Price Increase.

[JimMIA]

Please don't tell me this, or I will lie sleepless at night and possibly kill my husband.

You'll be exhausted tomorrow, but you'll sleep better later.

And please don't kill your husband.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Please don't tell me this, or I will lie sleepless at night and possibly kill my husband.

 

[JimMIA]

Please don't tell me this, or I will lie sleepless at night and possibly kill my husband.

From Kathy's earlier copy from the ROFR thread:

mixmastertoy-------- 160 BLT (???) $66.25 (passed 5/26)

Don't hurt him.

Take something to sleep tonight, and cancel and start from scratch tomorrow with a clear head and open minds.

 

[csharpwv]

There is something big in the works at DVC, I've said this in several posts... and I don't mean Villas at the Grand Floridian.

They are going to have to add value to membership in SOME way if they plan to continue increasing prices WAY ahead of general economic inflation.

There has to be some sort of perk in the works, some sort of new cut to resale usability (such as taking away the ability to use the points outside the home resort) or some sort of major change to the way the program works that makes it more attractive.

There are so many things DVC could do to make the program more attractive, more marketable, and more 'affordable' for families - and by affordable I don't mean lower cost - I mean, as I said earlier - more value for money.

It's not easy to see that DVC is without a doubt the most expensive vacation ownership product on the market - the purchase price is high, and the maintenance costs are higher than the market average (at least they appear to be... without owning any other timeshare, I can't assert that)

Disney's big thing is adding value to something they already do, own, or maintain. That value is highly subjective - some like when they 'add value' - others see it as a reason to raise prices, increase difficulty in use, or 'take away' something that some people/members/guests use.

I think they are going to take a new approach to sales with the Grand Floridian - it isn't going to be the smallest DVC resort - it's going to be marginally larger than the smallest. With the property being built next to Walt Disney World's Flagship Resort Hotel - a property which is often described as 'stuffy' - 'hoity toity' - and 'too formal for a Disney Vacation' they are going to be playing their 'A' Game in selling this property.

With the amount of resale inventory on the market, and the amount of 'retail' inventory currently for sale... here is a bit of data to chew on -

In essence, Disney Vacation Club has NEW unsold inventory available at EVERY resort they have been selling for nearly the last DECADE - with the exception of the Villas at the Grand Californian - which IS Disney's smallest DVC property - inventory wise, and being the ONLY DVC resort on the West Coast - it isn't hard to see why it sold out very quickly.

Saratoga Springs opened in 2004 - from what I can find sales started in 2003 - so we're at 9 years.

Saratoga Springs, Animal Kingdom Villas, Bay Lake Tower, and Aulani are all in active sales.

I think moving forward with the Grand Floridian was a totally GOOFY (no insult to the character! HAHA) move - YES, I know that Disney knows what they are doing, and that GF Villas will more than likely sell out before Saratoga Springs does... but with so much active inventory, there HAS to be something up their sleeve!!!!

Does anyone agree with me that something is in the making... with all of the price increases, available inventory, new logo, new marketing campaign/marketing message - is something about to change?

 

[Brian Noble]

There has to be some sort of perk in the works, some sort of new cut to resale usability (such as taking away the ability to use the points outside the home resort) or some sort of major change to the way the program works that makes it more attractive.

No, there doesn't.

Why not? Because most tours are taken by people who don't really understand the product. Therefore, most sales go to such people. Most of *those* people don't really want to spend the next ten days figuring out why the decision they feel really good about was a bad decision. So, even when faced with incontrovertible evidence that they over-spent, they don't often pull the trigger and rescind. This isn't true only of DVC, but of many other systems---most of which have an even larger developer/resale split.

What's more, DVC isn't particularly more expensive than many other systems, at least viewed from a purchase price perspective. The annual costs are a little higher than many, but not as high as e.g. the Four Seasons properties, or a few others I can think of.

What's more, I would not describe GCV as "selling quickly". Given the truly small size of the resort, it lasted a lot longer than I thought it would. On the other hand, SSR wasn't available for sale for a short period, until THV opened giving them new inventory.

In short, I don't see any reason for a "knee in the curve". I could be wrong, and have been before, but that's not what this feels like to me.

 

[DebbieB]

There has to be some sort of perk in the works, some sort of new cut to resale usability (such as taking away the ability to use the points outside the home resort) or some sort of major change to the way the program works that makes it more attractive.

I would consider that less attractive. Because if I need to sell it down the road, the value is going to be way down. I bought in 1999 and the first few years I felt comfort in the fact that if I had to, I could sell it and get most of my money back. Although at this point, 12 years of great vacations, I got my monies worth even if it's worth only a fraction of what I paid. But for people who bought recently, it would be a hardship if they had to sell, kind of a "short sale".

 

[DopeysGal82]

Sorry....I think lots of posters were trying to tell you exactly that!

You said your dh (that would be the "Dopey" in your name?) refused to consider a resale anyway. If it's too late to cancel, just move on, enjoy your membership, but remember all this if you add on.

I find that knowing when to pick my battles is a good skill to have in a long marriage. Not that it is always easy - even after 34 years!.

This was a definite "pick my battles" moment. We are going through with it and happily planning our vacations. I could have told him resale was $2pp and he probably would have refused it. The deal I made was that future add ons would be resale unless there was some reason to buy direct, as a PP stated, more benefits, etc.