With Aulani resale skyrocketing...

[Paul Stupin]

I'd argue the pool area with slides are better than any WDW DVC property (excluding BCV), then add Trader Sam's, Goofy's Kitchen (better than Chef Mickey's..just), and a short hop to Disney springs and both parks.

Well, maybe. But I discount Trader Sam’s because it’s basically impossible to get into. I agree that the slide is great, but there really isn’t a whole lot of unified, immersive theming to the bland Disneyland Towers and even the pool area. At the Grand Californian, and many of the WDW resorts, I get the feeling of being transported into completely different worlds/environments, and it’s a total escape. Not sure I’ll feel the same looking out at a residential area in Anaheim, or the Downtown Disney parking lot.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

Well, maybe. But I discount Trader Sam’s because it’s basically impossible to get into. I agree that the slide is great, but there really isn’t a whole lot of unified, immersive theming to the bland Disneyland Towers and even the pool area. At the Grand Californian, and many of the WDW resorts, I get the feeling of being transported into completely different worlds/environments, and it’s a total escape. Not sure I’ll feel the same looking out at a residential area in Anaheim, or the Downtown Disney parking lot.

I agree. I think it’ll be on par with BLT, minus the lake views. I think Disney could do a great job with theming to offset it being in a residential area. If anything, DLT will be in a great location. Not as great as VGC obviously. But right next to Downtown Disney and short walk to both parks. I also hope the room layout and size will be on par with Riviera, even though it’s not looking like it. That would be the only way they could justify the points chart being more expensive than VGC.

 

[Paul Stupin]

I agree. I think it’ll be on par with BLT, minus the lake views. I think Disney could do a great job with theming to offset it being in a residential area. If anything, DLT will be in a great location. Not as great as VGC obviously. But right next to Downtown Disney and short walk to both parks. I also hope the room layout and size will be on par with Riviera, even though it’s not looking like it. That would be the only way they could justify the points chart being more expensive than VGC.

Am more interested in buying VGF2 direct, and adding to my VGF points. As a Los Angeles resident, I’m never going to plan a a few days at Disneyland 11 months in advance, but I like the thought of being able to pick up a few nights on relatively short notice with my direct VGF points at the Disneyland Tower. We do it with VGC as well, which works if your schedule is flexible enough to take whatever random dates pop up.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

Am more interested in buying VGF2 direct, and adding to my VGF points. As a Los Angeles resident, I’m never going to plan a a few days at Disneyland 11 months in advance, but I like the thought of being able to pick up a few nights on relatively short notice with my direct VGF points at the Disneyland Tower. We do it with VGC as well, which works if your schedule is flexible enough to take whatever random dates pop up.

Makes perfect sense. Same reason why I would never book a few days at 11 months for the Aulani. I never considered DL Hotel to be on par with some of the WDW resorts but I love it’s close proximity to DTD. WDW may be much bigger but we love DL for the walkability and the beautiful weather. That FL heat and rain is just nasty.

 

[gskywalker]

Frankly, even though you got an excellent deal on those Aulani points, I still wouldn’t have bought them even at that price for stay around points. For us, the short term savings on points tends to get spent and absorbed into our general finances, and certainly doesn’t get banked for future trips. As the years go by, the purchase price almost gets forgotten. That leaves the maintenance fees, which for Aulani, as we all know, are incredibly high. And that lasts forever, or certainly as long as you own the points.

You‘re also giving up the 11 month window, which for WDW will only grow increasingly significant over the years. When we initially bought, I didn’t realize that there is far from unlimited availability at 7 months. For us, it’s gotten trickier and more difficult to book the popular resorts for any decent amount of time, say a week or longer. Sometimes you can only get a day or two here and there.

Buyers might initially think that this doesn’t matter if they’re not currently travelling at any time other than the lowest peak periods. But, personally, we’ve found that tastes and preferred travel times can change over the years, and that the flexibility built into the system is a good thing. That’s a tough one to give up.

Anyway, of course that’s just my opinion, and of course everyone uses points differently! And we do love Aulani!!

I understand your point of view and for many people it would probably be true. For us our savings is invested by me, not absorbed into our monthly finances. Every month I take the excess of our monthly finances and invest it instead of leaving it in the account where it could be spent needlessly.

