3rd year in a row going to WDW. Should I be a DVC owner?

[Novatrix]

I will say, there are deals out there on BCV resale. I myself just bought a contract for $105/pt a couple of months ago and there was another report on the board of $100/pt.

January crowd at Poly could've varied based on when marathon weekend was/where school breaks fell. Without knowing specific dates, it's hard to evaluate. It is a "visitor" resort, that you'll have a lot more day guests than are actually staying there.

 

[airjay75]

I'll just add a few thoughts. Just purchased DVC direct at Riviera (and already have add-on-itis contemplating resale contracts). There is a thread I started a little over a month back where I was initially thinking I'd buy majority Poly points and also some Riviera points but ended up with all Riviera if you are interested in my full story. But, I'll just say we were in a similar boat as you - had made 2 Disney trips in the past 9 months (and now we're making a third all within the same 12 month period). Similar to you, if we had not become DVC members, I don't think we'd go to Disney as often as we will now, but I sort of like that. I'm the primary vacation planner and organizer in our house - I'm the type of person who will constantly fret and second guess every decision I make with vacation planning. And, I still will, but being a DVC member sort of gives me a new focus and concentration - and I like it . I love learning about all the ins and outs of how being a DVC member work - I've compared it to the credit cards points and miles game, but on steroids.

I'll add quickly on the Poly and Riviera discussion - as soon as I heard Riviera had resale restrictions, but Poly did not, I was like, ok, I think we better go with Poly. But, after a tour and more research, I just really hesitated about whether that would be the right resort for us for the long-term. Riviera, OTOH, we absolutely loved and can see ourselves coming back time and time again with or without kids. So, I'm not so worried about the resale restrictions there. Yes, I'm committing to it for more of the long haul (or to a bigger loss if I ever decide to get out), but I was ok with that. Riviera also had much better incentives than Poly which made me feel even better about the purchase, and the points chart is also not as rough. I still want points at a MK resort, and will eventually pull the trigger on one of them, I'm sure, but will almost certainly do a resale contract for that. Not trying to sell you on Riviera since you said you aren't interested there - just sharing my story because I think your home resort does matter as does how long you're thinking about committing to this. That said, if you're going to buy direct, and you don't like/want Riviera, I'd probably go with Poly and then look at resale for any other resort you're interested in. I could not stomach paying the direct pricing on any other resort compared to resale values, especially the 2042 resorts (although some of those fetch a surprisingly high amount on the resale market).

Good luck with this! If you're like me, you're probably obsessing about this day and night and will be until you pull the trigger. And, then, before you know it, you'll have add-on-itis!

 

[noisykid]

Good luck with this! If you're like me, you're probably obsessing about this day and night and will be until you pull the trigger. And, then, before you know it, you'll have add-on-itis!

What gave it away?

I actually forced myself to give it a bit of a break today. Leaning towards a resale at BCV if I can find one that matches my wants. The price difference combined with the point chart differential when compared to Poly is pretty extreme. And more importantly, it's where we want to be. Could that change in 2, 5, or 10 years? Sure, but one bridge at a time.

 

[ldo]

If you want BCV and that's the primary purpose of your purchase, then resale is a good decision. That lower pricing a diminishing asset would be key for me. You can keep it and just let the time run out. That's what we did with a HHI contract. I got a great price 12 years ago and will keep it until 2042.

 

[VGCgroupie]

100% yes

 

[noisykid]

If you want BCV and that's the primary purpose of your purchase, then resale is a good decision. That lower pricing a diminishing asset would be key for me. You can keep it and just let the time run out. That's what we did with a HHI contract. I got a great price 12 years ago and will keep it until 2042.

