Help me with Add on options

[Wedgeout]

Do what works for you. RIV is your favorite. Whatever is going to be sold in the next several years doesn’t interest you. Only go direct if you have any plans to stay at one of the newer properties too. (LSL or even VDH and beyond).

Otherwise take that hot cash and get your best value for it. Chunk of resale RIV points.

 

[disneylandtour]

1) 50 pts direct at Riviera or Poly. Starts me towards the blue card and full flexibility. I would envision a blue card within 5-10 years. I don’t need it today as we don’t have time for AP

Unless you (a) plan on getting a blue card at some point or (b) really want to try various restricted resorts, I think this is your worst plan, simply because you can have double the points for the same price via resale.

2) 100 pts Resale at Riviera. Restrictions generally don’t concern me as we could bank/borrow

So long as you're 100% sold on Riviera...for decades...this is your best option--unless you are planning, slowly, to get a blue card.

3) 100pts Resale at another sleep around type resort, maybe AKV.

I have AKV. Dues are high. You can book easily at seven months. The high dues are only worth the premium if you are using either the value rooms or the club rooms. If you're going to be booking a bunch of club or value stays, have at it. Otherwise, in terms of SAP, I'd too to either CCV or BLT. Lower dues. Better locations.

 

[bakerworld]

#1 with RIV would allow a stay at a resort you obviously like. It's a nice location with good transportation options. Since you are still into split stays the 50 points gives the availability to work towards 'blue' card perks. We started with a 55 point at BC and about 5 years later we added 30 points. Our optimal vacation is 5 nights (I just miss my own bed by night 4 but 4 nights is so short) so 85 points work. I really think you need the Home Advantage to acquire the Duo Tower (cheapest) villas. The rest of the options just seem like more points. We have 4 contracts for 3 Homes. We like options. We don't own at RIV or Poly and usually I only book there pre-cruise nights.

 

[Mousemath]

Unless you (a) plan on getting a blue card at some point or (b) really want to try various restricted resorts, I think this is your worst plan, simply because you can have double the points for the same price via resale.



So long as you're 100% sold on Riviera...for decades...this is your best option--unless you are planning, slowly, to get a blue card.



I have AKV. Dues are high. You can book easily at seven months. The high dues are only worth the premium if you are using either the value rooms or the club rooms. If you're going to be booking a bunch of club or value stays, have at it. Otherwise, in terms of SAP, I'd too to either CCV or BLT. Lower dues. Better locations.

Blue card long term is likely, so I’m leaning 1. Thanks for your perspective on 3!

 

[RuntheMouse]

Another vote for #1. We did the very same thing. Started with resale, then added 50 direct at RIV, added another 100 direct a year later for blue card. We love RIV but also wanted the flexibility to stay at future resorts. When is your UY? You might get 2025 points which will help you stretch that initial purchase!

Also as mentioned above, consider the Disney Visa for 0% for 6 months. The rewards on that add up too, we used our for a dues payment!

 

[Mousemath]

Another vote for #1. We did the very same thing. Started with resale, then added 50 direct at RIV, added another 100 direct a year later for blue card. We love RIV but also wanted the flexibility to stay at future resorts. When is your UY? You might get 2025 points which will help you stretch that initial purchase!

Also as mentioned above, consider the Disney Visa for 0% for 6 months. The rewards on that add up too, we used our for a dues payment!

I love that you did the same thing! Any regrets or do differents?

 

[RuntheMouse]

I love that you did the same thing! Any regrets or do differents?

Absolutely no regrets! It has worked out really well for us.

The only heads up I will give you is that I refuse to use our RIV points anywhere but RIV so prepare for that and make sure that you can make 50 work for you.

 

[intamin]

I need some opinions Existing white card member with 230 SSR points. We use them as sleep around points and it has worked well. Our normal trip is a ~ one week total split stay in a studio or 1BR, so we take the best option available at 7 months. Parks style is to hop between MK/EP/HS with a mid day break. My favorite resort is Riviera which of course we are locked out of.

