Price Increases Mid January

[MamaBear12]

So, as someone who doesn’t own yet and was planning to purchase resale in the next year, what would you recommend?
1) Purchase a small direct contract before the price goes up?
2) Purchase resale ASAP? I’m really not feeling rushing into a resale contract and risking not getting it done before the deadline, but I guess it’s an option.
3) Wait a few months and buy resale when prices drop?
4) Steer clear of DVC?

I honestly don’t really care about being able to trade into Riviera, but would like access to the current resorts. I guess my biggest concern would be our options as other resort contracts expire. It appears that “buy where you want to stay” will be even more important going forward.

 

[TheMick424]

That's part of the pitch today. It doesn't have to be part of the pitch tomorrow. Plenty of other systems sell just fine without that. Even better, they talk about "investing in your vacations," and people hear "it's an investment!" only to find out that the value of the thing drops 80% once the ink on the purchase agreement is dry.

I agree. I think the pitch going forward is definitely going to change, and they will effectively be marketing a new product. Would even wager there are additional surprises up their sleeve about the new resorts to sweeten the deal for prospective buyers.

What we know about DVC is changing, that is for sure. Interesting business case as they are definitely trying to disrupt the status quo. My employer recently launched a new product that everyone was scratching their heads about, thinking they were crazy. But, they felt like bold moves were necessary given the competition and so far it has been paying off. Who knows how this DVC situation will play out, but I think we are in for a wild ride.

 

[Matty B13]

So, as someone who doesn’t own yet and was planning to purchase resale in the next year, what would you recommend?
1) Purchase a small direct contract before the price goes up?
2) Purchase resale ASAP? I’m really not feeling rushing into a resale contract and risking not getting it done before the deadline, but I guess it’s an option.
3) Wait a few months and buy resale when prices drop?
4) Steer clear of DVC?

I honestly don’t really care about being able to trade into Riviera, but would like access to the current resorts. I guess my biggest concern would be our options as other resort contracts expire. I guess “but where you want to stay” will be even more important going forward.

Just remember there is a pretty big rental market, so you probably wouldn't have to big a problem getting a room at Riviera buy renting your point and renting Riviera points from an owner there.

Unless you see a resale contract that is completely what your are looking for, ie. correct amount of points you want, correct UY, banked points (not stripped), then I would hold off. These restrictions aren't good, but aren't that bad, unless you want to stay at Riviera.

 

[JETSDAD]

Let's be honest about this change as it is proposed - it really will have little to no impact on us currently. Those who are in the system are in the exact same shape as they were before. Those who buy in next month will only be missing out on one resort, and they could just rent out their points and then rent Riviera points to get in. In another 4-5 years, add another resort, but still not anything different.
This actually makes me excited to see if cheap resale points get cheaper once restrictions come into play. I would use those to stay at the 14 other resorts, and then my grandfathered points to stay at Riviera, if it is even worth the money. It has also convinced me to avoid ever buying direct points from Disney again, especially at any new resort.
Where this starts to get interesting is in 2042, but that is still 23 years away, so it is nothing to get too upset about.

My wife and I just had this conversation. We've been considering adding on, likely more at AKV. We discussed whether or not to quickly grab a resale contract in the next week but decided that we'd wait and see what happens. Any resale points that we buy going forward we will be happy using at existing resorts and if we do want to stay at Riviera we will just use our current points. We had discussed buying Riviera but I won't buy any new resort now if resale value will be affected due to being limited to that resort only.

 

[Mumof4mice]

Let's be honest about this change as it is proposed - it really will have little to no impact on us currently. Those who are in the system are in the exact same shape as they were before. Those who buy in next month will only be missing out on one resort, and they could just rent out their points and then rent Riviera points to get in. In another 4-5 years, add another resort, but still not anything different.
This actually makes me excited to see if cheap resale points get cheaper once restrictions come into play. I would use those to stay at the 14 other resorts, and then my grandfathered points to stay at Riviera, if it is even worth the money. It has also convinced me to avoid ever buying direct points from Disney again, especially at any new resort.
Where this starts to get interesting is in 2042, but that is still 23 years away, so it is nothing to get too upset about.

Agree this change would have almost no impact on current owners. Even resale prices might hold firm as long as we can continue to trade amongst the current 14 resorts. Not so for Riviera resale.

