Hybrid Membership: Boardwalk Plus what Direct?

[a2andy]

We fell in love with the EPCOT resort area after an amazing stay in January, so picking up a Boardwalk resale contract feels like a must. At the same time, we don’t want to miss out on direct-member perks—especially Moonlight Magic and the discounted out-of-state APs.

To avoid relying on buses, we’re thinking of a small direct add-on at a monorail resort (GFV, Poly, or BLT). Which would you snag first: the Boardwalk resale or the direct contract—and why? And which monorail resort would you choose? We haven’t stayed at any of them yet, though we do have a BLT stay booked for October. Thanks for any advice!

 

[RuntheMouse]

We fell in love with the EPCOT resort area after an amazing stay in January, so picking up a Boardwalk resale contract feels like a must. At the same time, we don’t want to miss out on direct-member perks—especially Moonlight Magic and the discounted out-of-state APs.

To avoid relying on buses, we’re thinking of a small direct add-on at a monorail resort (GFV, Poly, or BLT). Which would you snag first: the Boardwalk resale or the direct contract—and why? And which monorail resort would you choose? We haven’t stayed at any of them yet, though we do have a BLT stay booked for October. Thanks for any advice!

Grab the BWV first, then you can get members pricing on your direct purchase. You still must have 150 direct, not total, for blue card eligibility. Note that the AP isn’t discounted, you are just eligible to purchase the Sorcerer Pass. I would choose the Poly, it can be hard to get VGF and BLT I would never pay direct price for with the current resale prices.

 

[cruisehopeful]

It sounds like you aren't already a member? If that's the case, I would buy direct first because it is fast and guaranteed. Resale points take a while to get. If everything goes smoothly when purchasing resale, you're looking at 60-75 days to get your points. If things don't go smoothly, it will take even longer.

If you are already a member, I'd probably buy BW first, only to speed up the process of getting the points in your account since I'm sure you'll want to book a stay there as soon as you can.

 

[a2andy]

Grab the BWV first, then you can get members pricing on your direct purchase. You still must have 150 direct, not total, for blue card eligibility. Note that the AP isn’t discounted, you are just eligible to purchase the Sorcerer Pass. I would choose the Poly, it can be hard to get VGF and BLT I would never pay direct price for with the current resale prices.

Thanks, that is great info!

 

[maui22]

I would buy the resale first. This will give you access to the member pricing.

As for which resort, since you love BW, I would lean towards PVB direct. It has a similar destination vibe that BW does. It also has flexible (boat, resort monorail, express monorail from nearby TTC, ferry from TTC) transportation to MK. Plus, short walk to TTC for Epcot access.

Edit: wrote this while sitting in a 1BR BW room overlooking the pool.

 

[a2andy]

It sounds like you aren't already a member? If that's the case, I would buy direct first because it is fast and guaranteed. Resale points take a while to get. If everything goes smoothly when purchasing resale, you're looking at 60-75 days to get your points. If things don't go smoothly, it will take even longer.

If you are already a member, I'd probably buy BW first, only to speed up the process of getting the points in your account since I'm sure you'll want to book a stay there as soon as you can.

Correct, not a member yet. The one thing I heard was that if you have a contract already that Disney will match the "use year" if you get an add-on contract with them. Does that matter if it would be a different resort? Is it helpful at all?

 

[DeeBee3]

Ever thought of Copper Creek? It's not on the monorail but you have boat back and forth to MK. Cheaper points

 

[cruisehopeful]

Correct, not a member yet. The one thing I heard was that if you have a contract already that Disney will match the "use year" if you get an add-on contract with them. Does that matter if it would be a different resort? Is it helpful at all?

Yes, they will match the use year for resorts in active sales, which is Polynesian from your list. BLT and Grand Floridian are considered sold out. So, they need to get back contracts through member default on payment or by taking them back when someone sells their contract. They might immediately have the right use year or you might have to wait until they get one.

Most people do recommend keeping the same use year, even if you have lots of resorts. There are quite a few people here who have multiple use years and it works for them.

 

[Mrs.Milo]

Buy where you love. Being in the same use year would be more convenient. And for me I would want all in one resort, the Boardwalk, unless you like moving, or have a second resort you prefer. But you can always try them for a couple days and see what else you find.
Good luck!

 

[a2andy]

Ever thought of Copper Creek? It's not on the monorail but you have boat back and forth to MK. Cheaper points

I have not, but maybe I should!

 

[cruisehopeful]

I have not, but maybe I should!

I recommend watching walk throughs on YouTube of all the resorts that you are considering in various sized rooms. I was completely turned off of Copper Creek when I saw the studios, but after seeing videos of the whole property and the one bedroom villas, I was very interested. Conversely, I love the overall property at Grand Floridian, but don't care for the studio or one bedroom units and that made it easy for me to take it off my wishlist.

 

[AstroBlasters]

We fell in love with the EPCOT resort area after an amazing stay in January, so picking up a Boardwalk resale contract feels like a must. At the same time, we don’t want to miss out on direct-member perks—especially Moonlight Magic and the discounted out-of-state APs.

