How would you buy in?

[robinb]

I haven't real all the posts, but here are some things to consider.

• You're a teacher and you have 3 kids in school. You are limited to using your points during school vacations which are either a) expensive or b) hot. Ensure that you plan for enough points to cover winter or spring break at least every other year if you think you're going to go then.
• Dues are no joke. I own 200 points at BWV and 100 points at AKV. In ten years, after accounting for inflation, my BWV dues are up 9.47% (44% w/o inflation) and my AKV dues are up 15.37% (52% w/o inflation). In any case, I'm now paying $843 more in 2024 than I did in 2014 and I'm paying approximately $220 per month in dues.
• Your vacations will change as you and your kids get older. Being near the MK may not seem as important as your kids reach high school and even college. My DD24 was little, we loved staying at the Contemporary and Polynesian and being on the monorail. Now, she loves staying at Boardwalk so she can walk into Epcot. and DHS. We started with 230 points at OKW, added 200 points at BWV, sold OKW and bought 100 points at AKV. I am now thinking of selling one of my contracts since we're now empty nesters and 300 points is lot for us.
• If you buy two contracts, make sure the use years are the same. You *can* make two use years work, but it's so much easier when they are the same as your can combine contracts for reservations in the 7-month window.
• If you're looking at a MK resort, I would an Epcot area resort as your second one. That way you can enjoy both areas.
• Don't base your choice on the cheapest villa if there are only a few of them. Standard Views at many resorts don't even last the day in 11-month window. Especially in popular times like spring/winter break. I'm looking at you, "Value" villas at AKV and "Standard View" at BWV and BLT.
• #1 rule for purchasing DVC: buy where you want to stay.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

I don't think you can go wrong with Poly/CC resale and/or Poly/Riviera direct, honestly. Those are all my favorites, and if we were to buy more points, it would be Poly or CC, but not for the studios. No bueno for us, hate studios/love a bedroom door and laundry. You could request two adjoining Poly studios and split you and your wife up as HOH on each room reservation until the tower opens.

I WOULD diversify with Riviera in the mix in some way so you have HS/EP/MK direct access. We started out MK focused, and we quickly OD'd on the kiddie rides and insane crowds and stroller brigade/hub mob scene. It's just too crowded most days for us to enjoy during the day, but we LOVE the DVC late nights on Wednesdays (non party season.) We accomplish everything after hours, after the sun goes down. Totally different experience! We're confirmed 2nd shifters now at the parks.

Epcot is now all of our favorite, with HS next, and then a tie with AK (son) and MK (husband) in last place. Epcot is just so freaking easily accessible with the Skyliner from Epcot. My husband and I can do a quick date night late dinner when my cousin comes with us, and the kids love zipping over for snacks and the scavenger hunt. We did GoTG 3x one day with the two virtual queues and the DVC late night hours. So cool! Easy-peasy after fireworks or if you're hot/tired and someone needs a nap, or in my son's case, needs to barf after having too many Mickey bars in the heat on an empty stomach.

PP is right, the trips DO change. We went from all dying to make it to fireworks and rope dropping like militant nuts in the morning (my fault, LOL,) to sleeping in, swimming in the morning after breakfast, late brunch at Topolinos to hold us through lunch, and then snacking in the parks until fireworks and doing late signature dining when things aren't so crowded.

We have brought my sister, BIL, and niece once with us and are doing it again this Thanksgiving in 2024. We brought my adult cousin 3x. She says we've ruined Disney for her since doing DVC, LOL. Brought my niece this past July for a kids' cousin trip. We meet up with friends who own AKK/AKJ and swam/did poolside activities with them. They came over to our place at Riviera and cooked dinner for them and their kids, had drinks. Our son's had several play dates with another friend's family who owns OKW, and they came over and swam with us at Riviera. It's really fun to have these group meetups!

I think I would do Riviera direct the last ten days of the current promotion. Not only would you get that first set of double points and can probably pick your use year, but if it's a better deal after the one that expires in January, you can rescind and get the contract redrawn for the better deal.

Or, buy Poly/CC resale now to get that going and then add Riviera direct after to match the use year. We bought 100 initially, with that bonus 100 points, in August of 2019. We booked our first trip December of 2020, which we kept during Covid ($80 roundtrip airfare during Covid, baby! Wahoo! So spoiled by cheap airfare and no in-person learning.) We got Pixie dusted to a one-bedroom in the basically-empty resort, and it ruined us! LOL. We thought we'd be studio people. NOPE. Never again! LOL.

