Advice - Getting to 150 Direct

[Steelers0854]

Thank you all so much for all of your opinions and insights, it has been so helpful to have others in this space to bounce ideas off of.

We have decided to go direct for a few reasons. We want to future proof. Disney seems key to invest in DVC properties (Reflections now being revived, AKL being remodeled, Poly and Disneyland builds) and we think his will only grow. We would like to have the option to stay anywhere we like. Also lounges are a nice perk and they seem to be moving more in that direction too. In addition we have found overselves recently really wishing we had our AP (we did incredipass in 2023 and didnt think we would go to WDW in 24 but have now been 3 times). So the savings there is very helpful for us.

We have made the decision to go with the Poly. We are going to do the 150 direct and get the current incentive but are waiting to sign the contract til December so we can see if the new incentives will be better. We loved our stay at the Poly and the fact that the new Island Tower is not its own property but incorporated makes it that much better. It gives us better options in the future if we resell it I think its more desirable that the buyer can book the O14 whereas they cant with the new properties. We also decided to partially finance it. Interest rates aren’t horrible (looks like 8.5% with an autopay) and that gives us some financial flexibility and we can pay it down/off at our leisure.

We are really really excited about this. Can’t thank you all enough!

 

[tx911]

Not sure what the exact points situation was but if you were just missing 2 points, this is where one-time-use points (which have no restrictions) can be useful. In fact, for just one night, you can operate just with OTU points and without any direct points. Obviously, calling in to buy/use them risks losing a desired reservation, but that option of OTU points should always be kept in mind!

Yes I thought of that, but that room was gone in the blink of an eye. This was before MS even opened for the day.

 

[tx911]

Yes I thought of that, but that room was gone in the blink of an eye. This was before MS even opened for the day.

With that thought in mind, it would be really great if you had access to your OTUP through the website, without even needing to call MS!

 

[DanCali]

Would I be crazy to consider a 150 point Poly contract, take advantage of the slight discount down to $215pp? Yes its more than I wanted to pay at one time, but it gets me all of my 150, at a monorail resort, resale contracts are posted for about $185 so not a huge premium, and I don’t have the resale restrictions like I would if we bought at one of the new resorts?

My thought was to split the contract into a 50 and 100, wait until about half way through the month of November to do it, as the current deals end Dec 11, im assuming new deals would start immediately after that and we can see if a better deal pops up and if not we close on this deal?

Resale has its advantages and disadvantages and ultimately it's your decision to make. The only think I'll say about your thoughts is that resale prices, especially for contracts in the ~150 point range are not anywhere near $185, despite the impression brokers are trying to create.

I agree that DVC-Y is worth some premium, but if you're trying to convince yourself that it's just ~$30/point at current direct prices that's probably not the case. Would the equation in your personal situation change if you could get a resale contract at $160 or $150 or maybe even less? If the answer is that "it might" then it doesn't hurt to make a couple of offers and see what happens... you might be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Steelers0854]

One last question I was thinking of splitting the contract in 2, a 100 point and 50 point. Do you think that is best or 2 75 point?

 

[pzw90]

One last question I was thinking of splitting the contract in 2, a 100 point and 50 point. Do you think that is best or 2 75 point?

100 and 50 makes more sense, if you decide to sell one you have different options, sell 100 keep 50, sell 50 keep 100
If 75s, you only have one option as you'll end up with 75
Do you have kids (or plan to) that you might want to give these to one day? Not that they will get DVC-Y if you split it from the 150

 

[Chili327]

One last question I was thinking of splitting the contract in 2, a 100 point and 50 point. Do you think that is best or 2 75 point?

I think the best case is to have it split 3 ways 50x50x50, but I think you can’t go wrong splitting it any way you want. 75x75 is fine, but as posted 100x50 could give you better options down the road.

 

[DanCali]

One last question I was thinking of splitting the contract in 2, a 100 point and 50 point. Do you think that is best or 2 75 point?