To avoid relying on buses, we’re thinking of a small direct add-on at a monorail resort (GFV, Poly, or BLT). Which would you snag first: the Boardwalk resale or the direct contract—and why? And which monorail resort would you choose? We haven’t stayed at any of them yet, though we do have a BLT stay booked for October. Thanks for any advice!

1) Buy resale first. Current members get a discounted buy in price vs brand new members so it will save you $$$. Boardwalk is awesome! Learn about Use Year and only bid on contracts that work for your plans.
2) If you want direct membership perks, then you need to own 150 direct points or more.
3) The only resorts offering incentives for new purchases right now at WDW are Rivera, Polynesian, and the Cabins at Ft Wilderness.
4) If you make an offer on a Boardwalk contract and have it accepted TODAY, then it will still be over 2 months before you get points loaded.
5) I’d pre-schedule time with a guide in October to take you around to all of the different resorts like a VIP to see which one(s) bring you the most joy and what the current incentives are.

 

[Wedgeout]

Get established with that resale first. Will have more UY options to pick from for best price and find which one bonds to you. Then after have the membership, choose the Polynesian, being the area you are interested in and in active sales. They will match your membership UY. Direct pricing was different when I took the leap. Started with Beach Club resale then added on direct for the DVC-Y at Old Key West. Nowadays we have direct VDH in our mix.

 

[intamin]

As almost everyone has said above, get your resale first, not just so you can get the best deal and receive member pricing, but also so you can easily have them match your use year. It's a pain to get a direct contract and then only be able to look at resale contracts from that use year vs. grabbing your resale first.

Since you already have Epcot covered, I'd go with Poly of their available options so you can diversify the location of your stays a bit more but also it'll be nice to have home resort priority for potentially more popular MK events like the Halloween/Christmas parties.

 

[D-Trick]

@a2andy - just confirming you're aware of Boardwalk's 2042 expiration? Besides that, the general consensus on these boards is to buy resale first, and then purchase your direct contract later to get current member pricing.

Also-- the default answer regarding UYs (even when buying a different resort) is to always match your current UY. The only exception is if you have a very specific use case for having two separate ones. If you think you'll be pooling your points together often (or even semi often), then having two UYs is an absolute no-no to save yourself the headache.

 

[eticketplease]

Correct, not a member yet. The one thing I heard was that if you have a contract already that Disney will match the "use year" if you get an add-on contract with them. Does that matter if it would be a different resort? Is it helpful at all?

Yes if you would like to stay longer or for a larger room you can combine your points to book something at 7 months.

If you buy 50 BWV and 150 direct at PVB you then would have 200 points to use at any eligible resort or 400 if borrowing. This is possible to do with different use years but you would have to call MS to transfer the points instead of having them available at 8 am when booking is open but MS is not since they don’t open until 9 so you might not get the room you want.

The other thing about 1 use year is you only have to worry about 1 set of dates for banking points.

As others have mentioned Resale first is what I would suggest. In addition to member pricing you can pick your use year without any pushback from a direct guide stating we only have these 2 available. If you already have a use year they will match yours when you buy direct.

 

[CarolynFH]

The advice above to learn about UY before buying is important. UY doesn’t determine when you can book a reservation, but it does determine which points you can use, and most importantly if you should need to cancel a reservation, it can make a big difference in whether you lose your points or not.

Here’s a good resource - there are others. https://www.disboards.com/threads/understanding-use-year-updated-february-10-2021.1942668/

 

[a2andy]

@a2andy - just confirming you're aware of Boardwalk's 2042 expiration? Besides that, the general consensus on these boards is to buy resale first, and then purchase your direct contract later to get current member pricing.

Also-- the default answer regarding UYs (even when buying a different resort) is to always match your current UY. The only exception is if you have a very specific use case for having two separate ones. If you think you'll be pooling your points together often (or even semi often), then having two UYs is an absolute no-no to save yourself the headache.

Thanks for check, I am aware of the 2042 expiration. I am okay with it, because the way I calculated the value we'll be in the black way before 2042 comes around.

 

[a2andy]

Buy where you love. Being in the same use year would be more convenient. And for me I would want all in one resort, the Boardwalk, unless you like moving, or have a second resort you prefer. But you can always try them for a couple days and see what else you find.
Good luck!

I have considered all Boardwalk, but I am thinking we might want a monorail resort for the MK parties? Have others gone all in on Boardwalk and bought some points there direct? The direct to resale price difference in cost gives me pause.

 

[intamin]

I have considered all Boardwalk, but I am thinking we might want a monorail resort for the MK parties? Have others gone all in on Boardwalk and bought some points there direct? The direct to resale price difference in cost gives me pause.

I don't think anyone on here would recommend buying any 2042 resort direct unless it's under very very specific circumstances which don't apply to most people.

I think they're recommending considering going all in on resale boardwalk which isn't a bad idea if you don't have any intention to use past 2042 or you simply don't plan or want to stay anywhere else than Boardwalk. If you plan to stay somewhere else other than Boardwalk with some regularity it's probably a better value to buy a mix of Boardwalk and another resort