Buy DVC for Aulani - newbie needs help

[LD500]

Originally we didn't even consider DVC because I had the preconception that a timeshare was never a good $ value, and because I don't think my family would be visiting Disney after the kids grew up. My 3 kids currently range between 4 and 9 years old. Our trips will certainly be during Spring Break or Summer school break.

However, after realizing that we will go to Disneyland, Aulani, or Disneyworld at least every second year, prefer to stay at nicer Disney resorts, and really like having the kitchen, we are rethinking DVC. Also realizing that selling our DVC after 10 years is a possibility. Originally didn't like the long term commitment.

Hope you can help with some questions:

1. Thinking of going to Aulani every 2nd year for the next 10 years. Would be booking a 1 bedroom villa. Do you think we could get a 1 bedroom villa during spring break without making our home DVC Aulani?

2. Depending on the answer to #1, why wouldn't we just buy one of the lowest $/pt locations like Saratoga? Is there a reason other than #3 below?

3. What would be the plus/minus of buying a resale at Grand Californian since the likelihood of getting a spring break booking would be minimal without it. We live on the West Coast so Disneyland is a serious consideration over Disneyworld.

4. We live in Canada. Any special things to consider? Legal issues? Better routes/brokers to use?

Any other tips. Basically just want to save $ over the next 10 years and have a good exit capability.

Thanks!

 

[Breyean]

I'll address #3 since we had some experience there.

We also near the west coast and go to DLR a few times a year. We've already been there twice this year and have 2 more trips there planned later in the year.

We originally added on at Aulani thinking we'd visit there every few years and maybe use our OKW points to visit VGC. Then we thought about it and realized it was becoming harder and harder to get a room at VGC, especially for special events (like the races there, which is what we like to build a trip around). So the OKW points only got us in if there was an opening at 7 months.

So we sold our Aulani contract back to Disney (another topic) and bought VGC. We now have 3 VGC contracts and are looking to add on there again.

There are only 48 rooms at VGC (including 2 GVs) so they go really fast. Having that 11 month window there makes a tremendous difference. If you are going to visit VGC often, I'd really recommend buying there. Looking at Aulani on the member site, since we are planning a trip there next year, it looks like there might be a lot more of a chance to get in at 7 months there vs at 7 months at VGC.

 

[LD500]

I'll address #3 since we had some experience there.

We also near the west coast and go to DLR a few times a year. We've already been there twice this year and have 2 more trips there planned later in the year.

We originally added on at Aulani thinking we'd visit there every few years and maybe use our OKW points to visit VGC. Then we thought about it and realized it was becoming harder and harder to get a room at VGC, especially for special events (like the races there, which is what we like to build a trip around). So the OKW points only got us in if there was an opening at 7 months.

So we sold our Aulani contract back to Disney (another topic) and bought VGC. We now have 3 VGC contracts and are looking to add on there again.

There are only 48 rooms at VGC (including 2 GVs) so they go really fast. Having that 11 month window there makes a tremendous difference. If you are going to visit VGC often, I'd really recommend buying there. Looking at Aulani on the member site, since we are planning a trip there next year, it looks like there might be a lot more of a chance to get in at 7 months there vs at 7 months at VGC.

Thanks so much. That is great info to have. I was quite sure getting VGC during prime periods would be almost impossible but I'm wondering if Aulani is looking to be bad or not. Big difference in $ per point on resales for Aulani/VGC vs Saratoga. Obviously weighing if going cheap with Saratoga is a viable route.

Our travel would primarily be to VGC or Aulani. However, if we went to Disneyland we would be happy enough to stay at a different hotel. If we went to Oahu we would 100% want Aulani.

It cost us $5000 to stay at Aulani for a week by renting points at $14/pt late last year. DVC seems to make sense but wish we had jumped on it when Disney direct was only about $100/pt and subsidized maintenance fees.

 

[disneypoor]

We initially bought at BLT. Once Aulani was built, we knew we would want to go there, but I didn't like the risk of not getting it at the seven month mark. I'm a big long range planner and just can't wait even though I know it could likely be available at 7 months. Lol! So, we added on at Aulani but only bought a minimal amount of points so we can bank and borrow and go there every three years. With airfare, every three years is sufficient for us, and because we don't own a lot of points there, it is an affordable way for us to know for sure that we will get to Hawaii every three years. I will say that we bought 60 points and knew for sure that 180 points would get us a studio every three years. Now that our kids are getting older, we are finding we really need more points to get a one bedroom and most likely a two bedroom. It is never ending.....

Susan

 

[CailinFig]

.

It cost us $5000 to stay at Aulani for a week by renting points at $14/pt late last year. DVC seems to make sense but wish we had jumped on it when Disney direct was only about $100/pt and subsidized maintenance fees.

Are you thinking about doing resale? If so, you can find Aulani for around $100/PT (or less!) and sometimes a subsidized contract. The subsidized contract we purchased through Fidelity surprisingly passed rofr. The resale process with Aulani is just longer and more complicated than the normal DVC resale from my personal experience.

As for VGC/Aulani vs SSR, my husband was very hesitant about buying into an east coast DVC. We live on the west coast and probably will only visit WDW a couple of times. Whereas DLR is a regular staple for us and we visit the islands at least every two years. That coupled with a lot of advice from this board about buying where you want to stay solidified our decision to stick with a west coast DVC.

As for VGC vs Aulani...we couldn't decide which West Coast DVC to buy into so we ended up splitting the total points we wanted and bought a little of both!

