How does someone know it's a good decision for them, to purchase DVC?

[AstroBlasters]

What was that great price? Right now it's $235 for 100 points. Very new to this so trying to learn all I can !!

I wouldn’t buy only 100 points, you don’t get any of the membership extra benefits for less than 150 points and the point chart is so high you won’t get that many nights there….

 

[TDK44]

This isn't directly a reply to OP as it doesn't necessarily apply to your circumstances directly, but more to other people also thinking about buying DVC:

1. If you have young kids but aren't quite ready to start going to Disney yet, it could still be a good time to buy a contract and rent your points out early on (time value of money / recouping some of your upfront costs early). We bought a loaded resale contract 2 years ago, used some of those points on a trip to Aulani (we had already planned a trip to Hawaii, so would have spent the money on a condo rental anyway), and then rented the rest out / have rented out our points out since. Will go on our first family Disney World trip next year. Renting out the points early was a huge factor in amplifying the ROI.
2. A worthwhile counterpoint to the "buy where you want to stay" argument to consider would be that you can always rent from another owner or take a transfer in of points to take advantage of the 11-month window at a different resort if you are absolutely set on a specific date at a tough-to-book resort, and then rent your points out to help cover those costs. I've only done this once so far, so can't say it will definitely work in future years, but I'm hoping it does! Just takes some thoughtful planning and extra work around renting your points out that you maybe wouldn't have otherwise.

 

[Sandisw]

What deals? I did see something that is a discount until the end of July or so, for Riviera.

The current incentives can be found here. You can also get an extra $500 off by getting the name of an owner from our referral thread.

Plus, they currently had some extra for D23, AP and a few others

Best to contact a guide who can run down the numbers!!

https://dvcnews.com/dvc-program-men...club-direct-pricing-in-spring-2025-incentives

ETA: if you only look at the 100 point level it’s not going to be discounted for new buyers. But move up to 150 or more and it comes down!

They have the Magical Beginnings program which allows you to sell back your first year of points for $20…starting at the 150 level.

So, with that, you can get it down from the the $235!

 

[Cfabar1]

I would study the points charts carefully... Disney posts them on the Disney Vacation Club website...

Make sure if you are going to buy points you are buying enough to care for your trip...

Some of the resorts can be quite points hogs... Make sure that affording gets you the rooms you want at a cost you are comfortable paying.

 

[Chy]

People overlook riviera resale on this forum. If you really like riviera and want to stay there, it’s a fantastic deal on the resale market. You can also sell it back for about what you pay for it in a few years. Riviera directl if you have to sell is a big loss. You can buy it resale around $120 per point. Just buy the right amount of points and if you want to stay somewhere else then buy another contract.

The fact is if you stay during any of the busy seasons, your only option is your home resort, because everything is fully booked by 7 months unless you’re good with SSR. So practically speaking all anyone has at those times is their home resort. So who cares if you’re limited to your home resort.

If you’re booking in the summer when most things are open then why buy direct, buy cheap points.

Maybe in the 1 in 100 case where someone is really using it for Aulani snd Disneyland you could try to justify it. But in that case you’re still way better off with multiple contracts.

Buying direct riviera is a bad choice if money has any meaning to you. It’s an emotional decision, with no benefit. Riviera is a fantastic resort but a brutal points chart. Buy it resale if you want to stay there. Buying it for $235 is insane.

 

[Girlstar30]

I feel you because I'm in the same boat of loving Riviera and not wanting to spend the money on direct because of the restrictions and overall price of direct in general and I have decided to go resale and wait until I can save more money and pay off at least half of the direct contract before purchasing and not finance for more than a couple of years max. Thats if i even decide to end up doing it because im still on the fence. If I was rich I would buy without hesitation

With that being said, I have found ways around restricted resorts which aren't a guarantee and a lot of people aren't comfortable with, but it works for me.

You can buy a cheaper contract resale and get way more points than direct and sell points whenever you want to stay at a direct resort and rent points from a rental store to book your stay and come out ahead of direct doing it every couple of years or even every year depending on room type.

I just discovered you can also buy otu points and stay at deluxe studios at the restricted resorts. 24 points will get you one night in a deluxe studio depending on what time of year and if you have multiple memberships like us (3 memberships) we are really happy with three nights.

