Incentives and new pricing winter/spring 2025

[Girlstar30]

That might be an accurate calculation, but it's easy to misinterpret. That's an average of years of ownership for those who have completed a sale. The denominator does not include those who have never sold. Including those folks would make it a materially higher average number of years, who knows maybe even double. And it's a number that can just keep getting bigger over time if the number of holders outweighs the sales activity. Another issue is it's looking at the contract level. If I sell you a contract I'm still a DVC owner since I have more than one.

This is true and I sure as hell wouldn't want to sell after paying so much unless I was desperate. I LOVE Disney. Always have, that will never change. It isn't like I popped into a presentation and was like yeah sounds fun. This has been my dream for years. I am that person that would go crazy trying to get moonlight magic tickets or shelling out extra for member cruises so yeah I can try to convince myself that I'll be totally happy only resale but that would be a lie

 

[Spivey378]

Anyone here incentivized?

 

[Girlstar30]

I wonder what the sentiment will be in 10 years when DVC direct is priced at $315 a point and people look back saying "wow I wish I would have jumped on $235 a point; that's a steal."

Don't i know it and then think, wow those people got such a good deal they got to be direct at 150 points and I have to buy 200 and only have 8 years to enjoy these 2042 resorts. And then I will sit there kicking myself that I didnt buy direct when I had the chance

 

[Girlstar30]

Most potential timeshare buyers, DVC or otherwise, are unaware there is a resale market (and remain that way until they try to sell many years down the road).

And for those who are aware, DVC does much less than other developers to entice them. To me, "come to their senses" means striking a deal where I buy 150 (overpriced) direct points and they "grandfather" (aka "wash") 300 of my resale points to make them as if they were purchased from the developer (can be used at new resorts, cruises etc). That way, they don't lower prices and the extra benefit I got, while it has value to me, costs them pretty much nothing. Until then, at these prices, there is very little incentive to buy direct IMO, especially for those who are already DVC-Y.

Do you think that is possible they would do something like that? Would it benefit them?

 

[Girlstar30]

Anyone here incentivized?

No just sad

 

[atthebeachclub]

So you went the all resale route? We don't have kids so passing it on to someone isn't a factor to us. Do you regret going all resale or feel some type of fomo about not being able to go to some things?

I am all resale and I don’t really get FOMO. I don’t think I could reasonably attend Moonlight Magic ever (too far to go last minute, and my PTO has to be planned far in advance). I really love the locations I chose for resale so don’t have any concerns there.

My FOMO is almost exclusively about not getting the best possible deal. Like…I don’t like paying higher dues or paying more upfront or not getting discounts. And since some of these are at odds with each other, I have to run the math on my spreadsheet and figure out the best deal. And…it was resale until like 12 years in, and unfortunately my kids will be grown then and the discounts may not be as useful then.

I know people buy with the intent to pass their benefits down, but I don’t think that is for me. If it works out, that’s awesome, but a timeshare is a liability in many respects and costs could theoretically increase more than benefits down the line. And people change. My youngest kid is obsessed with Disneyworld and Disney history. My oldest enjoys it but I don’t imagine she will want to go as frequently when she is older. But my youngest…I am almost sure she’d live in Disneyworld if she could. And I have a hard time imagining that changing for her.

Edit to add: I think of resale as a bit of a “pay as you go” plan. If it stops working for us, the loss is less. No, the discounts aren’t there, but I paid less to start and I won’t feel as obligated to go every single year to make the discounts worth the extra upfront cost. Because as a dollar maximizer, that is what I would end up doing with direct and it might suck the fun out of it. This way I can try Universal some year and feel less guilt. Know thyself.

 

[DanCali]

Do you think that is possible they would do something like that? Would it benefit them?

I do know Marriott does it and Westin/Sheraton (before the Marriott merger) did it even more generously. The big difference is that the resale market for those properties is a lot less robust and resale restrictions (similar to the ones VDH and RIV) have been around for longer.

With DVC I guess it's always possible they will also go that route. I don't know how likely though, so I'm not holding my breath. I do think it would be more likely they would do it if/when there was stronger evidence that the new resale restrictions kill resale values, giving the "informed buyers" more reasons to resist.. But I also think they would first use ROFR aggressively to prevent that appearance from setting in. However, as they build more restricted resorts it gets hard to prop them all with ROFR...

Would it benefit them? When you get people who wouldn't otherwise buy direct to buy direct it's a benefit, especially if you don't lower prices and have no extra costs (changing a code on a resale contract on the computer is costless). There are other "intangible" costs and risks of diluting the brand though - and they probably have the research to know the impact of that.

