Who is really going buy DVC Hawaii???

NWA/Delta has started a direct flight from Detroit.
Woah! When did that start? That's *huge* news. (Grumble. It doesn't run every day.)

(pardon me while I go run to RCI to see what's available for summer '11...)

The real question for DVC-HI will be: how will they do competing directly with other timeshare developers when they don't have a theme park or four in the property's back yard?
 
We are from the midwest and looking at buying as we love the Ko Olina area. We're looking at buying enough points to go once every three years with banking/borrowing. I agree with others that the real market is West Coast US and also Asia.
 
We go to Hawaii at least 1 time a year. And have been to WDW 2 times in the last 3 years. We love both and normally stop in Hawaii on the over and back. We are so looking forward to buying points there.
 
On a recent business trip to Oahu, I was amazed at the large percentage of Asian guests that brought their families to the Hilton Hawaiian Village resort. If a high-rise resort in the middle of a city is where they would take their children and grandparents to relax, I would think they would be ecstatic to have a Disney resort as a choice. I'm sure marketing is focusing on Asia. Personally I think that Hawaii is out of reach for most Americans. I would rather buy 25 more points in WDW than pay the equivalent in airfare to get there. Oahu was disappointing - there are many more beautiful places in California and Florida than we saw there. And not to mention, 12-15 hours of travel with my little ones sounds like torture for us all.
 

Having grown up in CA, I think the new resort will market well to Californians. I have friends that go to Hawaii almost every year, and another friend owns a gorgeous home there. Those of us living in in most of the continental US, will find Hawaii to be only an occasional vacation destination. Personally, I know of more people here in Texas that have been to Paris and Germany than have been to Hawaii.

The air fares from most of the US is cheaper to Europe than to Hawaii, with the West Coast being the exception, I'm glad I was able to go while I lived in California.
 
I'm pretty sure DVC Mike will be one of the first 10 in line to buy. :laughing:

I doubt that, since Mrs. Mike doesn't like to fly. That's a very long trip when you don't like being airborne!

Having grown up in CA, I think the new resort will market well to Californians. I have friends that go to Hawaii almost every year, and another friend owns a gorgeous home there. Those of us living in in most of the continental US, will find Hawaii to be only an occasional vacation destination. Personally, I know of more people here in Texas that have been to Paris and Germany than have been to Hawaii.

The air fares from most of the US is cheaper to Europe than to Hawaii, with the West Coast being the exception, I'm glad I was able to go while I lived in California.

It's the same for me. Both DW and I are glad we got to go to HI as youth when we lived in CA. But getting there from the midwest is not as easy or feasible. I can definitely go to Cancun or Europe cheaper. Of my friends locally here in greater Indianapolis, only about a dozen have ever even been west of the Mississippi River, let alone all the way to Hawaii! Whereas my friends back home in CA - it's just the opposite - only a very small percentage have ever been to WDW - but most all of them have been to Hawaii multiple times. My brother lives on Oahu and has asked us 4 times now to come visit - but flying a family of 5 is not cheap. We've told him that we'll come stay after the resort opens, but not to expect it regularly.
 
I think the Hawaii DVC will likely be marketed primarily to people who want a Hawaii timeshare, and the opportunity to use points at other resorts will be a selling point.

As I've said here before, I think people are going to be absolutely floored when they see the cost of DVC in Hawaii. A 2 BR at the newer luxury timeshares in Hawaii -- like the new Napili and Lahaina towers at the Maui Marriott and the Westin on Maui -- sells for $40,000 to $60,000 for a week. There is no way a disney resort is going to be significantly less than that. MFs are also very high in Hawaii.

Don't be shocked to see ocean-view in the 500 point per week neighborhood. My hunch is also that the weekend/weekday spread will be different, since Hawaii is not really a 4-day or 5-day trip.
 
We love Hawaii!. We've been three times, 1975, 1994 and 2009, and when we first heard about a DVC property there, we seriously considered buying enough points to go every three years. Since then, we bought BLT and went to Hawaii last year. The bloom is off that rose. The flight from Florida is endless and really expensive. There's no way I'd want to do it every few years, so there's no way we will be buying in

We will be going back for two weeks in 2011 for our 40th anniversary, and I think that may be it. It's a grueling trip, and we aren't getting any younger. I've already put in with MS for a one-week trade and we want to cruise the following week. If the trade doesn't come through, we will probably just stay at the Moana Surfrider on Waikiki Beach.

