What happened to Aulani?

[TinkerMelin]

It is interesting to me also that Disney seems to be uninterested in marketing Hawaii It seems to me that they never really sold GVC either. I thinks it was weeks before they even had it on the member website.

 

[CrazyDuck]

Why such a restrained rollout?

That because you don't speak Japanese! And Japanese people don't regularly post in theDIS!

With the yen at an all time high 2.1 million yen is easy!

 

[FCCA]

It is interesting to me also that Disney seems to be uninterested in marketing Hawaii

It may seem like they are not marketing Aulani, but that's probably because most of the current DVC members do not reside in Aulani's target market. Japan on the other hand is in the target market, and as a result, they are putting a lot of time and resources into marketing it in Japan. DVC as we know it is basically an east coast/midwest "thing". They have a much smaller presence here on the west coast.

 

[TagsMissy]

I wish BC would allow DVC to sell here but currently the only Canadian provinces that allow DVC to do business is Ontario and Alberta... I am in BC and we have thought of owning Aulani but it isn't an easy thing to do for us as we need to either find resale or travel to a DVC location to purchase. For now we'll stick with BLT I think as I don't see us adding on for a while.

 

[lilpooh108]

We went to the TOTW Member presentation on Sunday. I was all prepared to seriously give thought to an Aulani add on, but the presentation wasn't really about Aulani. It was more about why members should add on to the existing places they are selling on site. Add on to SSR for the treehouses, add on to AKV for the concierge, add on to BLT because they have these wonderful GV's that fact the Magic Kingdom, and there was one available for a tour. That just goes to show just how many members are willing able to pay the price of a MK GV, even on a non-weekend night! It was stated that BLT is expected to sell out in about a year. All I have to say about the GV is that it was a gorgeous villa and we both would love to stay there some day. I'll take my chances at 7 months, but we would need about 100-200 more points than what we already have before we could commit to such a high price per night stay!

Aulani was mentioned, but nothing new compared to what's available on the website. Nothing really showing the resort right now. OK, there was a video talking about the naming of the resort, but they didn't even have the point chart for Aulani in the packet so DH and I could discuss just how many we would need. This information would be available if we wanted to talk to a guide after the main presentation/tour, but I wasn't willing to do that.

I think it was a delightful general presentation, and much much more to my and DH's taste than the Welcome Home Wednesdays. But it did not sell us on Aulani, and I was so close!!!!

Bobbi

I went to the DLR Aulani presentation, which was alot of show and not alot about Aulani, there were no construction pics, pics of the beach area--nothing.

I was all ready to buy and the presentationw as a let down.

We traveled to Oahu the next day (coincidence/preplanned trip) and physically drove to Ko'Olina--being there made the difference. We added on when we got home.

So Ditto about the lack of presentation about the resort itself--weird.

 

[Chuck S]

But, more people, even existing members, would buy in closer to opening date than this early, so their marketing $$ would best be used at a later time than for such early pre-sales to members that would have purchased anyway.

 

[OhioDVC]

This economy is slowing anything real estate down to a trickle

 

[Donut23]

....from Bloomberg Business Week. Doesn't sound like this is a great time to be rushing to Toyko to look for new DVC contracts.....



Aug. 16, 2010 12:32 AM (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s economy grew at less than a fifth of the pace economists estimated last quarter, pushing it into third place behind the U.S. and China and adding to evidence the global recovery is faltering.

Today’s milestone reflects Japan’s two decades of economic stagnation during which the government racked up the world’s biggest public debt, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost three quarters of its value and the population began to shrink. China’s ascent caps off moves begun by Deng Xiaoping more than 30 years ago to transform the country from an agrarian state into the world’s fastest-growing major economy.

“Japan’s been stuck in recessions and deflation for the past 20 years, and that has kept the nominal GDP growth rate at an exceptionally low level,” said Naoki Iizuka, a senior economist at Mizuho Securities Co. in Tokyo. “China really intensified its global outreach in the 90s and since the 2000s its growth rate has accelerated.”

Export growth slowed and consumer spending stalled last quarter, today’s figures showed. The expansion was weaker than all economists estimated, with their predictions ranging from 0.6 percent to 3.4 percent. Growth slowed from 4.4 percent in the first quarter.

The Nikkei fell 0.6 percent to 9,200.81 at 1:26 p.m. in Tokyo, heading for its lowest close since November. The gauge peaked at 38,915.87 on Dec. 29, 1989. The yen climbed to 85.84 per dollar at from 85.95 before the GDP report. It reached 84.73 yen on Aug. 11, the strongest level since July 1995.

Slowest Expansion

From the previous quarter, Japan grew 0.1 percent, the slowest expansion among the six biggest economies. The U.S. grew 0.6 percent, the U.K. 1.1 percent, Germany 2.2 percent and France 0.6 percent. While China doesn’t release quarter-on- quarter GDP figures, it expanded 10.3 percent from a year ago.

‘Tough Situation’

“This was a very weak report,” said Yoshiki Shinke, senior economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo. “With exports slowing and domestic demand still weak, the economy will be in a tough situation.”

Net exports, or shipments minus imports, added 0.3 percentage point to Japan’s growth, the least in three quarters. Consumer spending, which accounts for about 60 percent of the economy, was unchanged, halting four quarters of gains and indicating government incentives to buy cars and electronics may be waning. Business spending advanced 0.5 percent.

“If the Japanese economy is forced to create a production structure based on 85 yen to the dollar, that would be disastrous,” as the nation wouldn’t earn enough from exports to pay for commodities from overseas, Honda’s Chief Financial Officer Yoichi Hojo said on Aug. 5.

 

[Chuck S]

But apparently, it isn't such a great time to be selling a luxury timeshare in the USA, either. And the Asian market has traditionally been a huge part of the Hawaiian tourist market.