We added on during our Welcome Home trip another 200 points, plus those 200 bonus points. We milked those 500-some-odd points for three years of trips, going twice a year, including a two-bedroom in there (September cheap points in 2021 because kids had to quarantine anyway, so may as well go off season.) If you buy Riviera direct and don't do the Magical Beginnings, you'll keep those points and, believe me, you'll have a ball planning more trips.

Since 2020, with 300 points direct purchase, which ended up being 600 points with those previous year's points baked in, we have gone 2x a year, almost all peak weeks (February vacation, April vacation, 4th of July. Cheap point trips were early December and September) I'd rather go on vacation when my kids are young and into it the most and maximize your APs.

This is just my $0.02 and not meant to be financial advice, even though I'm mentally spending your money and planning your next three years of vacations;-)

If you decide on Poly/CC, those are amazing resorts! Keep us posted what you decide, LOL.

 

[DvcNJnewbie]

We are a family of four (two little girls) ending up buying a large number of resale points and then the 150 points direct add on at VGF with the promos they ran in the summer. I would definitely buy resale first if you can wait the process, I wish someone had told me to buy at SSR first which is pretty cheap right now. Most 2 or 3 bedrooms will be available to book 7 months out which probably suits your needs, so I probably did not need home resort priority. We tend to go off peak dates, though, which may not suit your needs. Good luck with everything, very happy with our DVC purchases this year so far!

 

[intamin]

Thank you so, so much for all of your thoughtful and useful information and well-wishes throughout the thread. It means a lot! CC sounds like a great fit for us on the resale side! I like Riviera a lot, but my family loooooooovves Poly. This is where I’m torn. I wouldn’t be averse to getting 150 riviera points direct, but I know we’re going to want to stay at the Poly occasionally. So that leaves me with wondering do I do CC resale and Poly direct when it goes live for two MK resorts, do CC resale and Riv direct to get an MK resort and an Epcot/HS resort, or do Poly resale and Riv direct…the possibilities are endless lol.

If I were you since the only way to have unrestricted RIV points is to buy direct, I would make that your 150 points direct and then buy resale Poly since resale Poly will have access to the majority of the resorts. This way you get Epcot and MK home resort priority. I mean, that's basically what I'm doing but also I'm a point hoarder so I also own at AK and AUL with plans to own VGC in the very distant future. MK is great but as your kids age, your trips will change. I don't know if you've made it out to Disneyland yet but idk just our personal take but Disneyland>MK and when I'm at WDW our trips center around Epcot, AK and HS. You want that flexibility as the kids get older to idk have an easy skyliner ride back after marathon-ing Rise of the Resistance, you may want to be a little closer for when you're a little bit tipsy after Food and Wine and don't want to be on a 20 minute bus ride . While they're younger, you're going to want to take them on the monorail after fireworks. There's no need to limit to yourself to an area that covers 1 of 4 theme parks.

The other option would be to buy direct Poly AND direct RIV if you wanted to be able to use all of your points at RIV say for example if you decided you wanted the ability to stay in a grand villa at RIV if that matters to you but if not, then half resale Poly and half direct RIV would work great.

IMO, diversify based on location.

 

[tidefan]

To add to how everything is different. We bought in 2007 and have added on multiple times. For us, even though we own at SSR, BLT, VGF, and Poly, the only one we really use at 11 months is BLT for standard studios.

We are perfectly fine saving points at SSR, AKV Standard, or OKW. Look at all of the point charts. It makes a difference. However, what really changes things for us was visiting Aulani back in 2012 when it opened. Since then, we have now taken 6 “once in a lifetime” trips to Hawaii, something we would never do if we didn’t own DVC. IMHO, once you visit Aulani, it’s hard not to want to go back there, and, of course, if you are from the East Coast, the best way to readjust to time is by staying at DL for a few nights on the way back…

 

[jolynne28]

First off, I love this for you! I'm so glad you can get points for your family and enjoy everything that comes with it.

I would price out two-bedrooms anywhere you are interested in and do the YouTube videos, knowing that Animal Kingdom, BLT, and Copper Creek will be getting refreshed/refurbished in 2025. Buying DVC lets you relax and ENJOY the resorts. We don't just view it as a place to crash after being park warriors but our second home, one week at a time.

