Fall/Early Winter 09/30/25 Incentives Released

[DoubleBaconBLT]

Darn, we are just signing our docs for the sept incentives on 150 RIV. After learning of the Castaway Cay credit (we did a short cruise several years ago) it would be $150 less if I’m doing the math right. I really dont want to go back and do everything again especially since I am including my two adult children on the contract and its like herding cats. And just yesterday I was congratulating myself on getting the better deal! LOL.

I'm in the same boat (lol) - I think the new base incentives are $1 worse, but the Castaway credit is $1000 and Welcome Home Weeks was just $750. So that puts me at $100 higher.

 

[2jimmyh]

I made a nearly identical purchase, at the exact same price point. The only difference is that I bought it with a new credit card to get a fat sign up bonus that ended up being worth high four figures. IMO, this was a fantastic time to buy Poly because it's the most popular resort at WDW and getting an incentive that large makes it a very strong value. I put my contract details in the board sponsor's contract valuation estimator and it told me my contract was only worth $9 less than my net price for it. Not $9 per point - nine actual dollars. Not a bad deal for 41 years of stays with direct benefits.

Congratulations! We are extremely happy with our decision as well. Looking forward to many happy trips.

 

[DoubleBaconBLT]

Yeah, the average resale price of Poly contracts on the site sponsor last month was $166/point. You calculate all the savings you can get by going direct - not just what you mentioned, but credit card cash back, pro-rated dues, maybe some 0% financing, one set of closing costs to get the points you want - there is no way I would consider Poly resale right now if I wanted to own Poly points.

The credit card cash back goes CRAZY on a $30K+ DVC purchase. The Chase Sapphire Reserve Business card has a 200K point bonus for $30K spend. Then it codes it as "hotels" granting 4x points. And it includes a $300 travel credit, which DVC qualifies for.

So my 150 point purchase landed me 333K Chase points, which can be redeemed for $3,330 in cash, or $4,995 in "pay yourself back" redemptions for purchases, or about $7K in travel rewards. That's about 20% of the total purchase.

I also got a December UY, so it came with 2024 and 2025 points, but I only pay 3 months of prorated dues. It was a better deal than any PVB resale contract listed at the time, and that doesn't even consider the fact that I've already used direct benefits to save ~$3K on annual passes.

 

[DoubleBaconBLT]

Congratulations! We are extremely happy with our decision as well. Looking forward to many happy trips.

Welcome Home! One big tip for you (that you probably knew, but it bears repeating) - do NOT book a stay with your new contract yet. Call Member Services and ask them to book your first one for you as a Welcome Home stay. You will be eligible as a new direct member, even though you already had a resale contract. They can book you any room (except Grand Floridian and Grand Californian) from cash inventory. That means you can plan a last minute trip even if availability is slim.

We're staying at the Boardwalk in December, and we couldn't be more excited about it.

 

[DoubleBaconBLT]

I do not think the actual average resale price of Poly is $166, though it may well be the average resale with the board sponsor. I have seen plenty of PVB contracts posted around that are going in the 150s again. Still, if I didn't already have a Y card (or if they put nice perks out for people who owned an additional 150 direct points) I would pay $190 for direct over $160 for resale, especially when you consider you can get at least a few percent back on credit cards, so you're looking like a $20/pt gap.

Yeah, I think there are a lot of Poly contracts going in the $150s, BUT most of those on the lower end have no current year points and some are fully stripped. If you buy direct with the right UY, you get 2 years of points for less than one year's worth of annual dues.

I would bet that if you priced it out based on getting a credit card bonus/points and renting out the extra 2 years of points you get, the direct contract is actually cheaper.

 

[DoubleBaconBLT]

Fidelity has a similar number.
https://www.fidelityrealestate.com/blog/september-2025-average-dvc-resale-price-per-point/

There's something weird on those blog posts. Here's May 2025:

https://www.fidelityrealestate.com/blog/may-2025-average-dvc-resale-price-per-point/

When you look at June, the numbers are all way higher, and the historical values have been retconned higher too:

https://www.fidelityrealestate.com/blog/june-2025-average-dvc-resale-price-per-point/

I should have bought in May...

 

[disneylandtour]

There's something weird on those blog posts. Here's May 2025:

https://www.fidelityrealestate.com/blog/may-2025-average-dvc-resale-price-per-point/

When you look at June, the numbers are all way higher, and the historical values have been retconned higher too:

https://www.fidelityrealestate.com/blog/june-2025-average-dvc-resale-price-per-point/

I should have bought in May...

some of this may have to do in unusual reporting during those moths when Fidelity was accepting cross-listings from a broker with a VERY different pricing scheme.

