Advice - Buy direct 200 or buy 100 direct and 100 resale?

[sandydk]

We have fallen in love with Disney vacations after 2 rounds of park visits and now our first DCL. On the cruise we bought our first DVC!

We like to go off season, so don't need tons of points to start. So we bought 200 pts at Poly, with a nice developer credit and bonus for about 9% reduction in list price. However, we are thinking about cutting that - still in the 10-day window - down to 100, then buying a 100 point contract for Saratoga or Old Key West on the resale market. Would love AKL but those seem hard to find. The split idea kills the developer credit savings (no credit at 100 pts), so the net difference in purchase price is about $4k.

That still gives us 200 points, but now 2 home resort options and a little lower price. Thoughts on this? Hidden pitfalls? Would love some advice here from those who know this far better than we do.

Thanks!

 

[amccu18007]

I am sure that the experts here will be able to guide you but I bought 150 points at Poly and after everything was said and done, I wish that I bought 200 points. We are still going to buy another resale contract as we like to vacation often but it always seems as though I could use just a smidge more points. We don't travel during busy seasons either if that helps at all. Good luck and Congratulations on whatever you choose

 

[mustinjourney]

100 points direct at poly look like they are $176 per point.
100 points for Saratoga go for around $80 per point.

So doing the split 100/100 would be around $25,600 + closing costs -- $500 at disney and about $600 resale for a total of $26,700 ballpark.

On the disney website, they are showing 200 points direct PVB would be $35,200 -- but if you got a 10% discount off that, then you're looking at $31,680+750 closing for a total of $32,480. So that looks like around $6000 difference. Did you get another $2000 credit? Either way -- it's not a huge savings in the long run, but $4000 would still cover quite a few park tickets.

The real question is whether you have any desire to stay at the poly or not. If you'd rather be at AKV, you can get a 200 point resale there for about $80 per point fairly easily. That's $16000+closing -- which is about $15500 cheaper than buying 100% direct. That's big time savings.

If you don't care where your home resort is...then buy SSR resale. It's the cheapest option when you consider both initial buy in and maintenance fees. If you get value out of a gold AP, then add 25 points direct purchase after your resale contract goes through.

If you desire a monorail resort, then BLT is a good option.

As far as owning at two different resorts so you have "home resort" advantage -- SSR gives you no upgrade. You can book there at 7 months pretty easily. If you want something to give you the home resort advantage -- then you're really looking at BWV, BCV, and VGF.

Keep in mind that the cheaper seasons for points are the most popular for DVC bookings...so home resort advantage becomes a bigger deal during those times.

 

[mustinjourney]

check this link out -- it gives you a good idea of booking patterns.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...-some-1-bedrooms-vgc-update-10-21-15.3419112/

 

[Minniesgal]

I'd buy 200 resale

 

[LAX]

We have fallen in love with Disney vacations after 2 rounds of park visits and now our first DCL. On the cruise we bought our first DVC!

We like to go off season, so don't need tons of points to start. So we bought 200 pts at Poly, with a nice developer credit and bonus for about 9% reduction in list price. However, we are thinking about cutting that - still in the 10-day window - down to 100, then buying a 100 point contract for Saratoga or Old Key West on the resale market. Would love AKL but those seem hard to find. The split idea kills the developer credit savings (no credit at 100 pts), so the net difference in purchase price is about $4k.

That still gives us 200 points, but now 2 home resort options and a little lower price. Thoughts on this? Hidden pitfalls? Would love some advice here from those who know this far better than we do.

Thanks!

Unless you want all of your points to have PVB as the home resort, it's definitively more cost effective to split half direct and half resale. The saving you will gain in resale should more than recoup the developer credit you will lose. The caveat with this strategy is that you might have a tough time finding a resale contract in the same UY as your PVB contract. Plus, it would be difficult to find one with the exact number of points you are looking for. If you end up not getting any discount on your direct PVB contract at 100 points, you are probably better off canceling the entire contract so that you can start with a resale contract that works for you. After that, it would be much easier to add on at PVB with the same UY. Plus, if you end up with a resale contract that has more points than you are looking for, you can scale down the number of points you add on direct at PVB.

LAX

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Depending if the direct purchase AP perk means anything buy 175 resale and 25 direct if that is the number of points you need for your projected trips.

The question is, where do you want to stay? And are studios what you want because that is what Poly has. If your going to trade out for larger accommodations or fir other locations it doesn't make sense to get the most expensive option for DVC (which is Poly).

 

[ELMC]

The short answer is that you don't have a lot of time until your 10 day window expires. If you're asking the question, you should cancel your purchase entirely. You're going to get a lot of great answers with a lot of information, most of which you probably never even considered before. Take the time to do the research and make an informed decision. You may find that you don't actually want to own at the Poly and you can save a ton of money buying the resort you actually want on the resale market. Then you can go back and add on 25 points direct to get the perks if that means anything to you.

