Sept 2022 DVC Direct Sales

[DVCsloth]

With the new VGF2 (BPK), are you able to use those points just as easily at the original VGF if you want to book a 1BR, 2BR, or GV? (similar to AKV-Jambo and Kidani?)

Probably going to end up being more difficult to book 1 BR and larger.

 

[CarolMN]

Probably going to end up being more difficult to book 1 BR and larger.

Maybe. But for most times of the year, those have been available at 7 months, so I think the concern is mostly unwarranted for VGF owners. There are a lot of us who recently bought VGF because we like the resort studios.

We plan to use our VGF points as part of a split stay - 2 or 3 nights for the MK, and then the bulk of our stay in a 1 bedroom at BWV. I like walking to the parks and EPCOT& DHS are our favorite parks.

 

[DVCsloth]

Maybe. But for most times of the year, those have been available at 7 months, so I think the concern is mostly unwarranted for VGF owners. There are a lot of is who recently bought VGF because we like the resort studios.

We plan to use our VGF points as part of a split stay - 2 or 3 nights for the MK, and then the bulk of our stay in a 1 bedroom at BWV. I like walking to the parks and EPCOT& DHS are our favorite parks.

I agree, we book right at 11 months so I don't think it will affect us too much. We sometimes book Studios as well, but I'm not really interested in the BPK rooms. I like the original DVC building and room set up. We'll see how it goes as the resort gets closer to selling out.

 

[eticketplease]

I'm having second thoughts on the price argument because VGF still has pretty significantly less maintenance fees than Riviera, enough that VGF per point may be pure better cost buy in 2022, when thining of cost as purchase price per year + MF. The MF gap may be narrowed more in 2023 and beyond but difficult to predict.

I agree in the long term I believe VGF will be cheaper as the monorail resorts have been on the lower end of the scale when it has come to dues.

I just would want to get a 1 or 2 bedroom and I have more chance of doing it at RIV than VGF

 

[eticketplease]

I agree, we book right at 11 months so I don't think it will affect us too much. We sometimes book Studios as well, but I'm not really interested in the BPK rooms. I like the original DVC building and room set up. We'll see how it goes as the resort gets closer to selling out.

Yes, I second the deluxe studio over the resort studio. Love the dual showers there, RIV & Poly.

 

[Roughians_satchel]

I agree, we book right at 11 months so I don't think it will affect us too much. We sometimes book Studios as well, but I'm not really interested in the BPK rooms. I like the original DVC building and room set up. We'll see how it goes as the resort gets closer to selling out.

Do we have any clue what percent of VGF is sold at this point, and how many more points they have to go to sell out? It’ll be challenging if they’re still actively selling VGF when Poly2 comes online. At this point, they’re looking at best 18 more months of sales (knowing that RIV went on sale in the spring even though it didn’t open until December.)

Would they slow construction on Poly2 to give VGF more time to sell out?

 

[eticketplease]

Do we have any clue what percent of VGF is sold at this point, and how many more points they have to go to sell out? It’ll be challenging if they’re still actively selling VGF when Poly2 comes online. At this point, they’re looking at best 18 more months of sales (knowing that RIV went on sale in the spring even though it didn’t open until December.)

Would they slow construction on Poly2 to give VGF more time to sell out?

I’m not sure about percentages sold but DVCnews.com stated that 199 out of 341 homes were declared for RIV and all 202 new resort studios have been declared for VGF. I assume they declare them for inventory based on sales

 

[Sandisw]

Do we have any clue what percent of VGF is sold at this point, and how many more points they have to go to sell out? It’ll be challenging if they’re still actively selling VGF when Poly2 comes online. At this point, they’re looking at best 18 more months of sales (knowing that RIV went on sale in the spring even though it didn’t open until December.)

Would they slow construction on Poly2 to give VGF more time to sell out?

37.2% of VGF points for BPK have been sold. But, the bulk of that sold in the first two months. Sales have declined quite a bit since that point...according to the article, it is averaging around 74K a month...

Using that figure, we are a good 16 months away from VGF being sold out...but, September sold almost 30K under that average so if that continues, it could add quite a few more months to how long it takes.

I do not think they will slow Poly tower construction for that because they control the pricing and if they don't like the numbers...just can't believe they were expecting to see VGF have a month that low...they can add in better incentives for buyers.

 

[Sandisw]

I’m not sure about percentages sold but DVCnews.com stated that 199 out of 341 homes were declared for RIV and all 202 new resort studios have been declared for VGF. I assume they declare them for inventory based on sales

That is what they do...as sales happen, they declare more points to sell. I thought it was a little unusual when they declared all 202 VGF rooms in June, even before it opened, but looking back, March/April sales were really high so maybe they thought it would continue? Or, they just wanted all the rooms to be part of the association, so operating costs were all part of DVC.

 

[zavandor]

I have never sat through a DVC sale pitch and I haven't read reports about recent tactics, but do the guides still put a lot on emphasis on being able to book any resort at 7 months subject to availability? Because if I'm a buyer on holiday and I am being explained that I can book anything I want at 7 months subject to availability, maybe with the point charts casually open on the AKV value villas, why should I buy GFV over RIV? Because so I can book at 11 months? Who does that anyway? I can book whatever I want at 7 months subject to availability, I'll buy the cheapest resort, even if it's just a few bucks per point!
Unless the guides go into details how difficult it is to book at 7 months for a good part of the year (and they won't), the importance of the home resort choice has always been unclear to new uninformed purchasers. So cheaper wins.

