Finally buying DVC

[lilsonicfan]

How is that a factor with going direct over resale.? (dues are the same regardless if direct or resale)

I think this poster is saying that the savings you might get through resale are much less when you map it out over time as the dues are the same year over year, so for those really long contracts, the up front savings isn't really justifying the cost when you lose out on benefits of owning direct.

 

[EPCOT Terran]

One thing that people who praise resale usually forget to mentioned and one of the reasons we are going direct is because a majority of the expenses for DVC are actually annual dues. My 250 point direct Riviera contract costs 40k direct. If I hold until 2070 I am expecting to spend about 300k (in today's dollars after accounting for inflation on dues) in total including initial purchase and annual dues.

Currently, there is a RIV resale contract with extra banked points I could rent that would bring to total cost for 250 points with the same use year to about 27 to 30k. For me in the long run, 300k instead of 290k is worth not being restricted, having member extras beyond 2042 when we would lose direct benefits from being on our inlaws deed, and not have to worry about future resorts I want to stay at.

Similar thought process for me on my recent RIV direct purchase. All other things being equal, the resale is the better deal and why pay even a little bit more if the things are equal? I value the ability to stay anywhere (no resale restrictions). I will make use of the Sorcerer Pass at least in some years (because I'm out of state, only the Incredi-Pass was previously available) for me and wife. That's around $1,000 each year we go that route. Do that for 9 years and I've made up the difference in up-front cost. Many of the other benefits are smaller and I won't use them all the time or even most of the time, but I'll definitely appreciate being able to duck into the EPCOT lounge and the MK lounge when it's ready. Put up against the maintenance fees, the difference this time around seemed worth it to me. My next purchase may very well be resale, though.

All that said, $9,000 - $10,000 on a 300-point direct vs resale is still $9,000-$10,000 and you can do a lot with that. It all comes down to what you value and what the current pricing is (affecting the gap between direct and resale $/pt).

 

[CWTC]

I think this poster is saying that the savings you might get through resale are much less when you map it out over time as the dues are the same year over year, so for those really long contracts, the up front savings isn't really justifying the cost when you lose out on benefits of owning direct.

Maybe it’s because we have blue card benefits already but the thought of paying full price (275$) for the 400 BLT points we just bought via resale gives me palpitations.

 

[EPCOT Terran]

I think this poster is saying that the savings you might get through resale are much less when you map it out over time as the dues are the same year over year, so for those really long contracts, the up front savings isn't really justifying the cost when you lose out on benefits of owning direct.

Agreed. The increased cost/point is relatively small as a percentage of the maintenance you'll pay over the life of the contract. Still, you can trick yourself thinking that way. At the end of the day, there's a real dollar difference between the two and you need to put that cost difference up against the value you'll get from the blue card (what will you really take advantage of, for how many years, will the benefit even stick around?). That's one reason I'll be seriously considering resale on the next contract - I'll already have the blue card benefits, so the increase in value is pretty much just the ability to use the points to stay at all the resorts instead of having the resale restriction.

 

[Chili327]

I think this poster is saying that the savings you might get through resale are much less when you map it out over time as the dues are the same year over year, so for those really long contracts, the up front savings isn't really justifying the cost when you lose out on benefits of owning direct.

Ahh, gotcha, yea the difference is not in the dues, its in the purchase price only... which may make it easier to stomach.

 

[mistysue]

End of the day, the only REAL perk that matters with direct is access to new resorts, rest are nice to haves but realistically probably not worth the extra cost to get em for lots of folks. But if you are going multiple trips per year and are flexible to change to go at times that work for moonlight magic etc, go for it.

The discounts on APs paid for our price difference within about 5-6 years. So for someone who wants an AP, it has a very real financial benefit.

 

[RuntheMouse]

Intamin's reaponse nailed it. We are going direct because we really enjoyed Riviera but would not want RIV resale points as our main purchase due to the restrictions. After our initial purchase we plan to save money via resale if (when) we add on.

This is us. When we added on at RIV, we decided it was best for us to do direct. We want that flexibility down the road to use those points wherever we want. We have 150 direct there for the blue card. That being said, we are in ROFR on a 50 point RIV contract that has a specific purpose for us but I wouldn’t want a large tie up with resale there.

 

[tx911]

Maybe it’s because we have blue card benefits already but the thought of paying full price (275$) for the 400 BLT points we just bought via resale gives me palpitations.

Yeah, BLT direct vs. resale is a whole different ballgame compared to RIV.

I would never pay what they're asking for BLT direct. I'm totally comfortable buying any of the O14 via resale, but boy is that wait painful!

On the other side of the coin, I would also want to own at least 1 direct contract for the DVC-Y benefits, if at all possible. The sorcerer pass, DVC lounge, etc are worth it to me.

