Do I even care about membership perks?

[Cyberc1978]

The "perks" for me have added up to about a $2,500 cash savings to me over the course of a year.

We saved $550 x 4 being able to get the gold pass instead of a Platinum Annual pass.

Then numerous 10% discounts for food an merch over the course of 3 trips this last year. So yes. you do care.

The gold AP is $699 and the platinum pass is $1,119 a difference of $420 a total of $1,680 or did I miss something?

 

[DSLRuser]

The gold AP is $699 and the platinum pass is $1,119 a difference of $420 a total of $1,680 or did I miss something?

no....math is hard when you dont have the exact numbers in front of you.....but it was close enough to make my point.

 

[Louis morrell]

I have to say I didn't think I cared. We purchased resale in 2017 after the restriction on passes and discounts and such, and logically I did not care. I saved a bundle. Fast forward and we needed a few more points. Well small contracts that match your use year are difficult at best so we went direct. Well I went a little giddy when I first saw the image of a blue card in my account. I still smile when I open my wallet and that blue card flashes. So for me I guess I did feel a little left out.

 

[ELMC]

I have to say I didn't think I cared. We purchased resale in 2017 after the restriction on passes and discounts and such, and logically I did not care. I saved a bundle. Fast forward and we needed a few more points. Well small contracts that match your use year are difficult at best so we went direct. Well I went a little giddy when I first saw the image of a blue card in my account. I still smile when I open my wallet and that blue card flashes. So for me I guess I did feel a little left out.

You've just described the one variable that all of our analysis fails to capture. You spent money on something that means something to you. Hard to quantify that.

It's kind of like buying flowers. Bear with me here. On it's face, the purchase of cut flowers is one of the biggest wastes of money there is. They die in about a week and you don't "get" anything out of them. There is certainly no financial return on investment. And yet people buy them, and they make people happy. So maybe it's not a waste of money after all...

 

[Maistre Gracey]

You've just described the one variable that all of our analysis fails to capture. You spent money on something that means something to you. Hard to quantify that.

It's kind of like buying flowers. Bear with me here. On it's face, the purchase of cut flowers is one of the biggest wastes of money there is. They die in about a week and you don't "get" anything out of them. There is certainly no financial return on investment. And yet people buy them, and they make people happy. So maybe it's not a waste of money after all...

If you don’t think I get anything out of buying my wife flowers, ..... well I guess you are correct.
Just sayin’

 

[Maistre Gracey]

But no. If the AP math doesn’t work, go resale.

There is no “club”.
It’s just a way to possibly save money on your accommodations.

 

[Louis morrell]

I agree, no club feeling at all. For me it removed some anxiety. The thought of constantly having to ask, do I qualify for this or that caused me much anxiety (I am somewhat of an introvert). I have even decided not to purchase DVC related merch at the resorts to avoid possible embarrassment if I was told no, 2nd class owners can not purchase this. Now I don't have to ask, my blue card removes that anxiety. So with that I guess the restriction worked on me to a small degree.

As for flowers, well I buy those too. DVC and flowers are just a different kind of investment

 

[sbobbio]

We go once every 2 years to WDW and the perks are not a selling point. Could get by without them just fine.

 

[BuzzLightyearDad]

I really appreciate all the input here. I need to do the math here but I don’t think the AP discount brings much to the table for my scenario. Although we’ve been more often in the past, given the age of my kids I don’t see trips more often than once a year .... more likely every other year. I can get an undiscounted 7 day park hopper for around $600 or less depending on season. So the gold AP doesn’t help there.

One other thing is I have been a full member before I sold my direct contract and an old resale. I was for at least 10 years. Actually still have my blue card which isn’t valid any more. I do understand the feeling of being a member, but I guess I’m past that. while I love staying at the DVC resorts and don’t see that changing, I’m thinking I can save money buying resale for additional points and maybe 11 month access somewhere other than my BCV contract. (Most likely back into BLT where I used to own.).

 

[Frederic Civish]

The thing that worries me about calling the ability to stay at non-home resorts a “perk” is that it sounds like an “incidental benefit,” like the discounts and exchanging points into Disney Collection, cruises, etc. But the difference between reserving non-home DVC resorts and those perks is that booking non-home resorts is appurtenant to your deed, whereas the incidental benefits are not included in the deed. When you purchase your Ownership Interest as represented by points, you are also purchasing access to the Home Resort reservations and DVC Reservation Component (non-home resorts).

So while Disney can change the terms and conditions for booking your home and non-home resorts, I believe there are more legal implications with it. And if they outright remove the ability to book non-home resorts, I’d be more concerned about whether a DVC timeshare is worthwhile in general than the incidental perks. I hope I’m making sense. What I’m trying to say is that if DVC removes the right to stay at other DVC properties for the L14 resorts, that’s when it becomes a timeshare scam for me. (Even the Riviera/future resorts restriction is approaching that to me, but I understand how they got around that...)

In the meantime, I have learned that I do care about those membership perks and miss being a “full” member. Even though the perks are not financially worth it at all, I am still working up to buy 75 points direct from Disney. I guess while I do that I’ll keep an eye on what other changes they make...

I think Disney is interested in getting away with anything they can. So they will change the terms on future resorts, even when it violates the 'Club Agreement' like they are doing with Riviera. They expect to get away with this because the contracts are NEW for a NEW resort. But for them to go back and 'attack' resorts and contracts that are already in place would undoubtedly result in MASSIVE lawsuits. It may be true that Disney would expect to win, but that is what the judge is for. And win or not, it would be a horrible publicity problem for them, for future DVC sales, and even for general park attendance, so I don't expect them to EVER try to go down that road. Better to just let the contracts expire in the future and then change things.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Id like to have access to the Gold AP but not for nearly double the price per point. The rest of the benefits are a wash.

There will always be those that feel more comfortable buying direct just like some people won't buy a used car. I'm the exact opposite and I'm always looking for the best deal. No one is right and no is wrong. Its just what's best for you.