How important are future resorts to you?

[VGCgroupie]

For WDW it is not important to me at this time. There are many non restricted places to stay there, there's also Hilton Head, Vero Beach and Hawaii.

However I am on the west coast, it's easier to go to Disneyland more often so its important to me since there is a very limited amount of unrestricted availability there and anything moving forward will also be restricted.

 

[Bucketfoot]

Given that I see you are only 30, you could potentially be doing this for awhile. I can see this being more important to you, especially as the 2042 resorts hit their end of contract and are potentially resold under all of the existing new rules.

But as others have said, I would not necessarily rush into a direct contract just for the benefit of being able to book at new resorts. If there is one that you are really interested in, then great. But it's really not something that you necessarily need to do right away.

 

[Lumpy1106]

We thought the future resorts would be important, so we rushed to buy out resale contract before the restrictions kicked in in 2019. As it turns out, the new resorts have had little appeal to us. Reason being, the demand on points for the new resorts has been far higher than it is for the original resorts. For this reason, we have only stayed in BWV, BLT and CCV, and have been happy doing so.

LSS - new resorts have not been important. My answer would be different had Disney released the new resorts with more favorable points charts - but they did not.

 

[McCrae]

Unless there is a great deal direct it doesn’t make sense
The perks are limited unless you value highly having lounges in the park (waiting 30-60 mins), moonlight magic (limited number admitted) and guaranteed discounts (non direct have had luck at times)

The main selling point for direct was to get savings on Annual Passes and people posted financial justifications to buying a property 30-40% more as they would save more after 10-15 years but this discount was removed and their reasoning up in smoke

You quote the new properties being a reasoning but there’s enough variety available to resale owners

last 3 years two new properties have been added to existing associations to increase options for resale

Most people on this site are focussed on having a perfect room at WDW, just remember that if you have children they are really not bothered about that, they just want to go to parks and swim and would probably want you to spend more on food if my teenagers are anything to go by!

Interesting to read your experiences regarding lounge access. I have been going to the Epcot Lounge from when it opened and have never had to wait to gain access to the Lounge,

The value of being able to access any DVC property is considerable.

 

[Traveling on cc points]

Not important enough to us to pay the currant direct prices. We did strongly consider adding on at the GF last year when the price was really good but we untimely decided against it.
If a resort ever pops up that I absolutely love, we would probably just buy a resale contract at that resort.
So far, there haven’t been any new ones that I feel like I am missing out on.

 

[supercarrie]

It was somewhat important to me. I'm local to DL, so having access to VDH for last minute trips and having lounge access for my near weekly visits did play a role (although of course this access can go away at any time). We also really liked wanted a resort with proximity to Epcot and I didn't want to buy Boardwalk or Beach Club given the expiration date, so by default we sort of moved to buying Riv direct.

That being said, I only purchased 153 points direct and the rest of my points resale. We are still weighing up whether we need any more direct points for access to the post 2042 resorts, Reflections, etc. If we did buy more, we'd likely buy VDH direct, anyway. I have zero interest in buying a restricted resort on the resale market as I like choice.

 

[kgou]

Unless there is a great deal direct it doesn’t make sense

This is us. I NEVER thought we'd buy direct and thought there was enough variety with the original resorts to give us plenty to choose from over the years. Then the VGF fire sale happened last summer and I figured we'd never see direct prices that low again ...and we bought direct.

Now that we've locked in the blue card, don't foresee us buying direct again if/when we add on. Getting a great price resale is part of the fun for me.

 

[smileyanna]

Not important. Terrible points chart at RIV and I’m not that interested in CFW.
IF a new resort comes along every 3-5 years that looks appealing and IF the points charts are doable and IF I decide I want to stay there occasionally, I can rent out my points and pay for it every six years.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

Important to us, but only because we like the layout of the new towers and rooms. I feel like the utility of the rooms at Riviera are really great, from scooter/stroller parking in the foyer to the galley kitchen, good storage in the living room, and great split bathroom in the 1B and amazing 2B and 3B, it's just really user friendly for us. We don't usually do studios, and we don't like having to walk outside for food and drinks.

We have totally loved trying the other resorts, but aside from CC or OKWe, those are the only resorts that interest us in owning resale points. CC for Christmas and OKW for relaxing resort stays and having company over with that awesome patio area on the golf course. Chef's kiss!

