Best resort direct purchase

[dbinkley]

Hello
Now that SSR direct pricing has increased, which resort is the best value? I probably wouldn’t book more than 7 months out and I’m ok with staying at any of these if I had to. I would just buy the minimum required and then maybe purchase resale later on.
Thanks!

 

[MICKIMINI]

Location is probably the most important factor if money isn't an issue. If you can afford it, buy where you really want to stay! We've stayed at or toured every resort except RIV which doesn't appeal to us. Each is unique and I can find a reason to love each one and reasons I wouldn't buy too...it just depends on your travel style and family needs.

We love OKW as do our son and DIL (in their 30's). We originally bought OKW in 1996 and still love it as much as we did then. Direct will get you 2057 expiration. The villas are huge and the resort vibe tropical. It is a either a bus ride or drive to any parks. We love that you can park right outside your door so no walking miles down corridors. It really feels like home.

My guess is OKW will go up soon (just a guess). Get in touch with a guide at DVC so if there is another overnight increase on the resort you spoke to them about, you may get up to 14 days to make a final decision. The 150 increase AFAIK is set in stone. Once a contract is signed, you have 10 days to rescind if you change your mind.

Good luck!

 

[dbinkley]

Thank you! I was set on SSR before the price increase. Now I’m not so sure. OKW is still $165 pt but I know the dues are higher so maybe SSR would still be the best value even with the price increase? I’m sure someone good with math would know.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

It's probably still SSR. AKV is so close in pricing but has a bit higher MF's. OKW is lower price but has higher MF's.

Why not just go resale now?

 

[dbinkley]

I have heard it’s hard to get a good resale deal now bc Disney is buying so many of the contracts up now. I thought it might be a good time to go direct to get the blue card.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I have heard it’s hard to get a good resale deal now bc Disney is buying so many of the contracts up now. I thought it might be a good time to go direct to get the blue card.

ROFR is always a possibility but DVC doesn't buy everything back. People have been passing in the $120's for SSR (and even a few for less) recently which is still $60 per point less now. It kind of depends on why your looking at direct.

 

[dbinkley]

I thought maybe I would want to stay in one of the new resorts in the future and get a discount on annual passes. Maybe it’s not worth it if I can save a lot more money resale. I would like to get the most points possible at a low rate.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I thought maybe I would want to stay in one of the new resorts in the future and get a discount on annual passes. Maybe it’s not worth it if I can save a lot more money resale. I would like to get the most points possible at a low rate.

Assuming the AP continues with a large discount will you use it enough? Also at this particular time there is one DVC resort that you would not be able to stay at with resale points and 13 others plus your home resort that you could. DL seems to be happening and it's best to assume it will have restrictions but other than that it might be several years before anything else comes along now that the next is an addition to VGF. When you mention getting the most points possible at a low rate it's still going to be resale. For example you could almost certainly get 200 SSR points for what you would pay for 140 points or so direct. If quantity of points for the lowest rate is the #1 important factor then it's resale.

Now if you wouldn't use the AP enough you still could add on a smaller amount after you become a member with a resale purchase and use those points to stay at the newer resorts. But if you meant the most points for lowest cost direct I'd still go with SSR as the dues difference is what compounds and adds up over the years.

 

[Sandisw]

The benefit to SSR over OKW for me is the ease to DS when staying there. For the parks, it’s buses for both.

OKW points go farther there so your 125 direct points, if you have to stay at your home resort...assuming your planning changes to booking more than 7 months out..

The minimum is going to 150 next week so I’d decide soon. The good thing is that if you have a Disney Visa you can pay with that and get 6 months interest free.

I think either is a good deal.

 

[dbinkley]

Thanks so much for the information. Is resale for SSR better than buying direct since the price has increased so much?

 

[DonMacGregor]

Location is probably the most important factor if money isn't an issue. If you can afford it, buy where you really want to stay! We've stayed at or toured every resort except RIV which doesn't appeal to us. Each is unique and I can find a reason to love each one and reasons I wouldn't buy too...it just depends on your travel style and family needs.

We love OKW as do our son and DIL (in their 30's). We originally bought OKW in 1996 and still love it as much as we did then. Direct will get you 2057 expiration. The villas are huge and the resort vibe tropical. It is a either a bus ride or drive to any parks. We love that you can park right outside your door so no walking miles down corridors. It really feels like home.