I'm guessing you are still in the stroller phase of things, and we really appreciate the newer resorts' layouts (Copper Creek, Riviera) with a wide open foyer when you come in and have a place to stash the stroller/ECV and shoes and day packs. I REALLY have a strong aversion to the layouts with the pie-shaped entry and the multitude of doors to get into the bathrooms (Saratoga, OKW, etc.) It's a major space waster and annoying, especially with a built-in large family like yours. We did SS two-bedroom and felt very cramped once the bed was opened in the living room and kids were trying to eat at the table, adults in the kitchen nook, folks trying to walk in/through the main bedroom to find the bathroom. Just a wonky layout, and once you're unpacked and have shoes and sandals all over the place, it's just super cramped!

Copper Creek has the school/daycare setup with the open lockers by the entry and wide-open entrance and alley-style kitchen, which I LOVE. Their living room is a little cramped, but I'm hoping the Murphy refresh helps tweak that a little bit. It's going to certainly be a more comfortable sleeping option than a sofabed! There's a bunch of great food options on site at WL where you do not have to brave the elements, and it's very economical for dues. As well, since you're tied to the school schedules, if you ever wanted Thanksgiving/Christmas week, you have to own at CC to get in those peak weeks. You can get a good resale price there I bet, if you liked that vibe.

Riviera is our favorite and where we own. In our opinion, they nailed the room layouts. They're so spacious and user friendly, with ample storage, and tons of room for the stroller/ECV, day packs, shoes, sandals, etc. It's just wonderful, and having it be so compact in the tower style, it's awesome for the kids to run down to Primo Piatto and grab our mobile orders or get us a pastry/coffee from the lobby. They can go to the pool ahead of us in the morning (ours are 10 and 11, not little-little,) and swim while we finish cleaning up after a meal. We're not worried about them being alone or getting lost if they go ahead of us for 20 minutes. When they're old enough to navigate the Skyliner as teenagers, they totally know how to get around and can enjoy Epcot and HS on their own or with their friends.

Riviera's just really nice but not off-putting fancy, at least to us. The two-bedroom is as large as our house, affords tons of privacy, is soundproofed, yet still allows for everyone to congregate together in the main living room area. We have freakishly tall kids, and my husband is 6'4", with me being 5'10". We never feel cramped or lack for leg room/feet dangling off couches/Murphy/mattresses. I do laundry every night while the kids veg and wind down, and it's great to do COO flying down and having no dirty laundry to take home.

Do I wish we didn't have Riviera resale restrictions? Yes. Do I think it's going to make a difference in 10 years? Not that much. We've already recouped our buy-in cost on our points, and I do think Poly 2.0 and Riviera, you'll need to own there to ever get the standard views in a two-bedroom for a week. Hell, you'll need to own there for any room category for a week standard views.

Riviera is our favorite, but I do appreciate our direct points giving us access to other resorts to try out. We LOVED OKW as a resort-only stay, but we were near the Hospitality House on the ground floor level (husband uses ECV.) If we were somewhere far out at that resort, taking internal buses in July to get to food and the main pool, no way.

Grand Floridian was a bucket list, and while I loved our one-bedroom room, it wasn't laid out as well as expected, food was a trek, and the lobby was mobbed in December 24/7. Monorail was an annoyance after being spoiled with the Skyliner, and the buses SUCKED. You don't know necessarily what you're going to like though until you try it!

Beach Club was nice, great location, but Stormalong Bay is NOT enjoyable with little kids. I was VERY glad that our kids are great swimmers (on the town's team for years,) because between the crazy blind spots with covered bridges, deep lazy river, water slide you have to leave the pool area to access (no one's worried about the little kids being kidnapped being alone on that sidewalk? Just me? LOL,) it was NOT relaxing as a parent. Loved the location though, and walking back from Epcot is magical.

If you like Animal Kingdom, and what kids DON'T like animals out their windows, you could get a decent chunk of points there resale and then buy Riviera or Poly 2.0 direct for the blue card and have DVC match use years, if Poly is more your style/park preference for MK/monorail. Resale now gives you time to buy the points and get in on Poly early sale to existing members at the better price. Animal Kingdom Jambo/Kidani has amazing food options, a gorgeous lobby, tons of activities for the kids on site, long contract length, and a reasonable point chart. As well, AK is slated to be the next park to get enhancements/expansions, so it's nice to be so close to the park. It's nice to park under Kidani, too, if you ever rent a car.

