1st time buyer, need advise (resale vs direct)

[20000LeaguesUnderTheSea]

Hello everyone:

I am not currently a DVC member, but have visited Disney over 20 times and have rented points.

Have stayed at OKW, BWV, BCV, AKL, POLY, BLT, POR, YC, CSR, AOA, GF, WL. Have decided to stop throwing my money away after the hotel stays and make my $ last longer with DVC.

I have my 1st ever contract in process (270 pt BWV resale contract in FROR).

Thinking about adding on 150 points on either a decent resale deal at CCV or pursue the infamous blue card with Disney now (either 125 as min requirement or 150 to take advantage of $10 / pt discount).

Would appreciate your advice. Created a poll, hope it works.

Thanks in advance

 

[Brian Noble]

I have my 1st ever contract in process (270 pt BWV resale contract in FROR).

Slow down. Let this close and get some experience with it. The early period of timeshare ownership is sort of a "pink cloud" and it is easy to over-commit yourself relative to your long term vacation needs.

In the meantime, ask yourself why you want the Blue Card: are your reasons qualitative, or quantitative?

 

[Sandisw]

I didn’t vote but if you want CCV for a hard to get time, especially for a studio, maybe consider the FW option going Disney direct,

It is what I would do if CCV was a resort I was considering.

 

[a742246]

Are you be planning to stay in a studio at CCV? The reason I ask is that studios are hard in get into even at 11 months.

Just want to let you know if you are not aware of this.

 

[20000LeaguesUnderTheSea]

Slow down. Let this close and get some experience with it. The early period of timeshare ownership is sort of a "pink cloud" and it is easy to over-commit yourself relative to your long term vacation needs.

In the meantime, ask yourself why you want the Blue Card: are your reasons qualitative, or quantitative?

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I guess I was trying to hurry it up as I'm hoping to either capitalize on the Disney direct discount (before prices increase) or on resale dumps due to COVID. I'm clueless on whether BlueCard makes financial sense or not (annual pass discounts etc)….hence was looking for some guidance. My wife was bummed about "missing out"...so guess that is qualitative more than quantitative.

 

[20000LeaguesUnderTheSea]

I didn’t vote but if you want CCV for a hard to get time, especially for a studio, maybe consider the FW option going Disney direct,

It is what I would do if CCV was a resort I was considering.

Thanks for the advice. I was considering CCV given: some of the appreciation I have seen over the years and its long term exp date, the $10 discount from Disney if I go direct, lowest resale price / pt of the MK resorts, and the fact that I do like the WL resort. Thinking having a MK resort contract to complement BWV would be the way to go.

 

[limace]

I’d first think about how many points you need a year and then whether you’ll use the AP discount regularly. If not, direct isn’t worth it IMO. I’d then think about where you actually want to stay-if it’s not CCV, look at the resorts they aren’t actually selling right now to see if they’d be a better fit for you if you decide on a direct purchase. I agree with slowing down-it’s a slippery slope and it’s how they get you to spend tens of thousands of dollars. (I don’t want to feel left out so maybe I should buy some direct-well I only need 125 but I’ll save less than 5% pp if I buy 25 more....).

 

[JETSDAD]

Would the blue card benefits be useful to you? Mostly the AP savings as that is really the main financial saving that the blue card offers that isn't easily replaceable. If not, go resale....if the benefits will be useful and the financial difference isn't much of a concern then get the blue card.

 

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

Just to throw another option into the mix... If you tend to like to go at a certain time that is super popular and like (at least sometimes) to stay in a studio (or any particular kind of room) and like to sometimes stay for a week... consider Guaranteed Weeks. You can always turn down the week every year you don't want that exact time or room type and use your points however you want but let's say you LOVE Christmas time or something - you'd automatically have that calendar week and room type you want without stress of booking. It is smart that you got resale points first as if you want to add direct points, they can usually add with your use year (which I would try hard to stay with one use year for ease of use).

 

[Brian Noble]

My wife was bummed about "missing out"...so guess that is qualitative more than quantitative.

So, this is just a personal opinion, and I'm not married to you so my opinion isn't all that important. Take all this with a grain of salt.

A huge part of DVC's sales approach has always been about "belonging." The Blue Card is very much in line with that---only people who have the Blue Card "really belong". There are relatively few situations in which it makes financial sense to pay the difference to have it, particularly at the 125 point minimum. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, or that you should only do it if you can "make it pay." But, go into it with your eyes wide open and know why you are getting it. If you are getting it for the emotional upside of "belonging," and you can afford it, great!

There are a couple of other things that you've written that give me pause. I would not consider appreciation in an ownership decision---that is not (and has not been) a guarantee. It's especially not a guarantee if you consider the time value of money. I also would not let an ownership decision be driven by (relatively) small financial differences. $10pp is less than 5%---if that's driving your decision it feels like the tail wagging the dog.

From where I sit, buying a timeshare boils down to answering two questions: First, how long would it take me to "get good value" using it only for lodging and ignoring any other perks if I had to give it away when I am done with it? Second, can I imagine using it that long? That's a very conservative approach, for sure---there doesn't seem to be anytime in the near future where anyone would have to give away their ownership. But, there is some evidence that a few people have found that necessary. What's more, WDW's "demand curve" is very dependent on the viability of air travel, and in the last 20 years we've seen two sharply disruptive events (9/11, COVID) plus the longer term impact of a severe recession.

Are such disruptive events likely? Probably not. But, if you plan for an ownership with no residual value, anything left at the end is gravy.

