DVCnews May direct sales article

[Sandisw]

What stood out to me but no one seems to be taking about is how abysmal the sales at CFW are. Doesn’t this translate to like 40 years to sell out or something if current rate continues? I haven’t been on the boards a ton the past few months so maybe this has been done to death in previous months.

And it means one of two things…IMO…that they simply wanted to shift some to DVC but really keep most for cash…

Or, these will be part of the same resort as LSL and they don’t care how fast they sell.

I tend to think the later

 

[kilik64]

What stood out to me but no one seems to be taking about is how abysmal the sales at CFW are. Doesn’t this translate to like 40 years to sell out or something if current rate continues? I haven’t been on the boards a ton the past few months so maybe this has been done to death in previous months.

Yea its not anything new here about how bad CFW is selling.

There's lots of theories on what will happen with the predominant one being Lakeshore Lodge and CFW will be combined in the trust together to help it sell.

I used to be team its gonna get combined but now I'm 50/50 on it. I think they just figured hey we gotta pay to replace these mobile homes anyways, might as well see if we can get the capex back sooner with some DVC sales and grossly underestimated the demand for such a product.

Maybe we've hit peak DVC?

 

[Matty B13]

Also, a lot of dog owners said they wanted a DVC Resort where they could have their dogs with them........ except they didn't want high dues and a single unit type.

 

[disneylandtour]

What stood out to me but no one seems to be taking about is how abysmal the sales at CFW are. Doesn’t this translate to like 40 years to sell out or something if current rate continues? I haven’t been on the boards a ton the past few months so maybe this has been done to death in previous months.

At this point, I don't think anyone, including DVD, expects the cabins to sell well. My guess: either they'll be bundled into the Lakeside Lodge (meaning that all the points for the cabins and Lakeside go into one combined bucket) or Disney will spin off / sell off a bunch of cabins over to the cash side of hotel operations. I think it's more likely that the Cabins and Lakeside will go into the same trust, but we'll see.

 

[kilik64]

At this point, I don't think anyone, including DVD, expects the cabins to sell well. My guess: either they'll be bundled into the Lakeside Lodge (meaning that all the points for the cabins and Lakeside go into one combined bucket) or Disney will spin off / sell off a bunch of cabins over to the cash side of hotel operations. I think it's more likely that the Cabins and Lakeside will go into the same trust, but we'll see.

That's an interesting thought, tossing cabins back to hotel side.

Wouldn't that mess with the annual dues though? Current dues are based on total resort points, so if they cut it in say half, dues would take a big jump up. Would think they would have to subsidize early buyers before that change was made ala VB?

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

And it means one of two things…IMO…that they simply wanted to shift some to DVC but really keep most for cash…

Or, these will be part of the same resort as LSL and they don’t care how fast they sell.

I tend to think the later

I’ve given up on guessing what DVC will try to do, but I can imagine they would like to combine them, especially if the point chart for the main building is high— then they can point to the cabins as a low point option where you can put six people across two separate sleeping rooms for a modest number of points.

 

[disneylandtour]

I’ve given up on guessing what DVC will try to do, but I can imagine they would like to combine them, especially if the point chart for the main building is high— then they can point to the cabins as a low point option where you can put six people across two separate sleeping rooms for a modest number of points.

I would assume that dues are partially prorated per unit / per cabin. The mixed used resorts (Poly, GF, etc.) divide overhead, transportation, landscaping, pool, etc. costs between cash and DVC dues. I would assume the same would work here. But basically, sales are so low that the cabins won't sell out for decades under the current plan, so something has to change.

 

[Hypaflex]

Which, I think this seems to show that lack of resale restrictions may not be enough for buyers to overcome high point charts and unfavorable pricing to choose direct....

Sorry, I honestly don't know...is the PIT the worst bang for buck point per room out there?

 

[Girlstar30]

Sorry, I honestly don't know...is the PIT the worst bang for buck point per room out there?

