New Members Purchase @ BLT 200PT Minimum on Jan 15,2009...

[5forDiz]

don't know if this has been posted here yet (apologies, I didn't take time to do a search) but just in case it hasn't...friends of ours who stopped at sales center about a year ago got this info by mail today from DVC.

For purchases at AKV it just indicates price increase to $112, nothing about increase in minimum number of points.

 

[TSMIII]

Wow! If that's truly what it's going to be then that's quite a jump for the intial buy in.

200 points with the discount of $5/pt off the $112/pt price means the intial buy in is now $21,400 (200 x $107)- in excess of $6000 more than the previous minimum buy in.

Prior to BLT, when AKV & SSR were selling with the minimum 160 point buy in with $8/pt off AKV & $10/pt off SSR you could get in for $15,360 (160 x $96) & $15,040 (160 x $94) respectively. To say nothing of the 100 point new member buy in that ran for a little while for AKV which put you in at $9600.

So now DVC has hit the trifecta with BLT - higher point chart, higher price per point, higher minimum points for new member buy in!

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Ain't it great! <sigh>

They are definitely trying to control the diversity of their intended audience IMHO. This will significantly effect the spectrum of people buying into DVC especially in this economy.

I'm not sure I like where they are headed with this and I'm equally not sure they actually see where this may be headed.

Maybe they are intentionally limiting to try to slow the growth of DVC since it has become not as exclusive as it was just a few years ago. Hmmm... Kinda goes against where Disney is actually making money right now, doesn't it?

My crystal ball says... Crap! Broken again!

 

[5forDiz]

beginning on Jan 15 2009. We too said ' WOW ' !!

They said the mailer doesn't say a whole lot, things like don't miss this window of opportunity, shows comparison info - Now / After Price Increase : AKV now $104 per pt/$112 after; BLT now 160 pt minimum/200 pt minimum after. It said by acting now savings at BLT is $4480. Doing the math this is using $112 per point as BLT price (states $17920 is current price purchase starts at now). No mention of any incentives either at AKV or BLT . Hope Disney doesn't think this is incentive enough - LOL !!

~ Laura

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

The intial buy in was 220 at OKW and then it was lowered to 150 and then increased to 160.

I can actually see why DVC is doing this:

1 The higher point value to stay means alot of turnover with the rooms which = higher cost (ex. washing the sheets, full cleaning of the rooms vs trash/towel etc)

2 Cost to process the initial paperwork is cutting into the profits (fed ex, filing fees, attorney fees, cost payable to credit card company for those who charge their purchase or deposit, etc) it may not be profitable to offer contracts with less points. It cost the same amount of time and money to process a 30 point contract as it does to process a 200 point contract. And if you look at it from a guides point, they only get a percentage of what they sell, so if they sell a $3000 contract vs a $20,000 and have to spend the same amount of time for each, its costing the guides a lot of lost commissions.

3. Resale-- a 30 point contract is easier to sell than the bigger ones (has anyone noticed if the 1000 point contract has sold yet?) which translates into higher cost to turn around the smaller contracts. Especially when they are exercising there ROFR, they have to reenter the contract into the system and resell the points (which cost money!) And don't forget ROFR is keeping the resale value high.

4. It makes it harder to pay in full - so financing is a must and they make ALOT of money on financing.

5. The BLT is one of the best locations DVC has (beside BCV & BW) and 160 points doesn't buy too many nights especially in the 1-2 bedrooms. I'm just guessing that they sold alot of smaller contracts and realized that this may be a trend that would eventually cost them alot of money due to the turn over of the rooms. In addition, everyone would be going after the studios because they are not buying enough points to stay in a MK view 1 or 2 bedroom even with banking/borrowing 3 years worth of points for longer then 2 nights. Which would leave a lot of rooms open at the 7 month mark- which would eliminate the need to buy BLT points in order to stay there.

I really don't think its a bad idea overall but I think they are NUTS to do it in this economy But in the long run, I think its a very smart move! And look on the bright side!! It will take longer to sell out and those who are dying to stay there but don't want to buy there will be able to get in at the 7 month mark a lot easier the 1st couple years then if BLT sold out in 10 months!

Just MY Opinion!!! LOL

 

[OneMoreTry]

The ......

1 The higher point value to stay means alot of turnover with the rooms which = higher cost (ex. washing the sheets, full cleaning of the rooms vs trash/towel etc)



Just MY Opinion!!! LOL

I think the higher points per stay was predictable from the time rumors were flying about the possibility of a DVC near the Contemporary. DVC HAD to do that to balance the anticipated high demand of those rooms.

