Aulani - with current incentives......

[HIRyeDVC]

Thank you everyone for your perspective on buying a resale Aulani contract with subsidized dues or a direct Aulani contract. I think in the end [for me] as much as there are times when I would love to own at Aulani for those hard-to-get times (Christmas/NYE and some summer months) -- it would mean I would have to sell my unrestricted (blue card points) points to pay for the Aulani (white card restricted) points and that doesn't seem like a trade that, in the end, makes a lot of sense. I could always look for a transfer or rent myself if I found myself having that need. Add-on-itis can be a strong force, but I think I'll just cross an Aulani purchase off my list for now.

I honestly think it's the right call. I have a friend here in HI, not yet a member, mulling over the new Aulani direct incentives. I've been trying to convince him from not taking the bait and looking elsewhere, either resale or direct at a different property for all the reasons already discussed. Outside of those hard-to-get times, I think Aulani availability will never be an issue, especially if you could get over the high points chart for some of those Ocean View and Pool Garden view rooms, which are rip-offs in my view. Save your money for future DVC resorts in the pipe and keep your points as unrestricted as possible since that is where Disney is ultimately taking this DVC product.

 

[WestCoastDVC]

We are seriously considering adding on directly with the current incentives. We were lucky to get a 250 point subsidized dues contract in the spring of 2020 at a great price. While the higher dues if purchasing direct would definitely be painful, here are a few counter-points for why Aulani direct may make sense (contrary to some strong opinions on this board re: Aulani in general):

• Yes, 7-month availability is generally good but not for key holidays. Those of us on the West Coast looking at Aulani for family vacation at peak travel times find a lot of value in the 11-month window.
• Relatedly, it is hard to sometimes find any* availability around peak holidays in Hawaii. So having a guaranteed room at Aulani is worth a lot to us.
• Real estate prices in Hawaii are skyrocketing (for both whole and fractional ownership). There is a recent NYT article on the topic. So while Aulani is by no means a steal at $133/point, I like the current incentives in line of the overall market.
• We were able to rent out some of our Aulani points already and found demand to be strong. Not necessarily when listing on the boards here (because the audience is more WDW focused) but there are many channels to rent to a broader audience (this is one year of data so take this one with a grain of salt but it does de-risk the purchase).
• We actually prefer Aulani to other DVC resorts/are not looking for SAP points to spend more time in Orlando (though we do enjoy WDW occasionally). If you like that extra layer of Disney magic but in the natural setting of Hawaii, there is no other option that checks all the boxes.

Just my two cents before we pull the trigger

 

[HIRyeDVC]

We are seriously considering adding on directly with the current incentives. We were lucky to get a 250 point subsidized dues contract in the spring of 2020 at a great price. While the higher dues if purchasing direct would definitely be painful, here are a few counter-points for why Aulani direct may make sense (contrary to some strong opinions on this board re: Aulani in general):

• Yes, 7-month availability is generally good but not for key holidays. Those of us on the West Coast looking at Aulani for family vacation at peak travel times find a lot of value in the 11-month window.
• Relatedly, it is hard to sometimes find any* availability around peak holidays in Hawaii. So having a guaranteed room at Aulani is worth a lot to us.
• Real estate prices in Hawaii are skyrocketing (for both whole and fractional ownership). There is a recent NYT article on the topic. So while Aulani is by no means a steal at $133/point, I like the current incentives in line of the overall market.
• We were able to rent out some of our Aulani points already and found demand to be strong. Not necessarily when listing on the boards here (because the audience is more WDW focused) but there are many channels to rent to a broader audience (this is one year of data so take this one with a grain of salt but it does de-risk the purchase).
• We actually prefer Aulani to other DVC resorts/are not looking for SAP points to spend more time in Orlando (though we do enjoy WDW occasionally). If you like that extra layer of Disney magic but in the natural setting of Hawaii, there is no other option that checks all the boxes.

Just my two cents before we pull the trigger

Just curious, who did you use to rent your points? Private or through a broker? I agree that Aulani DVC rental is starting to become more popular, considering the high rack rates. If consistently coming to HI during peak seasons is important, I agree that owning there is a must.

You ain't lying about real estate prices on Oahu. My house I bought 11 years ago for 500k is now worth over a million, and I'm crying over my next property tax assessment. Equal will be true for Aulani's future property tax assessment and the annual dues. Local politicians are also aggressively pursuing to increase hotel and transit accomodation taxes, of which DVC members are not safe from. Despite all this, staying in a DVC villa is still a much better deal than paying for hotel rooms in Hawaii. But going forward, I don't see the easing of these tax increases in the future. If anything, it will become more and more expensive to vacation in Hawaii. But I suppose the same could be said of WDW and DL. But I agree with all your other points. Everyone will find value differently wrt Aulani.

