DVC Member New Annual Pass Discount—Buying Direct Vs. Resale

[Paul Stupin]

A new calculation to consider now when buying resale and not already a blue card owner: the $400 difference in the new annual pass program between the pass available to DVC direct owners and everyone else. Though maybe I’m miscalculating something (and not taking into account the blackout dates on the DVC member / Florida resident pass), that’s an extra $1600 a year for a family of four. That’s $16,000 for 10 years. For 30 years that’s $48,000. For 40 $64,000. Does anyone think this casts a new light on whether to buy direct vs. resale?

 

[FSUSammy]

I honestly wouldn't calculate it over 10 years let alone 40 because their prices have gone up dramatically and let's not forget the "perks" you get with the different passes have also changed.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Keep in mind that discount could be removed or reduced at any point. No guarantees it's still there in 10 years. But if APs are going to be a normal part of your annual Disney budget going forward, the AP prices are definitely something to consider.

 

[Rm4OneMore]

I see your point. However, I do believe that resale is the better option for those who wish to own DVC but only purchase enough points to visit once or twice a year & aren't hitting the parks every day of their vacation.

 

[RoseGold]

Zero discount for the Incredipass (Platinum) and the Sorcerer (Gold) blocked Thanksgiving. They couldn't be bothered to throw $50 on the Incredipass or a free Slinky Dog ride to pretend like they care about Blue Card. Big slap in the face for the Blue Card. Better not plan to go on school breaks.

Sure, if you want to come Tuesdays off season, you can save $400. Going to take that a while to get to the five figures your Blue Card cost.

To me, this looks like they are trying to devalue the Blue Card for now and get rid of legacy owners.

 

[Sparky984]

Zero discount for the Incredipass (Platinum) and the Sorcerer (Gold) blocked Thanksgiving. They couldn't be bothered to throw $50 on the Incredipass or a free Slinky Dog ride to pretend like they care about Blue Card. Big slap in the face for the Blue Card. Better not plan to go on school breaks.

Sure, if you want to come Tuesdays off season, you can save $400. Going to take that a while to get to the five figures your Blue Card cost.

To me, this looks like they are trying to devalue the Blue Card for now and get rid of legacy owners.

Why do you think it’s the legacy owners they’re after and not all blue card?

 

[RoseGold]

Why do you think it’s the legacy owners they’re after and not all blue card?

Legacy OKW owners booking RIV, bringing a sandwich on the Skyliner, and using cheap APs doesn't make them money. Follow the money.

Selling has got to look good right now to lots of people, with prices as high as they are.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Selling has got to look good right now to lots of people, with prices as high as they are.

But prices are only high because of buying demand. People might want to sell due to some of the recent changes. But many want to buy, creating the higher pricing.

 

[Paul Stupin]

Zero discount for the Incredipass (Platinum) and the Sorcerer (Gold) blocked Thanksgiving. They couldn't be bothered to throw $50 on the Incredipass or a free Slinky Dog ride to pretend like they care about Blue Card. Big slap in the face for the Blue Card. Better not plan to go on school breaks.

Sure, if you want to come Tuesdays off season, you can save $400. Going to take that a while to get to the five figures your Blue Card cost.

To me, this looks like they are trying to devalue the Blue Card for now and get rid of legacy owners.

The only black out dates for the DVC member pass are Thanksgiving and around Christmas, neither of which are times we would ever go because we like to avoid the massive crowds.

Not sure about your logic regarding it being a slap in the face for blue card owners. If you own DVC resale exclusively, your only option is the $1299 pass, vs. the $899 option for florida residents and DVC owners. Thats a $400 per person savings every year. If you just look at the $16000 savings for a family of four over just 10 years, its seems to me that buying direct is a potentially better option.

 

[havoc315]

There is a big reason for the new re-sale restrictions put in place at Riviera and likely all future resorts: They are counting on these restrictions to drive people to Direct over resale, without the need to rely on perks.

So I certainly wouldn't rely on significant AP discounts still being available in 10 years or further.
Before you know it, we will get to a point where a direct buyer has access to 15-20 resorts, while a re-sale buyer has access to only 1 resort (if a Riviera or later resort), or a limited portion of older available DVC properties. (By 2042, wouldn't be surprising if a resale buyer is limited to about 10 out of 20 possible DVC resorts).
Over time, I expect reduction in directperks that actually cost Disney anything significant, when they will rely on the resale restrictions instead.

 

[RoseGold]

Not sure about your logic regarding it being a slap in the face for blue card owners. If you own DVC resale exclusively, your only option is the $1299 pass, vs. the $899 option for florida residents and DVC owners. Thats a $400 per person savings every year. If you just look at the $16000 savings for a family of four over 10 years, its seems to me that buying direct is a potentially better option.