And they can charge more because the 11 month window will be more important for BLT than any other resort.

I'm not sure what else affected the decision, but I think supply versus demand was the critical factor.

I, for one, am GLAD for the higher points at BLT!! This it will make it more likely I can get a room there -- maybe in MKView -- even if I'm not an owner. All I have to do is bank or borrow some points one year.

 

[ILuvTigger]

I received my flyer yesterday, stated AKV would be raised to $112 pp, and BLT would go from 25 min point to 100 min point as of Jan 15th.

 

[spiceycat]

look on the bright side!! It will take longer to sell out and those who are dying to stay there but don't want to buy there will be able to get in at the 7 month mark a lot easier the 1st couple years then if BLT sold out in 10 months!

Just MY Opinion!!! LOL

no only declared inventory is part of the DVC. the undeclared, most of the building, goes to CRO to be rented.

it gets to be declared inventory when sold or when DVC thinks it will sell. think they have to declared it before selling or after - don't remember.

 

[5forDiz]

I received my flyer yesterday, stated AKV would be raised to $112 pp, and BLT would go from 25 min point to 100 min point as of Jan 15th.

Yes that would be for an add-on done by current DVC member.

200 point minimum will be for an initial DVC buy-in at BLT as of Jan 15 2009; a person who wants to buy-in to DVC at BLT before Jan 15 presently needs to purchase 160 pt.

I'm curious to see how add-ons & new sales at BLT are impacted by these increases .....

 

[snowbunny]

Interesting if seemingly insane given the accelerating financial disaster known as the U.S. economy. Guess they are not in a hurry to sell out BLT, for whatever reason.

 

[WolfpackFan]

IMO this move makes absolutely no sense what so ever. Here we are with just about the worst economy since the Great Depression with layoffs everywhere and people cutting back in all kinds of ways and then DVC increases the buy in cost for their new resort. This is going to drastically cut sales IMO along with the bad economy. Maybe they don't want to sell units . I sure am glad of one thing, I'm not in the market to buy any more points. I'm already timeshare poor. In fact, before it's all over, I may have to end up selling one of our contracts if the dues keep going up like there are. The bottom line is DVC is no longer for everyone, it has just become much more exclusive. Evidently this is what Jim Lewis wants.

 

[Brian Noble]

I too think the higher minimums at BLT are driven by the higher per-night point costs, and not wanting a significantly shorter average-length-of-stay.

Interesting if seemingly insane given the accelerating financial disaster known as the U.S. economy. Guess they are not in a hurry to sell out BLT, for whatever reason.

Maybe, but maybe not. I think it's already the case that DVC members are not representative of Disney guests as a whole, who in turn are not representative of the population as a whole. A Disney trip, even done "cheaply", is still a at least a couple thousand dollars for the typical family. If the median income in the US is $50,000 (pre-tax!) then it's easy to see that this is something the average person doesn't do often, and might not do ever. But, DVC members are folks who come every year, or maybe every other year.

It's possible that folks on the upper rungs of the socio-economic ladder aren't being impacted as badly as others in the current economy, excepting paper losses in their investment accounts.

 

[CarolA]

I really don't think its a bad idea overall but I think they are NUTS to do it in this economy But in the long run, I think its a very smart move! And look on the bright side!! It will take longer to sell out and those who are dying to stay there but don't want to buy there will be able to get in at the 7 month mark a lot easier the 1st couple years then if BLT sold out in 10 months!

Just MY Opinion!!! LOL

And this "economy" should NOT be the major deciding factor. Disney should treat this as a long term asset and not sell low when sitting on it for a few years will make them LOTS more.


The "worst economy since the Great Depression" won't last, but if Disney sells low then when it recovers they have SCREWED UP. The asset is GONE for a loss.

It's not Disney's job to make this a great deal. It's Disney's job to make MONEY for it's stockholders! If by waiting to sell two years they can make MORE money then they would be stupid to sell low.

They can always slow down the finishing of the resort if they need to...

 

[spiceycat]

evidently DVC seems to think CRO can rent anything they don't sell....

well considering the 4 day 3 free package right now - don't think that is living in reality - but maybe since the BLT will be new it might rent faster?

 

[5forDiz]

evidently DVC seems to think CRO can rent anything they don't sell....

well considering the 4 day 3 free package right now - don't think that is living in reality - but maybe since the BLT will be new it might rent faster?

