West Coaster debating Aulani Direct Purchase

[tweetykl]

We are debating purchasing Aulani with the sale going on currently. We are thinking 175 points and there is a $4500 discount. We are planning to go to Aulani in two years but have no idea if we will like Hawai’i. I’m a DL girl, grew up near it. I would prefer to buy at DL but there is no way to do so directly at this point. We worry about buying resale because if they do build the new DVC at DL, we would probably not being able to use our points there. We also worry that the new DL DVC will sell out with current DVC members purchasing first. We would love some thoughts? I don’t want to regret buying DVC.

 

[starry_solo]

Whether the new DL-DVC would be approved is anyone's guess so I wouldn't be putting any eggs in that basket at the moment.

For vacations, do you book/plan 11 months in advance? Cuz that's what you need for planning for VGC.

 

[Sandisw]

if you are a DL girl, then go for VGC resale for now, if, and when the new resort comes online, you can always add on more points there.

Much easier to trade VCG to stay at Aulani then the other way around

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I would buy VGC resale and book at 11 months. At 11 months it is very rare not to get VGC if booked with home resort.

 

[DebbieB]

Aulani resales are going for around $90-$100, big loss in value. None of the new resorts came anywhere near sellouts in the current member purchase period, I wouldn’t worry about that.

 

[ArcticTeacher]

We have three memberships at Aulani and live in Alaska. We love Aulani, it’s worth it for us since it’s just a five hour direct flight from Anchorage for us to get to Honolulu.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Aulani resales are going for around $90-$100, big loss in value. None of the new resorts came anywhere near sellouts in the current member purchase period, I wouldn’t worry about that.

I would add that if approved at anything near the current proposed mix, there are to be ~350 units. Even if some are the 2-person units like RIV, expect them to be pricey in points. There is no way a resort this big sells out in member only presales. None.

 

[bwvBound]

As a West Coaster myself ... we considered and declined the idea of purchasing DVC at the Grand Cal when it was first offered for one huge reason: We don't plan and book trips to DL between 7-11 months out. Our DLR trips are planned anywhere between next day and next month ... but not 7+ months out. Thus, we would't be using the main reason for owning: the home-resort booking window.

If you can't commit to booking 7+ months from travel, owning at the Grand Cal doesn't help you much for DLR visits. However, any DVC can book Aulani.

Edited to add: For your poll, I voted for the VGC resale. But do give a hard-think on your planning and booking strategies.

 

[linzjane88]

We are also West Coasters that own at SSR and have stayed at Aulani 3 times in the last few years. Granted we typically avoid peak times but I haven't had trouble getting a stay there. I've looked at VGC numerous times thinking I could snag a night or two but nope! You have to be pretty lucky to get in there without owning.

I have a pretty severe case of addonitis at all times. Here's my line of reasoning : I get tempted by west coast DVC options but at the end of the day VGC cost is *so* high and AUL feels like more of a risk than WDW resorts. I definitely wouldn't want to buy it direct - - there is such a cost savings going resale. I would be interested in the new DL DVC in the works but I can only assume that's going to be outrageously priced like VGC and a very hot commodity as well...and who knows if the resale restrictions will still be in place (I'm not a fan, at least until we see how the restrictions affect resale prices longer term).

 

[DisneyDad0315]

I bought 100 resale Aulani points because my family goes to Hawaii on a yearly basis. Sometimes we go twice in the same year. We have stayed at Aulani 3 times and we absolutely love it. We all enjoy the awesome pool area and can be there all day. We only stay at Aulani for about 4 days and stay on the other side of the island (where our family lives) for another 4 days. The DL DVC looks cool, but i have to see how much it costs first before buying some points. I don't care about resale restrictions for DL DVC.

 

[cruisehopeful]

You know your travel habits better than any of us, but I would wait for the new DVC DL unless you are sure that you will book at 11 months - in which case I'd go with a resale VGC.

To give you some perspective on why I say that, I used to own VGC. It didn't work well for us because we like to book a few months out and we often like to go on the weekend. The times that I booked 10 or 11 in months in advance, I'd often have to cancel. Booking that far out doesn't work well for us.

I have visited Hawaii several times and I love Hawaii. The only reason I am not going there once or twice per year right now is because I don't want to leave my dogs that much. When all of my dogs pass, we plan to frequent Hawaii again and possibly move there. I stayed at Aulani once and it wasn't for me. It's in a tucked away part of the island, far from anything that we want to do and it was very loud. We've had lots of Hawaii trips and it was the least peaceful Hawaii trip we've ever had. I might stay there again some day, but I'd never intend to make that my vacation home. I like the north shore side of the island and also the Big Island.

The newly proposed DL DVC will have lots of choices for your purchase. You should be able to choose exactly what you want as far as points and use year go. I am actually considering it, but I'll wait to see what the booking looks like. Geez, even if I only keep it for a few years, the resale value will likely be higher than the presale. When I bought VGC direct, it was $90 something per point and I got the extra year's worth of points. I sold in the low $100s. I looked at buying again it will be around $180/per point now.

If I knew I could book out at 10 or 11 months, I'd choose resale VGC because the location is better than DLH and I like being able to walk into the park and out to my room when I get soaked on Grizzly Rapids. I also like the entire lobby area better at the Grand and use the bar, restaurants and gift shop when I stay there.

