Post-Apr 4th Resale Buyer Add-on

[JHank44]

I am a post-Apr 4th resale buyer. I am planning on buying and add-on to regain membership extras (yes, I know they can go away anytime but I hate being second class member). Has anyone done this as of yet? I was going to call Disney to confirm that and add-on will get me membership card and extras but I figured someone might have already done it. Thanks.

 

[disneynutz]

Yes you will get back what they took away, you should decide if any of the benefits are worth the cost.

Bill

 

[Dream big]

I am a post-Apr 4th resale buyer. I am planning on buying and add-on to regain membership extras (yes, I know they can go away anytime but I hate being second class member). Has anyone done this as of yet? I was going to call Disney to confirm that and add-on will get me membership card and extras but I figured someone might have already done it. Thanks.

I just did this. We added on 50 points, same use year and home resort. The member number is the same and it's all in the same account on-line. Super easy!

I will say they tried to convince me to get a different resort and push more points, but I stuck with what I wanted.

 

[ScubaCat]

I will say they tried to convince me to get a different resort and push more points, but I stuck with what I wanted.

They only want to sell Aulani and the Polynesian, but will get you what you want if you insist.

 

[LAX]

I have been contemplating doing the same since my resale closed recently, but have not been able to justify the difference in costs. Since I don't go to WDW enough times/days in a year to benefit from the AP discount, there are just not enough benefits for me to even do a small direct add-on.

Just out of curiosity, for those that have already done it or are thinking about it, what's benefits are you chasing after??

LAX

 

[ScubaCat]

I have been contemplating doing the same since my resale closed recently, but have not been able to justify the difference in costs

Remember that the perks are only offered to encourage direct sales. Besides being temporary and not guaranteed to remain available for any amount of time, they're rarely, if ever, worth the price difference.

 

[LAX]

Remember that the perks are only offered to encourage direct sales. Besides being temporary and not guaranteed to remain available for any amount of time, they're rarely, if ever, worth the price difference.

Yes, I am well aware of that. However, even if DVD promises to maintain the same benefits for the remainder of my contract, without being able to benefit from the AP discount, what's really there to gain after throwing a grand or two their way??

LAX

 

[Gillyrose779]

Just do a 25 point add on- what is the difference- an extra $1,500??? To me I'm willing to pay an extra $1500 for AP discounts alone.

 

[ScubaCat]

Yes, I am well aware of that. However, even if DVD promises to maintain the same benefits for the remainder of my contract, without being able to benefit from the AP discount, what's really there to gain after throwing a grand or two their way??

LAX

The actual answer varies from day to day. The gold annual pass is the biggest effective discount you'd currently be able to get. Other than that, the occasional DVC event (AK Safari, etc.) or access to the temporary epcot lounge... stuff like that. I'd never pay extra for any of that but that's the beauty of capitalism -- we can all decide for ourselves The main problem, IMHO, is that nothing is guaranteed to remain. In fact, they could change the rules again in 2021 (for example) to say that a majority of your points have to be direct or you don't qualify. Or, they could just remove all the discounts and perks altogether. That's likely to happen only if/when they stop selling new properties, which I don't see happening anytime soon considering how profitable this is for them.

 

[Popouri DVC]

The actual answer varies from day to day. The gold annual pass is the biggest effective discount you'd currently be able to get. Other than that, the occasional DVC event (AK Safari, etc.) or access to the temporary epcot lounge... stuff like that. I'd never pay extra for any of that but that's the beauty of capitalism -- we can all decide for ourselves The main problem, IMHO, is that nothing is guaranteed to remain. In fact, they could change the rules again in 2021 (for example) to say that a majority of your points have to be direct or you don't qualify. Or, they could just remove all the discounts and perks altogether. That's likely to happen only if/when they stop selling new properties, which I don't see happening anytime soon considering how profitable this is for them.

With the danger of addonitis, there is a significant chance that one day the majority of my points won't be direct, especially since there is no wait list for points at my favorite resorts

I can certainly expect the day to come that I will have purchased more points via resale than I initially bought direct...

 

[CarolMN]

Yes, I am well aware of that. However, even if DVD promises to maintain the same benefits for the remainder of my contract, without being able to benefit from the AP discount, what's really there to gain after throwing a grand or two their way??

LAX

If the less expensive annual passes were not available, there wouldn't be any membership extras that would be worth the additional cost to me. The TiW card is the only other extra that I regularly take advantage of, but since they raised the price, that one is almost off my list. I wouldn't pay direct prices to get it, though.

 

[Dean]

IMO this is the new standard for purchasing. Buy resale first then add 25 retail. Just take the need into account as part of the purchase decision and process. It raises the buy in slightly for most, more for some. If one only needs around 50 then a decision has to be made whether buying is worth it at all but if it is, then it may be better to either just buy retail OR to forego the lost perks. It does raise some other issues like buying jointly with others (family or not), mostly to get the perks. Or buying resale, adding on the 25 then selling the resale if one mostly wants the perks. There are lots of nuances and they will not be worth the aggravation, risk and expenses for most but will for some.

 

[disneynutz]

What happens when you don't need an AP anymore? Did you buy a direct add-on just for the AP discount that may or may not be offered in the future or when you only vacation once per year or every other year at WDW?

After a few years of ownership, we spend more time in the resorts and less in the parks.

Bill

 

[Perelandra]

I am a post-Apr 4th resale buyer. I am planning on buying and add-on to regain membership extras (yes, I know they can go away anytime but I hate being second class member). Has anyone done this as of yet? I was going to call Disney to confirm that and add-on will get me membership card and extras but I figured someone might have already done it. Thanks.

i just did this and got a card almost immediately. There's not a whole lot of extra perks, but I'm excited about going to the Epcot lounge, and I would have liked to have gone the the DVC members only AK after dark before it was "sold" out (it's complimentary with a real membership). I'll probably use the AP discount next year, as I think we will make it 3x in a calendar year. Mostly, I couldn't stand the thought of dropping 25k for a second class membership. Hopefully, if they change the rules again, I'll be grandfathered in this time. Besides, I think there's a chance they could actually increase membership perks to try to drive DVD sales.

 

[JHank44]

Thanks for all the responses. I am on the waitlist for 25 point contract at BLT to get my membership card. Everyone summed up the pros/cons well but to me it just boils down to wanting to be a full member/AP pass and if you amortize the additional cost ($1875 for my BLT contract) over all the points it isn't that bad (~$7 more for me) and will be even less if/when I buy my next contract.

 

[BillPA]

Is you home now BLT? Just remember only home resorts may be booked 11 month out.

 

[JHank44]

Yeah, BLT is my home resort. I guess I need to add that to my profile... on to figuring out how.

 

[BillPA]

Check on the tech board.
http://www.disboards.com/forums/technical-support.43/