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

[The Jackal]

To anyone that followed this saga the other day here is an update.
My wife wrote a very nice email to Disney outlining our situation and the unfortunate nature of this law. It apparently got to a high executive and then trickled its way down through the DVC Sales and Legal Team. Long story short they are letting us send closing paperwork to our Ohio business address and sign everything there. We now have a 50pt. direct contract at AKV (Feb UY - they must have still had the points available) and will add our resale contract to it when complete.

Very pleased with how Disney responded to this and showed they cared about the purchase (...and obviously the $$$).

Glad you were able to find a way to buy without going down there. Seems like a law should be changed to fix this issue. Some politicians just don’t see every angle on things when they make them.

 

[JETSDAD]

So are we going to get a group together to join club 33. Split 25 ways it's only $1000 a piece and $750 a year. I'm in for that! Family membership right? Just got a ton of brothers and sisters! (Pretty sure it doesn't work this way - else I would be more than joking.)

lol I'd be in for that! The conversation that I had with my wife about joining Club 33 didn't last long.

 

[uramr]

Would someone be able be able to clarify something?? The points just have to be purchased not closed on by the 24th...correct? We just heard yesterday that our 50 waitlist points had come through and that the guide was going to call me back. I still haven't heard back from her and I'm just wanting to ensure that we make the purchase in time! This is complicated by the fact that we are closing our 1st resale purchase and I know she's trying to avoid as having to member numbers. Thank you!!

 

[iheartglaciers]

Would someone be able be able to clarify something?? The points just have to be purchased not closed on by the 24th...correct? We just heard yesterday that our 50 waitlist points had come through and that the guide was going to call me back. I still haven't heard back from her and I'm just wanting to ensure that we make the purchase in time! This is complicated by the fact that we are closing our 1st resale purchase and I know she's trying to avoid as having to member numbers. Thank you!!

Yesterday a guide told me it does not need to be closed before the 24th to qualify.

 

[Ben E N]

So are we going to get a group together to join club 33. Split 25 ways it's only $1000 a piece and $750 a year. I'm in for that! Family membership right? Just got a ton of brothers and sisters! (Pretty sure it doesn't work this way - else I would be more than joking.)

Well. Sad news. Once I posted that it was all but certain, I started reading more and it sounds like the idea is going the way of the Main Street Theater. Another plan, though. What if 1000 of us put in $2500 each and turned a Golden Oaks house into a party house? I'm sure the neighbors would love it.

 

[MrInfinity]

Interesting discussion. We all knew this was coming right? The intent of the 2016 changes was to get people to buy direct. There was perhaps an oversight that folks might combo-up and buy just 25 points direct, and this is just correcting that. I think people find a way to game the system and then start to expect a loophole will always be there. We saw it with FastPasses and now DVC. Trust me this isn't going to change anything and in a year 75 will be the new 25. It's also a great sales tool. The small buy-in is 50 points so Disney can advertise a 50-point minimum, but then to get perks, you have to buy 75. That is an advantage that will almost always drive people who might have been in that 50-point range to bump up to 75. Always trying to push the limits of what one might spend. For people interested in more, this will have no effect. That's the bulk of buyers who are unaffected. They buy 100 or 150 pts direct from Disney and this does not change a thing for them. It may affect resale in that now you have to buy 75 direct, but really if someone could afford to spend $20k on vacations in the first place, then this shouldn't break their bank. Maybe you'll see a small downward push on resale prices from this but it will be overpowered by the upward pressure from the DVC rage that's going on. Therefore we won't see prices drop. All it's doing is driving up the cost of getting in, which with most of their current resorts sold out and a new one with a skyliner to Star Wars land... seems like a good idea. If you're sitting on DVC I wouldn't worry at all about this negatively affecting your value. And if you're grandfathered the change doesn't even affect you so you should be pleasantly comfortable in your holdings. As always, be patient, let things shake out a bit and see that in a year this will all blow over and people will look back on 2011, 2016, and 2018 changes. The 2018 changes are really the least impacting as they're really just fixing what 2016 was meant to do, plus I think the main goal of these, push real buyers (not resale who are not really the target audience) from 50 to 75 points while still advertising a 50-minimum.

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

Well. Sad news. Once I posted that it was all but certain, I started reading more and it sounds like the idea is going the way of the Main Street Theater. Another plan, though. What if 1000 of us put in $2500 each and turned a Golden Oaks house into a party house? I'm sure the neighbors would love it.

They have already started offering Club 33 memberships to Golden Oaks residents. I took the first step in the process today. (By buying a lottery ticket)

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Glad you were able to find a way to buy without going down there. Seems like a law should be changed to fix this issue. Some politicians just don’t see every angle on things when they make them.

It's not really political. I think most or all states have certain requirements that need to be met to sell timeshares in their states just like they require business licenses etc. DVC itself is just choosing not to stay registered in all states on resorts that are sold out.

 

[skier_pete]

Well. Sad news. Once I posted that it was all but certain, I started reading more and it sounds like the idea is going the way of the Main Street Theater. Another plan, though. What if 1000 of us put in $2500 each and turned a Golden Oaks house into a party house? I'm sure the neighbors would love it.

