I have a slight dilemma; any advice would be appreciated.

[InabinettheCabinet]

So, my first world problem is wondering if I should just rescind my purchase with Disney directly and go purchase a resale contract.

I recently purchased (within the last 3 days) a 150 VGF contract directly from Disney. I really wanted Riviera but just couldn't justify the resale restrictions on it, so I stuck with VGF. Well, I was looking at the resale market and I can buy a 200-point SSR contract much cheaper and with way more points. I know the deed expires way sooner and SSR is typically considered the "resort of last resorts", but I don't really care about every staying at VGF. The resort isn't really my style. I'm okay with SSR as a home resort and then having options at different resorts at the 7-month window. I feel like VGF as a home resort is kind of useless for me, between the point costs of the room and the resort itself.

However, with that being said, I wonder how much I will regret not being a "blue card member" for not buying direct.
Just curious if anyone else has similar thoughts.

 

[StoweFoSho]

Well if you really want to stay at the Riviera, then SSR resale is not the right contract either. VGF direct at least gets you Riviera access at 7 months.

SSR is a great resort for network points/sleep-around points that many DVC members use to stay other places, but so is VGF when breaking down the number of years left and the dues.

I would say do what you feel is best, but know that availability is difficult at many resorts at 7 months- especially for Studios.

My other questions would be, are you an annual passholder? Are you a florida resident? Do you today plan trips far in advance? How many people do you travel with, and what time of year do you travel? All of those things would change what resorts I buy.

In my case I bought a small resale first, learned the system, and then added on direct. Both of those were purchased specially for 11 month home resort priority. Later we purchased more resale one for priority and one for use anywhere/last minute trips.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

The old quote of 'buy where you want to stay' is important! But if you don't have any specific attachment to VGF, that's a pretty big investment just for a blue card (my opinion!). The biggest blue card benefit we've used over the years is access to the DVC Annual Pass - if you don't see yourself getting an AP, I'm not sure the other discounts are worth it.

 

[CarolMN]

If you really want to be able to stay at Riviera, buying at least some direct points is better than buying any resort resale. Resale points cannot be used to book Riviera.

 

[InabinettheCabinet]

Well if you really want to stay at the Riviera, then SSR resale is not the right contract either. VGF direct at least gets you Riviera access at 7 months.

SSR is a great resort for network points/sleep-around points that many DVC members use to stay other places, but so is VGF when breaking down the number of years left and the dues.

I would say do what you feel is best, but know that availability is difficult at many resorts at 7 months- especially for Studios.

My other questions would be, are you an annual passholder? Are you a florida resident? Do you today plan trips far in advance? How many people do you travel with, and what time of year do you travel? All of those things would change what resorts I buy.

In my case I bought a small resale first, learned the system, and then added on direct. Both of those were purchased specially for 11 month home resort priority. Later we purchased more resale one for priority and one for use anywhere/last minute trips.

That's a good point too. Maybe it's not the right contract either.
But to answer your question, I am out of state annual passholder, and usually we book the trips 6 months in advance, but we know the dates we're going well in advance of that.

I was thinking SSR because of the pretty low cost and then maybe buying a smaller direct contract at Riviera.

I don't know, maybe I'm just overthinking the whole thing.

 

[InabinettheCabinet]

The old quote of 'buy where you want to stay' is important! But if you don't have any specific attachment to VGF, that's a pretty big investment just for a blue card (my opinion!). The biggest blue card benefit we've used over the years is access to the DVC Annual Pass - if you don't see yourself getting an AP, I'm not sure the other discounts are worth it.

Access to that pass is nice but not a deal breaker. I already have the incredipass so not the end of world if I don't have access to it.

 

[ark101]

If you want the ability to stay at Rivera or any new resort (e.g. Poly 2, VDH) at 7 month mark, then you made the right choice. If you don't care about that and are fine with whatever resort including SSR then getting more points will make sense for you.

 

[InabinettheCabinet]

If you want the ability to stay at Rivera or any new resort (e.g. Poly 2, VDH) at 7 month mark, then you made the right choice. If you don't care about that and are fine with whatever resort including SSR then getting more points will make sense for you.

That's the other big question... Will Poly2 be separate from the existing Poly?

 

[Pens Fan]

That's the other big question... Will Poly2 be separate from the existing Poly?