You can also do 3x50 - that's probably most flexible.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Thank you all so much for all of your opinions and insights, it has been so helpful to have others in this space to bounce ideas off of.

We have decided to go direct for a few reasons. We want to future proof. Disney seems key to invest in DVC properties (Reflections now being revived, AKL being remodeled, Poly and Disneyland builds) and we think his will only grow. We would like to have the option to stay anywhere we like. Also lounges are a nice perk and they seem to be moving more in that direction too. In addition we have found overselves recently really wishing we had our AP (we did incredipass in 2023 and didnt think we would go to WDW in 24 but have now been 3 times). So the savings there is very helpful for us.

We have made the decision to go with the Poly. We are going to do the 150 direct and get the current incentive but are waiting to sign the contract til December so we can see if the new incentives will be better. We loved our stay at the Poly and the fact that the new Island Tower is not its own property but incorporated makes it that much better. It gives us better options in the future if we resell it I think its more desirable that the buyer can book the O14 whereas they cant with the new properties. We also decided to partially finance it. Interest rates aren’t horrible (looks like 8.5% with an autopay) and that gives us some financial flexibility and we can pay it down/off at our leisure.

We are really really excited about this. Can’t thank you all enough!

Just a heads up that you can get the Disney Premiere Visa and get 0% financing for 6m and then roll that to another 0% interest credit card for 12-18m (usually a 4% transfer fee) after that 6m period. That can give you nearly 2 years to pay the thing off.

Love the December buy in.

+1 on the 3x50 given that you don’t have to pay for title insurance from Disney.

50 point contracts always move quickly and sell for a premium.

The only other thing to look at would be a fixed week with some or all of the150. Those also sell for a premium. There are some studio and duo weeks with a standard view that would fall around the 150 range.

https://cdn2.parksmedia.wdprapps.di.../resorts/dvc-resorts/2024-2025-PVB-090324.pdf

 

[Sandisw]

Not sure what the exact points situation was but if you were just missing 2 points, this is where one-time-use points (which have no restrictions) can be useful. In fact, for just one night, you can operate just with OTU points and without any direct points. Obviously, calling in to buy/use them risks losing a desired reservation, but that option of OTU points should always be kept in mind!

This is true but sometimes, by the time you call to purchase, when searching last minute, it’s gone.

Just happened to me…though I had the points but did search instead of modify.

By the time I did, one of my two nights was gone.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Thank you all so much for all of your opinions and insights, it has been so helpful to have others in this space to bounce ideas off of.

We have decided to go direct for a few reasons. We want to future proof. Disney seems key to invest in DVC properties (Reflections now being revived, AKL being remodeled, Poly and Disneyland builds) and we think his will only grow. We would like to have the option to stay anywhere we like. Also lounges are a nice perk and they seem to be moving more in that direction too. In addition we have found overselves recently really wishing we had our AP (we did incredipass in 2023 and didnt think we would go to WDW in 24 but have now been 3 times). So the savings there is very helpful for us.

We have made the decision to go with the Poly. We are going to do the 150 direct and get the current incentive but are waiting to sign the contract til December so we can see if the new incentives will be better. We loved our stay at the Poly and the fact that the new Island Tower is not its own property but incorporated makes it that much better. It gives us better options in the future if we resell it I think its more desirable that the buyer can book the O14 whereas they cant with the new properties. We also decided to partially finance it. Interest rates aren’t horrible (looks like 8.5% with an autopay) and that gives us some financial flexibility and we can pay it down/off at our leisure.

We are really really excited about this. Can’t thank you all enough!

If you know 100% that you are buying no matter if incentives change or not you dont have to wait until December. Waiting for 10 days prior gives the right to rescind completely. To just change your incentives it's 90 days.

Not sure how long you were going to finance for but there are credit cards out there offering 0% for up to 24 months.

 

[Lumpy1106]

To OP - have you seen the ROFR thread lately? Resale prices have gone way down, direct prices have not. That reason alone, I would be leary of buying direct.

