If i buy direct and add-on with a resale....

[abarnes64]

I've been contemplating many diff scenarios and now my newest idea is to buy an entry direct into Disney AKV AND add-on to my AKV with resale.

Seems like this way I'd have the Disney direct option and points for Disney collection resorts (if we ever get around to this and leaves door open) AND I could minimize my entry costs.

We do really like the AKV. Not as close to MK bit way cheaper and we'd get more time in Disney per yr for same $.

Am I correct in thinking this way in terms of adding on resale and the value in will bring us for vacationing in WDW? Or no?

And thank you so much for bringing all of the resale values to my attention

 

[summabreeze85]

I think at the current prices its totally NOT worth it to buy direct. Even w the Disney collection and concierge, those point values for each resort are a bad value for your money. You could almost get double the points w 2 resale AKV contracts buying resale than buying one through Disney. I have BLT direct from Disney in 2009 and think about all the money I wasted because I didn't know about resale.

 

[Msmithmd]

There is no scenario in which buying a significant number of points at AKV direct is a good idea. You are literally proposing throwing money away for nothing. Direct and resale get you precisely identical booking for every possibility where point usage is economical (ie at DVC resorts).

At every other option (Disney collection, concierge collection, ABD, and cruises) you would be financially far better off to use cash and rent your DVC points, if you didn't also want to do a DVC resort trip during that year.

There are actually a few scenarios where direct purchase makes sense. One, a new resort where there is zero meaningful resale opportunity. Two, an older resort where the price differential is really minimal (like $10 or so). Three, a small add-on at your own home resort, where you can't find the correct use year add-on in the small amount you need.

Ignore "keeping your options open," because that's guide-speak for "keeping the option to use your points in a way that's economically ridiculous."

In the end, it's your money. But you asked, so I'm answering as bluntly as I can. It is your decision, but in my estimation you are proposing to throw a whole lot of money away for literally no true benefit.

 

[rlovew]

I've been contemplating many diff scenarios and now my newest idea is to buy an entry direct into Disney AKV AND add-on to my AKV with resale.

Seems like this way I'd have the Disney direct option and points for Disney collection resorts (if we ever get around to this and leaves door open) AND I could minimize my entry costs.

We do really like the AKV. Not as close to MK bit way cheaper and we'd get more time in Disney per yr for same $.

Am I correct in thinking this way in terms of adding on resale and the value in will bring us for vacationing in WDW? Or no?

And thank you so much for bringing all of the resale values to my attention

Also only the direct points would be available for direct options- the resale points would only be available for DVC/RCI stays even if some of your points are direct.

 

[Syndrome]

You wouldnt be able to combine those points for the Concierge collection or Cruises.
Lets say you had 50 points Direct from Disney and 450 resale .......all at AKL, only 50 of them would be able to be used for the CL rooms and Cruises. You could combine all them for any stay at AKL 11 months out or any other DVC resort at 7 out (keeping track of your uy). Hope that makes sense.

If you are thinking about buying into AKV, there is absolutely NO reason of to buy them direct through Disney. You will be paying between 2-3 times more than if you purchased them direct vs resale.
Even better way to look at it .......if you buy resale, you can get 2-3 times more points for the same money as buying direct.
There are TONS of AKV resale contracts for sale, all at very good prices........whats even better is that Disney is not ROFR ing AKL resales lately. Most everything is getting through. I think I saw maybe 4 total contracts get ROFRed the past 8 months.

The only resaon you should be thinking of buying direct is if you have to finance with very little hassle (but you will pay dearly for it !), and /or, you are truly wanting to buy into VGF. There is very little available resale and the cost is close to the same for VGF resale vs direct.
As for those extra CL room and Cruise "perks" because you bought direct. They are a huge waste of your points because they charge a crazy amount of points to swap in to a CL room or cruise. If you bought resale and got 2-3 times the amount of points for you money .........you could very easily rent out your points and use the CASH from renting out said points to book a CL room or cruise for MUCH less money. Does this make sense ?

HTH ............

 

[abarnes64]

Ok so thank you for the reasoning folks. I know the Disney cruises are very costly and would require a ton of points for a family of 4 ppl and really that trade in is NOT economical.

Is did not realize that I I bought Disney direct that I could not use add-on points too to book a vacation outside of the DVC resorts however.

So let me get this straight??? Do DVC resorts INCLUDE HH, Vero Beach, GF California and the WDW DVC resorts? I Ccould use a resale for these resorts still OR just my home resort?

 

[erionm]

So let me get this straight??? Do DVC resorts INCLUDE HH, Vero Beach, GF California and the WDW DVC resorts? I Ccould use a resale for these resorts still OR just my home resort?