 

[WestCoastDVC]

Just curious, who did you use to rent your points? Private or through a broker? I agree that Aulani DVC rental is starting to become more popular, considering the high rack rates. If consistently coming to HI during peak seasons is important, I agree that owning there is a must.

You ain't lying about real estate prices on Oahu. My house I bought 11 years ago for 500k is now worth over a million, and I'm crying over my next property tax assessment. Equal will be true for Aulani's future property tax assessment and the annual dues. Local politicians are also aggressively pursuing to increase hotel and transit accomodation taxes, of which DVC members are not safe from. Despite all this, staying in a DVC villa is still a much better deal than paying for hotel rooms in Hawaii. But going forward, I don't see the easing of these tax increases in the future. If anything, it will become more and more expensive to vacation in Hawaii. But I suppose the same could be said of WDW and DL. But I agree with all your other points. Everyone will find value differently wrt Aulani.

I never know what sites we are allowed to mention here but it is one of the vacation home rental platforms (vs. one specifically geared to DVC or timeshares). And while we don't have availability shown there currently (since we only have our 250 points), I get a steady stream of requests asking if we have availability.

 

[cmrdgrs]

I honestly think it's the right call. I have a friend here in HI, not yet a member, mulling over the new Aulani direct incentives. I've been trying to convince him from not taking the bait and looking elsewhere, either resale or direct at a different property for all the reasons already discussed. Outside of those hard-to-get times, I think Aulani availability will never be an issue, especially if you could get over the high points chart for some of those Ocean View and Pool Garden view rooms, which are rip-offs in my view. Save your money for future DVC resorts in the pipe and keep your points as unrestricted as possible since that is where Disney is ultimately taking this DVC product.

Thanks for the support on my decision. I agree that the OV rooms are not worth the points & I've never been able to book a pool/garden view those seem to move quickly. For those time I do go to Aulani I usually just plan on paying for the OV room and if I get at less "expensive" room category I'm happy. On my next visit I was able to get a 2 bdrm standard for most of my stay and from there we will most likely have to move to a 1 bdrm standard for the last 3 nights of our trip. But, to your point, so far I have never not been able to get a satisfactory room for a vacation I wanted to take. Additionally, I do worry about the price of airfare to Hawaii - it only has one way to go and that is up. It's not like you can hop in your car and drive there. Yeah, I think Aulani is off the table for me.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

Thanks for the support on my decision. I agree that the OV rooms are not worth the points & I've never been able to book a pool/garden view those seem to move quickly. For those time I do go to Aulani I usually just plan on paying for the OV room and if I get at less "expensive" room category I'm happy. On my next visit I was able to get a 2 bdrm standard for most of my stay and from there we will most likely have to move to a 1 bdrm standard for the last 3 nights of our trip. But, to your point, so far I have never not been able to get a satisfactory room for a vacation I wanted to take. Additionally, I do worry about the price of airfare to Hawaii - it only has one way to go and that is up. It's not like you can hop in your car and drive there. Yeah, I think Aulani is off the table for me.

getting a SV room at Aulani is like gold! One time, we scored a hotel room for a couple of nights for 16 points a night and was so excited. And don't talk to me about airfare to HI! We flew to Orlando in August, $1700 total for my family of 4 during the pandemic sales. Now it's like $4-5K! I don't know how I'm going to get us to Orlando every other year, let alone Anaheim twice a year. Disney needs to make a timeshare program for airfare!

 

[DVChris]

We are seriously considering adding on directly with the current incentives. We were lucky to get a 250 point subsidized dues contract in the spring of 2020 at a great price. While the higher dues if purchasing direct would definitely be painful, here are a few counter-points for why Aulani direct may make sense (contrary to some strong opinions on this board re: Aulani in general):

• Yes, 7-month availability is generally good but not for key holidays. Those of us on the West Coast looking at Aulani for family vacation at peak travel times find a lot of value in the 11-month window.
• Relatedly, it is hard to sometimes find any* availability around peak holidays in Hawaii. So having a guaranteed room at Aulani is worth a lot to us.
• Real estate prices in Hawaii are skyrocketing (for both whole and fractional ownership). There is a recent NYT article on the topic. So while Aulani is by no means a steal at $133/point, I like the current incentives in line of the overall market.
• We were able to rent out some of our Aulani points already and found demand to be strong. Not necessarily when listing on the boards here (because the audience is more WDW focused) but there are many channels to rent to a broader audience (this is one year of data so take this one with a grain of salt but it does de-risk the purchase).
• We actually prefer Aulani to other DVC resorts/are not looking for SAP points to spend more time in Orlando (though we do enjoy WDW occasionally). If you like that extra layer of Disney magic but in the natural setting of Hawaii, there is no other option that checks all the boxes.

