Effective 2/25/2018, you need at least 75 direct points to qualify for Membership Extras

[ScubaCat]

I am so confused about the AP savings. when I look it only seems like 100 bucks or so, what am i missing?

Comparing the price of a Platinum Pass vs DVC cost is only $100. However, as a DVC member you can get a gold pass - which is $260 less than the general public Platinum Pass. (See my last post.)

Right. See this URL for the breakdown. Compare "Guest Price" for platinum vs. the "Member Price" for gold, which is what you want unless you're travelling during easter or xmas seasons.

https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/discounts-perks-offers/ticket-tour/walt-disney-world-pass/

Remember, as is stated often but bears repeating again: These perks can change or be removed at any time. So while they can be nice, there's no guarantee that they'll remain year after year. Their sole purpose in this world is a sales tool to sell more direct contracts.

 

[hlhlaw07]

When you contacted Disney they had Dec UY SSR?? I called them last night about 25 Dec UY SSR and was put on a waitlist. Seeing it might have been available earlier in the day 1) makes me a little sad and 2) makes me a little hopeful that we're not super far down a waitlist!

You weren't asking me, but I got SSR DEC UY yesterday. 50 points. Went on a waitlist (because they made everyone go on a waitlist yesterday) and it cleared a couple hours later.

 

[Ben E N]

I think the biggest "perk" is that you can get the Gold Annual Pass, which without a DVC or Florida residence you have to buy the Platinum AP. The price difference is $260 savings versus the general public price for a Platinum pass (Platinum Pass just went up quite a bit) but if you are traveling during holidays, the Gold Pass doesn't cover that anyways. And of course this only helps if you take 2 trips in a single year, as once a year trips getting an AP doesn't make sense. For a family of 4 say that could add up at almost $1000 a year. We've started planning our trips so we take 2 (or more) in a single 12 month period to take advantage of this.

Beyond that, you get 20% retail, 10% discount on some food locations as well. However, if you get an AP you get these same discounts, so to me the AP discount is the big one. You can also get 10% discounts using Disney Visa. I don't think a 10% savings off some food really would be enough to make the difference worth it.

For the cost of a 25 pt contract, IF you get APs regularly I could see that as worth it. For 75 points, now you are talking say $100 at SSR from $184 from Disney for CCV - that's $6400 difference for the points - would need to decide if it's worth it. And of course, there's always the risk they could end the discounted APs next year, and then you really never will get the return.

Excellent breakdown. Just to make everything equal, though. SSR resale is around $100 per point. SSR direct is $151 per point. You would apples to apples be paying $3825 more for 75 points just to get those perks. Close to the CCV comparison, but this one makes end date and home resort even. For me, it would be worth it, but then you also have to factor in that it is more expensive to get a smaller contract via resale, so not even that price comparison is perfect.

Oh, and another awesome direct sales membership perk that people seem to be glossing over is that cool tote bag!

Of all the fancy DVC extras, I think that TOTWL is the coolest one, and that is included for resale members as well. You can still be part of the "cool club" this way, and you get the great DVC magnets.

 

[hlhlaw07]

I also spoke to Bill. (One thing I liked about him is that as soon as I told him I'm buying a resale contract and why I was calling he cut the sales talk and got to the point.)

When I was transferred to him, he actually started out the conversation, "Let me guess you want to add on 25 points to your resale contract." I told him no, I want 50.

 

[Kim Gillihan]

Comparing the price of a Platinum Pass vs DVC cost is only $100. However, as a DVC member you can get a gold pass - which is $260 less than the general public Platinum Pass. (See my last post.)

got it thanks! yes.. I can see that being worth it except for those holiday black outs... oh well, they haven't called me back on my akv 25 point request.. so it doesn't look promising.. it is what it is.....

 

[4luv2cdisney]

Excellent breakdown. Just to make everything equal, though. SSR resale is around $100 per point. SSR direct is $151 per point. You would apples to apples be paying $3825 more for 75 points just to get those perks. Close to the CCV comparison, but this one makes end date and home resort even. For me, it would be worth it, but then you also have to factor in that it is more expensive to get a smaller contract via resale, so not even that price comparison is perfect.

Oh, and another awesome direct sales membership perk that people seem to be glossing over is that cool tote bag!

Of all the fancy DVC extras, I think that TOTWL is the coolest one, and that is included for resale members as well. You can still be part of the "cool club" this way, and you get the great DVC magnets.

I was thinking the average price difference (direct vs resale) was probably around $50/pt, too. So, really, $50 / pt @ 50 points (you already needed 25) has raised the entry fee by $2500.

I figure my APs and Moonlight Magic (if I price it like an after hours ticket or a MVMCP ticket) and dining / shopping discounts have saved me nearly $1500 already and I bought in October 2017.

