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Fort Wilderness Cabins Cannot Stave Off Slow March 2024 Direct Sales

maui22

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 8, 2022
New article on direct sales from Wil Lovato of dvcnews.com

https://dvcnews.com/dvc-program-men...cannot-stave-off-slow-march-2024-direct-sales

When the newest Disney Vacation Club resort sees a 72% jump in sales it usually means overall direct sales should be strong for the month. But such was not the case in March 2024.

In March 2024, 114,212 Disney Vacation Club points were sold for the 12 DVC resorts located at World Disney World and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel. It was the second smallest volume sold in the last 12 months and well below the 169,974 points direct sales had been averaging over the previous six months.


Disney’s Riviera Resort led all resorts in sales in March 2024 with The Villas at Disneyland Hotel in second place and The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort in third place. The Cabins was the only one of the three resorts to have an increase in point sales from February to March. Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows, which experienced a slight uptick in sales the previous two months, sold only 1,100 points in March.




Disney Vacation Club Direct Sales 2024 03



The largest single deed sold in March was a 600-point deed for Riviera. The largest point sale spread over multiple deeds was 1,100 Riviera points in two 350-point deeds, a 220-point deed, and a 180-point deed.


Disney’s Riviera Resort — In March, Riviera sold 72,275 points. Although less than what it sold in January or February, March’s point total still exceeded the 57,187 points the Riviera has averaged over the previous 12 months.


Disney has been selling points for Riviera since March 2019. In that five year period 4,282,280 points have been sold, about 63.5% of the resort’s 6,739,966 points. Sales have averaged 72,162 points a month over that time.


One Fixed Week deed was sold for Riviera in March. Disney has sold 119 Fixed Week deeds for the resort.




Disney has declared 256 of Riviera’s 341 vacation homes for the DVC inventory. There are still 85 vacation homes that have not yet been declared and are under the control of Disney. The declared inventory accounts for 5,081,401 points, or 75.4% of the resort’s total points.


Villas at Disneyland Hotel In March, approximately 16,086 points were sold for Disneyland Hotel, the fewest number of points sold in the brief 11-month history of the resort. Disney has sold 640,610 points since sales were first recorded in May 2023. About 19.7% of the resort’s estimated 3,255,992 total points have been sold to the public.


The number of points sold for the Disneyland Hotel can only be estimated. The data available from the Orange County (California) Clerk-Recorder’s Office is limited and the exact number of points sold cannot be compiled directly; instead, the number of points can only be estimated based on the Transfer Tax paid on each deed. This was not an issue when all deeds were sold at the same base price. However, in late January, the base price for the Disneyland Hotel was raised from $230 to $239 a point, Deeds recorded in March are a mix of both old and new prices and it is difficult to determine which price applies to a specific deed. For example, a deed with a Transfer Tax of $25.30 could represent 95 points if purchased at $239 a point or 100 points if purchased at $230 a point. Although the difference is slight, it means that point totals for the Disneyland Hotel are not as exact as for the other DVC resorts.


The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort In March 2024 12,326 points were sold for the Cabins at Fort Wilderness, DVC’s newest resort. This represents a 72% increase over the 7,159 points sold in February. Initially, when sales began on February 1 they were limited to existing DVC members. But on February 27, 2024 sales opened to non-members as well.


Disney has now sold 19,485 points for the Cabins, which is about 0.7% of the resort’s estimated 2,780,943 total points.


The 72% spike in point sales for March may sound impressive but, on closer inspection, that statistic is misleading. February’s sales were recorded over the last nine business days of the month for a daily average of 795 points. March’s sales were over 21 business days for a daily average of 587 points.


In March, four Fixed Week deeds were sold for the Cabins. These are the first such deeds sold for the resort. So far, Disney has declared only 30 of the 363 cabins for the DVC inventory. These 30 cabins are allocated 229,820 points, about 8.3% of the resort’s total points.


On April 2, Disney Vacation Club introduced better incentives which should lower the buy-in cost for most purchasers. The April sales data may shed some light on whether or not the new discounts are helping, though it will not be until May that we have a clearer picture.


The sales data includes all 12 DVC resorts at Walt Disney World, as well as Disney's Vero Beach Resort, and Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort. Point sales data is not available for The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel. The data is compiled from deeds filed by Disney Vacation Development and recorded with the Orange County (FL) Comptroller, the Indian River County (FL) Clerk of Court, and the Beaufort County (SC) Register of Deeds. Thanks to Chris from ********** for assisting in the compilation of the sales data.
 


Well at 587 points a day, CFW will sell out by the end of 2037, so that’s nice for them that it won’t interfere with the resale of the 2042 resorts.

(Unlike a certain Hawaiian beach getaway I know)
And that assumes they can sustain this pace. One has to assume the “die hard” families that is their target audience has bought if they are going to buy. The initial incentives were terrible so maybe the new ones will generate some new sales but I wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t peak before the year ends.
 
