West Coaster debating Aulani Direct Purchase

[zavandor]

How important is it for you to stay in a Disney hotel when visiting DL?
I ask because for me it's a very different experience from WDW. In Florida I stay 2 weeks and prefer onsite, that's why I bought DVC. At DL if I cannot get the VGC it's not a big deal, as I stay 3-4 nights, spend all my time in the parks and to shower and sleep there are many off site resorts 5-10 minutes away that are perfectly serviceable.
This is to say: I would not pay the prices for VGC resale, staying onsite is not that important for me. When I succeed to book VGC with my SSR points bought for $50 pp, I still think if it's really worth as I could rent the points and stay in a cheaper hotel nearby.
Of course if you value staying in the Disney bubble at DL the high cost may be worth for you.

 

[HeightRequirement]

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.


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.

I didnt realize that VGC was initially available only to owners. Not sure if want to purchase at the new DL resort but it is nice to get first dibs Kind of like our own ROFR. lol.

 

[HeightRequirement]

How important is it for you to stay in a Disney hotel when visiting DL?
I ask because for me it's a very different experience from WDW. In Florida I stay 2 weeks and prefer onsite, that's why I bought DVC. At DL if I cannot get the VGC it's not a big deal, as I stay 3-4 nights, spend all my time in the parks and to shower and sleep there are many off site resorts 5-10 minutes away that are perfectly serviceable.
This is to say: I would not pay the prices for VGC resale, staying onsite is not that important for me. When I succeed to book VGC with my SSR points bought for $50 pp, I still think if it's really worth as I could rent the points and stay in a cheaper hotel nearby.
Of course if you value staying in the Disney bubble at DL the high cost may be worth for you.

To me staying on site at DL is not as necessary as staying on site at WDW. Yes, GVC is nice, but the many hotels surrounding DL will do just fine. But WDW is another story. The extra magic hours, shuttle access, laundry rooms, proximity to the park, 60 days FP, etc. make staying at a WDW resort more appealing.

 

[frank808]

To me staying on site at DL is not as necessary as staying on site at WDW. Yes, GVC is nice, but the many hotels surrounding DL will do just fine. But WDW is another story. The extra magic hours, shuttle access, laundry rooms, proximity to the park, 60 days FP, etc. make staying at a WDW resort more appealing.

The main reason for us buying at VGC was the experience staying so close you are in the park. For our family, staying onsite at DL is more appealing than WDW.

Most of the reason why you stay at WDW are the same reasons we own at VGC. You are in the Disney bubble and magic while staying onsite at VGC.

You receive early morning hours at Disneyland and California Adventure. No shuttles needed as you are closer to DL than the walk from BLT to Magic Kingdom. Cant get closer to the park than staying at VGC to California Adventure. There is a large laundry room for guests staying at VGC to use free of charge and nice propane grills to use also.

While visiting WDW I am OK with staying offThe Hilton Grand Vacation and Marriott Vacation Club rooms are larger and better appointed than DVC rooms. We do not have to stay on site at WDW. We always have a vehicle. I drive to most of the parks unless we are staying at BLT, Poly and VGF. While staying onsite at these resorts, we use the monorail or ferry to Magic Kingdom.

Best part of DVC, there's something for everyone.

 

[BlazerFan]

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.


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.

The 2nd bathroom is great. We usually go with a crowd so we end up in a 2 BR so we get 3 bathrooms and it's great for getting ready. VGC's location makes it so hard when we go to WDW and have to wait for busses! I'm so used to just walking right back to the resort if we forget something.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

The 2nd bathroom is great. We usually go with a crowd so we end up in a 2 BR so we get 3 bathrooms and it's great for getting ready. VGC's location makes it so hard when we go to WDW and have to wait for busses! I'm so used to just walking right back to the resort if we forget something.

totally agree! same for us.

 

[Hjs33]

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.

DVC resorts take years to sell out and there is no way a 300 room resort is going to sell out that quickly. You will definitely get an opportunity to buy some points at that resort, that is if it ever gets built. They were looking to build another DVC resort there years ago until the city changed the rules and Disney pulled the plug on it.

 

[asunutgirl]

We are from Orange County, CA and bought at Aulani. We love the property and go once every couple of years. We personally like the idea that Aulani is away from Honolulu. We have used our Aulani points at AKV and BLT easily. We have also used points to stay at the Disneyland Hotel and Grand Californian. We have gotten rooms at VGC a couple of times but they are very difficult to get if you don't own there. We are more likely to visit Hawaii than WDW but it's been easy to find rooms in Florida when we've needed them.

We recently moved to AZ and are looking to buy at DLR. We spoke with a DVC rep at DLR a couple of weeks ago. There is no news on the new property and it will likely be 2025 or 2026 before it is open. The rep thought it would be about 200 rooms but he didn't have any information on specifics. With the politics in the city of Anaheim, it's anyone's guess as to when it will actually be ready. We are looking to buy there but there are a lot of other options that are walkable from DLR if you are ok not being in the Disney bubble.