 

[Jwaire]

I have never sat through a DVC sale pitch and I haven't read reports about recent tactics, but do the guides still put a lot on emphasis on being able to book any resort at 7 months subject to availability? Because if I'm a buyer on holiday and I am being explained that I can book anything I want at 7 months subject to availability, maybe with the point charts casually open on the AKV value villas, why should I buy GFV over RIV? Because so I can book at 11 months? Who does that anyway? I can book whatever I want at 7 months subject to availability, I'll buy the cheapest resort, even if it's just a few bucks per point!
Unless the guides go into details how difficult it is to book at 7 months for a good part of the year (and they won't), the importance of the home resort choice has always been unclear to new uninformed purchasers. So cheaper wins.

I've sat through several in the last five years or so (first one was Poly, but didn't purchase at any of them). They were pretty clear about the 11 month booking advantage and what may or may not be available at 7 months out. No guide I spoke with ever said anything about being able to "book any resort" at 7 months. They were pretty up front especially when I thought I could book Beach Club .

I was also very clearly warned about studio availability at Copper Creek (which was the main resort they were focusing on at the time). It sounded to be me like there had been an issue there and they were sure to mention it.

Their honesty aside, it still took me 5+ years to purchase DVC, and I went resale first so I'm not the normal use case.

 

[bakerr6]

I have never sat through a DVC sale pitch and I haven't read reports about recent tactics, but do the guides still put a lot on emphasis on being able to book any resort at 7 months subject to availability? Because if I'm a buyer on holiday and I am being explained that I can book anything I want at 7 months subject to availability, maybe with the point charts casually open on the AKV value villas, why should I buy GFV over RIV? Because so I can book at 11 months? Who does that anyway? I can book whatever I want at 7 months subject to availability, I'll buy the cheapest resort, even if it's just a few bucks per point!
Unless the guides go into details how difficult it is to book at 7 months for a good part of the year (and they won't), the importance of the home resort choice has always been unclear to new uninformed purchasers. So cheaper wins.

My wife and I plan to sit through it next year. We are already members but are interested in understanding some of the benefits of buying direct that we may not be considering.

 

[tjkraz]

I have never sat through a DVC sale pitch and I haven't read reports about recent tactics, but do the guides still put a lot on emphasis on being able to book any resort at 7 months subject to availability? Because if I'm a buyer on holiday and I am being explained that I can book anything I want at 7 months subject to availability, maybe with the point charts casually open on the AKV value villas, why should I buy GFV over RIV? Because so I can book at 11 months? Who does that anyway? I can book whatever I want at 7 months subject to availability, I'll buy the cheapest resort, even if it's just a few bucks per point!
Unless the guides go into details how difficult it is to book at 7 months for a good part of the year (and they won't), the importance of the home resort choice has always been unclear to new uninformed purchasers. So cheaper wins.

Riviera outsold VGF 84k to 47k in September. In order to impact sales on that level, seems like it would take a lot of guides stretching the truth and a lot of buyers ignoring the value of 11 month booking just to save 4-5% on their purchase.

 

[BrianLo]

Do we have any clue what percent of VGF is sold at this point, and how many more points they have to go to sell out? It’ll be challenging if they’re still actively selling VGF when Poly2 comes online. At this point, they’re looking at best 18 more months of sales (knowing that RIV went on sale in the spring even though it didn’t open until December.)

Would they slow construction on Poly2 to give VGF more time to sell out?

It was on track to sell out well before Poly2, but now is getting closer to merging. That said they likely are not too upset if it overlaps a little, even upwards of 3-6 months supply. As the nearly sold out status usually causes sales to ramp up.

They won't delay Poly2 whatsoever, if it really lags they'll stop pushing RIV over it. For now though it still makes sense to push RIV.

 

[jackieleanne]

I believe one of the reasons VGF2 sales have dropped other than the initial hype of all the old buyers desperately wanting to get in was the announcement of Poly 2. I'm a resale AKV owner and was ready to buy in on our trip in April (UK member so need to be there to buy), but then they announced Poly 2 and I was perfectly happy to wait and see costs etc for that.

 

[jbreen2010]

The VGF dip is because the incentives were almost nothing. I think they realized VGF was selling well so incentives pulled way back. I think RR incentives were pretty strong so makes sense sales were strong.

 

[DVCsloth]

The VGF dip is because the incentives were almost nothing. I think they realized VGF was selling well so incentives pulled way back. I think RR incentives were pretty strong so makes sense sales were strong.

So, you think Disney wants to slow VGF sales for some reason?

 

[Sandisw]

The VGF dip is because the incentives were almost nothing. I think they realized VGF was selling well so incentives pulled way back. I think RR incentives were pretty strong so makes sense sales were strong.

I am not sure that the difference in incentives was large enough to make up for that level of discrepancy, almost 40k points, given this is a long term purchare.

But I think it does indicate that VGF is overpriced and that if DVD wants to sell it at a higher rate, they will have to price better.

Its now a studio heavy resort and has less years. Even lower MFs and lack of resale restrictions was not enough for people to choose it.

It just goes to show that no matter the resort, each will have pros and cons to them.

 

[Ruttangel]

The difference in sales is so big you wonder if RIV and VGF receive same marketing/sales push

 

[DVCsloth]

The difference in sales is so big you wonder if RIV and VGF receive same marketing/sales push

I think it's more than marketing. Riviera was built as a new resort with a well-balanced room selection and an entirely new way to travel to 2 parks. On the other hand, BPK is a studio only hotel room conversion with nothing new added to the resort. I do think that Disney would have been better off adding more room selection and figuring out some way to make the studios more like the villas. I think if people are going to invest $30k in the vacation club it needs to offer some value over just staying in a hotel on cash reservations.