DVC Hawaii was a nice thought for us while it lasted, but it's no longer on the horizon.
 
Had the DVC Hawaii been in the Kaanapali/Lahaina/Kapalua area on Maui, we might have considered buying. We LOVE whale watching. Ko'olina is worth a visit but not worth a purchase for us.
 
If the trade doesn't come through, we will probably just stay at the Moana Surfrider on Waikiki Beach.

.

The Moana (it was a Sheraton then) is where we stayed in 1976 :)
 
Here in Washington, I know many, many people who go to Hawaii at least once a year. Most of them are families who also escape to Disneyland in the middle of winter blahs (like us). To me, that sounds like the ideal DVC Hawaii customer.
 
I totally agree about the Maui area. That is an amazing area.
 
Woah! When did that start? That's *huge* news. (Grumble. It doesn't run every day.)

(pardon me while I go run to RCI to see what's available for summer '11...)

The real question for DVC-HI will be: how will they do competing directly with other timeshare developers when they don't have a theme park or four in the property's back yard?

Yeah, I know it's not everyday but it will work for my trip.

That will be the interesting thing on how Disney does with a major off-site resort. It's a big enough project, that Iger mentioned it when talking to Jim Cramer on CNBC.

If we ever go back after summer 2010, I can see using the DVC points for a few nights before or after the trip starts, as I can't imagine how many points you'd need for a 2br oceanfront unit!
 
LOL. My dad use to have a saying whenever I saw some thing that I couldn't see people purchasing. "If some one wasn't buying it, they probably won't be making it"

now that's not always true but I figure Disney is definitely one company to have a plan.

I do know quite a number of folks who go to Hawaii. Not as often as Disney world but that may be because I'm on the East Coast and its a long plan trip.
 
I live in Idaho and own at BLT and considering purchasing in HI. It depends on the cost and the fees.

For me it is about the same to fly to WDW or HI. I don't know if we would stay there every year but every other would doable. Of cource we would have no problem using the points elsewhere.
 
We're west coasters and my dad lives in Honolulu in a condo. He told us what the MFs and property taxes are for the condo. He's actually encouraging us to sell the condo when he passes because of the expenses if no one is living there fulltime. The family always felt that we would keep it as a vacation place but the MFs are high and property tax will go up because we won't get the senior discount. We are considering buying points but are waiting to see what MFs are.
 
Our family loves Hawaii. We have relatives who love it so much that they lived there for a few years, and others who used to go visit regularly ever single year, sometimes two or more times a year. We used to go regularly until our son was born, but the thought of making that trip with a younger than 5 year old child fills us with horror. We have friends who risked it, and although the child enjoyed the trip, they really didn't...

Our family has debated buying either a condo or a timeshare there for years and years. Our son's birth postponed the debate, but has not ended it. We're waiting to adopt another child right now, and that will postpone the debate again for a bit... However, it is almost inevitably going to happen at some point., the question is not if we'll get something, it's what we'll get.

We're waiting to see point charts, annual dues, and buy in costs before we commit to DVC Ko'Olina, but right now I'd say we're likely to own there. Our tentative plan is to buy enough points to get a 2 bedroom ocean view every three years. As I've posted before, we like the idea of getting it through DVC (so we're definitely holding off on buying anything else in Hawaii for the time being) because if some years we don't want to make the long flight, then we can use our points at WDW.

We don't mind using Oahu as a main base, as we can get a direct flight from Houston. That makes the trip far less painful... We're likely to spend most of a week on Oahu, then do a few days on another island. DVC should work well for that, particularly since they aren't likely to require exactly a week.
 
I probably won't be buying HI. I do however want to visit it atleast once. I've never been to HI. If I ever do, it will be a very small contract in which I can bank and borrow to go there every three years.
 
We currently have 300 points at AKV. I want a total of 400...eventually. My thought is I'm going to wait til the charter buy-in incentives come out for HI and especially the MF.

I'm not too concerned at the point chart right now.... just because it is what it is and whether we own there or not...we will be 'paying' them when we want to visit.

I don't expect to make the trek there from the east coast more than once every 2-3 years or so... banking and borrowing will take care of that.

So all in all...we are interested, but not going to 'plan' on it til more info is out:thumbsup2

Paula
 
Travelocity posted today: San Diego/Honolulu round trip fares starting at $298! Hmm, may have to go for our anniversary in Feb (again!).
 



















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