 

[Dvc CA]

Just got back from Aulani today. We love the place!
We own 3 contracts at VGC, 160 pts each. We are really fortunate in that we bought direct back in 2009 at $88/pt. However, we very rarely use the points at VGC now. We live in northern CA and Disneyland is only an hour flight away. We generally don’t plan on going to Disneyland more than about 3 moths to 6 weeks in advance. its more of a weekend place for us, and our kids are fine going from park open till 10 at night riding rides there. So no need to have any place special to stay at.
The last time booked to stay at VGC was 2015 when we wanted Halloween night, which was a Saturday. So we generally aren’t using that benefit. We mostly use the points at Aulani or at WDW, and we‘re honestly not picky about where we stay at WDW.
So anyway, I’m thinking about selling 2 of the contracts and using the proceeds to buy even more points via resale at Aulani. I could almost double my points. Now trying to convince the wife. I see 2 benefits. 1. More points overall ( which I realize comes with more annual fees) 2. Booking Aulani at 11 months. (We are generally booking now at the 7 month mark, and for popular school vacation weeks, so being able to book earlier might actually save points). Any thoughts?

 

[bookwormde]

Knowing that I would loose $12K the instant that I buy 175 aulani points would stop me cold

 

[cruisehopeful]

1. More points overall ( which I realize comes with more annual fees) 2. Booking Aulani at 11 months. (We are generally booking now at the 7 month mark, and for popular school vacation weeks, so being able to book earlier might actually save points). Any thoughts?

If you always need more points, owning more points makes sense. Can you picture yourself paying for flights to Hawaii often enough to need more points?

I don't understand the question about booking earlier for popular school vacation weeks. Point charts are the same whether you book the day before or 11 months before. If you want to book 11 months in advance for preference on your room type, owning there makes a lot of sense. Will you always travel during popular vacation times? If so, that's another reason to own there so you can book at 11 months. You won't be saving any points, but you'll get what you want.

 

[CaliAdventurer]

We’re west coast and own at VGF, VGC, and Aulani. All are equally the best to me which is why I own them- I want to stay at them all guaranteed. Aulani is Magic and Oahu is the best island for scale of things you can do. I have stayed at almost every resort including VGC with my Aulani points but those days are getting shorter and shorter. That’s why I gave up and bought VGC which I don’t use elsewhere.
If you buy Aulani, you’ll get a better deal and be able to book the holidays and June and some other hard times. You will be able to trade into many of the resorts at WDW for studios and all of them for big point rooms and buying Aulani allows you to buy more points with better incentives or resale price. But don’t get it and think you will ever get to stay at VGC. You may, and that’s a bonus but don’t buy in because of it. Play with your Aulani points for a few years and see what comes of the poss new DVC DL Resort or stalk VGC resale.

 

[asunutgirl]

I don't understand the question about booking earlier for popular school vacation weeks. Point charts are the same whether you book the day before or 11 months before. If you want to book 11 months in advance for preference on your room type, owning there makes a lot of sense. Will you always travel during popular vacation times? If so, that's another reason to own there so you can book at 11 months. You won't be saving any points, but you'll get what you want.

The lower cost rooms at Aulani go very quickly. Owning and being able to book at 11 months will allow you to book the lower point cost rooms. For example, I booked at 11 months a few years back for spring break at island view. Long story but we had to change our dates less than 7 months out. There were still rooms available but I had to go up to an ocean view room. Ended up with less days at the resort but it cost me more points due to the cost per night in an ocean view room. If you care about how many points you spend, the 11 month window makes a difference.

 

[Fred M]

My wife and I are here in Sacramento and we bought our first DVC contract at Aulani. If I could do it all over again, I'd buy Grand Californian resale and Saratoga Springs resale.

We go to Aulani about once every 12-18 months and love it! But for the times that we go, and for the 1 bedrooms that we've grown accustomed to, we can book at 7 months and don't need to rely on the 11 month booking window. And we don't have the subsidized maintenance fees either. Given those facts, we would have been better off buying Saratoga Springs resale (or even direct would have been a better deal for us) and use those points for Aulani.

We go to DLR also about once every 12-18 months and can never use our points at Grand Californian (except for that one time where we lucked out). Having 100-125 points at VGC would make all the difference to us for our Disneyland stays and being able to get that 11-month booking window.

I'd only buy Aulani direct again if I needed the 11-month booking window.

 

[HeightRequirement]

Knowing that I would loose $12K the instant that I buy 175 aulani points would stop me cold

Is this because of the difference in direct vs resale price?

 

[bookwormde]

Is this because of the difference in direct vs resale price?

yes plus closing costs and sales commission

 

[frank808]

yes plus closing costs and sales commission

Resale buyers do not ususally pay the sales commission as the sellers usually pay that. And closing costs are usually higher with resale than direct.

 

[bookwormde]

Resale buyers do not ususally pay the sales commission as the sellers usually pay that. And closing costs are usually higher with resale than direct.

I include sales commission since that is deducted from proceeds when you liquidate the contract. Basically the difference between the check you have to write to purchase the deed, and the check you receive after you sell the deed

 

[tweetykl]

We have purchased a VGC resale contract for 200 points. Waiting on ROFR.

 

[cruisehopeful]

We have purchased a VGC resale contract for 200 points. Waiting on ROFR.

That's very exciting news! Congratulations! When you started this thread, I voted to wait for the new DVC at Disneyland Hotel, but after Covid kicked in, I would have changed my vote to buy VGC.