My theory is the good old days with
DVC passed....
I actually completely disagree. I just bought resale at BLT and direct at Poly, and it ends up being a STEAL compared to the cash trips I've done just in the last year.
1. People love to sigh over the free tickets to the parks between 1992 and 1999, which I get, because that's an incredible perk. BUT, from my perspective, what I got with my purchase is just as good.
No, seriously - stay with me. The original ticket perk was one park ticket per day for every two people of room capacity you had on your DVC stay. So if you stayed in a 4 person 1 BR for 4 nights, you would get 4 x 4 / 2 = 8 total park tickets. So you really get 50% free tickets.
My direct DVC purchase allowed me to buy the Sorcerer's pass. That saves about one third of the cost of an Incredipass. BUT, I can buy one for
every member of my family AND I can use that any time I go, not just when I stay with DVC direct. So when I use my resale points, when I stay offsite, and when I do cash stays, I have unlimited access - all at 33% off. I would rather have 33% off an unlimited number of stays than 50% off, but only on the days I stay DVC direct. We have five trips currently planned with our new annual passes, and that discount is driving a ton of value for us.
2. Buyers at OKW or BWV in the 90s could only stay at a handful of resorts. For the first 9 years, there were only two options at WDW, and it wasn't until the late 2000s that members had more than five WDW resorts to choose from. I get to pick from 17 total resorts and by going on multiple trips per year, I can usually find some availability even at harder to book places. In the next year, I have bookings at BWV, PIT, BLT, and VGF. I may end up adding RIV or BCV once those 7 month windows roll around. No one prior to about the last 8 years or so had that cornucopia of options.
3. Back in the day, there were rather strict restrictions on banking and borrowing. I don't recall when it changed, but my understanding is that you originally could only bank or borrow a percentage of your total points.
4. The whole world has changed, but my goodness have the parks improved since the late 90s. I looked up an old park map and it just felt sad how small MGM Studios used to be, how much less Magic Kingdom had, how Animal Kingdom didn't even exist until 1999, etc. Even the Skyliner was only added in 2019. People love to gripe about rising costs, but IMO, the available attractions are just worlds better. Put another way, given the option to inflation-adjust my money back to 1996 levels and buy a BWV contract BUT also be stuck with the parks as they were back then vs keeping what I have today at the price I paid for it, I'd go with what I have now. It's like the question people often ask when touring the Biltmore - would you be willing to go back in time and live here if it meant living in the 1890s? I wouldn't.
Those who bought contracts at the Boardwalk struck gold!
Oh, the original Boardwalk purchasers definitely did. I console myself by remembering that I was not old enough to buy DVC back then and that I would have ABSOLUTELY ZERO interest in that original nightmare fuel slide.
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