Anyone hoping that extensions will be offered in 2042 can extinguish that idea right now. The 2042 resorts will most likely be refurbed and relaunched as DVCII resorts.

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

I heard from a bus driver that they are changing the name from “Disney Vacation Club” to “Sneaky Pete’s Not So Scary Timeshare”.

(For you Disney Junior fans)

 

[MommaBerd]

I was pretty riled up when I first read the news, but as I’ve read through this thread, I feel pretty good about where I am. And, I feel pretty confident I will not buy direct points in the future. However, we might at some point buy more resale points at the Legacy resorts. I thought this quote from the article is TOTALLY on point:

What is the best option after January 19th? I would assert buying the classic resorts via resale, but perhaps more so than ever. The 14 resorts currently in the DVC collection are very likely to be the most popular ever. Why? The 3 rules of real estate: location, location and location. The classic 14 resorts surround nearly all the available real estate around the major theme parks.

Not only will these new resorts have resale restrictions on them, they are not in the most desirable locations...not really. At this point why WOULD I buy direct there?

I think *my* biggest concern is the rate of contracts DVC buys back during ROFR. I just read how much of an increase there was in December. Could DVC start buying up the legacy contracts? Would they want to? I would like to hear smarter minds than mine opine on this.

I am truly befuddled by this sudden change in business model. I felt good when I talked about buying DVC because it was “different” than your typical timeshare, and even better, it held its resale value. Now, what will I say when I talk about DVC? “Well, it *was* different, but now it’s like every other timeshare.” In the wise and eloquent words of our President: Sad.

 

[ScubaCat]

I'm just fascinated with all this (bad) news coming out a month after the annual meeting, where there was no peep about any of the things that have come out the last few weeks.

Definitely a coincidence. ()

 

[RichVIII]

We need to start calling guides once they publish the information, act interested, get close and then ask “what happens if I need to sell this” and then watch the scramble to explain it and then pull out. We need to counteract the pixie dust says to get the guides concerned.

 

[Drewferin]

In the short term, buying direct before the Jan 19 cut off is what DVC was preparing for based on the ROFR numbers from Dec (27% buy back). DVC probably has alot of points for sale at sold out resorts right now.

I'm guessing there will be alot of resale contracts sold in the short term (Before Jan 19th). The question is how many will be bought by Disney at ROFR? My guess would be alot resale will be bought up in ROFR in Jan. The 14 classic resorts may see a increase in value and not be harmed by these new rules. The offical Disney announcement tomorrow will be interesting. I emailed my direct cast member yesterday (DVCMarket announcement today) and I haven't heard anything back in the last 24 hours. I wonder if they will also change the 75 point minimium requirement also in this change up.

 

[sky2823]

What would be nice if Disney upon announcing this would also announce the plans for say the next 5 resorts and that Riviera resales would in fact still have access to (if that is their plan)

This wouldn’t be so bad if there were plans for a Star Wars DVC, DVC somewhere on the edge of Epcot, AK or HS, a 2nd VGF or BLT buidling. I’m not thrilled with Riviera’s locale, but I disagree with the resale site and believe there is still all lot they can do in the future to compete with the original 14. Couldn’t they even convert Yachtclub or other existing hotels (like CCV)?

If this is DVC 2, there is a lot they can do to make it appealing, but without visibility this seems bad for the experienced DVC’rs buying Riviera.

This all assumes they grant resale buyers of Riviera rights to future properties after Riviera. If they do not, then this seems crazy short sighted....

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Couldn’t they even convert Yachtclub

YC is almost certainly a no, as is the existing BWI and BC. All three are quite small, and the conference center needs them as they exist today to support bookings of the center. Conference business is, in its way, as desirable as DVC or more so, as conferences also book entertainment and catering/liquor services in ways a family staying in a villa don't. You can't split any of those three in half and be able to meet the room commitments required for the big conferences that can fill the conference center at Boardwalk.

The most likely additional locations for new DVC after Reflections (ugh) are to tear down the Contemporary Conference Center (which either needs a massive overhaul, or they direct all traffic to Boardwalk and CSR and build there), or to tear down the Contemporary Garden Wing for another tower.

They whisper about a Poly tower now and again, but the land space for it is rough because they cannot add units there without adding more pool. Just can't.