I am not a fan of buying a bunch of SS resale, only because of the room layout and lack of dining options ON SITE. Yes, Disney Springs is nearby, but it's still a trek with four kids out in the elements and expensive. As an exhausted mom, sometimes I just want to order takeout from Primo and eat in our room in our pajamas and send the kids to go grab it. There's going to be trips it rains, the kids get sick, you're exhausted, it's 100 degrees with 100% humidity. It SUCKS to pack and mobilize everyone to catch a bus/boat/carrying takeout bags outside the resort.

Many people report using SS points and never staying there, getting in on other resorts, but I think you'll be super stressed trying to get two studios or two-bedrooms during peak weeks, which is when you're stuck traveling as a teacher and all the kids in school/activities for the next 20 years. I want you to have home resort booking advantage somewhere that you love.

I do think the Sorcerer pass (direct 150 purchase) is worth it for your family size. If you travel summer vacation, you can definitely plan trips for August, 2024/July 2025, or July/June to get two years' worth. You can also do April vacation/February vacation to do that scenario. By then you'll be out of points and probably free cash, skip a year or two to regroup points and cash, and then repeat.

The Cabins at Fort Wilderness are coming on sale soon. They do sleep six, but man, you'd be stacked like cordwood in there, and there's no in-room laundry. I don't think that's a good long-term solution for your family size, but if you hated Riviera as a direct option and were in a bit of a rush to buy, it's coming sooner rather than later as an option.

We bought Riviera financed through Disney, but then we immediately paid it off in chunks on our CC for flight miles. We're from MA, so we fly every time we go to WDW. You can't charge the whole amount on the non Disney CCs, but there's no prepayment penalty, and the DVC financing is ridiculously easy. They also do not do a hard credit pull, if you think you'd need your score untouched for any future purchases/financing. We don't have the Disney CC, but if you Google using it for DVC, there are a ton of perks for spreading out the payments/financing.

My only other advice is to buy as many points as you can responsibly afford. You're going to need larger accommodations on peak weeks. The kids grow so fast and want privacy/to bring friends and cousins (which is super fun! Honestly! It's the best part of owning DVC is bringing others/meeting up at the parks for meals and rides, swimming together.) Split any direct points into 150+50/100 in case you ever want to downsize in the future. You'll never recoup the buy-in on a single 300+contract, and it would suck to go from 300+ to zero points to use, but 300 to 150 as the kids age out of WDW isn't bad.

Also, while the buy-in is nothing to sneeze at, the dues do need to be considered. In the beginning, we just obsessed over the purchase price. Now that everything is paid off a while ago and we traveled 2x a year since buying in, the dues are not a problem, but they are a consideration. It's $200ish a month now, but if we buy another 300, now we're looking at approaching a car loan cost monthly. We plan to buy and hold until death and pass it on to the kids (if they want it, if not, we'd sell in another 20 years,) but we'll be retired by then. I'm not sure I want to pay a monthly mortgage payment in dues down the line.

You mentioned the CCV murphy bed refresh in 2025. Can you tell me more info, or where you've heard/read this? I mentioned this to our guide when we visited Saturday evening and he said CCV had a fairly recent refresh so he wasn't aware of anything else happening soon. As I'm typing this, I realize you are talking about switching the sofa bed for a murphy, not adding that extra pull down under the tv to sleep 5. That's what we were hoping for, WL is or fav resort but we're a family of 5 so sleeping at CCV is harder.

 

[MerlinandtheMouse]

You mentioned the CCV murphy bed refresh in 2025. Can you tell me more info, or where you've heard/read this? I mentioned this to our guide when we visited Saturday evening and he said CCV had a fairly recent refresh so he wasn't aware of anything else happening soon. As I'm typing this, I realize you are talking about switching the sofa bed for a murphy, not adding that extra pull down under the tv to sleep 5. That's what we were hoping for, WL is or fav resort but we're a family of 5 so sleeping at CCV is harder.