You do have to call members services to book a fake reservation and then cancel it and call them again to book one night at the restricted resort on each membership. We just did it successfully for vdh. All that being said, i have the time to do all this and love a challenge, but for simplicity sake if you have the money and want to stay at Riv you may just want to buy direct

Disney can take away otu points or try to restrict renting more which would foil my plans, but I'm okay with the many other resorts i have to choose from and just renting points if that happens, would you be okay if you couldnt stay at those and the many more to come?

 

[HFJohnson]

People overlook riviera resale on this forum. If you really like riviera and want to stay there, it’s a fantastic deal on the resale market. You can also sell it back for about what you pay for it in a few years. Riviera directl if you have to sell is a big loss. You can buy it resale around $120 per point. Just buy the right amount of points and if you want to stay somewhere else then buy another contract.

The fact is if you stay during any of the busy seasons, your only option is your home resort, because everything is fully booked by 7 months unless you’re good with SSR. So practically speaking all anyone has at those times is their home resort. So who cares if you’re limited to your home resort.

If you’re booking in the summer when most things are open then why buy direct, buy cheap points.

Maybe in the 1 in 100 case where someone is really using it for Aulani snd Disneyland you could try to justify it. But in that case you’re still way better off with multiple contracts.

Buying direct riviera is a bad choice if money has any meaning to you. It’s an emotional decision, with no benefit. Riviera is a fantastic resort but a brutal points chart. Buy it resale if you want to stay there. Buying it for $235 is insane.

This thread isn't helping me make a decision re resale! I really like the idea of buying at Riviera but some people seem to think it's a bad idea because they expect there may be issues booking certain rooms when all the direct contracts have been sold. I would be looking at 150 points to rent out either the tower or deluxe studios and these seem to be the ones of concern.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? My other option is SSR which is cheaper and gives more flexibility at 7 months, but would make it harder to stay at Riviera, although I'm not against renting out my points and buying a stay at Riv if needed.

 

[sethschroeder]

I would be looking at 150 points to rent out either the tower or deluxe studios and these seem to be the ones of concern.

Think about this in a couple of ways:

1. How are points used:
Why would someone buy BCV, VGC, possibly BWV at the current time? They buy so they can just stay there normally. Yes you can use the points somewhere else but you are not spending $300/point on VGC points to stay at AKV at WDW. I think you are going to find similar things.

2. "Losing points" is priced in:
You are getting a roughly $30 discount off the actual cost of RIV if it didn't have resale restrictions. Meaning even if you had points expire 2x in the next 44 years you would "break even".

3. Protect your points:
If you take an extra trip in the first 1-2 years and keep borrowing it now gives you maximum flexibility. Can't get a room this UY? Well that means your points were not borrowed. Can't get a room next UY? Great now you bank your points. Finally you are forced to use the Points at which point you could rent your points (possibly for a profit).

4. Room category division is best in class:
RIV doesn't have point hungry Cabins/Bungalows that skew points. RIV is very well divided with a ton of studios. You may find Tower rooms are harder to get but its not going to be the level of AKV-Value or Club where a massive resort has a couple of rooms that are unique to AK.

5. Resell
You can always sell your contract again. Its unlikely the value of your contract changes that much in the near term and likely will go up slightly in the long term. So if you start to see its harder to get the room you want then sell your contract.

6. Point trade/rent
Don't forget that if you want to stay elsewhere you can actually go on Facebook (or do regular rentals) to essentially trade points. All the resale members are locked out of RIV except the ones that own there. So you possibly can find people who might have those VGF points that are willing to trade stays. In the end you can always do a normal rental for your RIV points and then rent others points.

 

[cruisehopeful]

This thread isn't helping me make a decision re resale! I really like the idea of buying at Riviera but some people seem to think it's a bad idea because they expect there may be issues booking certain rooms when all the direct contracts have been sold. I would be looking at 150 points to rent out either the tower or deluxe studios and these seem to be the ones of concern.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? My other option is SSR which is cheaper and gives more flexibility at 7 months, but would make it harder to stay at Riviera, although I'm not against renting out my points and buying a stay at Riv if needed.

I don't see any benefit to buying SSR and renting the points to be able to pay for a stay at Riviera. If you are able to plan 11 months in advance, owning Riviera is your best bet. Deciding between direct and resale is going to take a lot of thought. I do believe it shouldn't be an emotional decision. If you are able to clearly think about exactly how you will use it+ the costs involved, I'm sure you will make the right decision.