You can always cancel and buy again. But if you don't cancel you are locked in. Good luck!

 

[Matty B13]

Also, if you are financing through DVC their rate is over 10%, you can get a much better rate else where.

 

[CarolMN]

Just remember that you cannot combine points from different resorts to make a reservation until the 7 month window, so if your typical vacations need more than that, it could be a problem.

 

[Matty B13]

Also, have to be in the same UY to combine points at 7 months.

 

[ScubaCat]

Not to pile on too much information here, but you are aware that Poly (other than the uber-expensive bungalos) is all studios, right? If you want 1, 2, or 3 bedrooms, Poly is not a good choice IMHO.

 

[Dean]

We have fallen in love with Disney vacations after 2 rounds of park visits and now our first DCL. On the cruise we bought our first DVC!

We like to go off season, so don't need tons of points to start. So we bought 200 pts at Poly, with a nice developer credit and bonus for about 9% reduction in list price. However, we are thinking about cutting that - still in the 10-day window - down to 100, then buying a 100 point contract for Saratoga or Old Key West on the resale market. Would love AKL but those seem hard to find. The split idea kills the developer credit savings (no credit at 100 pts), so the net difference in purchase price is about $4k.

That still gives us 200 points, but now 2 home resort options and a little lower price. Thoughts on this? Hidden pitfalls? Would love some advice here from those who know this far better than we do.

Thanks!

I'd buy resale first regardless of what you decide but the best option is almost certainly all resale except for a 25 point retail add on. I wonder if you have enough info to make a good decision about home resort, UY and number of points at this time. You should cancel and then buy what you decide is best (if anything) once you have enough info to make an informed decision.

 

[MattKreps]

Thanks all - this has been super helpful. (This is sandydk's husband, who she was posting for.) We agree that the issue here is home resort, and AK is the better option. We love Poly, and will just find a way to book there occasionally, but AK is unique and one of our favorite parts of prior trips due to the uniqueness, animals, And programs they offer. We'll work the resale market and then add a direct. We're really comfortable with the size of contract we need, and our UY is relatively set, although we do see our window changing over the coming years.

When people talk about how this will change how you do Disney, we can already see that. We're looking at being there more often, and going for some of the events that we'd otherwise skip. Thanks for the good advice and comparisons - you guys are great!

 

[ELMC]

Thanks all - this has been super helpful. (This is sandydk's husband, who she was posting for.) We agree that the issue here is home resort, and AK is the better option. We love Poly, and will just find a way to book there occasionally, but AK is unique and one of our favorite parts of prior trips due to the uniqueness, animals, And programs they offer. We'll work the resale market and then add a direct. We're really comfortable with the size of contract we need, and our UY is relatively set, although we do see our window changing over the coming years.

When people talk about how this will change how you do Disney, we can already see that. We're looking at being there more often, and going for some of the events that we'd otherwise skip. Thanks for the good advice and comparisons - you guys are great!

Thank you for asking a great question and being open to the answers, even if they contradict what you may have been originally thinking. That kind of flexibility of thought makes us feel like we are actually helping when someone asks a question and we give our unbiased, well-intentioned advice.

 

[disneynutz]

Rescind your direct contract now and take some time to decide your next step. Since you bought during a DCL cruise you may still have pixie dust clouding your vision.

Bill

 

[msjprincess]

I'd buy all AKL resale. Then maybe add on 25 points direct. The only way I would ever buy Polynesian direct, is if I went during the busy season and always wanted to stay at the Polynesian.

 

[Wakey]

No brainer - AKL resale, full 200. Don't assume direct 'perks' will definitely be worth it unless you know now you will want the discount AP. If you are not sure about that one perk worth having, take a trip and then decide if it's worth dropping another 4.5 k for that direct 25 point add on.

 

[Wakey]

Remember though MFs are higher for AKL than somewhere like SSR. If you travel off peak DVC times (Jan-Sept) particularly in a 1 bedroom (which can actually usually be snaffled at Kidani standard view at 7 months in nearly all but the highest demand times), then SSR is a v good option. Study skier Pete's 7 month booking availability and the spreadsheet I put on here for 7 month booking. Historical data but my experience is it is a good indicator.

 

[zavandor]

If you decide to add-on later, you can buy AKV instead of Poly. Disney actively market only Poly and the newest CCV, but you can purchase most of the "sold out" resorts as well. 25 points won't get you far at the Poly, if you decide to add-on only a small contract for the perks, so adding at your home resort may be wiser.