230 points is proving to be not quite enough. Sitting on $13k cash that is burning a hole in my pocket. Debt isn’t an option for me. Looking at 3 add on options:

1) 50 pts direct at Riviera or Poly. Starts me towards the blue card and full flexibility. I would envision a blue card within 5-10 years. I don’t need it today as we don’t have time for AP
2) 100 pts Resale at Riviera. Restrictions generally don’t concern me as we could bank/borrow
3) 100pts Resale at another sleep around type resort, maybe AKV. Let’s me do what I’m already doing but with more points in the war chest, plus a bit of a 11 month window

Thanks for your input!

50 points really doesn't go far at RIV or Poly although obviously I love both and is the reason I own both. Sure, you could buy more direct down the line but will you really get much benefit from 50 points at a resort assuming by the time you buy your remaining direct points both RIV and Poly will be sold out? I know you can buy the remaining 100 down the line but the sold out price will be a bit higher I'd imagine. It might be better to just buy all 150 at once later on when they eventually do a sold out RIV flash sale.

Personally I'd go with option 3 since you can't take advantage of the perks anyways. Might as well increase the flexibility up to 1BRs. I wouldn't fault you for going option 1 though since it is your favorite after all and if you want standard view you need to own RIV.

 

[PoppyJ]

We also started with all resale, then purchased 50 points direct at RIV! We eventually sold our resale PVB and bought another 150 RIV direct with great incentives.

For us, it's just DH and I traveling so our original purchase of 50 RIV points was enough with banking and borrowing to get a week in a tower studio for a week anytime except travel period 7. Depending on how many nights you plan to book in a deluxe studio or 1-bedroom, I might try for slightly more points (even 60-70 points), especially since you will not be able to use your SSR points at Riviera.

 

[Steelers0854]

Financial situation is solid, it’s just a personal choice not to use debt for DVC. But, I could have the cash saved in 2 years for the 150, so perhaps should wait. Riviera won’t be there though. No interest in LSL, not a fan of the transportation options. Transportation is huge to me because we like mid day breaks.

Never do anything that makes you uncomfortable financially. But I will make an argument to buy Direct for the full 150 now and pay down as you can over time. First no credit check and this doesn’t go on your credit report. In most cases the interest can be deductible on your taxes. They will almost never lower the minimum buy in for Blue Card, but there is a likelihood they could raise in your time horizon. So you may find yourself chasing it, paying ever increasing prices to do so and not getting there. You will get all the points now for your use at any location you want. Even though you are paying interest, you are buying in with significant incentives that are making your cost per point pretty low compared to what it’s going to cost you buying 50 points at a time. I didnt do the math, but this may actually end up costing you way more doing it this way vs financing it. It may be something you want to run the numbers on.

 

[juliebee]

I would envision a blue card within 5-10 years. I don’t need it today as we don’t have time for AP

I'll come back to this statement. If this new contract now allows you to take a second trip each year, you might want to run the numbers on getting annual passes. We will be going twice a year and the Sorcerer passes will be cheaper than buying tickets. If you have 150 direct points, that will allow you to get the Sorcerer pass, which is a big savings over the regular Incredi-pass. That savings could be a measurable difference over the years.

 

[Mousemath]

I'll come back to this statement. If this new contract now allows you to take a second trip each year, you might want to run the numbers on getting annual passes. We will be going twice a year and the Sorcerer passes will be cheaper than buying tickets. If you have 150 direct points, that will allow you to get the Sorcerer pass, which is a big savings over the regular Incredi-pass. That savings could be a measurable difference over the years.

I have run the numbers on the AP and it’s not a difference maker. 3 park days plus water parks is normal for us. Even across two trips I may break even but won’t come ahead. I see this changing closer to 10 years due to life circumstances allowing more time for travel.

 

[Mousemath]

June 13 edit: all of the encouraging towards just making the 150 plunge to direct has me thinking. Other than cash which is still a consideration, availability of travel (kid soon in college, plus regular school calendar as spouse works in education) are limiters today.

