Is it a good strategy to buy Aulani?

[bananapepper]

I've been waffling between SSR (with the new remodel) and AKL. From pictures and videos, I am 99 percent sure I would like the theme and AKL resort/food better but like the new rooms at SSR better than the dark ones at AKL.

Then I saw how relatively cheap you can get Aulani points. Often for under 100 a point! My understanding is that it is not difficult to find rooms at AKL or SSR at the 7 month mark for most of the year for a 2 bedroom. So is it more economical to buy into Aulani? We do plan on going there sometimes but not often since we live in TX and it is a good 8.5 hour plane ride so something we'd do maybe once every 3-4 years.

We do want to go to Disney every year (except for the years we go to Aulani) and plan to buy two 160 point contracts resale soon.

Thoughts?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

No, it is not a good strategy to buy AUL to stay at WDW.

Aulani is cheap because it has never held value well, and is going to turn 10 in direct sales never selling out. Its dues for most contracts are more than $1/point higher than Saratoga, and 66 cents/point higher than AKV, and will increase yearly. And depending on season, you can struggle to find a 2BR for a week at 7 months even at those two resorts.

If you are traveling to WDW, buy a WDW resort. Saratoga is pretty cheap, has cheap dues, and gets you 11 month priority on property.

 

[bananapepper]

No, it is not a good strategy to buy AUL to stay at WDW.

Aulani is cheap because it has never held value well, and is going to turn 10 in direct sales never selling out. Its dues for most contracts are more than $1/point higher than Saratoga, and 66 cents/point higher than AKV, and will increase yearly. And depending on season, you can struggle to find a 2BR for a week at 7 months even at those two resorts.

If you are traveling to WDW, buy a WDW resort. Saratoga is pretty cheap, has cheap dues, and gets you 11 month priority on property.

Thank you. I was under the impression that AKV/SSR would be fairly easy to book at 7 months as long as it wasn't a studio or club/value.

I asked this in another thread but wondered if you (or anyone) knows whether SSR is going to just get the rooms refurbished or is the lobby, restaurant, and other common areas getting refurbished too? From videos I've seen, those areas looked really dated as well and would impact my decision on whether to buy there or AKV.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Thank you. I was under the impression that AKV/SSR would be fairly easy to book at 7 months as long as it wasn't a studio or club/value.

I asked this in another thread but wondered if you (or anyone) knows whether SSR is going to just get the rooms refurbished or is the lobby, restaurant, and other common areas getting refurbished too? From videos I've seen, those areas looked really dated as well and would impact my decision on whether to buy there or AKV.

Work done on places like the lobby and restaurant happens on a different time schedule. The restaurant is not a part of the condo association at all and does things on its own time.

 

[vnovabri]

Two considerations compared SSR and Aul. Dues are gonna be about $230 more a year (per last year) for your contract, so that could be a facter. AK is about .40 less that Aul per point , so less of an impact there.

For availability 2BD can be tricky bc some resorts use studios with a 1BD to make a 2BD. So 1BDs are typically easiest to get I think (besides GV). Check out this thread for better information.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...-bd-charts-september-2019-2-bd-added.3689931/

 

[vnovabri]

Also we own at AK and love it. The dark rooms is a bit of an unfair stigma, especially since they lightened the rooms in the last update. If you haven't personally stayed there recently I wouldn't put much weight into that when making a decision. Obviously there are a lot of bias for people's home resorts on here, everyone has their own taste.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Two considerations compared SSR and Aul. Dues are gonna be about $230 more a year (per last year) for your contract, so that could be a facter. AK is about .40 less that Aul per point , so less of an impact there.

For availability 2BD can be tricky bc some resorts use studios with a 1BD to make a 2BD. So 1BDs are typically easiest to get I think (besides GV). Check out this thread for better information.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...-bd-charts-september-2019-2-bd-added.3689931/

GVs can actually be hard at 7 months.