The DVC Resorts include:
AKV (Jambo House & Kidani Village)
BLT
BCV
BWV
SSR
OKW
VGC
VGF
VWL
HHI
VB
Aulani
And soon at the Poly

There are no restrictions with using resale points at any of the above resorts. You are still subject to normal booking windows (11 months for home resort(s), 7 months for non-home resorts).

 

[abarnes64]

Sorry for typos- my thumbs get in the way on my iPhone and autospell !

Great point about renting the pints for cash Syndrome!

I considered just forgetting the idea altogether about GF, even though I like it b/c it is SO expensive but would it be worth it in the long run to buy GF direct? I don't know? I think so if I want to stay in GF in the next few yrs. maybe resale for GF will go down after the hype wears off? But maybe not? It is small and we did visit it in November and LOVED it. Love the location.

The reasons I like the idea about GF direct for small points like 125.

-financing (we will have cash flow to pay off within 1yr)
-we'd stay in off season so I think I will have success booking a studio the 3rd wk January, which is a good time for us to vacation.

if we don't buy now, will the GF be sold out and locked out? If we buy a resale later like AKV we could go to Disney a few times per year OR use my points to combine and book a nicer bigger villa at GF. But would that mean I could only combine at 7 mos out if I am using resale b/c home resort on the resale points is AKV? What about the fact that I would have SOME points that are GF- would that have any weight to my booking time?

So much to consider

 

[drusba]

1. If you buy AKV resale and then add-one via Disney, the add-on points can be used for the Disney Collections but the resale points cannot be. Nevertheless that is a route that makes sense because most of us believe there is no reason to buy through Disney just to get the Disney Coillections which most of us never use. Note, the add-on part through Disney, after buying resale, can often make sense if you are looking for a small add on such as 25 to 50 points, simply because those are often not avaialble resale and when available cost more per point than other contracts.

2. As to purchasing VGF, that is something that still makes sense through Disney if you want to own VGF. However, that is the key question. My view is that if you want to stay at VGF most of the time in studios, then buy there because studios are likely in the future to be difficult to get at 7 months out by non-owners much of the year, and in the future that could include the third week of Jan. If instead you intend to stay in 1BRs or 2BRs, then owning there may not be necessary because those are likely to often be open at 7 months out. That prohibition against combining points at 11 months out is one tied to the identity of the resorts you own

3. Sold out resorts are never completely sold out and you can always get points from Disney for them although you may have to wait list for some time. The reason they never completely sell out is because Disney keeps getting points back through foreclosres or thrugh purchasing resales by exercising its right of first refusal.

4. If you own at two resorts, the points retain their own stripes and you cannot combine the points for a resrvation at one of them at 11 months out. They can only be combined at 7 or fewer months out There is an obvious reasone for that. If you could combine points at 11 months out, everyone would buy 25 points at a near park resort they want like BLT (or BWV, BCV, or VGF), buy hundreds of points at SSR, and then literally destroy the 11 month reservation advantage any true owner of the near park resort would have.

 

[Msmithmd]

Home resort booking 11 months.

Other resort booking 7 months.

Direct or resale points work exactly the same for all DVC resort options.

You can combine points from different resorts at seven months. Never at 11 months.

You can combine points from two contacts for the same resort (say you had two AKV contracts) to book that home resort at 11 months.

Disney salespeople "guides" will confidently tell you that you need to buy NOW. They're not being truthful. Well, they need you to buy now- but you don't need to buy now.

You will be able to purchase points at the VGF for about the next 48-49 years. Most of which, you could buy direct, if that's what you wanted to do. Disney sells every resort direct, they just don't advertise that they do, since the salespeople get better commissions to sell the new properties.

No one knows for sure if Disney will continue to sell direct at the resorts whose RTU is about to expire; sell different expirations for these resorts; or what will happen- but that's a long time away for any resort.

How about instead of paying 10% interest for a one-year loan, you save, pay cash, and use that 10% savings to buy annual passes, or cover your dues for a couple years (10% interest on a 15k loan would be $1500 for a single year after all...)?

 

[Deb & Bill]

...You can combine points from two contacts for the same resort (say you had two AKV contracts) to book that home resort at 11 months. ...

Unless they are two different memberships. Then you either have to transfer from one to the other or make two separate reservations and request they be linked.

 

[crisi]

One thing to consider is that for a hard to get, once in a while reservation, you can rent out your points and then rent the "type" of points you need from an owner at that resort.

For instance - several years ago I promised my Girl Scout troop a trip to Hilton Head. My points are BWV points. Hilton Head can be difficult to get at seven months in the summer, and the girls have sold a LOT of cookies to get there - so I rented points for Hilton Head in the summer from David and then used him to rent out my BWV points - I paid a $3 a point delta, but that seemed reasonable for the guarantee (and I probably could have done the same thing without a broker if I was willing to do the work without the $3 delta by finding a HH owner to rent direct from, and posting my BWV points for Food and Wine - but I was lazy).