Curious to see what room rates for BLT will be if booking through CRO compared to room rates at other monorail resorts - -

I know it's not an apples to apples comparison but wonder....

will studios be close to price or more than rooms that sleep 4 at GF & Polynesian (not sure,but do all rooms at Polynesian sleep 5?); how will price of 1 bedroom that sleeps 5 compare, etc. ?

 

[CarolA]

evidently DVC seems to think CRO can rent anything they don't sell....

well considering the 4 day 3 free package right now - don't think that is living in reality - but maybe since the BLT will be new it might rent faster?

Actually I think they plan to rent to conventions. Plus they don't have to finish out... So they can 'mothball' part of it just like they did Pop Century....

There's a cost involved, but it wouldn't be that big a deal to just 'mothball' several floors and finish them out as they sell them over the next few years.

CR tends to book well (for reasons I fail to understand) so I think they will be just fine here.

It's kind of like not selling all your investments today. This is Disney's "investment" If they fire sale it they are taking a 'paper loss' to a real loss. And as a stockholder I will not be happy LOL!

 

[bookwormde]

The only sense this makes is to try to push sales into this quarter. Beyond that it just limits the customer base in a soft market. Since the profits for BLT are already in all the analysts profits projections “moth balling” would only serve to greatly reduce future profits since the cost/profit ratio is so high on DVC.

One thing to remember is that the sales division really does not care about extra operating costs of shorter stays unless it significantly raises the MFs while they are selling it.

bookwormde

 

[RweTHEREyet]

The intial buy in was 220 at OKW and then it was lowered to 150 and then increased to 160.

I can actually see why DVC is doing this:

1 The higher point value to stay means alot of turnover with the rooms which = higher cost (ex. washing the sheets, full cleaning of the rooms vs trash/towel etc)

2 Cost to process the initial paperwork is cutting into the profits (fed ex, filing fees, attorney fees, cost payable to credit card company for those who charge their purchase or deposit, etc) it may not be profitable to offer contracts with less points. It cost the same amount of time and money to process a 30 point contract as it does to process a 200 point contract. And if you look at it from a guides point, they only get a percentage of what they sell, so if they sell a $3000 contract vs a $20,000 and have to spend the same amount of time for each, its costing the guides a lot of lost commissions.

3. Resale-- a 30 point contract is easier to sell than the bigger ones (has anyone noticed if the 1000 point contract has sold yet?) which translates into higher cost to turn around the smaller contracts. Especially when they are exercising there ROFR, they have to reenter the contract into the system and resell the points (which cost money!) And don't forget ROFR is keeping the resale value high.

4. It makes it harder to pay in full - so financing is a must and they make ALOT of money on financing.

5. The BLT is one of the best locations DVC has (beside BCV & BW) and 160 points doesn't buy too many nights especially in the 1-2 bedrooms. I'm just guessing that they sold alot of smaller contracts and realized that this may be a trend that would eventually cost them alot of money due to the turn over of the rooms. In addition, everyone would be going after the studios because they are not buying enough points to stay in a MK view 1 or 2 bedroom even with banking/borrowing 3 years worth of points for longer then 2 nights. Which would leave a lot of rooms open at the 7 month mark- which would eliminate the need to buy BLT points in order to stay there.

I really don't think its a bad idea overall but I think they are NUTS to do it in this economy But in the long run, I think its a very smart move! And look on the bright side!! It will take longer to sell out and those who are dying to stay there but don't want to buy there will be able to get in at the 7 month mark a lot easier the 1st couple years then if BLT sold out in 10 months!

Just MY Opinion!!! LOL

I agree with what you are saying. And I too think they are nuts to do this right now and I think it will be easier to get something at the 7-month window because this probably will slow sales.

Sure would like to know how sales are going in comparison to how they did at the other resorts in the same sales timeframe.

Also would like to know what the Guides think about this.

 

[snowbunny]

The only sense this makes is to try to push sales into this quarter.

Bingo, we have a winner...

 

[CarolA]

I don't get the 'it's going to be easier at 7 months' view.

Disney has shown with AK and SSR that until they SELL the units they aren't going to put them avaialble to DVC members on points. Which for those of you buying is the way you want it. You do NOT want those in the inventory until they are sold. Otherwise the cost of maintaining them gets spread over fewer owners resulting in higher fees.

What it will be easier to do is book a cash reservation!