Sure, if you travel off peak for the next decade, AND they keep the current discount levels, you can "save" 16,000. Anyone who bought direct in the last year planning to buy a discounted platinum pass got slapped in the face. As for cureent platinum holders, who knows if it will even renew or have a discount at all for current platinum holders? Nobody even bothered to say anything about that. They were planning to "save" this money over a decade too.

You can feel greed radiating off DVC, when they don't even offer things that cost Disney nothing, like a free attraction pass or Genie+ or photo pass or water park add on anything for your five figure Blue Card.

I'm all resale, so I think this is awesome news. The worse Disney treats Blue Card, the better resale looks, and Disney is competing with itself with the O14 inventory.

 

[Paul Stupin]

Looking at the renewal price, the sorcerers pass is actually about a $350 savings per person for DVC members. That's still a $1400 saving every year for a family of four.

 

[tjkraz]

A new calculation to consider now when buying resale and not already a blue card owner: the $400 difference in the new annual pass program between the pass available to DVC direct owners and everyone else.

One question people need to ask is whether they even need an annual pass anymore. If we're speaking to prospective direct buyers, the cost of points combined with higher points charts has already driven down spending power. 150 points will only get you about 6-8 nights per year in a studio at Riviera. Is the prospective annual pass savings really enough to justify the higher buy-in? How many people are buying so many DVC points that they can realistically pencil themselves in for 10 straight years worth of annual passes right from the jump?

 

[skippytx]

This isn't an either or choice, you're presenting a false dilemma. The option is not Buy 1300 dollar pass or buy 900 dollar pass.

You can just buy regular tickets. My 9 day park hoppers are setting my back 650 bucks/ppfor my June 2022 trip. I'm only visiting one time in a year.

It used to be for not much more I could buy an AP, get photopass and some discounts, and maybe swing a 2nd trip during the AP period. I don't have to stress about "maximizing" the value of my AP anymore as I'm not going to be buying them.

If you're taking 3 or 4 trips a year, yeah an AP makes sense. 4 day hoppers are like 550 bucks right now.

Frankly using the work "savings" anywhere near anything Disney related is just laughable. I've probably spent 50,000 dollars in the last 4 years on DVC and visiting WDW. I haven't saved a dang thing.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

I haveto ask. At what point does AP make sense for out-of-staters? 10 park days? 15? 20? I just finished a 2 week trip to WDW in August. It was our first trip both as visitors and as DVC members. We got 10 day passes for four of us that cost about $2400 total. With the new passes, getting 4 passes would equate to about $3k. I'm thinking maybe 15 park days is the break even point?

 

[Apeters430]

A new calculation to consider now when buying resale and not already a blue card owner: the $400 difference in the new annual pass program between the pass available to DVC direct owners and everyone else. Though maybe I’m miscalculating something (and not taking into account the blackout dates on the DVC member / Florida resident pass), that’s an extra $1600 a year for a family of four. That’s $16,000 for 10 years. For 30 years that’s $48,000. For 40 $64,000. Does anyone think this casts a new light on whether to buy direct vs. resale?

we bought our first contract last summer. Resale at SSR, 100 points. $102 per point. We planned to buy Direct but held off because AP discount was most important to us and I wanted to see how they would return. I still get the shopping discounts and restaurant discounts that direct members get. I show them my digital DVC card and they give it to me. Never once been denied. We don't really care about new DVC resorts. If We want to stay at RIV or and future resorts that bad Ill just rent points. With that said, I AM SO HAPPY we did not buy direct because I would be sick today. That AP discount could never add up to the savings of buying resale. We have zero plans to buy direct now between the APs announced today, the minimum point increase and price increase on buying in.

 

[RoseGold]

This isn't an either or choice, you're presenting a false dilemma. The option is not Buy 1300 dollar pass or buy 900 dollar pass.

You can also buy a 1300 pass every other year. Travel New Years - July 4 - Christmas, skip a year, repeat.

 

[sethschroeder]

I honestly wouldn't calculate it over 10 years let alone 40 because their prices have gone up dramatically and let's not forget the "perks" you get with the different passes have also changed.

Thing is EVERYTHING goes up. So AP going up doesn't matter when it still keeps it distance from the "anyone" AP.

Although for me I want to breakeven in 10 years and its good enough for me. Sure things change but there is also other benefits of direct and not having to worry if you qualify or not for things moving forward.

 

[sethschroeder]

So I certainly wouldn't rely on significant AP discounts still being available in 10 years or further.

Except DVC has always had ticket discounts of some capacity. Sure maybe not the same but likely something. Also unless they are canning the locals pass just seems plausible they keep DVC attached to FL residents.

If you are stuck always going over 4th of July maybe you are at risk though if they start blacking out more and more days.

 

[sethschroeder]

You can just buy regular tickets. My 9 day park hoppers are setting my back 650 bucks/ppfor my June 2022 trip. I'm only visiting one time in a year.

Except one year you go June 20th and the next year you go June 10th. Buy a single AP for $900 and avoid the $650 each year's trip (well $650 now and likely $700 after another price increase next year).