 

[AstroBlasters]

People overlook riviera resale on this forum. If you really like riviera and want to stay there, it’s a fantastic deal on the resale market. You can also sell it back for about what you pay for it in a few years. Riviera directl if you have to sell is a big loss. You can buy it resale around $120 per point. Just buy the right amount of points and if you want to stay somewhere else then buy another contract.

The fact is if you stay during any of the busy seasons, your only option is your home resort, because everything is fully booked by 7 months unless you’re good with SSR. So practically speaking all anyone has at those times is their home resort. So who cares if you’re limited to your home resort.

If you’re booking in the summer when most things are open then why buy direct, buy cheap points.

Maybe in the 1 in 100 case where someone is really using it for Aulani snd Disneyland you could try to justify it. But in that case you’re still way better off with multiple contracts.

Buying direct riviera is a bad choice if money has any meaning to you. It’s an emotional decision, with no benefit. Riviera is a fantastic resort but a brutal points chart. Buy it resale if you want to stay there. Buying it for $235 is insane.

I disagree that Riveria resell is a “fantastic deal”…. especially if it would be your only contract.

I think the majority of the board thinks that it is not cheap enough given that it’s a contract to only one resort.

 

[Brian Noble]

So how does a person accurately calculate if this is worth it for them to make the move into buying DVC?

If you can honestly answer yes to the following three questions, then DVC, purchased resale, can potentially be a wise financial move:

1: Do you expect to go to WDW at least every other year for at least the following 10-15 years?
2: Do you normally stay in a mix of Moderate, Deluxe, and DVC resorts?
3: Would you rather gouge out an eye than stay offsite?

Note that resale DVC can only save you money on lodging. You will still have to get to Orlando, buy food, buy park tickets, etc. etc. etc. This is not an inexpesive vacation. (Yes, I know we can find other expensive vacations. That is not the point.)

If you can also honestly answer yes to the next two questions, then DVC, purchased direct, might be "a good way to spend the money."

4: Do you have the cash on hand to pay for the points without financing?
5: Would it be okay if you got nothing back on your purchase when the time comes to get rid of it?

Note that answering yes to these questions does not make buying direct a wise financial decision. It makes it a good way to spend the money. To understand the difference, I'm going to quote a former Hyatt timeshare sales agent who hangs out on TUG:

It's a TOY. You are buying a TOY. Treat it like a TOY.

There is no universe in which buying from Disney is a wise financail decision, becasue something sort of kind of like it is available on the secondary market for fifty cents on the dollar, plus or minus. That doesn't mean you shouldn't buy from Disney. Buying from Disney is good and fun. And, because the thing you are buying from Disney is not exactly the same as the thing you could buy resale, you might decide that the thing-from-Disney is how you want to spend the tens of thousands of dollars it will cost, instead of spending those tens of thousands of dollars on something else.

What would cause someone to decide that? Simply that they want to. Nothing else is required.

Worried about "life" becoming less conducive to being able to take those week long stays going forward, or things such as jobs, health issues, or other life factors posing an issue to traveling, in the future.

This is wise, and was essentially the reason I did not buy DVC when my kids were in the house. In hindsight, this was the decision for us, but not for the reasons I expected. I was worried they would age out of Disney before we got to the payoff horizon, and DVC would have been pretty much the only "big" vacation we could take for many years. I did not want us to be that limited. Aging out was not that big of a deal, but our lives evolved in many unexpected ways.

FYI, considering direct, since we love RR.

If you can answer yes to all five questions, then why not? I eventually did, and I am enjoying my toy so far. If you can answer yes to the first three, but not both of four and five, then you have a harder decision to make: Do you like Riviera enough for it to be your only WDW home, or would you rather have your home be among the non-restricted resorts?

 

[sndral]

This thread isn't helping me make a decision re resale! I really like the idea of buying at Riviera but some people seem to think it's a bad idea because they expect there may be issues booking certain rooms when all the direct contracts have been sold. I would be looking at 150 points to rent out either the tower or deluxe studios and these seem to be the ones of concern.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? My other option is SSR which is cheaper and gives more flexibility at 7 months, but would make it harder to stay at Riviera, although I'm not against renting out my points and buying a stay at Riv if needed.