We bought in 2019 right before the restrictions, thinking that maybe someday we'd want to stay in one of the newer properties. Problem has been, ALL of the newer properties have had much-too-high points charts, or other restrictions (looking at you, VDH) that have continued to make those properties undesirable. LSS - we have only stayed in the originals, BLT (where we own), BWV and CCV.

My $0.02, buy resale at CCV if you need more points since you do love staying there (we do too - but tough for our family of 5). Forget about the new properties, as I don't see Disney structuring any future property points charts any differently than RIV.

 

[Steelers0854]

To OP - have you seen the ROFR thread lately? Resale prices have gone way down, direct prices have not. That reason alone, I would be leary of buying direct.

We bought in 2019 right before the restrictions, thinking that maybe someday we'd want to stay in one of the newer properties. Problem has been, ALL of the newer properties have had much-too-high points charts, or other restrictions (looking at you, VDH) that have continued to make those properties undesirable. LSS - we have only stayed in the originals, BLT (where we own), BWV and CCV.

My $0.02, buy resale at CCV if you need more points since you do love staying there (we do too - but tough for our family of 5). Forget about the new properties, as I don't see Disney structuring any future property points charts any differently than RIV.

I really appreciate the perspective, we sometimes fail to see the forest through the trees when making these kinds of decisions. And agree there is a huge delta between resale and direct at the moment as a whole. We are looking at this over the long haul, decades, not just short term. From that perspective direct prices have only increased over time. Given that we balked several years ago and now regret that decision we don’t want to be in that boat again. Disney appears to be sticking to the grandfathered mentality (which is the right thing to do and while never say never I would be shocked if they diverted from this approach). Given that we are ok with this investment will i be disappointed if we could have gotten a better deal in the near future, sure! But will I be way more disappointed if they raise the minimum for extra benefits to 200 and add a bunch of new benefits we have not foreseen, definitely. No one has a crystal ball, we took the slow roll approach with the first resale purchase and confirmed this is for us, the current Poly deal seems to be the best of all current worlds for our purposes, so here goes!

Worst case is I always sell these contracts, take a small loss and pivot to a different strategy.

 

[chlwodud85]

How do you know that being restricted from
Riviera, Cabins, Disneyland Hotel are not a big deal to the OP?

Why do you assume that people should be OK settling for OKW and SSR?

Why are you discounting access to future associations (BW,BC,BRV post 2042; Disneyland Forward) ?

Discounted APs? Discounts on food and merchandise?

Access to any other program they dream up that only applies to DVC-Y? Special lounges, Top of The World Lounge, Special events at Aulani, Welcome Home Weeks.

I get that YOU may not care about these things, but your statement implies that your OPINIONS and PERSONAL PREFERENCES are universal truths.

I wasn't assuming anything but providing OP with my thoughts that may help make there final decision because it seemed like cost/price was a factor in there decision

Those future resorts you are mentioning are still unknown (why pay for something you don't know about... again this is your opinion Vs my opinion)

Why would you assume OP will need discounted AP or even use AP? (and for this benefit to be effective it will require at least 8-9 day visits), Food discount is 10% (you save soooo much more upfront thru resale) and merchandise you can get through Chase Debit card (not CC but debit)

And I did mention that the benefits to direct is the ability to access special events (since you can't buy)

Also, as my first point I mentioned that OP's key concern seemed to be about cost so I was trying to be helpful by providing alternative opinion on purchasing DVC

Lastly, it is a universal truth that by buying Resale it is a huge saving Vs buying direct... so its not just my opinion

 

[AstroBlasters]

I wasn't assuming anything but providing OP with my thoughts that may help make there final decision because it seemed like cost/price was a factor in there decision

Those future resorts you are mentioning are still unknown (why pay for something you don't know about... again this is your opinion Vs my opinion)

Why would you assume OP will need discounted AP or even use AP? (and for this benefit to be effective it will require at least 8-9 day visits), Food discount is 10% (you save soooo much more upfront thru resale) and merchandise you can get through Chase Debit card (not CC but debit)

And I did mention that the benefits to direct is the ability to access special events (since you can't buy)

Also, as my first point I mentioned that OP's key concern seemed to be about cost so I was trying to be helpful by providing alternative opinion on purchasing DVC

Lastly, it is a universal truth that by buying Resale it is a huge saving Vs buying direct... so its not just my opinion

The way you wrote your posts made statements of opinion/ personal judgement as if they were settled fact.