 

[DanCali]

I made a nearly identical purchase, at the exact same price point. The only difference is that I bought it with a new credit card to get a fat sign up bonus that ended up being worth high four figures. IMO, this was a fantastic time to buy Poly because it's the most popular resort at WDW and getting an incentive that large makes it a very strong value. I put my contract details in the board sponsor's contract valuation estimator and it told me my contract was only worth $9 less than my net price for it. Not $9 per point - nine actual dollars. Not a bad deal for 41 years of stays with direct benefits.

The credit card cash back goes CRAZY on a $30K+ DVC purchase. The Chase Sapphire Reserve Business card has a 200K point bonus for $30K spend. Then it codes it as "hotels" granting 4x points. And it includes a $300 travel credit, which DVC qualifies for.

So my 150 point purchase landed me 333K Chase points, which can be redeemed for $3,330 in cash, or $4,995 in "pay yourself back" redemptions for purchases, or about $7K in travel rewards. That's about 20% of the total purchase.

I would bet that if you priced it out based on getting a credit card bonus/points and renting out the extra 2 years of points you get, the direct contract is actually cheaper.

Congrats on your purchase!

My view is that the credit card part doesn't matter much. I'd consider it in the sense that if a direct purchase codes as 4x and a resale purchase codes as 2x and capped at $7500 on a credit card, there is some extra value in buying direct - but it's 4% (~$1000) tops, and likely less than that...

I think you kind of have to separate measly PIT developer incentives from the credit card bonuses. If I want a new credit card with a bonus there are usually other ways to get it besides DVC. For example, you'd literally get the exact same bonuses if you used the credit card and spent $30K on Marriott gifts card that never expire and can be used at almost all Marriott hotels over the next few years (or pick your favorite brand like Hilton or Hyatt). So if you can get the same bonus by buying something else that you will eventually use, then does it really matter? The credit card really has nothing to do with the DVC purchase.

Moreover, saying that those 330K points are worth $7K in travel rewards may also be a stretch. The "original" Sapphire reserve that I had/have for over a decade used to have a 50% redemption bonus on all travel booked via the Chase portal but that perk been discontinued (existing card members keep it for 2 years). The new, more expensive, card has a "up to 2x points" travel boost but with a lot of qualifiers, implying rotating/changing/varying promos and categories. Time will tell if it's really 2x... (I highly doubt it)

Points Boost offers will provide eligible cardmembers with redemption values of up to 2 cents per point when booking with Chase points through the Chase Travel portal. This will apply to select hotels, including bookings made through The Edit, and airlines.

The main thing I care about are the current developer incentives. The "extra points" you mention are an important consideration if alternative resales are stripped but I can always time the DVC purchase to get the extra points, so it again comes down to current incentives to sway me to sell actual investments to buy a timeshare. And for PIT, the incentives are pretty bad and have been so since they started selling last year and jacked up the base price by $10 shortly thereafter.

 

[Genie+]

No. It was a GC at one point. But just now I saw its says "If any of your friends or family become Members, you might receive a special Disney dining experience as a little thank you for sharing the magic of Disney Vacation Club with your loved ones."

I referred someone using the DVC link and I received $150 electronic gift card in an email. We used it on dining. Might’ve worked on merch but I didn’t try.

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

For those who purchased this past week (recently), how long did you wait to receive your contracts? I added-on at RIV yesterday and still haven’t received them…which is not how my previous direct orders went.

Wondering if the delay is due to volume?

 

[Brian Noble]

Yesterday was a Saturday. It is possible that the relevant office is a M-F 9-5 thing.

 

[atthebeachclub]

Mine came right away. But I’ve been trying to reach my guide all weekend with a basic question about splitting my contracts differently (we agreed to a rewrite so I could change the split; I just want to ensure it will still be under the September incentives) and it seems he has been out of office? Though his voicemail says otherwise. I was previously told he worked weekends so maybe the hours changed.

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

[

Mine came right away. But I’ve been trying to reach my guide all weekend with a basic question about splitting my contracts differently (we agreed to a rewrite so I could change the split; I just want to ensure it will still be under the September incentives) and it seems he has been out of office? Though his voicemail says otherwise. I was previously told he worked weekends so maybe the hours changed.