Well, there's 365 days in a year - so 3 of us have the house every day, sounds perfect.

 

[MrInfinity]

What if 1000 of us put in $2500 each and turned a Golden Oaks house into a party house? I'm sure the neighbors would love it.

1000 people is too many. You'd get a day every third year. Would work tho if you did 100 people buying in for $25k each. I bet $25k is within reach of 100 people and with that you'd get 1/100th of the ownership, or around 3.5 days per year -- call it a week every other year for one full-week Sunday-Sunday stay. If anyone is interested feel free to like this post or send a PM. If we get 100 I'll write you all back and see if it's a go!.

 

[Ben E N]

They have already started offering Club 33 memberships to Golden Oaks residents. I took the first step in the process today. (By buying a lottery ticket)

Allright then! News was all over the place this past winter so it was hard to tell what was real or not. Once I added "Golden Oaks" to the search, it does look like its a go! Now we just need a small buy in of $3500 each to get .33 days in the house, plus membership to Club 33. May have to pay off a few people as well, but I am sure it would still be cheaper than buying 75 direct points.

 

[FireflyTrance]

Glad I got a 50 point direct add on when I did. There is a lot of debate as to if the membership extras are worth it, but so far I've been liking them a lot.

 

[disneynutz]

Well. Sad news. Once I posted that it was all but certain, I started reading more and it sounds like the idea is going the way of the Main Street Theater. Another plan, though. What if 1000 of us put in $2500 each and turned a Golden Oaks house into a party house? I'm sure the neighbors would love it.

We been to club 33 at DL a few times and even had DW's service anniversary party there and like other things, wanting is sometimes better than having. While the service and food was nice, I'm happy with a double quarter pounder.

Bill

 

[kboo]

DVC. Is. A. Timeshare.
.
.
.
A nice timeshare, to be sure, but a timeshare nonetheless.

 

[Sherrkel]

I think people find a way to game the system and then start to expect a loophole will always be there. We saw it with FastPasses and now DVC. .

I feel badly seeing the word "game the system". Doesn't feel like it when you're still shelling out lots of money (and DVD is letting it happen). But, my resale purchase allowed DH and I to enjoy a fabulous vacation just a few weeks ago, something we wouldn't have done otherwise.

 

[disneynutz]

I feel badly seeing the word "game the system". Doesn't feel like it when you're still shelling out lots of money (and DVD is letting it happen). But, my resale purchase allowed DH and I to enjoy a fabulous vacation just a few weeks ago, something we wouldn't have done otherwise.

I agree, it's called knowing the system and being smart.

Bill

 

[MrInfinity]

I feel badly seeing the word "game the system". Doesn't feel like it when you're still shelling out lots of money (and DVD is letting it happen).

I agree, it's called knowing the system and being smart.

Well, I don't think of it as "shelling out lots of money". Shelling out implies it's unwilling on your part or exorbitant on theirs. I don't look at it as tho I shelled out money; I made a willing purchase of future vacations, from which we'll get more value than we paid by "knowing the system and being smart". So call them what you will! Gaming a system is simply exploiting rules or utilizing loopholes in a system to get some benefit. It's not a bad thing.​

 

[Ben E N]

DVC. Is. A. Timeshare.
.
.
.
A nice timeshare, to be sure, but a timeshare nonetheless.

That is an important message that had the potential to be lost when considering all the "perks". I think this thread has done a great job of looking at both the positives and drawbacks of buying in to get those perks, but underlying it all is that you are buying guaranteed nights at various quality resorts all around Disney World and beyond. Just this morning I was watching videos of the splash pad at the Polynesian, excited to know my kids will be playing there this summer. This comes via resale points, not perks. If someone wants to buy all direct, that's fine for them, but by buying resale, you are still getting 96% of the benefits at only 70% or so of the cost.

 

[Kim Gillihan]

That is an important message that had the potential to be lost when considering all the "perks". I think this thread has done a great job of looking at both the positives and drawbacks of buying in to get those perks, but underlying it all is that you are buying guaranteed nights at various quality resorts all around Disney World and beyond. Just this morning I was watching videos of the splash pad at the Polynesian, excited to know my kids will be playing there this summer. This comes via resale points, not perks. If someone wants to buy all direct, that's fine for them, but by buying resale, you are still getting 96% of the benefits at only 70% or so of the cost.

yes! I bought in so we could enjoy the resorts for many years to come and hopefully at some point it will end up saving us money. Not for the perks... I think I will be just fine without them.

 

[Sherrkel]

Well, I don't think of it as "shelling out lots of money". Shelling out implies it's unwilling on your part or exorbitant on theirs. I don't look at it as tho I shelled out money; I made a willing purchase of future vacations, from which we'll get more value than we paid by "knowing the system and being smart". So call them what you will! Gaming a system is simply exploiting rules or utilizing loopholes in a system to get some benefit. It's not a bad thing.​

Alright,
Gaming the system is not really a bad thing.
But, shelling out money is sorta bad though.

Thank you for clarifying, enjoy your DVC