Examples:

“the only big benefit that resale people dont get is the ability to get tickets to Moonlight magic (or those type of DVC only events) and access to lounge”

“Well right now its only with Riviera and Cabins at wilderness and VDH so its not really a big disadvantage”

I can tell you that the only reason I have any direct points at all is because I live on west coast and wanted a bucket of points I could use to stay at VDH… which I have now 3 times.

So, once again, your statements are likely 100% correct based on how your family (and MANY other people) values resale vs direct…. but what you value may be very different from what someone else values and that is why I take issue with your post.

#TeamHybrid

 

[Lumpy1106]

I really appreciate the perspective, we sometimes fail to see the forest through the trees when making these kinds of decisions. And agree there is a huge delta between resale and direct at the moment as a whole. We are looking at this over the long haul, decades, not just short term. From that perspective direct prices have only increased over time. Given that we balked several years ago and now regret that decision we don’t want to be in that boat again. Disney appears to be sticking to the grandfathered mentality (which is the right thing to do and while never say never I would be shocked if they diverted from this approach). Given that we are ok with this investment will i be disappointed if we could have gotten a better deal in the near future, sure! But will I be way more disappointed if they raise the minimum for extra benefits to 200 and add a bunch of new benefits we have not foreseen, definitely. No one has a crystal ball, we took the slow roll approach with the first resale purchase and confirmed this is for us, the current Poly deal seems to be the best of all current worlds for our purposes, so here goes!

Worst case is I always sell these contracts, take a small loss and pivot to a different strategy.

It is really interesting looking back and seeing our perceptions vs. reality. The #1 advantage to DVC has been it locks us into a vacation. We all-too-often don't pull the trigger on vacations. We just get too busy and put it off until it just plain does not happen. With DVC it's use it or lose it, and we are not going to lose it. This was especially true in 2020 when everything shut down - that was our best trip ever, and we would have cancelled FOR SURE had we not owned DVC.

We really thought we needed to have access to the newer resorts, but that has turned out not to be the case at all. All points charts being equal that would have been a big bonus, but RIV and everything after has just had much-too-high points charts, so we have not taken advantage of access to the newer resorts at all.

Biggest disappointment? Easy - when we bought, FP+ with the 60-day window was a thing, as was DME. That was DW's make-or-break; if we got the same on-property rights as we would staying at a non-DVC resort, we were in. Yeah, well, we do, but those things are gone now. It's definitely made us think twice about future WDW trips, and that includes DVC, so a little buyer's remorse there. We have absolutely zero FOMO for not buying direct. We have missed out on a few discounts, but not nearly enough to make up for the amount we saved buying resale.

 

[Boosterman]

You can also do 3x50 - that's probably most flexible.

Question: If you do 3x50 direct from Disney, (1) Can you still get the incentive for 150 point threshold? (2) Do you pay the closing cost once or three times?

 

[tx911]

Question: If you do 3x50 direct from Disney, (1) Can you still get the incentive for 150 point threshold? (2) Do you pay the closing cost once or three times?

yes.

3 times.

ETA: But maybe just document fee??

 

[tx911]

yes.

3 times.

ETA: But maybe just document fee??

So looking back, I think the Settlement fee was split between contracts, but the full document fee of $250 was due for each contract.

 

[Boosterman]

So looking back, I think the Settlement fee was split between contracts, but the full document fee of $250 was due for each contract.

That's not too bad since small contracts are usually priced higher per point than larger contract in resale market.. I will probably do this when I get mine direct from Disney.