Own Direct Points, Considering Resale BW or BC and Have Questions

[Tatebeck]

If you wanted to be able to use points for all three of those times with the least amount of worry, then March or August would be the ones that have all of those time periods in the 8-9 month "safer" window where cancelling at least 31 days in advance would still allows the points to be banked.

But I would probably just keep Feb since there is only a very small amount of less safe travel times in very late Oct and Nov

 

[Sandisw]

Let me just add one small point that favors multiple UY - you get two waitlist position per UY. If you have two UYs, you get a total of four waitlist spots (two per year). I agree with everything you've posted above. But also I've found the extra waitlist spots valuable at times. So if you sometimes book a trip with two or three months notice, I'v found the extra spots worthwhile.

Yes but it they are still for different reservations. If one wants to use points together, having more waitlists doesn’t help at all.

It only helps if you want to be able to use the points by themselves.

I have three so it can certainly work if you have multiple trips planned.

Unless one does split stays or is okay with some nights on some and some on the other for the same trip, then a different night be worth it.

 

[Sandisw]

@disneylandtour Oooohhh...this is good to know. I didn't realize multiple UYs provide multiple waitlist positions. Thank you for pointing this out.

As I just posted, you only get more waitlists because you have more than one memberships.

It doesn’t allow you to have more waitlists for the same reservations.

Now, if you plan to use these new points independent of your current points and never combine, then yes, this can be a benefit.

 

[Genie+]

@disneylandtour Oooohhh...this is good to know. I didn't realize multiple UYs provide multiple waitlist positions. Thank you for pointing this out.

We have only 2 contracts, with same UY, but are actually different membership numbers because our kids are on the direct, not the resale. Since we only use the BWV at BW, it’s not a big deal because we don’t care about combining points at 7 months. And the bonus is we get up to 4 wait lists.

Recently I’ve considered selling our smaller BW Sept UY for larger. Being we don’t combine contract points for trips (though sometimes use BW for MK/EP split stay), I may take Aug Sept or Oct UY if a good resale comes along. We don’t visit in summer so any of those could work in our case.

As far as cancellations/banking/holding issues go, my hope is at minimum being able to offload the reservation as a rental. BW/BC should help garner interest even if somewhat last minute, at the right price and depending on desirability of the dates and room size. I’d much prefer using my points but if an emergency means accepting $14pp for rental, not bad - all things considered. I’d take that over the headache of holding and possibility of points expiring unused.

 

[bookbabe626]

If you are looking for BCV as a first choice, your desired speed of purchase and desired number of points will also come into play.

Some UY’s are more common than others, and so if you are looking for a certain UY and contract size at a price point you are comfortable with, you may have to (patiently…hah!) wait for one to appear. Stalk DVCforLess for a few weeks, get a feel for what’s available in what UYs at what price.

We just signed a contract for more BCV points, looking for the same UY to match up with all our existing contracts, and it took a while to find one. Even then we had to go with a different broker than we wanted to, but my patience for the process had run out. ;-)

I assume this would also be true for BWV, just not quite as bad since it’s a much bigger resort and thus (theoretically) with more available resales.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

I have 4 UYs (which I think is 2 too many), but managing all 4 hasn’t really been that hard. If you have never needed to bank or borrow, you might be a good candidate for a separate UY for your Oct/Nov trips. A Jun/Aug/Sep UY would give you a lot more flexibility if you decide you want to travel towards the end of food and wine, or even if you want to visit in January for Festival of the Arts. Also, with staggered UY, you could use your Feb points for Spring/Summer and you Aug/Sep points for fall/winter festivals.

I would NOT get Oct if you travel in Oct because I suspect as time goes on, you may want the option to walk reservations for several weeks, especially at BWV.

 

[Little E]

@HyperspaceMountainPilot this is exactly the intel I was looking for. Thank you so much for your UY thoughts! Looking beyond a February UY opens up more choices for both BW and BC resale contracts. Thanks!

 

[McCrae]

Hi Disfriends!