 

[DaveNan]

Agree. Most people aren't thinking about what happens when they sell. All the original DVC purchasers had no previous data to make them feel warm and fuzzy about resale values and they got great incentives.

And I think most direct buyers, even today, are not aware of the resale market. On this board we are, and most have gone the resale route. But most buyers on property don't know about it, and guides won't say "and if you ever decide to sell there is an active resale market, why don't you go look and see how the prices are?"

 

[MommaBerd]

It occurred to me as I was responding to a post in the thread on the News and Rumors board - If DVC is making these changes, what else might we see? We are assuming 50-year contracts per the current system, but what if it’s not? What if they go full industry-standard timeshare and have lifetime contracts? Would that even be possible? Or, maybe they go with fixed weeks only?

 

[Madame]

And I think most direct buyers, even today, are not aware of the resale market. On this board we are, and most have gone the resale route. But most buyers on property don't know about it, and guides won't say "and if you ever decide to sell there is an active resale market, why don't you go look and see how the prices are?"

I just assumed they did. I’ve seen it mentioned several times on different boards/pages that guides brought it up as part of the pitch.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

What if they go full industry-standard timeshare and have lifetime contracts? Would that even be possible? Or, maybe they go with fixed weeks only?

Within a DVC2, they could do either. How the fixed weeks trade across into the 14 Classic would be an excellent question, of course, and/or how the 14 Classic with eligibility to book Riviera trade across would also be interesting.

 

[DaveNan]

I’m not sure at all who’s correct here, but it reads as if I’m partially correct. Grandfathered resales will be able to trade into Riviera & ALL new direct Riviera owners can trade into the existing DVC system.

Legacy resort resales going forward will be limited to legacy resorts, but the direct Riviera buyers will have access to the whole system (not if they buy Riviera resale) so this will put even more stress on popular legacy resorts.

Am I understanding this correctly? And if so, how convoluted.

Evidently, Disney has decided they have been leaving money on the table by selling timeshares that have a residual value. The timeshare industry has long showed that you can sell timeshares with no resale value. Disney wants to capture the resale value for themselves.

Yup, they would love the resale prices to be super low. Then they can claim them in rofr and make more.

 

[freediverdude]

You all know what this means for the longer term don't you. There's going to be a whole new line of resorts built in the premium locations (south contemporary garden wing, new building at poly, new epcot resort, etc.). And if you want to stay in these new premium location buildings instead of the older ones, you'll have to purchase direct, or purchase a resale that is only good at that location. The current resorts will quickly become the "old legacy resorts" over the next 10 years, while several newer fancier ones come online. And if you want to stay at all of these you'll mostly have to be a direct purchaser or someone who purchased resale "way back before 2019" (as the saying will go in 2029). This is a long term strategy, folks, and will be creating 2 tiers.

 

[Ben E N]

You all know what this means for the longer term don't you. There's going to be a whole new line of resorts built in the premium locations (south contemporary garden wing, new building at poly, new epcot resort, etc.). And if you want to stay in these new premium location buildings instead of the older ones, you'll have to purchase direct, or purchase a resale that is only good at that location. The current resorts will quickly become the "old legacy resorts" over the next 10 years, while several newer fancier ones come online. And if you want to stay at all of these you'll mostly have to be a direct purchaser or someone who purchased resale "way back before 2019" (as the saying will go in 2029). This is a long term strategy, folks, and will be creating 2 tiers.

DVC has been around for 27 years and there are a total of 14 resorts so far. If they keep up at that rate, there would only be 5 new resorts over the next 10 years, including the two not so premium ones that we already know about.
Also, with all the building of new resorts, they will have to add more rides at the parks in order to accommodate all those people, so I say bring it on.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

You all know what this means for the longer term don't you. There's going to be a whole new line of resorts built in the premium locations (south contemporary garden wing, new building at poly, new epcot resort, etc.). And if you want to stay in these new premium location buildings instead of the older ones, you'll have to purchase direct, or purchase a resale that is only good at that location. The current resorts will quickly become the "old legacy resorts" over the next 10 years, while several newer fancier ones come online. And if you want to stay at all of these you'll mostly have to be a direct purchaser or someone who purchased resale "way back before 2019" (as the saying will go in 2029). This is a long term strategy, folks, and will be creating 2 tiers.

You really think Disney is going to go fancy? Now that would be something!