 

[mistysue]

Regarding the "it's not as much if you spread it over time" - we did a lot of debate about this in my house recently, because looking at Riv resale, there are 46 years left, and it's around $50/point more to buy direct. Over time we're talking about $1 per point per year. With Riv buying direct you're probably going to eat that difference <if/when you sell> because of the restrictions.
For the O14 - even with similar numbers coming out to between $1-2 per point/year, if you sell it again in 10 years, you might make money or lose money regardless of how you bought it, but either way it's not going to be much of a difference long term compared to your dues and the general expense of spending time at Disney. So if the resort you want comes with direct incentives/perks you want, it's probably worth it.

My Poly points are worth more resale now than I bought them for direct. When the crazy excitement about the tower passes, who know what it will look like in a year, but it was close even before this anyway so it's probably not going down by much.

Once you have SOMETHING direct, the perks stop being as pressing in my experience, which is why we're waiting on ROFR right now.

 

[atthebeachclub]

Regarding the "it's not as much if you spread it over time" - we did a lot of debate about this in my house recently, because looking at Riv resale, there are 46 years left, and it's around $50/point more to buy direct. Over time we're talking about $1 per point per year. With Riv buying direct you're probably going to eat that difference <if/when you sell> because of the restrictions.
For the O14 - even with similar numbers coming out to between $1-2 per point/year, if you sell it again in 10 years, you might make money or lose money regardless of how you bought it, but either way it's not going to be much of a difference long term compared to your dues and the general expense of spending time at Disney. So if the resort you want comes with direct incentives/perks you want, it's probably worth it.

My Poly points are worth more resale now than I bought them for direct. When the crazy excitement about the tower passes, who know what it will look like in a year, but it was close even before this anyway so it's probably not going down by much.

Once you have SOMETHING direct, the perks stop being as pressing in my experience, which is why we're waiting on ROFR right now.

This is all true, but it is also true that you are paying up front today for value over 46 years, which means that money today is more valuable than it is being made out to be. The financial justification for direct points is pretty tough unless you have a 5+ person family living outside Florida who will come multiple times per year for many years in a row, in which case you will potentially save money buying annual passes. If you MUST stay at Riviera or Camp Fort Wilderness most but not all the time, you probably need direct. If you are a California local Disneyland Hotel fan, you probably have to buy direct there so you can also get Grand Californian now and then (no matter where you stay there, it will be expensive…it is California). But those are sort of niche use cases. All this said…DVC is not an investment, and sometimes people just want things. And that isn’t a financial argument; it is pure feeling, and I can’t say anyone is wrong for feeling the way they do about direct points.

 

[Chili327]

The discounts on APs paid for our price difference within about 5-6 years. So for someone who wants an AP, it has a very real financial benefit.

You have to go multiple times per year to make it worth it, right? (or more than a 2 week trip)

My Poly points are worth more resale now than I bought them for direct. When the crazy excitement about the tower passes, who know what it will look like in a year, but it was close even before this anyway so it's probably not going down by much.

Once you have SOMETHING direct, the perks stop being as pressing in my experience, which is why we're waiting on ROFR right now.

Definitely make sense!!

 

[AstroBlasters]

The correct answer of course is #TeamHybrid. Best of both worlds.

It is also very resort specific as the resale value of different resorts and their contract availability can vary significantly.

For the restricted resorts (ex CFW) that have some attractive incentive’s (new points, not as an add on) …. direct all the way!

Bay Lake Tower, Copper Creek…. the current resale pricing is incredible and it would be lighting money on fire to go direct.

Beach Club and Boardwalk… not cheap as a resale, but the direct pricing is borderline insulting.

The Grands…. if they had direct inventory that would move pretty quickly because the resale savings isn’t that big of a %.

 

[kilik64]

You have to go multiple times per year to make it worth it, right? (or more than a 2 week trip)


Definitely make sense!!

Yea, I havent ran numbers since we were looking back in 2021, but I think the b/e on a sorcerer AP is somewhere around 8-10 park days.

So if you are going more park days within 1 calendar year, its going to save you some money. Also gotta not plan to go when there are black outs or else it wouldnt work then either.

For us, we go one week a year and do 4 to 5 park days. This past trip we did the 4 day 4 park magic something something tickets and it was like 600+ cheaper vs a normal ticket, so might need to factor in things like that as well. They ran same ticket promo last year (was slightly different, was one flat fee vs moving target and didnt last quite as long, I know it didnt cover memorial day week last year like it did when we went this year).

Of course that is not guaranteed and like a lot of direct buyers cant attest, neither are you guaranteed the ability to buy an AP either during the Great DVC AP Sellout period a year or two ago...

 

[mistysue]

You have to go multiple times per year to make it worth it, right? (or more than a 2 week trip)


Definitely make sense!!

Yea, I havent ran numbers since we were looking back in 2021, but I think the b/e on a sorcerer AP is somewhere around 8-10 park days.

So if you are going more park days within 1 calendar year, its going to save you some money. Also gotta not plan to go when there are black outs or else it wouldnt work then either.