 

[pkrieger2287]

Copper Creek is by far the best opportunity for a contract right now... It checks all the boxes and is still reasonable via resale since Disney is not buying back via ROFR. I expect to see Copper Creek shift upward in price in the coming months so that may change but I say Copper Creek Resale. There are just not enough benefits or reasons currently for purchasing direct in my opinion.

 

[RoseGold]

Maybe you have a huge family and Blue Card works for you, but for most people it takes many years to make up the money. Maybe even never, if you alternate your annual pass, like many of us do (late Aug - Feb - early Aug - repeat)

Even if the math did work, there is no AP discount right now, and not even a timeframe to return it. That's pretty scary to me on a five figure decision. Direct is going nowhere. Resale is going nowhere. Maybe it makes more sense to buy a double loaded AKL contract this summer for your Halloween trip. Or maybe it makes sense to buy DL tower.

I don't make five figure decisions on FOMO or belonging to some club that gives you $1 off beers at the golf course. But FOMO is the least convincing reason to buy. Direct is going nowhere. DVC will be thrilled to sell you a blue card today, next month, next year. Don't let a couple hundred bucks in OMG discount make you make a decision you regret, as so many have. TAKE YOUR TIME.

Edit to add: You can also get some of the non-AP blue card discounts with the Disney Visa. For me, the difference was a handful of restaurants and some things I would never do, like golf or massage. There also used to be Tables in Wonderland, which White Card could buy. But who knows if that returns...

 

[HappyThoughtsTees]

My husband and I recently bought a resale VGC contract, and a direct 100 point Saratoga contract. We live in CA and basically only visit Disneyland. We bought the direct contract for a few reasons: 1) It was just before the increase to 125 point minimum for the blue card. 2) We wanted a contract that didn't have any of the resale restrictions in regards to staying at the new/future resorts (mainly thinking of the DL resort coming in a few years). The perks of the Blue card are nice, but not guaranteed, and the AP discount in DL is basically nothing ($20 or something like that). That being said, we are looking forward to the merchandise and dining discounts! Good luck with your decision!

 

[20000LeaguesUnderTheSea]

Thank you all for taking the time to respond. All good points. I often find that talking about a decision with numerous people always helps, I learn more about the situation (and often myself), that way. HappyThoughtsTees does raise a good point. There is no way for me to stay at GCV and DLT unless I buy direct given I was not grandfathered in. Although I've heard that getting into GC at 7 month window is impossible, and I figure it would be the same for DL Tower. Not that I travel to DL much (we live in NC), but a DL trip (to complement WDW) every 5 years would be nice. Of course guess I could rent the points and then pay cash at GCV and DL when the time comes. Was not aware that Tables in Wonderland has also been suspended. THAT was definitely worth it for us. I do have the Disney Visa.

 

[limace]

It won’t restrict your ability to get into the GCV-you’ll have the same ability as a direct buyer there (which is admittedly a small chance). However, 10k or so in savings will go a long way if you only go to DL every five years.

 

[RoseGold]

Since this seems to be important to you, I think it's important to remember that the old resorts don't control the future resorts. For now, it looks like they will keep access at whatever Reflections will be and at DL Tower (both DVC projects), but that doesn't have to be true going forward.

There's no reason Star Wars Vacation Club or Disney Vegasworld or whatever has to play nice with the legacy contracts just because it has in the past. RIV has shown that DVC is willing to change rules dramatically at the expense of direct buyers.

 

[20000LeaguesUnderTheSea]

Basic question, if I have 270 resale points (post restriction date) and 150 direct points....Can I use the full 420 on future resorts? Or only the 150 direct?

 

[Sandisw]

Basic question, if I have 270 resale points (post restriction date) and 150 direct points....Can I use the full 420 on future resorts? Or only the 150 direct?

Only the direct. It is the points that carry the restrictions, not owner, so restricted points remain restricted no matter what,

It is the same thing with home resort. If someone owns BWV and BLT, you can only use BLT at BLT during home resort booking times, and only BWV at BWV during home booking times.

 

[crisi]

We have a blue card (bought resale way in the dark ages) and we seldom get benefit from it. We get some discounts once in a while, but really not anything significant. Our travel schedule doesn't make APs make sense, we went to one MM and wouldn't do another one.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Thank you all for taking the time to respond. All good points. I often find that talking about a decision with numerous people always helps, I learn more about the situation (and often myself), that way. HappyThoughtsTees does raise a good point. There is no way for me to stay at GCV and DLT unless I buy direct given I was not grandfathered in. Although I've heard that getting into GC at 7 month window is impossible, and I figure it would be the same for DL Tower. Not that I travel to DL much (we live in NC), but a DL trip (to complement WDW) every 5 years would be nice. Of course guess I could rent the points and then pay cash at GCV and DL when the time comes. Was not aware that Tables in Wonderland has also been suspended. THAT was definitely worth it for us. I do have the Disney Visa.

Just to reiterate - the resale points you are purchasing can be used at VGC and all the current DVC resorts except for Riviera and any new resorts.

The $210 direct price with incentives for CCV vs somewhere in the $140-$145 range, or perhaps less could mean up to 10 grand more for direct which is why it isn't a bad thing to figure out what value you'll get from that direct purchase. And the second you sign for the CCV direct contract it's actual sales value goes from the $210 your paying down to $140 -$145 range if by chance some circumstance happened in your life that meant you needed to sell. If you don't purchase AP's then it takes buying a lot of t-shirts and sweatshirts with a 10% discount to recover that $10k.