My guess is OKW will go up soon (just a guess). Get in touch with a guide at DVC so if there is another overnight increase on the resort you spoke to them about, you may get up to 14 days to make a final decision. The 150 increase AFAIK is set in stone. Once a contract is signed, you have 10 days to rescind if you change your mind.

Good luck!

Don't forget the quick boat ride to DS, which pretty much eliminates the whole criticism about lack of food variety at the resort. And there's the shopping...

 

[kanerf]

The boats at OKW have yet to return. I understand that these are run by Disney Springs and not WDW itself, so I imagine they will return when the Disney Springs association or whatever decides that they will be profitable again.

 

[Drewski77]

ROFR is always a possibility but DVC doesn't buy everything back. People have been passing in the $120's for SSR (and even a few for less) recently which is still $60 per point less now. It kind of depends on why your looking at direct.

We passed ROFR at $116 for a fully loaded contract, was for 250 points and about 1 1/2 months ago, but passing in the $120’s should be doable.

Still a big savings over $180 direct.

 

[Bjaiken77]

I’d say you could make a case for SSR, OKW, AKL, or even RIV. This assumes you still want to go direct. I’d say you have to ask yourself do you really not care about the advantage of booking more than 7 months in advance. You say you don’t, but is that always going to be the case? From there, you have to consider the dues, which makes SSR appealing as of today. Then, you have to consider how long you think you’re in this for (that might be an age consideration). SSR/OKW/AKL have very similar time remaining, but there’s 48-49 years left with RIV and incentives that make them comparable in price. Finally, do you want have a good option to sell the timeshare as an exit strategy or do you plan to pass it down? It’s a lot to consider and, while it should be more objective, is still very much based on personal preferences, anticipated usage, and life circumstances.

RIV will be the wild card, as the dues are a bit high, the point chart is high, and it’s the only one with resale restrictions. The positive is you get that full length for a pretty good up front price when you include incentives.

 

[ForWhomTheMouseTolls]

Riviera — hands down. It’s theming is spectacular, it has large rooms, and it has the luxury of hotels that cost its rack rate in the real world.

I frequently stay at the Mandarin Oriental and Four Seasons and Riviera is just as nice. That’s not true for almost any other DVC resort.

 

[dbinkley]

With the resale restriction on Riviera, I’m not sure it will hold its value if I ever needed to sell. Are the incentives really that good?

 

[dbinkley]

If I’m mainly staying in 1 bedrooms, is the availability better at 7 months? I don’t want to buy really high dollar points if I don’t have to. I’m flexible when I can travel. I thought maybe SSR would be good to get the most points. Not sure if it’s worth buying direct or not

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

If I’m mainly staying in 1 bedrooms, is the availability better at 7 months? I don’t want to buy really high dollar points if I don’t have to. I’m flexible when I can travel. I thought maybe SSR would be good to get the most points. Not sure if it’s worth buying direct or not

Since you said you wont' be booking more than 7 months out it doesn't matter where you own so it makes sense to own the least expensive. That does assume you are happy with any resort but wanting 1BR's will help with having more availability at more resorts.

What you need to decide is if the possible AP discount or staying at any future resorts (remember - it's now only Riviera with Disneyland the next and could be years for others) is worth the cost of paying several thousand more for direct. If not then as I mentioned it's going to be around $50/pt less for Saratoga going resale if the info I've seen on direct pricing does still give you a discount on purchasing 200 pts. If you're buying for a 1BR every year for a week or so you're probably wanting something like 200-250 points so buying resale of 200 points is going to be $9,000-$10,000 less than buying the direct from DVC or close to $12,000 for 250 points. Only you can answer if those are savings you'd prefer over possible benefits that come with direct.

 

[Bjaiken77]

With the resale restriction on Riviera, I’m not sure it will hold its value if I ever needed to sell. Are the incentives really that good?

For us, we considered them good. $193 for 125 (for blue card minimum) and $185 for 150. But that’s for us because we bought it with the intention of using all 50 years. There’s a lot to consider though. The dues are higher and no one knows where resale pricing will level out.

We own SSR resale points for sleeping around at the various resorts. You talked about wanting to buy resale possibly down the road. We tied our 125 direct points to a resort with the longest time and most desirability to us. If we had to sell, we’d sell SSR.

As always, you need to decide what’s right for you. All the information provided, including my own story, doesn’t matter if it doesn’t make sense for you.

 

[ForWhomTheMouseTolls]

On the Riviera front, with incentives, our average price per point was essentially no different from resale.

Put differently, resale is holding up great. And it will.