Why is AKL lagging so far behind in sales?

[jennypenny]

So do I have this right?

DVC realizes they have hot property with BLT, but AKL and THV are holding down the price and DVC knows they can get more for BLT. So, they jack up the price to a level above what AKL and THV can sell for and focus solely on BLT. Once BLT sells out, they can leave the base price at the level it is now but offer deep incentives to get people to buy AKL and THV. Those properties will look like a steal if you get $20-30 off the base price, or free annual passes, or developer's points, or something else. Plus by then they'll have the resale restrictions in place which gives them another selling point.

hmm, makes me think an add-on at THV or AKL might look very attractive at some point during the next year...

 

[tjkraz]

So do I have this right?

DVC realizes they have hot property with BLT, but AKL and THV and holding down the price and DVC knows they can get more for BLT. So, they jack up the price to a level above what AKL and THV can sell for and focus solely on BLT. Once BLT sells out, they can leave the base price at the level it is now but offer deep incentives to get people to buy AKL and THV. Those properties will look like a steal if you get $20-30 off the base price, or free annual passes, or developer's points, or something else. Plus by then they'll have the resale restrictions in place which gives them another selling point.

hmm, makes me think an add-on at THV or AKL might look very attractive at some point during the next year...

That pretty well mirrors my own thoughts but hard to tell exactly how far prices will fall. SSR and AVK don't look all that attractive when held up next to BLT. But once BLT is off the table, it sort of remains to be seen how well they can market SSR and AVK together.

The resale market is a threat but it seems that the majority of DVC's direct sales come from relatively uneducated on-site tour participants.

My sense is that DVC will take it slowly on pricing. They will weigh how well SSR and AKV sell as the only options, and the impact of the resale restrictions. The deep discounts will only come if months pass and people just aren't biting.

 

[jennypenny]

You're probably right. The standard $$ discounts per point with some fastpasses thrown in would probably be enough when BLT sells out. And I can hear the guides saying "and you can always stay at BLT with your points."

 

[Dziactor]

To me, I dont see how marketing plays into the sales of BLT over AKV. The product happens to be an easier sell. You have a few factors that contribute to this; location - the most important factor and it the only resort near MK which seems to be the majorites favorite park, Monorail access - huge factor for me as a parent with a stroller as being able to roll a sleeping child onto the thing makes my day, and low MF's reduces my total cost to Disney over the lifetime of my contract(s), location for restaurants (especially early morning character breakfasts for us) and the MK view is a great selling point of the resort. Frankly, AKV just doesnt have as much going for it as BLT in my opinion.

 

[dvcbrad]

We have visited AKL, but personally we believe that it seems out in the middle of nowhere, isolated and too far removed from other activities. We like being able to conveniently get to places for dinner, especially after an afternoon back for ppol/swimming time and no evening park activities. It seems like one would be hostage to just the restaurants in AKL ... unless one was to want to wait for a bus, commute, wait again on the way back ... etc. It just doesn't appeal to us for that reason.

 

[tjkraz]

To me, I dont see how marketing plays into the sales of BLT over AKV. The product happens to be an easier sell. You have a few factors that contribute to this; location - the most important factor and it the only resort near MK which seems to be the majorites favorite park, Monorail access - huge factor for me as a parent with a stroller as being able to roll a sleeping child onto the thing makes my day, and low MF's reduces my total cost to Disney over the lifetime of my contract(s), location for restaurants (especially early morning character breakfasts for us) and the MK view is a great selling point of the resort. Frankly, AKV just doesnt have as much going for it as BLT in my opinion.

Those are all valid points but if you've been to a DVC sales presentation in the last 6 months, chances are there was very little (if any) mention of AKV or SSR. I sat in the member meeting on the Disney Wonder a couple months ago and the only resorts they offered were BLT and Aulani. No mention at all of pricing on SSR or AKV.

DVC has been holding daily sales meetings at BLT for the better part of a year. They've never done anything like that for AKV.

And as I said, I've heard stories from people who specifically asked about AKV and were told BLT was the only thing available.

Side-by-side, yes BLT is the better product. Maybe not to 100% of buyers but to the majority. And rather than confuse prospects by offering multiple resorts with different ending costs, dues and ending dates--which could easily lead to "gee, I'll have to think about this"--I suspect the most successful sales approach has proven to be to push BLT as the only WDW-based option.

