Can anyone explain the recent dues jump at Poly?

[pianomanzano]

I can not think of any other reason for poly to go up 8% and VGF less than 2% - the staffing has to be similar or even higher at VGF

The overall operating budget for VGF jumped from 14 million to 20 million from 2022 to 2023 but they also doubled the points of the resort by adding VGF2. Could explain the low percentage increase despite the almost 50% jump in operating budget. On the revenue side dues collection for VGF jumped from 13.5 to 19.9 million.

 

[Nursemanit]

The overall operating budget for VGF jumped from 14 million to 20 million from 2022 to 2023 but they also doubled the points of the resort by adding VGF2. Could explain the low percentage increase despite the almost 50% jump in operating budget. On the revenue side dues collection for VGF jumped from 13.5 to 19.9 million.

That could be the case - but since MF is a forward projection you would expect the expenses to increase in proportion to the rooms.

 

[Sandisw]

I doubt the exact formula for resort operations/upkeep is that cut & dried. DVC and non-DVC resort guests share many of the same amenities/grounds so not sure how you 'prorate' those. They recently rebuilt the Poly monorail station which clearly benefits both groups.

The dues at shared complexes is based on occupancy rates so that can influence things.

For simplicity sake, say a DVC resort has 60% of the total occupancy of the entire complex, then shared expenses would be 60/40 against the hotel side,

Owners also have a legal right to make an appointment to see the specifics of the operations budget at the DVC offices as well.

 

[crisi]

Going with what @Brian Noble stated about new resorts having higher dues when they start out has me thinking that Poly 2 will most likely be part of the existing association and that is part of the reason for the jump.

Traditionally, resorts have actually had lower dues while they are in active sales - that RIVs dues were set high is something of an anomaly - and likely influenced by the dues estimation fiasco at Aulani which got Disney in legal trouble. Its in Disney's best interests to estimate dues low when a resort is in active sales - it helps propel sales. But they can't (as they discovered with Aulani) estimate too low, that causes problems (particularly in Hawaii which has different timeshare laws).

I would caution anyone buying a new resort to expect a dues jump as the resort gets near sell out. It doesn't always happen, but don't do your calculations on affordability believing the the dues are currently on the high side and likely to go down... Disney doesn't often act against their own best interests and given corporate culture, its fairly likely that they will forget the lessons learned with Aulani fairly soon.

 

[DebbieB]

This is a total guess, but it seemed like the renovation at Poly was moved up to match the renovation of the rest of the resort. Could they have needed to put more money into the reserve fund? I don’t have a breakdown, maybe someone could look at that.

 

[Chuck S]

This is a total guess, but it seemed like the renovation at Poly was moved up to match the renovation of the rest of the resort. Could they have needed to put more money into the reserve fund? I don’t have a breakdown, maybe someone could look at that.

That could be, since they would want the existing DVC Rooms refreshed before any sales start on the new DVC wing, especially if they are the same "Home Resort", unlike Copper Creek and Boulder Ridge.

 

[maui22]

The dues at shared complexes is based on occupancy rates so that can influence things.

For simplicity sake, say a DVC resort has 60% of the total occupancy of the entire complex, then shared expenses would be 60/40 against the hotel side,

With the construction being very close to one of the longhouses, Disney could have some rooms removed from the hotel side inventory. If this is the case, occupancy percentage will shift toward DVC for a period of the construction.

 

[Sandisw]

With the construction being very close to one of the longhouses, Disney could have some rooms removed from the hotel side inventory. If this is the case, occupancy percentage will shift toward DVC for a period of the construction.

I think it’s occupany based on rooms there.

In that sense, if it did, it mean that when the DVC rooms underwent refurbishment, it would have shifted the other way.

Thst is why I think it’s based on the potential guests that could be there.