Direct vs resale

[Rocky092]

Hi everyone! My family is planning on purchasing a DVC at Polynesian soon. The travelers would be myself, my husband, our two year old, my parents, and my sister. Eventually we may have another child.

We want to purchase enoug points to go every other year (two studio rooms). We usually stay 8 to 9 days and plan on going to Disney for the entire length of the contract. My debate is whether to buy direct or resale.

Resale is obviously cheaper but the option for the gold pass seems like a significant savings for a larger family. I know these are not guaranteed perks with a blue card, but the long term savings for just a family of 4-5 seems significant. On years where we have the annual pass we would add a cash stay or buy a small add on resale resale contract for a second trip.

I was considering buying the minimum points direct (100 or 125) then adding on resale as needed? Or is resale the better way to go on 120 ish points? TIA

 

[Sandisw]

I think a family of 4 can make up the difference in about 10 years or less,

The benefit of buying direct now before its 125 is the savings. However, with trips every other year, the gold pass becomes close to what your normal ticket would be anyway so not sure you are saving.

But if you foresee eventually going yearly, then I vote for direct at 100 and add on the rest later via resale. I know perks are not guaranteed but I don’t see it going away anytime soon...well, at least one WDW beings selling APs to everyone.

The other option is DVC does get discounts on food and that may be nice too for extended family trips. Yes, you can pay for a TIW card which gets you a larger discount, but I like knowing I can get 10 to 15% without it costing me extra.

 

[db24]

Hi everyone! My family is planning on purchasing a DVC at Polynesian soon. The travelers would be myself, my husband, our two year old, my parents, and my sister. Eventually we may have another child.

We want to purchase enoug points to go every other year (two studio rooms). We usually stay 8 to 9 days. My debate is whether to buy direct or resale.

Resale is obviously cheaper but the option for the gold pass seems like a significant savings for a larger family. I know these are not guaranteed perks with a blue card, but the long term savings for just a family of 4 seems significant. We may also add on the further to be able to go every year ( or do a cash stay sometimes)

I was considering buying the minimum points direct (100 or 125) then adding on resale as needed? Or is resale the better way to go on 120 ish points? TIA

If you are going every other year I don't know if the savings you'd get would be worth the extra cost to get a blue card. I think a 8 or 9 day ticket is about the same price as the gold pass.

If you start going every year or multiple times a year the gold pass discount could save you a lot.

 

[Rocky092]

Thank you! We would most likely be adding on trips between our stays or adding on very soon to be able to go pretty much every year. In the past when I had an annual pass we would go 2-3 times in a 12 month span and then skip a year or two of Disney. For the year we would get an AP we would definitely go twice and most like make that a "budget cash trip".

 

[RoseGold]

Why would you want a gold AP to go every other year? Just pay for the 8 days and that's that.

To get all of these people direct benefits (blue card), they have to either be on the DVC deed with you or be in one household (have your address). Being on the deed is owning real estate with someone, which is a legally significant thing. This matters when you are talking about bankruputcy, getting sued, estates, divorce payouts, all of that. This kind of complication would not be worth a few hundred bucks savings to me.

Even if you start going multiple times a year, you can still do Late Aug - spring break - early Aug on one AP and only get one every other year.

The piece missing here is how long you plan to hold. If you plan to go to WDW for the next 30 years, then maybe direct is looking more appealing. I only plan to hold while my kids are little, so resale is a no-brainer for me. Also, Poly direct is CRAZY expensive. I'd think about OKW direct, and that puts you in having to book at 7 month. That's easy enough right now most of the time at Poly, but maybe not going forward, like when 2042 expires kind of long term.

 

[Rocky092]

Why would you want a gold AP to go every other year? Just pay for the 8 days and that's that.

To get all of these people direct benefits (blue card), they have to either be on the DVC deed with you or be in one household (have your address). Being on the deed is owning real estate with someone, which is a legally significant thing. This matters when you are talking about bankruputcy, getting sued, estates, divorce payouts, all of that. This kind of complication would not be worth a few hundred bucks savings to me.

Even if you start going multiple times a year, you can still do Late Aug - spring break - early Aug on one AP and only get one every other year.

The piece missing here is how long you plan to hold. If you plan to go to WDW for the next 30 years, then maybe direct is looking more appealing. I only plan to hold while my kids are little, so resale is a no-brainer for me. Also, Poly direct is CRAZY expensive. I'd think about OKW direct, and that puts you in having to book at 7 month. That's easy enough right now most of the time at Poly, but maybe not going forward.