 

[Ben E N]

I was thinking the average price difference (direct vs resale) was probably around $50/pt, too. So, really, $50 / pt @ 50 points (you already needed 25) has raised the entry fee by $2500.

I figure my APs and Moonlight Magic (if I price it like an after hours ticket or a MVMCP ticket) and dining / shopping discounts have saved me nearly $1500 already and I bought in October 2017.

This is where that 75 point minimum is interesting. Some will be ignorant to resale and it will make no difference to them. Of those considering the hybrid approach, some will still want the perks and will up their direct purchase to 75. It will be worth it to them (just due to the # of APs I will need over the years this would probably apply to me.) Others will decide it is not worth the extra cost, and I also agree with that logic. Disney only needs 34% of hybrid buyers to commit to buying 75 direct points to make the shift work in their favor. This doesn't even take into account those who are buying extra direct because the hybrid method no longer makes sense. The 75 number is just enough of a pain to throw wrench in everyone's plans.
I applaud Disney for coming up with that messy number when they could have taken it easy on us and set it at 50.

 

[skier_pete]

I was thinking the average price difference (direct vs resale) was probably around $50/pt, too. So, really, $50 / pt @ 50 points (you already needed 25) has raised the entry fee by $2500.

I figure my APs and Moonlight Magic (if I price it like an after hours ticket or a MVMCP ticket) and dining / shopping discounts have saved me nearly $1500 already and I bought in October 2017.

That a good point - still some potential argument in it's favor at 75 points - just think it's a lot harder to rationalize now. (And glad I don't have to.)

 

[skier_pete]

One response on the flip side to "The perks could go away" argument.

Disney is clearly doing this specifically to differentiate resale and direct. Every change they've made has been for that purpose. That tells me that the perks aren't going away. Why? Because if they started taking away the perks, there again becomes no difference between resale and direct. All this drama is for nothing. They need to keep the perks in place. That's why the perks have actually gotten better over the last 3 years. The Moonlight Magic events only started two years ago. The Gold AP was only 2 years ago. These perks are there as a sales tool. As long as they try to differentiate, they really have no incentive to get rid of them.

I would also argue against the idea that they are going to tier benefits. How does it really benefit them to say "you get X benefit at 75- 150 pts and Y benefit above 150 pts." I don't think that convinces someone buying 100 pts to buy 150 pts. And in fact, it likely dissuades some from buying points altogether. The raise to a 75 point minimum purchase is not that big a deal. How many people are buying into DVC at < 75 points? You can't do hardly anything with 50 points. I don't really think they change benefits to established owners in this way anyways. All 3 changes they've made, they've grandfathered in existing owners.

 

[SuzGM84]

You weren't asking me, but I got SSR DEC UY yesterday. 50 points. Went on a waitlist (because they made everyone go on a waitlist yesterday) and it cleared a couple hours later.

Congrats! We got our fingers crossed we hear something. DH and I were talking about doing the DVC tour and adding on when we go in June, but given the news yesterday, we decided to see about getting the extra points now. We're so lucky that we got our membership ID and account all set up on Friday. Haven't even used our DVC points yet and trying to add on... Glad to know where all my $$ is going this year - DVC instead of my garage addition (which is totally to prevent mice from destroying our cars, but yet we're giving all our money to another mouse...but I digress....)

 

[Unit3875]

If you are considering buying 50 points, why not split it into two 25 point deeds? If a family wants to transfer ownership sometime in the future to children or add them to deed, you would have 2 qualifying deeds for membership extras. I think they only charge you an extra $50 or so to do this.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

If you are considering buying 50 points, why not split it into two 25 point deeds? If a family wants to transfer ownership sometime in the future to children or add them to deed, you would have 2 qualifying deeds for membership extras. I think they only charge you an extra $50 or so to do this.

I don't believe you can as a new member or for CCV. An existing member doing an add-on, yes.

We are looking to add on 80 points at some point and would like it in 2 - 40 point contracts so that it is easy to give each kid 40 points. Although, for them to retain benefits now that won't be enough. Both their names will need to stay on both contracts anyway. This is a future problem. lol

 

[Roadbird]

Wow, I feel like we really dodged a bullet. We closed on our resale BLT Feb-UY contract in Dec and I immediately called to be put on the waitlist for a 25-pt add-on. We were called on 2/2 that the points were available and I just sent DVD the closing docs this morning. I am so glad we didn't wait at all to add the points and feel like we got so lucky with timing. I don't envy the folks trying to grab up points in the next few weeks. It seems pretty hit-or-miss.

I agree that Disney needs to have perks available to entice new members to buy direct. With so much information available on the internet, it's been easier for people to use the 25-point add-on "loophole" for the past few years and it completely makes sense that Disney would close it. Who knows what the future will hold in terms of perks being offered to tiers or to changes in perks for existing members, but my gut says that DVD wants to tread a fine line between making money and keeping loyal customers who want to continue to come and add points to their existing contracts.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

One response on the flip side to "The perks could go away" argument.