 

[disneypoor]

Are you thinking about doing resale? If so, you can find Aulani for around $100/PT (or less!) and sometimes a subsidized contract. The subsidized contract we purchased through Fidelity surprisingly passed rofr. The resale process with Aulani is just longer and more complicated than the normal DVC resale from my personal experience. As for VGC/Aulani vs SSR, my husband was very hesitant about buying into an east coast DVC. We live on the west coast and probably will only visit WDW a couple of times. Whereas DLR is a regular staple for us and we visit the islands at least every two years. That coupled with a lot of advice from this board about buying where you want to stay solidified our decision to stick with a west coast DVC. As for VGC vs Aulani...we couldn't decide which West Coast DVC to buy into so we ended up splitting the total points we wanted and bought a little of both!

I've been watching for a resale for Aulani for quite a while. Where are you finding these contracts? My sister will jump on an Aulani resale, but we haven't had any luck finding her one unless I'm looking in the wrong place. Thanks!

Susan

 

[CailinFig]

I've been watching for a resale for Aulani for quite a while. Where are you finding these contracts? My sister will jump on an Aulani resale, but we haven't had any luck finding her one unless I'm looking in the wrong place. Thanks! Susan

The Aulani subsidized contracts were listed on Fidelity's website back in Nov. At the time I saw mine there were also around 4-5 others. I don't currently see any subsidized ones on their website but since they're slow to update maybe if you call they could let you know if they have any available? I don't know if I just got lucky at the time I was looking...

The process was a lot longer than our VGC contract. The title search in Hawaii took around 3 weeks. Then the closing documents required notarization for both buyer and seller--I believe this is a state of Hawaii requirement. The closing documents themselves were around 30 pages in length!

 

[Dean]

Originally we didn't even consider DVC because I had the preconception that a timeshare was never a good $ value, and because I don't think my family would be visiting Disney after the kids grew up. My 3 kids currently range between 4 and 9 years old. Our trips will certainly be during Spring Break or Summer school break.

However, after realizing that we will go to Disneyland, Aulani, or Disneyworld at least every second year, prefer to stay at nicer Disney resorts, and really like having the kitchen, we are rethinking DVC. Also realizing that selling our DVC after 10 years is a possibility. Originally didn't like the long term commitment.

Hope you can help with some questions:

1. Thinking of going to Aulani every 2nd year for the next 10 years. Would be booking a 1 bedroom villa. Do you think we could get a 1 bedroom villa during spring break without making our home DVC Aulani?

2. Depending on the answer to #1, why wouldn't we just buy one of the lowest $/pt locations like Saratoga? Is there a reason other than #3 below?

3. What would be the plus/minus of buying a resale at Grand Californian since the likelihood of getting a spring break booking would be minimal without it. We live on the West Coast so Disneyland is a serious consideration over Disneyworld.

4. We live in Canada. Any special things to consider? Legal issues? Better routes/brokers to use?

Any other tips. Basically just want to save $ over the next 10 years and have a good exit capability.

Thanks!

Obviously there are infinite variables in this scenario. You want two different high demand, difficult to get options. It sounds like you're set on DVC but it's possible that other timeshare options or a combination might actually give you a better value. Assuming DVC only, 1 BR units every other year both locations, that's a chunk of points. You'll basically need roughly 400 points a year to get a 1 BR yearly alternative between the 2. IF you're set on DVC I'd consider a roughly 200 pt package at each resale and I'd look for a subsidized Aulani contract. Or you could do a 400 pt package at VGC and then book elsewhere at 7 months out since that's likely to be the most difficult to reserve. You may also want to look at a fixed week retail at Aulani, it really comes down to which portion is more important to you. Alternatives would include options like Marriott (several in HI & Newport Coast) or Wyndham with 2 resorts near DL or even a combo of non DVC for HI and DVC for DL and orlando. I'm generally a big proponent of buying cheap and "trading up" but I don't think SSR is likely to get you what you want consistently. I also don't believe a buy now and sell in 10 years is a particularly viable plan, too much risk for too little gain.

 

[disneypoor]

The Aulani subsidized contracts were listed on Fidelity's website back in Nov. At the time I saw mine there were also around 4-5 others. I don't currently see any subsidized ones on their website but since they're slow to update maybe if you call they could let you know if they have any available? I don't know if I just got lucky at the time I was looking... The process was a lot longer than our VGC contract. The title search in Hawaii took around 3 weeks. Then the closing documents required notarization for both buyer and seller--I believe this is a state of Hawaii requirement. The closing documents themselves were around 30 pages in length!

Thank you for the info! We thought we had found a contract for my sister. She called, said she would take it, and after going through the initial info, they called her back and said it was a mistake. It was a listing for AKL but said Aulani. I knew the price was too good to be true.

Susan

 

[southerngirl528]

Until Aulani is close to sold out, I doubt you will have a whole lot of trouble booking there if you plan at least seven months out. The holidays could be an exception. I am an original OKW owner, and called somewhere around 4 or 5 months out for Aulani for our trip there a year ago. They did not have exactly what I wanted, so I grabbed what would work which was an island view studio. I immediately wait listed for what I REALLY wanted, which was an Ocean View 1 bdrm villa. My wait list came through, so I was a happy camper!

 

[LD500]

Thanks for all the replied. We're still thinking about it. Will keep on learning more so we're ready to jump on any deal that might present itself.

 

[Dean]

Thanks for all the replied. We're still thinking about it. Will keep on learning more so we're ready to jump on any deal that might present itself.

It usually takes about 6 months of active investigation to learn enough about DVC to truly make an informed decision, likely more in this case because you should really educate yourself somewhat on non DVC options for those areas as well.