 

[Girlstar30]

Somebody correct me if im wrong, but animal kingdom at $199 for direct points right now is cheaper than what they had going on for add on direct before, correct? I think it was $210 with no incentives if I'm not mistake...

 

[atthebeachclub]

Somebody correct me if im wrong, but animal kingdom at $199 for direct points right now is cheaper than what they had going on for add on direct before, correct? I think it was $210 with no incentives if I'm not mistake...

Yes. And you yourself said above: you are a FOMO person. Do it! Or consider Saratoga. Shorter contract by 3 years, but dues are lower too.

 

[Girlstar30]

Yes. And you yourself said above: you are a FOMO person. Do it! Or consider Saratoga. Shorter contract by 3 years, but dues are lower too.

Talking to the spouse right now

 

[InabinettheCabinet]

Talking to the spouse right now

Better to ask for forgiveness, than permission LOL

 

[Sandisw]

Baseing it off of statistics i read, i believe on dvc field guide, that said the avg person owns 7-10 years

That figure only takes into consideration those who sell..it’s not based on contracts that don’t.

For example, let’s say 10,000 contracts are sold a year, the average ownership for those owners is 7 to 10 years…

But it doesn’t compare against all of them. And, you have owners, like me who have sold several to buy others…but remain DVC.

So, those that own who aren’t selling are not considered in those figures.

 

[Girlstar30]

That figure only takes into consideration those who sell..it’s not based on contracts that don’t.

For example, let’s say 10,000 contracts are sold a year, the average ownership for those owners is 7 to 10 years…

But it doesn’t compare against all of them. And, you have owners, like me who have sold several to buy others…but remain DVC.

So, those that own who aren’t selling are not considered in those figures.

I did not realize this, thanks for clarifying!

 

[Girlstar30]

I notice these incentives end on April 28, was the last round of incentives or incentives before offered for as short as these? Less than two and a half months... If not, maybe they're just trying to see who bites

 

[disneylandtour]

There's lots of economic uncertainty right now. And there was the WSJ article this week where people at Disney worried about pricing out the middle class. These incentives seem to be a plan to sell very little. And this confuses me. Disney World benefits from regular visitors. There's tickets, food, souvenirs, member fees, etc. If you lower the entry barrier to step into DVC, you'll get a lot more people paying for those other things, years after year, which over time far outweighs the purchase price on points.

 

[Brian Noble]

Do you think that is possible they would do something like that? Would it benefit them?

I would not make an assumption either way. My gut says "not in the short-to-medium term" but that's just a guess.

I know people buy with the intent to pass their benefits down, but I don’t think that is for me.

I think that's a bad idea. It assumes that (a) the kids will like Disney as adults and (b) they will have the means to visit at least every other year. Yes, they could rent it out, but the ROI on that is not particularly good, and an index fund in a trust would do just as well or better for a lot less work.

 

[MagicDVC]

I notice these incentives end on April 28, was the last round of incentives or incentives before offered for as short as these? Less than two and a half months... If not, maybe they're just trying to see who bites

Yeah, incentives change about every 3 months.

 

[atthebeachclub]

I would not make an assumption either way. My gut says "not in the short-to-medium term" but that's just a guess.


I think that's a bad idea. It assumes that (a) the kids will like Disney as adults and (b) they will have the means to visit at least every other year. Yes, they could rent it out, but the ROI on that is not particularly good, and an index fund in a trust would do just as well or better for a lot less work.

Agree.

I didn't buy intending to pass this down as it will expire when my kids are adults, so not really all that useful as a long long term ownership. My goal is just to get out of the midwest in the winter every year for a week. Theme park visit (while my kids are younger) or not (when I'm an empty nester...though I'll probably still visit the theme park from time to time). And Disneyworld is SO convenient for that. There really aren't many warm wintering places in the contiguous US that have the same infrastructure all set up for a visitor to spend a week without a car.

 

[nuhusky123]

Love they increased gfv as I plan to put my contract on the market early October. Get those resale $ up

 

[Girlstar30]

There's lots of economic uncertainty right now. And there was the WSJ article this week where people at Disney worried about pricing out the middle class. These incentives seem to be a plan to sell very little. And this confuses me. Disney World benefits from regular visitors. There's tickets, food, souvenirs, member fees, etc. If you lower the entry barrier to step into DVC, you'll get a lot more people paying for those other things, years after year, which over time far outweighs the purchase price on points.

I agree with this, it's almost like they want to discourage people to buy smh