We like the idea of using all our points anywhere we want that is new at seven months and passing on blue card privileges to our kids when we're gone to buy APs -- if they're into it. If they sell after we're gone, no problem, but as a working-class stiff, vacationing at WDW more than once in a lifetime has already blown our minds, so we're excited to give them a potential leg up with a semi prepaid vacation that can also generate rental income for them if they so choose.

Also, gotta say, instant gratification on those points loading on the dashboard within hours is tough to beat! LOL.

 

[CarolMN]

Not important to me EXCEPT that new resorts will help to maintain the value of the legacy resorts. (But I am a long way past 30, and would probably feel differently if I weren't).

 

[MyDogTink]

For us, direct points are more valuable for APs and lounges. Our travel dates never line up with MM or other sporadic member events like the Halloween event or this past summer's Welcome Home Weeks (the only thing we caught from that was the discount on mobile food order).

We have a mix of direct and resale. I was expecting to love Riviera and anticipated "we need to own here". It turns out, we prefer the original 14 resorts so resale is fine for us and I expect that to hold true for some time. If the Poly tower was a new association we definitely would have bought direct there. So, direct for us now depends on access to current resorts, not future resorts.

If new resorts open and we love them but can't use resale there, we will deal with it then. For now, I can't see adding more direct when the savings are significant with resale. The savings can be put towards spending on our trips or DCL. I see DCL being in our future before new, restricted resorts.

 

[tom1944]

It was not important to me at all.

 

[atthebeachclub]

The original resorts are all in the best locations, so new resorts at WDW so far are not really as desirable, in my opinion. That said, DVC resorts at Disneyland could be an interest to me.

 

[SugarSweetLee]

Super important. A lot can happen in 40+ years. We wanted the flexibility to experience any of it we want with our own points. We just bought RIV at age 38/40.

It also helped that direct was super fast and easy (even though we took 3 months to decide to go through with it). The cost difference between direct and resale, at the resort we wanted, spread over the life of the contract was little enough (around $275/yr) that I knew I would ultimately be upset with myself for not just getting what I wanted to save that amount (especially if there were resorts I wanted to experience later on that I was locked out of), even if it is a tidy sum extra to pay up front.

We do not view DVC as an investment that we intend to recoup financially on - just prepaid vacations, basically - so didn't try to play the game of "what would our money do if we put the same amount in X fund" or whatever a lot of folks here are much better at doing than we

 

[vdangelo239]

Not important. Terrible points chart at RIV and I’m not that interested in CFW.
IF a new resort comes along every 3-5 years that looks appealing and IF the points charts are doable and IF I decide I want to stay there occasionally, I can rent out my points and pay for it every six years.

I don’t understand the hate to the Riv point chart. Sure it’s not BWV but I also own Poly and my Riv points for a Studio go further at Riv.

 

[atthebeachclub]

I don’t understand the hate to the Riv point chart. Sure it’s not BWV but I also own Poly and my Riv points for a Studio go further at Riv.

I think because the location is worse than places with better point charts. Or at least that would be my negative take on it. But yes…the point chart is better than the new Polynesian, but also has higher dues.

 

[vdangelo239]

I think because the location is worse than places with better point charts. Or at least that would be my negative take on it. But yes…the point chart is better than the new Polynesian, but also has higher dues.

The location piece is valid - especially when you compare to Crescent Lake properties. Fair and valid take.

 

[MonkeyKnifeFight]

I think because the location is worse than places with better point charts. Or at least that would be my negative take on it. But yes…the point chart is better than the new Polynesian, but also has higher dues.

The point chart is better than the old Polynesian too and grand Floridian. Definitely not as good as the crescent lake property point charts which also have massively better locations. However the rooms at the riviera are much nicer than the boardwalk and beach club. I just can’t bring myself to buy a 2042 resort though

 

[that1jeff]

The only reason I would even consider buying direct would be for access to the new/future resorts. (All other reasons to buy direct are not of value to me). But so far none of the restricted resorts stand out enough for me to buy direct. I can see myself buying direct WAY into the future once a new resort opens that appeals to me, but for as long as I have access to the O14, I'm good with resale only points for now.

 

[atthebeachclub]

It’s better than the old Polynesian too and grand Floridian. Definitely not as good as the crescent like properties which have massively better locations. However the rooms at the riviera are much nicer. I just can’t bring myself to buy a 2042 resort though

Better than Grand Floridian? That seems hard to believe though I admit I haven’t stayed there. My gut says Polynesian is a better location too due to the TTC. But I have no direct experience there.