Direct Sales For October

[sndral]

I live on the East Coast. I’ve had the fortune of visiting Hawaii twice in my 52 years. From the East Coast, that kind of trip is a once in a lifetime trip for many. Many also never visit Hawaii. I would love to visit Aulani. But to own there is not practical. From the East Coast, I can drive to Florida.Why would I buy in Hawaii and visit once? Or twice?

I have a hard time believing that buying there makes it easier to visit someplace so far away.

Those who live on the west coast such as myself are more frequent Hawaii visitors and are presumably the demographic more likely to buy Aulani, but there are a bazillion timeshares in Hawaii & if I were in the market to buy one (I’m not) I’d be shopping for one on my favorite island Kauai. Ironically the reason DVC commands such high prices at WDW is it’s exclusive location on WDW property which IMO is also the reason it hasn’t sold as well in Hawaii, Aulani isn’t optimally located and there’s lot’s of competition from better located timeshares.

 

[Brian Noble]

I think that's true of all three of DVC's non-park resorts.

Aulani is on the wrong island (and arguably in the wrong place on the wrong island), when the right islands have lots of high-quality, name-brand timeshares.

HHI is on the wrong (non-ocean) side of the main ring road, where the right side of that road has lots of high-quality, name-brand timeshares.

Vero suffers the least from this, but is a little north for true snowbirding, and farther south there are plenty of high-quality name-brand timeshares.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Those who live on the west coast such as myself are more frequent Hawaii visitors and are presumably the demographic more likely to buy Aulani, but there are a bazillion timeshares in Hawaii & if I were in the market to buy one (I’m not) I’d be shopping for one on my favorite island Kauai. Ironically the reason DVC commands such high prices at WDW is it’s exclusive location on WDW property which IMO is also the reason it hasn’t sold as well in Hawaii, Aulani isn’t optimally located and there’s lot’s of competition from better located timeshares.

I don't disagree at all about the location. There are better spots. However there are other timeshares in that area that have sold. I guess one might say it's Disney's lack of knowledge on how to sell offsite. Plus they have tended to build the resorts very similarly to the onsite as if being next to the most popular theme parks in the world don't play a big part in the DVC success. At Aulani they had to make some early corrections since people actually stayed at the resort vs heading off to the park for a day and facilities like the pool were woefully undersized. Probably still are.

 

[Brian Noble]

there are other timeshares in that area that have sold.

They have (notably Marriott Ko'Olina), but I'm not sure they sold at a rate any faster than Aulani has been. And, Aulani is seilling, though given the current promotion maybe not the way DVC would like.

it's Disney's lack of knowledge on how to sell offsite.

They definitely work differently than e.g. Wyndham. But, are they so much different than, say, Marriott?

 

[DonMacGregor]

Ironically the reason DVC commands such high prices at WDW is it’s exclusive location on WDW property which IMO is also the reason it hasn’t sold as well in Hawaii, Aulani isn’t optimally located and there’s lot’s of competition from better located timeshares.

I think that's true of all three of DVC's non-park resorts.

Aulani is on the wrong island (and arguably in the wrong place on the wrong island)...

This right here.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

They have (notably Marriott Ko'Olina), but I'm not sure they sold at a rate any faster than Aulani has been. And, Aulani is seilling, though given the current promotion maybe not the way DVC would like.


They definitely work differently than e.g. Wyndham. But, are they so much different than, say, Marriott?

I think you still have to wonder if they aren't happy enough with the way it's selling. It isn't like they've really changed anything in marketing or sales tactics. Same old same old. If they were unhappy one would think they'd be trying various things but I haven't heard of any big measures or really any measures at all. It is a mixed resort and maybe having more rooms under their cash option is working fine.

I've actually never ended up in a Marriott presentation environment nor looked into it so I can't personally compare to them. When I think of Marriott though I envision a more diverse set of properties. DVC has been reliant on the parks for success.

 

[DonMacGregor]

I think you still have to wonder if they aren't happy enough with the way it's selling. It isn't like they've really changed anything in marketing or sales tactics. Same old same old. If they were unhappy one would think they'd be trying various things but I haven't heard of any big measures or really any measures at all. It is a mixed resort and maybe having more rooms under their cash option is working fine.

I've actually never ended up in a Marriott presentation environment nor looked into it so I can't personally compare to them. When I think of Marriott though I envision a more diverse set of properties. DVC has been reliant on the parks for success.

Plus, they haven't even bothered opening up the DVC preview center and Aulani model rooms at DLH either. The DVC center in GCH has been open for months.

 

[davidl81]

I think that's true of all three of DVC's non-park resorts.

Aulani is on the wrong island (and arguably in the wrong place on the wrong island), when the right islands have lots of high-quality, name-brand timeshares.

HHI is on the wrong (non-ocean) side of the main ring road, where the right side of that road has lots of high-quality, name-brand timeshares.

Vero suffers the least from this, but is a little north for true snowbirding, and farther south there are plenty of high-quality name-brand timeshares.

While Oahu is not our favorite island, I actually think it makes the most sense for a DVC resort. It is the easiest Hawaii to fly directly into (no island hoping or connections) and the airport has the most rental cars etc. So just from an ease of access purpose it makes sense. And at the end of the day I thin Aulani is a great family Hawaii resort. They make it so easy to bring the kids, and have so many activities for them to do. If it was just my wife and I traveling there would be a lot of other resorts we would go to, but with the kids Aulani makes a ton of sense.

 

[sndral]

These days there’s less need to island hop from Oahu since there’s quite a few nonstops to the other islands https://thepointsguy.com/guide/how-to-fly-hawaii/ and at the moment lack of rental cars is a problem on all of the islands, but yes, Aulani appeals to folks w/ kids in much the same way that DCL appeals to folks looking to take a Carribean/Bahamian cruise w/ kids.

 

[Brian Noble]

These days there’s less need to island hop from Oahu since there’s quite a few nonstops to the other islands

It seems like DTW never has direct flights to any of the islands these days---at least, not when I want to go. But, it's just one stop to any of the four "main" islands from there, usually at reasonable times.