Even with the economy the way it is, I have a hard time buying into the doom and gloom over poor sales.
In its 2nd quarter earnings report, Disney specifically cited
DVC revenues as being a plus:
Operating income growth at the domestic businesses was primarily due to increased guest spending and theme park attendance at the Walt Disney World Resort and higher revenues at Disney Vacation Club...
And then we've got SSR selling out, many older resorts still with waiting lists (we had to wait on BWV points and BCV always seems to be in demand), AKV selling 120+ units in just over a year while selling concurrently with SSR, etc.
They started pre-selling Kidani a year before it opens. I can't imagine sales projections were even MORE aggressive than that.
I spoke to someone recently who (in general terms) claimed that sales are just fine. He specifically pointed to a recent reduction in the Cast Member discount. CMs used to get 25% off the going rate...now it's 15%. According to him, the reduction was a result of DVC realizing that they just don't need to give that big a discount to CMs.
Steve Harvey is an African American radio personality. Perhaps his listeners aren't the key demographic for DVC ownership, but when did he become the "lead advertising focus" for DVC??? If I didn't follow DVC happenings as closely as I do, I'd have had no idea there was even a link. As far as I know, he did some remote shows from WDW (actually, I think he has a relationship with Disney that goes beyond DVC), and gave away a DVC contract on his show. How exactly is that partnership doing a disservice to DVC as a whole?
Animosity between sales branches: I'll buy that one. If people are specifically driving to the IL sales center to get a better deal rather than working with a FL guide who gave them a tour 6 months ago...of course there are going to be problems.
As for the pricing, sadly that's not the first time I've heard a number that big. Someone who works within the timeshare industry recently told me a DVC source floated the figure $160 per point. Yeah, that's at least third-hand information and I haven't been able to confirm elsewhere. But at least you've got two relative unknowns
who heard similar figures.
The economy is definitely hitting DVC at a bad time with BLT and VGC just around the corner. I don't want to start any new rumors so please understand this is just my own speculation. There's a part of me that wonders if Disney wouldn't delay things even further on BLT. They have
ONE SHOT at selling those rooms for the next 50 years. If delaying sales for a year or two might mean they can charge 20% more for the points, it's definitely an approach worth considering.
They're smoking crack.