If I was buying 150 direct it would be for 10 years from now, with the time from now to then being a challenge to use all points. Has anyone ever been in this situation? How did it turn out? I don’t want to get into renting.

 

[Steelers0854]

Im going to ignore inflation, but the Poly in 2016 (10 years ago) was $171pp, now it’s $243. So $72 times 150 points is $10,800, and thats assuming they dont raise the minimum, which I can almost guarantee they will, atleast a little bit. So in 10 years are you ok possibly paying $10,800 more than today, maybe more, maybe less? I can just tell you when we did our first sit down with DVC back in 2014, when we could get Blue Card benefits for 25 points, if we could have afforded it we would have. Today I dont regret not buying back then because we simply couldn’t afford it. If we could have yes I would absolutely have regretted not doing it. I have more points than we need right now, but thats because I am planning for future retirement. I also dont love renting my points. So what do I do? I stay in 1 Bedrooms, I do a bucket list stay and grab a cabin at CCV or a Bungalow at Poly. Go to Aulani, Vero beach etc. All of this will eat up points. Does that make the most financial sense? Nope. But if I wanted to make financial sense I would stay at a Hilton off property for $150 a night. Im in this for the magic, for the memories, and for the fun, and that 1 bedroom at Aulani with the oceanview, thats worth every point to me with zero regret, and that was almost 3 years of points for us (at the time lol).

 

[cruisehopeful]

June 13 edit: all of the encouraging towards just making the 150 plunge to direct has me thinking. Other than cash which is still a consideration, availability of travel (kid soon in college, plus regular school calendar as spouse works in education) are limiters today.

If I was buying 150 direct it would be for 10 years from now, with the time from now to then being a challenge to use all points. Has anyone ever been in this situation? How did it turn out? I don’t want to get into renting.

150 points goes a lot quicker than you expect.

There are a few other things you can do to use your points. My number one recommend is to splurge on a CCV cabin. That'd take about 100 points/ night depending on season. With bank and borrow, you would have a very special stay.

Other options include selling your first year points back to Disney (i think you need to request that while buying), put excess points into Interval if you have any interest in staying somewhere that DVC doesn't work a resort, use points towards an annual pass (as long as you'll be going to the parks enough in a year to justify the cost, trade towards a cruise (it's a bad value, but it's better than losing the points).

 

[airjay75]

230 points is proving to be not quite enough.

My favorite resort is Riviera which of course we are locked out of.

If I was buying 150 direct it would be for 10 years from now, with the time from now to then being a challenge to use all points. Has anyone ever been in this situation? How did it turn out? I don’t want to get into renting.

Alright. I'm going to throw out another idea for you. Sell those 230 resale SSR points and buy 300 direct RIV points. The incentives on 300 RIV points, IMO, are a bit of a sweet spot. With magical beginnings and all incentives, you can probably get the price/point down to $185/point. Maybe you net $90/point selling SSR. Sure, that will cost you a little more than buying just 150 direct and keeping your SSR resale, but now you will have 300 unrestricted points for use at RIV and any other resort that ever comes along. Sounds like 300 total points is a bit more where you might like to be than 230+150.

Im going to ignore inflation, but the Poly in 2016 (10 years ago) was $171pp, now it’s $243. So $72 times 150 points is $10,800, and thats assuming they dont raise the minimum, which I can almost guarantee they will, atleast a little bit. So in 10 years are you ok possibly paying $10,800 more than today, maybe more, maybe less?

A good example here. $171 in 2016 would be worth about $239. But, looking at a resort like Poly, in 2016, you would have gotten 50 years of use. Today, you only get 40 years of use. So, the calculation is even worse when you take account of that

RIV is going to sell out in the next 12 months, maybe less. Today (well, I'd probably wait for welcome home weeks) is the cheapest you are ever going to be able to buy RIV direct. If that is the resort you love and you'd rather have points that aren't locked out of there, I'd do what I suggest above.

