Disney Incentives For Taking The Tour / Buying In Directly

[MrRomance]

We have decided to buy in to the DVC. We are taking two trips in 2012 (Feb & July) and we have never taken the tour or expressed any interest at Disney previously.

For me, it seems evident that the resale market is the way to go. There doesn't seem to be anything "extra" or "important" available to us by buying direct. However, I've never actually looked into incentives for taking the tour or buying direct so maybe I'm missing something?

I know with resale there are things you can not do but we only want the DVC for use at Disneyworld so they don't seem to affect us in anyway.

What, if any, incentives are there for taking the tour and/or buying direct from Disney?

Thanks!

 

[vicki_c]

Guaranteed:
Free ice cream.
Free child care while taking the tour.

Sometimes/often:
Gift card in some nominal amount usually.
Fast Passes.
Free DVC tote bag.

And usually you will get an "extra" year's worth of points (not really an extra, but they try to spin it that way). But with a resale you will know exactly what you are getting in terms of points and can price your offer accordingly, so I don't think that should be a big factor.

That's about all I can think of in terms of incentives.

 

[DenLo]

You might check DVC News.com they have a financial section that talks about current incentives. http://dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-program/financial/pricing-a-promotions

Also there is a new incentive starting December 7th for Aulani but those incentives might not help you get a good price for an WDW resort.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

We went on the tour and ended up buying resale. There's nothing special about the tour. It's a sales pitch where they show you the program, show you a few rooms, explain why it's such a great value, answer any questions you may have, and give you a token of their appreciation (some small gift that was mentioned by PPs) for taking the tour. If you are only looking at staying on property, buying through Disney will cost you a whole lot more, and Disney will not negotiate on their price either.

If you're buying through resale and buy now, you can probably still book that July vacation on points (staying at SSR or OKW). You'd be able to apply whatever money you're spending on your July vaca toward your contract. No promises on that one, but we've booked SSR (one or two bedroom - can't remember) in March for a July trip. Just something to consider.

 

[luckyman_apd]

We've gone back and forth on buying. We've rented before and definitely saved money on the trip. We are VERY into disney because our kids are young. Unfortunately, I can't get vacation time except for the summer. So, finding a decent amount of points to buy in at is tough. Anyway,the only advantage for buying from Disney is that they've limited what you can use points for when buying resale. You can ONLY use resale points for resort stays. If you buy from Disney, you can still use the RCI exchange and use points for a cruise. Now, most places will break it down how the dollar to point ratio is not worth it to use points on the RCI and Cruislines anyway, but I'm not here to argue that point. We would only use the resorts with our purchase, so if we do buy, it will be resale.

 

[disneynutz]

We've gone back and forth on buying. We've rented before and definitely saved money on the trip. We are VERY into disney because our kids are young. Unfortunately, I can't get vacation time except for the summer. So, finding a decent amount of points to buy in at is tough. Anyway,the only advantage for buying from Disney is that they've limited what you can use points for when buying resale. You can ONLY use resale points for resort stays. If you buy from Disney, you can still use the RCI exchange and use points for a cruise. Now, most places will break it down how the dollar to point ratio is not worth it to use points on the RCI and Cruislines anyway, but I'm not here to argue that point. We would only use the resorts with our purchase, so if we do buy, it will be resale.

Resale can still RCI today, (it could change tomorrow).

The only reason to own a DVC contract is to save some money on your room. Your savings is offset because now you have to vacation at Disney regularly which can cost as much as your room savings.

Bill

 

[etemplet]

There was a discount on Animal Kingdom with the purchase of 160 points. If memory serves, $112 per point. I'm not sure what the price per point was if 220 points were purchased ($108?) or something like that.

You do get the current years points, at least that is what they told us at our tour/session.

On a side note, the tour only whetted my appetite for information on DVC (it left us with allot of questions). I talked to many individuals at the information booths, during our stay, and got allot more information. Allot more. We ended up with purchasing resale at BLT, within 2 weeks of our stay. THANKS MAINLY TO THE INFORMATION AND HELP FROM THIS BOARD.

Our decision was/is the right one for us but... there is nothing wrong with pruchasing direct if it suits your lifestyle better. Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[friends with mickey]

The other "incentive" for buying direct from Disney is time. You have access to your points and can make reservations as soon as you purchase. Buying resale takes time to go through ROFR and then get your points loaded into your account to be used. Just something else to consider.

 

[MrRomance]

Thank you all for your comments.

For the purposes we want it for I still can't see a reason to buy direct, which is a shame and something I think Disney should take a look at. $112 per point for AK is still around $50 more per point than the resale market so it's just common sense that resale is the way to go unless you want to use the points for other places.