Thank you so much for the advice, we all live at the same residential address which is permanent for us and we do plan on using the contract until it expires. We would use the AP twice each time it was purchased, once with DVC and once with a cash trip or by adding on resale points

 

[RoseGold]

If you are staggering your APs, so that you only buy an AP every other year, the Blue Card discount isn't worth much at all to you, assuming this discount ever exists again. That would be something like late Aug - early Aug - late Aug - early Aug, so 2 APs in four years.

 

[Sandisw]

Thank you so much for the advice, we all live at the same residential address which is permanent for us and we do plan on using the contract until it expires. We would use the AP twice each time it was purchased, once with DVC and once with a cash trip or by adding on resale points

If you have already done the AP with multiple trips and everyone at the same address, then IMO direct is the way to go.

Sounds like you’d make more than one trip when you have them, and definitely be increasing trips as time goes on.

 

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

Either way I would keep Use Year in mind if you are going to mix direct and resale. If you get direct first, go with a more popular Use Year so it's easier to find a matching UY contract at resale when you add on. December and August are good options (June and Feb as well). If you start with resale it doesn't matter as much as direct will usually add on with your requested UY.

Another thing to consider are fixed weeks. If there's a particular room type and time of year you will often go, a fixed week can make that process seamless - you automatically will be booked for it (and can cancel it and use the points however you want for years you aren't going that week, etc). This is especially helpful for people who want studios which it sounds like might be the case for you.

At any rate.... excited for you and your family!

 

[Sandisw]

If you are staggering your APs, so that you only buy an AP every other year, the Blue Card discount isn't worth much at all to you, assuming this discount ever exists again. That would be something like late Aug - early Aug - late Aug - early Aug, so 2 APs in four years.

With that many people, even an AP every other year is a benefi. It just takes longer to recoup.

OP mentions some trips are 8 to 9 days each so the Gold AP will be a good benefit And if they have one, they’d be sure to take multiple trips on one.

I did it for years before DVC and with my family of 5, it was definitely cheaper than two 6 day tickets.

I know WDW has suspended AP sales...though they have started back up for select guests, there is no indication that they will not offer the DVC gold as the FL gold is back for sale already for those who had a canceled or expired one.

 

[Rocky092]

Thank you everyone for the responses! Im going to see how the next couple of months pan out before I make a final decision RE direct or resale. The change from 100 min to 125 min may also change things so we shall see!

 

[LAX]

Hi everyone! My family is planning on purchasing a DVC at Polynesian soon. The travelers would be myself, my husband, our two year old, my parents, and my sister. Eventually we may have another child.

We want to purchase enoug points to go every other year (two studio rooms). We usually stay 8 to 9 days and plan on going to Disney for the entire length of the contract. My debate is whether to buy direct or resale.

Resale is obviously cheaper but the option for the gold pass seems like a significant savings for a larger family. I know these are not guaranteed perks with a blue card, but the long term savings for just a family of 4-5 seems significant. On years where we have the annual pass we would add a cash stay or buy a small add on resale resale contract for a second trip.

I was considering buying the minimum points direct (100 or 125) then adding on resale as needed? Or is resale the better way to go on 120 ish points? TIA

With a minimum of 6 travelers in your party, you will need 2 studios at PVB, which may not be guaranteed to be connecting (most reports here suggest people usually do end up getting connecting ones, though). Otherwise, you might want to look at other resorts that have 2-bedrooms as your home.

LAX

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I would do a Poly contract in the 200-300 point range (or combo of a direct and resale contracts). If you want to squeeze in an extra long weekend trip on occasion I would go more towards the 300 size.

 

[kanerf]

Keep in mind that Poly direct costs $235 pp.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I agree with previous poster that $235 is high. I would buy a less expensive resort for the direct card and poly resale for remainder.

 

[kanerf]

AKV and BRV are $176 pp direct.

 

[harmon54]

AKV and BRV are $176 pp direct.

Isn’t AKV at 183 for 125 points and only at $176 if you buy 300 points? Still less then Poly though.

 

[FastEddie17]

Isn’t AKV at 183 for 125 points and only at $176 if you buy 300 points? Still less then Poly though.

Yes, without any incentives full price direct is now $186 for AKV and $245 for Poly.

 

[Lorana]

AKV and BRV are $176 pp direct.

They are both $186 direct (price increased Nov 2019). AKV does have small incentives against it.

 

[AnnaS]

If you love and are set on Poly, buy enough points so that you can use them to your 11 month advantage.

Buy the 125 direct and add on a resale purchase same resort, same UY.