The two bedroom tpv is 79 points for 1 night weekend in the lowest point season of September. That's pretty crazy to me.

 

[MyDogTink]

For Poly, people may have shifted to resale instead of direct.

 

[Chili327]

What stood out to me but no one seems to be taking about is how abysmal the sales at CFW are. Doesn’t this translate to like 40 years to sell out or something if current rate continues? I haven’t been on the boards a ton the past few months so maybe this has been done to death in previous months.

And it means one of two things…IMO…that they simply wanted to shift some to DVC but really keep most for cash…

Or, these will be part of the same resort as LSL and they don’t care how fast they sell.

I tend to think the later

Could be both.?

Sorry, I honestly don't know...is the PIT the worst bang for buck point per room out there?

The two bedroom tpv is 79 points for 1 night weekend in the lowest point season of September. That's pretty crazy to me.

For Poly, people may have shifted to resale instead of direct.

It is crazy to me as well, but if people are paying it then i guess that's all that matters.

 

[disneylandtour]

It is crazy to me as well, but if people are paying it then i guess that's all that matters.

In terms of Poly Tower, the points are high and the rooms are on the small side. Longhouse studio is around 447 sq feet. Tower studio is around 410 sq feet, with some (i believe based on placement in the building) being slightly smaller. Longhouse studios sleep five, tower sleep four.

I think a lot of DVC owners are going to the Tower to check out the new, shiny thing. But that will wear off. Give it two years--and I think there will be a stronger preference for the longhouse studios, making them difficult to book. But we'll see.

 

[Hypaflex]

For what it’s worth, my DW is a retired dental hygienist. She loathes math and would often joke that she chose her profession because she only had to count to 32—that’s the number of teeth in an adult mouth!

Haha! Would you mind giving the contact info of your DW? Looking to start the relationship and she sounds like my family and her would get along well lol

 

[BetterInTheWildnerness24]

I will say that I thought PIT was incredibly beautiful when we toured it. The 1 BR villas with 2 bathrooms, double balcony, the terrace rooms - all just seemed incredible. Walked out of there thinking, alright, maybe this is like RIV, but on the monorail and without those pesky resale restrictions. Then, when we were done, we went over to the QS at the Poly (what is it? Captain Cook's I think). It was late afternoon, so wasn't too busy, but service was pretty slow. Wasn't too hard to find a table, but there weren't a lot of actual tables inside. Then we walked outside to the see the lava pool just packed the brim and turned around to see the Dole Whip line at least 30 people deep, and were like, hmmm, this seems pretty busy. As I thought and did more research, sounds like that level of business isn't uncommon. Then the points charts - at first, I thought, well we'd be ok with resort view, right? I mean the resort view at RIV is great, so PIT is probably ok too, right?. Then I've seen some of the resort view pictures of what looks like a utility room roof and even TP view pictures where you're on the first floor with what is technically a view of MK, but not really all that great, and just really started to question whether it was worth it. I still want to go back and am thinking of booking a stay there for our welcome home trip, but everything seemed to go downhill after touring the actual building itself.

This is what consoles me about not having enough points to stay at the poly. I’ve loved visiting (stayed like 20 years ago) but even as a visitor I hate the QS options and the crowds. Captain cooks had I adequate seating, it was too warm and stuffy, smelled stale, people bumping into one another everywhere. Loud. I couldn’t wait to get back to POFQ on our last visit!

 

[Girlstar30]

This is what consoles me about not having enough points to stay at the poly. I’ve loved visiting (stayed like 20 years ago) but even as a visitor I hate the QS options and the crowds. Captain cooks had I adequate seating, it was too warm and stuffy, smelled stale, people bumping into one another everywhere. Loud. I couldn’t wait to get back to POFQ on our last visit!

I've always said they need a signature restaurant geared more towards adults. PIT was their chance but they put a bar and grill I would love if they had a spa too.

 

[Ruttangel]

I've always said they need a signature restaurant geared more towards adults. PIT was their chance but they put a bar and grill I would love if they had a spa too.

