Have Decided to Purchase, But Still Seeking Some Advice.

[DreamFlight87]

My wife and I have been thinking about purchasing DVC for a few years now, and have come to the conclusion that it makes sense for us to finally do it.

Having stayed at a few of the Deluxe resorts, our preference for home resort would be Animal Kingdom Villas (stayed at Jambo House during our last trip and our twins loved watching the animals each morning). But noticed on the official DVC website that they are no longer offering that as an option.
So, does this mean that resale is the only route to take if we want to be at Animal Kingdom?

Based on how often we would like to go, and the room types we would like to stay in, we figured that purchasing 280-300 points would be a good fit. So going the resale route does sounds very applying with how much money we would be saving, but what has both my wife and I concerned is that Disney might take away benefits for those who bought the contracts via the resale market (which it seems like they have done in the past).

Also, if we do decide to purchase through resale, what is the process like? Is it pretty painless or are there a lot of hoops to jumps through before you are finally a member?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

So, does this mean that resale is the only route to take if we want to be at Animal Kingdom?

If you call, they may be willing to sell you AKV points direct. But you will pay $50-60/point premium doing it direct instead of resale; for your purchase, this is $14-18k premium to do it direct. That is a LOT of money. I would argue that resale is the only sensible way to buy AKV right now. (Some would argue with me. I would like them to send me their spare $14k.)

Disney has taken away "benefits" from all contracts. The only contractually guaranteed benefits, regardless of how you buy, are the ability to exchange points for a DVC stay. If you're concerned about the ability to swap points for RCI or a Disney resort (non-DVC) stay, keep in mind that with $14k in your pocket and the money from renting your points at $10/point (AKV is non-premium via most rental agencies; DIY you can generally get $14/point), you can easily book a Disney hotel with discount for far less than the similar points get you rented out, and there are a lot of places you can go with cash.

 

[disneynutz]

There are plenty of posts in this forum from folks with the exact same questions, I suggest that you take some time to check them out. Having most of the answers prior to buying will save you money and make for happier vacations

Bill

 

[supersnoop]

but what has both my wife and I concerned is that Disney might take away benefits for those who bought the contracts via the resale market

What benefits are currently offered that you fear losing?

The legal basis for the club can't be different between resale and direct. You're buying real estate.

 

[chalee94]

1) resale is the best route IMO, regardless
2) if you are concerned about losing "benefits" - I would agree that you are asking the wrong question
3) resale does take longer and ROFR is something of a nuisance - if money is no object, I suspect Disney can find you some full-price pts that they have foreclosed on or ROFRed from some other resale buyer and give you immediate access to your pts. (But if money is a major factor, then there is resale...)

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

DVC is best used for stays at DVC resorts. In 2011 when DVC added restrictions for resale it was only to new resale purchases, they did not remove any benefits from those that had previously bought through resale. Now that doesn't mean that if something was change in the future that they would grandfather contracts in again but so far they haven't taken away anything once it was given.

The savings on the contract size that you are looking at would cover so many benefits anyway for so many years that there still isn't anything to be lost by going to resale should DVC decide to do something again. Also no benefits are guaranteed to any owner, only your ability to book at your home resort, so even people who bought direct have seen benefits come and go.

 

[suebeelin]

If I wanted to buy akl or one of the older resorts, I would exclusively look at resale unless it's a small amount (50 pts or less).

However, unlike some of the suggestions to buy SSR, I would probably buy akl to avoid the 7mo "scramble" (also, if I wanted value or concierge, I would have that option).

I bought BLT even though I prefer lake view rooms over standard rooms. You can almost always get lake view rooms, even at the 7mo mark, but I didn't want to fight amongst ppl to get the lake view. Plus, who knows in a decade....

For example, if Disney built a walking path from AKL to animal kingdom, I betcha akl desire ability would skyrocket.

If that happened, for sure I would take a 2nd look at AKL as a near park resort . Just my 2c....

 

[ldo]

you cannot book the DVC members cruise on DCL with only resale ownership. If that is important to you, you can buy a 25 point add on direct from DVC after you buy resale to qualify for that cruise--we qualified with a 35 point contract. As others have said, all of the other benefits can easily be compensated with the $$ you are saving. We have been DVc members for 8 years, including direct from DVC. We bought resale AKV last year and have no regrets. Even if DVC somehow changed the rules and resale could only stay where they bought (AKV), which I doubt they would/could do, we would be totally fine with that. We bought via a reputable, well know Disney broker. Takes about 3 months, very easy.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

DVC could not change the rules to tie resale to only booking home resort without tying ALL owners to home resort. It simply cannot be done.