Just my two cents before we pull the trigger

I can relate to all of this. We are also west coast and I would hate to buy another resort to use at Aulani and then potentially not be able to get the dates or room that we want. I’ve read a lot of posts this week and last week about folks trying to get rooms at 7 months and not being able to. We are tied to our school schedule as so many of us are and I worry about being locked out at 7 months.

 

[eMoneyBug]

I jumped on the Aulani direct deal and picked Dec use year for double loaded so if I can rent those out at $30-40 that brings my AUL sap points at or under $100 direct. I live west coast and already own 1 resale Aulani contract so picked AUL for 11months adv and sap so this direct add on just doubles down on more vacays for the family in our future. To me AUL has more value than SSR, as I don’t see any scenario needing to book 8-11months in advance there vs AUL there are some time periods or dates/room categories you need the advantage.

 

[Paul Stupin]

I jumped on the Aulani direct deal and picked Dec use year for double loaded so if I can rent those out at $30-40 that brings my AUL sap points at or under $100 direct. I live west coast and already own 1 resale Aulani contract so picked AUL for 11months adv and sap so this direct add on just doubles down on more vacays for the family in our future. To me AUL has more value than SSR, as I don’t see any scenario needing to book 8-11months in advance there vs AUL there are some time periods or dates/room categories you need the advantage.

Congrats! It’s a great deal, and for me Aulani has far more value than SSR as well, where the 11 month advantage has no meaning. We live on the west coast too and love owning direct at Aulani.

 

[DVChris]

Out of curiosity... how many have taken advantage of the current Aulani incentives? 300+ points? Any regrets? Did you buy to use primarily at Aulani or to use more for SAP?

 

[macman123]

Out of curiosity... how many have taken advantage of the current Aulani incentives? 300+ points? Any regrets? Did you buy to use primarily at Aulani or to use more for SAP?

In also curious about this, as I would be looking for SAP

 

[gskywalker]

I haven't heard anything so I assume that they didn't bring out any extra black Friday discounts?

 

[macman123]

I haven't heard anything so I assume that they didn't bring out any extra black Friday discounts?

They did - sort of. An extra $10 off a point if you only got 2022 points. But you could rent 2021 points out for $20pp so missing out a bit. Oh and you would still pay dues on the whole amount you weren't using.....

 

[Galun]

I haven't heard anything so I assume that they didn't bring out any extra black Friday discounts?

there appears to be no extra Black Friday discounts.

I was even on site at grand cal last week. Nothing.

will likely buy tomorrow.

 

[gskywalker]

They did - sort of. An extra $10 off a point if you only got 2022 points. But you could rent 2021 points out for $20pp so missing out a bit. Oh and you would still pay dues on the whole amount you weren't using.....

That doesn't even make sense. So you lose it on a years points for a savings of $1.65 a point. I would get a December use year to get the 2020 points.

 

[Galun]

That doesn't even make sense. So you lose it on a years points for a savings of $1.65 a point. I would get a December use year to get the 2020 points.

its $10 a point back for 2020 dec uy points. Convenient if you don’t want to rent them out yourself. if you are comfortable with renting, you’d call member service to courtesy bank them, and then you can rent out these points until 11/30/2022. There are no maintenance fee paid on these points.

your 2021 uy points will only have like a month in maintenance fee (since it’s already almost December), but bankable until 7/31/2022, and useable until 11/30/2023.

that’s why dec uy now is basically double points for free (well, one month of maintenance fee).

 

[DisneyonMars]

Question: I have contracts in October (direct) and June (resale), but none at Aulani. If I try to buy Aulani with December use year would I get the add-on incentives or the new member incentives since it is a different use year? Seems like a good deal for direct points and with December use year could also get 2020 points as well.

 

[kevtlas]

I agree that $133 is a great price for Aulani. That is only $19 more than the 2010 price ($114 before incentives)

 

[macman123]

That doesn't even make sense. So you lose it on a years points for a savings of $1.65 a point. I would get a December use year to get the 2020 points.

I have 2995 with Aug UY. I don't really want to have one/two contracts on a different one......

 

[gskywalker]

I have 2995 with Aug UY. I don't really want to have one/two contracts on a different one......

Absolutely makes sense. We kept to February until our current one awaiting ROFR. I liked getting 2 years of points with no dues, so we grabbed an October contract.