I live in Texas, and I can tell you, 8 hours each way on a plane is the reason I haven't visited Hawaii since 1976 (and at that time I lived in California), that may change to an occasional visit every 5 years, as we have friends that live on Maui, but certainly not enough to encourage me to buy a timeshare.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Well, I forgot. The reason to buy VGC was that it was on the way to Aulani. The idea was to go to DL, for a few nights and then on to Hawaii. No mention of the trip home.

Bobbi

That sounds like the marketing ploy I would expect.

 

[dianeschlicht]

But apparently, it isn't such a great time to be selling a luxury timeshare in the USA, either. And the Asian market has traditionally been a huge part of the Hawaiian tourist market.

I live in Texas, and I can tell you, 8 hours each way on a plane is the reason I haven't visited Hawaii since 1976 (and at that time I lived in California), that may change to an occasional visit every 5 years, as we have friends that live on Maui, but certainly not enough to encourage me to buy a timeshare.

Yes, we thought about buying a timeshare in Hawaii on our last trip there 7 years ago, and we decided we didn't want anything quite that permanent.

 

[disneynutz]

Disney doesn't want to spread themselves out too thin. Having several resorts for sale at the same time takes a lot of work and money and I'm sure that they want to sell out of one before pushing the next.

Bill

 

[Donut23]

But apparently, it isn't such a great time to be selling a luxury timeshare in the USA, either. And the Asian market has traditionally been a huge part of the Hawaiian tourist market.

I live in Texas, and I can tell you, 8 hours each way on a plane is the reason I haven't visited Hawaii since 1976 (and at that time I lived in California), that may change to an occasional visit every 5 years, as we have friends that live on Maui, but certainly not enough to encourage me to buy a timeshare.

I was surprised they started this project when they did......airfare costs were going up-more fees, recession. Just didn't make sense.

GCV....no question, I thought all the contracts would be gone......like Le Cellier Candelight Processional dinner packages on the first day of reservations - 7 am! Shows what I know! Too many people live within an easy drive of DL (which is why it has had so much success the last 12 months).

We stayed in a 2 BR at GCV last December. Grand Cali is our favorite Disney resort...hands down....and the villa was quite simply, lovely.

We fly from Maryland and LOVE DL....so we manage to find an excuse to fly to LAX every 18 months or so. I can honestly say, when we arrive in LAX, I'm ready to be ANYWHERE and not interested in getting on another flight ANWHERE.

Hawaii tourist economy has had a pretty rough time of it the last year. So sad because Hawaii is beautiful!

 

[wdrl]

Back on July 24, I asked my Guide for a copy of Aulani's POS. He responded right away and said I should receive it in 4-5 business days. Well, as of today, I'm still waiting for it. I've followed up twice with my Guide, and each time he's tried to find out the delay. It turns out that the Fulfillment Service they use for material like the POS is out of stock, so my Guide is trying to see if Quality Assurance has a copy they can send me. I joked with my Guide that maybe the demand for Aulani is so great that they can't keep the POS in stock.

Today, I received my Aulani POS!! Talk about being on !! 456 pages of all sorts of exciting stuff. Actually, page 456 is blank so there is only 455 pages to read. Aulani's POS is much more detailed the the POSs we received for BLT and AKV. It appears to list all the Units that comprise the resort, the number of points allotted to each Unit, the room numbers for each Unit, and even the view category for each room. If I can figure out the placement of the room numbers by building, we should be able to map out the location of the different view categories.

There are other interesting things in the POS about the Fixed Ownership Interest option, the ROFR fee, possible surcharges for mailings to international customers, etc. I'm definitely having fun now.

 

[Jerry@dvcstore]

I can't wait to visit this exciting new DVC Resort. Yahoo.

 

[adminjedi]

As an east coaster I have no desire whatsoever to own at a place that takes such a long plane flight.

I think it is so funny that east coasters think it is so far to fly. We fly 1 to 3 times a year to DW and to the carribean, as do many other west coasters.

 

[Chuck S]

I think it is so funny that east coasters think it is so far to fly. We fly 1 to 3 times a year to DW and to the carribean, as do many other west coasters.

But West Coasters are in the middle between the East Coast and Hawaii, so would you go to WDW very often if it was a 10 hour flight each way (as it would be East Coast to Hawaii) instead of a 5 hour flight each way?

 

[CrazyDuck]

But West Coasters are in the middle between the East Coast and Hawaii, so would you go to WDW very often if it was a 10 hour flight each way (as it would be East Coast to Hawaii) instead of a 5 hour flight each way?

Yes, I will be going to WDW very often even though it is a 10 hour flight each way...

On another note... Out of the blue my giude just sent me a sales brochure and point cart for Aulani (not going to buy into it though because I only live 6 miles from Aulani). Maybe they are going to market VGC owners first? Or maybe they are leaving it up to the guides to determine who they market to?

 

[adminjedi]

But West Coasters are in the middle between the East Coast and Hawaii, so would you go to WDW very often if it was a 10 hour flight each way (as it would be East Coast to Hawaii) instead of a 5 hour flight each way?

Ummm, I mentioned flying to the caribbean = farther!

 

[whatsup]

Is it it just me, or has the pace of posts about buying at Aulani died down to barely a trickle?

Anyone else surprised not to get a splashy brochure or mailing from DVC about the new Hawaiian resort? I remember getting a gorgeous brochure about BLT just before it went on sale. The excitement of thumbing through that on the plane down to the member cruise was one of the reasons why I ended up adding on during the cruise.

Combine this with Bob Iger's remark that he is "reasonably encouraged" by sales at Aulani. Why such a restrained rollout?

Got a brochure in the mail today!