 

[sndral]

Don’t buy Aulani if your goal is to stay at DL. Personally, I prefer staying on Kauai or Maui when I visit Hawaii and I only stay on Oahu if I’m w/ someone who’s never been to Hawaii & even then only for a couple of days before going to another island.

 

[BlazerFan]

i wouldn't worry about the new DL DVC property selling out with existing members before it becomes available to non members first. That was the push when VGC was being offered and it is small. I was being sold AK or BLT to become a member so I could be given the chance to purchase VGC as a member before non members. We live on the West Coast and I knew we would be visiting DL many more times than WDW, so rather than ending up with 160 WDW points and 160 VGC points, I rolled the dice and asked my guide to call me as soon as non-members could purchase VGC and was able to purchase with no issues. It still took some time for VGC to sell out, even with it being a smaller property. I think people didn't know what they were missing!

 

[montreid]

This is the hard part of West coasters and locals of SoCal. Most of our DLR visits are 0-60 days planned. rarely are they in the 7-11 month range. We thought long and hard another this and came to this conclusion:

Buy Aulani AND VGC! We know our tendencies of going DLR on the school breaks, so we can easily book at 7-11 months for those and use the VGC contract we're closing next few weeks on those. We have Aulani doubled down to use for both AUL and for closer in bookings for VGC via waitlisting the one-off days that we can try to get or just stay on points at the local Marriott/Hyatt that we're used to doing anyways.

 

[HeightRequirement]

if you don't care about home resort priority booking, there is a site that has a DVC resort economical rankings that places Aulani at #4 in affordability of $/point.

 

[D-Trick]

if you don't care about home resort priority booking, there is a site that has a DVC resort economical rankings that places Aulani at #4 in affordability of $/point.

Is that Aulani #4 with or without subsidized dues?

 

[eMoneyBug]

I like buying resale VGC idea. Can always buy AUL TRF points for extra trips.

 

[HeightRequirement]

Is that Aulani #4 with or without subsidized dues?

I looked at the list again and if i am reading it correctly that is for unsubsidized dues. I think for subsidized dues it is #1.

 

[RoseGold]

I don't understand why you are making a five figure commitment for just one trip. Just rent points and go to Aulani. Aulani as a hotel is lovely. But as a timeshare it's got it's own messes, and you need to research that a lot more. I'd get Saratoga points if I wanted to book at Aulani.

At DL, I wouldn't stay Disney at all. There are tons of really nice non-Disney resorts right there, and there's no fast pass advantage, like in FL. Before I bought VGC or the future resort, I'd be looking really carefully at what's there and not Disney.

I might be persuaded by the new DL DVC. The demand is there, and I think Disney might finally make something really nice, as opposed to RIV, which could be a business hotel with a mediocre lobby anywhere, IMO. VGC points have held strong, and the resale restrictions on the new resort might not even be that bad in that context of such high demand.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

You know your travel habits better than any of us, but I would wait for the new DVC DL unless you are sure that you will book at 11 months - in which case I'd go with a resale VGC.

To give you some perspective on why I say that, I used to own VGC. It didn't work well for us because we like to book a few months out and we often like to go on the weekend. The times that I booked 10 or 11 in months in advance, I'd often have to cancel. Booking that far out doesn't work well for us.

I stayed at Aulani once and it wasn't for me. It's in a tucked away part of the island, far from anything that we want to do and it was very loud. We've had lots of Hawaii trips and it was the least peaceful Hawaii trip we've ever had. I might stay there again some day, but I'd never intend to make that my vacation home.

Personally, I prefer staying on Kauai or Maui when I visit Hawaii and I only stay on Oahu if I’m w/ someone who’s never been to Hawaii & even then only for a couple of days before going to another island.

This. I've been visiting Hawaii since I was young, and my mom bought a place on Maui about 5 years ago so we go 3-4 times a year. I'm actually going on Thursday for a long weekend We stayed at Aulani as part of a longer trip a couple years ago for a couple days, and that was enough. It's not what I want when I go to Hawaii--way too big, noisy, and too many people--and the location wasn't for me. I prefer Maui, the big Island or other parts of Oahu. I wouldn't buy there before staying there and visiting other parts of the Islands. But if you want to stay at VGC, I wouldn't buy anything other than VGC. As others have said, you really need to own there to stay. The proposed tower at DL will be great if they can get it through the city council, but the location at VGC can't be beat.

i wouldn't worry about the new DL DVC property selling out with existing members before it becomes available to non members first. That was the push when VGC was being offered and it is small. I was being sold AK or BLT to become a member so I could be given the chance to purchase VGC as a member before non members. We live on the West Coast and I knew we would be visiting DL many more times than WDW, so rather than ending up with 160 WDW points and 160 VGC points, I rolled the dice and asked my guide to call me as soon as non-members could purchase VGC and was able to purchase with no issues. It still took some time for VGC to sell out, even with it being a smaller property. I think people didn't know what they were missing!

YES!!! We were initially blocked from purchasing as we weren't owners. When we checked back almost a year later, not only could I buy, but they had great incentives. We bought our first contract direct in early 2009 (or late 2008?) for a relative steal and bought another resale contract a few years ago. It's the best. The second bathroom in the 1 bedroom is HUGE for our family of four with (now) older kids. It's what made us look only at BLT and AKL when we bought a WDW contract (we ended up with BLT). But VGC's location really can't be beat.