The time issue isn't one that affects us, we wouldn't be looking to use our DVC points until late in 2013 anyway as we have our 2 trips in 2012 booked and paid for. The earliest we'd use our points would be October 2013 so time really isn't a factor for us.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

If you are going to buy resale, but decide to take a tour anyway, insist on the fast passes to compensate for your lost time while on the tour. My wife and I went on the tour about 5 years ago and were told we would get 3 fast passes each for our time. Not sure if this was a new system they implementing at the time, but they gave us three paper tickets for instant fast passes each. Well, it winds up that each ticket was good for 3 instant fast passes per day per park. So essentially, we got to get 9 instant fast passes per park for a total of 36 per day each. Unfortunately, they must have caught onto this mistake in the system because we went back a year later and they gave us 3 tickets for instant fast passes and they were only good for 1 each total. But hey, on the first trip, we made full use of their mistake.

But anyway, ask for the fast passes because 3 of them should make up for the time in the tour.

 

[luckyman_apd]

Resale can still RCI today, (it could change tomorrow).

The only reason to own a DVC contract is to save some money on your room. Your savings is offset because now you have to vacation at Disney regularly which can cost as much as your room savings.

Bill

Correct, I was misinformed about the RCI. However, from all the economic breakdowns I've read (at least for me) using points for anything other than the resorts is wasting the dollar value. Taking those points and renting for cash, and using the cash towards a europe/cruise/anything else trip would be more cost effective. However, I disagree about the costing more because you vacation more. IF you are not someone who will vacation at disney often (for me the breaking point is every 18 months) than DVC isn't for you. Of course, if you are an every other year traveler, you can buy a resale for less than the 160 points and make it work. THe price point is the same. you still pay the same price per point for dues/buy in. So if you would buy 200 from Disney, but find in five years that's way too many points, you'd be better off buying 100 now resale, and adding on later if you need to. Say BLT is around $100 per point now. If you find in 5 years you need more points, you can always add on, but if you buy too many, you will take a hit reselling them.

 

[disneynutz]

Correct, I was misinformed about the RCI. However, from all the economic breakdowns I've read (at least for me) using points for anything other than the resorts is wasting the dollar value. Taking those points and renting for cash, and using the cash towards a europe/cruise/anything else trip would be more cost effective. However, I disagree about the costing more because you vacation more. IF you are not someone who will vacation at disney often (for me the breaking point is every 18 months) than DVC isn't for you. Of course, if you are an every other year traveler, you can buy a resale for less than the 160 points and make it work. THe price point is the same. you still pay the same price per point for dues/buy in. So if you would buy 200 from Disney, but find in five years that's way too many points, you'd be better off buying 100 now resale, and adding on later if you need to. Say BLT is around $100 per point now. If you find in 5 years you need more points, you can always add on, but if you buy too many, you will take a hit reselling them.

I get what you are saying but I also feel that DVC causes people to vacation even though they really don't feel like it. Some of the members that we have talked to have told us that they just let their points expire or that they have to go to WDW because they refuse to let their points expire. Only a small percentage rent and most don't want to deal with it. We have even met a couple who have owned since the beginning and have never understood how to bank or borrow. They average a trip to WDW every 5 years.

Bill

 

[luckyman_apd]

I get what you are saying but I also feel that DVC causes people to vacation even though they really don't feel like it. Some of the members that we have talked to have told us that they just let their points expire or that they have to go to WDW because they refuse to let their points expire. Only a small percentage rent and most don't want to deal with it. We have even met a couple who have owned since the beginning and have never understood how to bank or borrow. They average a trip to WDW every 5 years.

Bill

WOW! If that is truly the case, then they should have NEVER bought in. One of the reasons we haven't bought in yet is the fear of Disney burnout. I think we have the advantage of see our friends with AKV points. They have 290 points I believe. When they bought in, they looked to see how many points they would need for a 1 br in the summer every year. Turns out, they have way more points than they need, and they have gone twice a year for 3 years straight. They borrowed points to upgrade to a 2br last summer just to take us along. We were shocked that wanted to bring us, but they said they had more fun. I think it was fun for them to see us enjoy it, since we aren't burnt out.

My brother has a friend who rented us points in the past, and with the friends we have, we could probably always rent points to go, but again, it's not a guarantee. If you seriously know people that let points expire, send me a PM or I will send you one. I have kids ages 6 and 2, and most of my friends/coworkers have young kids. I know at least 1 or 2 families that go every year. I have told them how great the DVC accomodations/perks have been compared to standard Disney booking. I know the risks on both sides for renting, but I'd rather see an owner rent their points than just lose them to Disney for nothing.

 

[MARDUN]

We bought enough points to go every other year. Since you can borrow or bank points. Some years we have gone back to back while at other times we have taken a year or two off. It works well for us we love staying at boardwalk and through DVC it is so much less expensive.

 

[kimberlyWDW]

I understand about feeling "locked into Disney". We took the tour three times. Ultimately we decided against buying DVC. Instead, we bought Wyndham. We paid only a couple of dollars for a resale contract on Ebay. Instead of Disney we stay at Bonnet Creek. Honestly, the units are much bigger and we can watch the Epcot fireworks from the resort (last time we could sit right out on our balcony and see them). The resort is right next to CBR. If you really want to stay at a Disney property, you can purchase a contract upgrade from Wyndham corporate for about 2000 (one time fee) that will let you book nightly stays at DVC through RCI. I haven't done it because I really love Bonnet Creek. Just food for thought!