The resorts go through a soft goods refurbishment every 7 years and a hard goods refurbishment every 14 years, so CCV is due for its first soft goods refurbishment since it opened in 2017.

I don’t think there’s been any official news about what the refurb will entail but I think most assume they’ll be replacing the sofa bed with a Murphy bed like they’ve done with all the recent refurbs. I’d love it if they added a 5th pull down but I doubt it.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

You mentioned the CCV murphy bed refresh in 2025. Can you tell me more info, or where you've heard/read this? I mentioned this to our guide when we visited Saturday evening and he said CCV had a fairly recent refresh so he wasn't aware of anything else happening soon. As I'm typing this, I realize you are talking about switching the sofa bed for a murphy, not adding that extra pull down under the tv to sleep 5. That's what we were hoping for, WL is or fav resort but we're a family of 5 so sleeping at CCV is harder.

Yes, CC is due for soft goods, and I am assuming the Murphy will replace the sleeper sofa. IDK about a trundle under the TV. I know the cabins got a refresh this year, and I’m pretty sure the regular CC DVC rooms were announced at the association meeting earlier this month to be done in 2025.

 

[CarolynFH]

he said CCV had a fairly recent refresh so he wasn't aware of anything else happening soon.

Maybe he was confused - BRV, also at WL, had a hard goods refurb late 2022/early 2023.

 

[Brob2132]

Enjoyed reading through this thread. We’ve gone back and forth several times, and will likely make the purchase after we finish up a few other financial goals. It seems like there are two types of DVC folks:

A)Finding the absolute most cost-effective way of getting to a place you really enjoy traveling to. They’re crunching every penny and try to find a way to make it just a bit more cost effective to stay on property.

B) DVC is a luxury purchase and thus they’re treating it as such. Money is ALWAYS a factor, but just like you can get a Camry cheaper than the IS, you’re not making money your most vital factor.

I say this because if you fall into A, you really need to be sure your numbers are buttoned up to avoid making an incorrect decision with your spare income.

 

[Brob2132]

The concept of getting “last year’s points” is DVD sales-speak for getting what you’re paying for when you buy direct, which is current year's points. Someone who signs papers on, for example, May 1, 2024 to buy February UY points will be in their 2024 UY so will get February 2024 UY points. But if they are buying August UY points, on May 1 they will still be in their August 2023 UY and will get August 2023 points, then on August 1 will get their August 2024 points.

And they’ll both pay the same amount of prorated 2024 calendar year’s dues!

I just want to make sure I understand. Essentially if your UY is after the month you buy in (AKA purchase in March of 2024 for an April UY), you get the 2023 and 2024 points. Is that how it works?

 

[CarolynFH]

I just want to make sure I understand. Essentially if your UY is after the month you buy in (AKA purchase in March of 2024 for an April UY), you get the 2023 and 2024 points. Is that how it works?

You will always get current UY points. If you buy today, all UY are in their 2023 UY. But say you buy on February 15, 2024, and buy a February UY. You will be in your 2024 UY and will get 2024 points, that’s all. But if on February 15, 2024, you buy an April UY, you’ll still be in your 2023 UY (runs 4/1/23-3/31/24), and the guide will say gleefully “We’re giving you last year’s points!” when you’re actually getting your current UY points.

 

[MerlinandtheMouse]

I just want to make sure I understand. Essentially if your UY is after the month you buy in (AKA purchase in March of 2024 for an April UY), you get the 2023 and 2024 points. Is that how it works?

Yes, you receive the current UY points even if the 2024 UY points are only one month away. Not the exactly situation you have written out but we purchased in Feb 2023 with an August UY and got our 2022 pts because we were still in the Aug 2022 pts UY and Disney wants to make sure you have points to start booking things immediately. We also didn’t have to pay dues on the 2022 pts just the 2023 pts, I believe they market them as “free” pts.

If incentives get any better for RIV or they announce poly tower sales before August I might buy some direct pts before August just to get my 2023 pts right before the 2024 pts drop into play

 

[CarolynFH]

We also didn’t have to pay dues on the 2022 pts just the 2023 pts, I believe they market them as “free” pts.

Again, “free” points is sales-speak. When you buy direct you pay dues for that calendar year prorated from the date you sign, no matter what UY you buy. Dues are assessed on a calendar year basis to cover maintenance and operations of the resort for that calendar year. So when you become an owner you’re responsible for supporting your resort from that date forward, thus the prorated dues, and your UY doesn’t matter one bit, even if you got “last year’s” points.