 

[DVCAustralia]

I have AKV points, but of the resorts I chose to own points at AKV is the lowest number.
Whilst I agree with much of what has been written, the most important factor for me was that I own there to get the value rooms (and in the future a night or two in concierge) and so I need less points there than anywhere else. Further a major difference with AKV is the savannah rooms but because there are so many of them it is relatively easy to book one at 7 months.

 

[dizfan]

That's a bit of an oversimplification, though. DVC started selling AKV as far back as February 2007. And obviously Aulani is designed to be in sales for many years to come.

They didn't expect to sell 26 million points in 3 years.

There was a period in 2008/2009 where the only points they had to offer (other than ROFR) were for incomplete resorts. That's not a good position to be in when selling a $20K product. Given construction lead times, they THOUGHT the units in the pipeline at AKV, SSR, BLT and VGC would simply meet demand in the '07-'11 timeframe. But the economy dealt them a setback.

Sorry Tim.

I was never trying (perhaps didn't execute well) to imply that DVD (or anyone) thought they would sell 26 million points in 3 years. Again, just trying to point out that it was a lot of resorts (or additions) and points to introduce in a short span (comparing it to DVD history using WebmasterDoc's information in the Resource thread)...
December, 1991 -- OKW opens
October 1, 1995 -- Vero Opens
March 1, 1996 -- HHI Opens
July, 1996 -- BWV Opens
November, 2000 -- VWL Opens
some time in 2002, BCV opens (???)
May, 2004 -- SSR opens.
July 2, 2007 -- AKV opens as part of main AKL resort - Jambo House.May,
2009 -- AKV - Kidani Village - opening.
2009 THV opens
August, 2009 -- BLT opens.
November, 2009 -- GCV opens.
Summer, 2011 -- Aulani opens

If that information is correct, 2009 was the first time DVD opened 4 properties in the same year. Also, if I'm understanding correctly, 2009 was the first time they opened more than a single property at a location.

 

[dizdadandcindy2]

Great facility but the remote location just makes it difficult as a home base. We much prefer OKW.

 

[DizDays]

Those are all valid points but if you've been to a DVC sales presentation in the last 6 months, chances are there was very little (if any) mention of AKV or SSR. I sat in the member meeting on the Disney Wonder a couple months ago and the only resorts they offered were BLT and Aulani. No mention at all of pricing on SSR or AKV.

And as I said, I've heard stories from people who specifically asked about AKV and were told BLT was the only thing available.

Too true! When my husband and I were exploring DVC at the SSR Sales Center, our guide pushed BLT so hard we both swore he had to be getting some bonus incentive for selling it. I've never seen anything like it. He actually got mad at us when we said we wanted AKV and was quite snotty from that point on.

 

[ToddyLu]

We own at AKV. We do not like the look of BLT, we live on the Coast so OKW doesn't appeal to us. There are a hundred other reasons why we chose one over another. AKV just appealed to us completely. We do not have children so location isn't an issue. When we vacation we want the resort fill. While I love looking at MK out the window of Cali Grill. It isn't the only view I want. So the remote, African theme is terrific and fits us and the way we travel to Disney.

One thing DVC has done well is to make a resort for everyone. I am not going to worry about $100 that my MF cost over someone else. I feel I am getting a great value for what I paid and contiue to pay for, just like the owner at BLT.

 

[Sammie]

It's the drums!

Love AKV! But I agree, opening Jambo and then Kidani almost 2 years later, took the steam out of things. I believe this was a mistake for DVD.
When BLT opened with similar floor plans as Kidani, with lower dues (albeit, higher points) and better location, not to mention, AKV always shared the spotlight with THV and VGC.

BLT opened all at once and sales and member meets were held in TOWL. I would say definitely location, but overall, I prefer AKV over BLT.

If DVC had been smart they would have offered concierge at Kidani. Sometimes I really question who is running the show,

They really need to also put in a quick service at Kidani.

 

[homedad]

IMHO its the remote location........

 

[crisi]

The location is an issue. The decor isn't great either. I like AKL - I love the animals and find it to be an amazing place. For me, it was the decor that really turned me off.