No one knows right now, but it's pretty clear that any new resorts after that are going to be restricted unless they decide to just ditch the whole restricted resort concept (highly unlikely at this point). If staying at Riv, VDH, Poly2, (possibly), or any other new resort is important to you - keep your direct contract. If it's not that big of a deal you'll have to decide if the other perks of direct are worth the difference in price for you - AP savings adds up over time (currently $430 per year per AP).

 

[ark101]

That's the other big question... Will Poly2 be separate from the existing Poly?

I am going with that assumption for all future resorts. Also, personally, I see VGF points also as SAP worthy. Longer contract, lower dues and potentially higher resale value. At least that's how I convinced myself to get direct. We used the points to stay at BWV and BRV where the points go further in addition to staying at VGF. We do like VGF though.

 

[MagicDVC]

That's the other big question... Will Poly2 be separate from the existing Poly?

No one knows.... right now it's 50/50 until we know the breakdown of the room categories, then we can make an educated guess. Yes, you would get more points at SSR for the cost of VGF, but you have to take a look in 2042 when 5 resorts expire, you will have less and less resorts to choose from with the SSR points and the direct points will still allow you to book any resort in the system currently & in the future.... who know what other resorts they come up with in the future.

 

[Yankee626]

So, my first world problem is wondering if I should just rescind my purchase with Disney directly and go purchase a resale contract.

I recently purchased (within the last 3 days) a 150 VGF contract directly from Disney. I really wanted Riviera but just couldn't justify the resale restrictions on it, so I stuck with VGF. Well, I was looking at the resale market and I can buy a 200-point SSR contract much cheaper and with way more points. I know the deed expires way sooner and SSR is typically considered the "resort of last resorts", but I don't really care about every staying at VGF. The resort isn't really my style. I'm okay with SSR as a home resort and then having options at different resorts at the 7-month window. I feel like VGF as a home resort is kind of useless for me, between the point costs of the room and the resort itself.

However, with that being said, I wonder how much I will regret not being a "blue card member" for not buying direct.
Just curious if anyone else has similar thoughts.

When you speak of point costs of the rooms @ VGF; you understand that Riviera point cost per room are about the same . Also don't expect to ever be able to use SSR or VGF points at the seven month mark at BCV, BWV, CCV , BRV and hard to get Riviera or POLY. Spotty Availability at 7 months to BLT . Just saying. I'm a strong believer in buying where you want to stay. If you only love Riviera buy there.

 

[Sandisw]

We own all three but RIv is our top with VGF second.

We did not hesitate buying there even with restrictions once we toured and fell in love with it.

When it was first announced, I was the same. Won’t buy there because of them.

Now I realize that not getting where I want to stay for some potential loss in value when I sell was not enough of a reason to shy away.

Personally, I don’t think resale value should be part of it and that owning and being happy is much more important.

I will add that I did add on resale points at BLT thinking it was no big deal to have some restricted points since I had plenty of others to use at RIV.

Sold it a year later because it was frustrating when trying to book something that opened up and didn’t have those points to use.

Knowing RIV is a place you want to stay, I’d say buy it. Owning there gives you a much higher chance for those SV rooms which does stretch the use.

At the very least, it might wise keep the VGF for access at 7 months.

 

[Brian Noble]

My advice: rescind. You aren't happy with what you are buying. But, my next advice is: You should buy RIV direct. That's the one you want, so that's the one you should buy.

The resale restrictions do not matter to you, because you are not buying it resale. You might lose a little value on the back end, but that's probably a couple decades from now. The market does not seem to be penalizing RIV more than marginally. And, a couple of decades from now is after 2042, where the Original 14 become the Original Eight And A Half. At that point, I think the "restriction penalty" is going to be even smaller than it is today for valuing a DVC resale deed. At that point, resale owners will be completely shut out of the Epcot area unless they buy at one of those resorts. And, RIV is one of those resorts.

I'm a big dollars-and-cents guy, and am usually the first to jump on the all-resale all-the-time bandwagon. Heck, I'm the guy who might tell you to buy a non-Disney timeshare because DVC doesn't make sense.

But I also think that buying a timeshare is more about changing your lifestyle than it is saving money. I mean, sure you probably can save some money here and there, but that's not really the point. Buying RIV means (a) you will be able to stay at your preferred resort and (b) never having to worry about restrictions. And, the calendar is moving to a point where everyone is going to have to start thinking about what restrictions mean for them before too many more years pass.