Yes, if we can get a decent price per point for BCV, then it's just a prepaid vacation plan for the next 15 years or so, regardless of the 2042 expiration. Even at around $120/pt, with 1 week stays in a 1BR, I break even vs. cash rack rate in about 5 trips or so. Now, we could of course (and likely should) rent points for those trips. So in the end, as we know, it comes down to deciding if we want a longer-term thing or not.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I just spoke with a DVC guide for quite a while. He was great and answered a bunch of questions. They do have BCV points to sell me (no incentives), as well as Poly (current incentives). He said they would apply the DVC points regardless of property to an existing cash reservation. It seems this is for new DVC members only, or so he stated. As I was inquiring about an October UY, he mentioned that we would get 2024's points and could use those for our existing booking this coming Nov regardless of where we purchase, or sell them back to Disney at $20/point if we purchased Poly. So all said, I need to do some more math. Being able to use 2024's points for an existing 1BR BCV stay is definitely a bonus. As for BCV vs Poly, we need to weigh the BCV/Epcot benefit vs. the 2042 expiration.

Do not buy BCV direct. Do not buy BCV direct. DO NOT buy BCV direct.

Okay now that I got that out of the way. Make sure you also look at the point chart differences in addition to the expiration and price per point up front.

Also, I havent read everything in this thread but please also take into consideration if you have to finance or are paying cash. If financing, would a lower price up front make you not have to finance? If so resale is best. If paying cash either way think about creative purchase strategies to bring your cost down on direct (using credit card that has extra points/cashback on travel purchases, new credit cards with big sign up bonuses)

Next for resale the prices you see aren't what you have to pay you can negotiate down.

Lastly, do not buy Beach Club direct even if you get to use it for your stay. There is nothing to make buying Beach Club direct worthwhile.

 

[Sandisw]

Yes, if we can get a decent price per point for BCV, then it's just a prepaid vacation plan for the next 15 years or so, regardless of the 2042 expiration. Even at around $120/pt, with 1 week stays in a 1BR, I break even vs. cash rack rate in about 5 trips or so. Now, we could of course (and likely should) rent points for those trips. So in the end, as we know, it comes down to deciding if we want a longer-term thing or not.

I definitely support BCV resale. That is where you want to be and if you decide that you want some unrestricted points for the newer resorts, you add on small amounts later

The price difference is just too large to purchase it direct…good luck!!

 

[noisykid]

Do not buy BCV direct. Do not buy BCV direct. DO NOT buy BCV direct.

Okay now that I got that out of the way. Make sure you also look at the point chart differences in addition to the expiration and price per point up front.

Also, I havent read everything in this thread but please also take into consideration if you have to finance or are paying cash. If financing, would a lower price up front make you not have to finance? If so resale is best. If paying cash either way think about creative purchase strategies to bring your cost down on direct (using credit card that has extra points/cashback on travel purchases, new credit cards with big sign up bonuses)

Next for resale the prices you see aren't what you have to pay you can negotiate down.

Lastly, do not buy Beach Club direct even if you get to use it for your stay. There is nothing to make buying Beach Club direct worthwhile.

Oh, we're on the same page, I 100% have no interest in BCV direct, it's astronomical. I would only be interested in BCV at a really good resale rate. I'm actually now even thinking twice about BCV as I'm giving a little more weight to the argument of a later expiration date being valuable for resale, or handing it off to my daughter in 15-20 years. If I have to deal with 7 month windows for BCV, maybe it's worth the savings. TBD.

I'm paying cash. I'm keeping credit card points in mind as a nice bonus, but not letting it be a deciding factor.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Oh, we're on the same page, I 100% have no interest in BCV direct, it's astronomical. I would only be interested in BCV at a really good resale rate. I'm actually now even thinking twice about BCV as I'm giving a little more weight to the argument of a later expiration date being valuable for resale, or handing it off to my daughter in 15-20 years. If I have to deal with 7 month windows for BCV, maybe it's worth the savings. TBD.

I'm paying cash. I'm keeping credit card points in mind as a nice bonus, but not letting it be a deciding factor.

whew! Okay good. If you buy a small resale now you qualify for existing member discounts on direct the future to so there is that to remember. Also there's a new DVC resort opening in 2027 although it's not in the Epcot area.