What Happens When Resort "Sells Out?"

[wdrl]

Even though Disney continues to sell points for all DVC resorts, several resorts are officially considered to be sold out. In the past, what happened when a DVC resort was classified as being "sold out?" Did Disney make a formal announcement? Did it offer "last chance" deals and incentives? Did it instruct the Guides to act like the sold out resort no longer existed? Did Disney actually stop selling points at a resort, even if for just a short period (I can't imagine that!!)? Does Disney even use the term "sold out", or does it use a more accurate term such as "no longer actively being marketed?"

Both AKV and BLT have sold just over half of their estimated total points. At their current rates of sale, AKV and BLT will take, optimistically, about 24 months before they sell about 98% of their total points. I'm curious how Disney will handle their transition to "sold out" status. I'm also curious at what point will these resorts be considered "sold out." As I see it, Disney could classify a resort as "sold out" even though only 85% or 90% of its total points have been sold.

 

[crisi]

It uses the term "sold out" even though "no longer activily marketed" makes more sense.

They stopped selling VWL when BCV went on the market, even though they were sitting on points. (Lost our sale because of it and we ended up resale.)

They did do some "closeout" specials with HHI. But I've never seen any at WDW properties.

 

[wdrl]

Thanks, crisi. I'm surprised that Disney would walk away from selling you VWL points. A sale is a sale, and I would be surprised if they didn't have thousands of unsold points available at the time. I just started tracking sales of the WDW "sold out" resorts (OKW, BWV, VWL, and BCV) because I'm curious how many direct sales are made for these resorts. I wonder if the Guides have a different commission rate on "sold out" resorts compared to the resorts being actively marketed??

 

[crisi]

Apparently, if you pressed back then, they'd sell you VWL points. We had managed to find the resale market and get a BWV contract resale for what at the time was about $15 less per point...so we didn't press.

 

[OntFamily]

You can buy direct from Disney for pretty much any DVC property (we just bought a small add on for HHI). However, resales (if you can find the point combination / use year you desire) will be less expensive.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Whenever DVC buys back points from ROFR, they ultimately sell those points for the going price.

 

[kimberh]

I bought BWV's two Years ago from Disney.

 

[AndriaRose]

I want to buy another add-on at BLT, but only need a few points. We closed the deal on our 1st BLT add-on mere days before the 1st re-allocation

Anyway, our BLT add-on was only for an every 2 year vaca, so I haven't been in a hurry. I did, however, ask how soon BLT may close. My guide said, as a BLT owner, I should get a notification when BLT's close to "selling out". That way we can get more points before they're "gone".

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

SSR actually "sold out" in mid 2008 and DVC stopped actively selling it and had zero incentives. After that the only property for sale was AKV Kidani which wasn't even open so incentives were pretty good IMO for that property. Gift cards, DP's etc. etc. When SSR was getting to the end and guides were having to verify that there were points there weren't any bit additional incentives made to get it closed out although I think a few times the amount off was a couple of dollars better than what was being offered at AKV. What I can't recall is if DVC made any announcement - I know I heard it from guides but I feel I remember getting marketing material about SSR being almost gone. People were having to get on waitlists for some UY's if they really wanted SSR. I think new purchasers were just given AKV as the option.

Then, a few months later it was announced the rebuilt treehouses would become part of SSR and sales and incentives started up again a short while later.

We first looked at DVC during the reopened sales for VWL. It seems that they did stop the sales there too quickly and had to actively sell the resort again for a short while. SSR was already open by that time but they were pushing VWL on us.

 

[wdrl]

What I can't recall is if DVC made any announcement - I know I heard it from guides but I feel I remember getting marketing material about SSR being almost gone. People were having to get on waitlists for some UY's if they really wanted SSR. I think new purchasers were just given AKV as the option.

Thanks for your comments. I wonder if the only way we'll figure that VGC is sold out is because the Guides will no longer mention it in their sales pitches?

I don't really mean to hijack my own thread, but you raise an interesting point about waitlists for sold out resorts. Today, if anyone tries to buy a sold out resort directly from Disney, are they ever turned away or told that they have to go on a waitlist?

 

[Deb & Bill]

... Today, if anyone tries to buy a sold out resort directly from Disney, are they ever turned away or told that they have to go on a waitlist?

If they are looking for an add-on, it has to match their current UY. If DVC hasn't picked up any points for that UY or not enough for the add-on, the member may have to wait.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Thanks for your comments. I wonder if the only way we'll figure that VGC is sold out is because the Guides will no longer mention it in their sales pitches?

I don't really mean to hijack my own thread, but you raise an interesting point about waitlists for sold out resorts. Today, if anyone tries to buy a sold out resort directly from Disney, are they ever turned away or told that they have to go on a waitlist?

My best guess is that since it's the only West Coast DVC they may promote the sell out more than previously. Just a guess though.

And if you can't hijack your thread then who can! But yes, Disney hasn't always had points for the sold out resorts in all UY's so people have had to go on waitlists. I did a small add on for BCV. Before I told my guide the amount of points I was looking for I was told Disney had up to 200 pts in that UY available and that it was one of the few UY's that they had points for. The guide had checked on amounts available b/c I left a message for them about wanting to add on. If I had wanted more then there may have been an ROFR happening somewhere in the near future.

 

[DenLo]

I want to buy another add-on at BLT, but only need a few points. We closed the deal on our 1st BLT add-on mere days before the 1st re-allocation

Anyway, our BLT add-on was only for an every 2 year vaca, so I haven't been in a hurry. I did, however, ask how soon BLT may close. My guide said, as a BLT owner, I should get a notification when BLT's close to "selling out". That way we can get more points before they're "gone".

I hope your guide is correct and BLT's owners will get a notice. Of course, if DH,wdrl is correct and it takes two more years for BLT to sell out, then there might be more contracts on the resale market at a more reasonable price. Or the in case of AKV even more contracts at a reasonable price. Since we own at both of these resorts, I have the tendency to always keep an eye on the resale prices. You never know, we might need/want more points in the future.

 

[DVCGeek]

Regarding sold out resort wait lists: I did a 36 point VWL add-on last month straight from the Mouse. My guide said points looked like they were available that day in my Aug UY, but technically I went on a wait list until the contract was written up and my credit card deposit was charged. That took about 2 hours or so and my points were showing online... The FedEx box with the docs arrived ~2 business days after that and DVCers know the drill from there!

I often get asked- I wanted exactly 36 points because now I own at 4 resorts with a total of 321 points. My membership is now a countdown: 4-3-2-1! Geeky yes, but hey, there is a reason I chose the screen name I did. We went VWL because my parents stayed there in mid-Feb and LOVED it, so they asked me to do an add-on there so they could book at 11 months every so often. They ponied up the cash for 25 of the points, so let's just say I didn't have to think for too long before saying yes...