Family of 6 Resale or Direct

[middieline7608]

Good Evening Everyone,

My wife and I are starting to look at buying DVC. We are a family of 6 with kids ages 7, 5, 2, NB. I am planning for our future that we will need at least a 2 bedroom every time we go. As a Teacher, of course we always have to go during the busy times, but I wanted to get some peoples opinions on either direct or resale, and why?

The other question, Would buying Vero Beach or HHI, be the best way to get the most points for Bang for our buck? Are more 2 bedrooms available at different resorts at the 7 month window?

Thanks again so much.

 

[DisneyonMars]

We also have 4 kids so I totally understand the need for 2 bedrooms. You may consider getting the minimum direct needed for a blue card (currently 150 points). The big advantage to this normally is discounted gold annual passes, basically makes them similar to the cost of Florida resident passes. Tickets are a huge expense of the trip and to me annual passes are worth it. Now they are currently not selling them since Covid and we think they will return but no one can know for sure. it also depends on your travel patterns on if you would use them or not. But on a bigger family the savings really add up. You could then do a combination of adding resale points on as you go to get to your desired number of total points.

The problem with Vero Beach or HHI to use at WDW is two fold. At 7 months there may not be availability at WDW during a busy time, or ideal availability. You may be at the mercy of split stays that you would not ideally do. Additionally the dues there are expensive, and they do expire in 2042. If the plan is WDW I would buy on site where you prefer staying. It is expensive either way and I feel like if we are paying this much we should be happy where we are staying. But there are a lot of opinions on this.

Best of luck!

 

[Sandisw]

If you want to go to WDW, buy a resort there. I would not buy VB or HH, especially since you have 20 years only left on those. More importantly, it means you will never be able to book your trips sooner than 7 months and some times of the year will be difficult,

As a retured teacherm we traveled in the summer which is a less busy DVC time. But, other school breaks can be busy.

Now, the resale vs direct question. With a family of 6: if you can plan two trips within a 52 week period, direct might be a great choice given the AP discount DVC owners get, Granted, that is currently suspended, but most of us figure it’s coming back in some way.

We did that even before DVC…bought APs and went 2nd week of August one year, and 1st week of August the next year. For our family of 5, it was a nice savings over multi day tickets for each trip.

Direct also gives you the ability to stay at RIV and other future resorts which you can’t get resale.

But, resale does give you access to the rest, and some level of savings depending on the resort you want,

One big piece of advice is buy a resort you don’t mind staying at if you can not trade at 7 months, So, research and decide if you have a preference,

Once you have an idea, then you can weight pros and cons of which option of resale vs direct makes sense,

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

I’m in favor of direct for future APs.

RR is great stroller access to two parks, their pool is great for littles to be watched safely, and get in at 150 points before they jack the freaking minimum purchase up again. However, their points chart is pricey. You need a decent amount of points to travel April/February/Christmas/4th breaks. If you can swing a bigger RR contract, the savings can bring the cost down comparable to quite a few older properties, and you get the longest contract length.

If you decide to buy 300+ direct anywhere, have them split up your contracts 150x2 versus one huge contract. If you ever decide to sell, you’ll get more money back and have an easier time unloading it.

You could buy any of the original 14 direct, and AK could be a good choice, too. Everyone raves about their kids’ club activities, pools, food choices, and how much kids enjoy the animals — plus the extra bathrooms.

Resale prices have really surged. RR may be a pretty close draw on cost, and any time you buy direct, you get instant gratification of points loaded that day, LOL. Right now there’s a huge demand on rooms with everyone having banked 2020 points and needing to use them up.

Buy where you want to stay. Don’t count on necessarily buying SS or OKW and thinking you’re going to be able to get another property at 7 months out — at least not for another year or two, when the built-up points backlog works itself out.

 

[RoseGold]

There are lots of strategies to do this. With this many humans, you really need to crunch your math to figure out whether direct is a good idea. I'm assuming that you aren't just flush with cash and that APs return in roughly their 2019 form. This is a big assumption.

Even if you plan on going every year, you don't have to have an AP every year. You could go August, MLK day, June, on one AP. Skip a year. Repeat. Calculate how long it takes to "save" the four figures more you spent on direct. Is it worth it if that's a decade? Do you want to spend that much on WDW tickets???

Or maybe you are only going every other year. I'm not sure you need a Blue Card at all, if it ever returns.

You need to consider the charts. RIV's point cost is not the only issue. Its point chart does a lot of the work for Disney. If I'm paying Grand Floridian points, I'm going to buy VGF, which is what I did. There are many cheaper options and sweet spots, like AKL standard 2BR. I'd never buy RIV period because of the resale restrictions. It matters to me to have the flexibility to sell at any time and it's no big deal. I don't want to commit to a vacation this expensive for decades, which is what a RIV purchase means to me.

We don't know how much you want to spend or how often you want to go or what a Blue Card might save you for whatever those plans are, but you should know those things.

 

[Travel60]

If you ONLY want to go to WDW...buy there. But, I'll offer a different perspective...we bought at HHI near the beginning. Now own 1200 points there. Our kids and now our grandkids LOVE it. It is, in my opinion, a perfect family vacation place. The beach is wonderful for little ones. (Much calmer than VB.)

We do go to WDW every few years (a break in wanting to go there when kids were older but ramping back up now with grandkids). Since you will be getting a 2br, or perhaps a 3br if grandparents come along, getting a reservation at 7 mo is doable. As pointed out, there are only 20 years left on HHI so take that into consideration. Your youngest will be in college, oldest may be starting family. Dues are also higher.