I probably could have gotten a SSR contract for around $115 at that time, so I saved $45 PP. I figure I paid about $6500 less($6750 minus a bit for extra closing costs). On that $6500 I have already gained $756 by investing it in the last three months(yes I know that this kind of return isn't normal or sustainable, but its what I do, so I get a higher return than the norm). I have a total of $7256 and growing, plus 8 extra years on the contract. For us the excess capital gets banked most likely for retirement travel but also could be for family travel. For anyone who wanted to do like I did, you should invest the difference, to get a return that will make up for the higher dues and give you more capital to make up for buying a resort that may not be what you want.

As I have said before, we will see over the years whether the 11 month mark ends up making a big difference. I am not sure how often we will want to book at the 11 month mark other than on a trip to Aulani. That is part of the reason I like the contract I bought as well. I can get the 11 month window on a trip I would actually use it. We will probably use up 5 years worth of Aulani points for 2 trips over the next 10 years unless we love it so much like other people, such as yourself and the rest of the time we would use it at WDW. We actually met a family at our amusement park(Canada's Wonderland) yesterday who was wearing all disney stuff and they have been to Aulani twice over the past few years and love it there. Maybe that will be us too. For a beach vacation I am pretty sure I would rather go to carribbean/Mexico to an all inclusive, especially with the flight being 5-8 hours shorter, but we will see.

Good point, but they’re on the higher end, and they can add up over the years. If I were looking for dirt cheap stay around points, I’d rather buy a cheaper SSR contract, or another WDW resort, even if it meant giving up savings on Aulani, where the 11 month window isn’t as relevant.

The Maintenance fees will definitely be higher. I like the extra 8 years and the price. If I was to buy today the gap between Aulani and SSR isn't big enough for me to buy Aulani. Right now the biggest problem with SSR is how high do you have to buy to get it through ROFR? I have bid on a few smaller CCV contracts but I think otherwise right now I would probably buy RIV direct and split the contract into 4 so that each kid has their own direct contract as we get old(or die) and can't travel anymore.

 

[Paul Stupin]

I understand your point of view and for many people it would probably be true. For us our savings is invested by me, not absorbed into our monthly finances. Every month I take the excess of our monthly finances and invest it instead of leaving it in the account where it could be spent needlessly.

I probably could have gotten a SSR contract for around $115 at that time, so I saved $45 PP. I figure I paid about $6500 less($6750 minus a bit for extra closing costs). On that $6500 I have already gained $756 by investing it in the last three months(yes I know that this kind of return isn't normal or sustainable, but its what I do, so I get a higher return than the norm). I have a total of $7256 and growing, plus 8 extra years on the contract. For us the excess capital gets banked most likely for retirement travel but also could be for family travel. For anyone who wanted to do like I did, you should invest the difference, to get a return that will make up for the higher dues and give you more capital to make up for buying a resort that may not be what you want.

As I have said before, we will see over the years whether the 11 month mark ends up making a big difference. I am not sure how often we will want to book at the 11 month mark other than on a trip to Aulani. That is part of the reason I like the contract I bought as well. I can get the 11 month window on a trip I would actually use it. We will probably use up 5 years worth of Aulani points for 2 trips over the next 10 years unless we love it so much like other people, such as yourself and the rest of the time we would use it at WDW. We actually met a family at our amusement park(Canada's Wonderland) yesterday who was wearing all disney stuff and they have been to Aulani twice over the past few years and love it there. Maybe that will be us too. For a beach vacation I am pretty sure I would rather go to carribbean/Mexico to an all inclusive, especially with the flight being 5-8 hours shorter, but we will see.



The Maintenance fees will definitely be higher. I like the extra 8 years and the price. If I was to buy today the gap between Aulani and SSR isn't big enough for me to buy Aulani. Right now the biggest problem with SSR is how high do you have to buy to get it through ROFR? I have bid on a few smaller CCV contracts but I think otherwise right now I would probably buy RIV direct and split the contract into 4 so that each kid has their own direct contract as we get old(or die) and can't travel anymore.

Sounds like you have a good plan, and the seven month availability might very well get easier once all the extra points work their way through the system in the next year or two. I also think you guys will wind up loving Aulani. You'll have to keep us posted when you go!