trivia game or a singalong. I think there might be a character there too. I thought all the good cheer was a bit canned.

 

[AstroBlasters]

You didn’t miss much with the member night. It’s a thinly veiled sales pitch hidden behind, if I remember correctly, a trivia game or a singalong. I think there might be a character there too. I thought all the good cheer was a bit canned.

I don’t envy the guides there. If someone has not done ANY research then you are selling a product that is priced relative to some steep hotel rooms. But…. if they do any research on resale or subsidized dues then it is a STEEP mountain to climb.

Also, the high dollar make it very hard to
sell it to visitors in Asia and Oceania.

Nearly 20 years ago I covered Hawaii as part of an outside sales territory. Many of my clients said they got nearly half of their business from people visiting from Japan.

 

[Paul Stupin]

I don’t envy the guides there. If someone has not done ANY research then you are selling a product that is priced relative to some steep hotel rooms. But…. if they do any research on resale or subsidized dues then it is a STEEP mountain to climb.

Also, the high dollar make it very hard to
sell it to visitors in Asia and Oceania.

Nearly 20 years ago I covered Hawaii as part of an outside sales territory. Many of my clients said they got nearly half of their business from people visiting from Japan.

Very steep! But my guess is that there’s a large subset of people who have no idea that either resale or subsidized dues exist, who get caught up in all the fun they’re having, and consider making a DVC impulse purchase.

Of course, Aulani is still not sold out, but I think the guides hope to take advantage of that mindset. Not nefarious…it’s just their job.