As to BLTs location - it is very nice when your kids are in strollers and you are spending a lot of time in MK. Which might be for as long as 10% of your ownership period. Our kids are 11 and 12 now - and MK has become a half day park. But a lot of people are buying when their kids are stroller age (we did) and not necessarily looking ahead. When we ended up with BWV (long before BLT or even SSR were on the table), we liked it over our favorite theme of VWL because as the kids got to be teenagers, we figured they'd spend more time at the Studios and less time at MK. The Epcot area would give them a little more independence a little earlier. And it has - my kids have already split off - and my son - tired and uninterested in what his sister wanted to do - has headed back to the room by himself. We still don't spend much time at the Studios (we are Epcot people).

 

[Mississippian]

It's the location and I hope DVD gets it!

The AKL was and is the best-themed resort that Disney has, in my opinion. But the food options are very limited and it takes forever to get to three of the parks. That why they couldn't fill up the hotel and DVC sales are a bit slow. Most people want their hotels or DVC resorts to be within walking or monorail distance to at least one park.

 

[jade1]

The location is an issue. The decor isn't great either. I like AKL - I love the animals and find it to be an amazing place. For me, it was the decor that really turned me off.

As to BLTs location - it is very nice when your kids are in strollers and you are spending a lot of time in MK. Which might be for as long as 10% of your ownership period. Our kids are 11 and 12 now - and MK has become a half day park. But a lot of people are buying when their kids are stroller age (we did) and not necessarily looking ahead. When we ended up with BWV (long before BLT or even SSR were on the table), we liked it over our favorite theme of VWL because as the kids got to be teenagers, we figured they'd spend more time at the Studios and less time at MK. The Epcot area would give them a little more independence a little earlier. And it has - my kids have already split off - and my son - tired and uninterested in what his sister wanted to do - has headed back to the room by himself. We still don't spend much time at the Studios (we are Epcot people).

Generally agree, but our kids are grown and they still love MK, and our last trip at BLT blew them away. We are all looking forward to many BLT and BCV split trips, as well as any grandkids in the future years-esp with the new Fantasy land (to define "looking ahead"). As for MK being a 1/2 day-totally agree, but so are all the parks for us now after so many trips. For us its just what is the most efficient use of time. Leaving our room at BLT and being in the MK in less than 10 minutes (just like BCV to EPCOT) guaranteed gives us much more time to sleep/swim/eat etc and still arrive where/when we want-not leave 45 minutes to an hour before just to be safe. Plus cars and buses are just not "getting away" for us.

If AKV was a 7 min walk to AK-we may still not own there, but we might stay once or twice. AK is just last on our list and 1/2 a day per trip.

 

[MiaSRN62]

I have high school and college kids and MK is first choice for all. It's the first park and the last park we have to do during our vacation. They say it's just not Disney World without seeing the Castle first thing when you get there and last thing when you leave---and we love BLT.

On a side note, my kids love the themeing and savanna at AKV. Someone said on page 1, that the "perception" is that it's far from everything. But we feel that just goes to prove they were spot-on with themeing. Granted you can't walk to a park, but that's not a huge deal to us. We like that AKV makes us feel we're somewhere far away and the kids can sit out on the balcony and watch the animals forever. Love the room decor. But I can definitely see how those that prefer to be within walking distance wouldn't appreciate this resort.

We actually sold our OKW in 2009 (it was 100% paid off) to purchase AKV. We added on BLT a year later. We were torn between BLT and VWL---husband wanted extra bathroom in 1 and 2 bedroom and the extra years on lease.

 

[dvcbrad]

We were just talking about this a little bit this morning and started wondering ... can you walk to AK park or do you even have to take the bus there?!

 

[lilpooh108]

We were just talking about this a little bit this morning and started wondering ... can you walk to AK park or do you even have to take the bus there?!

Bus...about 8-10 minute ride.

 

[dvcbrad]

Bus...about 8-10 minute ride.

Wow ... doesn't really seem to be any advantage to staying there, then, other than the possibility of seeing a few animals roaming around. Obviosuly that's one person's opinion vs another, though, and others may have different reasons to enjoy being there. I guess that's why there's different themed resorts for different interests!