For us, we go one week a year and do 4 to 5 park days. This past trip we did the 4 day 4 park magic something something tickets and it was like 600+ cheaper vs a normal ticket, so might need to factor in things like that as well. They ran same ticket promo last year (was slightly different, was one flat fee vs moving target and didnt last quite as long, I know it didnt cover memorial day week last year like it did when we went this year).

Of course that is not guaranteed and like a lot of direct buyers cant attest, neither are you guaranteed the ability to buy an AP either during the Great DVC AP Sellout period a year or two ago...

A second trip in a year and we're saving money with AP's; for us it was a huge benefit. Depending on number of days, an AP w/o the DVC-Y discount takes more days to be worth it, plus we end up with dining and merch discounts, we may not have gotten the AP's without the DVC discount on them so that discount mattered. Plus we got discounts on paid events, and we use the heck out of that EPCOT lounge and save a good $20 in snacks/drinks every time we're in the park.

Complex but we actually made up the difference in cash in a couple years just being us if we count the domino effect from AP's. We've also lucked out with the DVC-Y event timing and are the type who would buy after hours events prior to that.

 

[EPCOT Terran]

A second trip in a year and we're saving money with AP's; for us it was a huge benefit. Depending on number of days, an AP w/o the DVC-Y discount takes more days to be worth it, plus we end up with dining and merch discounts, we may not have gotten the AP's without the DVC discount on them so that discount mattered. Plus we got discounts on paid events, and we use the heck out of that EPCOT lounge and save a good $20 in snacks/drinks every time we're in the park.

Complex but we actually made up the difference in cash in a couple years just being us if we count the domino effect from AP's. We've also lucked out with the DVC-Y event timing and are the type who would buy after hours events prior to that.

Plus, some folks think the blue card discount isn't as important because it's generally the same as the AP discount. That's only true if you get the AP. If you don't get the AP, then the blue card discount comes back into play.

 

[mistysue]

Plus, some folks think the blue card discount isn't as important because it's generally the same as the AP discount. That's only true if you get the AP. If you don't get the AP, then the blue card discount comes back into play.

It also had the nice perk that when we gave up/got locked out of our AP during the pandemic, we could use our room, go to UO, but then eat on property and buy stuff and still had discounts. I wouldn't have thought twice if we bought resale first and I didn't have the chance to watch it add up.

 

[Massachusetts]

Plus, some folks think the blue card discount isn't as important because it's generally the same as the AP discount. That's only true if you get the AP. If you don't get the AP, then the blue card discount comes back into play.

My sister has the Disney Visa. She receives similar (10%) discounts on at least dining. Maybe even merch too. On our January trip it became a joke which discount was best AP, DVC or Visa. The VISA was the easiest for sure - no apps no scrolling.

 

[tx911]

My sister has the Disney Visa. She receives similar (10%) discounts on at least dining. Maybe even merch too. On our January trip it became a joke which discount was best AP, DVC or Visa. The VISA was the easiest for sure - no apps no scrolling.

Occasionally the AP or DVC will go to 20% . Having all three nicely covers all the bases

 

[Chili327]

Yea, I havent ran numbers since we were looking back in 2021, but I think the b/e on a sorcerer AP is somewhere around 8-10 park days.

So if you are going more park days within 1 calendar year, its going to save you some money. Also gotta not plan to go when there are black outs or else it wouldnt work then either.

For us, we go one week a year and do 4 to 5 park days. This past trip we did the 4 day 4 park magic something something tickets and it was like 600+ cheaper vs a normal ticket, so might need to factor in things like that as well. They ran same ticket promo last year (was slightly different, was one flat fee vs moving target and didnt last quite as long, I know it didnt cover memorial day week last year like it did when we went this year).

Of course that is not guaranteed and like a lot of direct buyers cant attest, neither are you guaranteed the ability to buy an AP either during the Great DVC AP Sellout period a year or two ago...

4 or 5 park days is definitely cheaper than a pass... wait, which pass? (Sorcerer is the DVC one right?)
I got a 10 day hopper for like $800+ (under $900), & I believe the pass is/was closer to $1,000?

I guess there are a lot of factors that can go into it, my only chance or good reason to get a pass would be if I can figure out a way to do 2 trips within a year, like once at the beginning of my vacation window (Oct), and then get back down there at the end of the vacation window (Jan/Feb). That is the goal, every other year.

 

[tx911]

4 or 5 park days is definitely cheaper than a pass... wait, which pass? (Sorcerer is the DVC one right?)
I got a 10 day hopper for like $800+ (under $900), & I believe the pass is/was closer to $1,000?

I guess there are a lot of factors that can go into it, my only chance or good reason to get a pass would be if I can figure out a way to do 2 trips within a year, like once at the beginning of my vacation window (Oct), and then get back down there at the end of the vacation window (Jan/Feb). That is the goal, every other year.

Yes, it's worth is very much dependent on how often you go and what time of year. There are times when a 4 day park hopper is $750 per person, so a Sorcerer pass quickly becomes worth it if you go more than one trip per year. I sometimes have meetings in Orlando, and it is super awesome to just be able to Uber to the parks in the evening and walk in.