My take on future Riviera availability & resale price is that it is too new & too different to follow the patterns we know from other DVC resorts.
Regarding resale price, any new resort costs more on the resale market because there are few contracts for sale, so resale supply is low which tends to increase price. As the resort reaches sell out there are more owners & thus more contracts likely to be sold increasing supply. We don’t know whether the number of resale contracts for a fully sold out Riviera will meet demand or even exceed it. My personal guess is that the price will drift down as supply increases, but the overall economy will impact DVC resale pricing & that’s a huge unknown ATM.
We know even less about future availability. So far there’ve been relatively few Riviera resale owners so their impact hasn’t been felt yet. Presumably as time goes on the number of resale Riviera owners will increase & because they can only book one resort one assumes they’ll do so at 11 months thus making it increasingly tougher to get those point saving resort views & other popular categories especially during high demand times. Maybe this will only effect 7 month bookings, since resale Riv owners aren’t going anywhere else at 7 months, or maybe it’ll make 11 month bookings look like the hunger games since resale Riv owners must stay there & thus decide to use the tricks used for hard to get bookings like walking & speculatively booking (squatting) their reservations to make sure they don’t lose out we just don’t know at this point.

 

[Sandisw]

This thread isn't helping me make a decision re resale! I really like the idea of buying at Riviera but some people seem to think it's a bad idea because they expect there may be issues booking certain rooms when all the direct contracts have been sold. I would be looking at 150 points to rent out either the tower or deluxe studios and these seem to be the ones of concern.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? My other option is SSR which is cheaper and gives more flexibility at 7 months, but would make it harder to stay at Riviera, although I'm not against renting out my points and buying a stay at Riv if needed.

The concern of there being issues as a home resort owner if RiV having trouble booking is overblown.

First, if one is booking during the home resort period, all points are the same…whether resale RIV or direct RIV

Second, all owners, regardless of where they own, should book as close to the 11 month mark as they can to have the best chance for all rooms types.

Third, it is going to take a very long time for the ratio between resale to direct to be in anyway meaningful to even play a role. For example, a direct contract only becomes restricted once.

I bought a resale RIV contract and if I sell it, it doesn’t impact that ratio because it’s already restricted.

Resort view rooms already popular and the bulk of the owner’s points are direct. Certain times of the year are popular and book fast in all types…again, just like over resorts without restrictions…supply and demand.

Those who own resale RIV certainly have fewer options if they don’t book during home resort period and will need to be more flexible with dates and room sizes since they can’t trade out.

All this to say that DVC is too expensive to not buy the resort you know you want to be at based on hypothetical situation that no one knows will even happen.

Good luck !

 

[VGCgroupie]

This thread isn't helping me make a decision re resale! I really like the idea of buying at Riviera but some people seem to think it's a bad idea because they expect there may be issues booking certain rooms when all the direct contracts have been sold. I would be looking at 150 points to rent out either the tower or deluxe studios and these seem to be the ones of concern.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? My other option is SSR which is cheaper and gives more flexibility at 7 months, but would make it harder to stay at Riviera, although I'm not against renting out my points and buying a stay at Riv if needed.

Buying to rent to stay somewhere else doesnt make sense. If buying resale personally I would just accept that I wont be staying at RIV. Buying RIV resale all on its own really limits you, you will be stuck getting RIV all the time at 11 months to ensure you get what you need. If RIV is that important it makes more sense to look at creative purchasing to get your price down and buy direct.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Buying to rent to stay somewhere else doesnt make sense. If buying resale personally I would just accept that I wont be staying at RIV. Buying RIV resale all on its own really limits you, you will be stuck getting RIV all the time at 11 months to ensure you get what you need. If RIV is that important it makes more sense to look at creative purchasing to get your price down and buy direct.

Agreed.

 

[Childs1stTime2Disney]

People overlook riviera resale on this forum. If you really like riviera and want to stay there, it’s a fantastic deal on the resale market. You can also sell it back for about what you pay for it in a few years. Riviera directl if you have to sell is a big loss. You can buy it resale around $120 per point. Just buy the right amount of points and if you want to stay somewhere else then buy another contract.

