Where to Purchase a small direct add-on contract

[DisneyTumbleweed]

We recently passed ROFR on a 160 pt contract at AKV. We are looking at doing a small add-on contract direct from Disney. We plan on using our points every 18 or so months and would like to alternate between WDW and Aulani. The question I have is if there is any merit in purchasing the direct add-on at Aulani (same use year) so that we can book the hard dates (New years eve, Thanksgiving, etc.) at 11 months at Aulani in case we ever want to go over those weeks and then fill in the surrounding days at the 7 month mark with our 160 AKV points. The thought is we could bank and borrow the Aulani points to get enough to book two nights during this time period. Was originally going to just add onto AKV but thought I would look into this option and get some advice.

 

[Dean]

We recently passed ROFR on a 160 pt contract at AKV. We are looking at doing a small add-on contract direct from Disney. We plan on using our points every 18 or so months and would like to alternate between WDW and Aulani. The question I have is if there is any merit in purchasing the direct add-on at Aulani (same use year) so that we can book the hard dates (New years eve, Thanksgiving, etc.) at 11 months at Aulani in case we ever want to go over those weeks and then fill in the surrounding days at the 7 month mark with our 160 AKV points. The thought is we could bank and borrow the Aulani points to get enough to book two nights during this time period. Was originally going to just add onto AKV but thought I would look into this option and get some advice.

I'd just do AKV in this situation or buy a few more than 25 for Aulani, likely at least 50.

 

[drusba]

I would just buy more points at the resort you already own. Buying a small point contract at Aulani won't work in the plan you have. If you get a small contract, you will be able to book a studio for Thanksgiving, NYE, etc. at 11 months out, but those are not the only "hard" days. Holiday and other high demand times like that fill during the 11 month window for a week not just for a day or two, and thus you are not going to easily get the surrounding days at 7 months out. If you are going to be relying on the 7 month window for the majority of days for a trip to Aulani, then you need to go when Aulani is readily avaiiable at 7 months out, and for those times of year you do not need to buy an Aulani contract.

Also, a small contract sounds like you mean you want a hotel room or a standard view studio for a night at Aulani and then fill in the days around it at 7 months out with the same room category. You likely won't be able to do that any time of year at Aulani because typically the hotel rooms and standard view studios fill for most times of the year before 7 months out.

 

[DisneyTumbleweed]

I would just buy more points at the resort you already own. Buying a small point contract at Aulani won't work in the plan you have. If you get a small contract, you will be able to book a studio for Thanksgiving, NYE, etc. at 11 months out, but those are not the only "hard" days. Holiday and other high demand times like that fill during the 11 month window for a week not just for a day or two, and thus you are not going to easily get the surrounding days at 7 months out. If you are going to be relying on the 7 month window for the majority of days for a trip to Aulani, then you need to go when Aulani is readily avaiiable at 7 months out, and for those times of year you do not need to buy an Aulani contract.

Also, a small contract sounds like you mean you want a hotel room or a standard view studio for a night at Aulani and then fill in the days around it at 7 months out with the same room category. You likely won't be able to do that any time of year at Aulani because typically the hotel rooms and standard view studios fill for most times of the year before 7 months out.

We would be looking to book a 2 bedroom. Was thinking of 50 points which would give us 150 poits with bank and borrow - enough for two nights in most categories...

 

[Minniesgal]

We would be looking to book a 2 bedroom. Was thinking of 50 points which would give us 150 poits with bank and borrow - enough for two nights in most categories...

I really don't see the point of securing two nights at 11 months at Aulani as you are still going to need the 7 month window to make a trip so I would buy at AKL

 

[Dean]

We would be looking to book a 2 bedroom. Was thinking of 50 points which would give us 150 poits with bank and borrow - enough for two nights in most categories...

I'd take a more big picture approach. To me it'd depend on how frequently I was intending to visit HI, planned length of stay there combined with the rest of my usage plan. 160+25 or 160+50 likely won't get you to WDW and HI routinely regardless of availability. If it's likely a one time trip to HI or even every 5 or 6 years, I wouldn't buy there. It sounds like you're going to need significantly more points to accomplish your long term goals. I'd make those decisions before you decide on the add on. For sake of discussion assuming a 2 BR for all for a week a year with HI the every third year, you'll need a total of around 300 points a year total or possibly even more. For that situation I'd want all my points for HI at Aulani so I'd do a 25 point add on there retail then look for a resale around 150 points in that scenario. Obviously your specific plans in terms frequency, LOS & location will determine specifics. The smaller the villa you're looking for WDW and the lower the season, the more cushion you need for points.

 

[drusba]

We would be looking to book a 2 bedroom. Was thinking of 50 points which would give us 150 poits with bank and borrow - enough for two nights in most categories...

The size of the room does not make any real difference in the high demand periods like Christmas and Thanksgiving. The two bedrooms in all room categories are going to be difficult to get at 7 months out for the extra days you need. Also, standard view in all room sizes is usually a problem at 7 months out much of the year. Moreover, a plan to use Aulani points once every three years by banking one year and borrowing from another, and then fill in extra days with AKV points, creates an additonal problem. You could make the two day reservation in a 2BR 11 months out and then at 7 months out discover that a day or more that you need to put around those days are already gone. If you decide to cancel the two days because it is pointless going for only two days, you will then have the additonal problem that all those banked and bnorrowed points will have to be used by the end of the use year or forever lost, and thus you will always need to have a planned back-up trip before the end of the use year to use those points.

 

[DisneyTumbleweed]

Thanks everyone for your help. Sounds like we will just add on 25 points at AKV (giving us a total of 185 at AKV) for the Disney perks and roll the dice at 7 months for Aulani.

 

[Brian Noble]

One other thought: there are several other very nice timeshare properties in the islands that you can get to via RCI---the Hiltons in particular. Given the current point charts, you'd pay at most 260 points for a week in a 2BR at any of them. You'd need at least 336 for a 2BR at Aulani, and in some seasons quite a bit more. You need to plan farther in advance, and be a little bit flexible about dates/resorts, but we did a two week trip last year in a 3BR penthouse at HGVC Lagoon followed by a 2BR unit at HGVC Kings Land. It was fantastic.

 

[Dean]

One other thought: there are several other very nice timeshare properties in the islands that you can get to via RCI---the Hiltons in particular. Given the current point charts, you'd pay at most 260 points for a week in a 2BR at any of them. You'd need at least 336 for a 2BR at Aulani, and in some seasons quite a bit more. You need to plan farther in advance, and be a little bit flexible about dates/resorts, but we did a two week trip last year in a 3BR penthouse at HGVC Lagoon followed by a 2BR unit at HGVC Kings Land. It was fantastic.

I was going to add this. For non WDW locations, there are a lot of other options and IMO, often better choices non DVC. That's true for HH & VB type beach option and it's true for HI. Just for that area on Oahu, there are other very nice options including a nice Marriott timeshare down the street plus condo's in general. Even if one feels there's a difference from a resort standpoint for Aulani (I don't but others do), the difference is clearly less compared to WDW.