 

[icc2515]

Disney has taken away "benefits" before, but I am pretty sure that it was not retroactive. Meaning that if you had purchased resale before the date they implemented the new policy it did not apply to you. Plus what they took away was a very very poor use of points. You could book a hotel room at the Poly for 55 points in July or a DVC room at the Poly for 27 points. They should actually do the "buy direct" people a favor and take them away from them also, in my opinion.

Also, Disney has a very vested interest in keeping resale prices high. Imagine if they took away the ability to book other DVC resorts from the second hand market. It would make the resale price plummet. That hurts Disney also. Now they can tell people that all that members who bought the original OKW can sell their contracts for more than they bought if for because DVC holds it value. It's like the used car market. GM does not make any money when you buy a used truck, but they sure don't want a 2 year old truck that you paid $35000 to be worth $2000. Who would buy the new truck.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

It looks like Disney want $155-160 per point for AKV.

Meanwhile, I'm seeing resale contracts for 300 points listed at $80-94/point. (That $80/point contract is stripped to 2018, though; the ~$84-93/point range for contracts with current UY points seems about typical for a 250-300 point contract.) So that's $65/point premium to try to buy via Disney, which right there is $18k for a 280 point contract. If you finance it, this increases the per-point premium based on finance rate.

That is a LOT of premium for non-guaranteed benefits!

 

[vnovabri]

However, unlike some of the suggestions to buy SSR, I would probably buy akl to avoid the 7mo "scramble" (also, if I wanted value or concierge, I would have that option).

Can you still book concierge with a resale contract? For some reason I thought you couldnt. We have an offer out to ROFR for AK so that would be something else to look into while we wait...

 

[disneynutz]

Can you still book concierge with a resale contract? For some reason I thought you couldnt. We have an offer out to ROFR for AK so that would be something else to look into while we wait...

Yes you can, Jambo is the only CL for DVC.

Bill

 

[suebeelin]

Can you still book concierge with a resale contract? For some reason I thought you couldnt. We have an offer out to ROFR for AK so that would be something else to look into while we wait...

Yes you can, Jambo is the only CL for DVC.

Bill

Yes what bill said . Only cannot book cruises or hotel rooms or adventure by Disney with resale points. I wouldn't use my points on these options anyway bc they are so point intensive.

But yes to concierge. Resale contracts gives you the same rights to the resort plus the 11mo/7 mo booking rules. You usually need the 11mo advantage to get the concierge or value rooms at AKL. I heard that even at 8am at the 11mo mark you are oftentimes shut out of the concierge.... It goes quickly.

 

[vnovabri]

Yes what bill said . Only cannot book cruises or hotel rooms or adventure by Disney with resale points. I wouldn't use my points on these options anyway bc they are so point intensive.

But yes to concierge. Resale contracts gives you the same rights to the resort plus the 11mo/7 mo booking rules. You usually need the 11mo advantage to get the concierge or value rooms at AKL. I heard that even at 8am at the 11mo mark you are oftentimes shut out of the concierge.... It goes quickly.

Good to know, thanks! We will definitely try to take advantage of the 11 month booking, that was party of our swing toward AK over SSR (for the value rooms at least and now the club level).

 

[_auroraborealis_]

To expand, there are 5 2BR lockoffs at Jambo for DVC Club Level. So at any given time, there is a max of 10 rooms. People walk reservations to get them.

There are slightly more Value rooms. Only slightly.

 

[disneynutz]

Good to know, thanks! We will definitely try to take advantage of the 11 month booking, that was party of our swing toward AK over SSR (for the value rooms at least and now the club level).

I wouldn't buy AKV for club level. Only a few rooms, hard to book, IMO worst views, and once you have done it a couple of time, that's enough.

Bill

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Can you still book concierge with a resale contract? For some reason I thought you couldnt. We have an offer out to ROFR for AK so that would be something else to look into while we wait...

You've likely read about not being able to book the Concierge collection, which you cannot with a new resale purchase. But that's a specific set of resorts outside of DVC. The concierge rooms at AKV are DVC rooms so a completely different thing and, as already mentioned, something any DVC member can book if it's available. However, it's only 10 rooms total and less if any are booked as a 2 bedroom lock-off.

 

[chalee94]

You've likely read about not being able to book the Concierge collection, which you cannot with a new resale purchase. But that's a specific set of resorts outside of DVC. The concierge rooms at AKV are DVC rooms so a completely different thing and, as already mentioned, something any DVC member can book if it's available. However, it's only 10 rooms total and less if any are booked as a 2 bedroom lock-off.

There are also club level Disney hotel rooms that direct buyers can book - but the number of pts needed is astronomical.

 

[Minniesgal]

I actually can't think of any benefits I'd worry about losing.

The benefit of my DVC points is that I can book my home resorts at 11 months. This is the only benefit worth anything to me and the only one that can't be taken away.