Maybe it’s deliberate, Poly is for younger families and VGF is for those that like finer things in life

 

[dontae]

Which, I think this seems to show that lack of resale restrictions may not be enough for buyers to overcome high point charts and unfavorable pricing to choose direct....

Absolutely they are not enough. My family and I love visiting Disney on our resale points, but the restrictions are insulting. It is as because we are resale buyer we are treated like a 2nd class DVC owner. No way someone would logically compare the cost of direct purchase (with perks) to resale and consider a direct purchase as a better value. They must make the decision to purchase direct on other criteria.

Consider that Disney made their money on the original DVC point sale. Thereby the resale is no consequence to them on those points. But their motive is to disincentivize the resale purchase by implementing all these restrictions. So why do it? They can always ROFR any resale they want, put it back into their inventory and sell it again as direct and make their money again on those same points.

For us to enjoy our Disney vacation we have to ignore the slap in the face, and just enjoy what we are allowed to enjoy on our resale points.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

I will say that I thought PIT was incredibly beautiful when we toured it. The 1 BR villas with 2 bathrooms, double balcony, the terrace rooms - all just seemed incredible. Walked out of there thinking, alright, maybe this is like RIV, but on the monorail and without those pesky resale restrictions. Then, when we were done, we went over to the QS at the Poly (what is it? Captain Cook's I think). It was late afternoon, so wasn't too busy, but service was pretty slow. Wasn't too hard to find a table, but there weren't a lot of actual tables inside. Then we walked outside to the see the lava pool just packed the brim and turned around to see the Dole Whip line at least 30 people deep, and were like, hmmm, this seems pretty busy. As I thought and did more research, sounds like that level of business isn't uncommon. Then the points charts - at first, I thought, well we'd be ok with resort view, right? I mean the resort view at RIV is great, so PIT is probably ok too, right?. Then I've seen some of the resort view pictures of what looks like a utility room roof and even TP view pictures where you're on the first floor with what is technically a view of MK, but not really all that great, and just really started to question whether it was worth it. I still want to go back and am thinking of booking a stay there for our welcome home trip, but everything seemed to go downhill after touring the actual building itself.

This is exactly what I don't love about Poly. It's sooo busy, the pool is not big enough for all of those people, the QS isn't my favorite. It is iconic of course and some people do love it, but I think I'll stick with visiting. The beauty of DVC is it has something for everyone.

 

[DanCali]

You do have to wonder if they had hoped this was better....since there was such a strong buzz and excitement from current owners, especially once it was annouced to be part of PVB,

For a product like this there are some people willing to pay "any price", some will pay up to $240, some will pay up to $220, some will pay up to $200, some will pay up to $180, some will pay up to $150 (and will just go the resale route unless there is a fire sale), and some will pay up to $120 and just never buy Poly direct or resale for the foreseeable future.

It just seems like they are (slowly) moving along that downward sloping demand curve in order to maximize overall revenue. They first launched it without MB because they didn't feel like they had to - why price at $180 when you have people willing to pay any price or $240/pt? But the current round of incentives felt to me (and maybe some others) like a slap in the face because, while they added the $20/pt MB (which does attract buyers), they also increased the base price from $225 to $235. So if you account for the that and what one gives up with the MB offer, it's probably actually worse than the initial pricing!

Maybe it was also economy fears, but at some point you just run out of hordes of people willing to pay the current pricing. There's always a trickle of new buyers but, IMO, they'll have to do much better incentives in July both for PIT and RIV if they want to get anywhere near 150K combined points for those 2 resorts.

 

[DanCali]

I think most members should at least give the tower a try once. Maybe some love it. But for me the rooms have a very different vibe than the older parts of the resort.

I agree - I'd book the longhouses is if we have 4 in the room, because our kids prefer separate beds. But, with one at college, we definitely prefer to stay at the tower with 3 occupants. It's very nice...