Magical Beginnings Incentive

[wdrl]

I've had a couple telephone calls with my Guide today about incentives for add-on contracts. In the first phone call, he said he knew nothing about Disney rolling out a new incentive program called "Magical Beginnings." Then, he called me back an hour later and said he just found out that it went live yesterday.

In the Magical Beginnings incentive program, a buyer receives a $15 incentive off the list price of $112, reducing the price to $97/point. In exchange, the buyer gives up the current UY points and does not receive any points until the 2010 UY. My Guide said the Magical Beginnings incentive applies only to Animal Kingdom Villas -- not to BLT. Since we were talking about add-on contracts, I did not think about asking whether Magical Beginnings could be used for new member buyers.

Without the Magical Beginnings incentive, add-ons for AKV are $10 off list (net is $102/point) for 50 points or more. This reflects changes made effective 8/30/2009.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

What a junky incentive! Why would I buy and not get current points?! And $97/pt is not that great. If I didn't want current points I would buy a stripped resale contract for a lot less money.

 

[ILuvMulan]

IMHO- pretty lame.

 

[toniosmom]

Why would they give you a crappy discount and have you give up 09 points when they have 08 and 09 points available for almost any UY you choose???

This seems like a ridiculous promotion and probably won't generate a significant amount of sales.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Doesnt sound like a magical beginning to me!

 

[rentayenta]

Sounds like a magical rip-off.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

The bad part is they're only giving you $5 extra to give up your points.
That said, putting this in perspective, a few years back when the economy was booming we would have salavated over a $15/pt discount.
Perhaps we're just spoiled..

MG

 

[Anthony1971]

Years ago --not many-- this was one of the incentives offered and common but you would get 10 off for the current years points it worked well... this however sounds different as with the above you would get 09 not 08 so long as you purchased a month that was later...
could this be what they are offering as if not then you are giving up 2 years of points for 5 bucks

 

[DenLo]

The only way I could see that the Magical Beginnings offer would be advantageous is when you purchase outside the banking window. And then Disney (or MS) would have to enforce the 4 month banking window and not allow you to bank late. But I have read that MS often will allow late banking when you just purchase a contract. If they enforced the banking window, then you would still have the opportunity to transfer the points to someone else (for $) and probably make more than the $5 offer Disney is offering. So I can't see any advantage to the offer either.

Of course I think many DIS members would just figure out how to make a trip and use those points before they expire.

 

[DebbieB]

I used Magical Beginnings when I bought in 1999. At the time, points were $65 and there were no other incentives. You could sellback up to 150 points for $10/point. I bought an April use year in September, so I sold back the 150 and banked the other 100.

 

[Vickis3js]

So we have a Dec UY and if I do an add on with a Dec UY I would get 08 points. So if I do this it means I won't get points until Dec 2010? What about maintence fees? Would I have to pay them? Of course if I financed them I am sure they would want their payments for them right away. Its so not worth it.

 

[tmgandolph]

What a horrible incentive...with the referral plan and a purchase of over 200 point we were getting $21 off per point!

 

[rocknspots]

I was thinking of adding on when we're at WDW next month. This incentive isn't worth it. Does Disney think we can't do the math? Donald Duck taught us well years ago when he did that cartoon... Mathematics... (remember the Golden Triangle??)
Bad move, Disney!

 

[Brian Noble]

The message I'm taking from all of this: sales are picking up.

I'm not that surprised. Consumer confidence has been up in summer vs. winter/spring. Consumer spending seems to have bottomed and may be recovering. Leading indicators have also been up for several months now.

 

[Anthony1971]

It would seem Disney is testing the old way again...
Most of the huge incentives that were around were put in place for a bad economy. As the economy gets better the incentives will get smaller and if DVC is selling that well (do not know) they have no reason to offer big incentives. A lot of people paid 107 or 105 (do not recall the exact amount) a point for BLT. Same with AKV when it first went on sale small to no incentive...
10 a point to sell the current years points is not a bad deal when there is no other incentive.
I used it with my fisrt contract my second a few years ago they gave me a discount plus additional points..

 

[colonialtinker]

Not very magical in my opinion. I am so glad I added on over the summer.

 

[Cmbar]

The bad part is they're only giving you $5 extra to give up your points.
That said, putting this in perspective, a few years back when the economy was booming we would have salavated over a $15/pt discount.
Perhaps we're just spoiled..

MG

A few years back the cost of a points wasn't $120

 

[Maistre Gracey]

A few years back the cost of a points wasn't $120

True... But the discount wasn't $15/pt either. It was $5-$10/pt under the old Magical Beginnings program.

My point is that I don't understand why people are complaining about a 12.5% discount. I mean, they could offer no discount.
Just because an item was on sale for a better price a while back, doesn't mean it will stay at that price forever.

MG

 

[Cmbar]

True... But the discount wasn't $15/pt either. It was $5-$10/pt under the old Magical Beginnings program.

My point is that I don't understand why people are complaining about a 12.5% discount. I mean, they could offer no discount.
Just because an item was on sale for a better price a while back, doesn't mean it will stay at that price forever.

MG

Oh I agree, but it is difficult to watch Disney gouge the new properties while they are letting the old properties sell on the resale market at half he prices they are offering. So you can understand why some are surprised that they aren't offering good discounts against their ridiculous prices. Just business I know. I am sure there are idiots out there that will pay these prices.

 

[wdrl]

I am sure there are idiots out there that will pay these prices.

If you do some very simplistic math a DVC membership, even at $120/point, could pay for itself in about 6 trips. For example, in March 2010 I have reservations for a week in an MK-view studio at BLT that will cost me 183 points. If someone buys into DVC today and paid $120/point, the initial cost for that stay is ($120 x 183) = $21,960. MF costs on those 183 points would be ($3.67 x 183) $671.61 a year. If you go to the Disney website and check the cash price of a BLT studio with MK view for one week in March, the cost is $4,646.00 with tax. So if we keep the math simple and ignore inflation costs, lost opportunity costs, lost investment revenue, etc., after 6 years a member would have paid $25,989.66 ($21,960 purchase price + 6 years of MF), while 6 week-long stays would have cost ($4,646 x 6) $27,876.00, resulting in a "savings" of $1,886.34.

I have seen some long-time DVC members report they bought into DVC for under $60/point. I'm sure some of them are amazed that "newbies" like myself paid $101/point for BLT.

Sure, we all want to pay a lower price for our points. But even at $100, or $105, or $120, a DVC membership can be financially viable. The way I look at it, I pay good money to walk around at mid-day in the heat and humidity of Florida, stand 50 minutes in a line for a ride that lasts 3 minutes, pay twice as much for food than I would at home, and go ga-ga when I see a mouse dressed up as a Jedi Knight. If that isn't idiocy, what is?