So, if you are looking at VGF and saying "I need to stay there once" and in the next few years you aren't fortunate enough to book it at seven months (and I think if you are flexible, you'll find something sometime - just not every time - maybe not most of the time) you can do something like that.

One thing to remember is that DVC is ever changing - you are drawn the the GF now, will you be drawn to the Poly when it opens? In a few years will you covet the BWV Standard View for Food and Wine? Will you decide that Hawaii is your dream destination? Will DVC open a new resort that is even more appealing than any of the ones open today for you? Or put in an event that makes a resort attractive (non runners who become runners and start doing Run Disney events like certain resorts over others due to the convenience - but Disney could change the route) Your taste will change, and DVC will change.

 

[SugarLoaf]

I think right now the only reason I would buy AKL direct was if I wanted to be eligible for the member cruise and if it was the only place I was interesting in owning. And even if I did buy direct, I think I'd do it the other way around. Buy a bunch resale, and then be able to do a tiny direct add-on for a smaller point amount once you're already a member. Just to get access to the member cruise.

I'm uncertain though what the minimum is for your first direct purchase. I just always remember being able to add on less than I could buy initially.

But all of this is only if you are concerned about the member cruise. And assuming you are allowed to use cash to book the member's cruise.

If you're not worried about that, I personally wouldn't buy AKL direct.

 

[abarnes64]

Home resort booking 11 months.

Other resort booking 7 months.

Direct or resale points work exactly the same for all DVC resort options.

You can combine points from different resorts at seven months. Never at 11 months.

You can combine points from two contacts for the same resort (say you had two AKV contracts) to book that home resort at 11 months.

Disney salespeople "guides" will confidently tell you that you need to buy NOW. They're not being truthful. Well, they need you to buy now- but you don't need to buy now.

You will be able to purchase points at the VGF for about the next 48-49 years.

How about instead of paying 10% interest for a one-year loan, you save, pay cash, and use that 10% savings to buy annual passes, or cover your dues for a couple years (10% interest on a 15k loan would be $1500 for a single year after all...)?

So you think DVC will have the availability to sell me VGF as my home resort in several yrs from now? I thought other places like BLT was sold out and that ppl can trade points in on DVC but not own as home ressort? If this is the case, then I missed that!

 

[SugarLoaf]

So you think DVC will have the availability to sell me VGF as my home resort in several yrs from now? I thought other places like BLT was sold out and that ppl can trade points in on DVC but not own as home ressort? If this is the case, then I missed that!

Yes, but there may be a wait-list, and the price (at least for VGF) will be higher.

I believe you can ask to be placed on a wait-list to purchase any of the current DVC resorts direct from Disney.

 

[Msmithmd]

So you think DVC will have the availability to sell me VGF as my home resort in several yrs from now? I thought other places like BLT was sold out and that ppl can trade points in on DVC but not own as home ressort? If this is the case, then I missed that!

I don't "think so." I am certain.

You can buy ANY DVC resort direct. There may be a wait list for the use year and specific resort you desire. But you can call today and buy direct anywhere, with some resorts having a small to moderate waiting period before your point order is filled.

The reason why this will always be true is that there are a certain number of members that tire of DVC, stop paying their dues, and don't know about or don't bother with the resale market. DVC forecloses on them, gets the points back in court, and sells them again as "new direct" points. Also, all the resale contracts that they take back in ROFR are sold again as "new." That's just how the system works. And this isn't anything nefarious on DVC's part- this is the norm in the timeshare industry.

 

[Dean]

Why not buy a resale at say SSR or AKV if you must then do a retail add on for GF?

 

[abarnes64]

Yes folks I am thinking that we will buy some points direct for GF and then in a bit do a resale for AKV. How often CAN I add on points? Are there any limitations through Disney to add-on (ie, once yearly and amount increments)? What type of incentives have you seasoned DVC'ers been seeing for add-ons through Disney direct?

 

[Missyrose]

Yes folks I am thinking that we will buy some points direct for GF and then in a bit do a resale for AKV. How often CAN I add on points? Are there any limitations through Disney to add-on (ie, once yearly and amount increments)? What type of incentives have you seasoned DVC'ers been seeing for add-ons through Disney direct?

Here's one thing to think about in your plan. It would make more sense to buy your resale contract first and then add on your VGF contract second because you can match the direct contract UY to the resale one much easier than the other way around.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Here's one thing to think about in your plan. It would make more sense to buy your resale contract first and then add on your VGF contract second because you can match the direct contract UY to the resale one much easier than the other way around.

And for now, you can purchase a small contract direct as long as you already own points. So you could get that SSR resale (or AKV resale) and then add on direct a 25 or 50 point contract to get you direct from DVC status if you really, really need that.