 

[bananapepper]

Also we own at AK and love it. The dark rooms is a bit of an unfair stigma, especially since they lightened the rooms in the last update. If you haven't personally stayed there recently I wouldn't put much weight into that when making a decision. Obviously there are a lot of bias for people's home resorts on here, everyone has their own taste.

My gut is telling me to pick AK. I know I’d love it. My husband likes the theme and videos I’ve showed him so far, but wonders if buying a more “in demand” resort is a better strategy for keeping its value and being able to more easily rent out points if there are some years we can’t go or we do a Disney cruise instead, etc.

We don’t have any plans of going during Christmas ever unless it’s a staycation years down the line when the kids are older. Disney is too much then. We’d likely go First week of Feb or March for spring break and maybe summer. I always heard AK should be fairly easy to get those times especially since they have so many rooms available. But now I’m hearing maybe not so I don’t know!

 

[bananapepper]

By a more “in demand” resort he means maybe CC or Poly. We do love the theme and location of Poly but with 3 kids we want something that has more than just studios.

CC is probably my second favorite themed resort after AK.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

By a more “in demand” resort he means maybe CC or Poly. We do love the theme and location of Poly but with 3 kids we want something that has more than just studios.

CC is probably my second favorite themed resort after AK.

At CC you would need a 2BR to sleep 5. So I'd definitely think about that.

Saratoga and AKV would require 1BRs.

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

We don’t have any plans of going during Christmas ever unless it’s a staycation years down the line when the kids are older. Disney is too much then. We’d likely go First week of Feb or March for spring break and maybe summer. I always heard AK should be fairly easy to get those times especially since they have so many rooms available. But now I’m hearing maybe not so I don’t know!

I own at AKV and am wondering if the conflicting news you’ve heard about availability is because AKV is essentially 2 DVC properties rolled into one: Jambo House & Kidani Village. If you’d only like to stay at JH, you probably need to own at AKV, but if you’d prefer KV, you can likely own elsewhere & still get a room at the 7-month mark... but the best advice always rings true, buy where you’d be happy to stay! And not just during a fresh refurb- the resort as a whole. The more points that are (continually) added to the DVC pool, the harder it is to reserve anywhere at the 7-month mark!

 

[bananapepper]

We’d stay at Kidani while my kids are still little because of the pool. We’d probably move to Jambo once the baby got a bit older and we didn’t need the zero entry and splash pad anymore

 

[CraigInPA]

By a more “in demand” resort he means maybe CC or Poly. We do love the theme and location of Poly but with 3 kids we want something that has more than just studios.

CC is probably my second favorite themed resort after AK.

Have you looked at BLT as an alternative to Poly? It has the full range of accommodations, and sleeps 5 in a one bedroom. Plus, you can walk to the MK from it, which is a huge plus when the kids are in strollers or at the age where they need an afternoon nap.

If the ability to rent out surplus points is a consideration, I doubt you'd have problems renting Poly, BLT, or AKV points as evidenced by David's paying (and charging) a premium for those points in the 7-11 month window.

 

[gillep]

We’d stay at Kidani while my kids are still little because of the pool. We’d probably move to Jambo once the baby got a bit older and we didn’t need the zero entry and splash pad anymore

If you are going for 1 bedrooms anyway, I still recommend Kidani because it has two full bathrooms and, in my opinion, a much better layout than the Jambo 1 bedrooms. You can walk between the two properties or take the internal shuttle easily.

 

[bananapepper]

Have you looked at BLT as an alternative to Poly? It has the full range of accommodations, and sleeps 5 in a one bedroom. Plus, you can walk to the MK from it, which is a huge plus when the kids are in strollers or at the age where they need an afternoon nap.

If the ability to rent out surplus points is a consideration, I doubt you'd have problems renting Poly, BLT, or AKV points as evidenced by David's paying (and charging) a premium for those points in the 7-11 month window.

I love the location of BLT but the resort itself is just meh. Very boring and no charm imo.

Thanks for the tip about David! Never thought to look at the site from the sellers perspective. Surprised to see AKL as being listed in higher demand than Poly and even GF! Definitely makes my decision easier