My last direct contract was purchased on a Sunday and I had my contract (and my points) within the hour. I have some wiggle room for when I need them to book our next trip so NBD, but found it odd.

I hope he gets back to you soon!!

 

[DoubleBaconBLT]

Congrats on your purchase!

My view is that the credit card part doesn't matter much. I'd consider it in the sense that if a direct purchase codes as 4x and a resale purchase codes as 2x and capped at $7500 on a credit card, there is some extra value in buying direct - but it's 4% (~$1000) tops, and likely less than that...

I think you kind of have to separate measly PIT developer incentives from the credit card bonuses. If I want a new credit card with a bonus there are usually other ways to get it besides DVC. For example, you'd literally get the exact same bonuses if you used the credit card and spent $30K on Marriott gifts card that never expire and can be used at almost all Marriott hotels over the next few years (or pick your favorite brand like Hilton or Hyatt). So if you can get the same bonus by buying something else that you will eventually use, then does it really matter? The credit card really has nothing to do with the DVC purchase.

Moreover, saying that those 330K points are worth $7K in travel rewards may also be a stretch. The "original" Sapphire reserve that I had/have for over a decade used to have a 50% redemption bonus on all travel booked via the Chase portal but that perk been discontinued (existing card members keep it for 2 years). The new, more expensive, card has a "up to 2x points" travel boost but with a lot of qualifiers, implying rotating/changing/varying promos and categories. Time will tell if it's really 2x... (I highly doubt it)

Points Boost offers will provide eligible cardmembers with redemption values of up to 2 cents per point when booking with Chase points through the Chase Travel portal. This will apply to select hotels, including bookings made through The Edit, and airlines.

The main thing I care about are the current developer incentives. The "extra points" you mention are an important consideration if alternative resales are stripped but I can always time the DVC purchase to get the extra points, so it again comes down to current incentives to sway me to sell actual investments to buy a timeshare. And for PIT, the incentives are pretty bad and have been so since they started selling last year and jacked up the base price by $10 shortly thereafter.

The credit card bonus is huge though. The direct purchase coded as 4x and gave me 133K points. That can be redeemed for $1,333 in cash. My resale purchase a few months prior only gave me 2x points, and as you mentioned, it had a limit of $7500. So that gave me 15K points, worth just $150. I had to pay a $25 wire transfer fee for the remainder. That's a difference of $1208.

On top of that, the CSR Business card requires a $30K spend to hit the 200K point sign up bonus. That's a pretty big spend, and while I could maybe pull that off if I really pushed it, I absolutely would not have applied for this card without knowing I was buying a DVC contract. In that sense, it is indeed marginal to the DVC transaction, BUT even more so because I have two other active sign up bonuses I'm currently spending my way to (IYKYK). Sure, I could get more credit cards, and I fully plan to - but I actually am limited by the spend, so in my case, getting this card for DVC really did make sense and is marginal to the transaction in my view. The card also came with a $300 travel credit, so it's a total of $3633 if you just cash it out.

I absolutely agree that it's a stretch to value those points at 2 cents each, which is why I listed the cash, pay-yourself-back, and travel values (and that credit card guru sites value them at that 2 cpp level). I've already booked two hotel stays that were "points boosted" - one was 2 cents per point and the other was 1.85. So not far off. I've seen some hotels near Disneyland that are at 2 cents, and I fully plan to use some points for a trip there at some point. I've also seen some point transfer offers that can reach 2.5+ cents per point. But I mostly like to call it $7K in value because then I can justify this frivolous and irresponsible financial decision to myself and my wife.

On the whole, I truly do believe a direct purchase made financial sense for us because of the out of state annual pass. Even if you take the cash back on credit card points, that perk has already saved me ~$3K, and will probably save me that same $3K again several more times in the next 41 years.

 

[DoubleBaconBLT]

For those who purchased this past week (recently), how long did you wait to receive your contracts? I added-on at RIV yesterday and still haven’t received them…which is not how my previous direct orders went.

Wondering if the delay is due to volume?

This is very weird. I've always heard that it only takes a few hours, and that was my experience too. I had points available to book later that same afternoon. Sorry that happened to you. Maybe Disney is intentionally delaying it a bit, so they can sell their fancy new "DVC Points Lightning Lane!" For just $99, you can get your points immediately!