The fact is if you stay during any of the busy seasons, your only option is your home resort, because everything is fully booked by 7 months unless you’re good with SSR. So practically speaking all anyone has at those times is their home resort. So who cares if you’re limited to your home resort.

If you’re booking in the summer when most things are open then why buy direct, buy cheap points.

Maybe in the 1 in 100 case where someone is really using it for Aulani snd Disneyland you could try to justify it. But in that case you’re still way better off with multiple contracts.

Buying direct riviera is a bad choice if money has any meaning to you. It’s an emotional decision, with no benefit. Riviera is a fantastic resort but a brutal points chart. Buy it resale if you want to stay there. Buying it for $235 is insane.

I am literally so new to this and trying to learn!! Also have to convince my spouse it's the right decision (once I figure out if it is). Can you explain a bit more to me about why buying Riviera direct is a bad decision? Also, if I bought resale, do I still get the perks if I have 150 points? Also help me understand about multiple contracts.

Basically looking to travel once a year, 7+ days, a one bedroom villa. Riviera is our favorite, with GF and Contemporary as well.

 

[Childs1stTime2Disney]

If you can answer yes to all five questions, then why not? I eventually did, and I am enjoying my toy so far. If you can answer yes to the first three, but not both of four and five, then you have a harder decision to make: Do you like Riviera enough for it to be your only WDW home, or would you rather have your home be among the non-restricted resorts?

I cannot say I never want to stay anywhere again. We just feel it meets much of our criteria in what we need and want in a resort. But no, I do not want to always stay here.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I am literally so new to this and trying to learn!! Also have to convince my spouse it's the right decision (once I figure out if it is). Can you explain a bit more to me about why buying Riviera direct is a bad decision? Also, if I bought resale, do I still get the perks if I have 150 points? Also help me understand about multiple contracts.

Basically looking to travel once a year, 7+ days, a one bedroom villa. Riviera is our favorite, with GF and Contemporary as well.

Resale does not get the perks.

Not everyone agrees that RIV is a terrible thing to buy direct, only you can decide that. Nobody knows what the future will hold, so buy it assuming you will own it forever or that it will be worthless when you sell. This is the BEST way to figure out if it makes sense financially. But also not everyone buys DVC because it makes sense financially. It's a luxury purchase. If you love Disney being a DVC direct owner makes it that much more special.

I own 1000 points at 4 resorts and I started small w/ 100 resale points. After all of the back n forth and comments here my personal advice is still buy a small resale contract first. DVC is not a simple program, buy small, learn it, and then decide if you love it enough to spend a lot of money on it. Don't buy RIV in fear of increases or it selling out, that is for sure the worst reason to buy something so expensive.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I cannot say I never want to stay anywhere again. We just feel it meets much of our criteria in what we need and want in a resort. But no, I do not want to always stay here.

With that in mind, buying direct anywhere will work for you. Since you like vgf and BLT, I recommend looking at buying direct at one of those. As long as you have direct points, you can book Riviera and all the other restricted resorts. If you ever need to sell your contract, BLT and VGF would presumingly sell for more than Riviera because they will not be restricted to one resort.

 

[sndral]

I am literally so new to this and trying to learn!! Also have to convince my spouse it's the right decision (once I figure out if it is). Can you explain a bit more to me about why buying Riviera direct is a bad decision? Also, if I bought resale, do I still get the perks if I have 150 points? Also help me understand about multiple contracts.

Basically looking to travel once a year, 7+ days, a one bedroom villa. Riviera is our favorite, with GF and Contemporary as well.

It’s like buying a new car - Riviera direct will cost around $230 a point. If you had to sell it you’d net maybe $120, so you’d lose $110 a point.
Poly, also for sale direct ATM, will cost around the same $230 direct, but if life happens & you need to sell you’d net maybe $150 - 160, so only a $70 - $80 loss per point.
Needless to say, the longer you own & the more trips you take the nearer to break even you get. There are spreadsheets where folks calculate their break even point & even their long term savings from their ownership.
If you start out w/ a smaller reasonably priced resale contract your exposure to loss is less should you decide to sell because life happens or you don’t like the system or you decide you’d rather own direct elsewhere. If I went the try it out route, I wouldn’t buy Riviera resale because the restrictions make it a niche market & I’d avoid the 2042 resorts because as their expiration date approaches their resale value should decline.