New article on direct sales from Wil Lovato of dvcnews.com

https://dvcnews.com/dvc-program-men...cannot-stave-off-slow-march-2024-direct-sales



In March 2024, 114,212 Disney Vacation Club points were sold for the 12 DVC resorts located at World Disney World and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel. It was the second smallest volume sold in the last 12 months and well below the 169,974 points direct sales had been averaging over the previous six months.


Disney’s Riviera Resort led all resorts in sales in March 2024 with The Villas at Disneyland Hotel in second place and The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort in third place. The Cabins was the only one of the three resorts to have an increase in point sales from February to March. Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows, which experienced a slight uptick in sales the previous two months, sold only 1,100 points in March.




Disney Vacation Club Direct Sales 2024 03



The largest single deed sold in March was a 600-point deed for Riviera. The largest point sale spread over multiple deeds was 1,100 Riviera points in two 350-point deeds, a 220-point deed, and a 180-point deed.


Disney’s Riviera Resort — In March, Riviera sold 72,275 points. Although less than what it sold in January or February, March’s point total still exceeded the 57,187 points the Riviera has averaged over the previous 12 months.


Disney has been selling points for Riviera since March 2019. In that five year period 4,282,280 points have been sold, about 63.5% of the resort’s 6,739,966 points. Sales have averaged 72,162 points a month over that time.


One Fixed Week deed was sold for Riviera in March. Disney has sold 119 Fixed Week deeds for the resort.




Disney has declared 256 of Riviera’s 341 vacation homes for the DVC inventory. There are still 85 vacation homes that have not yet been declared and are under the control of Disney. The declared inventory accounts for 5,081,401 points, or 75.4% of the resort’s total points.


Villas at Disneyland Hotel In March, approximately 16,086 points were sold for Disneyland Hotel, the fewest number of points sold in the brief 11-month history of the resort. Disney has sold 640,610 points since sales were first recorded in May 2023. About 19.7% of the resort’s estimated 3,255,992 total points have been sold to the public.


The number of points sold for the Disneyland Hotel can only be estimated. The data available from the Orange County (California) Clerk-Recorder’s Office is limited and the exact number of points sold cannot be compiled directly; instead, the number of points can only be estimated based on the Transfer Tax paid on each deed. This was not an issue when all deeds were sold at the same base price. However, in late January, the base price for the Disneyland Hotel was raised from $230 to $239 a point, Deeds recorded in March are a mix of both old and new prices and it is difficult to determine which price applies to a specific deed. For example, a deed with a Transfer Tax of $25.30 could represent 95 points if purchased at $239 a point or 100 points if purchased at $230 a point. Although the difference is slight, it means that point totals for the Disneyland Hotel are not as exact as for the other DVC resorts.


The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort In March 2024 12,326 points were sold for the Cabins at Fort Wilderness, DVC’s newest resort. This represents a 72% increase over the 7,159 points sold in February. Initially, when sales began on February 1 they were limited to existing DVC members. But on February 27, 2024 sales opened to non-members as well.


Disney has now sold 19,485 points for the Cabins, which is about 0.7% of the resort’s estimated 2,780,943 total points.


The 72% spike in point sales for March may sound impressive but, on closer inspection, that statistic is misleading. February’s sales were recorded over the last nine business days of the month for a daily average of 795 points. March’s sales were over 21 business days for a daily average of 587 points.


In March, four Fixed Week deeds were sold for the Cabins. These are the first such deeds sold for the resort. So far, Disney has declared only 30 of the 363 cabins for the DVC inventory. These 30 cabins are allocated 229,820 points, about 8.3% of the resort’s total points.


On April 2, Disney Vacation Club introduced better incentives which should lower the buy-in cost for most purchasers. The April sales data may shed some light on whether or not the new discounts are helping, though it will not be until May that we have a clearer picture.


The sales data includes all 12 DVC resorts at Walt Disney World, as well as Disney's Vero Beach Resort, and Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort. Point sales data is not available for The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel. The data is compiled from deeds filed by Disney Vacation Development and recorded with the Orange County (FL) Comptroller, the Indian River County (FL) Clerk of Court, and the Beaufort County (SC) Register of Deeds. Thanks to Chris from ********** for assisting in the compilation of the sales data.
I wonder if the one fixed week at RIV was mine 🤔 we split up the payments to them over 90 days and I think it was sometime in late February that we had our last payment so maybe?

Anyways, not surprised about CFW sales, high dues in a poor location relative to other DVC resorts with a less than ideal room layout *insert shocked pikachu face*. Its good for all other owners though because people will move to CFW to save points due to the cheap point charts and hopefully allow for more movement and flexibility at 7 months even if the resort isn't fully declared. I wonder if this keeps up for another 3-6 months if we'll see a fire sale because I don't think even Aulani's sales went this slowly.
 


I wonder if the one fixed week at RIV was mine 🤔 we split up the payments to them over 90 days and I think it was sometime in late February that we had our last payment so maybe?

Anyways, not surprised about CFW sales, high dues in a poor location relative to other DVC resorts with a less than ideal room layout *insert shocked pikachu face*. Its good for all other owners though because people will move to CFW to save points due to the cheap point charts and hopefully allow for more movement and flexibility at 7 months even if the resort isn't fully declared. I wonder if this keeps up for another 3-6 months if we'll see a fire sale because I don't think even Aulani's sales went this slowly.
No, last we heard Aulani was still selling more points per month than CFW sold last month.