Disney is clearly doing this specifically to differentiate resale and direct. Every change they've made has been for that purpose. That tells me that the perks aren't going away. Why? Because if they started taking away the perks, there again becomes no difference between resale and direct. All this drama is for nothing. They need to keep the perks in place. That's why the perks have actually gotten better over the last 3 years. The Moonlight Magic events only started two years ago. The Gold AP was only 2 years ago. These perks are there as a sales tool. As long as they try to differentiate, they really have no incentive to get rid of them.

I would also argue against the idea that they are going to tier benefits. How does it really benefit them to say "you get X benefit at 75- 150 pts and Y benefit above 150 pts." I don't think that convinces someone buying 100 pts to buy 150 pts. And in fact, it likely dissuades some from buying points altogether. The raise to a 75 point minimum purchase is not that big a deal. How many people are buying into DVC at < 75 points? You can't do hardly anything with 50 points. I don't really think they change benefits to established owners in this way anyways. All 3 changes they've made, they've grandfathered in existing owners.

Perks will likely continue in some form but the other thing to consider is if they will be perks that will be worthwhile to you. For many owners they will never buy an AP and they may never schedule a trip that coincides with a Moonlight Magic (which I tend to think will end sooner rather than later anyway). It takes a lot of meals with a 10% discount to make up the difference and a lot of souvenir purchases too. I guess as a qualified owner it's just nice to enjoy the ride while DVC works to make direct more appealing than resale. But I don't discount the thought that they will look to remove some of the qualified owners from some of these benefits as the membership continues to grow. We'll be told that we got to enjoy the perks for a long time and now we have to pay more in some way to enjoy any new perks they offer to new buyers. Or, at least I see DVC trying to figure out how to do that.

 

[Cbtexan04]

One way I could see them taking this whole thing, is that you only qualify for the membership benefits (TOWL, discounts, member events, etc) if you are staying on property with points purchased directly. That would really cause a ruffle!

 

[skippytx]

We bought 25 BLT direct late last year because I had a strong feeling they were going to increase direct pricing, and raise the minimum point purchase. Both of these things came true. We also wanted another 25 points to use, so it worked out for us.

That being said I probably wouldn't buy 75 direct for the perks. We don't visit often enough that we can use the AP discount, probably won't be in town for a Moonlight Magic event, but I felt the 500-1000 dollar premium on another 25 points over resale was worth it to get the Blue Card and any possible future perks that might work for us. The premium on 75 points is closer to 4,000 dollars now, and I wouldn't have spent the extra. I'd just be happy with my ownership interest.

I didn't get into DVC for the perks and discounts, I bought as a hedge against the constantly increasing prices of hotel accommodations at WDW, and because I love the location of BLT.

 

[kboo]

Depends on who you are. I would lean towards "just ok", but if you are a large, young family who plan to use many APs, the savings can build up. Moonlight Magic looks pretty cool, but you have to plan a whole trip around it or just get lucky and its only a few nights a year.
The AP savings this year is $260 per ticket though. That's where things can really add up over 20 years with multiple tickets per year. That is, of course, assuming they continue that discount.

Right. See this URL for the breakdown. Compare "Guest Price" for platinum vs. the "Member Price" for gold, which is what you want unless you're travelling during easter or xmas seasons.

https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/discounts-perks-offers/ticket-tour/walt-disney-world-pass/

Remember, as is stated often but bears repeating again: These perks can change or be removed at any time. So while they can be nice, there's no guarantee that they'll remain year after year. Their sole purpose in this world is a sales tool to sell more direct contracts.

For people who plan to visit "annually" but space the trips out ever 11 months, then every 13 months and every 11 months to use 1 AP for 2 "annual" trips, the "savings" is really an annual pass bought every other year. This is what we originally planned to do - which would "save" a family of 4 at $250 per AP only $1000 every 2 years. Again, I am relieved that we are grandfathered this time, but I would not be surprised if there got to be special level perks/incentives for direct owners at higher points levels.

(Of course, before buying DVC we thought we'd stay in studios annually; now it looks like we have already changed our mindset to average 1.5 trips a year and staying in 1BR and larger. Disney is still going to get more of our money over time because we are going more often.)

 

[Somnia]

I'm so glad I bought in when I did last year. I probably would have stuck with resale only if I had bought when this new 75pt requirement was in place, or I would slowly work up to 75 direct points due to the higher costs now.

 

[cjbcam]

I read somewhere about a guarantee 3 years benefits? I can’t find it anywhere but what does it mean?
Are people that add on 75 points after the 25th going to lose their benefits after3 years?

 

[DisneynBison]

I find it funny how many different classes of owners disney has created in the past 5 years. You have your no restriction people both direct and resale, then you have your direct bought restriction people, then you have your 25 point people, then you have your 75 point people.