DH and I own two 200 point contracts at GF direct for a total of 400 points. (We did two separate contracts for ease of estate planning with our two children down the road.) While we love GF, we find ourselves drawn to the Boardwalk area and booking both one and two bedroom villas at both Beach Club and Boardwalk whenever we can snag them at the 7 month mark, which is tough to do.

So, we've started considering a resale contract at either BC or BW. We love both resorts, so we'd be open to buy at either. We love the close proximity and walkability to both Epcot and HS and we love the Boardwalk vibe. We have a February UY, and we travel mostly in March and October/November, although we've been sneaking in a late summer trips the last two years. We have never had points leftover to bank; we use all the points and then wind up booking cash for short trips when we've run out of points, hence the thought of buying resale at BC or BW.

We are both struggling with the short contracts at BC and BW...16 years just doesn't seem like a long enough time to make this investment. But, we keep booking SAP points at these resorts, so, we feel sort of silly not owning at either place. It's staggeringly expensive to buy at either resort direct for the 16 years left on the contract, so a resale seems the way to go. UGH.

Here are my questions:

1. I know most DVC folks recommend keeping their UY when purchasing another contract. Knowing that we visit WDW in March, late summer, and October/November, how does having a different UY beyond February play out as either a benefit or detriment? We use all our points, so we've never once borrowed or banked our points.

2. Because we're direct folks, how does buying a resale contract function once the sale is complete? Do we still log in and access our resale contract via the Disney DVC login the same way we do with our direct points? Or is there another way/system that we have to use to book with resale points?

3. Is there a "better" UY for any of the times we travel (list above) that I'm not thinking of? We bought GF direct in 2022 when Disney had all the incentives, and we LOVE GF and are glad we bought what we did. We were given a February UY, and we don't really know anything different? But, we've never encountered a problem booking at any of those times of year; the only problem is that we keep running out of points.

Any advice about buying resale at BC or BW would be great. TIA!

Have you considered Riveria Resort? Connection to Epcot and Hollywood is quick and easy.

 

[Little E]

@McCrae We have stayed at Riviera Resort. It was absolutely lovely, and we enjoyed both the QS restaurant for a quick breakfast and Bar Riva. Topolino's Terrace was fantastic for both brunch and dinner, and it was nice to be connected to the Skyliner, for sure. But, we also love the Boardwalk area vibe. The restaurants, the performers at night, and the close proximity to HS and Ep. We love both BW and BC, and I think we'd be happy with ownership at either resort. We're walkers, and we prefer hoofing it to and from both parks rather than waiting in lines at the Skyliner, especially at night when the parks close. So, for us, the RR isn't a contender for a resale contract.

 

[intamin]

@McCrae We have stayed at Riviera Resort. It was absolutely lovely, and we enjoyed both the QS restaurant for a quick breakfast and Bar Riva. Topolino's Terrace was fantastic for both brunch and dinner, and it was nice to be connected to the Skyliner, for sure. But, we also love the Boardwalk area vibe. The restaurants, the performers at night, and the close proximity to HS and Ep. We love both BW and BC, and I think we'd be happy with ownership at either resort. We're walkers, and we prefer hoofing it to and from both parks rather than waiting in lines at the Skyliner, especially at night when the parks close. So, for us, the RR isn't a contender for a resale contract.

Do you stay all the way to park close? I really haven't had to wait in a line for long at all for Riviera but we also don't stay until after fireworks, we're usually done with the parks after dinner since we usually eat dinner at a resort instead of in the parks. Regardless though I wouldn't recommend a resale RIV contract to start off with personally unless you were planning to add direct RIV immediately after.

 

[Genie+]

@McCrae We have stayed at Riviera Resort. It was absolutely lovely, and we enjoyed both the QS restaurant for a quick breakfast and Bar Riva. Topolino's Terrace was fantastic for both brunch and dinner, and it was nice to be connected to the Skyliner, for sure. But, we also love the Boardwalk area vibe. The restaurants, the performers at night, and the close proximity to HS and Ep. We love both BW and BC, and I think we'd be happy with ownership at either resort. We're walkers, and we prefer hoofing it to and from both parks rather than waiting in lines at the Skyliner, especially at night when the parks close. So, for us, the RR isn't a contender for a resale contract.