 

[Mousemath]

Alright. I'm going to throw out another idea for you. Sell those 230 resale SSR points and buy 300 direct RIV points. The incentives on 300 RIV points, IMO, are a bit of a sweet spot. With magical beginnings and all incentives, you can probably get the price/point down to $185/point. Maybe you net $90/point selling SSR. Sure, that will cost you a little more than buying just 150 direct and keeping your SSR resale, but now you will have 300 unrestricted points for use at RIV and any other resort that ever comes along. Sounds like 300 total points is a bit more where you might like to be than 230+150.


A good example here. $171 in 2016 would be worth about $239. But, looking at a resort like Poly, in 2016, you would have gotten 50 years of use. Today, you only get 40 years of use. So, the calculation is even worse when you take account of that

RIV is going to sell out in the next 12 months, maybe less. Today (well, I'd probably wait for welcome home weeks) is the cheapest you are ever going to be able to buy RIV direct. If that is the resort you love and you'd rather have points that aren't locked out of there, I'd do what I suggest above.

Thanks for the reply! Another option to make my head explode

I had noticed the 200 point tier being pretty sweet at $215 / per instead of $229 for 150 (before MB). I see slightly better at 250 ($211 before MB) but is there better pricing at 300?

It is an intriguing option. Points wise is better suited for sure. But it’s a larger cash outflow today which is a challenge.

 

[airjay75]

I had noticed the 200 point tier being pretty sweet at $215 / per instead of $229 for 150 (before MB). I see slightly better at 250 ($211 before MB) but is there better pricing at 300?

Just checked. 200 points is a $28/point incentive ($215/point) while 300 points is $36/point incentive ($207/point). The per point incentive doesn't increase again until you get to 500 points. That's why, IMO, 300 points is a real sweet spot for direct points at RIV. It's been pretty consistent over the past year or so that I've been paying attention.

It is an intriguing option. Points wise is better suited for sure. But it’s a larger cash outflow today which is a challenge

On my math above, you sell your 230 SSR points for a net amount of $90/point or $23,400. Then, you buy 300 direct RIV for an effective price (after all incentives, credit card cash back, magical beginnings) for a price of about $185/point or $55,500. $55,500-$23,400=$32,100.

If, instead, you keep your 230 SSR and buy 150 direct RIV, you may end up spending a couple thousand less, but probably not much more than that. Of course, you'd have 380 total points, not just 300, so there's some definitely some trade off. But, if RIV really is your favorite resort, you don't quite want 380 total points right now, and you're not interested in renting out excess points, I think it is something to think about.

 

[juliebee]

June 13 edit: all of the encouraging towards just making the 150 plunge to direct has me thinking. Other than cash which is still a consideration, availability of travel (kid soon in college, plus regular school calendar as spouse works in education) are limiters today.

If I was buying 150 direct it would be for 10 years from now, with the time from now to then being a challenge to use all points. Has anyone ever been in this situation? How did it turn out? I don’t want to get into renting.

I wouldn't buy now for use 10 years in the future. If you wouldn't be taking more trips, longer trips, or more point-heavy trips (like upgrading to the next larger room size) then I would not recommend buying until you actually need the points. Too many things could happen between now and 10 years from now, so if I didn't have immediate plans to use the points then I'd wait to purchase later.

I do think AirJay's suggestion to sell your current points and buy the Riviera you want sounds like it would be a good compromise if you had the funds for that.

 

[Chili327]

Alright. I'm going to throw out another idea for you. Sell those 230 resale SSR points and buy 300 direct RIV points. The incentives on 300 RIV points, IMO, are a bit of a sweet spot. With magical beginnings and all incentives, you can probably get the price/point down to $185/point. Maybe you net $90/point selling SSR. Sure, that will cost you a little more than buying just 150 direct and keeping your SSR resale, but now you will have 300 unrestricted points for use at RIV and any other resort that ever comes along. Sounds like 300 total points is a bit more where you might like to be than 230+150.

I do think AirJay's suggestion to sell your current points and buy the Riviera you want sounds like it would be a good compromise if you had the funds for that.

Agreed!!