Aulani’s problem isn’t a lack of interest, it’s that it’s 11.5 million points.
 
I really don’t understand the strategy with the Cabins. I suppose there are some families into that style of vacation, but I don’t see it as popular, especially not at the price per point and due structure they have.

Overall, chalk it up to the middle class squeeze happening right now. Not enough extra dollars to throw at expensive time shares. I suspect direct and resale prices will only be coming down for the foreseeable future.
 
12,300 points sold at CFW for its first full month. 😲

For perspective:
- RIV sold 98,000 points its first full month.
- VDH sold 162,000 points its first full month.
- VGF2 sold 178,000 points its first full month.
To add even more insult to injury here...VDH has had 12 individual days where more than 12,326 points were recorded. And even VDH's worst months (some pretty bad!) have been roughly 33% higher than CFW's first full month.

Definitely no large 'new resort' surge for CFW and explains why they've increased incentives so much compared to pre-sales (Pre-sales: $208/pt at 150pts if you have a qualifying 'Welcome Home' stay vs. $191/pt currently).
 
A very quick glance at occompt web sit and it looks like only 43 CFW contracts, so far in April. This is based on the resort name the data entry person entered. Based on the past, I know that's not always entered correctly. Again, not opening each record to view the contract, a small sample showed the first April 2 (which I think was the incentive starting date) showed up around April 15.

Interesting part is most of the 43 that I saw were before that date. Time will tell, but it's possible the incentives result in more people buying RIV and fewer buying CFW?
 
To add even more insult to injury here...VDH has had 12 individual days where more than 12,326 points were recorded. And even VDH's worst months (some pretty bad!) have been roughly 33% higher than CFW's first full month.

Definitely no large 'new resort' surge for CFW and explains why they've increased incentives so much compared to pre-sales (Pre-sales: $208/pt at 150pts if you have a qualifying 'Welcome Home' stay vs. $191/pt currently).
They’ve thrown two VERY tough price-to-value products out in a row, and of course everyone thought Riviera’s price-to-value was tough when that opened too (Now it looks like a bargain relative to these two).

Hopefully they learn something from it.
 
They’ve thrown two VERY tough price-to-value products out in a row, and of course everyone thought Riviera’s price-to-value was tough when that opened too (Now it looks like a bargain relative to these two).

Hopefully they learn something from it.
Between VDH's transient taxes and CFW extremely high dues I agree, I think people are doing their due diligence on these purchases. If you're going to get hit with resale restrictions regardless between RIV and CFW, might as well go with the resort that has 5 different room types, is in a better location AND less dues. Riviera comes out of this looking like a peach.
 
Between VDH's transient taxes and CFW extremely high dues I agree, I think people are doing their due diligence on these purchases. If you're going to get hit with resale restrictions regardless between RIV and CFW, might as well go with the resort that has 5 different room types, is in a better location AND less dues. Riviera comes out of this looking like a peach.
I think when Poly Tower starts sales, it will be even more of a peach. So many drop down options.
 
I think when Poly Tower starts sales, it will be even more of a peach. So many drop down options.
Poly tower I think will be in competition with Riviera because no resale restrictions if same association with a good location but I think we'll see CFW drop off even further. They need to heavily incentivize this thing to move it because nobody's buying with this high of a price point and absurdly high dues.
 
Poly tower I think will be in competition with Riviera because no resale restrictions if same association with a good location but I think we'll see CFW drop off even further. They need to heavily incentivize this thing to move it because nobody's buying with this high of a price point and absurdly high dues.
I wouldn’t take a free contract at the Cabins, and I think a lot of people feel the same way. Especially since 7 month availability is obviously not going to be an issue for years and years.
 
Poly tower I think will be in competition with Riviera because no resale restrictions if same association with a good location but I think we'll see CFW drop off even further. They need to heavily incentivize this thing to move it because nobody's buying with this high of a price point and absurdly high dues.

Anyone at Disney with any background knows Disney has said PVB (single room type) was a mistake never to be repeated. I have a hard time believing DVD authorized CFW unless it's planned to be part of Reflections 2.0. If/when the eventually add Reflections 2.0 to CFW, dues should come down.

My thought is they annouce Reflections 2.0 at the member meeting in December. They can't wait 10 years like they did to fix PVB's single room type mistake.
 
Anyone at Disney with any background knows Disney has said PVB (single room type) was a mistake never to be repeated. I have a hard time believing DVD authorized CFW unless it's planned to be part of Reflections 2.0. If/when the eventually add Reflections 2.0 to CFW, dues should come down.

My thought is they annouce Reflections 2.0 at the member meeting in December. They can't wait 10 years like they did to fix PVB's single room type mistake.

I agree with this...there is another shoe to drop with CFW...and I do think it may be Reflections 2.0 to "complete" the resort and bundle it in that Trust model they set up. It's just not appealing enough on its own to stand alone.
 

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