Hard to beat walking! I love BW for this since it’s kinda in the middle between HS and EP making both 10-12 minute walk. Can’t beat BW/BC point charts either. We didn’t mind the shorter contract because there’s still plenty of time left to enjoy.

 

[gr8ful]

@HyperspaceMountainPilot this is exactly the intel I was looking for. Thank you so much for your UY thoughts! Looking beyond a February UY opens up more choices for both BW and BC resale contracts. Thanks!

We faced nearly the identical decision about a year ago. Like you we bought VGF direct - two 150 point contracts with a Feb UY. That works for our winter trips in Feb (next trip Feb 2026).

Last year we decided we also wanted an Epcot resort for F&W and chose BCV. We ended up buying a 110 point June UY resale. We were ok with a different UY since each group of points will serve a separate and distinct purpose. Our first BCV stay is coming up this Nov. If we like it, we plan to add more BCV points to the same UY.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Last year we decided we also wanted an Epcot resort for F&W and chose BCV. We ended up buying a 110 point June UY resale. We were ok with a different UY since each group of points will serve a separate and distinct purpose. Our first BCV is coming up this Nov. if we like it, we plan to add more BCV points to the same UY.

That is the danger of owning BC— it’s addictive!

 

[McCrae]

@McCrae We have stayed at Riviera Resort. It was absolutely lovely, and we enjoyed both the QS restaurant for a quick breakfast and Bar Riva. Topolino's Terrace was fantastic for both brunch and dinner, and it was nice to be connected to the Skyliner, for sure. But, we also love the Boardwalk area vibe. The restaurants, the performers at night, and the close proximity to HS and Ep. We love both BW and BC, and I think we'd be happy with ownership at either resort. We're walkers, and we prefer hoofing it to and from both parks rather than waiting in lines at the Skyliner, especially at night when the parks close. So, for us, the RR isn't a contender for a resale contract.

We liked the vibe of the Boardwalk area as well and thought about staying at one of the resorts. When we looked at the DVC rooms we were disappointed with the layout, style and quality. VGF, Riveria and new Poly Tower are our preferred options. Appreciate everyone has different tastes etc and if you haven’t viewed the DVC rooms at BW or BC I would recommend doing this before you buy.

 

[Little E]

@McCrae We've stayed at BC and BW each a couple times. I agree that RR still has that "brand new" vibe; it's gorgeous, while the BC and BW are definitely older and are laid out differently. We still like BC and BW more than RR, which is why we're working towards a resale contract at one of those resorts.

@gr8ful It's good to know that you aren't regretting a second UY. Every time we look at resale contract options, there are definitely more options and choices when we look beyond a February UY.

 

[gr8ful]

@McCrae We've stayed at BC and BW each a couple times. I agree that RR still has that "brand new" vibe; it's gorgeous, while the BC and BW are definitely older and are laid out differently. We still like BC and BW more than RR, which is why we're working towards a resale contract at one of those resorts.

@gr8ful It's good to know that you aren't regretting a second UY. Every time we look at resale contract options, there are definitely more options and choices when we look beyond a February UY.

Well, it helps that I am not averse to selling everything and starting over if at any point these resorts or UYs no longer work for us, although I don’t foresee that happening.

 

[Brian Noble]

Do you stay all the way to park close?

I've done it once at Epcot---there was a good-sized line, though it did move quickly. I think the next time I encounter one, I am likely to go sit at the lawn at the Beach Club for a little bit to let it die down.

 

[Little E]

@ intamin we occasionally stay until park close, but not a lot. Regardless of the time of day we leave a park, we far prefer walking "home" to our resort when we stay at BC or BW when we are at EP or HS rather than taking Disney transportation. We own direct at GF, which is why we are seeking a resale contract at either BW or BC. With just 16 years left on these contracts, it doesn't make sense to spend the crazy amount of money a direct contract would cost. We have all the direct perks already, so a resale contract makes the most sense to us.