When buying resale, paying “last year’s” dues is a matter of negotiation and is based on UY of points being obtained.

(I can understand the argument that if I get last year’s points because they’ve been banked into this year, I should pay extra for them. But I don’t understand why I should pay for operating and maintaining my resort last year, including paying last year’s property taxes, before I owned it. If I were buying a house, I wouldn’t pay last year’s electric bill or property taxes. Last year’s MFs are simply a convenient and simple method to value banked points.)

 

[MerlinandtheMouse]

Again, “free” points is sales-speak. When you buy direct you pay dues for that calendar year prorated from the date you sign, no matter what UY you buy. Dues are assessed on a calendar year basis to cover maintenance and operations of the resort for that calendar year. So when you become an owner you’re responsible for supporting your resort from that date forward, thus the prorated dues, and your UY doesn’t matter one bit, even if you got “last year’s” points.

When buying resale, paying “last year’s” dues is a matter of negotiation and is based on UY of points being obtained.

(I can understand the argument that if I get last year’s points because they’ve been banked into this year, I should pay extra for them. But I don’t understand why I should pay for operating and maintaining my resort last year, including paying last year’s property taxes, before I owned it. If I were buying a house, I wouldn’t pay last year’s electric bill or property taxes. Last year’s MFs are simply a convenient and simple method to value banked points.)

That’s really good to know I didn’t know the reason why but that makes perfect sense. And given this reasoning, I completely agree about not paying for the banked points when purchasing resale, now I have logical argument for why, thanks!

 

[CarolynFH]

That’s really good to know I didn’t know the reason why but that makes perfect sense. And given this reasoning, I completely agree about not paying for the banked points when purchasing resale, now I have logical argument for why, thanks!

Well, you should pay for them in some way, and paying the dues for them is an easy way to calculate their value (and would be cheaper than paying their value if they were rented out). But I think you also need to look at when you might actually "take possession" of them - sometimes, by the time you close and those points are put into your account, it's really too late to use them.

 

[DVCanadian]

We are flyers l. I don’t see us driving down from NY for another 6-7 years if ever. Stocking up on SSR points is something I’ve considered though.

RIV direct with incentives you get 245 points ($203pp).
Poly resale at $150 is 325 points.
SSR or AKV at $110 is 450 points.

Knowing the dates and duration that you plan to make reservations is critical.
Buying direct with $50k won’t get you a week in a 2 bedroom at RIV in March or December.

Get as many points as possible because 2 bedrooms are expensive (and really nice!).
Recommend a 2 bedroom at Aulani

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

When do you plan to vacation? And will you always be able to book in the home priority window or will it be closer in? If not in the 11-7 month window then home resort doesn't matter.

Very true. I think the last math I did we only really break even with the annual pass around day 9 or 10 so it may not be worthwhile for us. The lounges sound cool though. We also have the Disney credit card, but were surprised at how few of the dining options offered the discount with it. Saving $30+ on each table service meal would be kinda nice.

As a tip - you can buy just 1 AP and get the discount. Not everyone has to have one for that.

And the lounges? It's a nice perk but absolutely not special enough to be a justification for buying direct and paying thousands more.

 

[intamin]

When do you plan to vacation? And will you always be able to book in the home priority window or will it be closer in? If not in the 11-7 month window then home resort doesn't matter.



As a tip - you can buy just 1 AP and get the discount. Not everyone has to have one for that.

And the lounges? It's a nice perk but absolutely not special enough to be a justification for buying direct and paying thousands more.

Agreed, the only real justification for buying direct is caring about being able to book VDH or Riviera. Annual passes as well if you make at least 2+ trips a year. Everything else like Moonlight Magic, discounts on food/merch and lounges is trivial.

 

[mamaofsix]

Agreed, the only real justification for buying direct is caring about being able to book VDH or Riviera. Annual passes as well if you make at least 2+ trips a year. Everything else like Moonlight Magic, discounts on food/merch and lounges is trivial.

Discounts on food / merch isn't that trivial. Especially if you're a larger party. I calculate we'll save between $300-$500 every trip with those discounts. That adds up quickly. Over the lifetime of my contract, that will be $9K-$15K in savings just on food and merch alone.