 

[Bearval]

Good Evening Everyone,

My wife and I are starting to look at buying DVC. We are a family of 6 with kids ages 7, 5, 2, NB. I am planning for our future that we will need at least a 2 bedroom every time we go. As a Teacher, of course we always have to go during the busy times, but I wanted to get some peoples opinions on either direct or resale, and why?

The other question, Would buying Vero Beach or HHI, be the best way to get the most points for Bang for our buck? Are more 2 bedrooms available at different resorts at the 7 month window?

Thanks again so much.

With a family of 6 if you are planning to go for one week a year, stay in a two bedroom and go to the parks I would say definitely buy at least 150 points direct to get the blue card and AP discount if and when they return. To get the value out of them you have to schedule your second trip one week earlier then the previous one. For the remaining points you need you can get these either direct or resale. Problem with resale is that you have to find a contract with your same use year and right now the prices can be close to direct especially for contracts 150 points and lower.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Good Evening Everyone,

My wife and I are starting to look at buying DVC. We are a family of 6 with kids ages 7, 5, 2, NB. I am planning for our future that we will need at least a 2 bedroom every time we go. As a Teacher, of course we always have to go during the busy times, but I wanted to get some peoples opinions on either direct or resale, and why?

The other question, Would buying Vero Beach or HHI, be the best way to get the most points for Bang for our buck? Are more 2 bedrooms available at different resorts at the 7 month window?

Thanks again so much.

Don't buy HHI or VB if you don't plan on using those points at their home resort at 11 months out. It is getting tougher to book anything at seven months out, especially if you are tied to school dates. Other than summer and summer in Florida is horrid. You are already a family of five plus one under the age of three, so you are limited to two bedroom villas at some resorts and too big of a family for a studio at other resorts.

 

[princesscinderella]

OKW direct might be a good choice for you as they have large two bedrooms and a nice low point chart so you get more bang for your buck and the 2057 expiration date. AKV & BLT too are great because they have the extra bathroom. I wouldn’t necessarily buy a 2042 resort since you have a young family unless you don’t plan to go to Disney once they are grown. The only 2042 resort that seems to be priced the most reasonable is BRV at wilderness lodge. CCV rooms are very small feeling due to them being converted hotel rooms.

 

[Nabas]

Good Evening Everyone,

My wife and I are starting to look at buying DVC. We are a family of 6 with kids ages 7, 5, 2, NB. I am planning for our future that we will need at least a 2 bedroom every time we go. As a Teacher, of course we always have to go during the busy times, but I wanted to get some peoples opinions on either direct or resale, and why?

The other question, Would buying Vero Beach or HHI, be the best way to get the most points for Bang for our buck? Are more 2 bedrooms available at different resorts at the 7 month window?

Thanks again so much.

Our kids are grown now, but we were a family of six as well. We bought DVC so we could do WDW vacations. The thing is, the cost of DVC has tripled since we bought our first DVCs.

You mention being a teacher and having to go during busy times. Busy times are expensive times. You'll burn through a lot points real fast during these busy times, especially staying in a 2-bedroom villa.

For example, OKW is probably the least expensive (in terms of points). Assuming you want to stay a week during spring break, a 2BR at OKW requires 308 points.

A 300-point resale contract at Vero Beach (one of the places you mention) will cost about $25,000, with no assurance that you'll be able to book anything at WDW. As others have already suggested, don't buy at VB or HHI if you want to stay at WDW.

A 300-point resale contract at OKW will cost about $35,000 and pretty much guarantee that you'll be able to book a 2-bedroom for the week you want at 11 months. You can always try to switch over elsewhere at 7 months. But pretty much all other DVC resorts require even more points. At the other extreme, a 2BR Lake View at the Grand Floridian will cost 551 points!

When we aren't staying at a DVC resort, we typically look for Wyndham Bonnet Creek (WBC) rentals on eBay. On eBay, you'll typically find a 2-bedroom at WBC for $1200 or less.

We also used to rent houses at Emerald Island, which is about 15 minutes from WDW. A 4-bedroom house there can cost $1200-$1400.

My point is, DVC might not be the best choice for you, given today's prices.

 

[mtalken]

I dunno if anyone else has addressed this, but you need to watch the cost of dues as well. VB and HH look like they're dirt cheap, but they have the most expensive dues. It doesn't take too many years for those two to end up being more costly.

If you want the cheapest bang for your buck and don't care about the 11-month window, Saratoga gets you until 2054, is one of the cheaper resorts both direct and on resale (although they've been driving the price up with a lot of resale buybacks recently), and it's got relatively cheap dues. Old Key West is another good option, and their rooms are huge compared to most other DVC resorts (if you buy direct, you get the 2057 date, but most on resale are 2042).

The best way to figure out relative cost is to divide the total cost by the number of points and then by the number of years remaining and then add the annual dues in, and you'll see how much you're paying for this year's points.

So for instance, I've got a contract I'm waiting for Disney to hopefully waive through Right of First Refusal at Bay Lake Tower. It was $158pp for 250 pts and I get that until 2060.
If I divide the 158 by the number of years (39 years), I get 4.05, then I add in the dues, currently at $6.90, and I get $10.95 per point that I'll be paying.

MEanwhile, Hilton HEad's dues are $9.97 by themselves, so I'd have to get a deal on HH points where they basically average out to being 98 cents a point in order to make that a better long-term deal than Bay Lake. At this point you'd have a HH contract for 21 years, so you'd have to be getting them at $21 a point to pull that off (which obviously just ain't gonna happen).