 

[Cybertruck]

We are SSR resale owner (grandfathered Blue Card). We did not even know resale was a thing until we became serious about buying into DVC. The Google helped us find this site and direct was never an option after that. Our typical pre-DVC vacation was 10 days with a day off in the middle but agreed to limit our vacation to a week with DVC. We ended up with enough points for 2 weeks because resale. If you are looking at Studios then 7th month can be a challenge according this site. We never have stayed in a Studio and outside the pandemic return to Disney rush we did not have a challenge with resorts at the 7th month mark. We love our home resort and do not consider it a tier 2 resort. Over half our stays have been outside of SSR. We have Wilderness Lodge booked for Food and Wine (October) and Christmas week (our favorite resort). Christmas is a resort only stay for us and typically the best time for Saratoga. You can walk every night to Disney Springs for a good meal, people watch, and shopping for some of our party, we still love the Christmas tree stroll even though we have done it many times. A boat ride to Port Orleans French Quarter for hot chocolate, Beignets and of course touring all the decorations at the resorts is a Must Do (miss Stacey). Resort only stays at Saratoga is the best in our view especially if you like to resort hop.

The last week in January for Festival of the Arts we are at Saratoga (go figure no availably at other resorts on our rotation list).

Finally Blue Card perks. We like Moonlight Magic and attended several times in past. The DVC food discounts are nice but similar annual pass. August will mark 3 years as locals and we have been to the DVC lounge twice and Moonlight Magic once. Blue Card would not be a deciding factor for us.

 

[kristenrice]

Just my $0.02...
I think many people who have bought Riviera resale are current members who already either A) own direct points and can supplement them with a small resale; or B) own enough resale points to stay at any O-14 that they want and simply buy a RR resale so that they can stay there too.

I don't know how much the restrictions are really limiting the resale value of Riviera because they certainly are not the bargain-basement prices that a lot of people predicted.

If I had the funds for either, I would chose Riviera over GF, simply because I love the resort. There are a lot of benefits to GF (proximity to MK, lower dues, no restrictions) which will probably help it retain it's resale value longer. That being said, if the OP really does not plan to use their points at GF, and wants to stay at the Riviera, than I would not worry about the restrictions and "buy where you want to stay".

 

[DSLRuser]

I have 175 direct at Copper Creek. Just bought 190 resale at Old Key West.

I am counting on the new resorts being the cool place to stay thus opening up inventory at the original 14. We have only stayed at our home resort 1x in 6+ years. Have had great luck booking 2-5 months out. Just got a 1br at AKL-KV only 3 weeks out.

I have an AP, so blue card helped get that price down, but we are only talking $200 maybe? Have done a few DVC moonlight events...but could do without them.

Just my experience.

 

[RuntheMouse]

If you really want to be able to stay at Riviera, buying at least some direct points is better than buying any resort resale. Resale points cannot be used to book Riviera.

That's a good point too. Maybe it's not the right contract either.
But to answer your question, I am out of state annual passholder, and usually we book the trips 6 months in advance, but we know the dates we're going well in advance of that.

I was thinking SSR because of the pretty low cost and then maybe buying a smaller direct contract at Riviera.

Very similar situation as you. Out of state passholder. We bought 4 resale contracts at resorts we love with favorable point charts. We won’t mind being “stuck at any of our home resorts. BUT we do like Riviera and want the ability to stay at VDH and others in the future so we added on a small (50 point) direct contract at RR recently. I have no interest in VGF so the small contract offset being stuck with a larger contract with restrictions. I completely understand your concerns.

I would rescind and find a good resale contract and consider a small direct add on.

 

[zavandor]

Very quick answer: rescind.
You have doubts, so better to cancel, think a little more about it and the decide. You might rebuy VGF or RIV or go resale, who knows. But you need to be sure and you aren't at the moment. So the only logical answer is to rescind.

 

[lilsonicfan]

I vote for rescind too, and buy Riviera instead. If you're going to use it at Riv, the whole resale restriction thing isn't the major disaster that everyone makes it out to be - think about it this way, say you use it for 10 years then have to resell it - would you have gotten a good value out of it by that point?

Yes, resale contracts are a much better deal, but only if you're like those of us who don't need any of the direct card benefits or intend to stay at VDH, Riv, etc.