 

[DoubleBaconBLT]

[

My last direct contract was purchased on a Sunday and I had my contract (and my points) within the hour. I have some wiggle room for when I need them to book our next trip so NBD, but found it odd.

I hope he gets back to you soon!!

Oh, you probably already knew this, but apparently every new purchase qualifies for a Welcome Home stay now. So you might consider taking advantage of that whether the wiggle room is enough or not.

 

[LittleBitGoofy]

Our latest direct add-on took about a day to see the points load on the dashboard. Then another email request for our Guide to bank out Oct UY points the next day. Bonus!

 

[Dafoo17]

Congrats on your purchase!

My view is that the credit card part doesn't matter much. I'd consider it in the sense that if a direct purchase codes as 4x and a resale purchase codes as 2x and capped at $7500 on a credit card, there is some extra value in buying direct - but it's 4% (~$1000) tops, and likely less than that...

I think you kind of have to separate measly PIT developer incentives from the credit card bonuses. If I want a new credit card with a bonus there are usually other ways to get it besides DVC. For example, you'd literally get the exact same bonuses if you used the credit card and spent $30K on Marriott gift card that never expire and can be used at almost all Marriott hotels over the next few years (or pick your favorite brand like Hilton or Hyatt). So if you can get the same bonus by buying something else that you will eventually use, then does it really matter? The credit card really has nothing to do with the DVC purchase.

Moreover, saying that those 330K points are worth $7K in travel rewards may also be a stretch. The "original" Sapphire reserve that I had/have for over a decade used to have a 50% redemption bonus on all travel booked via the Chase portal but that perk been discontinued (existing card members keep it for 2 years). The new, more expensive, card has a "up to 2x points" travel boost but with a lot of qualifiers, implying rotating/changing/varying promos and categories. Time will tell if it's really 2x... (I highly doubt it)

Points Boost offers will provide eligible cardmembers with redemption values of up to 2 cents per point when booking with Chase points through the Chase Travel portal. This will apply to select hotels, including bookings made through The Edit, and airlines.

The main thing I care about are the current developer incentives. The "extra points" you mention are an important consideration if alternative resales are stripped but I can always time the DVC purchase to get the extra points, so it again comes down to current incentives to sway me. And for PIT, they are pretty bad and have been so since they started selling last year and jacked up the base price by $10 shortly thereafter.

Also ignores the annual fee for the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which is a pretty decent chunk at $800/yr. Plus depending on risk tolerance, you could have to pay that twice if you want to minimize risk of a clawback.

The credit card bonus is huge though. The direct purchase coded as 4x and gave me 133K points. That can be redeemed for $1,333 in cash. My resale purchase a few months prior only gave me 2x points, and as you mentioned, it had a limit of $7500. So that gave me 15K points, worth just $150. I had to pay a $25 wire transfer fee for the remainder. That's a difference of $1208.

On top of that, the CSR Business card requires a $30K spend to hit the 200K point sign up bonus. That's a pretty big spend, and while I could maybe pull that off if I really pushed it, I absolutely would not have applied for this card without knowing I was buying a DVC contract. In that sense, it is indeed marginal to the DVC transaction, BUT even more so because I have two other active sign up bonuses I'm currently spending my way to (IYKYK). Sure, I could get more credit cards, and I fully plan to - but I actually am limited by the spend, so in my case, getting this card for DVC really did make sense and is marginal to the transaction in my view. The card also came with a $300 travel credit, so it's a total of $3633 if you just cash it out.

I absolutely agree that it's a stretch to value those points at 2 cents each, which is why I listed the cash, pay-yourself-back, and travel values (and that credit card guru sites value them at that 2 cpp level). I've already booked two hotel stays that were "points boosted" - one was 2 cents per point and the other was 1.85. So not far off. I've seen some hotels near Disneyland that are at 2 cents, and I fully plan to use some points for a trip there at some point. I've also seen some point transfer offers that can reach 2.5+ cents per point. But I mostly like to call it $7K in value because then I can justify this frivolous and irresponsible financial decision to myself and my wife.

On the whole, I truly do believe a direct purchase made financial sense for us because of the out of state annual pass. Even if you take the cash back on credit card points, that perk has already saved me ~$3K, and will probably save me that same $3K again several more times in the next 41 years.

What's your strategy for the the annual fee?

I was also looking at CSR for a direct purchase, but read you need to hold it for 12+ months to minimize risk of clawback. That's $1600 for two years, chewing quite a bit into the benefit.